Storiesonline.net ------- Steve and Chuck by Dual Writer Copyright© 2009 by Dual Writer ------- Description: Steve Sharp and Deputy Marshal Chuck Johnson are back from the vacation to Hawaii. Their lives continue but are interrupted by events close to them. (This story is best understood if you are familiar with the characters from the Vacation and Job Hunt stories that are found within the "Florida Friends" series.) Codes: MF cons ------- ------- Prologue Steve Sharp and Chuck Johnson are home from a lengthy vacation. Both immediately go back to their respective jobs. Their time together and at work now reflects how close the two men have become. ------- Chapter 1 Steve Since our family returned from our sailing trip through the Panama Canal, up to Washington State, all the way to Alaska, and Hawaii, a lot had been going on. Dewey and I were spending more time talking on the phone than we talked in person during our vacation. Perhaps we bit off more than we could handle. We had purchased three resort complexes and an airfield in Hawaii, in addition to the hotels, and land for a new hotel, in Anchorage, Alaska. We both think we were nuts to invest so much money while the rest of the economy is in the toilet. Dewey says that he isn't losing money on any of his investments right now and he wants to shore up and diversify. I would rather just buy land that we could plant a gigantic garden on and feed everyone. If we were to do that, Hawaii would be a good place to do it. Personally, I think the management staff of the three resorts would keep them profitable even in the strange economy. There was work planned at all three, but everything was in place for it to be done. The airfield was going to be the long range project, as something like that has to be built from scratch. We had made a good deal, and I know in my heart that the trio of Dewey, my new friend, Chuck Johnson, and I would make the deal lucky and bring all of us a lot of satisfaction. Crystal and Bear will be running the airfield and be the S&S contact in Hawaii, overseeing the construction of hangars, the new expanded operations building, and the Holiday Inn Express next to the field. We decided on a franchise hotel as it would be the easiest to find a manager for and it would not be concerned with tourist trade. Dewey and I needed our own business representative in Hawaii, someone to handle the day to day stuff at all of the venues we had there, someone who could stay in constant contact with the various managers, and help get things moving when stagnation set in at one place or another. I know a guy that would be perfect, but he has so many commitments right now that it would be tough for him to do what we need. Ruth and Tiny were going to travel with Crystal and Bear to help them set up their business office. Ruth would work on setting up personnel records that would be a part of the S&S database back here in Florida, and Tiny would work with the accounting firm to make sure all of the venues had the right kind of banking support without being underfoot. Our little vacation in Hawaii added almost a thousand people to the payroll. The three new hotels up in Anchorage added another three hundred people, but that was almost an under the table deal. The owners had held the properties as an undisclosed asset and since it was not exceeding the original speculation numbers, they wanted to quietly unload it. Dewey thought the principals were probably laundering money, but the deal was too good to pass up, so Dewey now had more Alaskan properties, but this time with me and our Irish friend involved in the ownership group. I was sitting, pondering whether I should try to withdraw from some of these investments when Chuck Johnson, my Deputy Marshal friend, sat down with me. Chuck said, "You look like you're wondering what to do with all of your new obligations in Hawaii." Smiling, I answered, "You got it. We did go hog wild over there." Chuck said, "You know, I can't believe I've actually bought into two huge hotel and resort complexes, complete with golf courses, plus an airfield. I just reviewed the blueprints of the airfield complex the way you have begun building it, and I'm in awe of what you are planning." Chuck continued, "Where are we going to get the mechanics to fill the two huge maintenance hangars? Where are we going to get the customers to keep them busy? I'm just staggered over the cost projections over the next three years. I know we'll be receiving revenue well before then, but wow, Steve, that is a huge undertaking." I said, "Don't fret over the airfield, Chuck. Remember that the Hawaiian Islands are spread out and the fastest way to commute is by air. Helicopters are easiest because they don't need runways but there are enough little fields all over the islands that we can be close to almost anywhere. More and more people will be using small planes to commute around the islands. We will become the training center for all those people who want to fly themselves. We will become the maintenance center where they have their planes repaired. We will be the airfield where you can rent an airplane. And soon, we will also be the dealer who sells airplanes to the public." Chuck said, "There can't be that big of a market for new and used airplanes, you're not going to have that big of a turnover." "You're right, Chuck, but we will also be selling and repairing helicopters. We will probably sell and maintain as many helicopters as fixed wing aircraft. We'll have to go to the customer sometime, but most of the work will be preventive maintenance and regularly scheduled service." I said something that did get his attention, "We are going to market a full line of our carts in Hawaii and will have a warranty and maintenance facility at the airfield. In an effort to provide quick material transport between islands, we found a CV-2 or DHC-4 Caribou that will be our king sized toy over there. Jimmy's dad used to fly them in Viet Nam and is going to be the head of maintenance over there. We can use this cargo plane to haul several carts at a time to just about any location with fifteen hundred feet of clear space. The plane only needs twelve hundred feet to take off under load." Chuck said, "I'll bet that thing was expensive." I told Chuck, "It was, and the freight getting it over there is expensive too, but it will be worth it. They will have it here shortly and we will overhaul everything on it then take it apart for shipping. We'll have a lot of calls for emergency shipping of items between the islands when they just can't wait. It is kind of silly, but we figured on painting the plane like our S&S planes here and consider it an advertising expense." Chuck looked at his watch and said, "Good, after five." He then went to the big converted fridge, pulled out two frosted mugs, and began drawing a couple of beers. When he had them filled, he brought both back and gave one to me. I asked Chuck, "You weren't instantly called out to take care of problem somewhere. Is the world settling down?" Chuck said, "I think it is settling down a little. We've locked down all of the federal prison areas so tight that even the open campuses would be difficult to escape from. The deputy who I have looking for whoever was sponsoring the escapees and why, says that he thinks he's real close to some answers and has sent me some interesting information. It reads as if we are close to what we want to find out." I told Chuck, "It would be nice if you didn't have to be in danger quite so often. I know there will always be something, but you were going into dangerous situations constantly there for a while. Hell, you even had to do it in Alaska and Hawaii. I know I'm glad you aren't out getting into mischief, and I know the ladies are, as well." Thinking of the ladies, I asked, "So what did all those women go out to get anyway?" Chuck said, "My five ladies are remodeling their house for the arrival of three or four babies and the future arrival of at least two more. Their house is really big, making it easy to create some smaller rooms within the areas where the bedrooms are. Their place is in shambles right now and they've been staying with me. The girls are a lot of fun, but the more we're together, the more I feel as if we're going to be like a brother and sisters with kids, or something like that. They all say they love me and they all enjoy being with me, but they all want to make sure I know they will be staying together. I don't know, Steve, but I think I'm going to have a bunch of children who know me as dad, but will not be under my roof most of the time. The only thing I can think of is, we'll see." I smiled at Chuck and said, "Perhaps you should move all of them to Hawaii and build a big house there for all of you. You could work on our projects there and oversee our holdings." Sue and Mercy came into the patio carrying packages. Sue said, "Wow, that was fun. We haven't shopped for babies for a long time. Chuck, you won't believe it, we took Frieda to her sonogram appointment this afternoon. Wait until she shows you the pictures. You can already tell at only two months." Mercy was looking at Chuck as they were communicating. They did that a lot lately. The two of them just smiled as they went about whatever they were doing. Sue said, "You two, you are so bad the way you communicate. You smile and we don't have a clue as to why. It's almost rude." Mercy said, "I asked him if he was ready for twins. He didn't answer, he just smiled." "You were not supposed to tell him, Mercy," Sue said, sounding disgusted. "Frieda should be the one to tell him." Chuck spoke up, "I figured it was twins anyway the way Frieda has been. She's been absolutely bubbly while she was a pretty serious personality before." Sue admonished, "Just don't say anything, let her be the one to spring this on you. She's so excited about it that I'm surprised she's not already in here." Kathy and Juanita came in and gave me a kiss, then went to sit with Chuck. They were bookending him when Frieda came in and sat on Chuck's lap. She said, "Honey, you've done a good job on me. You are going to be a dad," she paused a second, "and again." Frieda kissed Chuck and leaned back with a smile, "I'm having twins." There was a mass transition as all five of the girls swarmed Frieda and Chuck at the announcement of twins. Nancy said, "I feel so inadequate, I'm only having one." Judy was trying to wedge herself in closer to Chuck and said, "Me too, I'm only having one, but I'm so happy. I think I'll be a great mother." Tiani and Brandy were sitting in chairs across from Chuck, grinning. When there was an opening, Tiani pushed her face up to Chuck's and said, "I'll be next when they get these on the ground. Brandy and I will be good mothers too." As fast as the five had crowded around Chuck, they were gone, talking babies with the experienced women from the patio group. Chuck was worn out from the intensity of everything he had been worried about and laid his head back. I don't know how, but he fell asleep in a rowdy patio while his ladies were commiserating with mine. Now that is someone who's beat. My women and Chuck's women were really going into the planning that takes place when women consider babies. I let Chuck remain knocked out while I enjoyed my beer. Abe came in and joined me with a beer and said, "I'm planning a trip out west before it gets cold. I'm going up to Montana to visit with a couple of Indian reservations that have indicated they might be open to supplying labor for a manufacturing facility. If we were to create a cart factory up there, we could supply most of western Canada with carts. If it turns out we can only produce a limited amount and not expand, we'll build a plant in western Canada." Tiny said, "Abe and I went over the logistics of a plant up near Helena and decided we could do this and it could manufacture twelve months a year. I think it would be good for our projections." Chuck came out of his stupor and said, "I need to make sure the other girls know I'm here." He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and called. He was saying, "Glad I caught you, Lena, see if Tina is in and have her bring you out to the trailer park. We'll eat out here tonight. If Lisa is there, bring her too." He made another call and said, "Hey, Star, I know you're probably getting ready to go to Hawaii, but do you know where Lisa is?" He paused then said, "As soon as she's free, tell her I'm at the trailer park. No, Star, I'm not staying at John's place tonight and I don't need company. Come on, Star, you know I've even got more women to worry about than Steve." After pausing a second, Chuck said into his phone, "I didn't know that, but he does only have his chosen four." Chuck paused again, then said, "Fine, talk to my business manager. You're too much, Star, both you and DeDe." When Chuck closed his phone, he was shaking his head with his eyes closed. I asked, "Is Star being aggressive again?" "Always, she is so sweet, but I don't need any more women who want to spend time with me. The crazy cavalry think it's cool to bring some women home, but they don't think that some of those women may want to take me away from them. I don't know what I want, but I don't think I need any older women to confuse me." I was laughing along with Tiny, Abe, and Henry. Nancy was hugging Henry's arm and said, "They just want to find out what you're like, Chuck. Your girls talk about what a great lover you are so the single ladies, and some of us experienced married ladies, want to know what they're talking about." Chuck was blushing, big time. "Please, Nancy, I'm just a regular guy with an unusual group of friends." Bonita was trying to get Chuck's attention, and finally climbed up in his lap. Chuck hugged her and with an exasperated harrumph, she said, "Will you teach me some more? Mommy said she's trying to get me a teacher but I don't have one yet. Please, will you?" "So, Sweetheart," Chuck said to Bonita, "what do you want me to teach, guitar or piano?" Bonita was now smiling and said, "I want to play some more on the guitar. Teach me another song, please?" Chuck and Bonita left the patio for the house. Kathy came over and said, "I do have a guitar and piano teacher coming tomorrow afternoon to work with all of the kids. Bonita is going to need some extra time with someone good. I promise to keep looking." We hugged and kissed a minute before Kathy was up blending into the women's group, talking about babies. Kathy was an expert on babies. Bear and Crystal came in and sat on the couch opposite me, and Crystal asked, "Have you made up your mind on who's going to take my place?" "Sure, Crystal. The obvious choice was Kevin all along, but we needed to get some confirmation on that. The new guy, Mark, really summed it up and he's only been around a couple of days. He noted Kevin as being the guy to follow in your footsteps." Crystal was nodding and said, "I agree. I've been so worried that this complex would suffer because Bear and I took off for Hawaii. This is such a big transition, Steve. Bear has had some worldly experience, but I'm really a novice, a real rookie." I smiled and said, "If there is anyone that I don't worry about, it is you, Crystal. Between you and Bear, I think it is predestined for the airfield over there to be a success. We have a lot to do before we have it the way we want, but it will work, bet on it." Both Bear and Crystal were smiling while hugging each other with one arm, and sucking some suds with the other. When Mercy and Sue came up to me, my world mellowed for a second, these two women were my all, everything that I could have wanted times two. I should have known though, as they are always plotting together. Sue said, "Chuck's ladies want us to help get Tina and Lisa to be a more important part of their group. They know that Chuck and Lisa have a special connection and they know that Tina finds Chuck important to her, but they want Lisa and Tina to be the Super Seven instead of the Fab Five. Their words, Honey, not mine." I was smiling at the thought of Chuck with seven women when I spied the super tall girl that is a sister to Chuck's ex. "Uh, so, ah, doesn't that big babe come into the picture? Is it the Super Seven or is it the Crazy Eight?" Mercy punched me on the arm and said, "It's not funny, Steve, Chuck is really confused about all of his women. He's nuts over Lisa, but just adores Tina. Then his original five have him mesmerized. He loves all of them, but knows he can't really have them. He's going to have four babies from them and is looking forward to that, but he's still looking for something he doesn't have. That's why all of us ladies were so attentive to him. We wanted him to just blend into us and forget all of those others. He won't, so now we have to figure out how to blend all of them into us." Sue said, "I just think Lena is so sweet. Her whole family is just the nicest group to know. I've talked to her mom and dad, and we both know Millie. I can't wait to meet the little sister. I'll bet she is a hoot." Mercy butted in, "Don't forget Lisa. She's nuts over Chuck. Tina really likes Chuck and looks at him as kind of a pressure reliever, but does spend a lot of time just thinking about him. Lisa wants him, I mean wants him exclusively, then she remembers she likes girls perhaps even more than him. Chuck is like you Steve, he doesn't mind us women being into other women. He just wants family, lots of family." Steve was nodding and commented, "This place is just one big family. We need to bring him into our family more, but I know he resists. Let's just let it play out a while to see what happens. The way he's attached to Bonita, at this point, Kathy is going to be the one to bring him in before anyone else." Sue and Mercy were nodding and I could see Mercy thinking of something. No doubt plotting to get what the two ladies wanted. Thinking of our vacation and how all four, or was it six or seven, of the ladies related to Chuck, I couldn't believe they didn't have the deal wrapped up, under contract, and done. Lisa came into the patio with John and asked, "Where's Chuck?" Kathy took her by the arm and led her into the house. Kathy came back out with a smile, but without Lisa and without Chuck. I did notice Kevin and Susan talking to Tina at a table. Tina wasn't upset, but I could see she was concerned about something. She was gesturing and pointing toward the Fab Five and Lena quite a bit, but you could tell she was just discussing the situation. Chuck, Lisa, and Bonita came out of the house carrying guitars and sat in front of Kathy, Juanita, Sue, and Mercy. How convenient the four mothers were all together. Bonita said, "Mommas, I wanted to play something special for you. Chuck and Lisa helped with this. I heard it on one of Chuck's CDs he left with us. Lisa and Chuck are going to help, but I'm singing it." Lisa and Chuck began doing a rhythm, with either Chuck or Lisa picking out some key notes. Little Bonita, not long past five, began singing, "Everybody's going out and having fun I'm a fool for staying home and having none. I can't get over how she set me free. Oh, lonesome me. There must be some way that I can lose these lonesome blues Forget about my past and find someone new I've thought of everything from A to Z Oh, lonesome me. I'll bet she's not like me. She's out and fancy free, Flirting with the boys with all her charms But I still love her so, And brother don't you know I'd welcome her right back here in my arms" Between every verse, Chuck or Lisa did a little extra with their guitars, but when it ended, I think everyone on the patio had their mouth open at this little girl who just sang a complete song while playing a rhythm background. Chuck and Lisa were looking at each other grinning, while the whole place just sat there with their mouth open. Glenda hollered, "You go, girl." The rest of the place went nuts clapping and hollering. Bonita's smile was a beam of bright light as she glowed with accomplishment. Chuck and Lisa came over to me and said, "You know we just taught her that. She had listened to it several times and knew the words but couldn't get all of the key changes until we helped her. We practiced it about an hour and you just heard the result. Stevie, you've got one hell of a singer on your hands. Wait until she's older, there's no holding that one back." Kathy had tears in her eyes, and I had Bonita on my lap congratulating her on how well she sang. Bonita said, "Get me more CDs so I can learn more songs. Chuck and Lisa will teach me how to play them and make music for me." Sue and Mercy were grinning at me, which meant that I would be busy getting something done they wanted to have happen. I guess with all these kids, there had to be at least one with some special talent. Chuck and Lisa were at the bar, having a beer with Tina, when Chuck's five women converged on him. They swarmed around him and they soon were all laughing. The swarm must have been a good swarm. When supper was called, we had a great fettuccini casserole, along with some sautéed squash, and some green beans. For dessert, Nancy had made some Italian cannolis that were heavenly. After supper, everyone talked Chuck and Lisa into playing several ballads and singing several songs. The two made some special music together. They kept talking about the passing of Les Paul and how he and Mary Ford had created so many special songs over the their lifetime together. Lisa was telling Chuck, "I'm not going to be like Mary Ford. When I make up my mind to make a couple, that's it, only once; we'll be a couple forever." Mercy had heard that from me and was smiling at me. I think we were that way too. The patio crew soon slowly slipped away to go home and get ready for another day. This was the special time I always spent with Glenda, the same as in the mornings. We were sitting, enjoying the remnants of our last beer, when Glenda said, "I'm sure glad you're back. Since you've been back, there has been a lot going on. We have that new guy, Mark, Mark Robins. He's been buzzing all over fixing things for people. You've told him you'll take care of the parts and the guy has gone nuts. Crystal got him a cart, but you need to find him a place within our family. He's involved in a divorce, but is making friends everywhere. Check on him, Steve, he's one we want to keep." "Thanks, Glenda, you're the second or third person who's brought him up. I'll get Ruth to check him out and be sure to get him more involved in our group." Glenda was smiling, "I am glad you're back, Steve. I missed all the kids, and I missed my coffee buddy. I'll see you in the morning." Glenda got up and walked across the separation between our trailers, knowing I was watching. I sat there and thought of Chuck and his group, then thought about this new guy, Mark, and what he could add to the group. Sue came out and sat on my lap and gave me a gentle kiss. She said, "It's time, Honey, come to bed. I think we're all too tired to attack you tonight, but if you're in the mood, I'm sure one or all of us would be happy to make us all feel good." I closed up and shut everything down, making sure the big coffee pot would start dripping at five forty-five and the kitchen pot would turn on at five fifty. After washing up, I crawled in the middle of my women who snuggled into me letting me know, a snuggle would be best. I was smiling as I went to sleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 2 Chuck All of these women were too much for me. Since they remodeled Wanda's old room, giving me a bed the size of a normal room, I almost needed to take a poll to see who all was in my bed. The Fickle Five were constants now that their house was under construction, but that didn't mean they needed more physical attention. The pregnant three wanted more attention, but Brandy and Tiani became a little distant and were enamored with Lena. When John didn't stay over with Wanda, Brandy and Tiani were in with her, and usually dragged Lena in with them. Meanwhile, Lisa helped me entertain the hormonally unbalanced pregnant trio. They actually were easily satisfied, but then there was Lisa and Tina. Holy shit, those two did some crazy stuff. They used me as a dildo, or just as an audience, while they ravaged each other. The good part was when they were done enjoying each other, the two wanted me, all of me, and as much as I could give them. Watching them was energizing, if you know what I mean, but satisfying them was a chore of love. Both girls were as loving as I could ever want. Mornings were menagerie time. I could exercise, form, or swim, and always have some company. Lisa was my most consistent companion though, as she would form with me to her own internal music, then swim with me or she would join me in the exercise room to build up a good sweat, and then jump in the pool. Some nights, Lisa and I would sit in the media room and just play to each other. Sometimes we would play from a fake book and at other times we would find something on the internet. We did complement each other, whether we were on our two acoustics, or on electric guitar and bass. We were gradually converting our housemates to blues, bluegrass, and country as time passed. At work, I was happily being bypassed as they shipped others out to confront touchy situations. It was working so far, and I only traveled to stations for necessary changes or promotions. Most trips were an easy up and back on the same day now that I had my Lear to travel in. I was languishing in peace at my desk, when my bird dog looking for why escapees were congregating and who was bankrolling them, called. Bud Anderson had been tracking groups for over a year. We had run into each other up in Alaska and he had said he was getting close. "Hey, what's up, Bud?" "What are you doing important, Boss? I want to talk to you face to face. What I have is too important to talk about on an open phone line. Do you want me to come to you or do you want to come to me?" "Where are you, Bud?" "Chicago, right now; I've been back and forth continuously between here and Detroit lately." Thinking about it a minute, I asked, "Is there something happening or going to happen? Are you ready for a takedown?" "Something is going to happen, but I don't think I'm ready to gather the players yet." I said, "Tell you what, I can be up there this afternoon and you can tell me about it. Where are you staying up there?" "On the east side; there is a little private airfield that can handle a Lear. What time should I meet you?" Considering I still had to pack, I said, "I'll call you when I'm on my way to get the plane. That will mean I'm about three hours away." "Okay, Boss, gotcha. See you then." I called John and advised him Bud was close on something and wanted an eye to eye consult. John cautioned me about any radical activities and to make sure my incident reports didn't include me causing death and destruction. He did end his call with, "Be careful, and be safe." I told Wanda of my itinerary and followed that by calling my new best friend, and backup sidekick, Jim Blake, to advise him we were on our way to Chicago and that he needed to go pack for a few days. Jim came to me from the Fab Five and the employment office. Frieda found him when he was using her office to job hunt. Frieda sent him to Sarah who had me interview him. Jim was a Marine who had been shot up so bad they didn't anticipate saving him, but his good attitude and his conditioning helped him through recovery. The Marines didn't want him anymore because he had lost some mobility to one leg, but the man was working hard to become just as agile as he had ever been. As far as Sarah and Sarg were concerned, Jim was a perfect fit. When I met him, Jim and I clicked. We began by going to the range and competing down there with Jan and some of the other good marksmen. Jim was every bit as good as I was, so our competition was always intense. There were so many things that we enjoyed about each other and we were alike in so many ways. Anyway, Jim Blake was now my permanent sidekick when I went anywhere. Jim and I made a strange pairing, as I'm truly a white boy and Jim is truly very, very, black. To give you an idea, his nickname in the Marines was "Midnight." Jim was a Cajun Creole from Louisiana who became an instant friend. When Wanda called him and transferred him to me, I said, "We're on our way to Chicago." All he asked was, "For how long and how hot or what?" "Three, four days, and plan for hot, just in case." Hot meant we packed our special aluminum suitcases with a broken down special MP5s, complete with a swing-away scope, available light illumination, and a sound suppressor in the case. There were also five thirty round magazines, as well as four more magazines for our Glock 22s. Of course, we also didn't go anywhere without our vests anymore. As I was leaving the house after packing, I suddenly remembered and called the airpark. DeDe answered and when I asked about my Lear, she said, "You got to be kidding. What do you think? Do you think we keep that thing parked ready for you all the time, Your Majesty?" "DeDe, I need a fast ride to Chicago, and if I fly mine, you don't have to dig up a pilot." DeDe was smiling when she said, "You are in luck. Your Lear is on the ramp. I'll have Jimmy get it ready. We don't need it back for a couple of days, but you need to find us another plane if you're going to be using this one all the time." As I was already driving toward Jim's place, I said, "DeDe, you know I take the B-200 Beechcraft to places that are within a thousand miles and I've been using the Cessna 208 for all my short hops. I need to be in Chicago fast, I need my Lear." "Like I said, Chuck, we need another one, so go find us one." I was smiling when I said, "I'll try to come up with another fast airplane like a Lear. I'll get it done." DeDe said, "Yours will be ready as soon as you get here. How close are you?" "Twenty minutes, max." She said, "I'll get Jimmy to get it heated up." I picked Jim up and we were quickly at the airpark. We stowed our bags and cases in the jet and climbed aboard. Jimmy shook my hand and said, "Your bird is in great shape. Have a nice flight." We hauled ass to Chicago and landed at the little field on the east side, where Bud Anderson met us and hauled us to the hotel where he was staying. When Bud was apprehensive about Jim, I said, "Jim is my right arm now, my sidekick on all of my missions. We come from the same background and trust each other completely. He's good to hear whatever I'm supposed to hear." We were sitting in a remote corner of the lounge where we couldn't be overheard, having something to eat. Bud said, "This is quite a story. Listen to it, then ask me some questions or give me some recommendations." Bud took a sip of his coffee and said, "I started seeing a couple of patterns that I wanted to follow up on. So, instead of just responding to escapees in different parts of the country, I went to New Jersey where the minimum-security prison was experiencing at least one walk-off a month. I set up a surveillance site to see a wide area and figured that a walk-off would happen between three in the afternoon and midnight. Security in these prisons is usually pretty good at night, but non-existent in the afternoon and early evening. I got lucky and watched a guy walk away on my fourth day. He went straight to a nearby street and entered a home with a 'For Rent' sign in front of it. He emerged in different clothes and with a backpack." From there he walked to a bus stop about four miles away and caught a bus to Chicago. I was able to follow him and then followed the bus to not far from here. The man walked to a warehouse and entered. The next day an SUV took him and another man to Detroit. There, the two took a tour bus into Canada and got off on the second tour stop." "They went to another bus terminal, and took a bus that took them all the way across Canada, then up the Yukon to Whitehorse. They were picked up there and taken to a place that looked very much like the forts you found up near Fairbanks and in Hawaii. I watched that place for a few days and my guy came out and was driven to the bus station. He went back east until he caught a northbound bus up to the Northwest Territory. He ended up outside of Yellowknife, in another fort like place. I watched for a week but it looked like the guy was going to stay." "I contacted a couple of my Canadian friends and began having them track down who owned the property on which the compounds were built. Meanwhile, I went back to New Jersey and set up watch on the prison again. Sure enough, about a week later, I followed another walk-off all the way back up to Chicago, then on the Detroit. We did the exact same route to the Yukon and then two men went from the Yukon to Yellowknife." While watching in Yellowknife, I tracked an SUV south all the way into Montana. He pulled off the road before he got to Butte to take a leak and that's where I took him. I pushed his SUV off the road down into a brushy gully. It'll probably be years before anyone finds it. Anyway, I kept him in custody and took him to Salt Lake City where we could question him extensively. Because I kept him blindfolded and with cotton in his ears all the way, he may still have no idea where he is. He did finally begin to talk and that's where my fun begins now." "Both of these two compounds have plans to blow up places in the U.S. and Canada, but the time frame has not been planned yet. They have long range plans to bring at least another twenty or thirty escapees into their compounds." "Now for some facts. Some Russian financiers originally purchased the land in the Yukon and the Northwest Territory. Land is cheap, real cheap, if no minerals are suspected of being underground. The Ruskies sold the ground to some Saudi and Iranian businessmen, and it is now controlled by some crazy fundamentalist who wants to harm both the Canadians and the Americans." "The U.S. contact in Chicago is really scary, and this is where we can get into all kinds of hot water. The man who met both escapees is the business secretary for the U.S. Congressman from that district. The Congressman may or may not know about the escapees, but he has been supported by a bunch of 60's domestic terrorists who are now all acting like educators." "The warehouse that I now know is a clearing house for escapees, Russian immigrants without documentation, and some undocumented people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, is owned by a very wealthy Saudi immigrant. He is a major contributor to at least two of Chicago's U.S. Congressmen, but I can't tie the second one into anything yet." "The Detroit connection is a little more sinister. I've discovered an entire cell of militant Islamic terrorist wannabes. They are well financed and very well armed; but are sitting on their heels waiting for something to happen that will be directed from the north." "I've exhausted my expense account and my mental ability as to what to do next. I'm not going to be able to do anything else. I've been afraid to trust very many people. The only ones who may be risking anything are the guys out in Salt Lake who are holding the guy that came from Canada. He was supposed to be headed to Las Vegas where there is supposed to be a cell in waiting. So you see, Chuck, we have some heavy takedowns, some across the border problems, and some potential heavy damage and collateral losses here in the states." Bud looked at me and said, "What do you think?" I asked, "How much of this do you have documented?" Bud handed me one of those little binders for CDs and said, "Here is about thirty DVDs with videos, photographs, and copies of photocopied records that tie all the known people together. These are good enough to get indictments with, but when we take one down, we have to take them all." I was nodding while looking at all the DVDs in the binder. I said, "I'm going to leave Jim with you to help you continue surveillance and do any digging you may need to do. I'm flying to D.C. to talk to John and my Marshal, and probably the Director. I know what I would do, but since there are so many sensitive people, we need to make sure it is planned correctly, and in total secrecy. I'm out of here right now. Will you be alright with Bud, Jim?" "Bud and I will be fine, Chuck. Go tell Aunt Rosie and see what they say. Call me when you're coming back." Bud and Jim took me back to the airport. I called John on the way and said, "Clear me into Andrews and have someone come meet me. I have a story to tell you, our Marshal, and probably the Director, if you want. I'll be there in a couple of hours. Call Andrews so I don't get shot down." A little while later, I was sitting in the Marshal's office with the Director, John, and of course, our favorite Marshal. I had told them the story related by Bud after giving all of them the background. Bud had suggested a couple of DVDs that he had dubbed with some voice over of videos of the Congressman's agent, the warehouse there, and the cell headquarters in Detroit. The other video showed our escapees in and out of the Yukon and their arrival at the compound in the Northwest Territory. John made a call to Salt Lake to confirm the prisoner's presence, told them to keep the prisoner in the dark about where he was, and to make sure his whereabouts were not disclosed. The deputy there said, "We have a John Doe with no memory, so we are holding him on suspicion of everything. He's not going anywhere." The Marshal asked the Director, "Can you guys take over the investigation of the Congressmen without giving up our knowledge of their activities? If you're going to bust in, then we have to take everyone down that is involved in this operation before you do that. We need to find out who is supplying the house in New Jersey and the trip all the way through to Canada." The Director said, "We're working on a couple of leads concerning the Bratva in Chicago and Detroit, so this may be linked. So far we suspect only the smuggling in of immigrants. They haven't begun setting up their usual bordellos, or at least we don't think so. This brings it all into a totally different focus. The Ruskies may be smuggling in Islamic extremists at the same time." The Marshal looked at John and asked, "What do you want to do?" John said, "I don't want to try to penetrate these groups with undercover people as it's too late for a newcomer to work their way up the chain of command. We would never get there in time." John looked at me and asked, "You brought us the information. I know you haven't had time to look at all of it yet either, but what do you think?" I looked at these important people, then back at my notes and said, "We need the Bureau to find out who owns the house in New Jersey. While we watch that, let's trail and possibly capture our escapees at some point before Canada. We'll continue tracking them and grab them as they enter Canada, or if we want, hijack them along the way. We can always send them to Salt Lake City. They have the best group of closed-mouth people right now. So I'm for sewing up New Jersey first, learning who owns what, who is putting money, bus tickets, and clothes in the "For Rent" house. That's surveillance at two places in Jersey. Next is to take the two Congressmen in Chicago apart. We have proof of one of their men, but let's get deeper into both of them while not raising any eyebrows, no disclosure along the way. We should nail down the warehouse in East Chicago, and also in Detroit. This is a big deal and will take a lot of manpower. Let's use manpower that is closed-mouthed. We need some undercover guys to wander around Canada to keep an eye on the two compounds. Any major group or groups leaving there need to be tailed and possibly apprehended. If we need more space in Salt Lake, build it. We have to keep these people in the dark that we are tracking them in multiple locations. When we have all of the information on everyone concerned, let's get together and plan a mass take down in New Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, and any other place that shows up in our investigation. I want Bud Anderson to become the clearinghouse for the information. Let's get a team of Bureau investigators on this packet of DVDs and begin analyzing every bit of evidence we have." "That's a tall order, Chuck. We'll almost have to establish a budget for this." Chuck looked at the Director and said, "Pull every Station Chief that is concerned with this investigation and have them begin working on a part of this. Make sure they are closed-mouthed about their work, and assign only those that can work cautiously and also keep their mouths shut. Keep the budget within the station's budget. Promise the Chiefs some budget help, but make it only a promise. They really don't need it if they use their resources properly. I'm saying we have the existing budget to do this today. It may take something in the future, but we don't want any, and I mean absolutely no oversight committee, to get wind of what we're doing until we are taking it down. One word to those people and the network from Jersey to Detroit will be shutdown overnight." The Marshal was nodding his head and said, "We can do this and perhaps cut some other activities. Just a few flights a day will cover a hell of a lot of costs. We can assist the Bureau on investigations in order to free up some of their men." The Director was looking at my notes with squinted eyes, then raised his head and said, "Okay, let's make this work. I'll call in the Station Chiefs tonight that I'll need and begin briefing them. Ah, John, I'll assign some of my local investigators, mix them in with a couple of yours so we can analyze what we have. Okay, Chuck, where is this team leader, Bud Anderson, going to be?" I answered everyone, "For the immediate future, he will be in the field continuing what he's been doing, but as he needs to be stationary, we'll put him in a special office in Chicago with the Regional Bureau guy there or bring him into D.C. I just don't want to lose him to your bureaucrats though, as he's a good field man. He doesn't need to be in here playing political footsie." I asked John, "Get me a copy of all that stuff I brought and I'll try to review it personally. I'm on my way back to Chicago to make sure we have our eyes open there. I'll get with the Regional Bureau guy and borrow a few agents to start watching people. I'll try our office there, but I wasn't comfortable the last time I was there, and don't want any of this getting out. I know a couple of guys up there so I might try to get them assigned to me. I think you need to take that office apart to find out what's bugging me about it." John was alarmed, "Why didn't you say something to me before? If it's that serious, we should have been doing something." "It's only been the last month or so that their budget reports don't match with the spending balances. I initially told them to get their numbers right, but haven't said anything since as it looks like some juggling of numbers. Is it the ACE, the Chief, or the head clerk? I don't know, John, so we need to audit the place from afar first, but watch everything real close." John said, "For crying out loud. The next time you get funny feelings about something or notice weird numbers, call me. Let's nip these things in the bud before they get out of hand. We need those guys right now and can't use them. I'll get an analysis team on it right away." I stretched and said, "I'm finding something to eat and a bed at the BOQ (bachelors officer quarters) out at Andrews. I'll be on my way back to Chicago by six in the morning. Call me if you need me." As I stood to leave, I remembered, "Oh yeah, John, one last thing. Could you look through confiscations? I need another aircraft like the Lear. I know I can't get it for the same kind of money as before, but I was asked for another." John said, "Is this for you or for someone else?" I answered, "Actually the end user will be someone else, perhaps me sometimes, but it will be for charter. I've been using the last one so much and the charter demand is up, so another one is needed. Let me know so I can go look at what may be available." There was an all night steak house on the way out to Andrews that caught my attention, so I stopped and had some supper. The BOQ attendant was waiting for me and told me, "The Officer's Club next door is open until two, so you still have an hour to get something to put you to sleep." I stopped in and had a beer while joking with some half in the bag young officers. When I stripped down to get into bed, I realized that I had been sleeping in my own bed and was always accompanied for the last couple of months. I was getting spoiled. I missed my queer quints and their always changing 'who's going to be in bed tonight' melodrama. It did seem that Lisa and Tina were almost always part of the bedtime entertainment whether I got any or not. Every night, Lisa would give me some loving kisses before we would fall asleep. I did miss that girl. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 3 Steve The girls have been all over me for letting Mark be everywhere, helping as many people as he could, and I had not put him on the payroll. Crystal should have done that, but she didn't really know whether he was going to be full time or part time. Ruth sort of made up my mind, as she signed him up as a full time employee with the employee benefit plan. I suppose that was alright, but you never knew. My cell phone rang, "Steve here." "Steve, this is Chuck. Can I use your shop up here in Chicago as a hub for some activity we have going on here on the east side? You have the RV store, the truck conversion plant, your regular showroom, and equipment building area. Could you spare a desk for some guys to work out of?" "Sure, Chuck, tell Gordon Mathews, the manager up there, that you need the space and tell him I said for him to find it for you. They are down on staff right now, so you should be able to find a private area. Anything else I can do for you?" "That'll do it, Steve. I'll be home tonight, but I need to set up a place for some guys to work. They will bring in their own telephone lines so we won't be mooching off you." "No sweat, Chuck, use what you need. Let me know if your guys need anything else." "Thanks, Steve, I'll see you this evening." That's good; Chuck will be back in town. He says he is trying to get a line on another Lear. Crazy, but we could use it right now. Hopefully, it will be another good deal and we can get it ready to fly right away. Chuck seems to need his plane a lot lately, so another Lear would help out. You would think that with three G5s, and us possibly picking up an almost new G550, that we would be sitting with too many airplanes. The leasing company is giving us the use of the aircraft if we keep them up and pay just a standard monthly fee. That should be okay until they find a buyer, then we'll have to step up. Sue came in and said, "Let's go to the gym before lunch today. I have a bunch of appointments this afternoon and if we go after lunch, I won't get any sun. I need the color if we're going to use the boat this weekend." After the gym, lunch was busy on the patio. Mark was there, having a great conversation with Abe and Martin. It's nice to have another guy near their age for them to have a good time with. Mark must be some kind of decent mechanic, as he easily fixed up Martin's wheel bearing problem yesterday. He says he has a few neat ideas that may benefit our carts, so I'm interested in seeing what he has. I was listening as he was telling Abe and Martin, "I think my ex has something cooked up for me tonight, as she's been really insistent about me coming over to our house tonight. I think I got ahead of her by moving out so quickly." Abe said, "You be careful. Some women can be devious. I'm lucky, like Martin here, I've had my lady forever. It seems like we've been together all our lives. You be careful." Mark said, "I have a lady lawyer who is helping me, and she's going to go with me as a friend to watch out for me. I think I'll be all right. I wouldn't go, but even my daughter has prodded me to go a couple of times." I had a few things to do at the shop, so I took off for the main shop while Sue went to her main office on the campus out here. Tiny caught me as soon as I was in the building. "Steve, come look at some numbers. You're going to like what you see, but we have to talk about this a little." Tiny showed me a printout of rows and rows of numbers that looked like Greek to me, but they were for our new Italian plant. He said, "Our productivity is over the top over there. Giuseppe has that place really putting out and is keeping up production to meet Mario's groups' orders. Look at this, the orders are running at a hundred and twenty percent of projection, and the plant is not only keeping up, but has been able to supply the opening orders for the five new dealers they've signed up. Can you believe it? The place is already going to be profitable this month." "That's super, Tiny. Figure out something we can do for the whole plant over there. Let me know what I need to do to show them how great this is." When Tiny was done with me, I passed through the upstairs lunch room and went down the stairs into the motor room. All of the crews were working on new engines, so that means we had orders and we weren't spending time on rebuilds that might have come in on warranty. We probably guaranteed our engines for too many hours, considering how tough they were treated. When I caught Shawna, she was putting some finishing touches on a really classy looking chopper. The bike was so long, low, and sleek, that it looked like it barely cleared the ground. It looked fast and probably was, but these bikes were built for looks, not super speed. Shawna said, "This is for a baseball player over in Bellaire. This is a nice one, isn't it? I have him riding one of the bulldog bikes to get used to the feel. I don't want him instantly wrecking this thing. He'll be coming over this afternoon to pick it up. At least he's going to trailer it home, so I don't have to worry about him today." I asked Shawna, "Chuck say's he trying to get another airplane. If it becomes a reality, I want you and Jimmy to work on it so it is ready to fly as soon as we can get it done. Get the coachman guys from the truck plant to work on the interior, and try to make it as nice as Chuck's. We need that type of aircraft for charter." "We'll make it special, Steve, just like always. Don't worry; we'll even give it a special paint job. Hank and I already have the layout for one that we are just waiting for the right airplane to do it with." With a smile, I gave the little redhead a hug. Shawna was a tough little critter and was always on top of her groups. I don't think she even knows how much she makes anymore, because she has fun working. We try to pay her more than she can spend as she is an important cog in our wheel. My next visit was over at the fiberglass shop to talk about the new nylon and fiberglass product they have been working on. I want to try to build our own light sport aircraft. Maybe even a larger aircraft. This might be tricky, but I think we have the ability to build one of the best composite bodies on the market. Abe's engine should be just about perfect for this light sport venture too. We'll see what the FAA says when we have one to test. The first one we're going to fly is going to be by remote control. We'll see how well it does and put some stresses on it that we wouldn't normally do. Jeff wasn't in the shop, but the wings were up on stands. They were complete, including the winglets that are supposed to give us better fuel economy and stability. This first model will be an air coupe so it will be fewer pieces. I'm trusting everyone to meet all of the criteria that will be necessary, and so far no one seems panicked about the project. They've been considering it as just a toy, but it could be a decent future source of income, especially if we can bring it in under a hundred grand. I'd like to bust fifty thousand, retail, but that might be wishful thinking. I stopped in at the super lift rebuilding area to note that all the bays were full. At least we are staying busy. There were several big lifts outside waiting to be rebuilt. This was good. I looked in Abe's office and only saw his secretary, so I went upstairs to make a few calls. Gene had not been very successful at the track lately and I wanted to know if there was something our engine group could do to help. "Hey, Gene, what's happening?" "Darn, Steve, if I knew how to make the suspension for this new body work better we might win a race. We've been fighting suspension problems all season. Your engines are doing great and the new trannies your group is turning out are tough as nails. We're passing tech inspections, but can't stay on the track or else we're dogging along because we just can't get in the groove. I personally think it's because we moved out of Tampa. I told one of my crew chiefs to go home and build me a car that would win. He says we just need to learn how this new body and frame work with the allowed suspension." I offered, "What do you think if I send Sandy and Mandy up to you to fool with your suspension for a couple of races. They would get a kick out it and they might see something they can modify and stay in compliance. They know how to work with NASCAR, and they do have a good working relationship with the officials." Gene asked, "Can you afford to let them be away for a couple of weeks like that? That's a lot of revenue for you." "I know, Gene, but I can't have the guy that helped me get started lose all season if I can do something about it. I'll send them up in a motor home with a portable shop full of their tools. Let them get into your cars. I'll get them going so they can be up at your next track to meet you Monday." "Great, Steve, if they come up with a winner, I'm going to make you sponsor me so we can share in the glory." "You know I can't sponsor just one guy. All of the teams use us one way or another. I'll work with any of them, but I really want you to win some races this season." Gene was laughing, "Me too. Send the babes up here. It may change our luck." After hanging up, I went down to the motor shop and told Shawna what I was going to do. She smiled and said, "Good, we're not running out of work, but we are catching up. Taking those two out of the mix for a couple of weeks will give us some backlog. Go tell them. They'll be flying high for that job opportunity." I discussed with Sandy and Mandy what I needed and the two told me, "We have about a half-hour left on this engine before testing. Let us finish this one and we'll clean up and get ready. See if we can get an RV and trailer." It was a quick trip back to Abe's area to see if he was back, and there he was. "Abe, I'm sending Sandy and Mandy up to Michigan to help Gene with his suspension problems. They need an RV and the portable shop trailer. Can you fix them up?" Abe was smiling, "Perfect, I want to swap out for that new model Ambassador that just came in. I'll give the girls mine. It's just about brand new and is really nice. I'll bet it's better than almost all the rest of the ones they will be parked next to at the track. I'll go get the trailer hooked up and get their tools in the trailer. Are they going to need parts, too?" "Don't know. We should probably put an entire front end, as well as a complete rear suspension. It would be better if they could do some static tests on test rollers, but they'll have to help on the fly." Abe said, "I'm going to build a static test machine so we can test suspension in the shop. I'll bet we can sell it to those teams if we can duplicate the stresses they have. I'm going to work on that right away." I was shaking my head as that man never quits. He's always into some new project. He's built as near a perfect motor for our carts as can be made. We have two carts in the test lab that have run for over ten thousand hours and they still sound good. Those two engines have run continuously for over fourteen months and still going great. They put a load on both so they are not just sitting running. One is varied from low speed to max high speed on a regular basis and is performing as well as the one that's running at eighty percent power, pulling the same load as a big cart. That's why I think we have an engine for an airplane. That was taken care of, so I checked with my staff and found Deanna fretting over an order that was mishandled by the freight company. She said, "They may not need the parts for the weekend, but they will need them next week for sure. What do you think, Steve?" "Give them to Sandy and Mandy and have them deliver them. They will be there by Monday." Deanna hugged me and said, "Perfect, I'll stuff some T-shirts in the box and they will be happy. Thanks, Steve, you solved my problem." Upstairs, in the massive office, I checked to see if I had any more messages, but I was clear. In that case, since it's almost four on Friday, I'm gonna be history. I checked in with Ruth and Tiny, then headed out. I noticed Sue's car across the street, so I wandered over to see what was up. Sue was upstairs looking at some new fashions that were just coming out. She was showing the seamstresses how great the new top would look. They saw me come up behind her and were giggling. I gave a loud wolf whistle that made Sue spin. She grinned then showed the new top off to me. It looked nice, but you know that to a guy, a top is a top. It covers the goodies. I told Sue I was heading home and she said she would be there shortly. She told me that the new guitar teacher should be on the patio with the family kids that wanted lessons. The teacher was also having a Saturday lesson for other kids in the park that wanted to learn. Sue said, "Bonita is getting a special lesson when the teacher is done with the regular class. Any others that are up to her level can join in as well." I asked, "What about her piano lessons?" "She will have piano on Tuesday's. One day a week should be enough for both guitar and piano. She'll soon have to do some homework or reading, in addition to practicing. She's going to be busy." Smiling I said, "How much studying can a first grader have to do? She's been reading since she was four and is decent with basic math. She speaks Spanish like a native, and can point at almost all of the countries in the world and name them. She's going to be as smart as Tina or Barb." Sue reminded me, "She still has to play. You have to remind her all the time to get outside and play. She sits on the patio, reading books that high school kids read. Juanita even bought her some books in Spanish so she would be used to reading in the language as well. How smart is that?" Just what I need, another whiz kid to go with the others around there. Stevie is really smart, but would rather play baseball than eat. He's always playing ball. At least he's good in school. Between the help from Beth, Missy, and Juanita, all the kids in our extended family are doing really well. Home was a pleasant surprise. Chuck was on the patio having a beer. He said, "I'm going to enjoy this one, but since I have guys spread out all over, I'm only going to have one. The rest of the evening is going to be iced tea." I said, "Just having you around is nice, Chuck. You're a nice extra. Are your ladies coming tonight?" Chuck looked perplexed, "Who knows, the five said they might come out right after work, but they had to talk about it first. Lisa is out on a run and won't be back until late, and Tina is buried in a lab until late. The tall one is making a run home to Sarasota to get some love from her Mom and Dad. That just about covers it, except for Wanda, and John has her monopolized right now." I was laughing, "All those women and I need to loan you one? How bad is that?" "No, no, no loaning of ladies around here. I have my tormentors and you have your lovers. Let me work it out with my group first. Perhaps I'll send a few over for training." With that, we were both laughing hard enough to draw a crowd of Juanita and Kathy. I tried to explain, but it was too silly for Kathy, the mom, and Juanita, the ever observant mate, to comprehend. The Friday night crowd descended upon the patio. There were no special announcements for tonight and the maker of news, Phil, was out of town, enjoying a couple days vacation with his special lady. So this was a peaceful Friday night with all the regulars enjoying visiting with everyone. Bonita finished her lesson and her teacher wanted her to show off, so she came over to Chuck and sat in front of him and picked Yankee Doodle for him, then did a chord progression that Chuck had taught them early on the boats. When Chuck looked confused, Bonita said, "That's all this lady can teach me. She didn't listen when I told her you taught us this already. Please, Chuck, can you talk to her?" Chuck got up and went to the guitar teacher and began a long conversation with her. He had Bonita get some more guitars from the house and began showing the teacher everything he had taught the kids. He had to keep adding to what he was showing her as he had progressed farther with Bonita. The teacher had Chuck in her clutches and kept encouraging him until he was playing some of his favorite blues pieces. The teacher used another guitar and played a background rhythm while Bonita, used to what Chuck played, strummed right along in a harmony that Chuck had taught her. The teacher finally said, "Okay, okay, I'll try to be more progressive. Bonita is only five going on six, and I normally don't teach kids that young. She is a lot farther along than anyone could have expected. I promise, I'll push her, I'll teach her at a faster pace. Does she really play the keyboard that well too?" All of the parents were laughing as we had watched Bonita sitting at the keyboard for hours and hours, learning how to reach keys and chords that were beyond her. The teacher finally said, "I guess she'll have to teach me at what rate she will learn. I'll just consider her an advanced student." It was about seven when Chuck's cell phone rang. Chuck answered and had a discussion that had him becoming alarmed. He was getting up, walking off the patio as he spoke. I followed him to make sure everything was all right. Chuck finished with that call and was about to dial another number, when I asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?" Chuck stopped and said, "Your newest do good guy out here is about to get bent over. That was my favorite attorney, asking me for help. I'm going to take over the case. I need to get the Bureau involved as they have jurisdiction. Steve, I can tell you that Sarah, Mark's, and my attorney, says that what is happening with Mark is totally bogus. Mark Robins has just been arrested for possession of child porn and assault. The county had all the news trucks out there, so this was definitely some kind of setup. Think good thoughts and warn your family and friends to keep an open mind." Chuck left driving cautiously, but you could tell he wanted to hurry. Seconds later I heard tires squealing as they spun to gain traction out on the highway. As I sat down in the patio, Mercy came out and said, "Chuck is really upset. I can tell when he's trying to hide his feelings and his thoughts. What's he so upset about?" I told her, "He said that Mark, you know Mark Robins, the guy who has been helping some of the old folks with their cars, was just arrested at his old house for possession of child porn. He also said something about assault, but I don't know what that is about either." Mercy sat heavily in a chair with her eyes closed and her hands in her lap. She was focusing hard somewhere or with someone. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes, then opened her eyes. She didn't smile, but she did look more relaxed, "We have nothing to fear from Mark. Someone is trying to hurt him. Chuck will help him, I'm sure. We must tell everyone that Mark is innocent." All I could think of was that this was Friday night, not the best time in the world to get arrested. Courts wouldn't even be available to arraign him until Monday. I know they have some kind of video hearings with the judge in one place, and the suspects out at the jail, but I don't know whether they do that on weekends. Chuck knows about stuff like that, I'm sure he'll work out something. Word of what happened to Mark spread through the patio quickly, with everyone reaching the consensus that there was a mistake somewhere. There was nothing any of us could do right then, so we were all at a loss. All of us wanted to help Mark, but none of us knew of anything we could do. At ten, the first of the local channels had their newscast. They didn't have that much, just reporting only that Mark Robins was arrested for possession of child pornography. The detective who was interviewed said they had solid evidence against Mark. That news broadcast left a pall over all of us. We waited for the other channels newscast at eleven. The cable news had not picked up the story yet, and that is unusual as they are often the ones who have it first. The channel we watch the most frequently reported the story with a lot more video than the ten o'clock report. Seeing all the people in the yard in front of the home in the video made it look like a circus. There must have been fifty news people in the front yard. They showed a man and a woman embracing, watching Mark being led away in cuffs. This time, the detective interviewed by the news reporter, said Mark was being held on suspicion of possessing pictures of children in sexual situations. He said there should be more information throughout the weekend. You could tell everyone on the patio watching the news was still stunned. They were discussing the situation and protesting that Mark couldn't be guilty of something like that. Mercy was quietly going from group to group, assuring everyone that Mark was not a child pornographer and would be proven innocent of these charges. Chuck called to tell me that Mark was out of jail and was going to stay downtown in the Marshal's protective custody at the hotel they used for protecting witnesses and relocations. He tried to assure me that the FBI would get to the bottom of this quickly and not to worry. I think everyone had stayed up late to watch the news together, and were now slipping away to go to bed feeling a little better. "Senor Steve, Senor Steve, please tell me this is not true about Mark, tell me this is a mistake, please, Senor." This came from little Maria, a Mexican immigrant who lived in the park and worked at one of Sue's plants. Sue took the little one that Maria was carrying, to let Maria get a hug from me. I told her, "Maria, no one believes this is true. My friend, the Deputy Marshal, is working on the problem right now. He'll help take care of this and prove Mark is a good man." Maria said, "Mr. Mark is a good man, abuelo, a grandpa, ah grandfather to my children. He is a good man and I must help him some way. You tell me how, Senor Steve, tell me how to help mi hero, Mark." I told Maria, "Let me walk you home. You need to get to bed and get your babies to bed too. Come, Sue and I will take you home." Maria was really upset about this. but then Mark had helped her, while so many others had taken advantage of her. She respected that type of man among men. On the way back home, Sue asked, "You don't think Mark could have done something like that do you?" I hugged Sue to me and said, "Not a chance. The man has too many good ways about him to be like that. I'm sure he'll be cleared and back here soon." All of us were hugging, snuggled up with each other. All of us were saying a prayer that was asking for Mark to be found innocent and for him to be all right. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 4 Chuck On the way to the Orient County Jail, I called Frank and then Jan. I told Jan about the deal with Mark. She really didn't know him, but reacted to my voice. She said she would alert her duty people. She asked if Frank was going to meet me. I told her, "Frank is meeting me out at the jail. It might take a little while, but we should be able to get him out of there in a couple of hours. Oh yeah, call our favorite prosecutor and see if he can get the judge to hold a quick arraignment. If we can get that done, we can use some budget to investigate this properly. Frank said you have jurisdiction, as the internet was used to download illegal material interstate. Sounds good to me. Call the prosecutor and see what he can do. Call me on my cell." I met Frank at the jail and we were immediately stonewalled by the clerks, and were refused the opportunity to speak to the prisoner until he was processed. Frank became angry after about an hour and that's when I called the judge who had rescued me when I was put in jail before. The judge said, "Just tell them you are going to shut the jail down. Have a deputy come by the house and I'll give you an order to shut the place down. That should take care of the problem." I was thanking the judge and remembered, "Judge would you mind holding an arraignment in an hour or so? As soon as I get this man out of this jail, I want to get him in some form of protective custody." The judge said, "I owe you one, Chuck, bring your prisoner and the prosecutor to see me, and I'll take care of it in my study." I called Jan to tell her where to bring the prosecutor. She said thanks as judges were always scary as far as she was concerned. Frank was telling the clerk he was going to shut the jail down and the man with him, the Deputy Marshal, was the man that was going to do it. The clerk called the Sheriff and told him what was happening. You could hear the Sheriff yelling through the phone and you could see the clerk melt. About all he could say was "Yes Sir, yes Sir." He did tell the Sheriff he should call the arresting detectives as Frank was demanding all of the physical evidence be turned over to the Bureau immediately. The clerk handed the phone to Frank with shaking hands, and pulled some forms from his counter drawer. I heard Frank say, "I'll have an agent and a deputy at the precinct within fifteen minutes. Every piece of evidence had better be there with the appropriate chain of custody. Make sure there are no holdups." Mark was brought up to the counter in handcuffs and told to stand at a specific spot. Frank filled out a form and signed a couple of sheets of paper. We received Mark's personal property in a large envelope, but it didn't look as if it had anything in it. Mark was handed his clothes and put into a small room to change from a jail jumpsuit. When he came out, Frank asked him, "Do we need to chain you up or will you be a model prisoner?" Mark said, "I'm with you. I'll stick to you guys like flypaper." As soon as we were outside, Sarah came up to us and looked at Mark, "Did they treat you all right? They didn't beat you or anything, did they?" "No Ma'am. Everything was just happening really fast." Sarah handed me something wrapped up in paper towels, "This is the glass that was spilled. You need to have this analyzed to find out what was in it besides wine. You can also get this Steven Bart guy's prints off it. I'd bet you have him in the system. He is just too slick and slimy to believe." I gave Frank the glass and when we reached his car, he pulled an evidence bag out, wrote some information on the outside, then put the paper towel covered wine glass in it. Sarah was holding up a small recorder, she said, "This has all of the conversation on it from the time we left Mark's car at Publix until I was following the detectives out here. There are a couple of things said by Mark's wife that are very interesting. The detectives kept telling her not to say anything else, as Mark had a witness, me. I know it's not admissible, but it might get some answers out of the detectives when you interview them." I told Frank, "Let's get Mark over to the judge's house right away. Sarah, you can come along as a friend of the court if you want. Want to come?" "Right with you, Chuck. I'll follow you two. Lead on." It didn't take but fifteen minutes to get to the judge's home. There we met him in his office, where he did everything just as if it were in a courtroom. I even noted a recording device to record the proceedings. Mark told the judge "Not guilty" and the judge released him without bail. I requested Mark be held in protective custody and the judge went along with it. He filled out the appropriate form, signed it, and said, "Now go do what you guys are supposed to do. Find the bad guys." The judge looked at Mark and said, "You Sir, have found some gold among your misfortune. Make sure you reward those that have helped you." Mark's face reflected the relief he felt. He said, "I will, Your Honor, I will do my best." Frank said he would meet us downtown and took off. Sarah said to Frank then Mark, "As soon as I know you're safe for the night, I'll go home too, but I need to make sure you're taken care of." At the Federal building, downtown I had to check Mark in with the Bureau, then he was released to the Marshal's service as a witness. Sarah walked over to the hotel with us and then said goodbye at the elevator. I left Mark in the hands of the downstairs duty man and told Mark I would talk to him tomorrow, Saturday. I let out a big sigh when I left there. That was too much like the night I was taken to the Orient jail. That was still a bad memory. On the way home, I called Steve to let him know Mark was in protective custody and comfortable. Steve thanked me for letting him know and said he hoped we found some answers. At home, I realized this was Friday night, so the five were probably home or at Brandy's folks' house. Tina had some kind of "Hey, are you almost a doctor" function and Lisa was flying somewhere. I stuck a steak in the microwave to defrost and poked around the leftovers to find some broccoli that wasn't moldy. I pulled some lettuce apart for a salad and made myself a stiff one. Just a couple of swallows had me settling down. I shouldn't let a place like that jail upset me so much, but that had been a close one. Just about the time I was going to fire up the grill, Lena came out from the hallway, rubbing her eyes. She said, "Oh goody, food. You have to teach me how to thaw stuff out in the microwave. Mom taught me to cook but we never have anything frozen except turkey on Thanksgiving. Food doesn't last that long at our house." Startled, I asked, "I thought you were on your way to see your folks down home?" Lena answered, "I'm going in the morning. My sister has some kind of function the family is attending tonight. I'll just go early tomorrow." I pulled another steak from the freezer and began thawing it. There was sufficient broccoli, but we needed something to go with it, so I made some instant rice and heated up some mushroom pieces. I would sauté those and mix them and the broccoli into the rice. That would give some bulk for the giant little girl. She wanted a salad and some wine that was chilled in the fridge. She said, "I don't handle booze very well, so I stick to wine and an occasional beer. I'm really trying to stay on the slim side, so I have to watch what I eat and drink." We ate, devouring our meal. Lena said, "I talked to Mom earlier and she really wants me to come down tomorrow. I'll stay down there tomorrow night, so don't worry about me. I know what she's going to do, too. She'll be trying to feed me every twenty minutes the whole time. I hope she recognizes that I look good without the extra weight. I'm exercising every day and I am strong, just not bulked up like the rest of the women in my family." I watched some TV in the family room and caught the news at eleven. It was unbelievable how many people were milling around when Mark was taken out of the house. The one detective had a shit eating grin on his face. I think we need to talk to him. My cell phone rang, "Johnson." Brandy said, "Oh goody, you're home. Tiani and I will be there in a minute. Can you make us one of those Mojitos that taste so good? We can jump in the hot tub too. That would be perfect." I made two drinks for the girls and a scotch for me. Just to be ready, I went into the bedroom and stripped, putting on a pair of shorts and T-shirt along with my peg. I was much more comfortable. The two came in the house and gave me some kisses and hugs. They were always so happy to see me. These two made the five girls a reality. Brandy was even acting a hell of lot more mature than she had been. I think my trip with Steve was when she changed. Since then, she had been very attentive and acted the part of a devoted friend or lover, or whatever they were going to be. I just love little Tiani. She is just a tiny pixie. Ninety percent of the time, she has a shit eating grin on her face that makes you think she's up to something. She isn't, but I think she wants to be. Her attention to me was sometimes over the top but she tempers that with how much she demonstrates her love for her four friends. When we slid into the hot tub water tonight, Tiani snuggled up to me on one side, while Brandy did the same on the other. Brandy was saying, "Mom and Dad both say hi. The brats asked when you're coming over again. They want to see you play your guitar for them or play our piano. Mom plays but she says she doesn't play anything modern. She mostly plays some classical pieces or church hymns that she enjoys, and a few seventies songs that she sings along with. She'll love the way you sing all of those Ray Charles ballads. You sing so easily, kind of like that Willie guy. You know, the country music guy, Willie Nelson." I laughed, "I wish. Willie Nelson has made a fortune with his gentle delivery. The one thing about doing his stuff is that it's all easy to learn and you can do all of your own accompaniment." Tiani was quiet and said, "I think it's time you met my family. Do you want them to come here, our house, or would you go to my folks' place? If we go there, my older brothers will be more likely to come over to meet you. I have one sister that lives away from home and one younger that is still there. What do you think? Are you up for meeting all of my family?" I didn't hesitate and said, "Set it up, I'd love to meet them. I'm going to probably be busy tomorrow helping the Bureau. If it's just like for dinner Sunday, I could probably do that. If you want a whole day, let's do it next weekend." "Sunday dinner would be good," Tiani said. "Would you go to church with them and me like you do Brandy's folks?" "Sure, I enjoy going to a lot of different churches. It's like the military. The services are non-denominational, except for the Catholic services, and even their priests give non-denominational services out in the field. It always makes me feel good to go to church and be surrounded by people who feel the same. There's a kind of energy there that makes life better." Brandy asked, "Can the rest of us come along or would this be a private thing for just Chuck?" "All of us should go so they know we are a package. I'm sure everyone would think Chuck and I were a couple if we were by ourselves, but if we all go, they'll know the truth. I think it's important for them to know we are a group. You've been home with me lots of times, Brandy. You know how they are. They like all you girls, but they are still wary of me hanging around with a bunch of white girls. It'll be that much harder for them with Chuck. I want them to know that we five girls chose Chuck and we are planning a long term relationship." "Okay, girls, I've been in the tub long enough. Let's dry off and snuggle in bed. I want to feel you both against me." In just a few minutes we were dry, the house locked up, and the three of us snuggled in bed. Tiani didn't last very long snuggled on a shoulder. In just a few wiggles, she was laying on me moving her center slowly over my awakening ego. She giggled and leaned over to kiss Brandy. She said, "I'm getting him ready, you want some of this when I'm done with him?" Brandy looked at me with smoky eyes and said, "Definitely, I think I want some of both of you." She kissed me sexily, while taking hold of me and fitting me into Tiani. Ever so slowly, Tiani slid back and forth until I was completely in her. As she groaned and shivered, she would almost pull off me to kiss me then slide back down to completely capture me. The tiny girl can handle me easily and seems to enjoy having me as deep as I can get. She was soon on short, fast, hard strokes that had her crying out, gushing around our connection, making me want to join her in orgasm. The pixie was pushed up on her hands, using her hips to pound me as she came continuously, drawing my potion from me. As I began coming, Tiani shivered and shook. She whispered, "When it's time, I want to get pregnant just like that. I want all of you in me and I want to pull everything inside of you into me." As Tiani collapsed on me, kissing my chest, hugging me, and still moving her hips stimulating our now gooey, sloppy connection, she said, "Now I'm ready to send you to the moon, Brandy. Taste Chuck and me together and let me make you ready for him." The two girls rolled from me, with them reversed. Brandy was buried between Tiani's legs awhile before raising up and leaning over to suck me into her mouth. Just watching the two had me up again, but Brandy's attention made me all the more ready. In minutes, Brandy was coming from Tiani's ministrations, but she pulled away and lay on her back, begging, "Do it now, fill me, make love to me, Chuck, come inside me and let me feel all of you." There was no going slow with Brandy tonight. She was worked up enough to have her hips in high gear from the first stroke. She had her legs wrapped around mine with her hands squeezing the cheeks of my butt, moaning continuously as we thrashed together. Brandy was beating me to orgasm and was coming hard, but then my insides melted and blasted into her. As we continued until I was empty, Brandy demanded my lips, kissing while we completed our coupling. Brandy stayed wrapped around me and rolled me to our sides. She said, "So good, exactly what I needed. When I have you both, it's perfect. The only thing better is when I have all of us together. Oh, Chuck, I know we are all yours. I love you, Baby, and I know all of us love you the same." Tiani snuggled into my back and said, "I guess I won't describe to Mom how we enjoy making love to our toy. She'd probably enjoy hearing about it, but she might let it slip to dad and he might not enjoy it the same way." Ever so slowly, Brandy and I separated until the two girls' heads were each on a shoulder. Their breathing told me they were both sleeping as I lay there, thinking of these two, along with the three not with us. The thought of these five and my other two strange creatures had a smile on my face as I went to sleep with them. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 5 Steve Saturday Glenda met me in the kitchen this morning as I sat drinking some coffee. "Worried about Mark?" she asked. "Martin had a hard time getting to sleep last night. He just kept saying over and over there was no way Mark did those things." Mercy came out of the bedroom, still nude, and climbed into my lap. She said, "I know Mark isn't guilty. The man is a very loyal and gentle man. Everything I've seen in him has none of those traits. We'll find out that he's not guilty soon, I'm sure." As more people came into the patio, Mercy got up and went to put some clothes on. The patio soon had all of our regulars as if it were a weekday morning, not a lazy Saturday. Mercy, now dressed said, "Let's not go sailing today. I want to stay around home this weekend just to be available. Isn't it funny, Mark's only been out here less than a week and the whole group is worrying over him as if he was an original family member?" Missy had come out and said, "He is, Mercy. The man immediately began helping others. He worked with Crystal and spent almost a day with Dennis in the R&D center. He really didn't even know he was being paid. You saw him when he brought those receipts up here. He was afraid he was going to be stuck with the cost of the parts, too. He didn't begrudge the money; it was that he really doesn't have a lot. Did you know he signed up for food stamps? Since he's been eating over here, he may cancel that, but he was worried about eating." I said, "I think Crystal and I have told him he's being paid for his efforts. I think we'll have to put him on some kind of salary as he's doing something for several people all at once. Abe says he has a lot of good ideas and he wants Mark's opinion on some of his projects." Betty, Shirley, and Caroline came into the patio together. The three ladies got coffee and sat at one of the small tables. Betty said, "I want to know if we, or I guess that's you, Steve, are doing anything to help Mark? There is no way that man is guilty of what was on the TV last night. We should have the cable news on this morning to see what else they might have. Have you been able to do anything, Steve?" I said to the ladies and to everyone else listening, "Our friend, Chuck, called late last night to tell me that the FBI and his office don't think Mark is guilty. The judge who did the federal arraignment released him to Chuck to be put into their protective custody for right now. That just means that Mark is comfortable somewhere and not in a cell. Those people have to do their investigation, so we have to just let things develop downtown." Shirley said, "The man is such a gentleman. He doesn't show it, but he's very hurt by his wife turning on him like she has. I'll bet he's really at odds over everything now. We girls should find out where he is and go visit with him just to let him know we support him." Mercy said, "I think we need to leave him alone right now. The authorities are going to be busy with him, finding out things. When we can go visit him, Chuck will tell us." Martin said, "I'm sure he will, and he just pulled up. I guess he wanted some family this morning out here, too." Chuck came in with Jan, the FBI agent who lived at his house, and smiled at everyone. Another guy came in with them. Chuck said, "Don't worry about Mark. The man is in a nice hotel, being fed and pampered. I'm sure he'll be questioned extensively today, and I'll bet the Bureau will make headway. What do you think, Jan?" Jan was handed a cup of coffee and said as she sat at the bar with Ruth, who was in a sexy Saturday gown, "We have several things in the lab we're working on and we'll know more later today. We have to treat this like any other case though, and question the suspect thoroughly. By lunch today, we'll know which toenail he clips first. Don't worry; the agents know how to be gentle. The only time they get aggressive is if they think a suspect is holding back or making stuff up." Chuck said, "Jan and I thought we might have breakfast with you guys this morning to let you know Mark is being taken care of. We'll take care of him, and we'll get to the truth." Holding up his hand, Chuck said, "This guy is Carter Teaneck. He's a deputy like me and is babysitting Mark's place while he's gone. We want to make sure no one tries to break in while he's in jail. Mark gave us permission to go through his place, so Carter, or someone that replaces him in a little while, will be with you. Mark sent Carter up here as he said you guys were so friendly. Come on, Carter, shake hands with everyone and eat." Someone turned the TV onto the cable news channel. In a couple of minutes, the anchor gave an update on the case. They hinted that there were several leads federal agents were working on, and more information would be released as it became available. Chuck said he was going to his office and would be back to the rec center at ten to give the group lesson he promised. The kids who were up cheered and said they would be there. Jan and Chuck took off, with everyone telling them to find out that Mark is innocent. Carter said his relief should be here soon, so he left to go back to Mark's place. The three ladies, Betty, Shirley, and Caroline, left with him to walk back to their places next door to Mark. Tiny asked me, "Want to go fishing? A couple of us thought we might just wander around in the brushy areas and catch some of the redfish that are schooling." "Thanks, Tiny, but I think I'll just stick around here today. For some reason I think I'll play ball with the kids and just hang around. It might be a good day for us to have a family car wash day or perhaps we'll just play with the hose a while." Saturday's are different around the patio. People come and go all day long. In the early mornings, there is the breakfast crowd. The folks who work leave for their jobs, but the ones who remain hang around, reading the paper, having more coffee, playing a game of chess with someone else. By nine, at least ten kids were in the living room, practicing on their guitars. It was funny to have one of the youngest, Bonita, helping the others with fingering and chords. Bonita assumed the leadership role so naturally that the other kids happily followed her. As ten o'clock approached, the kids were packing their guitars, ready to go up to the recreation building. The early kid program would be over at ten, and then the guitar kids from all over the park would descend for a two hour lesson from Chuck. There was a professional guitar teacher that taught Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, plus the teacher gave separate lessons to those that wanted to progress more rapidly. At lunch time, Chuck and the guitar kids came back to the house. He got me off to the side and said, "We have some positive evidence that Mark couldn't have downloaded the pictures the detectives found on that computer. Jan's people have the computer in the lab and are analyzing it now. By tomorrow, we'll have Mark cleared, and the charges dropped Monday morning." I was breathing easier, but Chuck said, "Don't let all of that out right now. Jan's in the process of picking up some people that will make a difference on the case. Oh, Jan asked me to check to see if one of you guys picked up Mark's car?" "Not that I know of, Chuck. You might ask the ladies over by his place." Chuck said, "I did, his Bronco is missing. Wonder where it is? It's probably just misplaced for right now." The patio was busy this afternoon. Several people were hanging around, watching sports on one of the TVs, playing games, or just snacking and chatting among themselves. Kathy and Juanita were busy getting clothes ready for the next week. Now that the kids were in school, we had ten from our house in grade school. The school was having a problem with our kids, as usual, because Beth, Missy, Susan, Nancy, and Kathy had taught all our family and the extended families' kids how to read before they reached four. All of the kids could write legibly and some were very good with math. Add to that their worldly knowledge, from sailing and flying around the world, and you have some kids that get bored rapidly. They wanted to put Bonita into second grade, but Sue and I thought it best she stay in first grade this year since we already had her a year ahead. She needed to remain with kids near her age. We were having some serious discussions about home schooling. The older kids were all at least one grade up, as were Shawna's, Hanna's, Debbie's, Kate's, and Deanne's kids. It was our fault, but our kids were learning as fast as we could teach them. Sue had a couple of potential home school teachers come by to interview. It was the only day all of the mothers could be there at the same time. They were trying to figure out how to balance getting the kids a good education, as well as having a social life with the kids at school. Sue had been saying ever since Greg, Stevie, and Lizzie started school, that we should be home schooling. Our friends didn't know what to do with their kids either. Sue felt a couple of real teachers could make the difference, but this was going to require a building and a classroom of some kind. This wasn't for just a couple of kids; this was for about two dozen children. Kathy was all for home schooling Bonita, as she was saying, "She's too advanced for the other kids. She leads them around like sheep. If she can lead her brothers and sisters around here, imagine what she does with those kids in school." Mercy's little twin girls, and their brother, Tom, have been potential trouble since they were three. They could get into more mischief than just about any of the others. Poor Mike, the oldest of that group, was forever trying to get them out of trouble. Greg helped out a lot, as did Stevie and Liz. Our six kids that are about the same age including Danny and Manny, Trixie, Dixie, Tom, and of course the youngest, Bonita, were a formidable group. Trixie and Dixie were mischievous, with Tom going along for fun. Manny and Danny were all boy, and wanted to play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, or race their bicycles. Bonita would follow, but as soon as she saw they were getting into trouble, Bonita would end up in the living room, playing her keyboard or her guitar. It was always a giveaway that the other kids were up to something if Bonita showed up to play music by herself. At least one adult would immediately go out looking for the others to keep them out of danger. Anyway, I enjoyed people and kid watching today, and was finally able to get the kids to go up to the pool to join the other park kids for the Saturday splash-a-thon. It was good that I went up there, as the general conversation was about Mark. I had to keep telling people the feds had already found evidence that Mark was being framed. A lot of the folks said they would see, but didn't want Mark around their kids. It was going to take some time to get people to accept that Mark was an innocent man. Saturday evening, Chuck called me to let everyone know that evidence had been found that would completely clear Mark. He asked that we not broadcast it around yet, but by tomorrow the Bureau would make a press release clearing Mark. Mark would still have to go to court to have the charges dismissed, but he would be cleared of everything. Sunday Sometime after Sunday dinner, the cable news channel began reporting Mark had been cleared of all charges and that his wife and her friend were being held for submitting false evidence, downloading child pornography, and two counts of attempted murder each. The friend was a man wanted for several past crimes, including jailbreak. There was something about the wife's friend being in the hospital for something. I never did get what was wrong with him. Chuck called and asked if I could think of a way to let people know Mark was now innocent. He said the local news channels were not as interested in the story any longer because it wasn't as newsworthy. Chuck did say that Mark had a bulldog of an attorney helping with his divorce and was very adept at making people right some wrongs. The folks on the patio were talking about how we could help Mark when Samantha said, "I can do a story, complete with pictures, which would show Mark in a good light. I could interview some of the folks he's helped, as well as Crystal and Dennis, who he has worked with. I'm sure I could get it in both the Tampa and St. Pete paper for Monday morning." I asked, "Could you do a video of the same thing. You could make it with someone from the FBI disclosing Mark's innocence, something from the federal prosecutor's office, a brief interview with Mark, and a couple of short sound bites from people out here at the park. Do both a short version and a longer version so it could be played like one of the magazine articles they have. Perhaps Mark's attorney can put the arm on the TV channels to keep him from suing." Samantha thought and asked, "Where would I get a camera crew fast enough?" I said, "I'll get the kids that put together all of our video advertising. I'll bet they will jump at the chance. Should I call them?" "Do it, I'll call Mark and find out if we can go interview him where he is," Samantha said excitedly. I called the cell phone of the young videographer who had taped several video commercials for us. When I explained what I wanted to happen he said, "I'll come out with my truck right now. We can get some of the locals to comment and then run down to tape your man where he is downtown. I'll be there in twenty minutes." Samantha had sent kids to get Betty, Maria, and Donald and Prissy Krause. As soon as each of the people arrived at the patio, Samantha explained what she was going to do and how she was going to present it. She was shooting still pictures for the newspaper articles when the video truck showed up. I was impressed, as Samantha and the videographer were able to interview a half dozen people very quickly, and were off to meet Chuck downtown at the hotel where Mark was staying. The videographer said he had up-link capability, so he and Samantha would put together a quick newscast release for the evening and late night news, and then present a five minute magazine article for Monday evening follow-up. The park and patio was buzzing with the information that Mark was innocent. Everyone was happy to hear the allegations were not true. Mercy and Missy said, "We can't see into the future, Steve, but we both know Mark will be lucky for you. He has an aura of luck that seems to rub off on people he meets." Luck or no luck, I was happy Mark was being cleared, and that he was going to be able to have some notoriety as the victim, and not the perpetrator. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 6 Chuck Sunday morning, the Fab five and I were up, exercised, fed, and dressed for church early. Before we left for church, I ran to the Bureau office to check on Mark. His attitude was great and he was doing fine. I told him I would see him later and went back home to go to church with the group and Tiani's folks. We loaded up in Frieda's van and drove to Tiani's folks' home where we met Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, and Tiani's younger sister, Michele, whose nick name was "Missile," because she was always going so fast. After a quick cup of coffee, we went to Tiani's church. Frieda, Judy, Brandy, and I were the only Caucasians in the large crowd, but we were welcomed by all that we were introduced to. The service was long and loud, with some very good hymns and some inspiring vocals. The preacher gave a good sermon about good will toward all men and women. After church, Tiani was busy introducing us to what seemed like hundreds of families that wanted to meet us. Back at Tiani's house, I was introduced to Edward, Tomas, and Shetekwa, Tiani's older brothers and sister. Edward and Tomas were average height and weight, but Shetekwa and Michele were tiny delicate pixies like Tiani. Both of Tiani's sisters showed the same independence and stubbornness as she did. While the ladies were getting dinner ready, Edward took the lead in asking me questions about what I did, and what my intentions with their sister were. After he asked about three times, I finally said, "Edward, I'm sure you, your brother, and your dad, all know how single-minded and focused your sister is. I want you to know that I sort of go with the flow with Tiani and her group of five. They are a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure whatever we do will make all of you proud of her." Tiani's dad didn't look all that convinced, but he had a smile on his face. He said, "Chuck, I think you've met your match with Tiani and her friends, just like I met my match with Tiani's mother. She told me we were going to get married after I finished college, and I didn't even know I was going to college. Well, I did, and we did. Edward came along first because she said it was time for us to start a family. I can tell you that some of my friends say I'm," and his voice got real low, "pussy whipped, but I can tell you I'm happier than anyone else I know. All three girls are head strong just like their mother. None of them are very big, but they are mighty big when they say something. Good luck, Son, I hope you work out with Tiani and her friends." Tomas was smiling the whole time his dad was talking. He only offered, "Those three sisters of mine have always been able to get their way. It wasn't bad or anything, but when they made up their minds, you might as well go along. Tiani's the strangest of the three, so it's no wonder she brought you home. It's just like her." I told the girls and Tiani's family that I needed to leave after dinner because I was involved with a case at work and needed to check in and be available as things developed. When we left, I told Tiani that I thought she had a special family and I was happy to meet them. She was smiling happily and said, "Mom really likes you, as do Missile and Teeky. The girls are planning on coming over to have supper with us at our house, or your house, depending on where we are at the time. It'll be fun." A little later, when I heard from Steve that one of his friends out in the trailer park was putting together newspaper articles and taping a TV news spot, I called Sarah to get her involved. She showed up at the hotel in time to witness Mark being videotaped, then spent time on the phone coercing the TV channels to use the video as part of their evening and late night news. When the excitement died down, I was able to go over the evidence the Bureau had, and hear about the confrontation between Mark and Drew Kerrington, the real name of the guy we knew as Steven Barts. This guy was a real jewel, as he had an endless rap sheet of past charges and convictions. How he had managed to escape previously was still in question. Jan showed me the video of Barts, or Kerrington, trying to hit Mark and how Mark had ducked and pushed his attacker into a door frame. It was a lucky or unlucky push, depending on whose side you were on. Jan also said that Mark's wife was telling all, and said she was really only guilty of being greedy and gullible because she listened to this Kerrington guy. I was glad this was taken care of. The Marshal Service has enough to keep up with, considering the witness protection program and working the immigration problems we've had lately. We don't need something like this too. Mark would be cleared in court in the morning and that would be that. Personally, my plate was full since Bud was narrowing down who was sponsoring our escapees. Sunday night, the girls all snuggled with me, and invited Tina and Lisa into bed. While we were kissing and enjoying the feel of our skin against another, I realized the super tall Lena had somehow sneaked into the fray. I pulled her to me and kissed her gently, but told her, "Lena, you are a sweetheart and that's what I want you to remain, my sweetheart. I want you to be my special friend, but not my fucking friend. Please let us just be special friends." "I suppose I should be happy with seven ladies to enjoy," Lena said, a little melancholy. "You just present something I can't have, so I want it all the more. I'll be good, Chuck, I promise. Hear that girls? Help me keep that promise." Lisa was snuggled into me on one side, and Brandy on the other, as I fell asleep. Monday morning was busy as Lisa had an early flight and Tina had an eight o'clock class. I wanted to go to Mark's hearing this morning, but had to make several calls to ensure that Bud and his group were set up in their new quarters. I needed to get my head straight so I could decide on the best way to proceed. A plan was forming, but it wasn't developed yet. Just after nine, my cell phone rang. Jan was frantically calling to tell me Mark had been shot in the courtroom by the prisoner Drew Kerrington. Mark had hit Kerrington in the head with a chair and had split his skull, killing him. She said that Mark was being taken to the hospital. I said, "I'm on my way. To what hospital, Jan?" She answered quickly, "Tampa General was the closest, and they have a decent trauma center. I'll be over there as soon as we get this place cleaned up. You wouldn't believe it. Mild mannered Mark picked up a chair and hit Kerrington smack on the head. The gun went off as he hit him. Kerrington overpowered his guards as they were changing his restraints to regular cuffs for court. We were lucky that Mark acted so quickly, or who knows how many people could have been killed or wounded." "I'll meet you later, Jan. I'm going to call out to the trailer park to tell the folks out there what's happening. They will probably want to be at the hospital for him." What a cluster fuck it is to let a prisoner get hold of a weapon, and in court to boot. I want to be sure to view the security video of this one to see how the deputies, acting as bailiffs, let Kerrington get the drop on them. While I headed to Tampa General, I called Steve's cell phone to tell him about Mark. He said he would be on his way as soon as he went by his house. At the hospital, I inquired about Mark and was advised he was in surgery. The guy sure has had some problems. A regular type guy, suffering through a divorce, then being charged with child pornography, willingly goes through two days of intense interrogation, has an altercation in federal offices that leaves the prisoner with a bump on his head. Then, the next day, after being cleared of all his charges, he has to defend himself and a whole courtroom full of people by actually killing the man. This will make some news. From hated pornographer to hero in forty-eight hours. Steve, Mercy, and Samantha, the girl who was doing the video news clips, came in. Steve said that some friends of Mark's had gone through his address book and called his son out in Cheyenne. Steve said the ladies told him Mark's son happened to be in Mobile, Alabama and was going to be on his way here immediately. Sometime near eleven, they wheeled Mark into a room. I had flashed my badge and we were all waiting in the room to see Mark when he got there. We sat around until almost noon, when Mark started waking up. I went for the nurse and doctor to advise them, and went back to the room. Mark seemed to be in good spirits when he woke up and was surprisingly alert. He didn't act like he was in pain or very uncomfortable. I guess he was a tough old bird. The doc checked him out, and then the nurse got Mark some broth for lunch. Since Mark ate that so easily, she hunted up some chicken salad that Mark ate with crackers. It was just about three, when Mark's son, Gene, walked into the room. He was a taller, bigger version of Mark, with the same grin on his face. You could see the love he had for his dad and started making a case to take him home with him to Cheyenne. The doc came back in to re-examine Mark and advised him that if he could get out of bed and wander up and down the hallway, he would let him go home in the morning. The doc did say Mark would need someone to watch out for him and that he wasn't to be active until he was checked at the doc's clinic. A major debate erupted when Mark told his son that he wanted to stay here. It took a while, but Steve and Mercy convinced Mark's son that they would take care of him. I was glad this was working out, as Mark had a real case against the Marshal Service for letting the prisoner get hold of a gun. Our liability was huge. If he was satisfied with his situation, he may just let it go. I left the hospital and called Wanda as soon as I was outside. She told me nothing new had come up, but I needed to conduct some form of training for court bailiffs. I called Sarg and asked him to work out a schedule so we could have some classes for all of the deputies assigned to bailiff duty. At home, I used up all my pent up anxiety on the treadmill, lifting weights, and swimming as hard as I could. Lisa joined me in the pool and was swimming as hard as I was. The Fab Five showed up right after five, with Nancy announcing her Mom and Dad were coming for dinner. Brandi said that her Mom and Dad were coming also, and would I possibly make my special chicken Marsala. The girls produced multiple boneless chicken breasts that had already been trimmed and sliced in two. I showered quickly and was in the kitchen with Nancy, Frieda, and Judy helping me. They were getting some asparagus and rice ready, along with making some pudding. I seasoned the chicken, getting it ready to broil, then began making a very large batch of Marsala sauce. Brandi and Tiani had the big table expanded with both extensions and covered with a white tablecloth. There were nineteen chairs at the table, that's a herd. They were happily making drinks for everyone who was gathering in the family room. John and Wanda, Dennis and Marie, Jan and Don, Lena, Tina, and Lisa were chatting, waiting for the guests. The pregnant trio were sipping fruit juice, but kept my glass of Beefeaters topped off. They knew I was nervous about the parents showing up. Somehow, I had a difficult time thinking parents were going to accept their daughters joining into a polygamous relationship, complete with getting pregnant. Just about the time the Marsala sauce was thickening, Mr. and Mrs. Atom showed up. Nancy is not a large girl and Mrs. Atom was not large either, but Mr. Atom was huge, probably six five and big, not fat, just big. He walked in smiling, and as Nancy cuddled under one of my arms, he stuck his hand out and said, "So you're the one my little Nancy has decided on. You're a lucky man. Julie thinks you're special too." While my mouth was open in awe of his size, I finally recovered and said, "Welcome to our home, Mr. Atom. Can we get you and Mrs. Atom something to drink?" He smiled broadly and said, "I'm Sam, and Julie wants you to call her Julie. If that's gin you're drinking, I'll join you. Give Julie some white wine or any kind of fancy drink, and she'll be fine too." Nancy left me to go give her dad a hug, then did the same with her mom. The other four girls crowded around the Atom couple while I quickly got them a drink. I turned the heat for the sauce almost off, then was handing the drinks out when Brandi's folks just walked in the door. It was immediately obvious that the Atom family and the Carter family were acquainted, as they were hugging and shaking hands. After I greeted the new couple, I checked on the food prep and went out to turn on the grille. Back inside, Brandi and Nancy were introducing all of our housemates, while Frieda, Judy, Lisa, and Lena were putting salads on the table, along with putting some filled wine glasses to go with the salad. As the initial excitement of everyone arriving settled down, I suggested we start on the salads. As we sat, Mrs. Atom took the hands of the person on each side of her and asked, "Can you say grace, Chuck? This is a special occasion." When the eighteen people held hands and bowed their heads with me, I asked for the food we would receive to be blessed. It must have been the right words, said correctly, as both Mr and Mrs. Atom said, "Amen." While we started our salads, I jumped up and put the chicken on the grille. Perhaps it was too much, but there were forty slices of chicken breasts, so each could have an entire half a breast. We ate our salads and then the Fab five began ladling out asparagus and rice on plates, while I brought in the chicken breasts. Lisa, Lena, Jan, and Marie were picking up the salad bowls and putting them in the sink. I laid two slices of breasts on the bed of rice and Frieda generously spooned out the sauce on top the breasts. We served dinner surprisingly fast. The conversation was light and happy throughout the meal, with Nancy having to explain how the girls and I were going to work our relationship. Dan Carter gave me a couple of raised eyebrows while Jane, Brandi's mom, kept a confused look on her face. Sam Atom turned to me, as he wiped his mouth with his napkin, and laid it next to his empty plate, "I'm told you're in a very dangerous occupation. Have you considered how to take care of these girls, and what looks like a bunch of kids, if something happened to you?" Before I could say anything, Dan Carter said, "You have to stop by the house on the way home. I have a video of one of Chuck's captures. You won't believe it." Sam turned back to me and looked at me questioningly. After taking a deep breath, I said, "I am setting up separate trusts for each of the children. I am going to be less active in the field as I do want to be a good dad to the kids as they get older. I'm a little overwhelmed by all this, as you are." Nancy quickly said, "Dad, Chuck didn't really have a chance to have an opinion. We five girls made up our minds and chose Chuck to be the father of our children. He has four coming, and hopefully a lot more. We'll take care of our children; we will be good mothers and parents." Mrs. Atom, bless her soul, came to my defense, "Sam, you know these five. When they've made up their minds, that's what happens. They bought that big house on their own, without any of our help, and they've never put the arm on us for a single dollar since they've been employed." Mr. Atom sat back and looked at me, then the five girls, and said, "So, you girls have picked this guy to be the father of your kids, are any of you going to make an honest man of him?" Nancy was grinning, "We'll be his harem, Daddy, and he'll have lots of babies to love along with us. We may even add to the harem, just to make sure Chuck is taken care of." Dan coughed, Jane choked, Julie gasped, and Sam brought his giant hand over his face in an expression of disbelief. The other housemates were all laughing as they had heard this scenario before. Frieda stood quickly and said, "We have some great dessert. Let's clean off the table, girls, and serve the pudding. Chuck and Lisa, why don't you get some instruments out here and serenade us while we have our dessert." Lisa looked at me and winked, so we got up and agreed that acoustic guitars would be best for some gentle music. I got out my Blues King, while Lisa brought out her ancient Gibson. We tuned them quickly, then walked into the kitchen. We sat on the tall chairs at the counter and began playing some gentle jazz. We played "Lullaby of Birdland" first, as we had been practicing that for fun. Then it was time to give them a taste of what we really played. We did "My Baby Don't like the Blues," followed by a Hendrix special "Hear my Train a comin." We traded back and forth singing the lyrics. This surprised everyone in the house, as they didn't know Lisa and I had been playing together so much. We finished with "We Still Got the Blues." When we finished and looked up, Julie Atoms was grinning and Sam was sitting there stunned, with tears running down his cheeks. Dan had his arm over Jane's shoulders as they both grinned. Nancy spoke up, "See, Daddy, this boy has soul. Now maybe you'll watch some of those videos we gave you." Lisa and I put our guitars down and sat at the table. Mrs. Atom said, "Just like before, but this time you have help. Honey," she was addressing Lisa, "you sure do sound like that lady who passed away. I can't think of her name." I said, "You're probably thinking of Cass Elliot, Mama Cass Elliot." Mrs. Atom said, "That's the one. She kind of has that same soft drawl like Peggy Lee did on her singing too." The Carters stood and Dan said, "I have a big day tomorrow and we left the twins home alone. We should be getting back. Sam, Julie, come with us. Stop by the house so we can chat about this a minute." Mr. and Mrs. Atom stood, and Mr. Atom said, "Chuck, the meal was delicious, and the music was special. This has been an enlightening evening. You'll have to come over for dinner soon so we can continue some of these discussions." There were many hugs and handshakes as the five said goodnight to the two couples. When they were out the door, the five girls began high fiving each other. I had to ask, "What's that about?" Nancy answered, "Don't you see, that's three of the parents that have accepted you as our man. Mama always thought I was going to be some gay lady, with only a partner, for the rest of my life. I showed her, I have four partners, and now I have a man and perhaps a couple more partners. All we have is Judy's mom, and if Frieda wants, her folks." Frieda said, "When I told my mom I was pregnant she wanted me to come home to live right away. I told her I had a home, and I could introduce her to my friends and the father of my twins, if she wants. She said she wants to see me, but she didn't know about my dad. He's the one who ran me off in the first place. We'll see." Judy said, "Mom is going to love Chuck. She'll probably try to steal him. I'll call her and set something up. Come on, you guys; let's get these dishes cleaned up." All of the women began on the table and dishes while we guys took some chairs back upstairs to the big apartment and throughout the house. We usually only had ten chairs at the big table. I turned on the cable news to see what was being reported, now that Mark Robins had been cleared and had become a hero. They had a neat report, complete with interviews with people from out at the trailer park, and some local leaders. Even the judge gave a brief interview, lauding Mark for saving everyone within the courtroom. This was going to work out. Jan was standing with me watching and she said, "The Bureau did their job in finding the true perpetrators. I'm glad it worked out for Mr. Robins." Later in the evening, my five ladies had me surrounded on the big bed, but Tiani got up and came back in, pulling Lisa and Tina behind her. Tiani said, "Will you please tell them they make us a set. Tina was studying, but she needs her rest too, so will you make love to them and put them to sleep with us?" I held out my hands to the two girls and they came to be with me. I didn't get a chance to make love to them as the five girls devoured the newcomers. Tiani had shut the lights off and we only had the glow of the bathroom light with some soft jazz playing on the speakers. It is always a pleasure to watch the girls love each other. I know they will remember me in time, but between then and now, I had a front row seat to witness some rare passion. I fell asleep watching and waiting. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 7 Steve Monday As soon as everyone was eating breakfast this morning, I checked with Abe about the engine he had been working on for our entry into the light sport aircraft market. So far, the engine showed it was generating between 115 and 125 horsepower. This would put it in competition with the Rotax 914 or the Continental engine. We knew that the Rotax engine retailed for about thirty five grand and the Continental for around twenty, but Abe figured we could sell ours, fully certified, for somewhere around fifteen and still make a big profit. The engine plant was building several small four cycle engines for carts, but our work in certified engines for aircraft was a new field. There were several hurdles for us to work on. What I really needed is a real aeronautical engineer, someone who could guide us in all of the phases leading to our goal. John and Wanda were having breakfast with us this morning, so I asked him where I should look for the type of person I thought we needed. He suggested Craig's list, as there might me someone unemployed out there who would enjoy working with us. John said, "You guys are always doing something different and fun, just like you've given me a new life and a second career." I went inside to pound on the computer for a while. After looking through Craig's list for some time, I created a job description for someone interested in building a new Light Sport Aircraft. There were some specific requirements, such as; experienced in aircraft design, familiarity with FAA regulations, and a full understanding of the requirements to certify aircraft and aircraft engines. They would need to live in or near Tampa, Florida during employment. I was smiling to myself, as this was the first time in all the time S&S had been in existence that we had to advertise to find a person we needed. Everyone who had joined us to date had been recommended by someone else. John told me to make sure I talked to Jimmy and his dad as they had a wide acquaintance with people in the industry. Kathy joined me on the patio and asked, "Steve, I'm really thinking about home schooling all of the kids. None of them, not a single one, is being challenged at school. We pushed to get Bonita into first grade early and she is still bored with the slow pace, and is getting into trouble with her teacher. The teacher wrote this note to me yesterday, read it. Dear Mrs. Sharp, Your daughter brought a Harry Potter book to school today and pretended she was reading it instead of one our library books the children were supposed to be reading. You need to be aware of your child's deceptive nature and work to curb her dishonesty at an early age. Mrs. Camp First Grade After reading the note and holding back my anger, I said, "I think we need to go see this Mrs. Camp. She needs to learn about our children and all of the children out here." "Steve," Kathy said obviously upset, "Bonita can read, you know that. We've all taught her just like we've taught all the kids to read as quickly as they could learn. The boys spend more time playing outside sometimes, but when they have quiet time, they read older kids' books as well. The kids in the daycare are getting the same treatment and are learning to each of their abilities. Kate is an amazing teacher. She has women helping her that are just as capable. That's why I want to develop a home school for our kids. If we do this right, we can get on one of our boats and sail away to anywhere we want while teaching our kids more than they could ever learn in school. I know we need to be here too, but I want to be their teacher for a while." I asked Kathy, "Have you talked to Sue, Mercy, and the other moms?" "Yes, I have. All of them agree that we need to do something. They just don't know whether to take the plunge and attempt home schooling. Sue and Mercy both want to be involved. Sue says she has capable management at the clothing companies now and would be able to devote as much as two to three days every week, if needed. Mercy says she can help every day, and you know how Juanita is, she has all of the kids speaking Spanish as well as a native. That's another thing they have gotten in trouble at school for. Greg and Stevie were speaking in Spanish in front of a teacher. She thought they were talking about her, but they both told me they were planning on getting back at a bully who was trying to push Lizzy around. All the kids stick together, and when they are trying to keep others from listening, they speak Spanish. Most of the kids know how to sign to Bob and use that to tell each other things. It drives the teachers nuts." I was grinning at how devious little ones can be and said, "What you and all of the moms decide is fine with me. Teaching all of these kids is a big responsibility to take on. You'll probably need to use the rec building and set it up in various groups. You'll have kids from Bonita's age up through what, around twelve? You might want to limit the age groups to those ten and under. Say up through fourth grade." Sue had come up and sat with us, "I think we could teach any of the kids that live out here whose parents would want us to. I know we would teach them more than they are learning at school. I understand there are social benefits for kids in school, but these kids interact with each other very well. You know we can have a music program for them that could be very beneficial to all of them. We would definitely give them better physical training than they get now. I think we should try it, Steve." Still smiling I said, "Like I was telling Kathy, Sue, you guys should do what you think is right. I'll be supportive of whatever you decide." I had taken off and was heading to the R&D center when my cell phone started buzzing away, so I pulled it out to see who was calling. It was Chuck. "Hey, Chuck." "Steve, I needed to call you. Mark Robins has just been shot. He's being taken to Tampa General. From what I'm told, he's critical, but should pull through." I asked, "How in the hell did he get shot? I thought he was in court this morning." Chuck said, "He was, and from what I've been told, the guy who set Mark up overpowered a bailiff and took away his weapon. Mark was apparently defending himself and the courtroom when he was shot. I don't have the details, but I was told Mark hit the guy with a chair and killed him. I'll know more later. I just wanted to tell you about it." "Tampa General, right?" Chuck answered, "Right, Tampa General." "I'll get some of the family and we'll get down there right away," I said. Chuck said, "Okay, Steve, I'll meet you there. I'm on my way right now." I turned around and headed back to the patio. As soon as I related what was happening, Mercy said she would go with me, as Sue had an appointment. Samantha was still on the patio and said, "I want to go to. Mark is a really good person. This might be an even better story. Is Chuck going to be there?" "Ever the news reporter, aren't you, Sam?" I was smiling as Samantha was blushing. Mercy said, "Let me talk to Shirley, Betty, and Caroline. They might know who to contact for Mark. We can stop by there on the way out." When we stopped down at Betty's trailer and knocked on the door, Betty, Caroline, and Shirley came out of Shirley's place to see what was up. You could see they were all upset when they heard what had happened. I had to discourage them from going to the hospital now. Betty said, "We'll go look through his desk to see if we can find a phone number for his son. Mark says his son lives out in Cheyenne. We'll call him, Steve. You go make sure Mark is taken care of." Mercy, Samantha, and I went out to Davis Island where Tampa General is located. When we asked at the emergency room desk, the nurse said that family was to wait in the surgery waiting room. It was only ten in the morning, so this had to have happened as soon as court was in session this morning. While we were getting settled, Chuck came in with Jan, the FBI bureau assistant. Jan told us, "I have to get back to the office to fill out all of the reports, but before I go I'll make sure the hospital knows we will pick up the tab for all of Mr. Robins' expenses. We're so lucky he isn't hurt worse than he is and that no one else was injured." We talked for about an hour before a doctor in scrubs came out and told us Mark was in recovery and would be put in a room soon. He gave us a room number and told us we could wait for Mark there. The doc assured us Mark was doing fine and was in remarkably good condition. That news made us feel better, so we went to the fifth floor and advised the nurses' desk of who we were. They showed us Mark's room, but they cautioned us that four people at one time might be too much activity for someone fresh from trauma surgery. It must not have been too many most of the time, since there were five chairs in the room. I called home as soon as we were in the room. Glenda answered and said, "Good that you called. Betty found out that Mark's son Gene was in Mobile. His wife said that Gene would be on his way as soon as she got hold of him." "That's good news, Glenda, thanks. I'm not supposed to have my cell phone on in the hospital, so I'll give you a call again in a little while. So far we know that Mark is out of surgery, in recovery, and the doc says he is doing fine." I had just shut off my phone when a gurney was wheeled into the room and Mark was transferred into the regular bed. He was dozing and didn't even wake up while being handled. About ten minutes later, Chuck and Mercy noticed Mark waking up. Mercy went to him and Chuck took off for the nurse's station. A nurse came in, then the doctor. Mark surprised everyone by becoming very lucid and alert. He was funny as he already wanted water first and food second. They only gave him ice to crunch up. He quickly went through a cup of ice that Samantha had found for him and asked for more. The nurse told Mark she would get him some soup for lunch, and if he kept that down, she would hunt up some chicken salad. We were all feeling better about Mark when a taller, heavier, version of Mark walked in the door. He only glanced at everyone else and went straight for Mark. This must be Mark's son, Gene. Gene wanted Mark to come home with him as soon as possible, but Mark kept telling Gene he needed to stay around Tampa and where he was living. When the doc came back and told Mark that he could go home tomorrow if he was able to get around on his own, Mercy assured Gene we would take care of Mark as long as he needed us. She told him, "You come stay with us too, Gene. See how much of a family we are to him here. You'll see that he will be very well taken care of." Mark told everyone to go have lunch and to check with him later this evening or tomorrow morning as he was planning on getting out of the hospital then. We all did leave, after making sure Gene had directions to the trailer park, as Mark told Gene to stay out at his place while he was in town. The day was pretty well shot, so we all ended up on the patio having an early drink. Samantha was busily typing on her laptop, creating a story for the early news. Mercy was busy organizing a room for Mark to stay in. Glenda said we had better be prepared for Betty, Shirley, and Caroline to become near permanent fixtures while Mark was here. Gene did come to the patio for some beer and supper. The longer he was here, the more he was smiling, saying he now understood why his dad wanted to stay here. Mark's three ladies made over Gene as if he were royalty. Gene was laughing as he said, "Dad never was a ladies' man. Something must have come over him out here since he has three waiting for him to come home." I did learn from Gene about his and Mark's experience as pilots. I was impressed that Mark had been flying for so long and used to give lessons at the old executive airport near here. I guess there was a lot to learn about Mark. Tuesday morning, the patio was buzzing about Mark coming home. Don and Prissy, an older couple who are also Mark's neighbors joined Mark's three lady friends this morning. Everyone wanted to help but didn't know what to do. Gene was amazed at how so many people kept coming by the patio asking about Mark. We did go down to the hospital around nine so we could be there when the doctor came around. We had just arrived when the doc stopped in, and after a brief examination, said Mark could go home as long as he had people to take care of him. In very little time, we had Mark out in Kathy's van and on the way home. We first took Mark by his place so he could get some clothes. Gene said he would bring his dad to the patio and did so a little while later. Lots of people kept coming by to make sure Mark was fine, and after lunch, Mark told Gene to go home as he needed to be at work, not babysitting him here. Gene did leave early to fly back home. It would be a long flight, but Mark wasn't worried about him, as he said Gene was a very good, very experienced pilot. I went with Gene to airfield to see him off and to see the airplane he and his dad were so proud of. Mark had a nap in the afternoon, which made everyone relax. Sue and I were able to go do some work instead of worrying over one of our extended family that had been hurt. It's funny how Mark had instantly become part of us, but that's the way it is at the park. You are instantly a part of the family if you want to be. At our evening gathering, Ruth told me, "You might have gotten lucky. A man from Melbourne called about your Craig's list job. He has been working for the military aircraft armament section of Scientific Atlantic. They have temporarily closed that entire group and he wants to apply for your engineering position. I think you should interview him as I don't have a clue about what he was talking about. If you want, I'll make an appointment with him. He said to call him any time, and he would come whenever you could talk to him." I thought for a second, then said, "If he said any time, call him now and see if he can come for an interview tomorrow. I'm available almost anytime." Ruth was immediately talking on her cell phone and waved at me. She handed me the phone and said, "You talk to him. You'll be able to give him directions better than anyone else." "This is Steve." The country voice on the phone said, "Hi there, this is Wes, the guy who you need to hire to help you build your light sport plane. Can you tell me what airfield would be closest to come into? I'll fly over in the morning and rent a car to come to the interview." That put a smile on my face. "No need to rent a car. I'll meet you at the airfield. Look at your chart and you'll find a maintenance and training field near Lutz. When you land, you'll see the S&S buildings. Taxi over there and we'll tie you down or put your plane in the hangar. What are you flying?" Wes answered, "Right now, I have an old Piper Aztec. It's too much plane for me, but for a while I was ferrying around a lot of people. It isn't as economical as the turbocharged models, but it was at the right price when I bought it." "Just go into the charter office. Someone will come get you. What time do you think you might come in?" There was a pause, then Wes said, "If you don't mind, the earlier the better. I'm really a little desperate. I've been delivering pizzas to keep from completely draining my savings. Jobs for engineers are a little hard to come by." "Tell you what, Wes, we get up early here. Coffee and breakfast begins around six, so any time after that. Like I said, just let me know when you get here." "I'll be there between six and six-thirty," Wes said. "I like to get an early start and like I said, I want this job. Not only because I need it, but it sounds exciting." "That's great, Wes, I'll meet you out at the airfield." When I handed the phone back to Ruth, I said, "Hopefully, we've found someone for the project right away. If you got his whole name, do a background check on him real quick so we know whether we can offer him a job." Ruth was smiling and holding up her notebook. "I have all his vitals right here. I'll go get started on it right now." Ruth walked into the house to use one of the computers inside. As he sipped his beer, Tiny said, "So you're really going to start another company? Don't you know there's a recession going on? Everybody is laying off people, not hiring them." "I can't stop progress, Tiny. We have the airframe and a sample composite body almost ready. Abe has the engine ready and tested. What we need is someone to make sure we're following all the correct engineering and FAA certification rules. I want the airplane to stay in the air after it takes off, and there is a lot about building an airplane I don't know. Fastest way to learn is to get someone that knows how to do it to teach us." I sat back with a smile on my face, as I knew this was another little project that was coming together. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 8 Steve Wednesday morning, I was up, dressed, and out at the airfield by six. I was sitting in the charter office, monitoring the radio, when I heard Wes' voice on the radio, requesting permission to land. Operations gave him permission along with wind conditions. I stepped out of the office to go watch the small twin come in. The plane did a smooth approach and a smoother landing. The plane turned onto the taxiway and came back toward the hangars. One of the night maintenance guys had seen me watching the incoming aircraft and came out to join me. "Waiting for someone, Mr. Sharp?" "Yep, George, this might be my new engineer for the light sport I'm trying to build. If you would, take care of the tiedown for me or push it in one of the hangars while he's here." George said, "Both of the G5s are out so I'll just push it in with the Lears. Should I fuel it?" "Let the man tell you what he wants to do. It's his airplane." George nodded and walked out to use his wands to direct the approaching airplane to where he wanted the plane to park. Wes followed George's directions and had the Aztec spun around in front of an open hangar. An average height guy stepped out of the cockpit onto the wing. The first thing you noticed was the alligator cowboy boots. The man pulled a briefcase and a sport coat from the plane, then stepped down to the ground. He put his briefcase down and slid the coat on, then with briefcase in hand, he walked up to me. I stuck out my hand and said, "Steve Sharp." The man took my hand, "Wes Miller." "Glad to meet you, Wes. Come on, unless you need to use the facilities, let's go get some coffee and breakfast." "Sounds like a plan, Steve, I'm ready." Back at the patio, I introduced everyone to Wes then settled down with him at one of the little tables. He produced a resume and a bunch of papers. While I read what he had brought, Tiny had begun chatting with him to find out where Wes came from and what he wanted to do in life. Wes had a master's degree in aeronautical and aerospace engineering. His working background had been almost exclusively aerodynamics of weapons systems, mostly rockets fired from naval vessels, fighters, bombers, and rotary wing aircraft. He had been working at Scientific Atlantic for ten years, his first job out of college. Ruth handed me her dossier on Wes, and I looked through it to quickly note there were good blank spaces for police records, but also a blank space for spouse. Included in his personal papers were recommendations from all of his supervisors from Scientific Atlantic. All of these would be easy to confirm. I gave them to Ruth who knew exactly what I wanted. "So tell me, Wes, what do you know about light sport aircraft?" "I helped build a couple of experimental aircraft but they were more like kites than airplanes. I recently helped complete a light sport amphibian kit that has been certified. Before we began, I researched all of the rules and regulations for this type of aircraft. With my background in aerodynamics and hands on experience building light sports, I think I would be a good choice for your company." He was eager. "Eat some breakfast, then I'll give you a look at what we're doing and what our goals are." Mark was feeling good this morning and was being attended to by everyone. Martin had taken him over to his trailer to get his medications and to bring his cart back. It looked like Mark was going to be able to function by himself. With his neighbor ladies, I would doubt if he would be by himself all that much. Mercy was saying she would take him to the doctor's office next door to be looked at before any decision about where he would be staying would be made. About eight, I took Wes in my truck over to the R&D center. I took him to the environmental rooms and showed him the engines being tested. There were cart engines and our future certified aircraft engine in each room. One of the rooms was blowing hot sand, one was full of dust, and then the killer room was full of ocean salt spray. All three rooms were more extreme than anyone would ever be using the equipment in; but then, what better way to know whether the equipment would hold up. The array of monitors in front of each window was impressive. Wes said, "Your aircraft engine sort of resembles a Continental and Rotax. Do you have a turbo engine?" "Not yet," I answered, "this engine is putting out around a hundred and twenty-five horses. A turbo would be too hot for a light sport, so we'll stay with this one for right now. We will continue to develop a turbo for larger aircraft; but we need to walk before we run." Wes nodded in agreement. Next we drove to S&S' main offices. It's always impressive to walk into our showroom to see a stock car hung from the ceiling, along with a couple of motorcycles and a golf cart. The array of equipment we now make is pretty impressive. I showed Wes around the main shop, including the motor room. That is always one of the more impressive places. So clean, everything in place, while a team worked on perfecting another engine. As we walked through the sheet metal and frame area, Wes commented, "You obviously do a lot of work for the racing crowd. I guess I should have researched your company before coming. I'm impressed." As we entered the compressor and generator rebuild area, you have to be impressed with the beautiful white walls and floors that surround the individual work areas that have nasty old equipment being rejuvenated. As we walked out the door Wes pointed at the sign, "Is it Perfect." "Your mottos around here are really motivating. Your shops all look brand new, but I can tell they aren't. You keep them amazingly clean, but that has to be a great atmosphere to do the perfect work you talk about." As we walked over to the neighboring huge building, I answered, "That is the reason we are still in business and have not laid off one person during this recession. We have encouraged some folks to retire, but not one layoff." We walked over to the storage area next to the fiberglass shop. On the outside wall were all of the cars that folks were putting together, their personal projects in various stages of restoration and creation. In the back were newly rebuilt lifts of various sizes, and on the left side was the fuselage and wings of the aircraft we wanted to build. "Pick up one of the wings. That will give you an idea of how light this aircraft will be. We should be lighter than the Gobosh 700 or 800. Our engine is a little hot, so we need to make a smaller version similar to the Continental 0-200D or the Rotax 912." Wes did pick up a wing and was surprised. "How did you make it so light? Carbon fiber is usually heavier than this." "The material is some of our own design. The military is looking at our material for possible use with rotor aircraft. Lately we've been experimenting with it on race cars. The material is extremely solid and once cured, almost indestructible. We are working on getting the cost of production down so we can use this same technology on our carts. If we can keep the cost down, we think we might be able to sell it to the automotive industry." Wes was looking at the aircraft pieces, "So what do you need me for?" I smiled and said, "We need you to design an airplane for us, using our materials. We want it to be a really tough aircraft, able to withstand the rigors of a flight school, and be inexpensive enough for someone to be able to own it." "The aircraft has to be absolutely perfect as far as being dependable, easy to fly and maintain, and then the kicker, I want a plain-Jane bare model to come in around fifty thousand, tops." "Wow, Steve, that's a tall order. Do you really think you can do that?" "I said I want to get it there. We'll save a little on a smaller motor, but I want the aircraft to be easy to fly, very forgiving. I want it to be a great airplane for the common man." Wes asked, "What about this body that you've already cast?" "This is all guess work. We copied some plans right off of the internet except we made everything stronger beneath the surface. We used some special light alloy for the composite body and wings, and also for the engine area. Like I said, this is copied off the internet and I have no idea how it will fly. I want our own design, our own aircraft. We'll build this one, and if we can get it certified, probably use it as a trainer or sell it." "You're serious about this, huh?" Wes asked, still looking at the aircraft pieces. I smiled, "Very serious. I think we can sell about fifty of these things a year if we can build them at a good price. People will end up spending more than fifty grand because they will want all the options. We'll build a great, safe, bare bones, aircraft cheap, and make some money on the toys." Wes turned and looked me in the eyes, "Hire me, I'm your guy. I will design a couple of different types of airplanes and you can build the ones you want. I know what it takes to make them airworthy. With your materials, I can help you build one hell of an airplane." I nodded, "Let's go back to the patio and talk about this a little more." We drove back home and went in to have some coffee. I had Wes sit for a second while I went inside to Sue's office and called Ruth. "Did you find any reason I shouldn't hire this guy?" Ruth gave me the scoop, "He's clean, Steve. He's a real loner though. Wasn't a joiner in college, and he didn't do much but study. His grade point was off the scale and that's why Scientific Atlantic jumped on him. He has his name on several patents, but they all belong to his former company. The executives that remain over there all say Wes is an unusually good man and think they should have retained him. From the information I have, hire him." "I'm going to do that. I'll let you know." Back out on the patio, Glenda had brought out a couple of fresh baked sweet rolls. Wes was enjoying the warm roll and fresh coffee when I sat with him. "Now the hard part, Wes. I want you to work with us but I have no idea what you're worth. What do you need to move here and to keep you and your family happy?" Wes smiled, "No family yet, it's just me. My only fault is my expensive airplane habit. I should dump the twin and get an efficient single but I own that thing free and clear and don't want to go into debt. If you can pay me about seventy-five percent of what I was making over on the coast, we have a deal. I can move over here on my own and be ready to work by day after tomorrow if necessary. I might need some help finding a place to live though." "Tell you what, Wes, take a pay stub or your W-2 and give it to Ruth. She'll set you up with that, plus ten percent, and we'll work it out from there. You will be busier here than you were over there. You'll have to manage some people too, possibly an entire manufacturing facility. We've just built two more hangars over at the airfield with an office similar to what the air charter has. You'll be in that office area and you'll build your aircraft in one of the hangars. You'll work with Abe on the engine, Jeff on the body, and Jimmy on the mechanics and instrumentation. We have the knowledge, you'll be our leadership." Wes was sitting there with his mouth open like a fish sucking air. "Are you serious?" "Yes, Wes, I'm very serious. I want this to happen yesterday. So when can you move and what can I do to help you?" Wes stared at me a few seconds thinking then said, "Ah, if you can get me to my apartment so I can leave my plane here, I can load up my truck and move here today. I rent a furnished place and all I have is my clothes and some miscellaneous household stuff. I live and breathe my work and that airplane, so I don't have a lot of junk. Do you have any suggestions where I can get a place cheap?" "I sure do, Wes, right in this park. I'll have Glenda find you an open place while I get you back to Melbourne. Let me talk to her and we're out of here. Take your time and pack up your stuff. Don't just throw everything in the truck. Come tomorrow if you want." Wes said, "I really don't know what it will take, but it won't be much. Just get me back there and I'll get it done." We went to Glenda and I explained what I wanted. She said, "You're in luck. Your old place is empty again, as Jimmy just bought a place over on the fence next to his dad. He and Angie just moved over there. They were going to wait until after the wedding, but Angie said it was taking too long. I'll call Alice and get her to open up the trailer and air it out. I'll get Juanita's friend to make sure it is cleaned up real nice. Glad you're going to stay with us, Wes." "Come on, Steve, get me out of here. I'm excited and I want to get started." On the way to airfield, I called the charter office to see what kind of airplane I could get. DeDe answered and told me that unless I wanted a 172 or a 150 the only other airplane available was Chuck's Beechcraft 200 or the bi-plane. "Get the 200 ready, I'm only going to Melbourne and back. Oh, do me a favor, make sure you put the Piper Aztec away, but put it in front somewhere. We have a new employee and part of his benefit package will be hangar space. We might put him in the new hangar. His office will be in the other new building." DeDe asked, "What's he going to do, Steve?" "He's going to be heading up the new light sport aircraft company. Tiny already registered it as S&S LSA, Inc." "That's neat, Boss, I'll look forward to meeting him when he has time. Meanwhile let me get the 200 ready." By the time we pulled up to the charter office, the twin was sitting outside with the door open. Wes wandered over to the plane and began looking at the cartoons. He looked at me and said, "This is a riot. Do you paint a lot of your aircraft like this?" I said, "Look at my truck, and you saw my wife's Mustang. I have a couple of people that would have been great cartoonists. They do have a sense of humor. When you get to know everyone, the cartoons will mean a lot more. Wait until you see the Learjets. You won't believe them." Wes' eyes glazed over when I said Learjet. He said, "Cut my salary and get me rated on a Lear. That is a dream of mine." "No sweat, Wes, next Lear school we'll get you rated, and while we're at it we'll get you into the Gulfstream school." "Really? Really? You would really do that? Oh man, now that would be awesome." "Look inside the cockpit to see if the logbook is on the seat. If so, let's be on our way." DeDe came out of the charter office and walked up to me while I was standing near the doorway. Wes came to the door, took one look at DeDe and stumbled out of the aircraft, nearly knocking us both down. He didn't say a word but stood up still staring at DeDe. He finally said, "I'm sorry, I tripped," still staring at her. DeDe was equally fascinated with Wes and just smiled at him which further tongue tied the man. I said, "Was the log book on the seat?" Both Wes and DeDe simultaneously said, "It's on the seat." That broke the spell and all three of us laughed. Wes stuck his hand out and in his country drawl he said, "My name is Wes Miller, Ma'am, pleased to meet you." DeDe grinned and said, "Nice to meet you Wes, I'm DeDe, I manage the charter service and the flight school. Welcome to S&S." Wes, smiling broadly, answered, "I'm really looking forward to working out here." I said to Wes, "Ready to go?" Wes shrugged and said to DeDe, "I'll be back later today. Hope to see you then." DeDe said, "Make sure you come to supper on the patio. I'll see you there." She turned and walked back into the office. Wes was mesmerized. He said, "Wow! That's some kind of good looking woman. Is she married?" I was pushing him into the airplane and shut the door. As I got him into the right seat, I said, "Nope, she isn't married and I think you affected her about the same as she did you." "What do you mean? Was I that obvious?" "Wipe the drool off your chin, Wes. You're messing up your shirt." He did wipe his mouth then realizing what he was doing he began laughing. "I was that obvious, wasn't I?" It didn't take but a few minutes to get off the ground and only about thirty minutes before we were on approach to the airport in Melbourne. When we landed, I offered, "Can I help you pack up or move anything? Perhaps we can put any excess in the airplane?" Wes answered, "Everything I have can fit into my pickup. I don't buy a lot of stuff because I spend all my free time at playing with airplanes. No time, no money, and no other interests, just airplanes." "Well, go get it done and drive straight to my house. Your place is just a couple of doors down from me, so I can take you down after you eat supper. We'll save some for you if you're late so don't worry, you'll get fed. Now go get it done." Wes waved and walked toward the operations building. As I watched Wes leave, and made ready to go back home, I hoped for the young man's sake this worked out for him. It seemed to be like it must be right as we even had my old trailer available. So far, everyone who lived in it has stuck and has become a part of our extended family. I called the office to check in and found nothing serious needed attending to, so I fired up the engines on the Beech and flew home. At S&S charter, I saw the new Skycatcher in the maintenance hangar, so I walked over to see what it looked like inside. As I walked toward the hangar, I could hear a woman's heels clacking behind me. Stopping to turn around netted DeDe, almost knocking me down. I caught her and helped her stand up. She was blushing from crashing into me. "What's up, DeDe?" "Are you really hiring that guy Wes for your light sport aircraft idea?" "Yes'm, I made the deal, and he will be arriving here or out at the park around supper time. You seem to be a little taken with the man, DeDe, that's unusual for you." "Oh, Steve," with a blushing smile, DeDe said, "not many guys really come across the way I enjoy a man. Wait till Star gets a load of him, she'll be dragging him off before he even smiles at me." "Well then, DeDe," I said, "you better put your sold sign on him before he meets Star." "That's okay, we share you know. But then it's been so long since we met a man we liked that we may not want to share. We'll work it out. We've been buddies too long to let a guy come between us." I asked DeDe, "When did the Skycatcher get in? I didn't think it was due until next week." DeDe reverted back to her normal self, "The Cessna people brought it in first thing this morning. They must have stayed overnight up in Panama City or somewhere like that. Shortly after the 162 landed, the factory Mustang Citation set down. They stayed long enough to brief Jimmy, give him all of his documentation, give me our registration paperwork, and left. I didn't even sign for the aircraft, they had Jimmy do it. They said it had all been taken care of." I asked, "That's good, fast, and efficient. Anyone curious enough to take it up yet?" She smiled, "You know how that goes, Steve, Jimmy had it up as soon as it was fueled and then he watched the phone while I took it around the neighborhood for fifteen minutes or so. Want to take it up?" "Yeah, let me take it up real quick and see what it feels like. I'm a little concerned that it is built in China, but sure does look like a Cessna. I'll go in for the log book." "It's in the plane, Steve," DeDe said. "Jimmy told me to leave it there as he was going to make some notes in the log." "I'll go make sure it's okay to fly our new toy." Jimmy said there was no problem with the plane, he just wanted to make some notes in the pilot comment area about temperature indications. He said the Continental engine ran pretty cool and he was going to research that. The little aircraft had a decent rate of climb and handled very nice. For a little VFR aircraft, it had a nice instrumentation package. As I landed, I noticed the glide was very smooth, making me actually put the wheels down on the runway. I put the little 162 back in the maintenance hangar then took off for the shop. The rest of the afternoon was busy dealing with some issues over the new operation in Italy. While on the phone, Jeff let me know that getting help from the local bureaucrats was almost an impossibility. He said, "Every time we have to make even a minor change to our layout for the manufacturing robotics, the licensing engineer over there goes nuts saying we're trying to expand the operation without paying the appropriate fees. We should have built this plant somewhere else as they feel Americans are trying to take advantage of them." I consoled him, "Just do what you have to do, Jeff, as we're too far along to withdraw now. We underestimated the staffing for the plant, so every time you have a change, just tell the engineer that this will probably require an additional employee. That will get them off your back." "Hadn't thought of that, Steve," Jeff said. "Thanks for the idea. I'm bushed tonight. Even though it's only nine over here, I'm about to call it a day and go to bed. I'll send you an e-mail tomorrow to let you know how it's going." Since I didn't get any exercise today, I left the shop and went home to put on some exercise clothes. Sue was there, also changing, so we both went to the gym for our daily workout. When we were through, we just came home and showered, then relaxed out on the patio with the kids as they got home from school. We had just sat down for supper when Wes Miller showed up. I introduced him around to everyone, then sat him down to eat. DeDe had come home early and moved over to sit next to Wes. Star wanted in on the conversation and moved with her. After supper, we took Wes to the little trailer that had been so handy over the years. Wes was ecstatic that the place was as nice as it was and that he was close to the center of the community. Sue, Mercy, and I left Wes with DeDe and Star as they were moving him into his new home. We made sure Wes knew to come to the patio for breakfast in the morning. Laying among my four ladies that night, I gave all of them special kisses and did my best to show them how much I cared for all of them. We made love, but I can't really tell you if all of us connected. Everyone fell asleep happy, and that's the most important thing. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 9 Chuck – Tuesday Bud talked to me early in the morning about what progress had been made. There were three distinct groups involved. Bud asked, "Can you come up, it would be easier to show you what I have face to face and graphically?" "Okay, my schedule is pretty loose right now. I'll be up about noon and we'll work as long as necessary. Ah, do me a favor and book me a room for tonight. That way you'll know we have all the time you need to go over all the details." When I called Wanda to let her know what my schedule was going to be, she told me to call John as he was looking for me. Wonder why he didn't call my cell phone like he usually does. When John answered, I said, "Hey, John, Chuck." "Thanks for calling, Chuck. The Director was asking about your status on the Chicago and Detroit project. What do you have for me?" I advised John, "I'm headed up to Chicago to get briefed right now. I should have something to report later this afternoon or this evening." "Hang on a second; let me ask the Director something." John put me on hold and I heard band marches while waiting. John always was funny about his marching music. When he came back on the phone, he asked, "Can you come by D.C. and pick us up on the way? The Director wants the information first hand, so we want to be in the briefing as well." "No problem, John. I'll swing by Andrews on the way. It's eight forty-five now, I'll be there at ten thirty. That should give you two enough time to get ready." "Whew, that's fast. Um, make it eleven, as I don't have a travel bag with me. As it is, we'll have to get a helicopter to get us to our places and out to Andrews on time. We'll see you at eleven." Since I was still at home, it was easy for me. I put a change of clothes into a bag and called the air charter office to get the plane ready. DeDe said, "I almost chartered it this morning. Good thing they had a group of eight or you would be stuck with something else. How long will you have it?" "If everything works out, I'll be back late tomorrow morning. I'll do two things while I'm gone. I'll try to figure out what my travel schedule is going to look like, and I'll push to see about getting another plane. It's really too bad everything has to happen 'yesterday', since I would be just as happy flying something smaller." DeDe said, "You're logging so many hours lately that you need another plane to do leasebacks to us to pay for your expenses. I hope you're charging for your travel expenses. You're really racking them up." I answered, "I'll make sure Wanda has me covered. It would be a shame to lose money on the deal. I do love to fly though. How about filing for me? I'll be going to Andrews, then to the little Executive airfield on the east side of Chicago" "Gotcha covered. If you're picking up people in D.C., do you want a right seat? I have Star or Lisa available today. No lessons and all the charters are out." "No need DeDe, this is just a quickie meeting for some information that needs to be given face to face." DeDe was smiling, "Lisa will be disappointed, but the plane will be ready." I was about to get into the car when I had a change of heart. Back inside the house I hollered, "Lisa, you here?" Lisa came from her room with tall Lena following. "What's up, Chuck?" "If you want to fly right seat with me, I have a trip up to D.C. then over to Chicago. We'll be coming back tomorrow, so it will be an overnight." Lisa's face broke into a smile and she said, "I'll be ready in five. I've got a bag packed." Lena said, "I wish I could come along, but I guess school is more important." "You know it, Lena. It seems like it takes forever, but you'll be rewarded for sticking to it." Lisa came back into the kitchen dressed in her uniform, with her small pull along bag and flight case. "I'm ready, let's roll." At the airport, we did the preflight together checking for write-ups and notations in the logbook. Lisa and I had flown so much together that we went through the startup procedures smoothly and easily. We were calling for taxi and runway access in a few minutes. We touched down at Andrews at eleven ten and were directed to the operations building. A tanker was waiting for us and came out to top us off. Lisa watched the refueling while I went in to get John and the Director. An air marshal was waiting for me and said their helicopter would be landing out by the Lear any minute. As I was walking back to the plane, the familiar shape of a Huey was getting ready to set down about a hundred feet from the painted up Learjet. As soon as the helicopter landed, the side door opened, dropped a stairway, followed by John and the Director stepping off with their bags. When John and the Director got to the plane, Lisa took their bags and put them into the aft storage compartment. I put the two men into the front seats where the computer terminals were and let the computer give them the standard safety information. The Director asked, "Since you have help flying today, can you sit back here with us so we can talk about some things?" I said, "Sure, let me help get this bird in the air and I'll come back." Lisa was starting to get into the right seat but I told her she was going to captain the bird. "Fly the left seat and I'll help us get up. They want to talk on the way." Lisa said, "Push the button on the coffee pot. By the time we're at flight level, the coffee will be ready. You know I have to have my coffee." "Sorry about not getting you any on the way up here, Lisa. I forgot." Lisa was grinning, "That's okay, I already had plenty this morning. It's just time for more now." As soon as we departed Andrews and D.C. airspace, climbing to our assigned altitude, I got up and served coffee to everyone and got a cup for myself. Sitting back with the two men, I suggested we get into the rear seats so we could face each other and use the center table. The Director started off, "Chuck, I know you don't want to leave the Marshal Service, but we could really use you in the Bureau. You're damn near too young to be in charge of everyone the way you are, but your supervision is more from a frontline organizational position." John intruded, "You have been instrumental in leading and teaching men in both services. I know you've been invaluable to the Marshal Service." The Director continued, "John and I want you to consider moving your office to D.C. and working closer with us. Homeland Security is going to be separate from your supervision and will be handling all of their own administration. They are taking over the air marshal duties. I think John will gladly let them, considering their current methods. An air marshal has to be trained and experienced, so the Marshal Service will still be in charge of training. Homeland is to hire your older deputies for the positions. The men you have been using for air marshal duties will already be trained and are accustomed to the requirements. They will be covering more flights than are currently covered, so that portion of Homeland will increase in numbers." John spoke up again, "You know the whole administration has changed now, with new people heading up everything except the Marshal Service and the Bureau. The Marshal Service is usually pretty immune to politics but the Bureau is considered a cherry for someone. The good news is that they have decided to keep the Director." I offered, "So you want me to come to D.C. and get involved in all the politics and forget about protecting the citizens? I can't do much for us sitting behind a desk." The Director said, "You would be doing more than sitting behind a desk. You would be flying John and me all over the country. You would be involved in every major decision we both make. We could get double duty out of you for flying us around and working with us in the field." I sat back in my chair and looked at John. He wouldn't even look me in the eye. I said, "Okay, you two, what's really going on?" John looked me in the eye to tell me the straight scoop, but I spoke first. "What's this bullshit about me flying you guys around? Are we going to be using me and an airplane for taxi service or what?" John looked at the Director then he said, "To be truthful, your job may be excess. It's possible that since Homeland and their divisions will be separate, your job may not be required. Before, you were involved in multiple offices in most cities. If you only have responsibility for the Bureau and Marshal offices, some folks may feel your job is unnecessary." The Director said, "Some factions are even trying to draw the Bureau and the Marshal Service from the Department of Justice into Homeland Security." A little aggravated, I said, "Look, the Attorney General is the big guy with a structure that trickles down a long line. As far as law enforcement goes, we do everything except immigration, and we get called out to help them all the time. I think you Bureau guys work at getting a line on things and making it your case before immigration gets wind of it. So far, John, I've worked with ATF, DEA, the FBI, and our offices. I do direct supervision of our stuff, and only assist with Bureau offices. I help out with budgets and real estate for all of them, but even that's limited as you have someone that does most of the real estate. There's no way the Attorney General is going to let the four divisions of law enforcement out of the Department of Justice." The Director said, "What DOJ really wants is to put you into either the Inspector General's office or the Justice Management Division." "That's not even a deputy marshal position. What would I do there? Count paperclips or just review paperwork?" John leaned back, "If you were given a choice of leaving government employment totally or coming to D.C. in one of those offices, what would you do?" I didn't even hesitate, "Easy, I'd try to go to work at the employment office or perhaps apply as a regular deputy. I could be happy doing that. I don't want to move to D.C. and I prefer to work in the field as I have been. You are going to be hearing about a group of people that are smuggling people in and out of the country, helping federal prison escapees flee the country, organized crime doing business with terrorists groups, and foreign organized crime syndicate people making an attempt to take over local criminal factions. When we get done with this briefing, I want you to consider everything we are up against and you decide whether I need to be front line for the Marshal Service or not here at all." The Director puffed up a little and said, "That's pretty strong for a guy that we stuck up for to keep you around." John said, "Yeah, we stuck up for him and he was involved in multiple incidents that were co-handled by your people and mine. Without Chuck at those locations, what would have been our personnel loss? Just the Texas operation alone could have killed a dozen or so of our men. Either that or we would have muffed it so bad the buildings would still be standing and the operation would still be shipping kids across the border. Chuck's right, we need to stand up to those people who question us about his job." John looked around and said, "Have Wanda document every major incident you managed this last year. Make sure she documents every one that I've sent you on and that you became involved in. Have that on my desk by Friday. I'll add some information on it and have our Marshal add more to it as well. You're right, Chuck, we need you to do exactly what you're doing. Even if you're just directing and pushing buttons, we need your expertise." "Jesus, this is going to be one hell of a selling job," the Director said. "If we could get that lady at Homeland off our asses we wouldn't be having this conversation." I offered, "Look the only time we step on her toes is when there is immigration involved. If she doesn't want our help, then we do the take downs before the border and shut down anything that even resembles smuggling. We just won't deal with any illegals except those that might end up in our lockups. It's either that or there are no witnesses. I'd prefer to just lock them up and hand them over to immigration. They might let them go, but that's their problem. If we keep taking them down, they'll eventually point a weapon at us the wrong way." John and the Director looked at each other, and then the Director said, "We never had this conversation." John asked, "Do you have anymore coffee?" I went for more coffee for Lisa, John, and the Director, then used the computer to advise Wanda of what John wanted. She instantly answered the e-mail, saying she had been keeping a running record and it would be compiled and sent by tomorrow. After advising John and the Director, I went back up front to prepare for landing. Lisa said, "Airspace is really packed today. We are to approach at the lowest level on a twenty mile approach. We're nearing the marker now." As soon as we were down and parked, I gave Lisa the name of the hotel we had reservations at. She said she had some friends she wanted to say hi to, but should be back to the hotel by six in case she would be invited to supper. One of Bud's men was waiting for us and drove us straight to the S&S shop near the airport. The local S&S manager had loaned the service the use of a couple of rooms and a conference room. It was there that Bud had the information set up with U.S. and Canadian maps, plus a map of the area of Chicago and Detroit. Bud immediately began detailing what he had originally found, and then launched into the total picture. "D.C. has been working on the ownership of the rental house in New Jersey. The place is owned by a local business man, Makeem Abdul Bodemo. The place is restocked after each escapee passes through. A cleaning company comes to the house once a week, spends about an hour cleaning and restocking it if someone has used the place. The surveillance team there has now penetrated the house on several occasions and found the clothing stashes and cash, waiting for the next escapee." "While the Bureau of Prisons was reinforcing their security, we discovered a guard who works three to eleven that has ties to the house owner, Bodemo. The guard, a Mr. Hakim, and Bodemo use the same mosque. We have observed the two together on several occasions. We are watching him now and have his home and cell phones tapped." Here in Chicago, we now know one congressman is aware of what people in his local office do. When he is in town, he has contact with some Russian immigrants who are known to be involved in criminal activity. In addition, the man has contacts with some local Muslim groups. The Muslims he's dealing with must be bottom feeders, since other Muslim groups here in the city have rejected them. They now have their own mosque, complete with imam. I mention this since we have detected cell like activities from this group. The Bureau is currently investigating them in depth." "The Chicago warehouse is actually owned by the congressman, but is leased to a suspected Bratva group. Their security is very good, but because of the layout, we can take it down easily without any casualties on our side. We have a plan for when we take it." "Between here and Detroit, we've found a cell headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan. An escapee will sometimes stop off there for a day or two before being transported on to Detroit. The Bureau has set up shop and is monitoring the house. They have detected that there are arms within the house, along with various components to make bombs. Finding this place is just a bonus for us." Detroit is nasty. The Russians own the warehouse on the U.S. side, and the Muslims own a warehouse on the Canadian side. While we have been watching the two buildings, we have reason to believe they are constructing, or have constructed, a tunnel between the two warehouses. I don't know how they could have dug a tunnel over a mile long under the river but we have observed an individual going into the States' side warehouse, then later the same day, exiting the Canadian warehouse. We could have missed him going between the two areas, but I doubt it." "If we take these two buildings it will have to be done at the same time because of the possible connection. The Canadian authorities are willing to work with us, but say we must be able to do it quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible. The infiltration of Muslim radicals within their government has reached a point where loyal law enforcement officers are afraid for their lives and jobs." "That covers it. Jim Blake, Chuck's second, has worked up plans to take down each of the facilities and a plan to raid the one congressman's office and home. The second congressman is not a part of this and routinely avoids dealing with the other congressman. He receives some monetary support from the same people as the other congressman. Since we've almost completely shut down escapes from the minimum security facilities, I think we should act soon. We need to take the local offices, the warehouses, the house up in Battle Creek, and the New Jersey house and businesses simultaneously. When we do this, we need to increase security at all prison facilities and lock down the minimum security locations." John and the Director were looking at each other when Bud asked me, "Chuck, let's go over the take down plans and do this quickly. We're tracking five men in two vehicles heading south in Canada, out of Edmonton toward Calgary. They'll be crossing into Montana by tomorrow. I want to take these guys out on the road up in Montana, but the loss of contact with a group this large will alert everyone. We can't take the Canadian mosques, but we can take everything else." The Director said, "Can we put it all together that fast?" Bud said, "I have a team to bring in the people in New Jersey, including the cleaning company. I think one of the employees there is an escapee anyway. We have teams for the congressman's offices, his home, and his secretary's home and private office. We have teams ready for the warehouse here and in Detroit. We'll only have to coordinate with the Canadians and it's a go." John asked, "What do we have to do to get the Canadians to go?" Bud said, "It's all arranged. They have a task force that has trained for this event and is ready. We can do this with them at every location." John asked, "How much time would it take to set this up to go?" "Like I said, it's set up. It'll take an hour or so for the Canadians to set up and about that long to get all of the teams in place for a simultaneous take down. Both sides will have to have boats in the water to make sure none escape by boat. We can satellite phone the chase car up in western Canada and take down the cars there. We can go in an hour to an hour and a half." The Director said, "John, let's do this right now. I'd like to be in Detroit for that part of it, but let's put Chuck at a desk so he isn't involved in any nasty stuff. If we screw up, we'll know we should have had him." I said, "Use Jim to lead the group you're going with. He'll protect your butts the same as I would. Bud, what part are you going to take, and where?" Bud said, "I need to be a part of the congressman's arrest. The take down needs to be fast and quiet. We'll stash the guy in a holding cell as fast as possible to keep him alive, as he's going to be a target immediately. I'll stay here with the three groups that will do this area, I have a team to take down Battle Creek and there is already a team ready for the Detroit warehouse, as well as the local cell house. How about we do this at four this afternoon so we can use the increase in traffic as cover?" I looked at Jim and asked, "You all right with this? Since I won't be with you, you'll have your neck stuck out." Jim gave me a half grin, "No restrictions, right? Use what force is necessary, right?" I smiled back, ignoring the alarm on John's and the Director's faces, "You do the job however it has to be done. Take no chances and keep your men safe." John said, "I'm going in with you, Jim, but you're in charge. I'll watch your back and if I'm with you, you'll have my say that you acted correctly." John turned to the Director, "Want to put on a vest and join us?" The Director said, "No, I'll watch from a distance. I think my action days are behind me." John said, "Chuck, you can fly us to Detroit and stay with the Director. Let's get this show on the road." Bud began making his calls while I called Lisa to advise her we were heading for Detroit. She said she would have the flight plan filed, the plane ready to go, and warmed up by the time we arrived at the airport. Jim was putting his vest on while I asked if there was an extra vest for the Director. I didn't want him anywhere near live fire without one. John picked up a rifle and some magazines, along with two extra Glock magazines. A deputy hauled us to the airport where Lisa was waiting in the plane with the engines already started. The flight to Detroit was quick. It took longer to take off and land than the flight itself. A deputy met us, so we began hauling gear to an SUV. The Director asked me, "Why do you have your arms case? You're going to be an observer." I nodded, but answered, "If anything goes wrong, or if our position is compromised, I'll be prepared with more than my sidearm." John looked at me and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The deputy drove straight to the warehouse district and pulled into a large warehouse. We were ushered up some steps to a large platform full of telescopes, cameras, and communications equipment. The equipment was being manned by FBI personnel who were instantly very defensive about having the Director there. I told them, "Treat the Director just like you'd treat any observer. He's here to be a part of this, so let's get to work and double check our positions one last time. You've met Jim and know his background. He and John are going to lead this side, so let Jim take over from here." The FBI agents were still a little nervous, but went back to work. The FBI team leader said, "There hasn't been a lot of activity today, but there are at least a dozen people in or between the warehouses. The Canucks say they have about a dozen on their side, with no one leaving as well." Another team member said, "They have some kind of housing in the warehouse since two men arrived to be transported three days ago, but haven't left the other side yet. We're not sure what all they do inside the warehouses, but both sides are going to be prepared." As four o'clock approached, Jim's team assembled, went over their plan, then with everyone fitted with radios and telemetry equipment, they left to get into position. I watched as John assumed the sidekick, back up, position to Jim as they darted between cover approaching the warehouse. Men from the team began setting charges to blow doors around the outside of the warehouse. I watched the monitors that showed the Canadians doing the same thing. There were other monitors that displayed the personal telemetry from the team members. While I was watching and waiting, I put a web harness over my vest then assembled my rifle and stuffed the pockets of the harness with magazines. When I was prepared, I stood by the Director watching the preparation take place. The Director said, "Hard to just stand here and watch, isn't it?" I just nodded. He asked, "What do you think of the take down plan?" I smiled, "It's a good one. The same as I would have suggested. Jim has experience and knows urban tactics. He'll be fine unless there are more people inside than we anticipate." The Director asked, "How many people could there be? We've been watching the building and should have a good count on who's in there." Answering him, I said, "We've only been watching and counting for a week. There's five hundred thousand square feet of warehouse. You can put a lot of people in a place like that. The other side is about the same size, so there could be a few hundred and not just a couple dozen." "God, I hope not," the Director said, as he looked out the window at the men. At exactly four o'clock, all the explosives on this side blew the doors off the warehouse. We watched as the same thing was happening on the Canadian side. Our men poured in at all the blown openings, so we were dependent on the personnel telemetry to see what was happening. There was about a sixty second calm, as our men rushed the building, before the occupants had time to think and run for their weapons. Our men didn't fire until the warehouse occupants fired the first shots. The Director gasped and said, "Did you see that? There are a hell of lot of men in there. Holy shit, we're outnumbered at least four to one." I said, "We're okay so far, since we're knocking them down as fast as they raise up to fire. Jim and John are getting a little far in front, though. They need to keep their men in a line with them. They need to let them catch up." As the telemetry showed that our men were assembling properly, I let out a sigh as there were too many men opposing us. One of our men was using a bullhorn to tell the occupants to lay down their weapons as they were surrounded. There was a team member at each door making sure that no one could circle and come in behind our men. While I was checking on them, I saw one those guards buckle over and fall. A guy complete with a turban ran for the door from a distant building. I grabbed a radio calling, "You've got one coming in the north door. He took out our guard. Be ready on your backside." I looked around at the FBI guys. They were in shock that someone had actually shot a member of the team. I yelled, "Keep a lookout. I'm going to cover those doors. Watch and use the radio to warn us." As I was picking up my rifle the Director was raising his hand then said, "Go, they've knocked down one of ours. You have my permission to get this settled down." I was down the stairs and hobbling quickly toward the warehouse, using cover to shield me from any more men circling the warehouse. The man who had shot our guy stuck his head out the blown door, then came out to trot toward another blown door just around a corner. Our guard would be surprised, so I radioed for the guard to step inside the building and watch from that position. As the turbaned guy peeked around the corner, I raised my rifle and hollered, "Put you rifle down and lay on the ground or I will shoot you." The man looked around frantically, but couldn't see me. As he whirled around he let loose a long burst to try to flush me out. I just squeezed the trigger and watched his head snap back. Using the available cover, I ran to our downed man. He was just knocked down and moaning from the AK round he took in the vest. I helped him up and into the building, telling him to watch from inside so he had cover. I called Jim on the radio, "I'm at the North entrance. Direct me where to be the most help." John answered, "We're pinned down behind some metal crates near the east end of the warehouse. If you go around your end, you should find a whole nest of these suckers. Too bad we don't have any grenades." I spun around and looked at the guard who was still dazed but becoming more observant by the second. He had four grenades hanging from his webbing. "Are these real or just flash bangs?" "They're the real thing. We only get four a piece." "Give me three, I need them." As he was giving me three grenades, I radioed John, "Grab one of the team members and steal some of their ordinance. They have toys. I'll use a couple on your tormentors in just a minute. Keep your head down." I heard the radio keyed on his end in understanding. There was so much junk in the warehouse, it was easy to remain concealed as I skirted around the outside edge. Sure enough, I came to a group of men behind a bunch of crates firing at our men. They were spread out about thirty feet so I pulled two grenades. I pulled the pin and released the arming handle from the first grenade and counted to two then threw it high over the enemy position. As it was falling I had the second grenade in the air toward the other end. I had my head way down as the grenades exploded while still in the air. They were only about ten feet high but the shrapnel did its job. There was a lot of screaming with men jumping up, yelling and being shot by our team members. As one began trying to head toward a door near me, I fired at close range. Hard to miss at fifteen feet. I suppose I could have winged the guy and tried to take him into custody, but we were still under fire and didn't have time to be nice. The radio crackled, John said, "We're at the entrance to an old tunnel, find out how the Canadians are doing." I found a high place where I could watch the entire warehouse and see any movement anywhere. I could see the team at a structure over near the east side. The radio came back with an FBI guy at our watch point, "They have the warehouse secured, but all of the men on their side went into the tunnel as well." There was a pause then, "There's no way they could have a tunnel built all the way across the river. It's over a mile wide." One of the men on our side keyed his radio, "There are old tunnels all over around here that are left over from the prohibition days. The tunnels all lead down to boathouses on the river. You better make sure the Coast Guard and the river patrol on RMP side are watching close. We need to get some men down to those old boathouses quick." Jim's voice came across, "Chuck, how do we get them out of the tunnel?" I radioed back, "Fire a couple of rounds down there and see what happens. Then roll a grenade down there to give them an idea of what can happen. We probably should be giving them a chance to come out first. Start announcing and see what happens." I turned and looked at the blown doors, then keyed the hand held and said, "All of you door guards be alert. We don't know where that one guy came from, so look sharp and watch for movement. Keep your heads down." A movement caught my eye. It was high, toward the south end of the warehouse. Two men were climbing up to the high cross members. I could see they had rifles. "Jim, John, get your men under cover. Two bogeys to the south at twelve o'clock." There was a pause then Jim's voice, "Got 'em. You want 'em or you want us to hunt?" I shrugged my shoulders and used the radio, "I'll take care of it." The shot was almost two hundred yards, but there was no wind or obstructions. I let them get settled in a sitting position, and as they were attempting to find targets, I quickly shot the first, then the second man. They both fell from the upper steel beams with unrecognizable faces. The radio announced, "Two down, any more?" "I can't see any more, but I'm going to keep my position for a while. Get those guys out of the tunnel." I said this back to Jim and John so they wouldn't have to watch for me. The team made the announcement then a few minutes later I heard a few rounds fired followed by a whole lot of lead coming out of the tunnel. Shortly after that I heard a couple of grenades go off but this time there weren't any rounds fired back. The radio broadcast, "The Canadians are blowing some gas into their tunnel. They will go in with masks shortly. They suggest we do the same to our tunnel and close it up as best as possible." I watched as Jim directed the team to go over the warehouse inch by inch to make sure no one else was there. Jim called for the dog teams to come in and for the door guards to begin checking from the building out, but to be careful. As the team began making a sweep toward me, I radioed my position and began heading toward the door. There was already a cleanup truck working on the downed man outside. It was probably better for me to get back to the operations center, so I advised Jim and John where I was headed. Inside our observation post, I set my rifle down next to my case and joined the Director. He said, "I saw you take out the one guy, did you have to do anything inside?" "Not really, I helped the team when they were pinned down and spotted a couple of guys setting up as snipers. My time was valuable, but I left right away so I wouldn't be involved in anything." The Director said, "Well, it was a good thing you were here. At least we didn't lose anyone. I'm surprised our man who was shot is still alive." "The vests do a good job, that's what they're for," I said, thinking of all the times I had been saved by them. I asked the men observing the radios, "So what's happening down by the river? What have you heard?" On our side the Coast Guard and the Detroit police found the outlet to the tunnel and have some people in custody. The Canadians gassed their tunnel to get the bad guys out. We listened to the radio as the Canadians began announcing how many men they were taking out of the tunnel. They ended up with thirty-four prisoners and had seven D.O.A.'s at our side of the river. The Canadians didn't want the prisoners, so they waited for the gas to be blown out of the tunnel, then brought them across the river to the U.S. side so we can deal with them. We ended up with an array of Russian and Middle Eastern undocumented immigrants, along with four escapees. The Detroit team hauled the prisoners to a federal lockup. As I was getting ready to leave, Jim came back in and said, "They have enough armament in this warehouse to arm a good sized army. They also have enough explosives to make me wonder how they got it all in there. As soon as we have the place secure, we'll call ATF to clean the place out." John looked tired, but said to me, "Thanks for coming in behind us. The numbers surprised us. Your man knows urban engagement and kept the team in position. I'm glad I went along, but you know what? It's time for me to let you young guys do this stuff. That shit can get hairy." John and the Director conferred with the local team, and then turned to me. The Director said, "Let's find a place to get something to eat, and sleep over here tonight. On the way back downtown, let's go by the airport and see something the Marshal Service has." We had our driver take us to the airport where John took us to a federal storage hangar. Inside was an eighties Learjet that looked to be in decent shape. We climbed around inside it and came to the conclusion that it had been taken care of. I asked, "When is this going up for bid?" John said, "It's been up for bid for six months, but no one's made a bid. The economy is a little off and there is a problem with one of the engines. Only one engine is good and it's overdue for a major. Make a reasonable bid on it and you can get it out of here." I used my cell phone to call Steve. "How much is an eighties 55C with two bad engines worth? The rest of the plane looks good, and the inside doesn't show a lot of wear. No one is bidding on it, so it should be cheap." Steve said, "I'll bet that's the plane I saw in the flyer a while back. The comment in the article then was, 'who would want to put two engines into a twenty year old aircraft?' I'd say offer a hundred and go as high as three, but no more. You're looking at some major bucks for engines, plus you're going to be at the mercy of the mechanics up there." After hanging up, I turned to the Director and John who were looking at me expectantly and said, "My friend Steve is a little gun shy of this one. Considering we'll get raped up here trying to make the plane airworthy, he said to offer a hundred and go up to three if I had to." The Director said, "It's got to be worth more than a hundred dollars" "That's a hundred thousand, Director, not a hundred. I'm not real keen on how much it's going to cost to put it into shape, but I'd go along for a hundred, thousand that is." John said, "You forget, Director, this guy is buying airplanes and doesn't think a thing about a hundred grand." The Director was smiling. John said, "Okay, fill out the bid form and I'll pass it through. This thing needs to be gone. Get your certified check in real quick and we'll dump this thing. Oh, if you note those two large crates behind the aircraft, those are new or rebuilt engines that were already bought, but never installed. Why no one bid on this thing is beyond me." I called Wanda, "Do me a favor, please. Fill out the bid sheet for the Learjet 55C that has been up for bid in Detroit for the last six months and enclose a hundred thousand Cashier's check or an electronic transfer. Make sure it's in D.C. by morning." Wanda said, "Got it, Boss, it'll be done." I called Steve back up and said, "I'm getting the Lear for the hundred but there is a bonus. There are two new engines, or at least rebuilds, in crates. Get Jimmy to find some people up here to get the plane ready and you'll have your next aircraft." Steve said, "Not me, you have another aircraft. I'm full up. You've still got a ways to go to catch up with me." "This is not a race, Steve. I don't need more aircraft." Steve answered, "No sweat, another bird will make you some money. We'll make the interior into another show piece like yours and paint it up for you." "Maybe you should leave one aircraft a plain Jane jet, one that I don't feel as if I have to wipe it down every time I pass through." "Naw," Steve said, "Your stuff needs to be special. We get more for charters that way." The Director, John, and I went downtown to a hotel and checked in. I called Lisa on her cell and told her where we were and that I had an adjoining room for her. She said she would be there in about fifteen minutes. After checking in, the three of us went to the lounge for a drink. John really began belting them down. I cautioned him, "John, you don't want to have too much or you'll not make it for supper." He said, "You're right. I'm just not used to all the lead flying around any more. That's some scary shit. I'm ready to let you do all of that stuff for me." The Director said, "Chuck, I saw your value today and know you probably did more than what you said, but I want you to know I'll make sure your position stays in place for while longer. Just make sure that information is on my desk." "Wanda is sending it in or has already sent it in today." Jim Blake and Lisa walked in at the same time. They both spotted us and walked over. Jim said, "Man, I need a beer. That was some nasty shit today." I introduced John and the Director to Lisa, and the Director said, "You're the girl in that video the Marshal has. The one you made in Atlanta. You play and sing blues, right?" Lisa smiled, "I play blues when I'm not flying; kind of like Chuck. He plays blues too, when he's not playing deputy or flying." The Director was focusing on Lisa, "So, how well do you know Deputy Johnson back in Tampa?" Lisa smiled, "We're good friends and I rent a room in his big home, along with nearly a dozen other people." The Director looked at me, "What kind of home do you have anyway? It must be huge for that many people." Shaking my head in disagreement, "No, it's not that big, but it is arranged for lots of people. Usually there are only ten people in the house, but we've had some visitors while their house is under construction. Having all the extra people helps keep the place straight, plus it pays the mortgage." John looked up at me with his head still over his glass, "As if you would have trouble paying your mortgage." The Director looked at John questioningly, but turned back to Lisa, "So you two play music at home a lot?" Lisa was grinning, "As often as we can, but that isn't often as I'm flying most of the time, and Chuck is pretty busy. We find time, but it's never enough." Jim Blake said, "Chuck is a busy boy. He has some friends with a lot of kids and teaches guitar most every Saturday. I think Lisa helps him with that when she's available. These two are really busy, but then there are all of his other friends and girlfriends that take up a lot of his time." The Director raised an eyebrow, "Girlfriends, as in plural?" When I rolled my eyes at the question, Jim and Lisa began laughing. Lisa said, "Chuck gathers women like kids to the candy man." Jim said, "The first time I ate out at his house, one of his girlfriends warned me to keep my wife away from him if I had one as he was irresistible. By the time the evening was over, I think I had a crush on the guy." "He can't help it, and I don't think he tries," Lisa laughed. "He just attracts some types of women." "Enough already; my personal life is mine. I try not to mix business and personal." Jim and Lisa were smiling, but nodding, while John was choking. The Director recognized that he probably was probing a little hard. He spoke up, "Let's get something to eat. We all could use some food and an early night." While we were eating, all except Lisa and me kept drinking. When the Director asked about it, I answered, "If I'm flying tomorrow, I don't need to be hungover. I try to always give it eight hours, but a little longer sometimes, especially after an emotional day never hurts." The Director said, "You know we pay pilots near what you make. You could come to D.C. and fly for the services without getting mixed up in stuff like today." I shook my head, "You don't give up do you. I'm not moving to D.C. I have a home and friends in Tampa. Every time I fly out of there I feel like I'm leaving part of myself. If I don't work for you guys or another fed group, I can find something to do right there in Tampa." Jim spoke up, "You know the man was offered a hell of an opportunity in Hawaii. A group of businessmen wanted Chuck to manage their investments over there. He could be a king in Hawaii, managing over a thousand people. If he passed on that, you can't blame him for passing on D.C." John offered, "I'd rather we keep Chuck in his position and continue to use him in delicate matters only when we have to. The rest of the time he can direct, plan, and initiate operations." The Director nodded in agreement. I announced after taking a quick cell phone call, "Bud called and wants us in Chicago early in the morning to review what was accomplished. If you two want to go back to D.C, we'll get you back there, then go to Chicago." John said, "We need to see this one through, so we'll go to Chicago with you. What time did you want to leave?" I said, "Let's get to the aircraft about six to six-thirty so we can be in the Chicago office by eight. I'm sure it will take a while to review today's activities. Let's meet in the lobby at five-thirty. I'll order a cab for that time." After finishing eating, we all went to our rooms, where Lisa came through the connecting door for a quick hug. She asked, "How about a snuggle tonight? We've both had a big day, and tomorrow will be another long one." "That's a good plan, Lisa, I am bushed," I said while beginning to strip. The two of us stripped quickly and took a fast shower. We called the desk and left a four-thirty wakeup call, before we buried ourselves in bed, arms and legs wrapped around each other. With a couple of sweet kisses, we fell asleep, smiling. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 10 Chuck Wednesday The room phone rang a couple of times before I could reach for it. The recorded announcement for the wakeup call told me it was time to get up. I kissed Lisa a couple of times and she wrapped me up in a warm good morning hug, whispering, "Do we have time for a little happiness before work?" I said, "Being with you is always happiness, but we do need to get rolling. I'm hungry and we're only going to each get a cup of coffee until we get downstairs, so let's get." Lisa rolled over flat on her back with her arms and legs stretched out, "You're gonna pass this up for a cup of coffee?" I dove into her, kissing everywhere at once, climbing between her legs dropping my head to lick her center. Lisa gave a squeal and closed her legs on my ears, but held my head in place. Raising her hips in a flurry of hip thrusts, she moaned an instant orgasm. I slid up to lock lips with her as I let my stiffness slide into her creamy center. Lisa moaned, "Oh, that is so good after your special kisses. Hose me down, big boy, and let me leak all day." Lisa's hips continued to thrust at almost a vibrating pace until I let go with a nation building quantity of juices. Lisa moaned, I moaned, and we kissed ourselves into being still. She smacked me on the butt and said, "Come on, let's get a shower and go downstairs for some coffee." It didn't take us but fifteen minutes to be standing at the courtesy coffee table in the lobby. Lisa was gathering some fruit in a paper bag while sampling a Danish. I was sipping coffee, watching the elevators, when Jim, John, and the Director stepped out. John said to his two companions, "See, I told you he would be waiting on us. He's always up first." Jim commented, "Sometimes I don't think he sleeps. He just stays awake and is ready in the morning without sleep." I told the group, "We're checked out and I see an SUV taxi out front. Grab some coffee and let's hit the road." On the way to the airport, we convinced the taxi driver to pull into a Burger King for some breakfast sandwiches as a light breakfast on the way. At the aircraft, Lisa and I went through all of the preflight activities, including rechecking the fuel quantity to make sure we had been topped off, and that the fuel covers had been replaced properly. We quickly went through the startup procedures and let the engines come up to power as we finished the checklist. Lisa was talking to ground control and indicated that we were going to be moving. I pointed to the red light on the cabin door and jumped up to re-open and shut the door again. This time, the latch easily went into place. By the time I was in the right seat, Lisa was taxiing down the ramp toward the end of the runway. It was still early, so there wasn't any congestion to take off. We were wheels up, climbing quickly and almost immediately begin our descent to the East Chicago airfield. We were on the ground and parked by ten to seven. In the operations building, we had them call a taxi for four, as Lisa would stay with the aircraft and make sure it was serviced. At the S&S building, people were starting their day and the team office was assembling information from the day before. Bud looked up at us and smiled, "You didn't call. I figured you guys for about nine, but you've surprised me. I'm ready, let's go into the conference room and I'll give you the results of all the activities." After a potty break, we were assembled in the conference room with Bud standing at the head of the table. He began, "First, let me tell you we took the two vehicles into custody as they entered the country on a remote logging road. There was no resistance and I don't think they were able to get any calls out. We didn't have any signatures on our scanning equipment. The occupants have been transported to our secure facility for right now." Here in Chicago, the warehouse was a mess. There was almost thirty people in there and they were all armed. They didn't want to give up and the result is that only two are still alive. They just didn't give us a choice. I'm sorry if this will cause a problem, but it couldn't be helped. The deceased are a mixed group of Chicago hoodlums, Mexican drug dealers, Russian Bratva, and some near eastern men already identified as terrorists. We confiscated a couple of hundred small arms, ammunition, and a variety of explosives. We also confiscated about a half a mil worth of drugs, but that is only a small part." Bud took a drink of his coffee and continued, "One of the wounded men began yakking as soon as the paramedics were patching him. He gave us two locations where his cohorts gathered. We raided them within the hour and found additional weapons, and a whole lot of drugs. The quantity is still being weighed, but I can tell you it was a lot as it took two big vans to haul it all. We found a dozen Latin women being held as sex slaves and have them in hospital custody right now." "While all of that was going on, I was at the Congressman's office making his arrest. Because we had to take everyone in from there at the same time, we ended up with his attorney who is also in custody. We had to let them make calls for other attorneys, but we were able to have everyone captured labeled as terrorists and therefore denied bail." "In the process of cleaning out his office, we found nearly five million in cash in an open safe. The attorney had a couple of hundred thousand in a briefcase, so it must have been distribution time." "The business manager wasn't at the office so the teams at both the Congressman's home and the business manager's place were alerted. The Congressman's house was taken easily, where we again found a lot of cash plus some interesting explosives in his basement. In addition, we found a half a dozen women in chains with the Congressman's wife standing over them with a whip. I was told it was an interesting arrest, as all the women happened to be nude." The business manager's place was another story. The place is like a fortress but we were prepared for it. As soon as we burst through the outer gates, we were under fire. That was unexpected. The final result was the business manager is dead, along with eight of his guards. His house staff suffered a couple of wounds, but they were helpful in showing us a secret area in the basement that held a dozen young Russian girls. We found thirty kilos of heroin along with twenty kilos of cocaine. There wasn't much cash or arms in the house and no explosives. This has been an amazing take down with even more amazing results." Bud sat in his chair and sipped from his cup. He shuffled some papers then said, "You guys know what you did in Detroit. The Canadians said they have confiscated arms, explosives, drugs, and cash. No mention as to how much cash, but you can bet not all of it was turned in. They have a tendency to lose track of some confiscated goods." "Now in New Jersey, we took down the cleaning company, the real estate company, and the owner of the rental house. No real resistance and no injuries. No one from that location is talking, so we'll have to prosecute with what we have as evidence. It should be good enough to get convictions and everything was obtained by the numbers." "To summarize, we've taken down a surprisingly large group that are inter-related. They have been dealing in narcotics, arms, explosives, human smuggling, slavery, and in the Congressman's case, underworld activity. So far the word on the street is for everyone to stay quiet until the law gets this sorted out. I think the street thinks we just got lucky. We did, but we made the most of our luck. The best part of it is that we only had one injury from a round in a vest and another couple of scratches on arms. No fatalities among our teams." John asked, "What about Dearborn, I mean Battle Creek?" "Oh yeah," Bud said, as he shuffled some papers, "the houses there were taken without any injuries, but we found a timer detonator about to go off and vacated the houses fast. We had just finished pulling some female slaves from the houses when both places blew up. They will be going over the rubble for a while and that is the only place where the media has caught on that something was happening." The Director asked, "Isn't anyone missing the Congressman yet?" "No one yet, Director," Bud said. "Since it was late yesterday that we took them down, his D.C. office might have thought he had just left for the day. The Bureau has a warrant and will be going through his office when it opens today, so they will find out what's going on. The Marshal's Service has to be involved as it is on federal property. We're covered with good men on that. You D.C. guys are going to be under some pressure for answers real quick, so you need to decide what you want to give them. I'd rather not give the media everything and just keep the other take downs to ourselves. The DEA is taking the drugs, ATF is handling the firearms and explosives, and we've given all of the unidentifiable slaves and children to Homeland Immigration. We're keeping the unidentifiable people who were captured at the various places. We might have a problem around the business manager's place as there was a lot of noise there, but the press has been quiet so far." Bud sat back in his chair and surveyed the room. I asked, "So do we know who the mastermind is on getting the escapees to move?" Bud smiled and said, "So far, everyone one of the escapees has been an Islamic convert. Does that answer your question?" "Why did they have all these other people involved?" I was a little confused. "Even easier," Bud answered, "the Islamic movement needed the capital so they provided the drugs from the Near East and South America. That tells you where the Latin slaves and gangsters came from. They needed weapons, so they worked with the Russians. Some Islamic leaders already had a smuggling operation set up, so in collusion with the Bratva, they made a formidable force. The original brainchild came from the mosques in Canada. They had a friend in New Jersey, who had friends in Chicago, who had friends in Detroit, who also had friends in the Canadian mosques." The Director was shaking his head but asked, "Did we stop anything from happening here in the states?" Bud smiled, "We sure did. The escapees traveling south were going to blow up a football stadium in Dallas. They were carrying enough explosives to do the job. Their goal was the seventy thousand fans during a game. When that was done, they were going to blow the arch in St. Louis. That was only symbolism. We've caught a group or cell here in Chicago that was set on blowing up America's tallest building here." The Director said, "Make sure I have details of the two plans so I can use them as justification for making these arrests when I'm asked. Whadaya say, John, let's get out of here. I'm thinking the shit will hit the fan by this afternoon and we need to be in place to answer questions." John asked Bud, "Did you get that telemetry feed from my hat yesterday like I asked. I want the accusers to have an idea of what went on." John turned to me, "You can't tell who took out those two snipers. The feed only shows the one falling while the other is being hit. I did look for you but couldn't find you at the time. If it was you who did that, I wouldn't know for sure, but whoever it was did some good shooting. You don't show on any of our teams' feeds. Any that do show you are inconsequential." I nodded not caring one way or the other. I did my job. The Director rose and said, "Good job, Bud, Chuck said I can't have you in D.C., so I hope he gives you a good post. If you want to be a part of the Bureau, call me, I'd like to have someone with your street skills and perseverance." As we were leaving, I asked Bud, "Do you still have a couple of weeks of cleanup on this?" "Sure do, Boss. We're working on that thing in the office you were worried about here. I'll let you know what we come up with while we clean up all the loose ends here. The Detroit team says they have at least a week's worth of work as well. It's going to be slow since we have the DEA, ATF, FBI, and Immigration hanging around, but we'll get it done. I'll call you." On the way back to the airport, we stopped for lunch at a diner. Both the Director and John were quietly contemplative about what they would face back in D.C. I had called Lisa to have her file a flight plan and prepare the aircraft. I brought her a nice Chicago meatball sub for her to eat on the way. Before we could get into the pattern at Andrews, we were waved off and told to go into a holding pattern at an outer location. The Prez must have been going somewhere or coming in, as it was a long hold. When we were finally cleared to land, we were in a convoy of planes landing at Andrews. Lisa and I got John's and the Director's bags out for them as a staff car arrived to take them to their offices. John said, "Thanks for taking us along. Like I said, I'm not going out on one of those again unless I have to. Your men did a good job. You should be proud." I nodded and said, "Congratulate, Bud. Give him the applause." John grinned. The Director shook my hand and complimented my people, "Every time I see you and your men in action, I'm surprised to see that level of commitment from our people. You and your men are an example of what law enforcement is. It was my pleasure, Chuck. I'll make sure I give Bud the accolades he deserves. Thanks for taking us with you." When we were refueled and in the cockpit ready to go, Lisa asked, "Just what all did you get into yesterday, anyway? Must have been some heavy shit the way they were talking." I smiled and said, "Just business. It wasn't that bad." Lisa looked at me sideways as she advanced the throttle to taxi and said, "Sure." We were wheels up and headed directly toward Tampa. I got up and made more coffee, then sat and chatted with Lisa. As we got closer to home I used the computer terminal to contact Wanda to make sure she had sent the Director the information he wanted and that she had sent in the bid with the appropriate money. There was an immediate reply, "We already have the approval on the aircraft. Your friend, Steve, is sending someone to take possession." That's when I realized I had not told Lisa about the airplane. Sitting down in the right seat I said, "I forgot to tell you, I got a deal on a Lear 55C yesterday. The deal has been approved and should be a great aircraft when they get it back together." "Wow, a 55C. That's a newer Lear. Is that the long range one?" "I don't think this is the long range 55CLR, but Steve said we need another airplane. The opportunity was there and we lucked out." Lisa asked, "What's wrong with the plane?" I answered, "Both engines are bad and have to be changed. The good news is there are two engines in crates ready to be installed." "Did the engines come with the deal?" Smiling I said, "Sure did. I didn't know it at the time and bid on the plane based on two bad engines. The aircraft looks to be in decent shape, so it would have been a good deal even without the engines." Lisa said, "Sure hope Steve gets some more pilots. We've been putting in almost too many hours lately. I'd like to keep it down to around forty to fifty a week max. Thirty hours air time would be even better with all the extra required to do our job." I mentioned, "Your John said he had some guys retiring from the air base who were looking for work. Hopefully they will fill the bill. You're better at teaching anyway. I think you enjoy teaching more than doing the commercial thing." Lisa smiled, "I like teaching. I like flying this bird and the G5 too, but the long hours are tough some times. We've been pushing it lately and need to stay within the max hours anyway." We touched down at home and parked in front of the jet hangar. DeDe came out and met us, saying, "Hey, heard you bought us another plane. Jimmy took off out of here with his Dad to set up the maintenance on it. They took your King Air." Lisa asked DeDe, "What is my schedule, DeDe, do I have some time off or am I on in the morning." DeDe said, "Actually, you have check rides tomorrow. You're taking two new jet jockeys up in the Lear and a G5 tomorrow. That should be your whole day. We have the Bombardier people coming for a special school for the men and they will get them qualified for the G5 at the same time. You'll get them ready and get them started on studying. How is that for the rest of the week?" "Great, DeDe, that won't be a whole day, so if you have any other lessons that I can do, book me." DeDe happily answered, "Oh, I will, Honeybunch, I will." I called Wanda to tell her I was on the ground and that she should have our group report for the last two days. She said, "I want a detailed report of what you did as well. If they are going to mess with this office, I want to document how much you do. We'll work on it in the morning. I'll see you at home, right?" "Yeah sure, I'm heading there now. I need a big steak and will stop for a couple dozen before I get home." Wanda said, "Good, I'm in the mood for steak too. See you at home." Lisa and I were heading to my car when Steve pulled up, "Hey, Chuck, how about coming out to the house for steaks tonight. Kathy got a deal on a bunch of porterhouses that we'll need help eating. Get your crew and come on out." I was almost too tired to do this, but I called Wanda and told her to go to the patio, then called the house. Jan answered and said she was the only one there. I told her about Steve's and she said she would be out as soon as Don got home. I called Brandy's cell but had to leave a voicemail message. It wasn't five minutes later, while I was driving to Steve's that Judy called. She said, "We're supposed to go to Steve's tonight for supper. Kathy got a deal on steaks so if you're home, go there." "I love you too, Judy, and yes I'm in town. I'll meet you guys there. When will you all be there?" Judy answered, "We've been at Sue's since after lunch. Metarie let us off as the windows were almost empty. When will you get here?" "I'm pulling into the park right now. I'm going to John's place to change clothes first. Lisa is with me and needs to change too." "Okay, Honey, hurry, I miss you. All of us miss you. Tina and Lena are here too, so come on and get some hugs and kisses." After hanging up, I said to Lisa, "We have an unusual household, don't we?" Lisa burst out laughing and said, "Yep, one that both of us love." We changed clothes, with me thanking whomever it was I needed to thank for keeping extra clothes out at John's place. I would have to make John a deal and buy half of it from him or something. I was using it more than he was. But then, he was using the master suite at my house. He was paying rent though, or was it Wanda paying rent. Who cares as long as the bills were paid? When Lisa and I walked into the patio, we were mobbed by the Fab five along with Tina and Lena. All of them gave us kisses and hugs and Tiani pushed me down on the couch and snuggled up in my lap. She said, "I miss you when you're gone. I need my guy around home. You know this staying together at your place is nice, and perhaps we ladies need to figure out how to spend more time there with you." I was able to spend a few minutes with each of the girls, listening to what they had individually been doing lately. I'm always amazed at how they seem to only be doing things that are related. None of them really had an interest outside the group. Brandy did fly, but not often, and that was just about the only outside activity that any of them had now. Very strange, but it makes it easy to keep track of the five. I spent a lot of time hanging out with the men of the patio. Steve and Tiny were chatting about the Hawaiian operation and the preparation that was going to happen. Several people were getting ready to leave to begin setting up the operation over there. The more they talked, the better the purchase we made over there was beginning to sound. Mercy came to sit with me and said, "You were in danger today, but you were very careful. I like it when you stay open like you did. You were trying to stay safe and out of everyone's view." "Mercy," I said surprised, "I didn't feel you in my head at all today. I didn't know you were around." "See, I don't snoop, but I do know when you're doing something that may not be safe. You know you're listening to others now whether or not you realize it. You'll soon begin talking to some people to help them make good decisions." I thought in my head, "Mercy, you are amazing. I only need to listen and talk to my ladies. I'll just keep telling them how much I care for them." Mercy began laughing and said aloud, "So am I one of your ladies now?" "No, no, no. You're Steve's lady. I was just telling you with our strange way of talking." Mercy gave me a hug and said softly, "You're doing great, Chuck. Use your gift, practice, become aware of it. It will help you." The evening was very laid back and pleasant. The girls had enjoyed the day with Steve's women and were ready to go home early. Tina was prodding all of us to leave as she said she had some heavy studying to do. Lena said she had to finish some of her homework as well. At home, everyone scattered to do something, so I stripped and put on some shorts, a T-shirt, and my sports leg. I was about ten minutes into my workout jog when Lisa came in, followed by Brandy and Tiani who came in to ride stationary bikes. We ended up having a good workout, followed by an invigorating swim. After showering, I joined the ladies in the living room to watch a little TV. They were engrossed watching American Idol, so I watched the rest of the program, then suggested it was time for bed. This group always amazes me as you never know what their mood will be. Will they be in the mood for me, each other, an outside lady, or something totally different? Tonight, I received lots of kisses and experienced being snuggled into by the group of women. I was fine with this as I went right to sleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 11 Steve Thursday Breakfast was fun. Wes was enjoying himself as both DeDe and Star were hovering over him bringing him juice, coffee, rolls, and a breakfast sandwich. Ruth was amused that the two girls were being so obvious. Wes was clueless, but did seem to enjoy the attention. Ruth asked me, "Do you want to get some furniture for Wes' new office? How do you want to set it up out there?" I suggested, "Let's use just the first floor right now and grow into the second floor. Put a reception desk toward the front and Wes' desk toward the rear. We can use the back room for drafting tables and blueprints along with a conference type table for meetings. I think in the beginning, everything is going to be hands on. As Wes adds people, we'll move the office around." Ruth said, "I'll get some furniture out there this morning and try to decorate the place a little to make it comfortable and enjoyable to work in." Wes had been listening and commented, "I've never had anything but a cubicle before. That would work now if that's what's available." I said, "Nope, you've got a whole hangar and an office building. The first thing you'll want to do is begin your day with Abe and Dennis. They'll show you what we're doing with engines. After that, you can get with Kevin and have him get the parts from the fiberglass shop out to your hangar. You can check with Abe and the guys in the frame and sheet metal area to see if they possibly have any excess people. If they do, we'll give them to you to use." Wes asked, "So what's the plan, other than putting the parts that you already have together?" "I want you to begin thinking about the airplane we are going to build on our own," I said, trying to express what I saw in the future. "Think about whether our creation will be an air coupe or a high wing. If you have any ideas on how to make the aircraft more aerodynamic and easier to fly, we want to experiment with those ideas. I know we're not going to create a perfect airplane instantly. We'll have to experiment with some designs until we get that perfect balance of airworthiness, handling qualities, forgiveness, and keeping it inexpensive. Create what you want in your mind while you're playing with what we have, and then start putting it on paper, or in your case into your design software." I turned to Ruth, "Get hold of our PC guru and get Wes the best PC and software we can get for mechanical design. Have our guy check with the auto manufacturers and the guys in the truck body plant. They may know best. Make sure you get two and network them so we have a head start on that." Wes said, "You know there are a bunch of FAA rules having to do with building aircraft. One of the important ones is for us having a Designated Engineering Representative, what they call a DER. You have to have a DER for several classifications such as engine engineering, structural engineering, and you even have to have a DER as a flight test pilot. I can act as a DER for several classifications, and you probably have a couple of other folks that can qualify as the DER for some others, but we have to report who they are to the FAA for each classification. I'll get all the rules and get them printed out so we know what they are, and what or who we might need. There are tons of people who would want to be your DER so they can get paid for some work. Before this is over, we'll need some of them as consultants." "See, Wes," I said smiling, "that's why you're here. We have someone who knows the rules and how to find out about them. I want this project to be smooth, so don't hesitate to show us all the hurdles early on so we can get a running start." When Abe came over to meet Wes, I said, "Abe, you can show Wes the engines you've built and introduce him to Kevin so he can get the airplane parts from fiberglass over to him in the hangar. Check around to make sure that we find anyone that might become excess so we can have them become part of our LSA project. Wes probably needs two people now and perhaps more later. We'll see how fast we can ramp up." Abe offered, "We're not overpopulated right now in either of the rebuild areas. The motor shop is still running behind, as is the frame shop. Sheet metal may have an extra man, but the utility body plant is heavy right now. Their orders are way down except for the most and least expensive of our products. Let me see if there are some decent builder/mechanic types there that Wes can steal. Kevin may have a mechanic excess right now too. Even the truck body shop is slow right now. We just moved a man from there over to Sue's maintenance group." "Good deal, Abe, it's great you guys are keeping everyone working. As long as we can continue to do this, and train new people to take the place of those retiring, we'll be in good shape. We're going to have to begin building military vehicles or something like that so we can keep men working. As a matter of fact, let's look into creating a decent replacement for the Humvee. I know they have a fairly new vehicle coming on line now, but I'll bet we can do it as well." Abe was sitting back on one of the tall chairs at the bar, when he said, "You know, some of that new composite material Jeff has been working on has some unusual characteristics. I had him make up five sheets of the composites he has created. So far only one of them shows stress after beating on it with a four pound hammer. I'd like to do some ballistic tests on the sheets to see whether there is opportunity to use these sheets as protective sheeting." "Way to think, Abe. That would be great if we could come up with some bullet resistant body material. Jeff said he had discovered some materials to use that were tough. We'll test to see how tough. Set it up, maybe we can use Chuck and his people to test the material." Abe said, "We might have to wait until Jeff gets back from Italy. We'll need more samples of the different types. As soon as we do some tests, he's going to want to modify the product one way or another. He also needs to guide us as to which product is least expensive to cast." "Okay, Abe, we'll wait, but do plan on doing those tests and make sure you walk Wes through everywhere again and introduce him around." Abe was smiling, "Dennis and I will have a good time showing him around. That is if we can pry him away from DeDe and Star." Star heard Abe and turned and around and punched him in the shoulder. "You just mind your own business, Abe. I'm just showing Wes how friendly we are out here. DeDe's the one hung up already. She couldn't shut up last night and kept talking all night. Just look at her, hovering over the man like a mother hen." Abe went to get Dennis and Kevin so he could get started with Wes. Ruth was busy on the phone, getting furniture for Wes' office. That's when I noticed that the kids were still on the patio, but gathered at the meal tables and all facing in one direction. Kathy and Susan were standing in front of them talking. She wasn't loud enough for me to hear from where I was, so I got up and edged closer. Susan was saying, "So we're going to teach you the same material you were learning at school, but perhaps at a faster pace. We'll teach you as fast as you learn and move on to new material each at your own pace. You have to be honest with us when you say that you understand, and always ask when you don't. We'll have tests, and the state and local boards of education also have tests to make sure you are being taught everything you should be. We're going to learn regular school work and we're going to learn how to use tools as well. We're also going to have more physical education than you have in school. Okay, you older kids will help the younger ones sometimes, so all of you are teachers too." The kids giggled and laughed at the thought of them being teachers. I wondered what kind of tools Susan wanted to teach the kids to use. As I looked around, I saw Sue, Mercy, Hanna, Shawna, and Debbie looking on. Beth and Missy were there too, but were in chairs in front of the group. Mercy saw me watching and came over to me, "Kathy was so angry, she found out what she had to do to begin home schooling, bought all of the supplies, and as you can see, class has begun. Sue is having the rec center remodeled as a large classroom with work centers. She's also having skylights put in so there will be more light. It looks like your kids will be around more now." "Wow, Mercy, teaching all these kids is a lot of responsibility." Mercy smiled, "Kathy doesn't think it will be a problem, and if you note, Susan is part of the plan, with Beth and Mom right there to help. The other moms are watching right now and will probably help out a morning or an afternoon each week too. Kathy is going to have a longer school day than the kids at public school. She's starting earlier, but will have a half hour recess in the morning and afternoon, along with an hour for lunch. She said the kids can go to the ball fields for recess and lunch if they want. We'll serve them lunch here with everyone else and then let them play a little. We'll see how it works." I said, "This is probably a great idea, but it is a big responsibility." Mercy said, "Kathy and Sue have interviewed a few ladies who live out here that were teachers before. We'll come up with at least two good teachers to make sure all of the children progress at a good pace. I really think it will work. Our kids are excited about it and the others will follow ours. The next thing to worry about is how to handle high school." The kids all stood up and put their right hand over their hearts. Susan had a small boom box that began playing the national anthem. When that was done, Susan led the kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance. They all clapped when they were done. Mercy said, "And they don't get that at school. See, there are advantages." When I looked around, I realized everyone else had left for work. Martin and Glenda were enjoying a cup of coffee together while watching the spectacle going on in front of them. Glenda said to Mercy and me, "Isn't it exciting? I'm going to have all of the kids here every day. I'll get to feed them lunch and Martin and I will watch them over at the ball fields during recess." Martin was smiling, "You know these kids are all like our grandkids. Every one of them is special to us. We are really lucky to have them all around us like we do. I'm going to teach them to use some tools. Kathy wants me to teach them to use woodworking tools to build birdhouses and feeders. She also wants me to show them how to safely use some tools to fix things. I'll have to think about that for a while, but I'll think of something." I smiled at Martin and Glenda, gave Mercy a hug, and left for the shop. Up in my office, several people were gathered waiting for me. Tiny was sitting with them and said, "Steve, these folks have all met Wes and understand that you're starting a new company to build light sport aircraft. If you think about it, everyone here right now is involved in our aero club. All of them have come to me and want to be a part of S&S LSA." With a smile, I said, "Hang on a second; this is going to require some coffee. I'll be right back." I walked to the lunchroom, poured a mug of coffee and went back to my office. On the way, I checked to see if Ruth was in yet. She wasn't, as she was probably involved in getting furniture for Wes. Sitting at the big desk, I looked at everyone and said, "Each of you is in a position that is important for a person of your talents to be in. Before you can be a part of the LSA group, you would have to train someone capable of learning your position." I took a deep breath. "That's first, or rather, that might be second. First is that the LSA group is just starting. Today is the first day for anything to happen. Wes is going to try to get organized and begin tinkering with some components we've already made. While he's doing that, he's going to be coming to mental terms with what type of aircraft we'll build. He'll need a couple of grunts in the beginning to help him put our parts together. In time, we'll have a crew putting together our airplane. I think our total production will be between twenty-five and fifty a year. That's depending on orders, of course, but I think the demand will be there." "So, for the first month, I'm going to take two people who are excess in the utility body plant and let them work with Wes. You, as a group can interview them and figure out whether they are trainable for your positions. For you three ladies that want to be a part of the group, are you willing to get filthy, nick up your hands, scrape the skin off your arms and legs, and meticulously sand panels smooth? The work is going to be hands on. We are a long way from needing office personnel." One of the ladies said, "We talked about that and we want to be a part of it. In the Aero club, we've been taking the maintenance classes every week. We get plenty dirty doing that. This past week we replaced the control cables in a 150, so you know how dirty we got. Jimmy is having us totally rebuild the little airplane to teach us." The men were nodding and one said, "The women came in handy as they are small and can get their hands into those tiny access panels. They've all been doing everything the men have." I thought about the situation for a minute then said, "Okay, this is what I'll do. I'm going to begin with the two guys I'm getting from the utility body group. You guys can work with them to see if they can be cross trained into other areas. You ladies will end up having to train your customer support replacements. As the new group needs to grow, I'll add from this group." "Tiny, get everyone's name and give the list to Ruth's group so we know who to begin pulling. We'll have Ruth note your date of hire and build the group in that order. What I want from each of you is a brief written summary of your knowledge of airplanes, and then your background and mechanical knowledge. That will help Wes decide when he needs your skills. Thanks for coming to Tiny and me. This will work." Everyone was smiling as they got up to go to their respective work areas. Tiny remained, and when we were alone, he said, "They ganged up on me as soon as I walked in this morning. Some eat with us and met Wes last night, and others were at breakfast this morning. You handled it perfectly. Glad you got here as they were not going to leave until they talked to you." "Funny isn't it, Tiny. A few years ago, we had guys needing jobs welding or forming sheet metal, and today when we just begin working an idea, we're inundated with volunteers to work on a new product. I'm not sure having non-aircraft trained people doing the work is good, but I'll let Wes decide that." Tiny said, "Your big problem is going to be getting your basic model out the door for fifty grand. Your brother and I worked the numbers several different ways and think it can be done, but you're really going to have to be perfect in production time. The biggest cost is going to be insurance. I have an idea." I looked up quickly as I had been worried about how to purchase product liability insurance. "What's your idea, Tiny? Anything we can do for that expense is going to be important." Tiny got up and waved for me to follow him, "Let's get some more coffee and I'll tell ya." As we walked to the lunchroom at the other end of the original building, Tiny said, "I think we should start our own insurance company. Right now we have a lot of cash, and according to Ben, you and Sue both have a lot of cash." I held up my hand, "Hold on there, Tiny, keep in mind I went whole hog over in Hawaii investing with Dewey." Tiny chuckled and said, "You've still got the first dollar you put in this joint. You've used a lot of your excess cash, but not any of your business cash that needs to be distributed. Another source of money is all the money you inherited from Nelda and Ernie." "I thought we put that into the park and to the education center." Tiny rolled his eyes up and said, "Let's see, we used about a half a mil of Ernie's on the ed center, another half mil on the parks, and about a mil on the hotel, leaving that account with about twelve mil. Nelda's money is still intact. You keep saying you're going to use it for something, but you never do. Tell Ben you want to create an insurance company for aircraft and let him find out how to do it. Perhaps he can find a little company that's solvent and buy it. That way we can control the loading factor for the insurance." "Tiny," I said, questioningly, "We already pay through the nose for insurance on the charter aircraft. Why wouldn't the same company be used for our own?" "It's different when you're the manufacturer. We have to have product liability insurance, and there is obviously a lot more risk with manufacturing airplanes. Build it good and build it safe and you'll have a good experience rating. Sell it to people who will wash it once a week and only look at it and never fly and you'll have an even better experience rating. Let a nut get hold of the plane and not maintain it, and you can watch your experience rating tank. Let's see if we can go into the insurance business and make a profit." I had a thought, "Tiny, if we were do that, why couldn't we insure our maritime charter service the same way?" "Now you're thinking, Steve. We can put a bunch of our own dollars into that bucket. With our employee base, we should probably self-insure our health insurance too. When we learn how to handle the airplanes, we'll work on the other stuff." As Tiny was getting up from his chair Abe, Dennis, and Wes walked in. Abe said, "Heard you were ganged up on by a bunch of Aero Club folks. How're you going to handle them?" Tiny said, "He told them he would use them one at a time, in the order they were hired, and after they trained their replacements. They all left happy." Dennis said, "I think they're already trying to get personnel to hire people for them to train." Looking at Wes, I asked, "Are you meeting everyone, getting an idea of what the departments are?" "Yes Sir," Wes drawled, "everyone's been very friendly. That Phil guy is funny. He asked when I would have a couple of dozen airplanes so he could sell them." I laughed, "Phil doesn't want to know about a product unless he or his people can sell it. If I build it, he'll sell it." Wes grinned, "Then I guess I best get busy. With so many wanting to make this effort a success, I don't think we can miss. Kevin sent a truck out and already took the components out to the hangar. Abe said he has an engine I can use as a sample. I talked to a guy named Jimmy who said he was looking forward to meeting me as he was going to be my test pilot and also my avionics man. I'm ready to head out to the airfield." Dennis said, "I'll take Wes back to the park so he can get his truck. That way Abe can just go on and take care of business here today." I mentioned, "If you're not intentionally heading that way, I have to meet Sue for lunch and can go out there now." Dennis said, "Take him. I need to talk to Shawna a few minutes about some motor specs. Her crew is going to be handling the final assembly of our aircraft engines." "Did you say engines, Dennis?" I questioned the plural. "I thought we only had the one." Dennis took a second then said, "Our original engine and the main prototype are too powerful. Abe had to redesign a smaller engine that would be rated at only a hundred horsepower. The engine output is really a little over a hundred ten, but we'll rate it at a hundred. The original puts out almost a hundred fifty and we rate it at a hundred twenty-five." I asked, "Did that throw you guys off the development budget? You didn't allocate that much for the engine project in the first place." Abe answered, "We were really pretty far along with the project already, since we're using the same technology we're using for the law enforcement utility vehicles. The only thing we had to do is purchase some additional testing equipment to x-ray and certify the metal. We're putting a twenty-five hundred hour warranty on the law enforcement engines, which is the equivalent of about a hundred thousand miles. With our special fuel injection system, these engines are not only dependable but also very fuel efficient." Wes spoke up, "I like the idea that you've built your own engine. You're not depending on any outside contractor to supply good product. You don't make fluids, tires, or windscreens, but with those we can be sure to get quality in those areas." Abe said to Dennis, "We brought those panels with us. Let's go out to the police range and see how they handle bullets. We'll get some officers to shoot at them for us. I want to try a couple of things while we're there." Dennis and Abe walked out of the room with Tiny looking at them quizzically. Tiny asked, "What's that about?" I just said, "Abe wants to see how Jeff's experimental panels would work out for a military vehicle. I only mentioned it this morning and, of course, Abe is gung-ho to get on it. Don't worry, Tiny, we won't be building something else that quick." "Come on, Wes, let's go have lunch and then get you out to your new office and work hangar." As I pulled up to the parking area, a throng of kids ran from the patio, with Martin and Glenda slowly following. When Wes and I went into the patio, Kathy, Susan, Missy, and Beth were sitting smiling at each other, with bowls of soup in front of them. Juanita said to us, "Sit, I'll bring you some soup and sandwiches. We fed the kids real quick so they could go play. You saw them; they were on their way to play ball, basketball, soccer, or all of the above." Sue came out of the house with Hanna, Betty, and Joan, gave me a kiss, and sat down to be served food by Mercy and Juanita. As we ate, Wes said, "This beats the hell out of a company cafeteria." Sue said, "You'd be surprised. Steve has a great chef at the cafeteria at the main shop. They feed the factory people from across the street too. Out here, we have a huge cafeteria that serves lunch from eleven till two. The various buildings have varying lunch times. They only get a half hour for lunch, so it has to be fast service and lots of room to sit. The food is really good. I eat there often when I'm working at either of the factories." Mercy said, "You probably won't come home for lunch but you could. Neither DeDe, Star, nor any of the mechanics come home for lunch. They usually take their lunch and they do have a small kitchen in the rear of the charter office. You'll have to get DeDe and Star to take you over to the far rec center where the gym is. They work out most every night. Between the gym and swimming, it's easy to keep fit." Wes said, "I guess I should get into the habit. It would be nice to have a work out buddy, or in this case a couple of buddies." Mercy grinned, "Those two girls would like to be your buddy, all right. I've never seen them hover around a guy the way they were doing you this morning." "We just kind of hit it off," Wes said, sheepishly. "The two of them kind of hinted we could have been closer last night, but I think they liked me better for sending them home. I like to get to know someone." Mercy reached over and patted his hand and said, "You just enjoy being their friend at your own pace, Wes. Those two have been waiting for you to come along for a while. Just enjoy the chase." "They won't have to chase me very far. I've never really had a girlfriend, so I don't know when to run." Sue giggled, "Then you're in for a treat. I think those two will be good teachers. All you have to do is be a willing student." As Wes finished eating, he stood up and said, "I'll see you guys later. I may miss supper. I'd like to get started on fitting things together." I said, "It's okay to work late, but you're still moving in and getting settled. Don't work late now. Save your energy for another time. Come have dinner, enjoy everyone's company, and get to know them. If you have supper with us, you'll have more time with your fan club later." Wes grimaced, then said, "Okay, I'll knock off when the others do." I said, "I'll come out in a little while to see how your office is coming." Wes left, and Sue and Mercy told me to get ready for the gym. Kathy said, "This is going to be a lot of fun. I had fun teaching today and it is really neat to see your own kids absorb what you're teaching them. When we get some real teachers to help us, then I'll know we're doing it right. Until then, I'll just teach them right out of their books." After a workout, we went up to the pool, taking Glenda up with us. A half hour of sun, along with fifteen minutes of hard swimming and we were ready to go back to work. I showered quickly then drove out to the air park. I parked at the charter office, but no one was home. The portable phone was gone, so I called the number to hear DeDe answer, "S&S Air Charter Services, this is DeDe, may I help you?" "Where you be, DeDe?" "Over in the new hangar and office area. Just walk through the maintenance hangar. There's a door on the right rear that lets you directly into the new office. It's really neat." I walked through the maintenance hangar, where projects were left waiting for a mechanic to return. When I entered the new office building, I came into a small hallway between the main front office, and the rear office and break room area. I turned left into the main office and saw Ruth busily directing some people hanging blinds and curtains. There was very attractive furniture in the office and a guy was hunched over a keyboard, typing in some instructions for the PC. Ruth smiled at me and pointed at the door leading to the hangar. "They're all out there. Everyone's excited because Wes said he can build the airplane in a couple of days." I went out into the hangar where everyone was crowded around the main fuselage and one of the wings. Wes was fitting the wing into place, using a square to make sure the angles were correct. He was showing everyone how the wing would fit and then showed everyone how a fuel bladder would fit into the wing. He was like a little kid, looking at everything at once. Sitting on the wing was a yellow legal pad and pen. Each time he showed everyone something, he would grab the pen and write down a couple of more items. Jimmy said, "Okay guys, we need to get back to work. This is really neat, Wes. I can't wait until you get me one to test. You're going to put one of those ballistic recovery units on this, right?" "Sure, why not? They're cheap and it would be a great thing to have when you're test flying a contraption like this for the first time. Jimmy, I'll have this ready for you to test in about two weeks. I want to make it perfect." "That's what the boss says. Do it perfect," Star said, as she turned to see me. She grinned then elbowed DeDe in the ribs. DeDe turned and grinned, caught being away from the office. "We were just heading back to the office, Boss." "That's okay," I said, "It's too interesting to see something new like this, anyway. I like the way you have this set up, Wes. Where did you get the stands?" "Jimmy got them from the experimental aircraft guy down in hangar two. The guy said we could use them as long as we wanted as he didn't have anything going right now. I think he's a little hungry. I'll make up something so we can rent them from him." I said, "Good idea. If the man can be of help to you, use him a couple days a week to give him a little income. Just let Ruth know, and she'll tell you what she needs to get him on the payroll." Wes said, "Good deal. He knows all about the ballistic recovery units. I'll let him teach me. The man knows his airplanes too, as he's been building experimental kites for near twenty years. He'll be good to have around." "That's good that you're making acquaintances out here already, Wes. It'll pay off. Looks like Ruth just about has you set up inside." Wes looked up at me, over toward the office, and then back at me, "She's really overdoing it for a new start. Did you see that back room with the big drafting and conference tables? Then the kitchen has a little table and chairs with a refrigerator, microwave, and even a stove. She bought a set of pots and pans along with utensils. I could just live out here. I'd miss the fun on that patio, but this place is plush." "That's her job, Wes. Ruth is supposed to make our offices livable and a showplace if they need to be." "I like it, Steve, she has outdone herself." "So tell her. Ladies enjoy praise." Wes had a crooked grin on his face as he moved toward Ruth and touched her gently on the arm. Ruth turned to Wes, smiling, and Wes said, "You've made this place into a showpiece. I love it. Everything looks so nice and you've made the whole place usable, you know everyone working here will feel comfortable." Ruth had a big grin on her face and said, "Thank you, I'm glad you like what the company wants you to have." This was too much for Wes. He turned a little pink, smiled, then turned and walked out the door into the hangar. I went over and gave the lady a hug telling her, "You did good, Ruth. It all looks great." The computer guy turned around in his chair and said, "The local network with two PCs is set up with the best CAD program I could find. This laptop on the desk is also the best I could find, with as much ram as is available on laptops. The instructions for how to access the network remotely are on this sheet. The passwords are preset so he'll have to use those right now. I think that's it. You know that you missed something out here? You don't have any security." Ruth slapped her hand to her mouth and said, "I forgot about that. Darn, let me call our man and see if he can come out. The maintenance hangar is open all night, but that doesn't cover over here. He can't watch both places." "Call them, Ruth. They'll come out and do whatever you want them to do and won't leave tonight until it's done. We're a pretty good customer of theirs, so they won't mind as long as we're agreeable to the overtime." Ruth went off to call the security guys. The computer guru said, "I wired these PCs into the maintenance network that's wired to the charter service. You don't have telephone lines out here yet, but I heard Ruth order them earlier. You're almost complete. Another day and you'll be straight. Good luck on this new venture. Most companies are trying to get away with hardly any employees and you're forming new companies. I love it. Keep it up, Steve, you've been my best customer since your wife brought you in to buy that first computer." Ruth walked back into the front office and said, "The security people said they will be here within a half hour. I'll stay to make sure they cover the office and the hangar completely. They'll have to use wireless for right now as the telephone lines won't be installed until tomorrow. Sorry about not remembering about security, Steve. There is a lot to do when we open a new office or business, isn't there?" "Yep, Ruth, there's a lot to do. You're doing great. Don't worry about it. Just be thankful someone remembered. I'll see you at home later. I've got a couple of things to get done at the shop. See you later." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 12 Steve Still Thursday Back at the shop, I went out to the fiberglass shop and talked to Jeff's assistant, Ken. "Ken, you know the five mats you made up for us to test the strength of them?" "You mean the five composite mats?" "Right, those. Can you make up a few more just like them?" "Sure, no problem. I have the mixes right here and we can do them and lay them tonight. They won't be cured and ready until Monday, though." "That's fine, Ken, do three sets of them. I have an idea I want to try, so let me know when you have them ready. Have you considered whether we can make the mats denser? I'd love a mat that would be the densest you could make it, but still keep it the normal thickness, especially using the metallic composite." Ken thought for a second and said, "I'll mix up a batch that is the most dense I can make and lay it in a mat mold. I'll give you three of them, as well. I don't know what you would do with it though, as it would be so dense it would be almost ... Hey, are you trying to make a mat bullet proof?" I laughed and said, "You might be onto something Ken. Maybe you're reading my mind. Let me know when you have something." Ken was speculating, "You know, if we could make a bulletproof composite, the military could make their drones out of the material and the little drones could fly slowly over various areas while the sand fleas shoot the hell out of them with small arms." "Hey, that's a neat idea. Make some strong stuff and remember to write down your concoction so we can repeat the process." "Done deal, Boss." I was smiling as I walked back to main building. There was a tent set up behind the main building, in front of one of the race day trucks. Across the front of the tent was a big sign that announced, "Welcome NASCAR teams." Now what? I walked over to the tent where one of the salesmen for the race day teams was and asked what was happening. The salesman said, "We're having an open house to get teams in here to help us stock what we'll need for race days next year. We'll get an idea of where these folks will be testing and try to show up there if several teams will be there at the same time. We're trying to be their parts house away from home. The big Sprint Cup van almost needs a second truck now as we're supplying so much to the teams. Tiny said if we wanted the second truck to just ask. We're more than profitable so far." I asked, "How many teams do you expect tomorrow?" "We have twelve committed right now. We've rented the entire hotel for this event. Hopefully, we'll be able to fill it up. We're giving tours of the shop as well as tours out at the park. These guys also buy our truck bodies and RVs." "How about us having them come out to the patio? We can get the big tent and throw a hell of a party for them." "Great, Boss, do it." "Okay," I asked, "when will these guys be coming in and what days are you having this wing ding?" "Friday and Saturday." "Let me get Tiny on it and set this up. Tell everyone that tomorrow night will be a party at the house." I walked into the shop and straight upstairs to Tiny's office. Tiny looked up and said, "I know that look. What has to happen in ten seconds flat?" "I just found out we're hosting a bunch of NASCAR race teams here to get a feel for what we need to provide next season. How about setting up the tent and caterer for a big party at the house? This is a big deal. We should put on the dog for them." Tiny smiled and said, "I heard about the show, but didn't put together how big a deal it was. I'll get it done. Plan on a real party. I'll make sure our local guys are all there and get the road sales guys in for it. Phil will be pleased his men are invited." "Hell, Tiny, they're always invited. They don't need an engraved invitation." "I know, but they really don't understand that. Ryan tells them, but they don't believe him. Let me get on the horn and get this set up." "Don't bug Ruth about it until later. She's boobs deep in trying to make the new office in the new hangar perfect. Tell her later. You can call the house though and let them know." I went into my office and called Gene. "Hey, Gene, are you coming to the open house tomorrow? I know you're back in town, in your old building, for the winter, so are you coming?" "Since I know you guys so well, I didn't think I would clutter up the space." "No way, you come and give us your opinion. We depend on our best and oldest customer. We have a lot of questions and you and your crew chiefs can answer them for us. Oh, and you won't want to miss the party out at the house tomorrow night. It should be special. We'll probably have some of the best ribs and chicken known to man." "You dog, Steve, for a good party, you know my wife and I will be there. I'll get the crew chiefs together and come by tomorrow to answer questions for the sales guys. You know we're starting the season with the same motors we ended with last year. They're still perfect. You're losing money building them so well." "That's great news, Gene. It's a good thing your guys like to do a lot of rubbing so I get some cash out of panels." "You have me there. They don't blow engines, but they can't keep a racecar on four wheels. I keep telling them "rubber side down," but they love to slide along on the top. Those eighteen percent stainless frames are keeping our rebuilds down too. You know last season we only built one new car. The rest of the wrecks were just re-panels." "That's even better news. You see, I'm saving you money. That's our goal. Tell the other teams that stuff. You won enough to get into the top five. Maybe this year you'll win it all." "Dream on, Steve, I have good cars and decent drivers, but it takes some kind of special luck to win it all." "Well, you did it in the trucks, why not the big cars?" "Hell, the trucks were easy. With your motor and the new suspension your guys, or rather girls, worked out for us, we blew the doors off everyone. Your girls came out and straightened out my crew on suspension, but the big cars just couldn't stay out of traffic. We have a new driver that may be an answer. We're fielding three cars in the Sprint cup this year. We're after it, that's for sure." "Well, thanks for coming tomorrow and I'll look forward to seeing you and your lady tomorrow night. It'll be a good time." I called Sue to tell her about tomorrow. She said, "It's a good thing the remodeling is complete up at the rec center or the kids would have been nuts. They get excited over everything. As soon as that big truck showed up here a few minutes ago and began erecting the tent, the kids went crazy. It was all the girls could do to get them back up to the rec building. It's almost time to come home, are you going to be late?" "Nope, I think I've done all the damage I can do today. I'll do a quick walk through the shops to make sure the place is being cleaned up and be home." It was four forty-five, so clean up should be in progress. For grins, I walked through the office cubicle area to make sure desks were being put into shape. Down in the rebuild area, guys were sweeping and mopping. Welding was putting tools away and beginning to sweep, while sheet metal was stacking and mopping at the same time. The motor room was in the beginning stages of putting stuff away, but two teams were testing engines. They were down to the last tests and comparing printouts. The two gay guys paid off the gay girls a dollar each. Big bet. They all hugged each other and began cleaning up. Shawna looked at me and winked, as one of her high school kids was mopping her area. This was a special place to work. I walked out of the showroom and drove home in the five o'clock traffic. Since it isn't far, the traffic was not a problem. When I walked into the patio, I was hit by a half dozen critters that were mine. They all wanted hugs and to tell me something special. I sat down and listened to their stories and commented, until the last two left were Stevie and CJ. Stevie said, "Dad, CJ and I want to try to motocross. Dennis said he would help us and Uncle Kevin said he's a good teacher. Can we, Dad? Can we?" I said, "CJ, you need to get your mom and dad in on this conversation, and I'll help you out on that. You need to talk to Charlie and Shawna the same way. Have you asked Greg whether he wants to do it too?" Stevie jumped down and ran into the house. He brought Greg out and said, "Tell him, Greg. Tell Dad what you said." Greg looked sheepish and said, "I asked Mom, ah, no, I mean, I told mom I was going to ride motocross." She got mad because of the way I said it. I was wrong, I should have asked." "Have you told your mom you were wrong?" "No Sir. I was embarrassed to talk to her about it again." "When you're wrong, Greg, you have to admit you're wrong. Go get your mom and bring her here. Stevie, go get your moms, all of them, and CJ see if your mom is home now. We'll do this all at once." The three took off in three different directions. Stevie was going to be sure to have permission as he brought Sue, Mercy, and Juanita back together. Greg came back, with his hand pulling Kathy. Kathy had a smirk on her face, knowing what this was probably about. CJ came bouncing into the patio dragging Shawna, who had a questioning look on her face. The three boys stood there mute with the expectant mothers. They all looked at me to solve the riddle. I looked at Greg and smiled. He squirmed in place as if expecting me to talk for him. I finally said, "This is your show Son. Let's hear it." Greg rolled his eyes looked up at his smirking mother, then looked back down quickly. He took a deep breath and then looked straight up at Kathy, "Mom, I'm sorry I spoke to you the way I did. I know you would give me a chance to do what I want if I had been more, I don't know the word, oh yeah, courteous. Like I said, Mom, I'm sorry." Kathy smiled real big and said, "Good speech. Now ask me nice and we'll go from there." You could see relief spread across Greg's face as he smiled up at his mom, "I want to try to ride motocross. I think the other guys are going to get to do it and I want to do it with them. Will you let me?" Kathy paused, looked at me, then looked at the other moms, "Perhaps these other boys need to ask their mothers too, if they haven't already." CJ said, "I already asked Mom and Dad and they said if you guys were going to do it, then I could." Shawna said, "I think what I said was, if you boys were going to be taught by someone who knew what they were doing, you could do it." "Okay, that's what you said, but it was the same thing, sort of." Shawna smiled, "Sort of, Champ." Stevie looked up at his four moms and said, "Dad said I could ride motocross if you said I could." He looked from Sue, to Mercy, to Juanita, to Kathy, then asked, "What do you say, can I?" There were smiles all around. Kathy said, "You guys need to corner Dennis and Kevin so you can learn to do this safely. Dennis will be here for supper, and Kevin should be here any second." The three boys ran from the created tension on the patio outside to intercept Kevin or Dennis on the way in. Sue said, "It probably isn't fair to Kevin to sic those three on him. Why did Stevie get all of us?" I said, "I think he felt if he had you other three here, Kathy might be easier on Greg. You know how those guys are with each other. They constantly look out for each other. Greg probably knew he screwed up as soon as he said his piece to Kathy." Kathy smiled, "He sure did, I looked at him with my mad look and he bolted. We really didn't get a chance to discuss it. I'll talk to him about it later but then, all of us are his moms now, so we'll all talk to him." Shawna said, "CJ was begging his dad for a little motocross bike a couple of weeks ago, so you know this plan has been fermenting for a while. I wonder how many other kids will be involved in this by the time we begin?" Mercy said, "The other kids are still trying to figure out how to be better soccer or baseball players. The three boys want to do everything, so they just get overly expectant of us. Their new method of being taught at a faster level probably has them thinking faster than they should as well. We'll have to temper some of their enthusiasm with some slower education. We're all trying to prove how slow the school system was teaching our kids." Shawna was laughing, "Charlie and I never were great students, but we sure were hell raisers. When we were in elementary school, they kept trying to put us in different classes, but we always ended up together. Since I was a military brat, I would leave for a year then come back. Charlie was always my buddy right through high school. That's how we ended up in the small engine and motorcycle maintenance school together. I'm proud that CJ is so smart. But perhaps it's because his buddies are helping him learn." Sue said, "That may be, but CJ is smart. He figures things out by himself all the time. He's very courteous too. See Shawna, you've been a good mom to all of our kids." Juanita spoke up, "Because all of these kids have all of us for direction, I think they learn from all of us. It's just like the kids enjoy speaking to me in Spanish most of the time, they have learned a lot from each of us and use it every day." Charlie walked into the patio, drew a beer into his frosted mug and sat down beside me. "Looks serious, Steve. When you have five of them lined up like this you must have done something bad, what's up?" Shawna laughed and plopped into Charlie's lap, "Our brats have decided to be motocross hotshots and Greg approached Kathy the wrong way. Steve decided to set them straight and required all of them to produce a mom. Stevie got the rest of the moms from his group and CJ dragged me over here as soon as I pulled in. What's the deal anyway, you guys have beer and I don't." Kathy brought Shawna a beer as more and more people came into the patio. Kevin walked into the back door and straight into the kitchen where Susan was. He came back out and said, "I hear the boys are waiting to ask me to teach them how to ride motocross. Are you guys up for that? You know busted lips, broken arms, and such? Just ask Dennis and Tina and they'll tell you all about months and months in casts." Sue said with grin, "I don't think we can keep them from being boys or girls trying to act like boys. As soon as the girls see Tina teaching the boys, they will be right there trying to outperform the boys. You'll see." Susan had come out and was laughing. "That's what happened with Dennis and Tina. Dennis got pretty good and Tina felt she should be able to do the same stuff too. She did and kept doing it until she broke an arm and leg at the same time. As soon as she healed, she was right back doing flips and jumps right next to Dennis. That they lived through their competition is still a wonder to me." Kevin said, "Both of them had more guts and talent than they should have. If I taught them how to land from a five foot jump, they were jumping ten feet or more. When I taught Tina how to jump and raise off her bike, she tried a loop the same day. It was almost too bad that she was successful. If she had crashed, she might not have done all those other crazy things. I'll teach the kids, but watch out, they'll do stuff that will scare the shit out of you, both boys and girls. You know the younger ones will instantly want to be a part of this too. You're about to take a real ride." Kathy sat on my lap and said; "The older boys did all that stuff when we first moved down here, but didn't get that nuts over it. Barb was the best of the bunch and that probably turned the boys off. She lost interest because her brothers didn't ride anymore. Maybe she'll help teach the kids. She did enjoy showing off." I told the group, "We'll set up an open account down at the motocross shop to get all the clothes, helmets, and pads we can. Get the right size bikes for them to start and stay current with their abilities so they don't override a smaller bike. These kids are going to stretch us, so let's be prepared and be ahead of them. We're not hurting for the cash to support them, so let's do it right and protect them as best we can. What do you think, Charlie, are we raising the next group of hell raisers or what?" Charlie laughed and said, "Hopefully, they'll be as smart as we've been and stay independent. Or at least stay as a group among themselves. They are a hell of a group of kids, that's for sure." As more people came into the patio, our group dispersed with Phil taking up the lead in the conversation. Phil announced, "I've brought all of my road guys in to work with the truck people. They're going to get referrals from all the teams so they can sell to the suppliers of all the teams in all the different cities. This is going to be one hell of couple days. I'm glad we're going to have a big party out here tomorrow for the teams. This will be a story for all of the teams to carry back to the races next year." The Andies walked through the door. Sandy and Mandy got beers and sat across from me. Sandy said, "You know, Mandy and I may be more valuable to you by being lent out to teams to track down various problems they are having. I know it would be better if we were guys, but we've already been contacted by two other teams to come look at their setups." I smiled, "Why did I know this would happen. I knew if you were able to help Gene, his men would brag to the other teams that you helped them. You two did too good a job, so now you're gonna have to help the other teams the same. It's a good thing you two spent time at local race tracks with other teams before. Now you know too much and will be in demand as consultants. Let's get you a secretary or helper to keep your schedule in order. Is the motorhome you have okay, or do you need something more custom?" Mandy said, "Naw, the thing is as plush as you get. With the trailer filled with our tools and parts, we should be fine. Some of these guys think they know everything until we show them a trick or two or like we did with Gene's guys. We showed them how their setup was going to get them disqualified unless they brought it into spec. The neat part was bringing that setup into spec solved most of his setup problems." "Let me talk to Gene to find out what consultants get paid. We're going to want to get some money out of your efforts. If the team buys lots of our stuff, like frames, panels, and especially motors, we'll cut them some slack, but we'll have a base amount for consulting fees and go from there." "Make sure you two get with Phil to see if you need to do anything special for him while he's showing off to these teams coming in tomorrow." Mandy elbowed Sandy saying, "How about that? We get to charge these suckers for some hard work and none of it is on our back." The girls were high fiving and laughing loudly as I walked into the house. Man, I thought, it can get busy around here without any effort at all. I was heading toward the phone to give Gene a call when Tiny hollered, "Steve, wait up. I've already talked to Gene, if that's who you were headed to call, as well as a couple of other team owners about consulting fees. I've got a brochure made up and everything with pictures of the pair, their RV, and one with a car torn apart with tools spread out around them. With the brochure and word of mouth, the girls are going to be busy. You may even need a second team." "Brochures? For a race car consulting team? Why would we need those?" Tiny smiled, "We'll have them with our S&S Motor brochures, RV brochures, and tool brochures. You'd be surprised how many sales we've gotten because we have brochures on the race day trucks." "You're probably right, Tiny, I just don't think of those good old boys working around those cars as being interested in brochures." Tiny was nodding, "They're just like all of us. They like to have a little bathroom reading material. Besides these good old boys are mostly college educated engineers that love racing and racecars, managing million dollar businesses. The crew chiefs you meet are not schleps, these car jockeys are professionals." "You're right about that, Tiny. Gene's crew chief is an M.I.T. graduate. Well, I suppose I'm still trying to sell a couple of frame jobs at heart. The business has grown, just like we've all grown." "Come back out to the bar, Steve, have a drink and relax." Tiny was pulling me back out to the patio. Jack was standing at the bar, taking a big drink from a mug. He saw me coming and said to me with a foam mustache, "What the hell have you done? Mia is all hot to be a motocross queen. What have you done to my little girl?" Kathy was standing there and said, "I think we opened a big scary door. Almost all the kids want to get involved. Even Bonita asked if she could do it too. I'm sure they have a division for six year olds, but I need to talk to her about the possibility of hurting her hands and not being able to play the guitar or piano while she heals." Shawna was laughing as she said, "Just what we need, something else for the kids to try to injure themselves with. Sean was trying to jump her bike over three of the kids lying on the ground. If I hadn't seen them setting up to do it, she probably would have landed on Stevie, CJ, and Greg. Let's hope we can control them." I did notice something unusual, there were not any kids in sight except some tiny ones. All the mobile kids five or six and up were missing. "Kathy, where are the kids?" Kathy grimaced and nodded her head toward the house. She said, "They're all in the living room plotting. The three amigos (meaning Greg, CJ, and Stevie) are having a meeting with all the kids telling them how they have to act so they can all get in on the motocross thing." Charlie said, "I think we can get a bunch of used bikes and let them learn on them. They're going to destroy them anyway, so we might as well cut down on cost. Several kids can share a bike. They all can't ride at once anyway, so we'll get a bunch of bikes and they can just share them. We're going to have to keep them locked up when we're not around to make sure the kids don't experiment or try to practice on their own." Mercy was smiling at everyone, "This is a big deal. We parents are going to have to be patient and on our toes to keep order." I said, "You're right, Mercy, this is a big deal. Well guys, let's all get bombed so we're about as coherent as the kids will be." Charlie hollered, "I second that, give me another beer." Supper was good as always, followed by homework that was brought out without hassle by those who had any. I noticed Wes was sitting at one of the big tables with stacks of papers, trying to read through all of it. DeDe was equally interested in the papers, but Star was not with them. She was either on duty or busy doing something by herself. The evening did pass quickly with the kids being put to bed, followed by all of us adults migrating toward or our down time. My ladies, along with Beth, Missy, and Glenda were enjoying a last beer, glass of wine, or drink together. Missy asked, "Have you guys begun planning next summer yet or perhaps a spring sailing adventure? I'd love to go to the Mediterranean again, or perhaps start farther west and go to the UK first, then on to the Med." Mercy said, "We do need to do some sailing. I don't know whether I want to be cold for so long though. Until late April or May, the UK is pretty frigid and the water around most of the UK is cold. Perhaps we should sail south and stay around the equator and the countries around there. We could travel down to Brazil, since it's becoming summer down there but that's a long way. We would need to do some investigating of currents and wind charts before going that direction." Sue said, "We could always go down to your place in Costa Rica, Mom. That would be a nice trip and we could stop off at a couple of other places on the way south or north." Beth asked me, "Where would you want to go, Steve?" "You know, there isn't anywhere special I'd like to go, but I do know I'd love for Chuck and maybe his family to come along. If they needed more privacy then I can get Chuck checked out on one of the boats and we'll sail the two big boats somewhere together. What do you think, Mercy, Sue, can we get all of us, and all of Chuck and his crew, on one boat?" Mercy instantly said, "We would need to remodel and use the crew's quarters for big staterooms." Missy suggested, "Why do that? Use the crew's quarters for the kids. They'd love to be together and it would give them some privacy and a place to sit at a table away from adults. The big boat has two giant master suites and there are plenty of other cabins around each. It would depend on whether his three pregnant women would be up for sailing. You know they will be pretty far along in the late spring, if not already with a baby." I said, "Darn, Chuck may not be able to do something like that. We'll have to get all of them out here and talk about it. As our families grow and grow up, it's tougher and tougher to do some real sailing." Sue said, "You just need to talk Chuck into having all of his women quit work and for him to come be with us. He can work on the Hawaiian properties and take up some slack at the charter service. The ladies are going to be busy with the babies, and Chuck doesn't need to be running around the country getting into shoot'em ups. We need to bring them all here so we're one big family." I had to laugh, "That's some wishful thinking, Sue. Chuck and those five babes are all headstrong. Then you have Lisa, and don't forget Tina. Where does she fit? Keep in mind he has big Lena and perhaps the younger sister coming soon. Hell, Chuck's whole group is an organization among themselves." Mercy was sitting with her eyes closed thinking of something. She had a smile on her face and finally opened her eyes. "Chuck is happy with his family and job right now. He knows that one of these days what he does will end and he'll probably come be a part of us. He already thinks of himself as a part of us. The girls are becoming more that way every day. We just have to be patient and we'll all be together." I said, "Let's hit the hay. Tomorrow's a big day with all the race teams coming in." All of us migrated toward bedrooms. I got kisses and hugs from Beth and Missy. It's always funny the way they give me some very warm kisses and snuggly hugs, then blush. I followed my harem into the bedroom and observed the wonderful uncovering of womanly charms as I undressed. After bathroom visits and teeth brushing, we were snuggled together with Kathy on one shoulder and Juanita on the other. The two older ladies were slowly caressing my chest and stomach as I kissed each. When we went to bed, I really didn't think we would be fooling around, but the temperature rose in seconds, and in minutes all five of us were involved in pleasuring each other until the women were all satisfied and I was totally drained. What a wonderful sensation. We drifted off to sleep, with Sue's and Mercy's heads now on my shoulders. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 13 Chuck Thursday Morning at my zoo, I mean my home, is really a slow build to a crescendo. I woke with six lovelies in my bed, with various bodies draped over each other. Trying to slip out of bed undetected is impossible, as Judy, who had been on one side of me, smiled and pulled me close to her. She said, "Good morning, father to my child. I love you Chuck, and am so glad you want us all." Judy was making moves, creating the thought we might be doing some beast with two backs exercises before getting up. Frieda, who was on my other side, pulled me toward her and said, "I love you too, Chuck. Judy's right about being happy you want us all. All of us are so happy you want to be a part of us." A smiling, dark, body climbed over Judy and laid on top of me. Nancy kissed me, and each of the girls, before saying. "No one is happier than I am. That you accept me so willingly, and see me for me, makes me the happiest of us three almost moms. I hope all our babies are boys and they all look like you." Funny, at that second, my mind knew what the sexes of the babies were going to be. I think the expression on my face startled the girls, and Frieda asked, "What's the matter, Chuck, did that scare you?" "Don't laugh, but I think I just had a premonition that you three are all carrying beautiful daughters, even the twins are both girls. I hope that doesn't disappoint you girls. I've never thought of it before, but that's perfect for you all. You five will be able to make over the little girls like little dolls. I'm sure some boys will be along one of these days, but we're having baby girls this first time. Brandy and Tiani were now sitting cross-legged behind Judy. Brandy said, "Maybe Tiani or I will have a boy. This first time around for all of us may be better to have little girls." Tiani wistfully said, "I dream of having a big handsome man that has both of our features. He would be almost too pretty, but would be all man, considering his daddy." Frieda reached over and tweaked Lisa's nipple. "And you, my luscious little friend, will you want to bear our man a little boy or little girl?" Lisa sat up and said, "I'm going to have a baby that comes out of the chute singing and playing music. I think I'm a ways from committing to being a mom yet. I think it's sweet that you've invited me to be a part of the Sweet Six, or with Tina, is that the Sexy Seven, but both Tina and I are a ways off from wanting babies." I said, "Thank goodness. This house, or the house you girls have, isn't near big enough to handle all of us, plus a couple of kids from each of you. Consider what you're proposing. Two each would be fourteen kids. Perhaps just a big bunk room like a barracks would be the best approach?" As I began trying to get from beneath the girls I said, "Come on girls, time for the gym. Let's get some exercise and some swimming. I need my muscles stretched, let's go." There were lots of groans, but also some sweet kisses, as we all got up, scattering to various bathrooms to take care of the immediate needs. As I was stretching before using the treadmill, Wanda and Jan showed up to workout too. This room is going to have to be larger to accommodate more treadmills. Two aren't enough. Wanda said, "I want to use a bike this morning. I don't think my breasts can handle the bouncing from the treadmill." Jan joked, "My tits hardly bounce, but then, B's don't bounce much anyway. Soon four bikes and two treadmills were busy while Lisa was using the multi-position weight machine. Tina came in and stretched, saying, "I think I'd like some exercise too, but what I want requires Chuck to come back to bed with me." Frieda said, "Good luck. Six of us couldn't get him going this morning. He's turning into a eunuch or something. Maybe he's turning gay on us." That elicited lots of laughter at my expense. I suggested, "How about an early evening, some soft lights, lots of gentle kissing, and some extended foreplay, followed by some very satisfying lovemaking." Wanda laughed, "What time should I show up?" "You've got your own man now, Wanda, go away," Tiani said protectively. Nancy said, "Oh, that sounds so good. Can we plan on that?" Brandy said, "Tonight, after supper out at Sue's, we'll come home early and make that a reality." Tina commented, "You guys are crazy to think he's going to take care of all of us. Guys can only get that thing up a couple of times a night you know." Brandy rebuked, "Not our Chuck. He has satisfied all of us many times, and then satisfied Lisa the same night. He'll get us done. You be there with us, keeping him pleasantly excited, and he'll do you too. Chuck just loves lots of gentle attention. Then again, when he wears out, us girls know what we each like too." After getting good and sweaty, we all dropped our clothes before passing through the outdoor shower and splashing into the pool. Some swam slowly, some just a steady stroke, and some of us swam all out for the maximum cardio workout. As we sat on the steps, I commented, "I didn't know the pool was heated. Who turned it on?" Tiani said, "I was looking at the controls in the garage and found the directions to re-direct the pool water through the coils up on the roof. Apparently, half of the coils are for the house hot water and the other half are for the pool and hot tub. I set the pool for eighty degrees and cut the hot tub down to ninety-nine as the three pregnant girls shouldn't use too much of the hot tub. The air bubbles will probably feel good, so they should be fine if the water temperature isn't too hot." "It's nice to know we'll be able to swim all winter, even when the outdoor temperature gets cold." I said this noticing that being out of the water was chilling me. The weather was changing. All of us went inside for our showers and to get ready for the day. At breakfast Wanda said, "We need to go to Miami this morning. The station Chief is retiring and you will be logging in the new man. You've met him before when you were involved in the border problem in Texas. He was one of the team leaders. I brought the files and paperwork home so we could leave straight from here. We can drive in five hours and stay overnight, or fly and come home this afternoon. Which way will we go?" "Silly girl, we just had a conversation about how I wanted to spend the evening, and you want me to stay overnight in Miami?" Wanda said, "You could always pick up something in South Beach or you and I could play at a hotel tonight." Brandy came over and put her hands around Wanda's neck, "I could strangle you for even suggesting he get mixed up with some skanky babe from Miami. None of us would even pick up something down there. Why would we want our man to have anything to do with them? You would be fine, but not any of those women down there." Frieda said, "Speak for yourself, Brandi, there are some good looking pieces of fluff that swing our way down there." "Well, I only swing that way three quarters of the time and all Chuck's way the rest of the time." Tina was sitting at the table with us and agreed with Brandy, "The last time we were down there, the only thing I liked about it was the nightclubs and that the guys left you alone. I think ninety percent of them down there are gay. I was hassled more down in Key West than in Miami." I looked at Wanda with a smile, "Just so you won't get strangled, I'll fly. I'd bet there's an airplane that I can use to fly down there." Lisa pulled the cordless phone down and called out to the charter office. She got the night person and asked for the schedule. She said she wanted either a Learjet or a 200B. She talked a little, then said, "Okay, we'll take that. I need to check him out in that anyway. Have it ready for Chuck, he'll be there in about a half hour." Lisa got up and said, "I'll put on my uniform and go with you. I'll check you out in the Citation. It's not as fast as the Lear, but you'll like it. It's quiet, and easy to fly. Get ready, I'll be right back." I looked around and asked, "Anyone else have any ideas about what you want me to do?" Dennis was there and said, "Don't look at me! You and I are always in two different directions. See you tonight, Chuck. I heard little Bonita say something about you playing something with her tonight? What are you going to play?" "First I've heard of it, Dennis. I supposed I'll find out this evening. It's a good thing I'll be back then. So you girls have already planned on going out there this evening too?" Tiani sat on my lap, gave me a kiss, then with her pixie look, said, "Silly boy, you know we'll be there. Sue and Mercy are really funny lately, wanting us out there all the time. You would think the babies we're going to have were theirs. Be careful, father of our babies, and we'll see you tonight." I received more kisses from everyone, and with Wanda and Lisa, headed for the airpark. The Cessna Citation was a nice little business jet. This model didn't have a lot of seating, but would satisfy most people for speed and comfort. We were up and down quickly, and were met by a deputy to take us to the office. When it was time for the retirement ceremony, my brief talk spoke tons for his people, "Clarence has been a great Station Chief. This office has run smoothly and quietly for years. Clarence has handled his office, his men, and the Service's challenges for eight years. John told me recently that this was by far the most successful, unrecognized station within the Marshal Service. Thank you, Clarence, and as appreciation for your contribution, this plaque from our Marshal says it all." As I handed the plaque to Clarence, I tilted it up a little and said, "Catch, catch that Rolex and slide it on your wrist. This will help you remember when your tee time is. Good luck, Clarence." Clarence put the watch on and smiled at everyone. He said, "I suppose it will be all right to wear a watch now that I'm retiring. You see, you guys, there was a reason for me to never wear a watch. I always brought one of you with me, no matter where we went. You had the watch and you had my schedule, so you were the ones to keep me on track. It was a way for me to work with each and every one of you on a continuing basis. I'll miss the companionship we had, and I'll miss each of your smiling faces. Good luck to you, and good luck to my replacement, Sam Sterling. Now, let's get Sterling checked in and me checked out, then let's party." It didn't take long to handle all of the paperwork. With Wanda working with the main clerk and the Assistant Station Chief, Carl Turner, we were done by noon. The men assigned out of the station had left after the talk by Clarence and the introduction of the new Chief. Several of the semi-retired guys hung around and were waiting to carry Clarence off to an afternoon and evening of debauchery to celebrate his retirement. After lunch, the Assistant Station Chief and I spent a couple of hours with Sam Sterling, the new Chief. I told Sam, "Start grooming a new assistant, Carl is being considered for another station as we speak. If he takes the job that could be offered, you will only have less than three months to get ready. Let Carl help you and keep this office running as smooth as it has." Sam said, "That's not very nice. You transfer me from a quiet station to this monster, then steal my Assistant? That's mean. Okay, Carl, we have work to do. Let's get these carpetbaggers out of here and get to it." I left, telling him to always remember to call me when he ran into something too big for his office. I was close, and more help was within a couple of hours. Wanda and I were back in Tampa by four. It was too late to try to get much done in the office, so I left Wanda in John's office to call in to our office, and took Lisa with me to the patio. It was fairly empty, with only a few of the older folks and a lot of kids that were finished with school for the day there. The kids were mostly at tables studying, but I could hear the sound of a keyboard coming from the house. There was a sense of anticipation in the air as the big tent was set up in the rear of the open area between the patio and Martin's and Glenda's place. As I drew a cup of coffee from the always ready big pot at the bar, Kathy came up to me and said, "You had better go see Bonita. She said you were going to play with her this evening. She said you were going to entertain us. Do you know about this?" "Nope, but that's fairly usual for me. Most of the kids don't let me in on stuff that often. I show up and they tell me what's up." I paused a second, "So what's the big tent set up for? Is there going to be something special happening?" Kathy said, "S&S racecar support is sponsoring a bunch of NASCAR teams to visit here Friday and Saturday. They're all coming out here tomorrow night for a big party. You know what? Why don't you and Lisa play for us tomorrow night? That would be a great addition to the entertainment." "How about let's just not mention that for a bit. I'll see what this thing with Bonita is about first, and then you have to beg Lisa on your own." Lisa grinned, "As if anyone ever has to beg me to play with you." Lisa took me by the arm and said, "Let's see what's up and maybe we need to practice with her." Bonita had a neatly written list of misspelled titles. To remind Lisa and I that she was still a little girl, the list was on construction paper and was written with crayon. "Bonita," I asked, while looking at the list, "do you know all of these?" "I can do all the chords and pick the melody for most of them. I've learned all the lyrics and have practiced everything on the piano, so I can play either one. I think if I just play backup for you and Lisa, and all three of us sing most of them, it will be best." I looked at Lisa and she cocked an eyebrow while looking at the list. Lisa said, "Let's run down the list real quick and see how Bonita wants to do these. Let me get a couple of guitars out." Bonita said, "Wait, I'll get what I want you to play." The little six year old ran from the room and came back lugging two guitar cases. She handed one to Lisa and watched as Lisa opened it. There was a used, but very nice, Gibson electric. I opened the case Bonita gave me and found an ancient Fender Stratocaster bass. Lisa was curious, "Where did these come from, Bonita?" "Daddy bought them for me at the pawn shop. I said we needed electric guitars out here for you two to play. Come get the amplifiers, they're too heavy for me." Lisa and I carried two amps back into the big living room. We spent a few minutes tuning them and messing with settings. We didn't have any special effects, but we really didn't need any. Bonita said, "Let's do "Night Train" first. I like the piano introduction on that one. Ready?" Amazingly, Bonita really had practiced the piece very well. We did the whole thing as an instrumental and gave Lisa some breaks to do some expressions, but realistically, we did the piece very straightforward. After doing six of the instrumental tunes, Bonita wanted to sing some ballads. She sang 'Georgia' then wanted to do 'Sarah, ' a Stevie Nicks song. Now I was curious, "Where did you get the music to all of these, Bonita?" "When I hear something one of the moms is listening to, I write it down and they help me find the music and lyrics. It's a lot of fun. I can't play all of them, but I can at least pick out the melody for most of them. When I get real good with the keyboard, I'll be able to play everything, like that funny John guy that writes a lot of music." Lisa said, "Elton John?" "Yeah, that's him. Momma Hannah has a bunch of DVD videos of him. He's really good." In a hushed voice so only I could hear, Lisa said, "I think this little one is really good too." We ended up doing Elton John's 'Crocodile Rock, ' 'Benny and the Jets, ' and 'Honky Cat.' Lisa and I had to struggle to stay up with Bonita as she had all of these down. I asked Bonita, "Is your piano and guitar teacher doing better now?" "Oh yes, we play popular stuff every lesson. We're playing some classical too, but she says we're supposed to have fun. The guitar teacher comes to some of my piano lessons now and both teachers play with me. I think Mr. Kelly likes Miss Denise a lot. He always waits around until she's done with my lesson, then they go somewhere together." Mercy had come in and said, "The two teachers are having a great time with Bonita. Besides teaching our prodigy, I think we've fostered a musical romance." Lisa wanted to go change clothes over in John's trailer, so she left with Bonita and me just doing some of her songs. She played the piano and sang, I held up my end with the bass. Surprisingly, we sounded pretty good together. Bonita and I went out to the patio where I got her a juice bag and left her with some of her friends. I went to the bar to join the group that had assembled there. Wanda motioned for me to come sit by her and Jan. She already had a drink for me. Jan and Wanda talked to me about a problem with Mark's Bronco. It had been stolen from the FBI crime lab shop. The end result was the truck had been dumped in a salt marsh while running so it was now totally destroyed. Wanda suggested that we could use the unwanted and hardly used Escalade that had been Bobby's, a former Station Chief. Jan said that would really help her office if we could transfer the Escalade to the FBI and use it as a replacement vehicle. Wanda said she had talked to Hank about the deal and he said he had something extra to kick in on the deal, if necessary. Wanda suggested I tell Mark and take him to the garage in the morning. Mark had come to supper with his three lady friends, and was doing very well physically. For just having been shot and operated on, the man looked very chipper. I spoke to him in private, "Mark, the bad news is your Bronco was stolen from the crime lab shop and dumped in a salt marsh. The good news is we have an SUV that is realistically worth probably four or five times what your Bronco was worth. I'd like to take you downtown to our garage in the morning and make a deal with you. Can you make that?" Mark seemed anxious to get the deal done. He said, "That would be great. I've been concerned about having transportation. I'll be ready, what time will you pick me up?" We set the time so we could get an early start. We both went back to our personal groups. Steve introduced me to a new man he had hired named Wes Miller. Wes was a Texas boy who had been working in Melbourne for Scientific Atlantic. He now was going to be working on Steve's new light sport aircraft venture, or would that be adventure? After supper Bonita tugged on my arm and said, "It's time for us to entertain out here. Help me get everything out here so we can do it." Bonita set up everything in the doorway of the sliding glass door entry into the family room. This way it looked like we were on a stage. Tiny saw Bonita setting up the equipment and brought the announcement microphone, along with a stand, and set it up on the piano. Just so the instruments were the same volume, I plugged the keyboard into the guitar amp and adjusted the volume so we blended nicely. When we were set up, and all of the patio people were facing us with expectant faces, Bonita said, "Chuck and Lisa are going to help me play for you. My mommas helped me find music to a lot of songs that are fun to play and sing. I want us to play and sing for you." Bonita started out with "Night Train" to interest the listeners. When we finished one piece, she barely paused while the crowd was applauding, and went right into the next piece on her list. When Bonita began singing while playing the piano, I think every adult in the patio had their chins bouncing off their chests. Here was a six year old little girl, playing and singing to them. We finished up with the three Elton John pieces. Bonita, jumped up, ran to the side of keyboard and bowed. Amidst the applause and hollering, I saw all of the moms and dads with the watery eyes of pride. Just like a kid. We had finished with what she wanted to do, so now it was time to get the instruments put away and do something else. After we had taken the amps and guitars to the storage area, Bonita gave Lisa and me a kiss, then said, "Thank you for playing with me. Its fun to sing for our people, isn't it? I really like to do that," she paused then added to Lisa, "Will you teach me your kind of music? You know, the blues and the jazz you like. I know it'll be hard to learn, but I promise to practice so we can play together." "We'll begin this weekend, Bonita. I don't know my schedule yet, but I'll make sure we have some time together. Maybe we can get Chuck to do some stuff with us too." Bonita grabbed me by the hand and asked, "Will you, will you help Lisa teach me, please?" How do you say no? I wanted to see a list of blues tunes written in crayon on construction paper. I had already confiscated the list she had made for tonight. Back out at the bar, Lisa and I enjoyed a drink, while our ladies alternately came up to congratulate us on our performance. This was something special as it further integrated all of us into this family. Just my thinking of that had Mercy's image running around in my head. She was smiling at me, beckoning to me. With her image in my mind, I could read her lips, "Come to us, come to us." Weird. Steve, Phil, and Tiny all acted like they wanted to ask me something. Steve finally asked, "What do you think about you and Lisa playing some of your blues and jazz for us tomorrow evening? Not a full fledged performance like Bonita just had you do, but sort of like chamber music. You know like a piano at a bar. You two play so well together that all of us enjoy listening to you, and this would be something special for Phil's presentation." Phil pleaded, "Please, that would really be a special touch to everything. Judy and I love the jazz you two play, and the blues stuff is just perfect. I would really be in your debt, both of you." Lisa elbowed me and grinned up at me. I said, "Oh well, sure we can do something like that. But Lisa, I may have to take off work so we can practice a little before tomorrow. I probably can get the day off and you said you were off again tomorrow. What do you say, want to practice all day?" Lisa was grinning, "You bet. Our blues together is better than sex. Um, well, maybe almost as good as sex." Everyone around us laughed. Brandy came up to us and asked, "You mentioned that we needed to have an early night tonight. Are you ready to get?" "I sure am. We better go before these guys have us performing all weekend out here. See you Steve, Phil, Tiny. You too, Judy." Before we could get everyone rounded up to leave, I had to hug and kiss all of Steve's women, sister, mothers-in-law, friends' wives, and kids. Bonita waited at the door to give Lisa and me a special hug and kiss. I held Bonita up in my arms and said, "You know you did really well tonight. You played very well. I'm proud of you. Just keep learning but remember, you have to have fun too. Practicing is fun, but playing with other kids is fun too." Bonita said, "I'm going to begin motocrossing, so I'll be outside more and I'll be doing it with all the other kids." Huh? Did she say that she, Bonita, six year old that makes lists with crayons on construction paper, is going to ride motorcycles and motocross? Lisa said, "I heard the ladies talking about it. The kids are going to begin learning how to ride. Kevin, Dennis, and Tina are going to teach them." Oh my. As I put Bonita down, "Well, that will be fun all right. I'm glad you'll be learning something else exciting." I said in my head, 'and crippling.' Mercy was in front of me immediately and said, "Oh no, she will be fine. I know it will be okay. She won't hurt herself. She'll let the other kids do that." I was still shaking my head as we loaded up into two cars to head home. I ended up with the three pregnant moms-to-be while Brandy and Tiani had Lisa and Tina. Home was a welcome sight as it meant some gentle peace and quiet. Not! Lena was having a girl party on the deck, in the hot tub, and in the pool. There were snacks on the counter and on the tables outside. The surprise was all the girls. All were super-attractive young things that just radiated the "Jail Bait" sign. I suppose they were probably all eighteen or over, but damn if they didn't look young. My girls swarmed out on the deck area, happily mingling with Lena and her friends. Lena came in, adjusting her skimpy swimsuit on her super long, super tall body. She was filling out the top enough that round, cone shaped objects were trying to escape the material. At that moment, a second Lena came in behind the first Lena and immediately wrapped me up in her arms. It was Tina, Lena's ten month younger sister. Tina said, "Hope you don't mind. Mom and Dad let me drive up to visit with Lena this weekend. They wanted me to go scout the campus and see what I think. We have a great branch of USF down in Sarasota, but this is the main school." Our small Tina said, "You and I are going to have trouble this weekend. We're both Tinas, so if someone is yelling for one of us, we'll both be turning around. Perhaps I'll be little Tina and you can be big Tina." "I'm big alright. Lena is so slim and sexy now. I have to slim down like she is. I really like the way she looks. Mom thinks she's anorexic, but I know it really took a while to get slimmed down like that. If I cause too much trouble, just come find me and yell like mom does." Brandy said, "It's neat to have the sisters here together. This will be fun. They'll have to come with us out to the park for Steve's and Sue's party." The other four girls of the Fab Five thought that was a great idea, as did Lena. She said, "Tina, you'll love it out there. They have this group thing where a bunch of people get together for drinks and supper every night, adults, kids, just a bunch of friends having fun. You'll love it." I told Lena, "Glad to see you Tina and Lena didn't destroy the place. I'm glad to see you didn't raid the booze. Keep it that way. Are your friends staying over?" Lena said, "We'll keep it down to a roar and try not to disturb you guys. I know Tina probably has to study some tonight. See you in the morning." As we migrated toward the bedroom, all seven ladies accompanied me. Tina said, "No studying tonight. I don't have anything but labs tomorrow and some studying this weekend for tests next week. Tonight, I party with you all." I told the ladies, "Okay, ladies, get ready for bed. Put your sexy gowns on and I'll go get us some refreshments." From the kitchen, I brought a chilled bottle of white wine, some water bottles, and two big bottles of soft drink. After passing out the glasses and bottles to seven expectant ladies, I went to the bathroom while shedding clothes. A quick wash, tooth brushing and I re-entered the bedroom. Tiani handed me a wine glass and said, "Sit back on the bed and relax. I want to just savor some time with all of us together." Frieda, Judy, and Nancy were all drinking from water bottles, and all three were showing rounded mother-to-be tummies. I said, "You three are beginning to look really good showing us your swollen bodies. I hope you're all comfortable and enjoying being pregnant?" Frieda said, "In the beginning, I didn't know how this was going to work out. I knew that I wanted a baby, but I didn't know how well I would do getting it here. That's why I wanted to be first, so I wouldn't be able to chicken out later." Nancy said, "At first, I wanted this baby that's in my belly because my sister died. I knew my mom would dote on a new baby and not grieve so much. But now, I'm so proud that I'm going to be a mother. I know it isn't socially correct for us to be unwed parents, or for me to want this white man that I love so much to be the father of my child, but I don't care. I want the father of my child to be the same as the father of all my friends' children. No, not friends, they're sort like wives or something like that, definitely family. I'll be so proud of my baby, and proud of myself for getting it here." Everyone looked at Judy to see what she would say. Judy just smiled and said, "I'm going to give us a wonderful baby to love and to raise. It was going to be my secret, but you can't keep a secret like this, can you?" Brandy was hugging Lisa and said, "Tiani and I wanted babies at the same time too, but we had to agree with the others that we should do this in shifts. We'll wait, but only for a while. We want Chuck to be the father to our babies too." Brandy pulled Lisa to her and gave her a deep, sexy, kiss. She looked up and said, "Meanwhile, we all have a lot of practicing to do so Chuck can fix the rest of us up when the time comes." Tina kissed me on the cheek and said, "Hope you don't get upset if I don't want to propagate for a while. I have a long way to go before I'll have time to be a mom. I'll sure help get the rest of your ladies with child, but I have to wait." We migrated together kissing and hugging. The bedspread and blanket were pulled down, and Nancy was soon spread on the sheets for me to ravish. I loved on her with the help of Frieda and Judy, who finally fit me into the dark beauty. When she became limp from excitement, I lay the longer Frieda down and slid into her boiling center. She was so hot she just sucked me into her. Her orgasms were continuous, causing her to exclaim, "Oh, enough, enough, my stomach almost hurts from coming so much. I love you, Chuck, for loving me much." Judy was on her back next to Frieda as I lifted up and repositioned myself over her. She hugged me to her and said, "Please, put yourself into me, please. I love the way you feel inside me. Each time we make love, I think of the wonderful loving we had when we made this baby. Love me, Chuck, thrust deeply." The unattended ladies were taking care of each other or helping me with who I was loving. Tiani was sucking on Judy's swollen breasts, which caused Judy to have more intense orgasms. When she collapsed on her back, Tiani said, "Now get over here and do me. Practice making me pregnant. Practice making me crazy for more of you. Love me, Chuck, fill me." After Tiani, Brandy wanted me on my back so she could sit on my hips and slowly give me squeezing sensations as she slid up and down. She would lean over me and drop one of her smallish breasts into my mouth. I would suck a nipple into my mouth until she groaned and squeezed me hard and kept doing it until she lay on my chest saying, "Oh, so good, Chuck. You know how to make me feel so good." As Brandy rolled from me, she said, "Now do Tina and save Lisa for last. Show Tina you can make her feel better that even we can." Tina was easy because she had become so hot from watching and being played with by the other girls. We went from gentle caresses to bone jarring thumping in seconds, as she stretched for another orgasm. Tina was very vocal, letting out a loud groan as we thrust through another of her spasms. Then it was Lisa's turn. When I knelt to take her into my arms, Lisa came to me and we were hugging while on our knees. We hugged and kissed for several minutes, or at least what felt like several minutes. In time, we were prone with Lisa on her back and me over her, where I kissed and made love to each part of her body. For once this evening, I was able to kiss down a neck to savor the erect nipples of the lady I was making love to. In time, my kisses reached her center where the other girls had already worshipped. I made myself known by loving the erect clitoris while fingering the special spot within her. Lisa was trying to push me away and pull me up at the same time. As I settled between her raised legs, Lisa held me and said, "I've never said this to you or anyone. I love you, Chuck. I love all these ladies, but I love you so much. You make me feel like a real woman. I would never want to be without these others, but I know I have to be with you to make my life complete. I can feel you so deep inside of me. I know in time you will be deep inside me like this and we will make a baby just like you made with the others. Please, do me now, fill me with that special stuff." Lisa and I made some music together that was special, full of moans, grunts, sighs, and exclamations. We made love. We fucked, then made love some more. When I couldn't hold it for another second, I began shooting into Lisa and she spasmed around me. We thrust together until our joining was a foamy mess. As we fell apart, six ladies covered us with kisses and hugs, letting us both know how much we were loved. Being kissed by all those ladies was the last thing I remember... ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 14 Friday Chuck Oh, my goodness, I felt so good, so warm, surrounded by so many ladies. When I opened my eyes, I was face to face with Lisa, who was staring at me. I was alarmed at first, as I thought she might be dead with her eyes open, but the smile that came to her face told me there was no problem. She kissed me gently and said, "Good morning, Lover. Do you remember what I told you last night?" I smiled in return, "The same as I feel toward you this morning. Yes, Lisa, I love you too. How can I love all of you the way I do?" A voice from behind me said softly, "Because we are all meant for each other. I thought I could never love a man, and then you came along. I love you, Chuck, and I love you even more for giving me these babies I'm carrying." I rolled onto my back and Frieda lay partially on top of me. "You are special, Frieda. You appealed to me as soon as we met. You never did strike me as being a woman only girl. Your eyes were so inviting, and the way you licked your lips as you looked at me, made me think you were a real sex kitten." "I'm a sex kitty all right, but in my case a real pussy lovin' kitty. Something about you told me to open up to you and enjoy you. That first night so long ago, after we went to the concert and dancing at the Hard Rock, I knew you and I had something special. The night I spent with you at your apartment just reinforced it. I couldn't believe it when Brandy and Tiani kept saying you would want to be with all of us, but here you are, right in the middle of all of us and more." "Girls," I said, "I have to get going. I'm taking a guy from the park down to the station this morning. We have to work something out about his truck." A tiny body had crawled up and was laying on me, "I want to work something out with you too. Would you turn back over so I can get at the object of my interest?" "Oh no, Tiani, you'll have to take a rain check. I've got to get going. Hold that thought, I promise to get back to you." The seven of us did manage to slide from bed and get going. I did my stuff in the bathroom, stepped into the shower, and was followed by Frieda and Nancy. Nancy said, "You need your shower slaves to help you get clean. I have this special massager that will help get this long, fat, thing clean." Frieda said, "And my massager knows how to clean out the inside where all that nasty stuff builds up and makes you uncomfortable. Come on, Nancy, let's get this guy clean." I was thoroughly washed, followed by Nancy demonstrating how her special massager fit all around me and massaged me clean. Frieda showed me how her massager encompassed me tightly, squeezing the juices right out of me. When I blasted off into her, she clung to me in orgasm. With half closed eyes, she looked up at me and kissed me gently. In stereo, the two girls said, "I love you." It was already seven, so I needed to hit the road to pick up Mark and get down to the station garage. I left the girls with kisses and told Lisa I would be back later to practice, and that she should pick out several pieces for us to play. Mark was ready when I arrived at the patio, so we had a quick cup of coffee then drove downtown. We met Hank at the garage and showed Mark the Escalade. I would have thought he would at least smile at such a beautiful car, but he actually grimaced. He looked it over carefully, but you could tell it wasn't anything that made him happy. Hank went into his spiel about knowing someone who would trade Mark out of it real quick. He said he understood that Mark would be giving up his old bike for something he wasn't crazy over, but Mark did know that he was getting a good deal in the fancy SUV. Hank then showed Mark the newer Harley that had been confiscated. You could see Mark's mood change. He was suddenly asking, "So you really think this person would actually trade me something I want for the Escalade?" While Mark was looking at the bike he said, "I'll take the deal." Hank began loading the Harley onto his big tow truck while Mark and I went across the street to get the paperwork taken care of. Less than a half-hour later, Mark was driving the Escalade, following Hank in the tow truck on the way home with his toys. I spent a few minutes in the office returning calls and e-mails then told Wanda I would be gone the rest of the day. She just nodded and asked, "Will I see you out at Steve's tonight?" "That's why I'm taking off. They asked Lisa and me to play for them tonight, so we need to practice. I'll see you out there." On the way home, I picked up a couple of Subways so we wouldn't have to take time out for lunch later. As soon as I entered the house, I could hear Lisa was in a zone today. Our music would be good. Lisa was in the media room, playing some soulful riffs on her ES335. When I picked up my electric, Lisa said, "All the axes are tuned and ready. Play with me a few minutes. Let's make them sing." We did play with no special progression, just both of us letting our guitars wail in a slow, crying pace, that had the hair on my arms standing and my scalp tingling. Sometimes blues has no special place to go but to just wail, cry, and sing. I broke it down for Lisa to get a beat and began the da dum ta da, da dum ta da, rythym of a basic blues beat. Lisa grinned and took it from there. I reached over to one of the boxes set up and flipped it on to sample a complete set of my back beat from the guitar. When the sixteen bars were complete, I hit the "save" button and picked up my bass and hit the sample play, with the doubler sound on sound, to save the next sixteen to go with what I had played. This time, I let the bass pick the same back beat, but I let it bleed and sing a little. At the end of the sixteen bars, I hit "save" again, hit the dual play, and picked my guitar back up. Now we had the back beat from a guitar and a singing bass to accompany us. Lisa and I were able to let it just wail. Still no place to go, no special music, but some really wailing riffs. At the end of thirty-two bars, I stopped and punched the sampler off. Lisa pouted when she looked up, but smiled and said, "Now that is what you needed to get you started. Let's listen to it. I have the board on record." Lisa punched a few keys and we first heard her playing, then me joining in, followed by my sampling, then doubling, then both of us playing with the sampled back beat. Lisa smiled again, "You know we could sell shit like that. If we were to set up a studio, we could record some keyboard and you could back it up with the Roland drum pads. I could do some harmonica to go with some of our singing, and first thing you know, we got some blues, Baby." "Let's think about doing something like that so we can play it for folks like they want us to tonight. If we had more recorded, we could just accompany our recordings and sing with it. That would be the way to entertain." With some keystrokes, Lisa said, "Okay, ready. What do you want to play first? We'll set up all the background, exclude our guitars, and when we play out there, we'll just play the midi and accompany it with our stuff and some singing. I'll play my harmonica a little while you really go off on that Les Paul." "Neat idea, let's do a half dozen good blues pieces and another half dozen or so jazz tunes. If we want, we could do some real metal to let them cringe, then settle them back down with a nice ballad. Let's set the pace by using the keyboard and you doing rhythm guitar first. We'll sample it back, then add bass and drum. That will let us have it ready to accompany us on our guitars and sing if it's part of the piece. What do you think, can we get that done?" Lisa was grinning, "Sure, if we only set up about a dozen tunes. Let's get it going. Here, let's do this one first." This was work, as at first I played the keyboard while Lisa used an acoustic for rhythm guitar as backing. Next, we sampled it out back to the midi with bass, then added drums with Lisa playing lead guitar, but not recording the guitar. When I did the bass and drums, it gave me a chance to practice singing the pieces. By four o'clock, we had six good blues pieces and six decent jazz tunes, plus a really hard metal tune and two ballads ready. They were very professional, but not perfect by any means. We began loading up the car with our amps, guitars, midi, sampler, and our trick or gig bags. We were lucky to have some decent microphones with stands and booms, along with a couple of professional stage monitor speakers. My car was packed, but that wasn't a problem. After a quick shower and getting dressed, Lisa and I drove out to the trailer park where we found the patio filling up with people. It was only five fifteen, and there were probably over a hundred people already milling around. As soon as Lisa and I walked in, our Fab Five, along with Lena and her sister, Tina, swarmed us. Thinking that I had not seen the sisters all day, I asked, "Where have you two been all day? I didn't see either of you at home." With a smile, Lena said, "We went out to the school all morning, spent this afternoon at the pool here, and the rest of the time we were right here on the patio with Sue, Mercy, Kathy, and Juanita. We've had a great time." Steve came over to me and said, "This has turned out to be a bigger deal than I would have ever expected. Do you think you could get the keyboard out here and just sort of entertain a little to keep the natives calmed? We have a bunch of crazy people tonight, and they're all drinking a lot." "I guess I could, but Lisa and I have a regular show prepared for you guys, whenever you want it. I think it's great and hope all your people like it. We put it together today just for tonight. We can play some now, but I want our real show to be something special for you later." Steve grinned, "That's really neat that you two would do that for us. I'm sure we'll love it, but right now I just thought some piano and perhaps a little guitar accompaniment would settle down the natives." Lisa smiled, "Music to soothe the savage beast?" "Something like that," Steve said. "Lisa," I said, "Let's get all the stuff hauled in, and you can set everything up while I play the keyboard. I'll do a lounge act for a while, and when you're done setting up, you can do some acoustic with me." We hauled our stuff into the patio and set up where Bonita had done her show. I put the keyboard on the patio, connected it to one of our amp/speaker combinations, and began playing some standards. Bonita had watched our activity and ran into the house to return with one of the fake books we had purchased on our trip to Alaska and Hawaii. I told Bonita, "How about getting your acoustic guitar and playing rhythm with me?" Bonita grinned real big and ran inside the house and returned with her guitar over her shoulder. She dragged up a chair, sat next to me, and began playing chords right along with the piece I was playing. We had been playing for about fifteen minutes when the mellow tones of a bass guitar backed us both up. I turned to see Lisa grinning at me while playing the bass. Lisa said, "You have your rhythm guitar, I thought some bass would fill it out." While we played, Steve made sure we had drinks to sip on and kept complimenting us for entertaining everyone. Lisa had stopped and was erecting a mike on a boom in front of me, and I heard the snap when she flipped it on. Lisa leaned down and said, "And now for your listening pleasure, Chuck's gonna sing for us." I said into the mike, "Actually, Bonita and I are going to sing for you. Stand up here so we can use the mike together, Bonita." Pointing at the open page of the fake book, I began the intro and in a perfect two part harmony, we began "Ain't she sweet." I think the patio almost became perfectly still except for the sounds coming from the big guitar amp and speaker. We sounded that good. I was amazed at how perfectly the little girl could sing. On the second chorus, another voice joined us, as Lisa began singing right along with Bonita. Damn, we are good. We did about five songs together until Tiny came up and said, "I have some announcements, then we're going to eat. Go have something to drink and take a break." Bonita ran off, taking her guitar back to where she kept it. Lisa and I went to the bar and each got a stiff drink. We both had some scotch over ice and were sipping it, listening to Tiny, Phil, and Steve. Tiny began talking about how great it was to have the racing teams visit us. He gave all of them thanks for making our race day teams a success. He then said "Now for the S&S employees. You guys are just so good that you don't ever know how recognized you are for your perfect work. We have been invited to open a plant in Hamburg, Germany. The Association of German manufacturing is offering us space to begin manufacturing one or more of our products. What do you think, are we going to out perfect the perfectionists?" There was all kinds of hollering and clapping. "Now for the best part, you all know how the economy has been really brutal this past year. Well, do you know we have not laid off one person? We have even kept the construction guys that wanted to work on projects. So every time you hear or read about another thousand people being unemployed, it ain't any of our people." More hollering and clapping. "Phil has a few words for you." Phil took the mike, "You won't believe this, but I'll be quick. Star still has a regular schedule for me to do a seminar every other month, but Judy is still in demand to give a monthly seminar. Our video packages have been a hot item all these years, but it is because we represent all of your production that we are still successful. Thank you." Phil turned around and handed the mike to Steve. Steve said, "As you know, we have people going to Hawaii to set up an airport and flight school. Some other folks will also be going to help them get the office set up over there. Hawaii will become the destination for a lot of you people who win vacations for producing beyond expectations." "A lot of you know that I have this itch to build an airplane. We've built an engine and have cast some parts, but we didn't have the expertise to build a real airplane. Wes Miller came to work with us and to ramrod the new S&S LSA manufacturing company. LSA, meaning Light Sport Aircraft. Wes says he will have our parts put together and in the air in less than a month, so watch out for falling objects." A lot of laughter. "This may not be a giant new company, but it will become the test bed for many new products, the new aircraft engine, special structural engineering, and most of all, some special composite material that will have a variety of uses in other products." "What I'm trying to get across is that S&S is not laying off or downsizing, we are growing. We are expanding while others have their heads in the sand. It's harder for our sales people to find the sale, but they're working harder and working smarter. The inside people are paving the way for the field people. Our reputation is keeping orders flowing our way. Congratulations, and thank you." Noise generated by the hollering and clapping was numbing. Steve held his hand up to quiet the crowd. "The food is ready, so dig in. I want everyone to know that drivers are ready to get you and your vehicle home, so even if you have had only a few, get help tonight. I need you here Monday, and in some cases tomorrow, so be careful. After we eat a while, our favorite musicians, Chuck and Lisa have a show for us. While we eat, Tiny has some of their Atlanta DVDs to play on the central video feed. Eat hearty and enjoy." Lisa and I got a beer and found our group was mixed in with Steve's women. Lena, Big Tina, and Kathy's oldest daughter, Barb, were surrounded by some of the other local teens, being asked questions about college. Little Tina came up to Lisa and me, and after hugs and kisses said, "You two never cease to amaze all of us. You two just make music fun." We sat with our group and devoured some great ribs. The potato salad was really good, along with some corn on the cob. There were some wings that would melt the paint off most cars, but they sure were good. Lisa and I were trying to keep from stuffing, and let me tell you, it was difficult. The tables were being cleaned up and the party was continuing inside and outside the patio. Tiny asked me to show him where the outputs on our amps were so he could feed into his PA system outside and in the big tent. When that was complete, he said, "I'll turn the DVDs off and you can put on your show. I think I'll encourage the party to slow down when you're done playing. We have a lot of drinkers tonight. These teams are really letting it out." I got Lisa's attention so we could take a potty break before getting ready to play. As we came back from the restrooms, Kathy stopped me, "Thank you for letting Bonita play with you. She's so excited that you let her play "professionally" as she calls it. You've really found talent out here." With a smile, I said, "She needs to play with us now also, as this next stuff we're going to do will be fun for her. She'll like it and it will be nice to have some more rhythm guitar." Lisa had heard what I told Kathy and said, "You heard the kid singing, right? She is really good. I can't believe a six year old can read music like that and sing too. Get her for us, unless it's too late for her." Kathy went to find Bonita. As Lisa and I were turning on the equipment, Bonita showed up with her guitar. I told her, "Bonita, just play rhythm chords with us. I'll tell you what key we'll be in and you can just strum along. We don't have music with us as we practiced earlier. If you don't feel comfortable, then don't play, but stay with us for when you can play." The little one had no fear as she went to work making sure her guitar was still in tune. Lisa and I did the same and Lisa brought out her harmonica to use on a couple of pieces. When we were ready, I snapped on the mike which made a loud pop on our speakers and the PA system outside. All heads turned toward us. I said into the mike, "When Steve asked us to play a little, we were going to just do a couple of pieces on our acoustic guitars and perhaps sing a little, but Lisa and I decided to create some multi-instrument music for you. This is almost like Karaoke, but we have to add instruments and voices sometimes. We had fun making this, hope you enjoy it with us." We started out with 'Mack the Knife' and jazzed it up pretty good. Bonita was able to pick up the rhythm real well and stayed in key. We did 'Soul Man' with the midi keyboard doing what should have been brass, and it sounded really good. I hit the doubler on my voice, so it sounded like two people singing the chorus, while Lisa played the harmonica. We went from one piece to the next with hardly any break at all. We did the heavy metal piece "Every Dollar" that Tim Rogers does so well to break up the other blues we were doing, so it was a continuous show right down to "Georgia" and we ended with "Summertime," because Lisa said I had to do it. When we were done, the applause and hollering from the patio and outside the patio was deafening. Little Bonita gave me a hug, then Lisa a hug and kiss. She said it was fun. That reflected how Lisa and I felt, as it had been fun, and I know we sounded really good. Everyone kept asking for more, but I announced, "We didn't plan on any encores and without our back up instruments, it wouldn't sound that good. Put the Atlanta DVDs back on or put those European CDs on. When we have some extra instruments, we sound pretty good. Steve came out with something in his hand, held it up, then took a mike and said, "I have something that these two have not heard yet. This is from Chuck's birthday party in Hawaii. When we were getting the party together, Lisa asked me to see if we could set up some recording equipment to get it on tape. I not only have it recorded, I have it on video. I just got the edited DVD a week or so ago, and haven't even seen the finished product yet. I'll put it on now." Son of a gun, it was that night, not that long ago, when Lisa surprised me in Hawaii with all the guys from Atlanta. The video was really good considering the lighting sucked. The people who edited the video and music did a good job, as when we began playing, the group sounded really professional. We could be on stage anywhere. Lisa was grinning the whole time we were packing up our equipment. It was really cool to see and hear us play the way we did. It's hard to believe that a couple of amateurs could sound that good. We finished up packing, then joined our group of women with some tall drinks. I had just had a couple of sips when Kathy came to get Lisa and me. She said, "You two need to talk to Bonita. She's really upset with herself. Just talk to her, she'll tell you." We went into the living room, where the little girl was sitting on the couch with her guitar on her lap. She had huge tears rolling down her cheeks and was almost sobbing. Lisa and I sat on each side of her and hugged her. I asked, "What's the matter, Bonita, we had so much fun playing and you did so well with me before dinner?" Through her sobs and gasps for air, she choked out, "I want to play like you guys. You two can play the guitar and make all those neat sounds, and I can hardly even play the big electric yet. Chuck, you can play anything on the piano and it sounds so good, but what I play sounds like a kid playing. I want to play all that music like you two do." Lisa and I looked at each other, then Lisa said, "You know when I was your age and just starting to learn, I wanted to play like my dad. He played so well and made his guitar just sing and sing. I remember I cried because I couldn't make my little guitar do that yet. I think I was about six or seven when that happened. I practiced every day. Dad taught me a little more every day, but those great sounds he could make wouldn't come out of my guitar. Finally, years later, after years and years of practice, those sounds began coming from my fingers and from my guitar. It takes time, Honey, lots of time to learn. Your fingers will grow longer which will make reaching the notes easier. Your ear will get better, helping you create a lot of your own music. Don't worry, it will come. Between now and then, practice, play along with music on the radio, on your stereo, play all the stuff in the fake books, and it'll come, Honey, it'll come." Bonita looked at me, "You aren't mad that I cried are you?" "No, no, Bonita. You are so sweet and play so good for the short time you've been playing. No one can just pick up an instrument and be great with it. You've learned fast and are improving every day. Like Lisa says, your fingers will get longer and you'll be able to play better. Just keep practicing and playing for yourself. You'll probably become better at piano and guitar than either one of us. Bonita, you have natural talent, just let it grow inside of you. No need to cry, you should be really happy you can play so well." The little girl looked up at me and said, "Thank you, Chuck." She turned to Lisa and said, "Thank you, Lisa." Then to Lisa she said, "I know you will marry Chuck, but if you don't, I'm going to marry him when I grow up. Maybe I'll be his second wife." Lisa and I were choking, while Kathy was sniggering from the doorway. She said, "Now you've done it. You've won the heart of my youngest daughter. You're a marked man, Chuck." Bonita said, "Well, I will. Lisa is friendly, so maybe I can do that when I get old enough." Lisa said, "We'll see, but I'll bet that by then you'll meet and know many great musicians that you may like more than Chuck." Bonita hugged me, then stood and kissed me on the lips. She grinned and left the room with her guitar. Kathy said, "Thank you for settling her down. She thinks she should be able to play anything and everything instantly. The teachers are having a difficult time keeping up with her, and I'm wondering whether to get even better teachers for her." "For right now, Kathy," I advised, "the teachers you have are perfect. I'll watch and listen to her lessons occasionally and tell you when you have to find the next level. That's going to be expensive and time consuming, since most of those people have their own studios and try to get students under contract. I'll try to help you then too." Lisa and I went back outside and got mobbed by several of the racing team people. They were complimenting us on the music and were asking for our agent's name. Lisa and I both laughed and said, "Thank you for thinking that we would have an agent, but neither of us are ready to quit our day jobs. This is fun for us, not our main occupation." We finally made it back to our group and our now watery drinks. The girls were beginning to look tired so I suggested they leave for home. I wanted to say goodbye to Steve and told them I would be home shortly. I received kisses and hugs from the five. They went around to the others and said goodnight. While they were doing that, Lisa and I were getting refills of our drinks. "Thanks, Lisa and Chuck, for putting on that great show for us." Steve said "You two need to advertise and get some appearances around town," while hugging Lisa and slapping me on the back. He handed me a CD case and said, "This is your copy of the Hawaii show. It's really great." Lisa said, "I think I'd rather fly and occasionally play like we did tonight. Music is how I relax and have fun. Flying is where my heart is." Mercy came up and hugged Lisa. She said, "Your heart is with your music partner. That came through so clearly while you two were singing together. The way you two are together is special. It's enjoyable to watch and listen to you two. Are you two going to make it permanent?" I said, "We've got a ways to go before we do that. We both have our jobs that keep us moving and busy. We're doing pretty well together just the way we are right now. Besides, we both have a whole house full of special people right now that are included in our family." Little and Big Tina came up to us, and Little Tina said, "Are you guys going home soon. I'm going to go home with Lena and Tina as I am bushed. I'll see you when you get home. I think the girls and I are going to have a PJ party, so don't expect me later." Lisa smiled when I looked at her, then rolled her eyes. She said, "That sounds like fun, maybe I should join them. I'll bet Brandy and Tiani find out what's up and have their PJs on when we get home." Sue and Mercy, who were beside us, laughed and said, "So, Chuck, is it difficult to find someone to snuggle with at your place? Are the girls all off by themselves?" Lisa said, "No way, Chuck is probably the most spoiled guy around. Except for Steve perhaps, but Chuck gets a lot of attention." Sue said, "We do try to spoil our guy, but then I think all the women around here try to spoil all our guys. It's kind of a nice way for it to be." "What do you think, Lisa, how about going home and getting a good night's sleep? I'd like to get up at a reasonable hour and workout tomorrow, then go for a ride on the bike." Lisa said, "I'm for that, but you have so many that want to ride." Steve said, "If you have a bunch that want to ride, bring them out and we'll all go together. There are a few riders that don't have anyone riding with them. We usually find a seat for everyone. I'd like to ride over to Plant City tomorrow for the bike show the Viet Nam Vets are putting on. It's usually a good party. If we go about five, Charley and Jim can go with us. Come out earlier and eat with us, and go up to the pool for some sun, or just hang out with us here. I'm sure the girls will find something to do." "Steve, Sue, you guys are having us out here so much, we might as well just find a place and move. Jesus, the girls have been out here every night this past week, and today too." Mercy said, "That is exactly what you guys should do. Just move out here. We'll find a big place for all of you, or we'll build a big house for you back with Abe and the others." I was shaking my head, "Oh, Mercy, you make it sound so easy. You know we have two houses and the girls are getting theirs redone to handle the kids that are on the way." "So," Mercy said, "they could just design something big enough for all of you the way you would want it. I'm sure it can be done. Look at our place. Every time the family grows, we just add on. It's worked out so far." "We'll see, we'll see, you better talk to the girls," I said. "They would be the ones to convince." Juanita was there and said, "I've already been talking to Frieda and Nancy about that. They think it would be great to live out here." Sue said, "Little Tiani and Brandy think they could design a house that would be perfect for all of you. Judy said anywhere you are is where she wanted to be." I closed my eyes as this was becoming pushy. "Okay, we'll talk about it, but I really do like my place and the way it's built, it would be tough to sell. The girls place is also unique, and would equally tough to sell." Steve said, "You know you could build yourself a regular compound. One with living quarters for everyone, plus you could build a special studio for you and Lisa. Think about it. We have the room and a construction crew that is always looking for more work." "Lisa, let's get out of here before it gets any deeper." The two of us shook hands, hugged, and kissed our way out the door. As soon as we were in the car, Lisa said, "Do you think they meant it that they would build you a house out here?" "They meant it. That's all they've been talking about lately. How do we get all those girls and Chuck out here? There's Dennis too. They want him back here as they miss having him around. Of course, there's John and Wanda, and there is Jan and Don. Those two haven't become patio people yet, but they would easily." Lisa said, "I really like all those people and wouldn't mind living close to them. Our group is a little strange, but really not that different than Steve and his ladies." "I just have more women. The five are really funny the way they are, but then what's in the relationship for Tina?" "Easy," Lisa answered, "She really loves you dearly, but she's so busy with school and she enjoys the way you let her just be herself. She enjoys us girls a lot, and you don't ever have anything bad to say about that. You see, you let us be who we are, and love us for who we are. It makes it nice for a bunch of girls who really enjoy each other, but also have this terrible crush on the same guy." I slowed down driving and asked, "Do you really think this relationship with all of you can last? Those five girls are all independent, but together, they are wealthy too. Will they want to stay with me when they all have babies and are raising them? Won't they want to be by themselves when they have what they want?" "Stop for a minute, Chuck, and look at me." I pulled over on the street just before our house and looked at Lisa. "Chuck, those five girls love you for more than your ability to put a baby in their bellies. Brandy is crazy in love with you, and has even thought of marrying you. Tiani thought she might want to marry you. They all figure that it would be better if they were equal and none of them was the married person. If you singled any one of them out and wanted to take off with her, they might go, but would resent you for taking her away from the others. Those five are permanent. They've been together for a long time and have built up more and more reasons to remain together." Lisa took a breath, "They took me in and they enjoy me as a girl, but see how you and I click. The same with Tina, she clicked with you because of the reasons I've already told you. They really do love Tina and me, and you have another problem, because the five really do like Lena. With big Tina coming around and bent the same way, they're going to want big Tina to be a part of your group too. This has become your group, not their group anymore. Get used to it, Chuck, they may control who joins your group, but it's your group. What guy could turn away nine women who idolize him?" "Jesus, Lisa, you make me sound like I'm running a cult. Those two little girls are too young. Even Tina, you know little Tina, shouldn't be committing to any kind of relationship with a bunch of kooks like we are. She has years of school and internship to go through and no need for a relationship." Lisa huffed, "Don't you see, our relationship is perfect for Tina. She can study, be independent, and still be loved by all of us girls and by you when she has a chance to catch her breath. Susan told me this is the most relaxed she's seen Tina since she was in high school. Susan says that Tina has always been a little different, but since she's moved in with us, she has once again become the loving daughter she's always known." There was a long pause, then Lisa said, "Come on, let's go home to our whacky bunch of women." It was at that moment that it dawned on me. I gathered Lisa up into my arms and held her. After a soft kiss I said, "Lisa, I love you. I think we're meant for each other. You see into me and know me very well. We click, we're a match." Lisa was hugging me back and kissed me gently, "Are you proposing?" "I'm proposing that we are a match and that we remain together to learn more about each other. I'm proposing that the way this is going, you and I will be the ones to tie the knot." "Well, maybe it might be you and Dr. Tina when she finishes school, or you and giant Lena or big Tina." "No Lena, no Tina, they are too young. They don't need a dirty old man like me. They need..." Lisa said, "They need a group like ours, but perhaps younger. We'll see. Come on and take me home. We have to get this stuff in the house before we can go to bed. We can't let it stay in the garage." We drove the short distance and pulled into the garage. It took several trips, but we were able to get everything out of the car and into the media room. That made me think, What size of place would we need? Media room, gym, rooms for all the women, an apartment for Jan and Dennis, another for Wanda and John, but they may just stay out at John's trailer. What am I thinking? I have a house, a nice house. Let it be. When I looked into my bedroom from my office, Frieda, Judy, and Nancy were snuggled together, sleeping in the big bed. As I was standing there, Lisa came up behind me and said, "Lena, the Tinas, Brandy, and Tiani are having a good time in Lena's room right now. I just saw Wanda head that way, so it's going to be a real party. Want to crash it?" "That's going to be a girl's party, not for guys, I think. If you want to join them, that's fine. I have three to keep me company." "You never know, perhaps we can get John, Jan, and Don to join us," Lisa said teasingly. "We could have a real party." "Whatever, Lisa. I'm going to take a shower, fix myself a drink, and relax for a few minutes before going to bed. Join me or the girls, I'll be fine." "You really don't mind that I would go play with a bunch of girls, do you?" "Not a bit, Lisa. I think it's what you want to do, so I'm fine with it. You do give me some prime lovin', so how could I be jealous?" Lisa hugged me and said, "Fix me a drink and you and I will use the hot tub for a few minutes. I'd like to be with you a little more this evening." We stripped and walked nude together into the kitchen/family room area to pour ourselves a drink. We were sitting at the counter when Wanda came from Lena's room. She came over to us and gave each of us a hug. When she kissed me, she had the distinct taste of pussy. Lisa said, "Want something to go with that pussy?" Wanda grinned and said, "Sure make me a scotch on ice. I couldn't resist a bunch of young pussy when Lena came and told me. My goodness, it's something to have those two long ladies together. Tina looks just like Bobby did. She's almost as big as Bobby was though she's not as muscular yet. Lena is so long and slim, but I know she's muscular as I've held her. The young lady is a real looker." I asked, "So what does John say about you going down the hall to partake of some young stuff?" "He's asleep, but if he was awake he would say, 'Bring me one in the morning.' He's as kinky as I am, just a male and older. We're a perfect fit." Lisa said, "We're getting into the tub for a few minutes, want to join us?" "No, I've had my snack and could use a good night's sleep. Enjoy guys; I'll see you in the morning." As Wanda left the room, Lisa and I went out to the hot tub to enjoy a bubble bath. I flipped the circulator on and we slipped into the right at a hundred-degree Jacuzzi. We were relaxing when five ladies suddenly came splashing into the tub. Brandy snuggled up to the other side of me and said, "How about coming into Lena's room and entertaining us ladies. I think we could put on a show that would get you interested." Big Tina came across the tub and wedged herself between my legs. "I haven't had you yet, so it's my turn to sample what my sisters have all had." Lena came to my rescue, "I don't think he's had Michelle yet. So you're exaggerating." "I still want to sample what all the other women in this house have had. I'm on the pill and I want some Chuck, balls deep." Lisa said, "If you've been playing around, you know Chuck has to use a rubber anyway." Big Tina smiled, "I've never had bare dick in me. I've had all of two guys, but I've had them fairly often. We only do it with rubbers as I'm smart, I want to stay clean. How do I know Chuck is clean?" I said, "You don't, but I don't fool around outside of our family. Don't you think I have enough women to keep me company?" "You do, but guys always like new stuff. Does that mean you'll do me?" "No, that doesn't mean I'll do you or Lena. You both are too young to be messing with an older guy like me. You do your young guys, Tina, and enjoy these ladies while you're here." Little Tina said, "See, it's just like I told you. We have it great, but we have to mind the boss. Lena has only had Chuck when we sneaked her in. We've promised we won't do that anymore." Lena said, "We did meet a really nice guy out at the park. He's a young guy that just started out at USF. Ben, one of Kathy's boys, he's really nice." Big Tina offered, "I think that Barb, his sister, and that little girl, Debbie, are into Ben's jeans already. That's kind of kinky for Barb to be doing stuff with her brother." Lena said, "If ours weren't taken, I'd play with either one. They would be fun, but the twins would slit our throats if they caught us messing with their guys." I said, "I have to get out, ladies. I can only stay in about fifteen minutes and we've probably been longer than that. Stay in if you want, but I'm headed for bed. All you girls have fun, see you in the morning." I went into the bathroom and dried, and was about to head into bed when Brandy and Tiani gave me a hug. They kissed me and asked, "You don't mind if we play with the girls, do you? With Tina being here just this weekend, it's kind of fun playing with the sisters." "No, you two have a good time. I'll see you in the morning or when you wake up. Love you." Tiani gave me a toe curler and said, "You would be more fun to play with, but new pussy sure is fun." Lisa was right there, as soon as Brandy and Tiani left. She said, "I think I'd rather be in your arms than theirs. Dry me off and we'll snuggle." We finished drying off and slid into the far side of the bed. In just a few seconds, my body part had grown into her hand. Lisa began kissing me and saying, "Yes, we needed this tonight. I want you in me, filling me, making me yours." Our lovemaking was slow, but intense. We made love for a long time before our release was upon us. As we relaxed and finally rolled apart, Frieda rolled over onto me and kissed me, then Lisa. "You two are so perfect together. I love to watch you." When I began stroking Frieda, she said, "I don't need or want anything tonight. The kids are going crazy in my stomach, so if you would, can I hug your back. They seem to settle down when I hug you." We did snuggle down with Frieda hugging my back. Lisa kissed me a few more times, and then turned over with her back to me. She reached down between her legs and stroked me until I was hard again and pulled me into her to soak for the night. Lisa stroked me with her hips a couple of times then went to sleep. I lay thinking for a few minutes about the menagerie I lived in. With a smile on my face, I did the guy thing after lovemaking and fell asleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious ------- Chapter 15 Steve Saturday As I sipped my first cup of coffee on the still dark patio, I contemplated the state of the company and whether starting an adult toy company during a major recession was sane. S&S LSA was definitely a toy company, but had the potential to make a splash. If we can build a ready to fly light sport aircraft and sell it for about fifty thousand, we will have more orders than we can handle, even during a recession. The total startup investment won't be too bad as we were planning on building the space anyhow. The composite body is ready and an R&D project, plus the engine is really a multi-purpose engine that happens to fit this application. The engine is something special. Abe spent a long time developing an engine that is either air cooled for one application or water cooled for another. The difference was in the cylinders, heads, and water pump. Abe said he was creating a platform engine that could be varied in size and variable in performance options. He's working on a turbocharger that will beef up the output by about twenty to twenty-five percent. He always has accomplished what he set out to do. I guess the biggest investment is the usual, people. Wes isn't that expensive, based on his knowledge, and the other men were barely productive because of slow business in their old departments. Wes needs a girl Friday to make sure he knows what day it is and when to return calls. I'm sure Ruth will come up with the right person. As I walked over to turn on the lights, Glenda came in, carrying her cup. She said, "How long have you been sitting out here? Did you need some privacy?" "Not really, Glenda, just thinking about some projects." Glenda poured herself some more coffee and sat with me. She asked, "Are you worrying over what to do in Germany? That is a great compliment from a country like that." I said, "They probably just want some new manufacturing blood to spur their own into action. We'll probably have a rebuild shop and maybe build one of our new forklifts there. The Ireland group is building at a steady pace now, but the orders have been heavy enough we've had to ship from Onan. That wasn't our plan for overseas, but it's been working out. Onan is doing alright in new orders, but is laying off workers and contracting out in anticipation of an even worse economy. If they can't fulfill our orders, we'll have to make up the difference in manufacturing. That's another 'we'll see' type of thing." Glenda said, "You know Martin and I are getting up there in age. Martin is just about to the point he can't do much for many people any more. It upsets him, but he recognizes he can only do what he can do. Now that Jim is taking care of the major maintenance around the property, and Mark is beginning to help people with their cars, Martin can relax and just tinker with some minor fixit things. He has to feel useful." "What are you getting at, Glenda?" She smiled and said, "I'm just trying to remind you that your morning girlfriend and her husband are getting older. You've made us so happy we'll probably hang around another ten or fifteen years, but you'll have to push us around in a chair." "If you get to the point where you can't get around good, let me know and we'll get you one of those power chairs or scooters. You're getting around pretty good though, so it's going to be years before you need one of those." I got up and went to Glenda and gave her a hug. "We'll always be around to take care of you, Glenda, both you and Martin. You two don't have to do anything but enjoy yourselves and your retirement. You still try to do too much. Let the other ladies take care of things." "Oh, Steve, you know I have to be busy. The only thing I do is wash up some things and sometimes help with lunch. No one hardly lets me do anything any more." I smiled, "Good, it's time for us to wait on you." Sue had come out with a diet Coke in her hand and said, "Glenda, are you talking old again. I told you last week to cut that out. You ain't old till you're at least ninety, and you have a ways to go." Glenda smiled and asked, "You've been having those girls of Chuck's out here a lot. Are you lobbying to have them out here for more babies?" Sue said, "Wouldn't that be neat to have a bunch of babies again. Perhaps Dennis and his girlfriend will get hitched and start producing too. The kids make this place." "You didn't answer the question, Sue, are you trying to get them to move out here?" Sue grinned, "You caught me. Yes Ma'am, I am. I think the girls are about ready to come on out, but Chuck likes his place and the girls have a big house of their own. They're going to continue to work, so they need to come out here for someone to take care of those babies during the day. Susan and Nancy dote on babies and will want to take care of them full time." The patio was filling up, when Charlie asked, "Did I hear you talking about going out to the Vet's bike show?" I answered, "Chuck said he wanted to ride and I thought it might be good to go out there this evening. The games are in the afternoon, but the judging of the show bikes won't start till around five. If we left here a little after five, we could be out there by six and have a good time. We would be there for the auction and all the drawings, plus we could eat out there." Shawna and Hanna simultaneously asked, "Have you made arrangements for kid watching?" Sue said, "Kate said she would help, plus Mom is coming out this evening. Matty said she would help, so that's three. The kids can all crash here and have a slumber party." Charlie said, "Okay, that takes care of this evening, now what about this motocross stuff? What are we going to do about that?" The word motocross caught the ear of a bunch of kids who edged their way closer to the group of adults. I said, "Kevin, Dennis, and Tina all said they would help teach the kids. First things first, though. This morning we can all go get safety equipment and perhaps find a couple of bikes." Jim said, "Hannah and I scouted a few bikes in the trader and found four that are decent buys. They're all small ones, hundred cc stuff for little ones. Some of the kids will move into one twenty-fives real quick, but all the kids can start out with the hundreds." I offered, "Sue will get you some cash so you can pick those up." Charlie said, "That's the other thing. How do you want to handle the cost of this thing? How do you want to split up the bikes and stuff?" I said, "Sue and I talked about it and we'll pick up the machinery. If anyone wants to buy something special later on, go for it, but we're doing real well right now, so we'll pick up the cost of the bikes and putting a track together. Terrel said he knows a guy who has built some tracks and will get a beginner's track ready for us this coming week. He had the grading and dirt moving equipment at a job last week and can move it here now. As far as the safety equipment, do you think everyone can pay for that?" Charlie answered, "Everybody that works for you can, but there may be some other kids from out here that may not be able to." With a smile I said, "Have them come with me and my brood to get the safety gear so I can pick it up. If we have people out here that are in trouble with jobs and such, let me know. This is our neighborhood; we don't let our neighbors get down. We'll find them a job." Shawna said, "There is a family that's been here about six months and I heard the man lost his job last month. They were going to be short on lot rent and utilities. I was meaning to ask you if you could talk to the guy. The company he worked for moved him here then decided to cut most of the management. The guy had just been promoted to department manager and is now out of a job." Sue asked, "Does his wife work?" Shawna said, "That's the real rub, the guy has two kids and the mom hasn't been a part of the family for a lot of years." "How old are the kids?" Sue asked. "The boy is Greg's age and the girl is about Lizzie's," Shawna answered. "Well, let's go get them so we can take them with us. If the dad will come along, I can learn a little about him. Maybe we can find him a job." Shawna said, "Let me introduce you. We'll take your cart and bring them down for breakfast." "Shawna, they may not be up yet. It is Saturday." Shawna was pushing me out the door, "Hey, this is an opportunity for the guy. If he ain't up, we'll get him up. With two kids, he's probably up." Charlie was hollering as we climbed into my cart, "See you tonight, Shawna, I have to go to work." We drove over to the double-wides in the newer section, and stopped at a nice place. It looked well cared for with some bushes and bedding plants along the side. The main door was open, so I knocked on the side of the screen door. "Hello, you have visitors." A young boy and girl ran to the door, while a young guy walked over. He looked out, then opened the door. "Hey, Shawna, how are you? Is this Charlie, your old man?" "Hey, Bart, no this is Steve Sharp. I brought him over to meet you. He's getting ready to take the kids to the motocross store to get safety gear. You talked to me about your two wanting to get involved." "I know I talked to you about it, but we may have to pass right now. Things are getting really tight a lot faster than I thought they would. My miserable car had to have a transmission and as soon as that was fixed, I had to buy a battery. Then the TV went on the fritz. We found a cheap used one, but you know kids and TV, you gotta have one. I'm running real short, so motocross may not be realistic right now." I said, "How about letting me help the kids out so they can get started. I'll spot you the safety gear and we're going to have community bikes, so there won't be any cost there." Bart said, "That's kind of you, but we shouldn't sponge off of other people. I'm concerned though that if they did do the motocross stuff, I don't have any health insurance. I can't afford the Cobra amount for the health insurance I had." "We can probably work something out for you on that, Bart. How about letting the kids get involved with the other kids that are going to be doing this?" Shawna spoke up, "Have you had breakfast yet?" Bart said, "I was just starting to fix it." The little redhead smiled and said, "Come on, come down to the patio and have breakfast with us. We have a party every morning and this would be a good day for you to join us. Come on down and we'll talk about everything." You could see the indecision in Bart's face, so I said, "There's a bunch of people down there to network with about getting a job. If there's a place for you, you'll probably find it among all the folks down there." That made up his mind and he said, "Sonny, you and Joan shut off the TV and put on your shoes. We're going someplace to have breakfast." The boy, Sonny, asked, "Is this the place where CJ, Steve, and Greg live?" I said, "It is. Steve and Greg are two of my boys." Sonny was putting on his shoes and said, "That's the place I was telling you about last night, Dad. Steve said they had a bunch of NASCAR teams over there for a party." I asked, "Did you talk to Steve last night?" "No, we saw him at the pool yesterday. All the kids from over there were talking about it. There's a lot of kids that live over there." As we got into the cart, I said, "Yep, there are a lot of kids over there. You guys should join them more often." At the house, I brought Bart and his kids into the patio. CJ and Steve saw Sonny and immediately ran to him, which meant two seconds later they were running into the house. Liz came up to Joan and began talking to her, and seconds later, they were running into the house as well. "Coffee, Bart?" I asked, heading toward the big pot. "That would be great," Bart said. I handed Bart his coffee, drew another cup for myself and turned to him and the guys standing around the bar, "Tiny, Phil, Abe, Martin, Henry, Ryan, Hap, Bear, this is Bart. I'm sorry, I didn't ask your last name." Bart said, "It's Moleson, almost like the beer, Bart Moleson." Tiny laughed and said, "Hope you don't mind drinking Bud. That's what's on tap around here." "You have a tap?" Bart asked. Abe said, "Damn right. We use it right regular too, every evening. It's a tradition Steve started several years ago with Martin and Charlie. It's just continued." I said, "It's a long story for some other time. The Charlie you mentioned is at work. Some of the other guys are working as well. How about a breakfast sandwich, I think the ladies are saving up the big breakfast for tomorrow morning." Ryan offered, "If you haven't been invited to the Sunday morning breakfast and lingerie show you definitely have to come. It is a real eye opener." Phil said, "It is definitely something to wake you up and get you up." Tiny asked, "What do you do for a living, Bart?" "I was manager of manufacturing accounting at Stratus Corporation until they decided to contract. They downsized all of the department managers and cut the department size in anticipation of less business. They were doing pretty well, with orders actually about the same as last year, but think they are going to have a rough year. They don't have any confidence in the economy." Tiny said, "They were doing a lot of government business. Do they feel the department of defense is going to stop buying?" Bart said, "I heard the DOD will probably slow down orders and reduce purchases by at least thirty percent. I don't know whether that's real or not, but that's what they're basing they're staff reduction on." Tiny was curious, "Have you been able to do much job hunting since you were cut?" "Every day for six weeks. I've had a few nibbles, but no one wants an accountant with an MBA. I only finished the MBA to have better knowledge of how management controls a business. I thought it would help as an accountant. I think the people I'm talking to all think I want to be in marketing, and in reality, I'm just a bean counter." Henry overheard that said, "Hey partner, I resemble that remark. There's nothing wrong with counting beans when it puts some on your plate." "You can say that again," Bart said. "I much prefer helping to balance the books than trying to market them." Tiny said, "You know, I just sent two guys to Hawaii for a new operation over there. What do you think, Henry, should we check this guy out to see if he measures up?" "Do you guys know of a job opening?" Bart asked, getting excited. Henry said, "Actually, yes. Tiny stole one of my best men and took one of his best men to send to the land of grass skirts. He thinks we might be able to cover for those two with the present staff, but he's going to find out real quick, it ain't happenin'. We can easily get behind now because our mutual bosses are constantly introducing something new that we have to scramble to cost out. I can imagine Tiny is having some sleepless nights over the boss' new toy project." I said, "Now, now, I can call them toys, but you must call them LSAs, because they will be very profitable." "Sure they will, Steve, but you're a year away from full production and I know what you're doing. You're using this project to research materials for something else you're thinking of. The kid over at the fiberglass shop was over here at the park measuring the tables so he could mold some special sewing tables. He told me all about wanting a bunch of composite sheets to shoot at. We'll be knee deep in more government business." Bart spoke up, "I know how to handle government accounts. I've been handling them for Stratus for five years. I know how to work directly with all branches for equipment and armament." I smiled and elbowed Tiny, "That did it, Tiny, hire this guy before our competition snatches him up." "Hire me? Are you kidding? Are you someone who can do that?" Tiny said sort of off the cuff, "Yep, Steve Sharp, the founder and owner of S&S Enterprises, can do that. And Henry here, the guy popping off to you, can probably put you to work handling government accounts this morning, if you want to work on Saturday." Bart asked, "Don't you work for the same people?" Bear gave a belly laugh and said, "Hell, nobody works for anybody around here. Everybody works with everybody here. Henry primarily plays with the sewing plants and Tiny overseas everything. You know who makes almost all of the fatigues worn in the military today, don't you?" Bart answered, "Sure, that would be Quality Wear. They've cornered that market and are coming in real low. No one can compete with them." Bear said, "See that little babe over there with big hooters? That's Sue Sharp, Steve's wife, that's the creator and owner of Quality Wear." "Holy shit. So Henry, you really do work for Quality Wear?" "Yep," Henry said, "ever since Steve flew up north and rescued me from an accounting firm that was going nowhere." Bart turned and looked at me, "You're serious, right; I can apply to your company?" Tiny said, "We are all serious, but unless you can't pass a drug test, you're hired and will be starting out at Quality Wear on Monday. Henry will work out your salary and benefits with you." Tiny looked at me and asked, "What do you think, Steve, can we wave the ninety day waiting period for the health insurance?" "That shouldn't be a problem. We should be able to take care of that. Now, Bart, how about a breakfast sandwich and a little more coffee before we go shopping for some safety gear?" You could see the relief in Bart's eyes as we made our way to a pile of wrapped sandwiches and good looking pastry. Bart went back to sit with the men, and I went to Sue and said, "We just solved your problem of losing a guy to Hawaii and the problem of working with the military and their invoicing." "How did you do that?" Sue asked. I said, "Shawna knew that guy who has kids and couldn't afford the safety gear?" "Okay," Sue said. "Well, it turns out he was an accounting manager, with an MBA, who was just moved here by Stratus and was then downsized when they cut back last month or so ago." Sue smiled, "No kidding. So he worked with their military group?" "He says that's where he's been for the last five years and had just been brought here as a promotion to be group manager." "Introduce me. I want him to start Monday so he can straighten those invoices out." I brought Sue over to Bart and said, "Sue, this is Bart Moleson, Bart, Sue Sharp, the queen of Quality Wear." "I'm not a queen. I work there just like everybody else." With a smile, Sue said, "Has Henry told you that he's had two guys trying to figure out how the military can screw up invoices faster than we can even print them?" "He said he could use the help," Bart said. "Well, as of Monday morning, you'll be helping sort them out. You'll be in charge of what, Henry, about a dozen girls that handle those invoices?" Henry said, "That's about right, about a dozen." "Well anyway, Bart, you'll be earning your keep from the first second. I'll have personnel to do your paperwork while you begin. Oh yeah, hey, Ruth." Ruth came over to Sue. Sue asked, "Do you have any of those dope sticks out here?" As Ruth was thinking about it, Hannah said, "We have some in the supply closet for the models." Sue said to Hannah, "Get one and get a cup." She turned back to Bart and said, "Follow Hannah, pee in the cup and have her dip her stick. If you're clean, you're hired." Bart was laughing at Sue's delivery and grinning broadly as he followed Hannah into the house. Sue gave me a kiss, then Tiny and Henry, and said, "I love it when a plan comes together." Tiny commented, "Just another example of the luck you two have brought this place. We find treasures everywhere." Kevin said, "Let's get an early start at the gear store. They get really busy about ten. We should try to get there as close to eight-thirty as we can." I said, "Sounds good to me. Shawna, help get the kids together that need safety gear so we can leave real soon. Get Mercy, Kathy, and Juanita to help." Just about this time, the courtesy van from the hotel showed up with two of the teams inside. Phil said, "Oh shit, I told them about us having breakfast out here every morning. I'm sorry, Chief, I'll handle them. Go ahead and take care of the kids." Tiny said, "I'll work with him. I was going to be at the shop with these guys anyway. Get going. Say, why don't you catch the driver of the van and use it for the kids? Have him take your cart back over to the hotel and you can drop off the van later." "Good thinking, Tiny," I turned toward the door and yelled, "Hey," to the driver, "I need to talk to you." The guy had no problem with what I wanted since I was the hotel franchise holder. Or at least the company was. He drove away and I began directing kids toward the van. It would hold the driver plus fourteen, so we were piling them in. Kevin was going to use Sue's Expedition and Hannah was going to use her Saturn SUV. We went through the door as the clerks were opening up for business. I told the owner, "Fix each one of the kids up with a full set of safety gear and a helmet. Colors are not important at this point, just the quality of the gear. Make it your best and you'll get our business next time too." The guy began counting kids and was up to twenty four and said, "Holy shit, I don't know whether I can outfit twenty-four." One of clerks said, "That big re-order you bought just came in. We should have most of everything we need in that order." "Man, are you lucky. Any other time, there is no way I could outfit that many at once. That is quality stuff. I have some promo stuff that isn't as good, but would work." I smiled, "No, these are our kids, give us the good stuff. Fix 'em up." It took until ten to get all the kids suited up with helmets, boots, gloves, and leathers. We even got some cups for the guys and then some of the girls asked why they didn't get one. The store was getting busy, but we were able to get everything purchased. I could see it would be a mess to try to check each kid out individually, so I told the clerk. "Ring up everything on one ticket. I'll take care of it and let the ladies divide up who owes what later." The owner came to me and thanked me for the business. He said, "I threw in gloves for all the kids. That's my thanks for the order. Have you guys bought bikes yet?" I said, "We're starting out with some used hundreds and will progress upward as the kids are ready for them." He nodded and said, "I have a half a dozen hundreds in the back that are new two year old models. I'll let you have them at half price if you'll take all of them. Folks are buying one twenty-fives even for new beginners. I try to tell them to go smaller, but they won't listen. I think a lot of the kids that start with a bike that's too big for them get turned off because the bike gets away from them. Christ, I'm two hundred pounds and a one twenty-five will haul my big ass around a track." I shook my head in agreement, "Thanks, we'll take all you have. If you know of some more right now, we'll take them." "How many do you want total?" The guy asked. I called Kevin over and said, "Jim and Hannah said they have found four bikes and this guy says he has six that he'll give me a deal on, how many more than ten do we need?" Kevin said, "We could really use one for every kid and one each for us adults. We'll have to have some safety gear for us too, you know. Tina and Dennis still have theirs at home. Ah, we absolutely have to have a dozen total, but a full twenty four would be good. Considering at least six will be broken at any time, two dozen may not be enough." The store owner said, "Tell you what, I know where I can at least a dozen more hundreds for the same deal. If you'll buy the bigger bikes you need for the adult riders from me, I'll trade dollars with you on the hundreds and spot you two adults your safety gear. That's worth a bunch of bucks." Kevin said, "No shit, that's worth a bunch." I smiled and said, "I take it that we're making an even better deal. Let Kevin pick out the big bikes, and we'll be by later today or Monday if that would be better to begin picking up the bikes and our safety gear." "Monday is better. I have to service everything and make sure it runs. You know there's a warranty even on the two year old new bikes. I'll take care of them for you. I don't warranty bent parts, but I do fix them. We're good and we're pretty quick. Thanks again for your business. I see folks out by the big street bikes, so I should go sell some. I'll see you Monday." The bill for the safety gear looked like the national debt. Good thing I've been making money, or this could not happen. Kevin and I agreed we would come in Monday during the day and pick up bikes and get our safety gear. That's good, because we were going to need a large storage building to hold everything. The kids were going bonkers and insisted on wearing their gear out of the store while carrying their shoes. It looked pretty funny to see all the kids in those big helmets. It almost looked like uniforms, as they were all alike except that there were four different colors: blue, green, yellow, and red. It was even at six per color. That might work out to be teams, who knows. Kevin mentioned the downside as we were loading them up to go home, "You know, those kids will outgrow those leathers pretty quick. Some can be hand me downs, but kids grow fast. You're going to be busy buying replacements." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 16 Steve Still Saturday We had just purchased mass quantities of safety gear for a bunch of kids to begin training to motocross. They had insisted on wearing their gear to ride home. Back at home, the kids had to show off all of their new gear. The boys of course had to show their mom's their cups. They walked around knocking on the cups that were in place. The moms just rolled their eyes, while the girls didn't think it fair that the guys got something extra. Kevin called all the kids together and said, "I'm going to teach you all how to ride and how to ride safely. First thing today is a couple of movies. The first one is an introduction to motocross. The second is a series of movies of actual races. The third is a true safety movie. Listen and watch closely. There will be a test on this. We're going to do this just like school. We'll do it right. Here's one of my teachers, you all know my son, Dennis." Dennis waved and smiled, then said, "I will be with you today while we watch these movies. Let's get settled down and I'll put it on the big TV. We'll take a little break between each movie, and have lunch when we're done." While Dennis took over the class, Kevin said, "Let's go look at the area where the track is going to be one more time." Bart was standing with us and I asked, "Want to ride along to see where your kids are going to break arms and legs?" He groaned and said, "Sure, let me ride along. That's what I was saying about the insurance." I told him, "You'll be taken care of now, so don't worry. I take it you passed the drug test; you still have your balls and can walk." "That lady, Hannah, said that if I didn't pass the test, Sue would probably cut em off." We all laughed as we rode in Kevin's cart out to the back of the big park property. Way back behind the last building, almost out of sight of even the clothing company buildings, there were groups of stakes, driven in rows and in a manner of circles. There appeared to be four groups, or four tracks, that wiggled around within each group of stakes. They went from fairly short to very long. Kevin said, "I had Don Koss come out and help lay this out. We figured to have beginners through to nearly professionals. We'll build some jumps later, but these tracks will be perfect to start with. There's a good road for us to get back here if we need an ambulance." Bart and I shuddered. Kevin looked around, "Now, we need a secure building out here to store and maintain the bikes. We'll also need power and water back here." I pointed at a power pole with a small shed near it. "We're in luck. This is where Nelda's place used to be. There's a good well and power. We'll just build our storage barn right here. I think we can probably get a pre-made general steel building for what we need. Let's see if the power is still on." We walked over to the power pole and it looked like the breaker was in the on position. I went to the shed and opened a valve sticking out of the shed. Water blasted out, and after a minute or so, the pump turned on. I cupped my hands and tasted the water. "Good stuff. This is good water, just like in the park." The other two guys tasted the water, and when I shut the valve, the pressure built up and the motor stopped. Kevin said, "I guess that takes care of it. We're going to have a great training track. We need to post our rules and make sure the kids know that there's no hard riding without supervision. They're all young enough right now that they need supervision whenever they're on a bike." Bart said, "I feel a lot better about this whole thing now that I see it's being handled with safety in mind. I have to tell you, I was especially worried when my little girl wanted to do this." I said, "Well, all of mine are going to do this too, so you know I'm going to try to keep it safe." We headed back to the patio to kick back a little as lunch should be ready soon. When the last movie was over, Dennis said, "We'll watch this again next week and probably a couple of more times. Safety is very important and you have to do what that movie says, every time you ride. Maybe by next week, we can begin learning to ride." There was some "Yeahs" by the kids, before Dennis said, "Go wash your hands and get ready for lunch. Help get it on the table." There was the mad scramble of kids heading out to do as they were told. Kids were soon carrying bowls and flatware out to the tables. Bart said, "I guess we should head home for lunch." I said, "Are you kidding. You have to eat here. The kids are having too good a time to quit now. Come on, Saturday is chili and sandwiches. If you want, we can have a beer with our chili. We'll eat at one of tables over by the bar." Juanita came out of the house with three bowls of chili and asked me, "Where are you going to eat, Honey?" I pointed at a table near the bar and Juanita put the bowls down, then pulled napkins and flatware out of her apron pocket. She said, "I'll be back with some sandwiches for you guys." She got a kiss and went toward the kitchen. Motioning toward Kevin, I asked, "Want a beer? How about you, Bart?" I had begun pulling one into a frosty mug for me, when Kevin said, "Yeah, one for me." With a smile, Bart said, "Why not, it's Saturday." Within a few minutes, the patio was filling up with people. Wes and Bear joined us, and before long, the tables away from the kids were full of folks chatting and eating. Star was with us and was talking about some tool orders. She said, "I have a real question for you, Boss, or perhaps this is in Tiny's or Henry's domain. I have two very good special tools that are made for working on sewing machines. As soon as we advertised them in a trade magazine, we have been bombarded with orders. These two tools could even be sold to and used by consumers, so they are going to be very profitable. So the big question is, who gets the profit? Does this benefit Quality Wear or does it go to S&S. The originator gets his royalty, but who gets the profit?" Kevin said, "If S&S didn't hire you to hunt up the tools, have them made, and market them, there wouldn't be any profit. S&S may owe Quality a royalty of some sort, but that would be all." Sue was sitting at an adjoining table and asked, "Are we talking big bucks here or just a couple of hundred thousand." Star laughed and said, "Right now, we're talking less than a thousand in real profit. But these two items will be popular and will have a very long sales life. We can probably license it to the machine manufacturers as well. I'd say we might do close to a million in the first five years." Sue said, "Figure a way we can get a royalty so we can show our people that profits are going into their 401K plans. They might come up with some more tools." Star said, "I'll send a note to Tiny." Bart asked, "Does everyone here work for you?" I said, "No, not all. Most do because we share that as more common ground. You met Charlie this morning, he doesn't, and Hannah's husband doesn't either. See that cop over there, she doesn't." Mickey turned toward me with a scowl, "I'm not a cop, I'm a Deputy Sheriff. Show me some respect when I have to wear this monkey suit." I explained, "Mickey is a forensics specialist and usually doesn't pull patrol duty. I guess they were short today." Mickey said, "It's part of the new program to save on overtime. They screwed up the schedule so bad that they had to pull me in on overtime to cover the minimum daytime patrol today. I think dad is going to be in a bad mood trying to figure this all out." I explained to Bart, "Mickey's dad is the Major over the district out here. He's a great guy, you would like him." The kids wanted to run a little after they finished lunch,. They headed out to the ball fields after being told to be back in an hour. Mercy said, "In an hour, they will all be ready for a nap. At least the younger ones will. The kids are having their guitar lesson late today, then Bonita has one of her special lessons. By tonight, she'll be dead tired." Kathy said, "She always is on Saturdays. With motocross too, she's really going to be tired. I'll have to try to do some rescheduling." Bart said, "I'll go down to the park and watch the kids. Someone should be with them." Kathy said, "Let's see, Martin, Glenda, and Juanita, and where's Hannah, and I saw Debbie head that way. Never fear, Bart, wherever the kids are, we are too. There's enough of us to handle it though, so we all don't have to be running off to watch them." I said, "Well, I need to run down to the shop to check on how the show is coming. I need to ride the shovel anyway, so this will give me a chance. Bart, we have an evening gathering starting around five through supper time. Come join us, all of you, and remember breakfast, especially tomorrow. You'll enjoy the view." Sue, Mercy, and Kathy gave me a kiss as I went out to get my bike from the shed. The shovelhead is such a showpiece; it's almost a show bike only, not a riding bike. At the shop, the teams were winding up their seminars and were having a catered lunch. Phil, the field salesmen, and the race day teams were enjoying visiting with the people they usually only saw under the strain of broken or blown parts. Sandy and Mandy were there, in their shop uniforms, scheduling consulting times. Robert and Roberta were there with them, also in shop coats, as they were going to help in the field. This consulting was bigger than I thought it was going to be. Gene and his wife came by to thank me for the great time they had the night before. Gene said, "Your friends, Chuck and Lisa, are some really good musicians. I'd love to have a recording of just what they did last night. It was really good and I like the way they had both jazz and blues. I was amazed how well the two styles of music fit together." Gene's wife said, "You've really done it up nice, Steve. This is the way to get even more business from these guys. Your road salesmen have been asking about every one of our vendors. I was concerned until one of them said, 'We need to be wholesaling to your vendors. We need to be in your supply chain.' That is really smart." Shawna had shown up and brought out a couple of her bikes that she had made for some of the team members. She told me she had picked up five more orders. I guess there is still some money out there, even with the recession. I was watching Phil say goodbye to one of the last teams and went to all the sales people and congratulated them for a good job. I told them that their numbers would show the success of this show very soon. I said goodbye to Phil and Tiny and headed back home with a stop at the gas station. At home, I checked out and cleaned up the big bike. As I was wiping off the last of the fingerprints, Chuck came riding up with Lisa. I asked, "Where are your other women? Don't any want to ride with us?" He said, "The five want to visit with parents tonight. Lena and Tina are running down to Sarasota, and little Tina is already out here. She's riding behind Sandy or Mandy." Kathy came out and took Lisa away. Chuck said, "How about a beer? We can probably safely have a couple and eat before we leave. The others should be bringing their bikes up pretty soon." Hap came riding up with Margie, and Crystal came in riding Bear's bike, with Bear riding the bitch seat. When he got off, he growled, "You never saw that, it never happened." Crystal said, "I ordered myself a new bike to be delivered to me in Hawaii. I need some riding here though, and it's too expensive to rent a bike. I talked him into letting me ride him from our place to here." Hap was grinning, but didn't say a word. We were all distracted as Hank came riding up, while Debbie was walking with their kids. Two bikes came roaring up to the parking area. It was Shawna, riding a fancy new chopper I had not seen before. With her were Robert and Roberta, on what looked like a just finished custom chopper. Shawna said, "Will you look at the ride Robert and Roberta put together. Robert said he couldn't stand it when he kept seeing us ride, so he decided to get a bike. He didn't want something stock so he started from scratch and this is the result. Can you believe it? It's a real showpiece." "Where did you get what you're riding?" I asked Shawna, walking over to look at the chopper she rode in. "This is Stump's surprise. I've been collecting parts for a while and put this one together so he could ride around on something special for a while. He'll end up selling it and riding his old bike. He loves that thing, but will ride this for a while." Shawna's bike showed an S&S logo sort of hidden, and when I looked, Robert's and Roberta's had one too. I asked, "How come you have an S&S logo on your bike? You built it." Roberta said, "Yep, we did it but we did do some of the work on your benches and we did use some of your equipment for some things. We had the frame built by your guys, and they did the handle bars and the sheet metal. It has our name on it as built by, but it really is an S&S bike. One of these days people from all over the country are going to be coming here for bikes. We'll build 'em." Sandy and Mandy rode up, then we heard Jim coming with another bike in the background, probably Charlie. Both of the guys rode up and put their kickstands down. Charlie said to Shawna, "By the time you pour me a beer, I'll be showered and dressed." Jim gave Hannah a kiss and said, "Ditto." As soon as Charlie was in the house, Shawna said to me, "Push his bike over to the shed, we'll put it in so he doesn't see his old bike and I'll give him his present." Charlie is fast, as we had put the bike in his shed, and had just finished pouring him a beer, when he came in, with his hair still wet. "Gimme that beer, I'm really dry. I need a smooch from my redhead first though, where's she at?" I pointed out to the bike and was shocked to see Shawna lounging on the new chopper, completely nude. Charlie sat his beer down and walked out to where Shawna had parked the bike in the middle of the grassy area. "What the fuck are you doing without any clothes on? This is a family park." Shawna smiled and said, "Well, I thought I'd give you more than just some dumb old bike for a present. Besides, the way I am, encourages us to make this a family park, or at least in a family way." Charlie's mouth was open as he looked at the bike. He choked out, "This is mine?" "You betcha, Stump, we're both all yours. Now which one do you want to ride first?" With a roar, Charlie said, "I'll show you what I ride first." He picked up Shawna, threw her over his shoulder and headed across the street to his place. He was whacking Shawna on the butt all the way home, while she was grinning." CJ and Sean came running out of the house and CJ asked, "Is daddy mad, or are they playing again?" I picked both of them up and said, "They're playing, CJ, you're dad is hardly ever mad." We went back into the patio to enjoy our beer while Charlie showed Shawna his appreciation for the new toy. Mercy sat on my lap and asked, "If I get you one of those, will you haul me like that?" I kissed her and said, "I'll haul you off like that anyway. I love to haul you off." She gave me another kiss and a hug, then picked up Trixie, one of the triplets that had come up to us. She asked, "What's up, Honey, where's Dixie and Tom?" Trixie had that mad little girl look, and said, "They said that we always have to dress alike because we're triplets. Dixie and I look alike, but Tommy doesn't look like us. He's different. He sort of looks like us but he can't wear a dress. I think he should dress like the other boys and we should dress like girls, or sort of, anyway." Sue just so happened to have Danny and Manny on her lap and they were wearing matching shirts and shorts. Trixie pointed at the boys and said, "He should dress like they do and let them be triples. They look alike anyway. You can hardly tell them apart." It was true, if the three were together, you often mistook Tom as one of the other and vice versa. Mercy asked, "So you want to give away your brother, huh?" "No, I'm not giving him away; I just want him to be triplets with Danny and Manny. They're boys, so they should be together. Dixie and I are girls, so we should be together." Sue said, "Well, Liz is a girl? Should she be with you?" Trixie said, "No, no, Liz is a big girl. She wasn't born with us. All of us were born together and we should really be a what, a fivelet? What do they call five babies together?" Now it was getting really funny. Mercy said, "They call them quintuplets." Trixie screwed up her mouth and tried to sound out the word, "Quin, ah, quint, ah quintooples?" "Close," Mercy smiled, "it's quintuplets." Trixie finally said it right, "We're quintuplets not triples, oh yeah, that's triplets and not twins. If we were all born at the same time, why wouldn't we be quintuplets?" Mercy looked at me and smiled, "Your turn." I said, "I don't want to confuse this but you see, your mother had you, your sister, and your brother in her tummy, and momma Sue had the twins in her tummy. So even though you were born near the same time, you three were triples." I laughed. "Now you have me saying it. You three are triplets and the Danny and Manny are twins. I guess if you want to be quintuplets, you can be, but either way, that's the deal." Trixie got down and said, "That's confusing. I'll go confuse those two." It's fun to have your little ones sit with you for a minute and totally destabilize everything around you. When you have a bunch like we do, it can really get crazy. Bonita came up to Mercy and me and said, "I've had fun today. I've gone to get special motocross clothes, learned about motocross safety, had a great piano lesson, and will have an even better lesson in a few minutes. Can we play some music for everyone?" "Don't ask me, Honey, ask Chuck. He's the one who plays music." I looked around and didn't see him anywhere. Lisa was missing too. Who knows? Charlie, and a now dressed Shawna, came from across the street. I could tell Charlie was freshly showered again, as he had wet hair. Shawna was grinning as they went to the new bike and were looking it over. Charlie exclaimed, "Damn, you really did it this time. This is gorgeous, Honey, a real showstopper." They came in, each poured a beer, and chugged them. Charlie said, "Is it time to ride? I'm ready." Juanita said she didn't want to ride tonight, so it was just Sue in the sidecar, with Kathy riding the bitch seat. Mercy liked to ride behind Sandy or Mandy and play with their nipples. Chuck didn't have any extra women, so we were in business. Hap and Charlie led us off, with Hank and Jim in the second row. Mickey and Robert were in the third row, with Sandy and Mandy fourth. That left Bear and me riding drag, as usual. Kathy, Sue, and Crystal always ended up having a conversation whenever we rode, unless we were burning. Speed has a tendency to shut down conversations. Going out to the show tonight, we burned. It was fun though, as there wasn't too much traffic. We ended up at the fairgrounds where the Strawberry festival always is and found literally thousands of bikes. As we rode in and paid our fees, the guys at the gate asked if Robert's and Charlie's bikes were going to be in the show. Robert asked, "Isn't the judging already started or over?" "Naw, they're running way behind. If you want to show them, ride over to that tent and register. Your entry ticket qualifies you to register to show the bike without a fee." Charlie and Robert rode over to the tent, while we parked our bikes among the mass of metal parked together in row after long row. Our group would be easy to find as there were not many sidecars, and only mine that was a beautiful carmine and black. I always feel like a king when I have my ladies around me as we walk through a crowd. It's funny though, since when Sandy and Mandy are with us, they walk me as well. The same goes with Mickey and Samantha, so tonight, I was the guy with seven babes. The way our group was though, it soon was us guys in the middle, with all of our women walking around us. We were the kings. Other guys would notice and some even loudly said, "You guys need to learn to share, how many do you need?" It gave us all a laugh. We ate some great barbecue, had a lot more beer, watched some of the bike games, and then wandered over to the bike auction. This wasn't as big as the one they have every year at Daytona, but it was still pretty big. The whole Vet thing is usually a follow up to Daytona. None of the bikes really interested any of us, so we just walked through them without being impressed. Over at the show area, we walked slowly through all of the custom bikes. When we were finished looking at them, we gathered together and agreed with Jim's appraisal. "None of em look even close to Robert's and Charlie's. The tough part would be to choose which one is better." Shawna and Roberta walked over to their respective bikes and looked at them. They both were probably thinking the same thing. Shawna came back and said, "When they come to inspect the bikes, I should undress like I did at home. That would get them to give us the trophy." Roberta said, "You may have some pretty red pussy hair, but I'm a blonde and don't have any. I'll bet they would drool over our bike." Charlie said, "Let the chips fall where they may. Hey, Robert, if you win, you buy me a beer. If I win, I'll buy you one, deal?" Robert grinned, "Deal." About an hour later, an announcer began announcing the winners of the different categories. There was a lot of cheering with each winner, whether they were third, second, or first place. They finally got around to the winner of the custom division. The third place bike was a black bike with tiny stars all over it. Nice, but ... Then the guy said, "Now here is where we had trouble. We have two of the nicest bikes that we've ever had show up here. The best part is both of these bikes were ridden in from Tampa, so you know they're real bikes. Both customs say they are affiliated with S&S in Tampa, but both have different "built by" names. There are five judges and we almost came to blows over which bike is the best of the customs and in this case, the overall winner, the best of show." The guy on the stand said, "Would Charlie and Robert push their bikes up here to show off a little. Those bikes need to be up here when I do this." Charlie and Robert pushed their bikes up the ramp to the announcer. He began again, "You two stay here, okay?" Charlie said, "Let us get the builders up here. Shawna, Roberta, get up here." When the girls were up standing next to their respective man, the announcer began again, "Here's what we did, Second place for customs pays four hundred, first place pays five hundred. Best of show pays another five hundred. We are combining all that money and splitting it between both of these bikes. You both win first place and best of show. You two split fourteen hundred, or seven hundred apiece." There was a lot of clapping and hollering. He continued, "We have one more problem, we only have one trophy. This is what we're going to do. The club is going to trade in the one second place trophy and the best of show trophy for another great big trophy like the huge first place trophy. Then we're going to engrave them both to be first place in the custom division and best of show. Is that okay? Will that work?" Our four friends on the stand were nodding with smiles. All the people around them were clapping and hollering. The announcer handed out the cash to the two couples, and the bikes were pushed back down the ramp and parked so people could look at them. Charlie said, "Well, Robert, I guess you gotta buy me a beer and I gotta buy you one. Let's get started." The four began high fiving each other. Several people were coming up to look at the bikes. A couple of guys asked how much they would take for the bikes and Shawna instantly said of her creation, "Nothing less than fifty grand. It's a steal at that." No one really argued. One guy did write down the shop's telephone number and said he would call. I asked Charlie if he would sell his gift. He said, "For fifty grand, adios Baby, we can make another." Robert and Roberta agreed with that sentiment. It was getting late, so we rounded up our people and bikes and began the ride home. We rode sedately toward home, totally opposite from the exuberant rally ride getting to the show. When we were all home, and all our machinery put away, we gathered on the patio before taking the kids and putting them to bed in their own beds. We were all sitting with frosty mugs, some with Cuba Libres, a couple of Mojitos, but mostly beer. Charlie said, "I'd usually say, let's hit the tub, but tonight, I only have eyes for my redhead. When she wears me out and is looking for some more fun, don't lock your doors, the crazy lady may be around." That seemed to be the general attitude. We all just wanted to be among our own. When everyone left except Chuck and Lisa, as Chuck had put his bike in our shed, Chuck said, "We've had a good day and should probably just crash tonight too. I've had enough booze and shouldn't be riding any more. The girls said, "Come inside, we'll find you some space." I put the mugs and glasses into the dishwasher, straightened up, and shut off the lights. After locking up, I walked back to the bedroom where I was greeted by my ladies, plus an extra lady, and an extra guy. Chuck was lying with Lisa next to him. Next to him was Mercy, and next to Lisa was Kathy. Sue and Juanita were sitting back at the head of the bed, looking up to me. Their rich brown skin, with black flashing eyes, told me to come. I shed my clothes and joined all of them. Once again, Chuck and I were going to share the women, only this time he brought an extra to share. It took a long time to work our way through all of the combinations. The girls had it over us guys, as they could make each other come and come, while we had to ration out our reserves. Chuck is younger than I am, so he would seemingly be able to go longer. We both lasted through our fourth orgasm. I know I was done, and I think he was moaning. We had each had all five of the lovely ladies. I think we had each sampled each other's leavings as we made our way through our harem. As we were laying there exhausted, Sue said, "Can you imagine what it will be like when Chuck brings all of his women to bed with us at the same time." Kathy said, "That's gonna be fun." Mercy whispered, "I'll never be the same." Juanita was obviously smiling, as she said, "I need some more Chicas for toys." Lisa softly said, "Talk about heaven." Chuck and I both groaned, but smiled as we drifted off to sleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 17 Chuck Sunday Waking up in a strange place is always weird, but this is too much. I'm hugging someone different, my hand is around a soft full breast, and if what I feel is real, I'm balls deep in a very juicy unfamiliar pussy that is sliding slowly back and forth. I can feel breath on my shoulder and hear Lisa breathing. She has a little catch to her breathing when she is sleeping and when she's excited. But her hand is holding and squeezing my balls so she is probably not sleeping. This is going to be serious in just a few seconds. I'm going to come pretty quick. Damn that pussy feels good, so wet and so juicy. I opened my eyes to see the dark hair that has to be Mercy's. Tension that stretched the muscles across her back let me know she was not only awake, but was just about to come too. The smells in the air were all sex. There was other movement on the bed, but what was happening at the connection with Mercy had all of my attention. It was at that moment that Lisa, now behind me, kissed my neck and whispered, "I love you." Mercy began coming, squeezing me inside her and the inevitable happened, I began spewing fresh juices into her soggy canal. There were groans of release in front of me. Lisa grunted and I could feel her tense up as if she were being fucked, and her body, which had been away from my butt, slammed into mine. There were other soft whimpers in the bed that sounded erotic. I kept squirting and coming until I was still contracting, but nothing else was coming out. The clutching pussy pulled from me and Mercy turned over to face me. She kissed me so sweetly, then rose to kiss Lisa behind me, and rose farther to kiss who was behind her. Mercy whispered, "I love you" to who was there then pushed me to lie on my back. I had to slide toward the outside of the bed as Lisa was there. As I lay on my back, Lisa wrapped a leg over me. Something was leaking from her onto my leg. Lisa smiled up at me and said, "That has to be right up there for one of the most erotic things that has ever happened to me." Steve peeked over Lisa's shoulder and said, "I don't know about you, but I need a shower. If I stay here any longer, just the smell is so intoxicating, we're going to be doing this all morning." Mercy had pushed all the covers off and was trying to push Lisa's leg off me to get at her center. As Steve lifted himself off the bed, Sue joined Mercy and they had Lisa spread out wide as they devoured what was left in her love canal. Witnessing this had me rising fast. Lisa began to come from Sue's and Mercy's attention as a long lady, with large, spongy breasts, moved over the top of Lisa, Sue, and Mercy and lay on top of me. Kathy said, "I need some of you this morning. Fill me, Chuck." Kathy is so limber that she moved her hips and instantly captured my re-grown ego into her moist center. Oh man, that felt good. I just came and I was just as excited as I was a minute ago. Kathy began rapidly stroking on me and kept it up until I rolled us over, almost rolling off the bed, as I picked up the stroke and plunged into her over and over again. A body lay on top of me and began licking my ears and kissing my neck. Lisa said, "I love you, Baby, fuck her, make her say uncle, give it all to her." I could have lasted longer, but with Lisa laying on my back whispering nastily to me as I plunged into Kathy, and when someone bit my butt cheek, I instantly loosed another load into the gasping, shivering Kathy. This time, as I rolled off Kathy, I rolled right onto the floor. The girls on the bed giggled, but I saw Lisa grin at me before her head dropped to the center of Kathy. Kathy groaned in orgasm again. Darn, I need to pee. I looked around for my leg, and since I didn't see it right away, I pushed myself up and hopped to the bathroom. It took awhile to unload all the beer from last night, and as I finished, I could hear moans and a giggle inside the shower. I could see Steve standing behind someone thrusting. Oh man, this is a nutty place this morning. A body snuggled into my back. It was about the same height as Lisa, but the breasts smashing into my back had to be Sue's. As she stroked my still interested dick, she said, "Move, I have to pee right now or it's going to be all over the floor." The inhabitants of this house sure weren't self-conscious. As Sue sat on the throne, I could hear her blast the bowl with her flow. Inside the shower the two had separated and shut off the water. When the door opened, Juanita said, "Ah, another man to soothe my itch." Steve said, "You are a horny critter this morning, Nita." As she stood kissing Juanita, then Steve, Sue said, "Leave him alone, I'm going to show Chuck how we shower in the morning." She stepped into the shower, took my hand, and pulled me, hopping, into the shower and slid the door closed. I could hear Steve say, "Good luck." Sue was a delight to take a shower with as we washed each other, with me getting to play with those two huge playthings on her chest. When she had me very firm in her hand, she turned and fit me into her, all while I'm balancing on one foot. Sue must have been ready as she began coming almost as soon as I slid in. I was holding onto her hips and thrusting into her when the shower door opened and into the large shower stepped, Kathy, Mercy, and Lisa. Sue moaned, someone take him, I can't hardly stand anymore. Lisa said, "Move over, I get my man this morning too." With very little movement and effort, I was giving Lisa my all as she braced herself against the shower wall. This was very erotic, as Sue looked up at me while kneeling in front of Lisa, playing with Lisa's nipples. Kathy and Mercy were moving their hands all over me, caressing me, further driving me crazy." Lisa was tensing and said, "Give it to me, Honey, fill me, I can't come any more than I am, please, Honey, come." I did and she continued her orgasm. I felt a surprising lot of juices expend from me into her. Lisa slowly pulled from me and slid to her knees in the shower. The two ladies behind me helped hold me up. I sighed and said, "This place is very exciting in the morning. I don't know how much of that I could take." Lisa stood up and pulled my head down as she stood on her toes, "You would do fine, my Love. You should probably take us all back to bed and do us all." "Oh no, I don't think I could live through that." Sue and Kathy giggled and said, "We often enjoy doing Steve until he can't go anymore. We know guys are always horny in the mornings. So are we." We washed quickly, then the girls helped me hop out of the shower where the four of them dried me thoroughly. I slipped on my leg and dressed along with the ladies. I noticed the clock read only six thirty. This was usual for me, but Lisa usually likes to sleep later. Lisa was dressed and said, "I'm starving, I hope there's something to nibble on before breakfast." As we were leaving the bedroom, Mercy had Lisa stay back and I went into the huge kitchen/family room area. Steve was walking out to the patio with a cup of coffee where Glenda could be seen in a sexy gown. That's when I noticed Juanita in an almost sheer gown. The color made Juanita's brown skin glow underneath. Her nipples made two enticing bumps in front. Juanita smiled at me and said, "Like what you see, Senor?" "Very nice, Juanita, but with that on, I may drag you back to bed." Juanita giggled and said, "You haven't seen anything yet. It gets better, a lot better." I poured a cup of coffee and went to sit with Glenda as the back door to the patio opened and a near naked lady walked through. Ruth and Tiny went to the bar, poured two cups of coffee, and came to sit down with us. My eyes didn't leave the sight of the naked, sexy, Ruth beneath a totally see-through gown. Tiny said, "You'll catch flies, Chuck." Ruth giggled and said, "It's been a while since I affected someone like this on a gown morning. I like it." She wiggled her chest and her large breasts swayed back and forth beneath the sheer fabric." Tiny said, "Stop that or I'll have to drag you back home for even more. I can't help but attack her when she puts on something like this. It seems to make her sexier than she already is." He shivered, "She's too much for me sometimes, I understand completely, Chuck." I was sitting with my back to the big sliding door to the house. Glenda looked up and smiled, and then Steve also looked up, and said, "Whew!" Tiny looked up and said, "Oh my." I had to turn around. "Jesus!" There were the four women, with Kathy on one end and Mercy on the other. All had matching short gowns that came to just below their hips. The gowns were all a soft cream color that was very, very sheer. It was easy to tell that Kathy was shaved, while the others had well trimmed pubes that you could see plain as day. "Oh my goodness, that picture is better than a Playboy could ever be," I groaned. The girls all came out and hugged us all, with some of us getting some kisses. Lisa sat in my lap and said, "Perhaps we could interest you in coming back to bed?" Glenda said, "Now, none of that. I'm going to start breakfast and Chuck can help. As a matter of fact, Kathy, go get that pastry on the counter to hold these guys until breakfast. Come on, Chuck, let's start, there's a lot to do this morning." Lisa and I followed Glenda into the house where Juanita had two huge bowls of potatoes on the counter. Glenda said, "These have already been boiled a little. Take the skins off then slice them into thin pieces. Some of the big ones you need to halve first." Kathy was busy getting pans out, while Glenda uncovered a huge grille on both of the big commercial stoves. This place was always amazing because it was built with two big stoves and two gigantic commercial refrigerators. This was fun because the visual treat continued as the ladies moved about. While Lisa and I were doing the potatoes, more and more of the women from the park that I recognized by their faces showed up in sexy gowns. This place was an orgy waiting to happen. Only the general friendliness of everyone kept the place from degenerating into mass fucking. Mercy was busily making dough for biscuits when she said, "I wish your women were out here. Your girls would add to the treat. You'll have to bring them out some Sunday morning. We do this most Saturday's too, except when so many have to work." Soon there must have been a dozen women of all sizes milling around the kitchen doing something. If the place were not so big, it would have been terribly crowded. Lisa and I finished cutting the potatoes when Glenda said, "I hope that's enough. That's only about fifteen pounds." I had to ask, "How many are you going to feed anyway, Glenda?" "You never know on Sundays. Probably around fifty, but there sometimes are a lot more. The kids eat pancakes so the other food is for us adults. Come over here, Chuck and Lisa, and flip these while I help get the bacon and sausage done." There were people taking flatware out to the tables. The two little redheads, Shawna and Debbie, were carrying plates out. Juanita and Kathy had disappeared, but kids began pouring out of the hallway from the bedrooms. More kids were coming in the doors to the patio. The huge platter of pancakes was taken from us and Glenda said for us to keep pouring the batter, cook more pancakes. We could make about a dozen at a time but we obviously were not keeping up with the demand. It was very disconcerting to have all the nearly bare women moving by you, rubbing their breasts on your arm, your side, or your back. There was enough room that they didn't have to, but they were all teasing the new guy. Lisa was getting the same treatment and had a huge grin on her face. While we were doing the pancakes, Lisa looked up at me then pulled my head down to her. She kissed me and said, "I think we need to live out here, or at least come out more often. This is fun." She flipped a couple of pancakes then said, "You and me, Buddy, we need to talk about this." Lisa was in hog heaven or in her case, pussy heaven. All the delectable treats walking around. Every age, every size of woman you could imagine was around the patio. Steve was at the other big stove, using a giant frying pan to cook a huge amount of scrambled eggs. This whole time, pans of biscuits were being taken from the two big ovens and more pans were being put in. My goodness, how many biscuits do they eat? When you looked out onto the patio, the place was packed. Tiny came in and handed Lisa and me two tall glasses full of a dark red juice. "Here, this'll get you ready for breakfast." Lisa took a big drink and shivered, "That'll knock me on my butt, that's what that will do." I was about to take a drink when my cell phone began doing its dance in my pants pocket. "This is Chuck." Over the phone, I heard John say, "I need you. Come to DC and get me and I'll let you know where we're going. Can you fly that thing by yourself or do you have to have someone with you?" "I can fly it by myself. What's up?" "I'll tell you later, but right now plan on being at Andrews around noon," John said. "Is this just for today, or overnight?" I asked. John replied, "Bring what you might need for a week. You won't need dress clothes, but you might need field stuff. Bring what you can, but we can get field clothes where we're going." I asked, "Toys?" "We'll pick up everything we'll need later." "How about my man?" I asked. "I'm your man this time. He's still in Chicago anyway, right?" John asked. "Right," I answered. "Noon, huh?" "Noon," he said, and hung up on me. I went back to flipping pancakes when Lisa asked, "Something up?" "Gotta go to DC. John wants me there by noon." Lisa hugged me and said, "You have enough time for breakfast, then we'll leave. Can I ask what's up?" "I can't even answer you if I could, I don't know. I'm just supposed to be in DC at noon." Lisa asked, "For a day, a night?" "He told me to pack for a week. That's all he said." My pants began buzzing again. "This is Chuck." Wanda said, "I'll pack for you. John said, casual and jeans only, but to bring your boots. I asked about weapons and he said just your sidearm. Do you know what's up?" "He didn't tell me, Wanda. Thanks for packing for me. We'll eat out here and be there in about an hour. I should be out at the airport by about nine forty-five to get to Andrews by noon." Wanda softly said, "I'll see you in a bit. Ride carefully." I thought to myself, oh yeah, I'm on the bike. The bowl of batter was empty and Lisa and I were shoveling the last of the big pancakes onto a platter. Glenda said, "That should be enough. You probably made two hundred or so." I wondered where all the food was going to go. Sue said, "You better get to the table or those pigs will have eaten it all." Lisa and I looked out on the patio to see almost all of the seats full, with some people ladling food onto their plates, and others shoveling it into their mouths. Lisa and I sat next to Steve and began filling our plates. Steve asked, "I saw you get a call. Serious?" "I have to go. The big boss needs me," I said, as I filled my plate. "Too bad, thought we might go out on a boat today," Steve said, between bites. "Next time, I'd like to do that, but I think the other girls or ladies would like to go too," I said this and smiled, as Lisa would have poked me in the side. She nodded her approval of my answer and went back to eating. Lisa said, "Give me your phone and let me get you an airplane ready to go." She called and I could hear that a Lear was going to be ready. I was to call while on my way and they would have the preflight inspection done and have it running. I was eating too fast, but I was concerned about what was up. My adrenaline was up, giving me tingles at the back of my head. This couldn't be good if John is going himself and won't let me get my backup. I was finishing my plate, when my head became filled with, "You'll be fine. You'll be safe. Relax, we'll be with you the whole time. I feel it, you'll be fine." I looked up to see Mercy smiling gently at me. I did feel calmer and thought back to her, "Thank you, and thank you for this morning; that was nice." I could feel her smile, and another voice was in my head, "Have you been naughty with my Mercy?" Looking up, Mercy was giggling with her hand over her mouth. I heard, "Mother, stay out of his head. The man was nervous." "Well, he wasn't nervous earlier. You were sending out enough happy signals to wake me up in the middle of night." Mercy's voice said, "Go back to sleep, Mother, go back to sleep." There was almost a click in my head as they disconnected. I smiled and pushed my chair back, "I hate to eat and run, but I have to get some clothes and get going. This breakfast was wonderful. I'll be back to have some of this again, and I love the scenery around here this morning." Lisa and I got kisses and hugs from everyone. Even little Bonita ran up and hugged me. Steve opened his big shed and I pushed the bike out. Lisa climbed on while I turned on the gas and hit the button. We let the bike warm up a little, then gently pulled away. There were so many carts pulled up to the grass that it was tough to get between them. We rode home with Lisa hugging me and her head against my back. I pulled into the driveway and the door went up as if it had eyes. I knew Wanda was probably watching for me. I parked the bike as the door was closing and Lisa and I went into the big kitchen/family room. Ten women were all standing there waiting for me. My five plus Tina, Lena, Wanda, Jan, and Marie, along with John and Dennis. As soon as we stepped through the door, Brandy said, "Mercy called me and told me this wasn't anything to worry about. Doesn't that make you feel good to know you have someone that can tell you that?" I smiled as I was hugged and kissed by most of the women there. John asked, "Do you need a right seat?" Shaking my head, I said, "The boss asked if I could fly the plane by myself, so I'm going alone." Wanda's head came up when I said that, so I said, "You heard Brandy, Mercy said there was nothing to worry about." Wanda closed her eyes and turned away, reaching down to pull my bag up. She asked, "Do you want to take your peg or a spare leg with you?" "Since I don't know what I'll be doing, I'll go with as little as possible. I think that John forgets I'm a one legged guy sometimes. Anyway, I should change clothes and be on my way." Brandy said, "I laid out some slacks and a nice shirt. You can take a sport coat or a jacket with you." I said, "I guess slacks will be okay, but the boss said casual and jeans only. I'm probably going to get dirty." "Then wear jeans and don't ruin your good clothes," Tiani said, sitting on the bed. I stripped, changed underwear and put on some fresh jeans and a long sleeve brown sport shirt. I finished up putting my pocket stuff away and slid the catch of my holster over my belt on my left hip. I picked up my medium weight jacket, not knowing where I was headed, then looked at the girls assembled watching me. I said to all my girls, "Hey, this is just another day at the office, no big deal. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll call or text you guys to let you know." As it became evident I was leaving, I got hugs and kisses from all of them. The three pregnant ladies waited for last. Each one wanted me to feel their tummies as I kissed them. Nancy said, "Come home to us soon, Chuck. This one needs his daddy." That'll wake you up. I picked up my duffel bag and was about to go out to the garage, when Wanda said, "Let someone take you out to the airpark. That way your car won't be out there all week." That was strange, I've left my car out there before. Brandy said, "Lisa, why don't you go out with Chuck and bring his car back." Wanda was going to say something, but just nodded. As I was getting into the car, Wanda came out and quietly said to me, "John said this is classified and for you to just go. I'll explain to the girls that you won't be able to call. I don't know what this is about, but be careful. John wouldn't be doing this if it weren't important. Careful now." Lisa and I drove to airpark, chatting about the outlandish dress of the ladies out at the park this morning. We both agreed we needed to take the girls out there for Sunday morning. Lisa mentioned, "You know, maybe we should consider moving out there. I like all those people and it sure would be a great way to start and end the day. I think the girls would feel good out there as well." I said, "We'll talk about it. I think living out there full time is going to take some getting used to by the five. Tina used to live out there and Lena wouldn't care where she is, as long as she's with us and can get to school. We'll see." As we pulled up to the charter office, the plane was sitting, ready, already cranked up. I threw my bag into the doorway then did a walkaround, checking stuff that had already been checked, but it made me feel better. Lisa was checking with me until I got back to the steps. I gave her a hug and kissed her and said, "I love you, little girl. Take care of yourself and our girls. I'll be back soon." I shut and locked the door and climbed into the left seat. My logbook and the aircraft logbook were in the right seat. I made a notation in each and stuffed them into the pocket behind the right seat. Using the checklist, I went through each of the items although the plane was already running. I called for permission to taxi and was granted access all the way to the runway. A couple of minutes later, I was pulling the wheels up and heading to DC. I touched down at eleven twenty after having a decent tailwind the last hundred miles. I was directed to the security parking area over by the C.I.A. hangar. As soon as I was in the correct position, ground control told me my passenger was on the way out and to open up for him. I didn't shut down the engines. I opened the door to have two guys push me back as they came on the plane. They checked up front and all the way to the back, looking at all the spaces where anything could be stowed. Without ever saying anything, the lead guy nodded at me and got off the plane and John got on. HHHHHHH He put his duffel bag with mine and asked, "Do you need to refuel?" "I don't know, where are we going?" John said, "Do we have enough for Albuquerque?" "No, but we can stop along the way and get fuel." He said, "No, get enough to go straight through." I had to shut down the engines and while doing that, I used ground control to call for a fuel truck. I must have been important, as a fuel truck was instantly at the plane. Usually there is only one guy with the truck but this time there was two, plus the two guys who had come on the plane were standing off to the side watching. What the fuck? I wonder what is really up? As soon as the tanks were topped off, the two fueling guys got a little peeved when I checked that the covers had been correctly replaced on the tanks. No sense in getting fuel and having it siphon out. When the truck had pulled away, I hollered at the two guys who were watching me to stay clear as I was going to start up. I told John to get into the right seat as I shut the door. In the left seat, I made the correct notations in the logs and began the checklist. John took a plastic box out of a cloth bag and said, "I was told for you to turn off your transponder, turn this on and then use these numbers for your flight plan." John held the box as if it were some kind of bomb. He said, "When you turn off your transponder, tell me." "It's off," I said. He flipped a switch on the side of the box. It gave a single beep then was quiet. There was a glowing green lamp on the side. My, oh my, this is getting interesting. I called into create a flight plan using the aircraft numbers John had given me. We were soon granted access to the runway after a C-130 took off. In the air, as we followed the path to stay out of restricted airspace, I asked, "Are you going to hold that thing all the way out there?" He said, "I don't know what to do with it. They just told me when to turn it on and when to turn it off. Can I set it up by the windscreen?" "Sure if it will sit up there. Use one of those maps to jam it up there if it won't stay. Besides, you have to make coffee." I climbed to our altitude and had increased our speed to a full .75 Mach. We were cooking, although the weather said we would hit some headwind. We shouldn't run into the jet stream, but you never know. A glint of light caught my eye out to the left and I looked over to see an F-16 traveling at the same speed we were, but a couple of hundred yards away. I happened to turn back to the right to see another F-16 on that side. "What the fuck am I in for, John?" I exclaimed. "Those F-16s are flying cover." "Just fly, you'll know more later. So tell me how to make coffee." John made coffee, gave me some, and sat back down. We chatted about the Chicago and Detroit stuff for a while, until he said "Later, tell me when we get within about a half hour of Albuquerque." He was holding another piece of paper in his hand. We had been entertained watching the F-16s drop off one after the other to probably refuel as they were back in position a few minutes after leaving. When we were about forty-five minutes out by the info on the GPS, I told John. He pulled another piece of paper from his pocket and read it. He pulled the box off the dash and said. "Uh, call in and tell them you are going to cancel your flight plan and descend to under ten thousand feet." I began descending and called in. I noticed both F-16s had closed in tighter and were descending with me." "Tell me when we're at ten thousand feet," John said, still reading his paper. When I said we're passing through ten thousand now, he handed me a paper and said, "Put these coordinates into your equipment. Use that frequency, and communicate when you have the numbers in." The paper said my call sign was 'Eyes' and I was to call 'Mother.' I turned the radio dials and said, "Mother, Eyes." An answer said, "Eyes, I'm on your nine o'clock. Initiate turning to your new co-ordinates now." The pilot communicating with me gave me a frequency for an instrument landing system and one for ground control. He said, "Don't worry, this is a nice runway and the natives are friendly. We'll follow you down, but then you're on your own." The note John gave me said I was to ask Mother if I was black. I said over the radio, "Mother, Eyes." "Mother, go ahead." "Am I black?" "You are perfectly black. See ya." Strange shit as I began picking up the localizer and ground glide slope. The GPS didn't show anything. No field or name. I could see the runway and could see it was long. As the aircraft touched down, I requested taxi instructions. A voice came in my headset, "You could have requested permission to land, you know. We don't just let anyone come in here." I said, "The note doesn't say that." "What note?" I laughed, "Just following instructions." A different voice came over the radio, "You're doing fine. See the 'Follow me' truck at the next taxiway, follow it." The truck led me to a hangar whose door was opening as he drove up and into the hangar. I followed him in to see a guy standing with lighted batons to guide me. He waved me into position then crossed them to shut me down. I shut down using the checklist. I breathed deep then said, "Okay, John, let's go see what you have in store for us." "Yes," John said, "Let's go see." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 18 Chuck Still Sunday I opened the door, expecting someone to be there, but no one was. I grabbed my duffel, and John grabbed his, as we deplaned. A golf cart came up to the plane and a guy in fatigues, but no rank, name, or insignia said, "Climb in and I'll give you a ride." We went down into a tunnel and traveled about ten minutes until he took a turn then headed up. We ended up in a little driveway area with doors on each side. The guy said, "Go through those doors on the right. Your contact is in there." John and I shouldered our duffel bags and walked through the double doors. Amazing, there was our Marshal. He was standing with a couple of men also in fatigues with no names, rank, or insignia. He smiled at me and said, "Hey, Chuck, John, good to see you. Follow me and we'll chat." As we walked, with the other men following us, he said to one of the men, "Can you get some sandwiches and coffee. I'm sure these guys could use some. If you guys need a restroom, use this one." He stopped at a door that had a male sign. John and I peed. I looked at John's face and raised an eyebrow. He just shrugged his shoulders. We washed our hands and went back to the guys who were waiting for us. We all went into a stark conference room. The only thing in it was a table and chairs. After sitting the Marshal said, "You two are going to do something that needs to be done by someone not military and not CIA. You were chosen to do this. Only these three gentlemen, myself, and one other, know of this mission. It's not difficult and should be easy, but it may take a little time to complete." John and I were looking at the Marshal. One of the guys in fatigues said, "I have a file that once you look at it, you are committed to this. It is not that dangerous. You were chosen for your abilities and for your past experience. John, you may be rusty but I'm sure you'll remember easily. Chuck, you have a rep that says you can do this one blindfolded. Now, will you two do this?" John and I looked at each other. John said, "It would be nice if we had an idea of what needed to be done. You have to know that this is really unusual, considering all the shit that's been happening lately and the strange way you got us here." The Marshal looked at the three guys. The one with the file nodded his head to the Marshal. He looked at us, closed his eyes, and then opened them again, probably to dramatize what he was going to say. "You two are going to a special place and are going to remove a problem. You are going to take care of a sanction. There is a picture of a man in that folder that needs to be gone. Your government has not been able to accomplish this and the C.I.A. has people, observers and critics, crawling all over it. Unless it's in the Middle East or Africa, they can't do anything. Someone else needs to do this. Chuck, I know you acted in this capacity in special ops. John, you used to be one of the best spotters around. I want you two to act as a team and take care of this. You don't know the target, but if you did, you would want to just do this in the open. Chuck, you've sort of dealt with this guy in Texas, but not directly, just his minions. So what do you think, will you do this?" I looked at the three guys in fatigues and asked, "Who are you?" You could see them squirm so I said, "I don't want to know your names, just what branch you work for." The center guy looked at the Marshal then back to me and said, "We are from a division of the Secret Service. We do not deal with the president or his protection. We act as liaison between various security branches. We are often directed to take care of special situations. This is one." John and I nodded then looked at each other. I nodded to him and he said, "We'll take care of it. Give us the details." The man with the file pulled a coordinate section map and pointed, "You are going to be in some fairly heavily forest area. The terrain is mountainous, but navigable. You won't need climbing gear and your access will be surprisingly easy." The man traced his finger along a line, "This is the Mexican border. Your target is going to be on the other side, but you should be able to remain on this side. We have scanned this area where you will be for anti-personnel detection devices and lookouts. We even have several men in the field watching to make sure no one sneaks in and places any there. Once you two are on the ground, my men will withdraw. They cannot remain while you take care of business." The Marshal said, "You need to find a place to set up with a clear firing lane, and then wait for the target. The target is there almost every night and most days. He leaves by car or helicopter, goes to various places, then returns." The guy in fatigues, while showing an eight by ten picture, then said, "This is the target. These other photos will give you an idea of his physical stature." When John pulled the pictures across the table, the guy pulled some more pictures, "These are secondary targets. If any of these should happen to be around, their elimination would be good. There are five men who frequent this location. It could be a real big deal to clean it out." I had to ask, "Why don't you just set up a post and watch. When you have all five just send in a drone." The Marshal said, "That would require the military and too many would be aware. This target is influential. He can be very influential with the Mexican government. He may be a bad guy, but he has enough influence to cause a lot of trouble. If no one knows who did this, no problem." John asked, "So what's the plan?" "You two will be outfitted tonight. Chuck, you will be able to sight in your equipment up to a thousand yards, a full klick. John, you can get used to your scopes so they will be familiar in the field. You will sleep in tonight, and will leave here at 0300 to be inserted within a mile of what is probably the best area for positioning. You will see it tomorrow and then you can move around to find the right place." Another person in fatigues had come in with coffee and sandwiches, so we all had a sandwich. The leader of the fatigue guys said, "You will be provided with water and rations. I don't think you're going to want a fire, but we have this neat little bottle that will boil water for coffee. We'll make sure you have the right clothes to stay warm. Chuck, I'm not sure how you get around so well, but I hope your leg doesn't cause you any problems. This should be easier than your Oklahoma raid. That was something according to the reports." I said, "As long as the insertion isn't a jump and I don't have to jump off a high chopper, I should be fine. I have to pay attention to where I step, but I'm fine other than that." John said, "Let's get outfitted and test our equipment. We'll need to sack out as early as possible." We went down a hallway until we went through a door marked supply. There were mounds of equipment on a counter. John and I began going through it. We separated a set of camies, a couple of pair of silk-like long underwear, four pair of socks, and all of the carry equipment. We both set aside a Kbar and sheath, plus the camouflage equipment and masking grease for our faces. I thought it was funny that both of us chose slouch hats that looked to be a little big, but we both knew that was best. I was looking at the heavy coats when I asked if we had weather Intel. The guy with the folder was surprised and turned to one of his men. "Get the forecast for a week. Hurry." He turned to us and said, "Sorry, we should have had that." John and I sorted out food then we both checked the map they had given us. John pointed to a stream and asked, "Has the water been tested out there?" Again, the guy was embarrassed, but said, "Take these pills to be sure. Take a test kit. That will tell you what's in the water. Can't you take enough water with you?" John looked at the guy and said, "For a week? How many Jerry cans can you carry?" When we were done sorting everything out, I said, "A couple of things you've forgotten, how about some space blankets. Two apiece. John, they are great for a ground cloth too. The other things we need are a few packages of toilet paper, a machete with a scabbard, and a camping or foxhole shovel." The Marshal asked, "What's the machete for?" "Same as an axe, but more useful," John answered. "We'll need some sharpening equipment if it isn't sharp." He then asked, "What are you going to dig?" I said, "Who knows, we may need a foxhole, but we have to cover our shit. When we leave, wherever it is, we have to make sure no one figures out where we were at, or that we were even ever there." John asked, "Okay, how do we contact you to get back out?" The fatigue guy said, "You'll each have a radio. If you get into trouble or when you are ready to come in, call." The guy who had gone for the weather information came in with a piece of paper. The nights were going to be cool, but not freezing. We would be good with some layers and the space blankets. There was no rain forecast, but we each took a shelter half to use to keep moisture off us. Only one of us could sleep at a time anyway. We had our gear separated and loaded up everything, stacking the MREs neatly. We double checked everything and were surprised the shovel and machete were both very sharp. We checked the Kbars then began going over the useful hardware. John was looking at two different types of scopes. One was an available light scope. Those were tricky. I opened the first case to find a fifty caliber sniper rifle. That thing was big. I looked at it then set it down. The other case had a military version of a .308. There was every piece of equipment to go with it you could want. When I saw the noise suppressor, I asked, "Do you have good noise suppressors for our Glocks?" The supply guy asked to see mine. I pulled it, dropped the clip, and the jacked the round from it. He left, then came back, screwing on a short suppressor. He said, "This thing is really quiet. It's good for about thirty rounds before it begins losing its effectiveness. The one with that .308 is just as good. The fifty doesn't have one. It's too big. There is a suppressor, but it doesn't silence the thing." I kept looking at the fifty and asked, "Are these explosive rounds or plain metal jacket?" The supply guy said, "These are standard rounds. I have explosives, if you want. You know the range for the explosive rounds are just over a click. Not as far as the standard round." "I can't see that far anyway. Can you give me a dozen explosive to go with these eight standard rounds. If I have to lug this thing in, it might as well have some firepower to use with it." Picking up the cases, I said. "Have someone take the gear and our clothes to our quarters, then we'll test this equipment." The fatigue guy said, "We need you to change clothes to walk around here. Take an extra set of fatigues. We'll wash a set and make them wearable for you for in the morning. You should try on the boots anyway." John and I grabbed an extra pair of socks and another set of fatigues then followed everyone. They all assisted carrying our gear. There really wasn't that much. They gave us a bare looking room with two beds and a table with four chairs. There was television in a cabinet on the wall opposite our beds. We put our stuff on the table knowing we would go through it again before going to bed. We stripped while the guys watched. The Marshal changed into fatigues with us. The guys watched me closely as I put the boot on my fake leg. They noted my extra piece of equipment in the holster on the prosthesis. It felt funny to be in new fatigues again. I smiled at John as he went through the same sensations. I took both cases that had slings and we went out into the hall. Wearing our slouch hats, we walked back to the door that we had originally come in and mounted a long golf cart. We drove back through tunnels until we came up in a long building that could have been another hangar. We were directed to a table and a mat. A guy with an armband that said, "Range Officer" came up to us and said. What distances do you want to start with? I said, "John will need to sight in several, but I want to start at a hundred, then go three hundred, five hundred, seven fifty, and a thousand." The guy asked, "Do you want any wind?" "Not at first, let me see what each of these will do first. Can you replace our rounds for us?" "I have as many as you guys could possible use, not to worry. If you want to test a couple out of what you were given, do it. Our equipment is usually good." The guy asked, "How about I light up the targets first, then later you can test the available light." I didn't bother with the fifty for the short distances. At 100, I locked the rifle into the brace, a vise like apparatus for sighting. I used the scope and hollered, "Clear." The range officer hollered 'Clear' and I squeezed the trigger. John said, "Dead center." "Light up three hundred." I checked the rifle and adjusted the scope, noting the clicks. I had to adjust the rifle in the brace a little. We did the 'Clear' thing then I fired. John said, "Center." "Light up five hundred." I went through the adjusting, watching John as he checked his scope. He said, "Either your measurements are off or this scope is. That's six twenty-five." The range officer grinned and said, "You know how that thing works. That's good." I said, "Leave it up. I'll use that one then we'll go back to five." I adjusted the rifle, sighted in, went through yelling 'Clear, ' and fired. John said, "Center." I said, "Good equipment. Let me adjust the rifle then turn on the five hundred. I want to see if the scope is right." I did the clicks then had the officer light up the five hundred. It looked right on. I had to adjust the rifle then we did the safety 'Clears' and fired. "Center," John said. "Okay, go on out to a thousand and lets see what the .308 does." The target lit up way far away. It was still small through the scope, but I was able to sight it in using the exact clicks I thought it should be. I adjusted the rifle in the brace. John confirmed, "One thousand." I said "Clear" then began squeezing the trigger. The round hit the target and looked good through the scope. Still sighting, John said, "Damn, center again and at a thousand." I said, "It's not me, John, it's the rifle. Let's get some wind and see what it does. Can you give me ten knots first?" John and I, along with the range officer, pulled our hats down tight. I said, "I'm not going to adjust for wind. I want to see where this thing hits with wind." We did the safety 'Clears' and I fired. John immediately said, "About a quarter inch." "Bring it up to twenty-five knots and let's see what the effect is." The wind increased. I still didn't change anything and after the safety yells, I squeezed the trigger. John said, "About an inch and a half. Not bad." I said, "Let me do this without the brace. I picked up the rifle, used the sling to get a good position, and using the table to brace and sight, I yelled, "Clear." The range officer yelled and I squeezed the trigger. John said, "Dead center with the wind." I said, "This is a damn good rifle. I think I'll steal this thing." I said to the range officer, "Let me do one prone with the same wind then I want to try an available light shot." Laying on the mat is different than in the field, but it is close. I was able to sight in then yelled 'Clear.' To compensate, I sighted in to allow for the wind. As soon as I shot, John said, "Center, about an eighth of inch low." I said cockily, "The target probably has a big forehead." That got a chuckle, but a caution from the fatigue guy. He shook his head and said, "You won't be shooting at a stationary target. Your target will probably be moving from one side to the other, perhaps moving up and down. Let me move the target in a manner your target may be walking. The head of the target will move up and down about an inch or so. I'll give you a side silhouette and leave the wind on. See how you do." I lay back down, watching the target as it began to move. John brought his scope down to lay next to me and softly said, "He moved the target forward about twenty yards while we were talking. Remember the wind, but your elevation should be about right." It took me a couple of seconds to focus through the scope, so I had a rhythm of the target that was varying its movement. At this range you are actually anticipating the movement. This is when I should go for a body shot, but I kept targeting the head. With careful sighting, I led the target just slightly, allowing for the wind and squeezed the trigger. "You put it right in the temple," John said. "Good shooting." The range officer said, "I'm going to give you two targets, both moving to give you a primary and secondary. Keep in mind the secondary will begin reacting as soon as he hears you fire and sees the primary hit." Up popped two silhouettes, pointed in the same direction, and moving from right to left. They were moving a little faster than the targets before. John said, "Target one thousand two hundred, secondary behind primary." I said "Acquired." John answered, "When ready." I had the primary targeted and squeezed the trigger. As soon as the recoil finished, I used the bolt to put another round in the chamber without ever leaving the target area with the scope. The secondary stopped and began lowering. My shot hit the secondary, but I didn't know exactly where in the head it hit. John said, "Primary exact, secondary above the ear." The range officer was looking through his scope and said, "About as good as you're going to get. Want to fire the fifty or available light?" "Let me do the fifty. If I need to fire at a vehicle or if I need an explosive round, I should know how it feels." The range officer said, "remember, the rounds are hand fed, one at a time. Between rounds you have to pull the bolt back, the empty will eject, then you lay the next round in the carriage and slide and lock the bolt. Go through the motions a couple of times to get an idea. You might want to check the sighting at least at five, seven-fifty, and a thousand. This round is big so the drop at a thousand is significant, so let's fire without wind first." I locked the big fifty into the vice/brace on the table, sighting in at five hundred yards, more than a quarter of a mile away. This was another near perfect weapon, so I figured its accuracy would be right on. The first round at five hundred yards put a huge hole where the head would be. The range officer said, "You can be assured, a body shot will be terminal. The body offers a bigger target as well. Let me turn off the lights, use the available light scope. Five hundred yards is more than the effective distance for available light sighting. I closed my eyes tight while the lights were turned off. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that high up on the roof of the hangar was a small, diffused light that made it look like a new moon. After sliding the switch on, it took me a couple of seconds to find the target. Just as I was trying to feel the range, John said, "Seven twenty-five." "Acquired." "When ready." I squeezed the trigger and the target blew off the rack. John said, "You hit somewhere on the body and it probably disintegrated." The range officer, "You two make a good team. You didn't take anything I said as gospel and made your own distance estimates. Do you want to try any more?" I said, "Let me try the fifty at five hundred with a twenty-five knot crosswind. These big rounds may be affected more than the smaller round." The guy lit up the five hundred yard target and turned on the wind. John said, "Right at five hundred." "Acquired." "When ready." I squeezed off the round and watched the target move around. John said, "Good upper body contact." I said, "Leave everything as it is and let me see how it feels holding the equipment on the mat." After taking the rifle from the brace, I flipped down the tripod on the heavy weapon and set it on the mat. John came down with me and sighted in with me. He said, "Stable at five hundred." It took me a second to find the target, "Acquired." "When ready." I squeezed the trigger and felt the heavier recoil of the big gun. John said, "Upper body, good hit." "Too bad I can't see what the explosive rounds do. I'll bet they are something," I asked wondering. The range officer pushed some buttons then said, "Check out the target area to the left." There was a picture of a car that appeared closer than five hundred yards. The range officer said, "The target area is in an enclosed area. You spectators must go behind the Kevlar barricade to watch." The officer stood a barricade up in front of him and said, "Use an explosive round and see for yourself." I reached for one of the big explosive rounds while John was sighting in. He said, "Three seventy-five." I clicked the scope then lay the round into the chamber and slid the bolt forward and locked it. I sighted in and said, "Acquired." John said, "When ready." Squeezing the trigger made the gun fire. As I watched the target during the recoil, I was amazed at the blast within the confined area where the target is. Wow! John didn't say anything, but I said, "What is that target made of, tin or sheet metal?" The range officer said, "That's quarter inch sheet metal. How about the hole you just put in it." "No shit. I can see where that could come in handy," I said in wonder. Lights began coming up in the huge hangar type building. The range officer pointed at a table with a bunch of cleaning equipment and said, "You know the drill. Clean 'em up before you put them away. Make sure you restock your ammunition. Oh, hey, you didn't try the available light scope on the .308. Get down and I'll give you five hundred and seven fifty. You don't need your spotter, I won't mess with you." I picked up two rounds and put them into a magazine, slid it into place, and got down on the mat. The lights in the building went off with my vision totally screwed up because of having been in light. I said, "It's going to take a few seconds for my eyes to adjust." The range officer said, "Let's pretend you just had a flash of light that changed your vision. Try quickly, I'll change the distance as soon as you fire." I flipped on the available light mode on the scope to see the target clearly at five hundred. I had to turn the scope back to the base hundred yards then click it up to five hundred. I pulled the rifle tight, sighted, then squeezed off the round. I immediately ejected the empty casing, and slid a fresh round into the chamber as I was adjusting to sight in the next target. I clicked the sight to seven hundred yards, acquired the target with my eyes still screwed up, and at more than the functional distance, I squeezed off the round. This time I kept my eye on the target. I had to smile. The target had a nice hole right between the eyes. I had aimed higher than that but obviously didn't elevate enough. John said, "Holy shit, the first was a decent head shot and the second was exactly between the eyes. That was incredible." "Luck, John, pure luck. I was aiming higher, but didn't allow enough for the elevation." As I walked over to the cleaning table with both rifles and cases, the Marshal came over and said, "That was quite a demonstration. I've never seen anyone shoot those distances before. We could tell that you were hitting the targets, but we could barely see the targets way out there, much less see where you hit." It took me a while to break down the fifty as I wasn't that familiar with it. I had seen a couple in training, but never in the field. The .308 was very familiar as I had used it frequently in the field. I said to John, "I didn't know you had that much experience as a spotter." He smiled and said, "All my early experience was as a spotter and communications specialist. That was before I got my gold bar." We cleaned the equipment and replaced it all into their respective cases and replenished the rounds. While we were cleaning up, I kept thinking that this was a strange situation and a real strange place out here in no man's land. The three fatigue guys and the Marshal drove us back to where our room was. They told us to leave our equipment and go to supper. John had to go into the latrine, (Listen to me, I've regressed and it's a latrine now.) While he was in there and the four other men were out in the hall, I pulled a business card from my wallet. I tore a piece off and stuck it in the rear of the .308 case and did the same to the case for the fifty. I stuffed the partial card back into my wallet and waited for John. I figured the room was probably monitored by video cameras, but I had shielded myself pretty well from the area that would be where a camera would be scanning. Somehow, this whole thing was too weird to relax without questioning the situation. When we stepped out into the hall, another guy in fatigues was there. He had a sidearm and we were told he was there to watch our room for us. We had a decent dinner in a large cafeteria, or chow or mess hall, if you want. When we were through, the lead fatigue guy gave John the folder and said, "Tomorrow, take only the map. Before you go to sleep, memorize the faces one more time. We will wake you up in time for you to shower and be ready to be inserted before first light. The helicopter you will be using is quiet. Before you get on the chopper, test your radios one last time and remember, don't break radio silence unless it's absolutely necessary, or until you are at your pickup point. We're going to leave you now. The Marshal will walk you back to your room." When the men left, the Marshal leaned over to us and said, "I know this whole thing is bizarre, but you two were chosen because of your backgrounds. When this is done, whether successful or not, all of this will be forgotten. It will not have happened. We could have used some SEALs, but it would have required more people to be in the know. Right now there are only seven people in total that know your mission. This has become very important as the target has been threatening some of our people. He has his side of the border under his thumb and thinks he can do our side as well. Please, be patient out there, get a good target. Be careful and cover your tracks, as we don't really know whether he's watching for an attack." John said, "You've never steered me wrong. In all of my time with you, you've never given me a reason to doubt you. This thing is right on the edge, though. We're going to do this, but you know what, we're going to be watching our backs real close." The Marshal and John looked at me and I just said, "Come on, let's get some sleep. I think I'm ready." At the room, the guard said, "I'm here to keep you two safe tonight." I thought, sure you are. You're here to keep us from running. The Marshal said goodnight and said he would see us off in the morning. John and I went into the room and both of us went through our gear one more time, rearranging our packs and gear to be easy to carry. I checked the two cases to see both pieces of the business card were as I had placed them. That made me feel a little better. The weapons cases were a little unwieldy to carry, but we needed them so the equipment stayed in good shape while traveling. We stripped down and crashed. There was a beeping sound coming from the television. I sat up, as John did on his bed, and the beeping stopped. The low light in the room brightened and the bathroom/latrine light was lit. There was knock on the door, then it opened. The guard said, "Get your morning stuff done. Breakfast and your man will be here in twenty minutes." Our man? They must mean the Marshal. If the guy didn't know he was a U.S. Marshal, then this operation was very quiet. John was headed to the bathroom while I stretched and contemplated my prosthetic. Hopefully, I was up for this. I had been able to function in some pretty stressful situations so far, so who knows. The bathroom was big with two sinks, a separate room for the toilet, and a shower. John was in the toilet so I dropped my leg, took the sock off and hopped into the shower. A couple of minutes later, I was drying off as John jumped into the shower. I shaved after putting my leg back on, and then went into the room to dress. I was dressed by the time John came in to dress. He said, "I'm out of practice. The easy living I've had for so many years is catching up with me." When we were done, John suggested, "We should leave as much of our pocket junk in our toiletry bags as possible. I'm sure it will be secure until we get back. They should have some form of field identification for us." There was a knock on the door and the Marshal stepped into the room, followed by a guy in fatigues pushing a cart. The fatigues began setting the little table with three settings and began putting food out for us. The guy even poured three cups of coffee, along with putting out cartons of juice and milk. John said, "I guess our last supper is supposed to be good." The Marshal chuckled and said, "I asked that they serve us in here this morning so I could chat with you guys. We have an hour before lift off. Sit, eat, relax." The breakfast was good. They had some SOS, ground beef in thick cream gravy, along with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast. As we ate, I told John, "Enjoy this. The MREs aren't anywhere near this good. We do have some instant oatmeal though and that's pretty good." John said, "I left active duty when the MREs were just getting decent. I don't have bad memories of them, but I didn't have to subsist on them for a long time." The meal was good and I could tell that John and I were more relaxed than the Marshal. He finally said, "I know this thing is strange, but no one could figure out how to get it done. I saw Chuck and how he handled himself in the field. I've seen the videos of his exploits and I know how you were in the field, John. You two trust each other, so you were the perfect team, at least in capabilities. Chuck was a question, but I saw him move around very well. I know he's led people in a couple of situations that were in difficult terrain. And, John, I know this will be tough on you, but you're still fit. You two were the best pair we could get. Chuck could get you here without a problem and you both are the best qualified; perhaps not physically, but definitely from experience." The Marshal reached into his pocket and pulled out two chains with ID tags like dog tags, except one was plastic. He said, "You might want to tape these up, I have some electrical tape here. This plastic thing is a GPS marker. It is encrypted so it doesn't show on any equipment except special forces location equipment." I taped the three pieces together then taped John's. I put mine on and said to the Marshal. We're leaving all our personal pocket stuff here. It'll be safe right?" "There will be a guy outside that door the entire time you're gone. Your stuff will be safe. So, are you ready?" John and I looked at each other and John smiled and said, "Let's do it." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 19 Chuck Monday John and I put our harnesses on before shouldering our packs; we then jumped up and down. No noise, so we were ready. I handed John the .308 case while I shouldered the fifty and we both looked at the Marshal. He said, "Okay, let's go." Out in the hallway, one of the fatigues from yesterday was there and led us to a cart that drove us through a tunnel, and ended up in the hangar where my Learjet was. It was good to see it. It didn't look as if anyone had touched the plane since I parked it. There was a strange Huey over by the doors that was making a whooshing noise. There was a slight thump, thump, thump of blades, but it was hardly noticeable. The Marshal shook our hands as a guy waved from the door of the helicopter. As soon as we climbed into the helicopter, the guy in the door set what looked like a modern M-60 in a mount, laid some ammo in the breech and locked it before pulling the lever back and chambering a round. I noticed the big hangar doors opening and felt the Huey lifting off. The engine was louder than the blades. Eerie! We never gained much altitude, probably around four or five hundred feet, but we gained a lot of speed. This chopper could move. We were soon in forested, more mountainous terrain, rushing through valleys and barely raising over hilltops. Another guy in fatigues opened up a map and pointed at our LZ and said loudly, as it was noisy inside the cabin area, "We're just about to your drop off point. Take this map so you have two. You each have a compass and the handheld GPS unit, so you should be able to navigate. Good luck. When we set down, we'll let you get away from the chopper before we lift off. We'll spin and go back the way we came. Good luck and give us a call." Just as he stopped talking, we were settling on a flat spot. John and I climbed down from the chopper and moved away. We were clear of the rotor wash when it lifted off and spun around to head back the other way, barely raising up a hundred feet. I was amazed at how quiet it was. John and I pulled and shifted, settling our packs on our shoulders, and then John pointed in the direction we would be going and said quietly, "I'll take point first. We have about a mile to where our best look out is. If we have enough time, we might want to check out the other observation points while it's still dark. It looks like we have about two hours before first light. The terrain wasn't too bad. There weren't a lot of rocks for me to have to dodge. I was impressed as John started out pretty noisy, but in a matter of less than fifty yards, we were quietly moving through the heavy forest. It took us about thirty minutes to make the mile and a half. We checked our position and John used his scope to sight in the target area. He said, "Looks like right at seven hundred forty yards from this location. There's another a little closer, let's check it out next." We walked to the next location and saw that it was about two hundred yards closer, but sighting was limited. There was a decent hole but not very wide. It might be difficult if we had to do more than just a single target. Because we were high, we could see the border area, which was just a low fence with tire path roads on each side. John was looking at the map and pointed out toward the east, "There's a tower out that way that is supposed to pick up human movement in the area on both sides of the fence. We're far enough back they shouldn't be able to note our movement. Let's check on the one other ops point before we make up our mind." We walked down through a gully, then back up a steep hill to find a spot within a bunch of trees. There had been a human here before. There were cigarette butts on the ground. It looked like someone had buried them, but a critter had dug them up. You could see signs of a fairly recent visitor here. John said, "If this is from our people, we need to teach them how to hide their trail. We're seeing this just as someone else watching our target would see it. Let's clean this up and go to our best location." When we were back at our first location, I said, "Give me the collapsible bucket and I'll get some water from the stream. We can make some coffee and wait for light." I went down to the fast moving stream, constantly looking for any sign of traffic in the area. I didn't see any, but wondered about the site where we had seen previous traffic. Back at the site, John had his scope out and set up on a low tripod, checking the buildings. After a bit, he said, "I see a light in what looks like a bunkhouse. There's no light coming from the house yet. I think we should get an idea of how many people are there at a time. It could be important. We're almost a half mile from the house, but if some of their people are fast, they could reach here in five to eight minutes, even in this terrain. We won't have a lot of time to get out." I nodded, heating the coffee in the special pouch. We enjoyed our cup of coffee then got busy setting up. I opened both cases and pulled the .308 out to see where I would lay or sit to fire. There was a perfect log that let me brace the rifle across it. I clicked the sights to reflect the slightly more that seven hundred yards, then sighted in. As the sun rose to our east, I checked to make sure no sunlight would reflect on the scopes. John had a hood over his scope so he was able to use it freely. I set the fifty case next to me on my left, loaded a round in it, but then had a second thought. I took the first round out and loaded an explosive round in it. I sighted it in at what was probably the max distance for me to use the big gun, but it was ready anyway. I picked the .308 back up and began viewing each building, finally settling on the barn. The door was slightly open and I said, "John, look at that barn door. Just look at it and tell me what you see on the other side, or at least what you think is on the other side." "Shit, helicopter. They didn't say anything about a helicopter on site," John said. "They can't see us from above where we are right now. We're well hidden, better than the other two positions. We have a heavy canopy over us and good brush all around. I didn't make a path to the stream, so we're fairly invisible." John said, "You know, we should have checked out a couple of rifles. All we have are the target weapons and our sidearms. We didn't think about this very well." "I guess we'll have to play the game with what we have. Look, there's a light on in the house. The curtain, in what must be a kitchen, moved and there's a dog in the yard." I was looking at the house, watching for any movement. A man opened the door and walked toward what we thought might be a bunkhouse. John said, "That's a secondary, check out the brown shirt with the white collar." A woman walked out of the house, carrying a little dog. She let it down and it ran to where the bigger dog was and the two looked to be playing. The lady walked along the house, looking at the flowers planted there. Two men, one the guy with the brown shirt with white collar, walked back toward the house. The lady looked like she was calling the dogs and both ran toward the door. Everyone went inside. From the supposed bunkhouse two men came out and opened the barn door. Yep, that was a helicopter. They pulled a car out of the barn and pulled it up near the house. John said, "Seven twenty to the vehicle." I was sighting in on that, but swung over to see the two guys doing something with the helicopter. I said, "They're refueling the chopper down there. If we make the target, I'm going to use one of the explosive fifties on that thing. It should go up in a big bang." John said, "If you can get the JP-4 or Jet A to burn then it will be a boom. Remember though, our primary is first. We might get lucky as there does seem to be activity down there." We were talking very quietly, almost a whisper when we heard, "Clump, crash, crackle, crunch." John turned, pulling his sidearm as I swung around, pulling mine. I reached into my pack and pulled the two suppressors out and handed one to John. We screwed them into place and kept watch, as the noise headed toward the place we had seen that had previous activity. I said to John, "I'm going to scout this out and see what we have. This is too much of a coincidence." I slid through the forest until I could see the position that we had gone to and cleaned up. There was a man there with some kind of rifle. I looked at him through my scope and could see what looked like an SKS with a scope. This wasn't an experienced person using that rifle at this distance. He was really noisy and had already lit a cigarette. I went back to John to tell him what I saw and he asked, "How close do you have to get to neutralize him? He could screw up the mission." "With a sidearm, I need to get within fifty yards max to ensure a good hit. I'll only get one shot before the guy starts firing, making a lot of noise." He asked, "Can you get that close?" I nodded, "I can but I have to go down and around. There's too much open area on the way up to his position. I'm worried about how he got here. There might be someone else waiting for him or covering him." John said, "Following how the guy got in won't be a problem. Let's split, you take care of that problem, and I'll follow his path for a mile or so and see what's up. He could have used a four wheel drive near the stream." "This sucks, John. We need a bigger team." "I know, but this is what we have. Let's do it." I said, "If you get in trouble, use the radio. I'll put my earpiece in." Going down the hill was a bitch, then climbing up the back side without making any noise, was an equal bitch. It took me a precious thirty minutes to get to where I had a clear shot. The guy was chain smoking and I could smell him long before I saw him. He was standing out at the side of his position taking a leak. If someone from the house had binoculars they could have seen him. I let the guy get back into position. He was still smoking, but pulled a thermos and poured himself some coffee. He would look through his scope every once in a while, then take a puff and have a sip. Leveling off across a heavy limb, I brought the Glock up to aim at his head and squeezed the trigger. The man threw his hands up sending the lit cigarette and coffee flying. He then lay forward onto the log in front of him. I picked up my brass and moved as quickly as possible to the target. I found the cigarette, then gathered his other butts and put them into the thermos and screwed the top back on. After wiping my prints from everything, I saw the guy had rubber gloves on. I pulled them off his hands and put them on. I rolled him over cleaning out his pockets. He had a bunch of stuff. I pushed him down on the side of the log then covered him with old dead brush until he was invisible. I picked up the SKS and the extra thirty round magazine he had, and began heading back to our position. About halfway back, I sensed someone else and lay on the side of hill, hidden by the brush. John came slipping up the hill about twenty feet from me. As he got a little closer, he looked back around then quietly said, "I know you're here, I can smell the cigarettes on your hands." I raised my hands, still in gloves, and he smiled. "Thank goodness we're careful. There's a beat up jeep down there, and it doesn't look like anyone got out of the other side of it." We went up to our position and immediately began checking our target area. The car was still in front of the house and the helicopter was still in the barn. I told John what I had done with the target at the other position. I said, "I left the place clean, so it should be okay. When that guy starts smelling, then there will be a problem." John said, "If we are clean on this one, or we have to stay overnight, we'll bury him and cover that jeep up. I didn't take time to cover it now. Probably should have, but I didn't want to take the time." Time crawled by. Someone would come out of the house do something then go back in. Someone would come from one of the outbuildings and go into the house, then come back out. Right at one in the afternoon, two Mercedes sedans pulled up in front of the house. About six men got out and stood around talking. Our target came out of the house and spoke with the men. I kept trying to acquire a clear target, but someone was constantly in front of him. They all went into the house. I said to John, "There were two secondary targets in that group." John said, "I got them. Now if we can get a clear target." We stayed put and didn't move around a lot. About four, a man came from the barn with a big bloodhound. He walked down the road then a little later he came walking up the fence line on the Mexican side. He must have walked about the same distance that way, as he was walking back toward the barn about five. Light was fading, so we both began getting ready for available light. The distance was going to be really iffy. If there was enough light in the target area, no sweat, but if it was dark, the distance would make acquiring a target really tough. It got dark. Around seven, the barn was closed up and lights were on in the bunkhouse. There were lights in the house, but no yard light around the cars or the main yard. John said, "Looks like we get to spend the night. Come on, let's bury that guy and make it neat. We'll go cover the jeep too." It took us three hours to dig a deep enough hole to bury the guy and make the area look like no one had ever been there. We went to where the Jeep was and looked through it thoroughly before camouflaging it with old brush. It takes a hell of a lot of brush to hide even a little Jeep. We made it back to our position, and after checking the target area, we decided to eat. We made coffee and enjoyed a great MRE. It was full of high protein food that really didn't taste that bad. After we had cleaned everything up and were ready to either split or nap, John said, "We were lucky that there was no movement while we took care of the other business today. Hopefully we'll do better tomorrow. Let's decide on who stays awake first." I said, "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up in three, and then you give me three. That should take us up to when we were on site this morning. We should each get six hours total in the morning if we can." I was looking at the target area and saw a flash of light. I said, "Check your scope." I used my regular scope and looked at the target area. A huge light was on over the house doorway and the men who had gone into the house were all standing in the yard. Brown shirt with the white collar was standing beside the door, and our target was framed in the doorway. I flipped off the safety and said "Aquired." John said, "No wind, when ready." I squeezed off the round and shifted to brown shirt. He was frozen and died looking at his collapsing boss. I shifted to the next target to see men ducking for the car. I had a clear shot at a secondary, I didn't wait and let it fly. John was saying, "Hit, hit, hit." The one car began moving so I picked up the fifty and was able to see the car trying to maneuver around the other Mercedes. I said "Acquired." John said, "When ready," and the car exploded. Three men were standing in shock, looking up toward us. After sliding another round into the fifty I picked up the .308 and sighted in on one of the men looking up toward us. John and I exchanged commands and another secondary dropped. The second car began moving so I picked up the fifty and didn't even announce target acquisition, I just fired. That car exploded. John said, "They're opening the barn up. Someone is pulling the helicopter out." I said, "Let's let them get it started, and let whoever is going for a ride get in. I'd like to do as much damage as possible." John said, "There are two men running toward the fence." I picked up the 308 and pushed up the available light scope. The lead guy was at the fence. He was hit as he put his foot on the bottom wire. The second guy began firing a handgun toward us. The flash from the muzzle just about blinded me, but I used it as a reference and squeezed off a round. I watched him fall. I shifted back up to the helicopter to see the blades turning as it must have started and began to wind up. John said, "There is a pilot, someone in the other front seat, plus one in the back. No one else has come out." I sighted in with the fifty as I watched the blades wind up. I was using the twin tanks as a target, knowing that if I could get enough shrapnel I could blow the turbine. When I fired the helicopter was about ten feet off the ground but was hovering straight and steady. The explosion was better than the movies. There was fire everywhere on the ground. It looked like the barn may have a fire in it. John said, "No other movement, let's book." I had the fifty in its case immediately, then slid the 308 into the other case after reloading a magazine. We shouldered our packs along with the SKS, looked around to make sure our area was clean, then used some brush to scrub ourselves out of there. We walked back the way we came, but it was slow going. We kept referring to our GPS and map until we were at our original LZ. John used his radio, "Mother, Eyes." "Mother," came back over our earpieces. "Ready, LZ1." "Negative, LZ3 two hours." John looked at the map then showed me. It was about three miles so we should be able to make it. The topography looked like valley all the way. We moved quietly through the terrain watching, and listening, to make sure we were alone. When we reached the LZ, we stayed back in the brush so we couldn't be seen. We faintly heard the whooshing, then in our ears, "Eyes, Mother, one minute." John and I were ready to move toward the open area. We scanned the surroundings to make sure no one else was around and as the chopper was settling, we hustled to the chopper. We were barely in the door when the special Huey was lifting off and spinning at the same time. We went back the way they came, shifting our gear around to sit on the benches. The door guy nodded to us, but kept watch out the door. The Huey actually flew right into the big hangar and turned around to set down about a hundred feet from my Lear. It was now facing the door. When we climbed out, a guy in fatigues said, "Your personal effects are all in your aircraft. You should leave now." John asked, "Don't you want to debrief?" The guy who had been the leader throughout, asked, "Debrief what?" John nodded as the other two men in fatigues took the two rifles, the SKS and our packs. We were walked to the Lear that was already started. I wouldn't fly until I did a quick preflight, I don't care how good these guys are. I even checked the fuel covers to make sure they were secure. John was in the right seat, as I began to enter. The guy following me said, "Don't fly over five thousand until you get to Amarillo. Land there, file a flight plan, and then turn on your transponder. We've already made you into Amarillo on the way down. Ah, you will have cover until you hit Amarillo approach control." As I shut the door and climbed into the left seat, John asked, "Are you going to be able to fly all night? I know I'm tired." I looked at John, "The adrenaline is still pumping through me so hard, I don't think I'll sleep for a while." "No shit," John said. John said, "I don't like that we didn't get to debrief and advise them of what all happened and what targets we hit." I looked at John, "Somehow, John, I have a feeling they know exactly what all we've done tonight. The only question is for us to quietly find out who that other shooter was and who was he working for." "That's going to be tough to do, considering we can't raise any suspicions as to any of this. We weren't there." "Mother, Eyes." "Eyes, you are cleared, to runway 27. Clear and fifteen, light and variable." As we pulled from the hangar toward the taxiway, the lights came on. We followed a "Follow Me" truck to the runway where the truck turned away and left. Since we were at the runway threshold, I went through the checklist and poured on the coal. We rotated seconds later. I always want to yell, "Up, up and away," but that wouldn't do with my boss with me. The runway lights went out before we passed the end of it. Shortly after taking off, I was having a difficult time remembering to stay under five thousand feet. I was only doing about three hundred and ninety knots when we were bracketed by a couple of F16s. They stayed out from us a few hundred yards, then they vanished as soon as we hit Amarillo approach control. I called in and was cleared in right away. We landed and called for a fuel truck. While I was watching the fuel truck, John said he was going for some sandwiches. I looked at him and said, "Do yourself a favor, change into your regular clothes. I'll do the same. I'm keeping the fatigues and boots, but I think we'll be less conspicuous in our civvies." John quickly changed, with me doing the same. It took me longer to change the shoe on the prosthetic than it did to change clothes. The fuel truck driver must have been sleeping, as I totally changed clothes and had to call for the truck a second time. John came back and said, "I have a couple of sandwiches, but your coffee is better than the stuff they have in there." I set up the coffee pot then watched as the plane was refueled. Once that was done, I used the radio to call in a flight plan. I had John use his cell phone to get clearance into Andrews before we began. We strapped in, turned on the transponder, and were off. As soon as we were airborne, I reached back and punched the button for the coffee. It smelled great. We were right at thirty-nine thousand and being pushed by a nice tailwind. I kept looking for the F-16s but they were not around. We sat down right at six in the morning. We both got out and stretched as a fuel truck came up. John said, "Want to stay and get a nap?" "I'm still awake, John. Tell you what, I have all the pocket stuff from that guy and will go through it. We shouldn't talk about any of this over an open line. If you want, I can call you on a secure phone to let you know." John said, "Ah, how about you take a couple of days or weeks off, then let me know if you've come up with anything. Call me; I think we are owed some serious downtime." "Maybe not, Boss. We didn't do anything, remember?" "Damn," John said, "You're right. They get us to do that then run a scam on us. No sweat, I'll think of something. Call me tomorrow to let me know you got home okay." "How are you getting home?" I asked. John pointed at a big black Buick that was coming across the field. When it stopped, the Marshal got out and shook both of our hands. He said, "You two raised quite a ruckus. For not doing anything, you two did even better than planned. Glad you're back safe. I'll talk to John on the way home. Chuck, I may come down to talk to you, but probably not. That would be too unusual. If you're leaving now, be safe." I climbed into the Lear, shut the door, and poured myself the last of the coffee. While I was going through the checklist, I realized that I could call home. The phone rang exactly one time. Brandy answered, "Is that you?" "Hi, Brandy. I just wanted to tell you I'm leaving DC now and will be home soon. I'll probably sleep most of the day, so let everyone know. No scratches, not even a hang nail. I really didn't do anything." Another voice came on the phone. It was Wanda, she said, "Sure, you did nothing. Okay, whatever you say. You don't have to worry about the office. Everything is peaceful. I'll see you tonight." Her phone clicked off. Brandy said, "I'm glad you're going to rest. We'll all come home early tonight. We won't even go out to Sue's and Mercy's." I guess Steve has lost his stature, I thought. Tiani came on a phone and said, "You were supposed to have called us Buster. You've been out of touch too long." "Only a couple of days, Tiani, no big deal. Besides, there weren't any cell towers around." At least I didn't see any. "Well, come home, we all miss you. Lisa left already. She had an early flight this morning. I love you, Chuck, fly safe." With them off the phone, I finished up getting ready to go. I was soon on course to be home in a couple of hours. At the airfield, I parked in front of the regular hangar, noting no aircraft in it. That means the other Lear, the two Gulfstreams, and the Cessna Citation were all gone. In the maintenance hangar, I could see the Learjet 55C I just purchased up in Detroit being painted. There were all kinds of interior stuff lying on the floor around it. As I got out of the plane, DeDe came out of the charter office and said, "Wow! Perfect timing. I have another charter that I was just about to broker out and you're here. Are there any write-ups? Does it need heavy cleaning?" "Let me get my stuff out of it and you can have it. The only trash is from a couple of coffee cups and the grounds." DeDe said, "Good deal. I'll call a crew. We have about an hour before flight time, want to fly a run?" "No way, Honey, I'm bushed. I haven't been to bed yet." DeDe asked, "Where's your car? I don't see it around anywhere?" I said, "Oh shit, I'll call a cab." DeDe grinned and pointed, "You won't have to. I recognize that Chrysler." Wanda pulled up and said, "Hey, Boss, from what my John said, I'll bet they're glad you brought your plane back. He said the charter service is covered up." I said, "That's what DeDe was saying. Oh well, they can use it all they want right now. I'm too tired to go anywhere." Wanda said, "I figured, that's why I'm here. Let me get you home and you can crash for the rest of the day." I loaded up my stuff into Wanda's trunk and said, "How about stopping by Park Place for a late breakfast. They always have breakfast in the diner." We had breakfast, then Wanda drove me home. I walked in, stripped, showered, and lay in bed, thinking about the strange shit that had gone on. Remembering the guy's pocket stuff, I got up and pulled everything from the fatigues I had worn. I took the pocket stuff and the necklace with GPS on it and put it in one of my gun cases. That would keep the curious females out of it. I couldn't remember what day it was and tried to count backwards. John had called Sunday morning. We flew out there and did all that testing before bed Sunday night. We were in the field early Monday morning and extracted late Monday night. We flew back all night, so it's Tuesday. I yawned thinking I needed a couple of days sleep. That's when I lay down and slept. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 20 Steve Three weeks later Wes was sitting on an overturned bucket, staring at the right wing of the parts that Jeff's team had molded before he had been hired. He had been determined to have this bunch of parts flying within a week or two. No such luck. He kept finding flaws in how the pieces fit together. He kept checking the blueprints that were downloaded from the internet with the finished product, and found the pre-made parts to be exact to the print. The problem was they didn't fit, or didn't fit correctly. I walked up to Wes and asked, "What do you think, Wes, how about scrapping what we made before you came and let you design the parts yourself? Have you input the print into your design program yet?" "Steve," Wes said, shaking his head, "When I loaded the specs into our program, some connections and joints are off by as much as an inch. I thought I could just bolt this thing together and have it in the air instantly, but if I did get it into the air, I'm afraid it would be coming down quickly." I waved my hand at the almost constructed aircraft, "Then let's use this as a learning experience and you do the design. We'll cast parts to your specs so you can be confident of what you build." "You're right, Steve. I've made parts fit and not just let them match together. I want what we build to be as perfect as we know how to make it. If we wanted, I would want our fuselage to be race worthy, even capable of extreme aerobatics. I've got just about everything redesigned now, I might as well just do the whole aircraft, then beg Jeff's group to mold it again." With a smile, I said, "Let's take this contraption apart and haul it over to the fiberglass shop. We'll let them grind it up so no one will ever try to use any of it. Let's do it." What took Wes two weeks to partially assemble, took two men two hours to tear apart. I backed my pickup into the hangar and we loaded everything into the bed without being careful of damaging the parts. We drove to the fiberglass shop and I asked Jeff where he wanted the parts. Jeff was standing at the rear of the pickup with his hands on his hips, "You know, Wes, I thought this might end up this way. When we were measuring parts, it didn't seem as if they would fit correctly. I'm sorry you can't play with this one, but give me some good prints and I'll get you started on your own design. Besides, Mike is working on a few ways to strengthen the composite." Wes was nodding his head, "I'm just disappointed we couldn't make something fly very quickly. I suppose that it's better that we use our own engineering instead of someone else's. Let me get to work on it and I'll bring you the prints to look at. You and I can go over the stress areas and will figure out better ways to build an airworthy aircraft." I asked Jeff, "Do you still have those prints we bought from the biplane company before they went bankrupt?" Jeff answered, "Sure do, I would make it out of a better material than what they used though. I know you fly the one you bought from them all the time, but I'll bet what I can build is lighter weight and would be a lot stronger." I suggested, "Since we've committed space for some toys, how about molding the biplane for me with the better materials. We'll use Abe's bigger engine in it and see how it does. If it specs out to be too hot for an LSA experimental, we'll put the smaller engine in it. Lately the little biplane has been in the air all day Saturday and Sunday. I'll bet we could rent two biplanes if we had them." Jeff said, "You know the guy that owned that company lives over in Zephyrhills. He's been out to the airpark a couple of times talking with Jimmy. You know he might even sell you the rights to the aircraft cheap and you could sell it in kit form if you wanted to." "That's a thought. We would have to get prices together so Tiny can figure out what a kit would cost. Wes can tell us what all we would put into a kit. If you were to get the guy who was the original builder of the biplane to come help you, we might have a viable product. We'll have to work on price though, as a kit is going to have to be a total of about thirty to thirty-five thousand max. If we build an aircraft for about fifty then why would someone do all that work and spend thirty-five?" Jeff said, "Wes, spend some time with me while my guys are making your new parts. We'll work on what a kit would cost. I need some more off the wall stuff for my guys. They get bored molding standard products all the time. That's for the line junkies. My guys like to create some perfect product that's also unique." Wes said, "Steve, take me back to my office and let me work on the design. I'll stay with the air coupe right now so we can get something going. I want to work on my ideas for soundproofing the cockpit. I think it can be done easily and inexpensively." I drove Wes back to the shop and headed home, but made a call while on the way. "Jeff, thanks for working with me and Wes. He was really down about not being able to make those parts fit. Jimmy said he looked at what he was doing and said Wes was trying to make too many square pegs fit into round holes. Jimmy said the plane would be airworthy but not what Wes really wanted for a sample. It would not have been perfect or even near perfect." Jeff said, "No problem, Steve. I'd rather grind that thing up than have one of us crash in it. Wes seems really conscientious and appears to know what he's doing. Let's see how he does with his own specs." Jeff paused, then said, "Oh yeah, wait until you see the new line we finished over in Italy. In order to satisfy the labor people, we actually have two lines instead of one. We won't start the second line until orders justify it, but I had to build the second one because the first eliminated too many workers. We're going to be way under budget on the carts, and should be right on target with the lifts." "That's great, Jeff, I need to get over and see that, plus I want to see the new modifications you did in Ireland. I've heard that the place is turning out product ahead of schedule and it is all as near perfect as it can be." Jeff said, "A lot of that is your man ramroding the show over there. He has the employees so high on your perfect slogans that they're wearing patches for building the most products without an inspection flaw." "Anyway," I said, "thanks for working with me and Wes. Now that he has that albatross from around his neck, perhaps we can see him shine." "He'll do alright, Steve, the man really wants to build something. Oh, I have some more test plates for you to shoot at. We've been going over various blends of epoxies and fibers for strength. Test these and let me know." I said, "Call Abe, he's been doing the testing. He has the Sheriff's department and Tampa Police department working with him. He's been able to get them to do the actual firing while he documents the tests and records the results." Jeff asked, "So what are you going to build when you find the right composite?" "I'm going to propose to build the drone bodies for whoever is building the drones. We'll patent whatever composite you come up with and license it to whoever wants to pay us for it. Of course, those who just give us their specs and let us cast for them will come out ahead. Did you get the dimensions off that surplus Humvee we bought?" "Yep," Jeff said, "We've already cast a body and it fits the frame of what they have. I know they have a new vehicle they're using, or at least introducing, so we may be a day late on this." "That's okay, Jeff, if we can show this is a safer vehicle for the troops, they will want to use us to build the bodies for whatever they're making now. Now we have to find a way and place to try to blow the thing up like an IED would." Jeff said, "Ask Chuck if he can arrange for some tests with ATF. Those guys are always blowing something up out at the range. If we have to, we can reserve part of the bombing range for some tests." "Good thought, I'll ask. Meanwhile, work on shielding the engine and fuel tanks. If the product is strong enough, the shield can double as a skid plate." "My thoughts exactly, Steve. Let's call George Henderson, the designer and former owner of the biplane company. If he can come over and work with us, we should be able to put a kit together. I'll talk to you later, Steve." At home, I found Sue, Mercy, Kathy, and Juanita, ready for the gym. I waved them off, "I haven't had lunch yet. Let me get a little something to eat then we'll head out." Glenda made me a sandwich and asked if I wanted her to warm up some soup, but I said the sandwich would be fine. I ate while the quartet of wives watched me impatiently. I had to ask, "What's up that you're all so anxious today? What do you girls have planned?" They all looked at each other, then Sue said, "We have to meet Chuck's ladies after they get off work. We're taking them to a few places to look at things." "What kind of things?" I asked. Mercy said, "Oh you know, things for the house, some baby things. Stuff women like." "Is this more of your strategy to get them to move out here?" Sue rolled her eyes, but answered, "Yes, it is, but we want to show them what the architect can do and we want to run them by the houses out back." "If Chuck and the ladies build a place, out there will that be close enough for you?" Kathy said, "That's where Abe lives and it works out fine with him." "You know that they have two houses now and the girls' house is probably almost done with their remodel." Sue said, "It's been done for a week. They would rather stay with Chuck now. They got used to being with him all the time and don't want to move back to their house. They have to go over to their house for clothes and things every day, but they are more comfortable with Chuck." I asked, "So, do you feel that if they bring up the subject to build out here, Chuck will be more willing?" It was Mercy who said, "Chuck wouldn't mind living out here, but he's apprehensive about living out here and possibly bringing some kind of danger to us. He keeps thinking of the times he's had before. It's been a long time since he's had a problem at home now, so it may be easier to get him to move on this." Sue said, "I had Tiny and Terrel work out a preliminary plan for where his house would be and how much space he might need. My thought would be for us to build a place on six lots put together. That way he could have a giant house with a giant garage. We can make it two-story like the girls house, but I think Chuck prefers the main quarters all on one floor. The girls would just have to figure out how they would do it." I asked, "So are you figuring on just his five, or are you thinking there would be more." This time Juanita said, "Chuck has to include Tina, and of course, Lisa. The other two, the sisters Lena and Tina, are only maybes. Chuck is really against a relationship with them. He thinks they're too young." "So what about Dennis and Marie, Jan and Don, and don't forget Wanda and John?" Kathy said, "We can build it just like his house is now or come up with an even better plan. If we need another master suite for Wanda and John, we can do that. They can keep their commune just like they have it now if they want. If John and Wanda become permanent, they may want to move back into John's place or get a new one." "Sounds like you ladies have a lot of convincing to do yet. Come on, let's go work out." After our workout, the girls didn't want to go to the pool, but my best friend, Glenda said for me to join her and the other ladies. When I got to the pool, Mark was there with his three women. It had been announced that he would probably be tying the knot with Caroline, but it sure seemed like Shirley and Betty paid a lot of attention to him too. I was lucky to have so many ladies that wanted to spread oil on me. We lay in the sun and I was able to catch up on a lot of the gossip and what was happening in the park. After a good fifteen minutes on my back, and another fifteen on my front, I went into the pool to swim hard for about ten minutes. As I was drying off, Mark asked, "How's the airplane that Wes is working on coming?" "It isn't, Mark. The plans were off so much that Wes thought the plane might be unsafe, so we've trashed all the parts. He is going to engineer his own aircraft and have it molded. It should go fast once he has the parts he wants." Mark said, "That's great, Steve. I'm looking forward to flying an S&S aircraft. I'll bet it's a good one." "I hope so, Mark. Wes is building an air coupe first, then we'll see what else we might build. We are going to work on a biplane and a biplane kit for some diversification." Mark was saying, "I'll be looking forward to flying one of them soon, Steve," when a cart came sliding up to the fence by the pool. Martin was almost running into the pool area. "Steve, Steve, DeDe had an accident. She's down." You could see Martin was panicking. "Where, Martin?" "I don't know, Steve, Star just called. She said that Melbourne got a Mayday from DeDe about fifteen minutes ago. Hurry, you've got to help find her." Glenda said, "Martin, Honey, take it easy. Steve will come right now. Let's take him home then you can go lay down. DeDe will be fine, she's a good pilot." We rode back to the house where Beth was standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face. She said, "I guess you should get dressed and head out to the airpark. Star is going nuts." "Let me get dressed and I'll get out there right away. You guys have a lot to do with the kids." Beth said, "Susan already called Sue. They will probably meet you out at the airpark." I was dressed and on my way in five minutes. I tried to call the charter office on the way, but the lines were busy. I used my cell phone directory for the maintenance hangar and that line was busy. I called Wes' number and his new secretary answered. I asked, "Let me speak to Wes." The lady said, "He's already in the air. He and Jimmy are both up so they can find DeDe." I said, "This is Steve, I'll be out there in a few minutes. Go tell Star that I'm on my way." "Yes Sir, I'll do that right now." The drive out to the airpark is less than fifteen minutes, but it seemed like it took forever. As soon as I parked in front of the charter office, Star came running out the door. She grabbed me and hugged me crying, "Steve, Steve, we don't know where she is. I know she's a good pilot but she must have had a bad problem. She's not even answering the radio." I asked, "Was this an instrument lesson or a beginner lesson?" Star replied, "Beginner. She's in a 172, yours I think. It just had an inspection and everything was fine. Jimmy said he did the aircraft himself." "Anything can happen, but don't panic. DeDe's a good pilot and if anyone can get a plane down it's her. If she had time to call in an emergency then there will be a marker for where she called in. The transponder will give us an area." Star was shaking her head and said, "That's the problem, Steve, she wasn't showing on the screens and she declared the emergency about the time they were reacting to her not transmitting her position." "You know the route she takes; map it for me and for whoever's in the air. Give them about where they should look." "Steve," Star said, "I've done that. She should be between Melbourne and Sebring someplace. They do a touch and go at Melbourne then head for Sebring and then route around the bombing range." "What are Wes and Jimmy flying?" Star looked at me and said, "Jimmy took a 200B as it had just come in and was parked in front of the hangar. Wes took a 150 as he said he could land it nearly anywhere if he found her. There are six other aircraft out looking for her already. The helicopter guys just left on their way over there. They don't have a lot of fuel time and will probably have to refuel fairly quick." I felt the fear of losing someone. I was also hesitant of adding to the congestion by flying another aircraft into that area. Too bad I missed the helicopter. Over our charter radio frequency, Jimmy called, "I've got her. The plane is just short of the Sebring track. There is one person out of the plane waving. I'm wagging the wings. Wes, do you copy?" "I'm almost there, Jimmy, how close to the track?" Jimmy answered, "Less than a hundred yards. Land on the track. Star, call the FAA and NTSB to report the accident. I've already called for an ambulance and fire equipment. The plane looks half decent, but I'm sure it's busted up." I grabbed the mike for the radio and said, "Wes, make sure you let us know as soon as you can." "Will do, Steve," came Wes' voice. You could hear the strain in it. Shortly Wes announced, "I'm going down on the track. I should be able to taxi right up to the side where they are. I can't tell whether it's DeDe or the student, but whoever is out is leaning into the aircraft." Jimmy announced, "The helicopter is just about here and I can see emergency vehicles coming. They should be here within five minutes." This sucked. I felt helpless that I couldn't do something, anything. All I could do was stand there and listen to the radio. Wes announced, "I'm down and heading to the plane." Now we had to wait. Wait for someone to get back to us about the condition of DeDe and the student. I asked Star, "Who's the student?" "It's Zena Parks. She and Tom are both going through all the training. She's just about ready for her solo and exams. I was up in that 172 yesterday and it was fine. It was flying perfect." My cell phone rang. When I looked at who was calling I saw it was from Wes. "Steve here." Wes said, "Both instructor and student are alive. The student is unhurt but the instructor has a broken leg and arm. She was trying to wrestle the plane down. She said that she thinks a control cable broke. Then the engine quit and she couldn't get the plane to glide straight. She didn't break the gear but the prop is gone so the engine is probably trashed. Everything else looks good. I want to see why the engine quit and why that cable broke." "Just take care of DeDe right now. An ambulance should be pulling up as we speak. Get both of them to the hospital and have them checked out. Keep us posted. If one of the guys from the helicopter can fly the little Cessna you took over there, have him fly it back. You stay with DeDe and the student. Her name is Zena Parks." "I was planning on staying with DeDe anyway. I'll buy the 150 and give it away. DeDe is more important." "We'll get it taken care of, Wes. Just go take care of the ladies." Wes said, "I'll call with an update." I sent a mechanic over to the helicopter company's office to ask them about who was on the helicopter. He left and came back to say, "There are three aboard the chopper. All three are fixed wing rated. They called and one of them will fly the 150 back." Star said, "I called in the accident and they are going to send someone out to the site right now. Thank God there are no fatalities. It's bad enough to have one of our planes go down." Jimmy came back in the 200, landed, and immediately went to the file cabinet where the maintenance inspection papers were kept. He kept looking at them over and over. He said, "I did the inspection myself. I remember sliding my fingers over all of the cable. No nicks, no frays. It's part of the inspection. I went through every access panel. The cables were replaced the last major. I want to see that aircraft. Steve, I want to head over there in a truck. I have to see this for myself." "Go, but don't get into trouble with the safety board people. They have to do an inspection. Make sure they allow you to do whatever you do." Jimmy said, "I'll stay within what I should do. I have to find out though." Shortly after Jimmy drove out of the airpark, Sue drove up to the parking area and the four ladies got out of Sue's Expedition. We brought them all up to date, making them a little more relieved to hear that both instructor and student were alive. When Sue and Mercy found out the student was Zena Parks, Sue said, "Wouldn't you know it? Someone we know, not all that well, but we still know them." It was over an hour before we received a call from Wes with an update. "The bad news is that DeDe has both a broken arm and lower leg. The good news is they are both minor fractures. She said she broke her arm trying to pull on the yoke. She broke her leg against the cockpit wall when they hit. She was able to roll out about five hundred feet before she nosed over. She did well under the circumstances." We had the call on the charter office speakerphone so everyone could hear. Sue said, "I'm on my way over to bring you all home, Wes. My car should be fine. I'll bring someone else to help, but we'll be there in about an hour and a half at most." Wes said, "I want to look at the aircraft. I want to see what really happened." I told him, "Jimmy is on his way right now in a truck to take a look. He'll be able to see what's up fast. I told him not to get in the NTSB's way out there." "Okay," Wes said, "I guess that's okay. But the engine quit. Engines just don't quit. They choke, sputter, and try to keep running. Even when you run out of fuel, they will sputter. DeDe said the engine just quit, as if someone flipped the master switch or turned off the key. I'll stay with everyone. Zena has called her husband and told him she's fine. She will wait and ride back with us. I'll see you guys in a little while." Star had sat down in her chair. Big tears were running down her face. She said, "Damn, we've been through everything together, and I'm not there to help her. I don't know what I would do if I lost her. She's my family, my closest friend. We're like sisters, even more than that." Sue and Kathy had taken off for Sebring already. Mercy and Juanita were hugging Star, comforting her. There were still two mechanics standing in the office. The one named Frank said, "Guess we need to go back to work. With the boss and Nick gone, we'll have to take up the slack. We have two Lears and two G-5s coming back. We have the 200B that Jimmy was using to go over. Come on, Bob, let's get at it." Star looked up at me and said, "That's another thing, we need more mechanics. The four of them are doing it, but the overtime is starting to be too much for them. We could use two more. Tell Jimmy to hire them, please." "I'll do that, Star. Check on DeDe's instruction schedule to see how we can spread the load around. I know she's been on a lot of G-5 runs lately too. Does John have enough other pilots on call to cover what DeDe is scheduled for?" Star looked up at me questioningly, "How do I know? This just happened. I've got to go over the entire schedule. We're not that big that we can lose an instructor and G5 pilot and just keep on without feeling it." I patted Star gently on her back, "Don't get upset, Star, I'm just asking. When you have a chance, look at it. Let me know." There was nothing else to be done at the charter service, so I suggested I take Mercy and Juanita home. The folks at home needed to be updated too. Mercy said, "I've called Glenda constantly to let her know. She'll tell everyone else. I think Juanita should stay with Star, and I'll go back and help with the kids. It's going to be bedlam there as soon as classes let out up at the rec center." At home, the patio was packed with people waiting to hear the latest of DeDe. Mercy and I were telling what we knew repeatedly. The cable news channel was on the big TV and had a spot concerning the airplane accident. The news reporter told the camera that one of the experienced pilots on site had said our instructor pilot must be one of the best to be able to bring the plane in with no power and almost no control. He said, "All pilots learn to bring an airplane in for landing without power, but no where do you learn how to bring one in without full control of the air surfaces." The reporter went on to say that the accident was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. He did say that the final determination of the cause of the accident can take weeks and even months. I thought to myself, 'I don't think so. I'll bet Jimmy knows exactly what failed and how it failed by tomorrow.' Right after five, Chuck showed up with his five ladies and Wanda. Tina came with tall Lena. All of them were concerned and wanted to do something. Tina said, "In a couple of years, when I'm a real doctor, I'll be more help. Right now, I'm still just learning." Chuck asked, "Where's Lisa today. She said she was probably going to be late tonight." Wanda said, "Lisa and John are both on the same trip. They have the family that goes to San Diego or Los Angeles. They won't be back until tomorrow unless they are just dropping them off. I'll call Star, she'll know." About five thirty, Sue called to tell me that she was loading Zena, DeDe, and Wes into the car. Sue said, "Wes wants me to drop him off at the accident site, but I told him to let Jimmy work on the plane. He's agreed, so we're on our way. We should be home in about an hour and fifteen to an hour and a half." "Drive carefully," I cautioned, then told her, "We'll save you some food. Does DeDe need a wheelchair?" There was a pause, then Sue said, "Get one. She may not want to use it but it would come in handy until her arm is better. See if you can find one of those motorized chairs. That would be good." "I'll call right away," I said. "See you soon." Chuck and I were sitting at the bar with most of the other men. He said, "DeDe is a hell of a good pilot. She gave me a lot of my instrument instruction. I'll bet she's still using that same route. You go to Melbourne, fly toward Sebring for a touch and go, then dodge around the restricted airspace going toward Sarasota." Tiny commented, "That's the same route that you fly when you are in the basic pilot school too. I remember flying over the Sebring airport and track all the time." A hospital supply delivery truck showed up to drop off the electric wheelchair. The guy said that if we had any problem with it to call and they would replace it right away. Hopefully, DeDe will use it instead of trying to navigate with crutches. All of us ate, but sparingly. It seemed as if we all thought we should save food for those that weren't there. Right at seven, Jimmy called me on my cell. He said, "The NTSB guy is releasing the plane to me. I have a big flat bed, along with a truck with a lift on it, tall enough to get the plane on the flat bed. I've already pulled the wings off, so we'll be at the airpark in a couple of hours. Steve, I want to pull the video tapes of where this aircraft has been for the last week. It was just a week ago that I pulled the annual. Between then and when this happened, the right cable was scored so deeply the cable broke. How many times do you hear of that happening? Then there is the power cable connection. That does not just fall apart. The clips on it are good, but it was totally separated. We pull them for the inspection and the NTSB guy says we probably didn't put it back together correctly. Not a chance, I did it and I remember that it seated. I'm not perfect, Steve, but I don't screw up on airplanes. Not like that." "I'll run out and copy the drives on the security DVRs. We'll look at them on the playback monitor to see if there's anything unusual. Just relax though and drive back safely. You're more important than an airplane." Jimmy said, "I don't feel like that, Steve, but I'm driving with the truck carrying our airplane. We'll be there in about two hours. We'll probably stop for something to eat." After hanging up, I gave everyone a short version that Jimmy was bringing the airplane back to our maintenance hangar. I turned to Chuck, "Want to come with me out to the airpark? I need to check on something." I told Chuck what Jimmy had asked me to do on the way out to the airpark. Chuck said, "That's probably a good idea. Since you have cameras covering everything, let's take a look to see if we can spot anything. It's only a week's worth if he's accurate on when he pulled the annual." Out at the park, the night attendant for the charter service was on and the two night mechanics were working on customer aircraft. We checked the maintenance file for the aircraft to find out the annual was complete six days ago. Chuck and I went into the back room of the charter office where the video recording equipment was, and began down loading the recordings by day for the last full week. We ended up with two days in the maintenance hangar, and six days of two cameras in the light aircraft hangar. While we were recording the days on DVDs, we ran the two days in the maintenance hangar at a fast speed. During heavy people activity, we slowed it down, but then speeded it back up when there wasn't anyone in contact with the aircraft. We were just finishing copying the days, when we heard the unmistakable sound of a G5 stopping and turning around in front of the jet hangar. We put the copies into a folder then walked out to see which G5 was returning. The maintenance guys were already hooking the plane up to the tow motor when the door opened and the steps lowered. John then Lisa got off the plane, then turned to take some trash bags from two attendants. The attendants looked back inside the plane, then stepped down with John and Lisa. Chuck and I met them, as the four came into the charter office. Lisa said, "Wow, a welcoming committee." John said, "What's happened, I get the feeling all is not well." I spent five minutes telling the four what had happened and what we knew so far. John just shook his head and said, "No way does Jimmy miss a power cable, especially the main cable. And you say a control cable broke? That doesn't happen or at least it is very rare. I want to see that. If there was a knick on it, Jimmy would have felt it. That's how you check those. You wear thin gloves and run your finger over the cable. If you get a metal splinter, the plane gets a new cable." Lisa said, "We're going to be short one instructor and one weekend G5 jockey. Chuck, you might have to cover with me this weekend. DeDe and I were supposed to pick up the family in California and bring them home. That's Sunday, and we have something for Saturday, too." I said, "We'll work it out. Chuck might have to give some lessons. It's about time he does some more. You haven't given any lessons for over a month. Even before that, you were only doing like two a week." "My goodness," Chuck protested, "I do have a job that keeps me pretty busy. I'll help when I can. DeDe hasn't been asking lately. I've never turned her down when I'm in town." I said, "Don't worry, Sue, Mercy, Kathy, and I can take up some slack. Kathy and Mercy wanted all that flight time to get their instructors certificates; they might as well put them to good use." Lisa said, "Come with me, Chuck, I'll give you a ride. I'm sure the girls are all at the patio. See you there Steve, John." I said, "Chuck, I may need your help with this. Stay in touch, okay? You know we do ferry a lot of fed personnel around. This could affect them." "No sweat, Steve, if you need some more experts, I can have the Bureau's techs come out and check things out. "I might take you up on that, Chuck," I said, as we got ready to leave. Before Chuck and Lisa left, Lisa asked, "What are you talking about, Steve? Do you think someone did something to the airplane?" I answered, "Jimmy just wants to go over all of our security tapes to be sure. He's very adamant that the annual he just performed on the plane was a good one." Lisa said, "Damn, he's so thorough, it's ridiculous. He follows me around my preflights on the jets to make sure I'm doing everything. I can't believe he would miss something." I just said, "To err is human, but you know S&S doesn't hire humans." With a chuckle, Lisa and Chuck left for the patio. Before leaving the charter office, I called out to Tom Parks. I had to call Park Place first, and was given Tom's cell phone. "Hey, Tom, I know you've heard from your wife. If you want to meet her, come over to the patio at the trailer park. They should be here in about an hour or less. You can have a beer with us while you wait." Tom said, "This is a hell of way to visit. At least it isn't real serious. I wish it had been me instead of Zena. That was probably a hell of a lesson. I'm sure she'll tell me all about it. I'll be over there in about twenty minutes. I'll probably have to bring little Joanie. She's about going nuts worrying about Zena. Shannon is working, so she can't come." "Just come over. It's been a while since you guys have been to the house. You need to come more often, especially on Fridays." Tom said, "I'll be there. You know Fridays out here in our park are always special. It's the start of the weekend, and all the weekend people are coming in. It's like a weekly party." "Well, come now and meet your lady when she steps out of the car. Sue's driving them back." "I know," Tom said, "Zena's called every fifteen minutes since the accident. She even called me when they were going down to tell me she loved me. That was scary. When they crashed, the first thing she said is that she was all right but she thought DeDe was hurt. I was scared, let me tell you. I guess everything is going to turn out all right, except that DeDe has some mending to do." I said, "She'll heal. Everyone will pamper her to death. See you in a few." Back home, I talked to Hap about putting a live guy out around our hangars. He looked at me funny and said, "The airpark has a roving guard. You have video everywhere. That should be enough." "It might be, Hap, but if the video camera sees something, it doesn't tell us that it's happening. We don't have motion detectors in the hangars because of birds and bats. The occasional cat or raccoon running through would set it off too. Just put a guy out there to cover the six hangars we have right now. Between the hangars and the offices, we have a big investment. I'll feel better if we do that." Hap said, "I'll set it up. Let me call one of my part timers and see if he can cover tonight and tomorrow. I'll arrange a schedule to cover out there from now on until you tell me to stop." Sue, Kathy, DeDe, Zena, and Wes got back. You would have thought DeDe had been gone for months the way Star attacked her. Star was worse than a doting grandmother. One of the guys pushed the electric wheelchair out to the car for DeDe, and she laughed. "I'm not that bad off. The leg isn't a complete break, it's just a crack. The arm isn't that bad either. Come on guys, I'm not a cripple." Tom grabbed Zena and held her close. You could tell he had been seriously worried. Little Joanie was right there to hug both of them. They were a close group. It took ten minutes before I could get close to DeDe. Wes was hovering over her protectively, while Star was even worse. I gently hugged DeDe and congratulated her for bringing her student down safely. Zena heard me and asked, "Do you charge extra for emergency training?" At least she was smiling. I said, "We like it to be a little more controlled than that, Zena. I'm glad you're safe. Hope the ride wasn't too bumpy." With Joanie still hanging onto her, Zena said, "Actually the landing was gentler than some of my early ones. We just stopped pretty fast and there was a crunch when the propeller jammed into the ground. I'm glad I was with DeDe, though. She is really a good pilot." Zena tried to extricate herself from Joanie and said, "Come on, they have beer right over there, Joanie. I want one." ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 21 Steve The damaged pilot and the safe student were both relaxing and having a beer while being attended to by their close friends. I was happy that we came out of this as well as we did. Thinking that Jimmy should be about back, I called his cell, "Hey, Jimmy, how close are you? I'll come out and help you get the aircraft off the truck." "We're about twenty minutes out. We could use some more hands. If Charlie, Jim, and Hank could come with you, that should be enough muscle. We have a hoist, but you have to push the thing around a little to get it on." I said, "I'll bring a bunch of help. See you in about twenty." Rounding up Charlie, Jim, and Hank was easy. They were all near the tap. I told them we would stop at Park Place for some calzones on the way back and that got them moving. I asked Mercy to order the calzones for me so they would be ready. She said, "I'll run out and get them. That way you guys can just come straight home." I got a kiss from Sue and was off. When Jimmy and the big flatbed came in, we moved a couple of light planes around so we could use the lift that was on a track to get the plane down. Jimmy was the expert and had us take the wings off the truck first and gently lay them on rolling stands he set up. Then we pushed and pulled on the fuselage to get the slings in place. Jimmy lifted the plane and gently placed the aircraft down on its three point landing gear. The front didn't appear damaged and the two main gear both looked good. I'm sure Jimmy would have to tear everything down to ensure it was still good, but the plane wasn't damaged as bad as it looked. Jimmy pulled the prop from the truck and you could see that it was damaged. Jimmy said it was bent and the main shaft connector was damaged. I couldn't see the bend in the propeller, but I would take Jimmy's word for it. Jimmy was staring at the engine and said, "I'm not doing anything under the cowl until tomorrow. We're going to set up some video cameras to record everything I do and what we discover. The NTSB inspector has what he wanted, but I want to go over everything. So until tomorrow, let's get out of here, I'm hungry and I think a beer would be in order. Thanks for coming out to help, guys." Charlie, Hank, and Jim were saying, "Just like our toys at work, but bigger." When we got back to the patio, Tom's group had grown as Maggie and Shannon were now with them. I found out that Mercy had talked the two into coming. Shannon had to find someone to take her place, but it apparently wasn't difficult to do. The mountain of miniature calzones began dwindling fast, since the group on the patio was larger than usual tonight. So many were there to celebrate DeDe's health that we were getting down to close to the bottom of the keg. About eleven, much later than we usually stayed up, parents began carrying sleeping kids home. Tom, Zena, Joanie, Maggie, and Shannon left with the promise to come back soon. They made us equally promise to come visit. Glenda and Martin sat droopy-eyed. I said, "You two need to go home and go to bed. Glenda, I'll fix coffee in the morning. I'll take care of the kids' breakfast too. You sleep in." She said, "No way. I'm the Grandma here. I'll be there with my kids for breakfast. Martin can sleep in for both of us. This has been a tiring day. Perhaps a nap tomorrow would be good." I walked the two of them home to be sure they were okay. Martin was smiling as Glenda took his hand, leading him toward the bedroom. I flipped the lock and shut the door saying, "Goodnight, Martin, goodnight, Glenda." My ladies, plus Barb, had our kids in bed and were finishing cleaning and straightening out the patio. They were all smiling as they looked around. It was like at our shops, the people cleaned up at the end of the day and admired their work. We headed for bed, with me stopping in the shower to rinse the sweat off. As I was washing, Sue and Kathy got in and said, "Today did bring out the sweat, didn't it?" We washed, and when Sue and Kathy got out, Mercy and Juanita stepped in and held me in the shower. They said, "We need our shower maid to wash us now." I washed both ladies without getting their hair wet. We dried off and the five of us snuggled into bed. Seconds later, we were all asleep. "Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring." Ah shit, who would be calling now? "This is Steve." "Steve, Hap. My guy out at the airpark just had a running gunfight with someone. He wounded the suspect and has him cuffed, waiting for the Sheriff's department and an ambulance. I thought you might want to come check this out." "I'll be right there; do you want to ride with me?" "I'm already on my way, Steve. I have to be with my man when there's something like this." The ladies were all sitting up when I said, "They caught someone out at the airpark. I don't know what he was doing, but there were shots fired. I have to go." Sue asked, "Do you want one or all of us to come with you?" "No, you guys go back to sleep. I need to help Hap with what's going on, and also make sure we get all the information we can from the guy." I was dressed and rolling in less than five minutes. I did slip my Glock holster onto my belt. Probably unnecessary, but my Glock was there. At the charter office, there was an ambulance and two Sheriff's cruisers. I found Hap with his man and asked, "I know you've probably said this a dozen times so far, but one more time for me, where was this guy when you saw him?" Hap said, "This is Terry Williams, he's been with us a long while, so he's experienced." Terry said, "I had just walked around the back side of the helicopter hangar on the way toward the charter office. I saw some kind of flash beneath the hangar door where you keep the big airplanes and ran to the charter office. The clerk had not heard anything, but I told her to throw the light breakers on for me." "When I opened the door and shined my flashlight toward the airplanes, the guy shot at me. The round hit high, but I can tell you, I shut my light off and stayed down. When the lights came on, the guy was walking fast toward the rear of the hangar. I yelled for him to halt and to put down his gun. He fired at me, so I returned fire. I hit him two or three times, but I didn't kill him. I guess I need more time at the range. He has one round in the leg and one in the shoulder. The hits knocked his gun from him so I ran up and cuffed him. The clerk was calling 911 while I was doing this." "As soon as the guy was cuffed, I began trying to interrogate him but he spit at me. He's not said a word. When the deputy read him his rights, he wanted to call his attorney. They can do what they want, but I'm charging him with attempted murder. You guys can charge him with whatever you want." "I'm sorry, Mr. Sharp, for shooting inside the hangar with these expensive airplanes, but I had to return fire." "You did the right thing, Terry. Hap, you get with the deputy while I see if I can see what he was doing." I walked over toward the G5 Terry had pointed at. At the left landing gear there was a bag of tools with several tools lying on the floor. I left them as they were and made a decision. We were flying several federal charters this week and next. The FBI should investigate this, or maybe it's Chuck's job. I hated to do this but I called Chuck. When he sleepily answered the phone, I said, "This is Steve. We've had an attempted sabotage on a G5 that is due to haul a bunch of Feds to DC and back. I think the captive and the evidence need to be looked at by the FBI. Isn't that right?" "Exactly right, Steve. My group has to be involved too as we're supposed to protect federal employees. Let me call for you. Do you want me to come out? Can I do anything to help?" "Just call for me and give them directions. I'll keep the Sheriff's department here as long as I can. The suspect was shot, but is alive and not seriously wounded. I don't know whether I can hold him until your guy gets here." "Do what you can, but if they send the guy to the hospital, make sure he's accompanied by someone. Have you located the guy's car? If not find it and have the cops protect it. That is evidence. Let me get off the phone and call. Call me back if you need anything." I walked out to the assembly of the two Sheriff's cars and the ambulance. They wanted to transport the guy right away. I said, "The aircraft this man was working on is chartered by the FBI and two federal judges. I've called the FBI and they want to be the primary investigating agency, but will give the county credit for the arrest. They would like to have a word with the suspect, but if you have to transport him, someone has to go with him to ensure he remains in custody." The two deputies looked at each other and one used his mobile to call in. After a long conversation, he said, "We'll hold him until another deputy can get here to accompany the suspect. Usually we just cuff him to the gurney and meet them at the hospital." I said, "Knowing these guys, they may have ways to defeat that right now. Have you located his car?" Again the two deputies looked at each other then turned to head toward the operations building. Terry said, "There's a car down toward the end of the runway. They could have driven onto the field from the street over there." Terry said, "Let's go check it out. We'll take this cart." One of the deputies climbed into the cart with me in the back. Terry drove without lights down the far side of the runway until we were just behind the car. As he approached the car, he flipped his lights on. Bang, Bang! Someone one in the car took shots at us and started the car. The lights came on and they spun the wheels trying to do a U-turn. The deputy leveled and shot at the lights. He didn't hit the lights, but was hitting metal. You could hear the hits. I pulled my Glock and shot at the driver's side of the windshield. I shot seven rounds, until the car began going in a circle, lurching from no acceleration. Just as the car came to a stop, the passenger side rear door opened and someone rolled out onto the ground. We were almost on top of the guy and the deputy yelled, "Halt, Sheriff's department." I guess the guy didn't care, as he came up with a handgun aiming at us. I fired four rounds as the guy fired. I hit him in the body and his only shot went wild. When he rolled over, then rolled back, I realized he had on a vest or something. I fired the rest of my rounds into the guy's head. I had emptied my piece of all fifteen rounds, seven at the driver's side of the car, four at the guy who came out of the back seat, and my last four into his head. The deputy said, "Enough, he's down." "Damn right, he's down. Check the car for more men, quick. I'm out of ammo." "Good, maybe there will be someone to question," the deputy said. Terry handed me a full magazine and said, "Glock 22, right?" I dropped my empty and slid the fresh one in, pocketing the empty clip. We checked the driver, then found another person in the driver's side back seat. He had been hit in the shoulder, but also had a graze across the side of his head. That had knocked him out. The deputy was trying to baby the guy, trying to ease him out of the car. "Step aside, I'll lift him out." The deputy stood back and I grabbed him by his belt and his neck and lifted him out of the car. When I had him on the ground I asked, "Who has cuffs? Let's get this guy immobilized." The deputy said, "He's shot, he isn't going anywhere or going to do anything." "You better go back to cop school, Buddy. This man is a danger to you and me. His buddies have fired live rounds at us. What do you want to bet you find another pistol in the car from this one and probably another on him. Now give me your cuffs." Terry handed me his cuffs and I rolled the guy over, pulled his wrists together, and cuffed him. The deputy was moaning in sympathy for the guy. I ripped open the guy's shirt and saw that the wound was just in the meaty top of his shoulder. He would be sore, but he could still function. I used his shirt sleeve to make a bandage just as a Sheriff's car came up. An older guy with rank on his collar got out of the car and asked what the situation was. The deputy began ranting like a little kid telling on his brother to his mom. The man raised his hand and said, "Tell me slowly. I heard several shots fired. What happened?" The deputy began again, pointing at me and saying I went crazy shooting at everyone. Once again, the guy with rank held his hand up, and said, "Is that you, Steve?" "You got me; let my security guy tell you what happened." The guy said, "No, you tell me." I went through how we had surprised the group in the car and that I fired at the driver when the car was heading toward us. When the car became disabled, the guy that has the blown up head problem rolled out of the car and fired at us. I said "We fired back and you see the result. When we checked the rear seat of the car, we found this guy out cold from the graze on his head. Since his other wound wasn't serious, we cuffed him and you came up right then." The deputy said, "This man wouldn't listen and insisted on cuffing the injured man." The Major said, "It's a good thing he did, I can see another weapon in his waist. He probably has a backup on his ankle too. You always cuff a suspect, regardless of his injury. When the paramedics get to him you can unlock him, but the guy is in custody. People in custody are cuffed, behind their back, period. You know that, you learned that in the academy." The deputy was shaking his head, and said, "We should at least be humane." The Major said, "And probably be dead for being humane." He told his deputy, "Use your mobile and get some CSI people out here. I understand this is going to be a federal case, so make sure the FBI is sending someone. Move it." The deputy walked away from us, using his mobile. We could hear more cop cars coming our direction. The Major said, "Let me get back up there to make sure no one messes with the scene. You, Deputy Higgins, hold this man for the paramedics and don't let anyone touch anything. Strip the prisoner and make sure he doesn't have a key around his neck." Terry said to me, "I'll stay here to help watch this. You go with the Major. You seem to know him." The Major said, "Steve and I have a long history; all unique, all good." We drove up to the charter office, where the Major pulled out a roll of crime scene tape and said, "Spread this across the doors that go into the hangar. That'll keep the curious little boys out." I put the tape across all the doors, including the far rear door that the guy who had originally been shot apparently came in, and was trying to go back out. I made sure I didn't touch anything so I didn't leave any prints. The first ambulance took off with a deputy riding with the first injured prisoner. The second ambulance drove down the runway to get at the second guy. The night clerk for the charter company came out and said, "We need to clear the runway. We have a Learjet coming in. I'll make him go around, but we need that aircraft for tomorrow and need it down here. Mr. Sharp, can you go tell those guys to stay off the runway." The Major used his radio to move the ambulance and the Sheriff's car. He looked at the clerk and said, "All clear, Honey, tell your Learjet to come home." The maintenance guy that was standing there said, "We'll have to prep that thing in the maintenance hangar. You know we need two G5s tomorrow, are we going to be able to use ours?" I turned to the night clerk and asked, "Do you have the numbers of the companies we use to rent aircraft?" "Yes Sir, I do it all the time." I said, "Call and get two G5s for tomorrow. We'll supply the crews but have them here by eight." She smiled real big and said, "I can do that. Ah, Mr. Sharp, I've called my Dad and told him what was happening down here. He's on his way. Was that all right?" I sighed, "Yes, that was a good thing to do. He needs to be on top of this." Shit, we might as well call everyone from home and have them up here too. The Major came up to me and asked, "I hate to do this to you, but either me or the Feds are going to want your piece. You know the scoop." "When they need it, I'll give it to them, along with the empty magazine. Can you believe I left the house with my gun and no extra magazines? I'm slipping, but who would believe this shit and who would believe I had to shoot so many times to stop that damned car." The Major made a statement in the form of a question, "So you did all the shooting, huh?" "My security guy was driving a cart, and your guy was terrified. He wouldn't shoot at the people; he only shot at the lights on the car. You saw him go barf didn't you?" "He's new and he has a lot to learn. I suppose he should still be riding with someone, but we're short. That's why Mickey has been pulling so much patrol duty. At least major crime is down. I'm surprised she isn't here yet with her van." About that time, two white vans were sitting across the runway while a Learjet roared to a stop just past where we were. As the jet pulled toward our area, the two vans slowly made it across the tarmac. It's always cool to watch a Lear spin around almost in one spot. Just like a dancer, very smooth, very graceful. As the jet shut down, the mechanics were all over the plane as they had a deadline to get the plane ready for the morning. Damn, it was already morning. It was five o'clock. Mickey came out of a van and asked, "Where is the scene and do I help the feds?" The Major said, "Go coordinate with them. Let them take the lead and do what they need. You probably won't get to keep anything you collect, but help anyway." "Got it, Dad. Hey Steve, it's great that DeDe came out so well. Glad it wasn't worse." The Major asked, "What's that about?" It took ten minutes to explain the crash we had yesterday. The Major asked, "Do you think it's related to this?" "It might be, but we'll have to check. Meanwhile, we will not fly any of our aircraft until they have all been fully inspected. Jimmy will probably show up early because of so much traffic and because he wants to check out that bird that crashed. Maybe he can get some extra help to check out the aircraft." The Major said, "You've come a long ways from that little trailer and being on vacation." "Yes Sir, I have. Tampa has been good to me and for me. Look at my home and my kids. I've been very lucky." The Major slapped me on my back and said, "Let me act like the boss and get my guys going so we don't have a year's worth of overtime." Around six thirty, a black Expedition drove up. Sue got out with a couple of sandwiches and said, "When you didn't come home and the cable news people said there was a shooting out here, I figured that if there was bad news, we would have heard. I figured someone else was on the short end and you probably needed some food. What's happening, Honey?" I tried to describe what had happened so far, but couldn't really tell an intelligent story. So far none of this was intelligent. The more I told this story, the more it didn't make sense. "Sue, we don't have any real enemies out there. What could this be? Why would someone want to screw up our aircraft, especially the smaller ones?" Sue looked perplexed, "I don't know, Honey. We need that girl that lives with Chuck, you know, Jan. She's FBI and is a senior agent. She knows how to investigate this stuff." Hap was nearby and said, "Your buddy Chuck might be a good investigator too. He's more action than investigating, though. You can see it in his eyes, the way he carries himself. Get him in on this, though. If these guys were going after federal people, then it's his job to protect them." Looking at my watch, it was seven, so Chuck would be up and about. I called, "Hey, Chuck" Chuck said, "So what was that all about last night? Did you get it resolved?" "Some more happened since then, but you'll hear of it today anyway. Your people probably need to be in on this as we've been hauling a lot of federal people to DC and back. We have a charter for ten FBI people and a couple of federal judges with their staffs this morning. That's pretty intense. The bad guys were sabotaging our aircraft that we do this with, so it does come under your jurisdiction along with the FBI." "You're right, Steve. Let me get Sarge and his best men on it. We have some old investigators that are real hound dogs. We're collecting retirees, or almost retirees, lately. The good news is that these guys can track down anyone and they are good teachers." I said, "Sounds like a win - win situation to me. I'm just concerned because we don't have any enemies that I know of, so it almost has to be because of who we transport." Chuck said seriously, "You know you do have an aircraft owner that has pissed off a lot of bad guys. If they figured out where I fly from, they might be after me, not you or the other feds." "Yeah," I said, "could be, but I think it's more the other federal people because of the G5s." "Listen, Steve, I'll cancel whatever is happening today and be right out. I didn't sleep worth a hoot after you called me, so I should have just come out with you. I'll be there in a few. Can I bring you something to eat?" "No, Chuck, Sue brought me something. We do have good coffee in the charter office though." "See you shortly, Steve, don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this." You know what? I did feel good that Chuck said he would get this taken care of. I smiled at Sue and said, "Chuck said he would take care of this. That puts me at ease. Funny how knowing a guy like that helps." As she gave me a hug, Sue said, "He is a good friend too." Jimmy came rolling in, driving his souped up Jeep. He slid to a stop and demanded, "Why in hell didn't you call me last night when you found someone fucking with my G5s?" "Jimmy, calm down. The FBI has to go over everything before you can even touch them. How about making up a plan to inspect all of our aircraft, every inch of every aircraft. Call in as many favors as you have to, but let's get enough good people in here to inspect every plane. Do annuals if you have to, majors too, but get them all thoroughly inspected." Jimmy looked at me cross-eyed, "Do you know how much manpower that's going to take?" "I don't care, Jimmy, it needs to be done. No aircraft in this facility will leave here until it has been inspected. That includes the Lear that came in this morning. We've called for some rental aircraft so we'll meet our obligations. We have two aircraft that have been out for extended times, so they are probably all right. Call and see if you can get them inspected where they are right now. Let's get this done so we know our aircraft are good." Jimmy bowed his head and said, "Please, Lord, please let this go away." He turned and headed toward his office in the maintenance hangar. A lady with dark hair and a FBI jacket came up to us. "Hi, Steve, Sue, not nice to see you under these circumstances." Sue hugged the lady and said, "Glad to see you, Jan. We were just talking about you. Chuck said you would be involved, but I didn't think you would be here." Jan said, "I'm concerned for several reasons. One, I'm taking lessons out here, and two I'm scheduled to fly to DC today for a conference. If anyone is a target, it would be the judges, but they don't take flying lessons. I'm in my fourth week of instruments, so I'm concerned." I asked, "Have you been involved in any high profile cases lately?" "Yes and no. Some of the cases I've been working on are sensitive in as much as several underworld communities are involved, but they're not very organized yet. I'm trying to take them down before they get too organized. This is kind of a leftover problem from my boss' wife. She used to be married to a guy that turned gunrunner and smuggler. I think some of his cohorts have put together where the pressure is coming from. The Tampa office has been pushing real hard lately and they don't like it." Sue said, "Jesus, Jan, you are involved in a lot of stuff. I hope you are watching your back." "Trust me, Sue, I am. Chuck has taught me how to take care of myself and I don't think I'm invincible, but I do think I'm one hell of a tough target." I said, "Well, I'm renting some aircraft today for the group going to DC. None of my aircraft are moving until they have been inspected very thoroughly." "Good to know, Steve, I probably won't go today. I can get the video and do the study course. I was going as possible protection for the judges. I'll just have a couple of agents shadow them instead. I should just call Chuck and have him do it. It's in his jurisdiction anyway." I relaxed a little just as a beige Chevy drove across the runway. Chuck got out and came over, eating a sandwich from one hand, and drinking coffee from the other." "Morning, Chuck," I said, with a smile. Between chews, he said, "Morning all, I see the FBI is on the case so I can take a nap. Come on, Steve, show us peons what's going on." We walked through the charter office and through the door with the crime scene tape. Three people were gathered around the tool bag and tools lying on the painted floor. A familiar face stood up and Mickey said, "So far, we've found prints all over the place, but then that's normal when you have a piece of equipment this big. The guy that was shot first has his prints all over the brake lines on this side, but not on the other. I was able to get a good set of prints off his weapon to use to compare. The front strut is full of his prints, so that may be a problem. We haven't found any prints around the engines so far, other than the technicians that work out here." I said, "Good deal, Mickey, that will give us something to work with. Can you dust the other G5 and the other two Lears, too? If they had a chance to get at them, I want to know." "We're working on it as we speak. Your man, Jimmy, is about to have a coronary, as he loves all this equipment. He had me go over to the Cessna 172 that crashed yesterday and dust that one. We found the same prints there, so it is likely that it was sabotaged." "That will make Jimmy feel a little better. He prides himself for the work he does. He believes safety is all important." "Well," Mickey said, "we'll go over all the aircraft to make sure, but he still needs to inspect them. You have an inordinate amount of federal workers learning to fly out here. You must be giving them a deal." "No deal, just word of mouth and fair prices. When you want to learn, Mickey, we have the time and the aircraft." "Maybe later, Steve. I'm still working on my master's." I didn't know that. It's kind of neat to have these kids out here with great goals. What am I saying? Most of us aren't kids anymore. I do live among a group of people who want to be the best. We may not be perfect, but we sure try. Sue and I left Chuck looking at the inside evidence, and went back outside, where a G5 had just landed and pulled up near the maintenance hangar door. Sue said, "I need to get to the old plant this morning. We're introducing a new line. Joan and Betty are crazy about this entire grouping, so I should be there with them. Hannah isn't too crazy about the fabric selection, so I need to check it out. I should be able to meet you for lunch and the gym later though." We hugged and kissed, and then she took off in her Expedition. Everyone is busy. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 22 Steve I had just kissed Sue goodbye when she left the airpark to go to work and Chuck was inside the hangar going over evidence. This was going to be a busy day. Turning back to the charter office, I found a new person at the desk. "Hi, Charlotte, I thought Star was working this morning." "No Sir, Star is right seat on the G5 out there leaving in a few minutes. If you need to talk to her, she's probably on the aircraft now." "That's okay, I'm sure she's fine. Do we have the other aircraft coming, the other G5?" Charlotte said, "It should be landing in a few minutes. It won't depart until almost nine. This first one will be gone as soon as the rest of the passengers get here. Someone said the judges and their staff are late, so the agents can go on the first flight and the judges on the second." A white Ford sedan pulled up and an older guy with a crooked grin got out. He exemplified cop, seasoned cop. When he entered the office he asked, "You see Chuck Johnson around here anywhere?" "Hi, I'm Steve Sharp. Chuck is still out in the hangar looking at some evidence. Go right through this door. You'll see him over under the wing of the nearest G5." The man gave us a smile and a half salute and continued right through the office and through the door to the hangar. I looked at Charlotte and asked, "What's the condition of the coffee supply. I could really use a cup." "I just put it on, Steve, it should be done by now. I'll put this pot in a big in-flight carafe and make another pot. This might be a big coffee day." Chuck and the older guy came out of the hangar. Chuck said, "Steve, I want you to meet the U.S. Marshall Station Chief, Sarge Henderson. His name is really James, but I don't think he'll answer to it. Sarge, this is my friend, Steve Sharp. I've told you a lot about him." Sarge stuck out his hand and said, "Really good to meet you, Mr. Sharp. Chuck thinks you and your family are the best." I shook hands with the man as he began telling me of some of the precautions his staff would help me with. He said, "I see a bunch of video cameras all over, do you record from them?" I smiled, "We have a DVR that has a month's worth of activity on it. Perhaps we need to get more storage and retain more than a month." Sarge said, "Naw, a month should always be enough. You could use some of those new cartridges that are a terabyte each. They're not expensive and you could store up a year's worth at a time if you wanted." "Thanks, Sarge, I'll ask about them. I have a full time guard out here now in addition to the airpark patrol and my video security, what else do I need?" Sarge looked serious, "Luck, in order to catch anyone, and vigilance, as bad guys watch to see when your guard is down. You have a large area out here. Perhaps you might have two men instead of one for a while. It looks like you have men in the maintenance hangar all night. Do you have someone in the office all the time?" I said, "The office has someone in it when we have aircraft and crews out. It wouldn't be that big of a deal to just schedule someone for the office twenty-four seven. This place is getting bigger and busier all the time." Sarge asked, "Have you done background checks on your people, the mechanics, the pilots, and other crews?" "We have a personnel department that is very thorough," I said, trying to give Sarge an idea of how we handled employees. "We do the standard checks like police, financial, and of course, education and background. We do all the drug testing and give additional physicals to all the flying staff." "That should be sufficient for your business, Sir," Sarge said, "but you might want to run some of your key people through us or Jan. We can look them up in a minute and tell you if anything is out of order." Chuck said, "I'll tell Ruth about the service the FBI has, so she can check out people through them too. Sarge, these folks have to work with Homeland Security all the time for immigrant issues. They have an entire legal organization that works on those. I'll bet they use the FBI services." I said, "You're right, Chuck, we do use those services as we have to check with Interpol before we really stick our neck out and sponsor an illegal. So far, immigration has worked with us to handle good people and have taken away the ones with questionable backgrounds." Sarge told Chuck, "I have a man on the flight with the agents, and I have two men on their way for the flight with the judges. Until we know what this stuff is all about, we'll keep security protection at a high level. I have some other fires to put out Chuck, I need to get. Nice to meet you, Mr. Sharp." Sarge left for his car and I said, "That guy is cool. He does make you feel all secure and safe, knowing he's going to get to the bottom of whatever is going on." Chuck said, "Jan will get to the bottom of the situation, she's the bloodhound. She doesn't let too many stones go unturned. She really digs." I said, "I need to go into the shop, talk to Jimmy, and then get. You probably don't need to babysit out here, Chuck. Hap has a man patrolling and we have people all over the shops." Chuck waved goodbye and headed toward his car. I walked toward the maintenance hangar to find Jimmy and Wes setting up cameras around the aircraft that had crashed yesterday. Wes said, "We're going to take this thing apart. It has to come apart anyway, but we're going to know this plane by touch and visual. With the cameras recording everything we do, it will record anything we find as we find it." Jimmy had pushed a big roll-around tool box over to the aircraft. He looked at me and said, "We'll have this thing apart by noon, and fully inspected by this afternoon. I'll get an estimate together for you for the insurance company. They can use the photos from yesterday and the videos we're taking now. There shouldn't be too much argument over what they should pay for. Let's get at it, Wes." Wes turned to me and said, "I have the drawings for the body parts that Jeff will need almost done. I'll finish them up and give them to him later today. I want to get started and it will be easy as soon as he gets me some ready made parts. I have to help on this for DeDe's peace of mind." "No sweat, Wes, just be thorough. You can help on the inspections of the other aircraft if Jimmy can use you. It's more important to make all of our aircraft safe than it is to build something new right now." "Thanks, Steve. I appreciate you giving me the leeway to help with this." I said to Jimmy, "While you're stealing people to help on these inspections, you need to find a few more mechanics. We need to staff this place continuously now and I know your guys are probably getting tired of all the overtime. Try for three or four more so you have enough to keep our aircraft in the air, and to perform all of the outside maintenance we're getting. If any of the guys you find are rotary wing qualified, that might be a bonus. I think we may have to go in that direction soon." Jimmy looked at me funny, "Damn, I know windups, but I've never been big on them. I had to learn all about them in school and have worked on a bunch of them but,,,, " "Well," I said, "you know our next door neighbors are having arguments between themselves, and it looks like they both want to sell the business and equipment and leave. We might as well do that stuff too. I've been thinking about learning to fly them, but just haven't taken the time. If we do take that over, I'll let you guide me as to good equipment. They have the city, county, and state maintenance contracts, so they have a great revenue base. They don't market their services much, but they still fly often. We could probably make it pay." Jimmy was shaking his head, "Sure, Steve, with you in on it, it will be successful. They do have a decent business but it could be a lot better. With all the bickering going on all the time, their people aren't the happiest employees in the world. Those two are so cheap that they'll make a guy leave right in the middle of something if it's time to check out. They lose money doing it that way, because the guy usually has to start all over again. Go ahead, buy the place, I'll watch 'em. Too bad Dad isn't here, he loves those things. He flew every kind of helicopter there was in Viet Nam and filled in for a few of the companies up north. Wait till I tell him. He'll want to begin doing rotary wing stuff in Hawaii." I said, "He's already asked. I told him he could do maintenance on them if he thought he could do a good job. He assured me he could. I guess I know now he can." I walked over to the helicopter hangar and looked for the office. You knew where it was before you got there, since you heard the two owners yelling at each other. When I walked in, they both looked at me a little sheepishly. Bret, the older of the two, asked, "What can we do for you, Steve, sorry about the yelling, it seems we do more of that than business lately." "You two mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that you were thinking of selling out. I might be interested if the price was right." Carter, the other partner said, "You're damn right, we want to sell. We've agreed that if someone will give us a decent price on our two machines and give us our cost of any inventory we have, it's theirs. It would be easy if it were you, as then we wouldn't need to worry about the sublease of the hangar. Here, we have appraisals of our equipment. Both have just had majors, plus you know how much maintenance work we do. We have a computerized running inventory that is usually accurate to the screw, so we can get prices for you in an instant." Bret said, "It is as easy as that, Steve. Carter and I have been great friends for years, but we can't work together. I think I'm moving to Hawaii and Carter wants to move to Key West. Come on, Carter, let's get some numbers together." I said, "Look guys, I'll get Tiny to have some additional appraisals and have his men do a cursory check on your inventory. If everything is straight, we'll give you a check by tomorrow." Bret said, "Damn, Carter, that's great, isn't it? We can be friends again, especially if we're going to be half a world apart. Wait till the guys hear, they keep telling us that we need to treat them like you treat your people." Carter said, "We do have some really good techs. Two are good pilots, as well as being techs, so we're never shy on pilots. Bret and I try to take up most of the flight time, but we can't sometimes, so the techs fly. As you know, our safety record is good." A tech walked into the office with some papers right then. Bret said, "Guess what, Tank, S&S is going to buy us out, how about that?" The man Bret called Tank grinned real big and asked, "Can we paint our hangar white and the floor too. I want a big S&S logo right in the middle of the hangar." I had to laugh as the logo wouldn't make their job easier. Tank said, "Man, having Jimmy as a boss is going to be great. The man knows his aircraft. He's helped us out on several problems. When are you going to do this?" Carter said, "Hold your horses a little, Tank. Steve just told me he was interested. Just hang in there and we'll get this done for you and us." "Damn, I have to tell the other two guys. They're gonna shit. This is good news." As Tank left the office, Carter said, "I guess you can see you won't have any trouble with the management change." "This is going to happen faster than I thought. Let me get Tiny working on this. You should hear from him by this afternoon." I waved and left the two men, who excitedly began putting pieces of paper together. I called Tiny on my cell, "Tiny, do I have a deal for you." "Oh no, now what? Did you buy the county, or perhaps only the Sheriff's department? With the trouble out there, I thought perhaps you might have." "No, nothing like that. I did make a deal with Bret and Carter for their business." "Helicopters?" "They're letting the business go to pot because they can't get along. Since it's there for the taking, why not? We can teach rotary wing the same as fixed wing. We can maintain the city, county, and state contracts and look for some more. I'm sure if we were to promote helicopter taxi service, we would get more business than we could handle." "Oh, Steve, you're too much. What needs to be done?" I said, "The two men say they have current appraisals of their two helicopters. All I have to do is to give them what the current appraisals are of their equipment and the cost of their inventory, and the deal is done. Their techs are glad to become a part of S&S. We will have to pop for painting their hangar to bring it to our specs, and I don't think it's air conditioned so that will be an expense. If you can get someone to give us another appraisal of their equipment, and have a couple of your men compare some of the inventory and check the costs, you can cut those two a check. Make sure there aren't any liens on the equipment or the business and it should be a done deal." "At least it's an easy one. I know those two pretty well. Our accounting firm does their books. They're both flamers. I thought they were life partners, but I guess they're not. I'll bet they argue like cats and dogs. Okay, Steve, let me get at this. Oh, I think I have another sailboat in my sights. We're booked for the next twelve months on all of our big boats, so another isn't going to cost anything. Besides, you keep talking about going on a cruise. You should take the big motor yacht, but then you would have to have a crew. Anyway, I'll talk to you later." I was smiling as I headed to my pickup. I could see Wes and Jimmy buried in the Cessna, so I knew they would have answers soon. The vans were still here, but there was a big flatbed tow truck down by the car at the end of the runway. I could see a security guy in a cart down that way too. I guess we'll get back to normal soon. As I drove up to the main S&S building, I did have a feeling of satisfaction. It's neat to see the original building and remember where you came from. Inside, people were always smiling, busy, but smiling. Instead of going up to my office, I toured the shops real quick, but didn't go over to the other building. The quantity of personnel working in the building was radically reduced, but it was still more than you would expect in the economic times we were in. I was glad we had been able to keep shifting people around to different areas so we didn't have to lay off anyone. As soon as I walked into my office, Ruth came in with the news, "The NTSB called to tell us that the accident is being listed as sabotage from persons unknown, with a notation that the FBI was investigating. That'll make Jimmy a lot happier. He just gave me six people to check on for mechanics. I thought you said two?" "I did a couple of days ago, but since then I decided on four, and if we buy the helicopter shop, the other two may be important if they have helicopter experience." Ruth shuffled through the papers in her hand and looked up, "They all have experience with helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. It looks like they all have turbine and small engine experience. The least experienced here is six years. I'll check them out and see what they look like. Do you want to run them through the FBI?" "Do that for anyone we hire out there. We need to be sure of anyone we have working with us in sensitive areas. You might even want to double check the guys we've given Wes." Ruth asked, "I heard Wes brought the airplane parts Jeff had made back over here to be trashed, is that right?" "Yes, that's right. Jeff made them to spec, but they weren't engineered correctly and didn't fit. Wes was trying to make them fit, but became frustrated as the job wasn't going to be anywhere near good, much less perfect. I talked him into engineering his own plans for Jeff." "Oh," Ruth said, "I thought that was unusual, but when put like that, it's better to have a perfect job. Ah, Tiny is going nuts over something he said you bought. What did you buy?" "The helicopter shop next to our maintenance hangar. They have three techs, so we'll need to run them too. Have Tiny take some applications out to them when he or his men go." Ruth nodded then left as Tiny was walking in the door. He said, "I'll just take Ruth with me so she can do her dipstick thing while she's at it. I'll let her get all the app stuff done as I'm making up a check. We use the same appraiser for aircraft as who gave them the appraisals. I talked to the accounting firm and they said their inventory is usually extremely accurate. I'll take a couple guys and they'll do some counts and verify costs. That place will be ours by five." "I don't think we have to move that fast, Tiny." "Oh yes, we do. Alcam Helicopters in Orlando is interested. They also want to get into the charter business, so I want this tied up instantly. Those guys are a bunch of slime balls and will stoop to anything to get the jump on you. They are the same ones who were talked about being involved in the boat charter in Daytona that had all those mishaps and boat damage. The police still think they had something to do with it." I said, "I'll have to tell Chuck and Jan about them. They may be someone of interest on our problem locally. Do those people have flight training?" "They do, but not to the extent we have it here. They are trying to start rotary wing training, but they are not capitalized like we are, or they are at least unwilling to have the degree of maintenance we demand." "That's interesting, Tiny. Glad you told me. Go get this done. Bret and Carter will be happy. Take Ruth and enjoy an afternoon out there. Tell Ruth to take enough kits to test the other six guys she has apps for, as they are probably on premise checking out our aircraft." I walked down to the lunchroom for some coffee and was waylaid by Judy. "Steve, just the man I want to see. You know the Onan dealer in Orlando?" "Sure, I've been there several times to make sure he knows we'll buy his business if and when he retires." Judy continued, "My girls just heard he sold to some company by the name of Alcam. I haven't heard of them before, but they said some lady was trying to hire them from us. They were promised at least two dollars an hour more than we paid." "That's twice in ten minutes that I've heard that name. I guess I'll have to find out more about them." "Well, don't worry about my girls and two dollars," Judy said, "they all know they would never have the benefits and 401K plan anywhere else like they have here. Besides a bunch of them have husbands that work here too." Okay, I guess I need to find out about Alcam and Alcam Helicopters. I got a cup of coffee and went back to my office. "Chuck Johnson, please, Steve Sharp here." A sweet girly voice said, "Hi, Mr. Sharp, it's Angie, Jimmy's, ah, girlfriend. I'll get Mr. Johnson for you." Chuck said, "What can I do for you, Steve?" "It may just be a coincidence, but while making a deal this morning, I've found a competitor that may be of interest. The name came up again when Judy, Phil's wife and head of my customer service, said the same company is trying to hire some of my staff." Chuck said, "What's the name of the company, Steve?" "The company I know them as is Alcam Helicopters, but they just bought a dealership for our products in Orlando using just the name Alcam. Tiny said that they were involved in some kind of trouble up in Daytona over a boat charter service a while back, and the police are still interested in them. Tiny said that Alcam Helicopters wants to get into the charter business now and was trying to make a deal here in Tampa. Actually they were trying to buy the helicopter shop that I rent hangar space to." Chuck said, "I'm looking up the name right now under everything you've given me. Let's see, they have a dozen corporate names they use, but the original company looks to be the helicopter one. They do have several principal investors that are suspects for smuggling, drug trafficking, arms dealing, and some other unsavory activities. I'll give this information to Jan and let her run with it. Meanwhile, beef up your security and let's see what's going on. Thanks for letting me know this. Let me get this info to Jan. I'll talk to you later." That was strange, Chuck cut me off quickly. He usually doesn't do that. Guess he was busy. I'd better call Hap. "Hey, Hap, Chuck just told me we should beef up security out at the airpark and I think we should probably do a little of that at the trailer park. How about closing off all the access to the business park from the sports complex and the hotel at night? Put sentries out at all the access points. I know this is going to be expensive, but do it for right now just to be safe. You and I can't take any chances with our families, and of course, the businesses." Hap asked, "What's up, Steve? What do you know that I should know?" "Tiny and Judy gave me some information that I passed on to Chuck. Chuck seemed to think that we might have a competitor that doesn't play by the rules. I'm not sure about this, but if Chuck is concerned, I'm concerned." "No shit," Hap exclaimed. "If he's saying to be careful, but not talking about it, there is a problem. I'll put another guy on at night out at the airpark and do what you say around the park and business park. I can use a bunch of the construction guys as they have been filling in lately since they are slow. This will help them while helping us." "Good deal, Hap, take care of it for me. You and I will both do a double check tonight." After hanging up with Hap, I thought that it was time to get tough. If someone wants what I have, they should buy it, not try to take it away. Besides, no one could make this work the way my people can. I'm bushed, not enough sleep and I'm hungry. I've missed lunch and I should check in at home. When I walked out of the building, I could see Sue's car across the street at her main building. I went over to say hi. The receptionist in the new entryway said that Sue was up in the main conference room. Actually, it was the office that Sue and all the girls used. It was huge, with some desks around the outer walls and a cutting table with body forms for fitting in the middle. All the girls were huddled around the cutting table, talking about, "This is nicer, this has a better texture, this would be easier to care for, this is shiny and would look great for evening wear." Sue happened to glance up and smiled, "Don't mind us, Honey, we're trying to make up our mind on fabric. We all decided that we didn't like the fabric that we chose the first time around, so we're trying to make up our minds. We have the line making a couple of pieces in each fabric so we'll have a better idea." Hannah said, "The design is wonderful, now if we can just find the right fabric." "I just wanted to say hi. I'll see you all later. I'm going home for some lunch." Sue said, "My goodness, it is past lunch. Someone ask Betty to get us some sandwiches." I said I would do that and left to say hi to Betty. She was now a big shot in the office area. She gave me a warm hug as she passed me on the way to her desk. I told her what Sue wanted and she picked up the phone and called the cafeteria at S&S to deliver some sandwiches for the bosses. Betty said, "It's so nice to have the cafeteria over there. They are so nice and have some great food. They stay open twenty-four hours for all of our shifts now. That is really a good deal for us." I didn't know we did that. If they were doing it, Tiny would be sure that it was profitable. Driving home, I was uneasy that we had someone that might be underworld, or at the least unsavory, trying to muscle in on the business. I suppose someone sees our success and thinks they can take it over and be as successful. At home, the first thing I did was to go into my bedroom and check on my weapons. I reloaded my Glock magazine and made sure there were a couple more full magazines right there. While doing that, I cleaned the piece real quick, as I didn't do it earlier. That's when I realized, I had not even showered yet today. Well, first things first, food first, shower second. I was fixing myself a sandwich when Kathy came in, "Here, Honey, I'll do that for you. There is some soup still on the stove. Nuke a bowl and start on that. I'll fix you up a good roast beef sandwich. Go talk to DeDe, she's on the patio and is going nuts because she isn't used to just sitting around." I did what she told me to do then walked out to see DeDe. "Hey, DeDe, how's it hangin'? You look good in that fancy wheelchair." "I need to be doing something. Tomorrow, I'm going to the office and work the desk. That way I can take Star's time at the desk. Besides, I'll be out near Wes. I miss not being around the big galoot. Hey, he called a little while ago and said you might be buying the helicopter shop. Is that true?" "All true, DeDe, and you might be happier out at the office instead of doing nothing here. They are going to be really busy out there. Another good thing is that we are hiring some more techs that are dual licensed for both fixed and rotary wing. Ruth is signing them up right now." "Oh boy, that's great," DeDe said, getting excited, "We'll be able to turn around flights faster now. Will we need to send the new guys to G5 school?" I said, "If they haven't been, yes, same for Lear and Cessna. We'll have to see what they know and go from there. Find out if any of our people haven't been to rotary wing school and see what we can do. It might be too expensive to send more than one at a time." DeDe was really smiling, "This is great. I'll be queen of the air charters, fixed or rotary. We can pick up a customer in a chopper and deliver them to one of our aircraft. Good stuff, Stevie Sharp. God, I love working with this company." I noted that she said "with" not "for." It did make me smile. Kathy brought me a sandwich that really hit the spot. If it were a half-hour later, I would have had a beer, but who knows what's going to happen around here lately. Kevin and Dennis walked in the door at four, then Tina came shortly after that. When I looked at them strangely, Kevin said, "You forgot, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, the minions get motocross training. It is really a riot out there. They're all trying so hard and are actually minding every word we say. They just can't understand why they can't do stuff so fast. Bonita is the coolest of them all as she keeps telling them it takes practice just like instruments. She practices hard and tries the same crazy shit the others do, but doesn't get upset when she can't do it. She keeps doing it over and over again until she can. We have a six year old who is leading the pack. Your twins are right there with her though, as Danny and Manny are totally fearless. I wasn't watching and they had a big bike doing jumps off the pro jump. Thank God they didn't get hurt." Tina said, "Come on, Uncle Steve, come watch them. You'll get some laughs if nothing else." I asked, "What are you going to work on today?" Tina said, "The kids are going to learn to use acceleration to spin the back tire to make sharp turns. The bigger kids will have it easier, the little ones are going to have to wrestle the bikes." Kevin said, "We'll give them some time to warm up, and then later on, we'll give them some time to just run around the track. Just like all kids, they love to just try to go as fast as they can." The kids spent about thirty minutes just riding around the track at a fairly slow pace. Not fast enough to have to jump but fast enough for them to have a thrill. Dennis was the first demonstrator. He showed the kids how to spin around to the left first, which was the easiest for most people, then Tina showed how to spin to the right. The three teachers worked with each student trying to spin to the left. With them helping the student to hold the bike while the tire spun, they showed them how to use the front brake to temporarily hold the front tire while the back wheel slid in a circle. Some of the kids were naturals, but some of the kids spun out of control and landed on their butts. Surprisingly, the smaller kids got the hang of using the brake to help the spin and were able to control the slide easier. The bigger kids tried to horse the bike around, and just made it more difficult than it was. This was work, but the enthusiasm of a bunch of kids is fun to watch. An hour and a half later, Kevin turned the kids loose on the track to enjoy themselves. Watching a bunch of kids on various sized dirt bikes tearing around a simple dirt track is terrifying to the observer but fun for the riders. Kids fell and became bumps in the track for the rider following. There were plenty of bruises and one bloody nose, but no broken bones this day. The surprise students were Trixie and Dixie, along with Bonita. The three girls were speeding by older kids on larger bikes, making tight corners, spinning around them while hollering with glee. Tina came up to me and said, "Looks like we have three little motocross princesses. They are really doing well. Watch them go over that little jump. All three are getting some lift. Those three will be ready for bigger bikes soon." When Kevin had them quit, the first thing they had to do was to wash their bikes, and oil the chains. Each student had their bike inspected by one of the teachers before being released to go home. The kids went home tired and bruised, but happy. Kevin and Dennis were enjoying a beer with me when I heard Bonita already playing the keyboard in the living room. She transitioned from one hobby to the next very fast. The kids were all eating late and the moms had to push them to go ahead and change before their baths. Most still had on their suits and some of their protective gear, as it gave them the feeling of being a racer. Some were serious students, and some were just along for the ride with their friends. In time, the true racers would shake out from the hobbyists. Samantha had been taking pictures of each of the kids while on the track, showing each one in some form of racing maneuver. She said that she would give them each a picture to show off for some bragging material. Chuck came by late to talk with me about some of the information he had been able to find. "Steve, the group behind this Alcam group are not nice people. We've found various underworld groups who appear to have money invested in the holding company. Each individual group from there is handled by some tough individuals." Chuck leaned down to me and said softly, "I've learned that the ATF and DEA each have someone inside. The FBI is working a man in Alcam Helicopters and should have him working among the movers and shakers soon. The man is both pilot and tech so he can be valuable." We were both sitting back in our chairs, thinking of the ramifications of what lay ahead while dealing with these people. I told Chuck, "This doesn't change my plans to expand our charter service into helicopters. We'll focus on our maintenance contracts and on our charters. Since I was the one who bought out Carter and Bret, that should get them stirred up a bit. We'll be on our toes and be aware that there could be trouble." When Chuck left, I relaxed and actually went to bed early. This day had been entirely too long and too eventful. I didn't even stay awake for my goodnight kisses that I value so much. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 23 Chuck I opened my eyes, and listened to the sounds of my multiple bedmates sleeping. A glance at the clock said it was right at six, so it was time for me to get up. Sliding from bed didn't wake anyone, so I pulled the covers up over all of the wonderful ladies and hopped to the bathroom. With that out of the way, I slipped on my peg and went out to form in the cool morning air. There had been too many things lately that were conflicting. Since John and I had returned from that crazy hit, snipe, sanction, mission, or whatever you wanted to call it, all of the DC people have treated me with kid gloves. Hardly anyone called, and the only contact lately has been e-mail. Even the Marshal wasn't bugging me about budgets. I still had some self doubts whether I had to neutralize the other shooter that was there. The mission is first and the man was an impediment to the mission. I was taught to accomplish the mission and do what is necessary for success. There was no way to sneak up on the guy and the noise of his gun going off would have been tragic. John and I might have even been caught. No one supposedly knows what we did or where we did it. There are more than seven people who do, because the helicopter crew dropped and picked us up. The same crew was used for both, but that's three more. The supply guy knows we were going into the field for something, and the range officer knew that we were practicing for something kinky. I've been working on trying to figure out who hired the shooter we found out there, but I have only established that the guy was a pro who worked for anyone with a buck. He was suspected in shootings all over the lower forty-eight, plus in half a dozen European countries. A couple of telephone numbers turned out to be just cell numbers that were limited use, throw away, gas station purchased cell phones. The guy's wallet had over three thousand dollars in it, plus a card with a key taped to the back. The card was for a bank in Huntsville, Arkansas, and the key looked like a safe deposit box key. I figured on checking that out the next time I flew near there. Keeping John abreast of my investigation didn't seem important to him, as he said, "We did what we were asked to do, and even the Marshal acts like it never happened. No one else has brought it up, and I haven't even seen a blurb about it on any of the intelligence briefing statements." I felt warmth near me as I stretched into a new position. Through half closed eyes, I observed Lisa and Wanda gracefully forming simultaneously. As I brought my last form to a close, I felt an emotion full of elation. With a smile, I was looking into Lisa's eyes. She smiled at me and looked down, with an almost embarrassed look on her face. I held out my hand to invite her to walk back into the screen enclosure with me. Lisa took it, still with eyes lowered. When I walked toward the pool, Lisa hesitated, and then followed me. As I slipped off my T-shirt and shorts, about to slip off my peg, Lisa touched my arm and turned my face toward her. She smiled at me with the softest smile a man could ever see. In near slow motion, Lisa pulled her T-shirt over her head to reveal her bronzed beauty. I was able to see her swollen, erect, nipples and how her stomach sunk in as she exhaled in excitement. Lisa slowly unbuttoned her shorts, unzipped them, and let them fall to her feet. She was now nude as she stood with her arms to her side, with her palms out, facing me. God, she was beautiful. I smiled, she smiled, and we met, body to body and kissed. When our kiss parted, we stepped into the water still holding each other. We began to swim side by side, gradually picking up speed, until we were driving ourselves as hard as we could. When we were both winded, we drifted to the side of the pool to catch our breath and to cling to each other, as well as to the security of the side of the pool. Nancy and Judy swam up to us and encircled us in their arms. Judy said, "You two looked so beautiful when you were doing your forms, then something happened to both of you. You were standing together before you began to swim and there seemed to be some kind of energy that passed between you." Nancy stroked Lisa's head, kissed her on the forehead, and said, "Lisa, Honey, you are so much like us it's as if we are all sisters. You love Chuck as much as we all do, but hold back just ever so slightly from him. It's almost as if you're afraid to give him that last little bit of yourself." Lisa said, "Sometimes I'm just lost in how I feel about Chuck and even you guys. I used to only have my dad and my big black mama, but I've found so many special friends down here. Most of all, I've found Chuck, you girls, Tina, Wanda, and Chuck's friends out at that crazy trailer park. I'm more in love than I've ever been, and feel as if I'm just barely beginning. Strange, isn't it?" Frieda had swum up to us and offered, "We are all just beginning. All of us, as a group, are growing, maturing, and becoming a unit, a family. I think you're feeling the security of being cared for by all of us. I know that I've felt so fulfilled lately, so secure and comfortable that I just float along, enjoying the day. Lisa, you are part of us, we all really do care for you." Wanda was sitting on the side of the pool next to us and said, "John's my guy, but I somehow feel I'm a part of all of you as well. I haven't enjoyed Chuck since I've had John, but I have been with all of you girls. I hope we can stay this close, I really like the way our family feels together." We migrated inside to begin our day. When I got into the shower with Lisa, Tiani and Brandy got in with us. The two partners were all over Lisa this morning. Brandy said, "Lisa, you look so relaxed today. Did you guys make love out in the pool this morning?" Lisa said, "No, I think Chuck and I made love while we were forming this morning. Something passed between us as we undressed to get into the pool. I think I made up my mind this morning that I am a part of this wild and crazy group of people. I now know that I am, and will be a part of it from now on." Lisa picked up Tiani and said, "And you, you little twerp, I love you to pieces, even if you are a shit disturber." "What? Me?" Tiani asked, in disbelief. "Yes, you! You messed with me all night long, touching and teasing me. Between you and Brandy, I was smoking hot by the time I woke up this morning." Brandy said, "Me too, but I didn't mean to be teasing you last night. I thought it was you and Tiani that were teasing me." As Lisa put Tiani down, Tiani said, "I didn't mean to get everyone excited. I just felt all lovey for everyone, I wanted to touch and kiss everyone." Tiani crawled up Chuck's body as he balanced on one leg, "And you, Chuckster, I've been having a craving for you, and what ya got. We have to make some time for each other." We finished showering and dressed. The girls were talking about getting together with Sue and Mercy again to talk about some property out at the park. They didn't openly say anything, but they were leading the charge to possibly wanting to move out there. Man, I really didn't want to give up this great place we lived in now. When Jan and Don came down to eat breakfast with us, Jan asked me, "What have you been able to find out about this Alcam group from Orlando? I have a team over there trying to put faces and names together. So far, just about everyone we've identified has some kind of a record, or has been a person of interest in some major crime." Wanda said, "I sent everything we had to DC to let the Marshal's office distribute inquiries. That's often the fastest way to get a dossier on a corporation or group." Jan said, "We're going to get real close to them over the next few days and get a handle on what's going on. We need some more undercover people in the organization and are working on a few men right now." Frieda was listening to the conversation and said, "There's a company by the name of Alcam that has been listing locally for various jobs. They contacted me to try to hire helicopter mechanics exiting the military. I sent them the forms to fill out for our records, but they haven't returned them. They call almost daily to see if we have anyone for them and I keep telling them they must complete their profile and be federally compliant before we recommend anyone to them. Now I wonder if there's a problem with the company, rather than them just being lazy and not filling out the forms. We have to check with the IRS to make sure they are current with withholding revenues. I don't usually check until the employer sends back their forms, but let me check for you, Jan. I'll call and let you know what I find out." Lisa said, "The charter company has a whole bunch of short charters today. We have enough planes, but not enough pilots today. Chuck, it would be great if you can handle one. You need the flight time anyway." Wanda said, "You don't have anything going today. Take a flight. It might be good for you to think through this mess Steve has with this Alcam Company." As everyone got ready to leave, I called out to the charter office and DeDe answered the phone. "What are you doing back at work, DeDe? You should be home in bed, at least for a little while, anyway." "No way, Chuck. I have to feel, and be, useful. I can do all this inside stuff so Star can be an air jockey while we're busy. I hope you're calling to help out today. We are really booked. We even have three little charters for 172s. Jimmy's crew has been turning the planes out continuously for two days, so we're about complete out here." "I can do one for you, DeDe. How about something I can do some heavy thinking on?" DeDe said, "I have just the one for you. It's a one-way to Texarkana. A railroad guy has to meet a train over there for some kind of special train they are putting together for the oil fields. You need to be out here by nine. You won't need a uniform, just come in your business clothes. You'll be flying ah, your own King Air. How about that, come make a buck while your plane is making a buck." While I was still on the phone, Brandy asked, "I don't have anything special to do today, can I ride along?" I asked DeDe, "Can I bring along my own right seat? Brandy needs the time." "Sure, bring her. She can serve the passenger coffee." Lisa was laughing, "We both are flying back empty. I'm taking a Lear to Long Island to drop off two couples that were down here to visit. I'll at least get back in time to do a second short flight up to Tallahassee. I can't believe how busy we are. It's really great, but still, very strange." Brandy changed into a very conservative pants suit that looked nice. The whole house emptied out quickly as we all left to do those things we needed to do. When we got to the airpark, I pulled my briefcase from the car, then had a thought and emptied my sports bag, except for the shooter's big envelope of stuff, which I brought with me. Brandy and I did the preflight and were ready for our passenger. When he came, we boarded him, closed the door, and I began the startup checklist while Brandy did the safety talk. When she sat and strapped in, she took the checklist from me and I pointed to where I was. I was watching gauges as the engines spooled up to power. While waiting at that point, I called in a flight plan and was assigned close to a straight through at twenty-four thousand feet. That meant we would need some heat. Once aloft, Brandy started coffee while I went through all the normal checks to assure myself that all was right. I was still a little apprehensive after the guy was caught screwing with the planes. The mechanics had found nearly all the 172s had damaged control cables and damaged main power connections. Surprisingly, none of the 150s were damaged. The Lears and King Airs were left undamaged, but the Cessna Citation had a wrench taped to the intake shroud of both turbines. That would have blown both engines as the vibrations loosened the tape. Both G5s had landing gear that would have crumpled on landing. They also had tools taped to the intake shrouds. Our flight was a little bumpy from a lot of big cumulus clouds along a front coming through, but not so bad as to make it unpleasant. It was raining when we set down in Texarkana, and what made it worse was it was about forty degrees and windy. The wind chill was probably around thirty degrees and wet. We refueled and I told Brandy, "Since we're close, I'm going to stop over at Huntsville on the way back. I want to check out something for an investigation I'm doing. It's a secure thing, so I'm going to let you go shopping or stay around the plane, whatever you want to do." She said, "I'm curious, but you go do what you have to do, and I'll see if there's a mall nearby. Call me on my cell when you're ready to leave." Once down in Huntsville, we both took cabs, but in two different directions. Brandy went to a mall and I went to a bank, carrying my big gym bag. I looked at the stuff from the pocket of the shooter and realized I could probably pass for the guy if I shaved off my beard. If I did that, I could probably skate without having to show my deputy ID or get a search warrant. The card had the hand printed number one twenty-two on it, along with the key, so what I wanted to ask for was box one twenty-two. Inside the small branch bank, I went to the lady at a desk near the door and asked for the box. She requested ID, so I gave her the license, saving the passport in case she wanted more. The lady said, "You look much nicer without the beard. Let me take you back to the vault. We'll get the box, and I'll put you in a private room." In the vault area where the safe deposit boxes were, the lady brought me to a very wide and deep box area and put her key in. She pointed to the other key slot and said, "Put your key in and turn it, then the box will slide out. I'll get you a cart for the box. You have one of the big ones." I turned the key and she pulled the box out a little. The lady brought a nice cart that the box would just slide onto, straight from the slot. I could tell the box was heavy, but not exactly how heavy. I followed the lady who was pushing the box to a small room with a small desk and two chairs. She left saying, "When you're through, come get me and we'll put your box back in the vault. I think you might need to make a payment on your account soon. You never did give us the automatic withdrawal card." With the door closed, I lifted the top of the box and just stared. The box was full of cash. Bundles of hundreds, but when I lifted out a couple of bundles, I saw,,,,, Holy shit. Gold, gold bars. I began trying to count the cash first. There were thirty-two big bundles of all older hundreds. It looked like five hundred bills to a bundle, over a million and a half in hundreds. The gold bars were small and each had a 100 stamped on it so I had to think that meant a 100 grams to a bar. Let's see a hundred grams is a little over three ounces. A quick count looked like over three hundred of the little bars. There were two other items in the box, two pistols. One looked like a twenty-two with a silencer on it, and the other looked like a nine millimeter. I didn't touch either one. Well, if I wanted to empty the box, I would need a piece of strong luggage. There was a Target in the back of this plaza and they would probably have luggage. I could empty out the box and take it all back to Tampa and then decide on what to do with it. This person was a non-entity, so if I emptied the box and put it in another box somewhere else, at least I could secure it. I put everything back into the box and wiped it down just for my own satisfaction. I pushed the cart out of the room and got the attention of the bank rep and said, "I need to go get something. I'll be back in a little while." The lady asked, "Would you like to take care of your box rent right now or sign a card for auto-withdrawal?" "How about I do that when I come back? I'll only be a few minutes." As I walked out of the bank, I noticed their ATM on the wall. Thinking about the wallet, I went up to the ATM and put the Visa card into the slot. When it asked for the password, I put in the four numbers that were written in the brown leather wallet where the card had been. Bingo. I asked for a balance of the checking, and it printed out a piece of paper that said there was fifty-two thousand, five hundred and thirty-nine dollars in there. I asked for the amount within the savings account to find out there was another two-hundred fifteen thousand in that. This was getting interesting. I withdrew a hundred cash for the luggage and left for Target. I kept thinking that I was being video recorded by the security cameras everywhere, but that wasn't a big deal as this guy is a non-entity. When I had run the guy, the name and social security number didn't match up to any known person. So this was an alias anyway. I needed to check the account information to see if there had been any other activity on the account. The guy could have a wife and kids that depended on him and the money. That twenty-two told the story though. That was the preferred gun of a hit man. They put the muzzle up to the back of the head of the hit and pulled the trigger. A twenty-two short wouldn't go completely through the head and would rattle around in the skull, killing the victim instantly. They often locked the carriage slide so it wouldn't eject the brass. If they didn't, you could bet they loaded the gun with rubber gloves. I need some of those for this operation. At Target, I bought a very sturdy flight bag with big wheels. That should be perfect. Between that and my gym bag, I should have enough room for everything. I also went to the pharmacy area and bought a small box of rubber gloves. I went into the restroom there and used the toilet, washed my hands, and put a couple extra hand towels in my pocket. While I was at Target, I looked at the back of the Visa card to see what the guy's signature looked like. Easy enough, the only thing he did strange was he didn't finish the capital S for Stephen and he didn't put a tail on the 's' in Peters. The P wasn't a real good script P either. When I went out of the store, I used the store receipt to practice writing the name a couple of times. Looked good to me. They probably wouldn't check the signature card for the auto withdrawal card anyway. Outside the store, I went to the bank of pay phones and took four big telephone books and put them into my gym bag. Luckily no one was using the phones so I probably wasn't observed, except for the ever present video security cameras. When I went back into the bank, the clerk had the auto withdrawal card already made out. She pointed at the quarterly amount and then where to sign. I smiled and signed the card. Son-of-a-gun, she whipped out a signature card gave the two signatures a cursory glance, smiled and said, "Thank you, now you won't have to worry about remembering to send us box rental fees." We went through the procedure of getting the box and going to the room. With gloves on, I emptied the box in five minutes stacking the gold bars evenly, using some of the bundles of cash to cushion them against the sides. I put the two handguns in the middle of everything, as those two pieces needed to have the numbers checked and maybe disappear. On the bottom of the box were four sets of identification, with a rubber band around each of them. Each set had a driver's license, passport, Visa card with a good expiration date, and a business card with a bank's name on it. Each card had a four-digit number written on it and had a safety deposit box key taped to the back. I guess I needed to check out four more identities. There was also a large brown envelope on the bottom of the box. Inside was a bunch of printed ledgers, and some notes that I would have to study to understand. I put the IDs into my gym bag that had most of the bundled hundreds and wiped down the box real well. To finish, I put the telephone books into the box, and closed and locked the lid. Outside, I had the clerk help with the box and I lifted it from below with my knuckles while she fit the box into the slot and pushed it closed. We both turned our key and I thanked her for helping me. I saw a brochure on her desk for internet banking. I picked one up and the lady said that all of the instructions were in the brochure. She also said the account password would be the same as the debit card. She said that was another reason to change passwords often. She was very nice as I left the bank. I guess she knew of my accounts and considered me a good depositor. I had to wait at the Target for a few minutes to get another taxi, but did get one that quickly took me to the airport. There I loaded my stuff into the plane's luggage area before I called Brandy. "All done, do you want me to meet you and get something to eat?" "No, I already bought some subs for us. Get some Cokes and we'll eat on the way back. I found some darling baby blankets. The girls will love them. I'll see you in a few." Now I had to get hold of John and discuss this with him. This is going to get crazy. Between the gold and the cash, there was probably near three million. That's a lot of money. Brandy came out of the operations building with a bunch of bags, happily walking toward me. She gave me a kiss and said, "I did get a few other things besides the baby blanket, but you know women, we love to shop." I had taken care of our airport charges and we prepared the plane, got it going, and took off from Huntsville. The flight back was uneventful and fast. We ate our subs and chatted the whole way. We did discuss the possibility of building a home and moving out to the park. I said we would have to have a total group discussion on that. We agreed to get everyone together to talk about it. When we landed, DeDe said for me taxi up to the office and come in. In the office, DeDe asked, "We have a box of parts that need to be up in Savannah, can you fly them up there real quick? The dealer up there is willing to pay a premium to get them right away. Do it for me, Chuck, we can make a good buck doing it." Brandy said, "I really don't want to fly anymore today. Can I get a ride either out to the park or home?" DeDe said, "Ruth is here and about to leave. She'll drop you at either place. I'll call her to make sure she doesn't leave without you." Brandy kissed me and asked, "You don't mind do you? I want to do some stuff with Mercy while I have the chance." DeDe had one of the guys shove the big box of parts into the plane while I refueled. After a quick preflight, I was in the air to Savannah. I used the radio frequency I was given to contact the dealer, and he said he would meet me so I wouldn't even have to shut down unless I wanted to. As soon as I landed and parked, a truck was at the door. The man grabbed the big box, and I closed and locked the door again. Back in my seat, I could see the truck was gone, so I called for taxi instructions. Less than an hour later, I was parking in front of the hangar. I moved my suitcase and gym bag to the trunk of my car and made sure that DeDe didn't have another errand for me to run. She did say, "If you want, you could fly a couple high rollers out to Vegas for me. Two couples are hot to get out there. Want to?" "No," I said, "I'm sure you have others who will take the trip." "Not really, but I understand. I just hate to turn down business, especially business that'll pay like that trip." I asked, "Is my Lear here?" DeDe said, "Both of them are, your newest one should have been prepped already. Think you might do that? It really pays well." "Tell you what, call the customer and ask if they might consider going in the morning. That will give me a chance to get some rest and take care of a couple of things." DeDe was on the phone in an instant. She was smiling and paused, covering he mouthpiece asking me, "How early can you leave? Both couples would like to go early. They said morning would be even better." "Anytime after six, DeDe." She was back on the phone and when she hung up she said, "They said they want to leave at eight, so you be here about seven thirty. The aircraft will be ready. I love it when a plan comes together. The charter service is going to have one of its best months ever." This would work out, as one of the safe deposit boxes was in a bank in Vegas. I would look up where it was in conjunction to the airport. I had time to get to the office to do something I needed to do there. Once in my office, I called John and said, "Do you have time for a secure call? If not, I can come get you and you can come with me for a day." "Make the secure call, but I'll take a rain check on visiting for a day or so." I had to go to the station to use the phone in Sarge's office. He wasn't there and Sarah wasn't in her office. I called John and told him about finding cash in a safe deposit box. I didn't mention the gold yet for some reason, but wanted to tell him about the guns and other IDs. John said, "Tell you what, work on the other IDs and see if you can come up with a match. You know, so far this guy doesn't exist and we weren't really there, so now we have a problem of what to do with the cash. Do me a favor, put it in a safe deposit box somewhere and don't tell me where. This might be a gift. I really don't know how to account for it. We can't turn it in as we don't have a case, and we can't divulge how we came to have it. Shit, Chuck, we might have to take a vacation. You should go to South America and buy airplanes. That would be an easy way to launder the money. Just bring the planes back here and use them for charter or sell them after a while. I'll have to tell you about another deal like this. You'll shit. Ah, do me a favor and try to make a trip up here to get me and my family next week. You can take me somewhere that's warm without phones. I think I'll put in for some vacation. I think I have about three months saved up. Call me this weekend and let me know." That didn't help, but I figured he wouldn't have an answer. He told me what I had already thought to do. I called the bank branch office out by the trailer park and asked them about safety deposit box sizes. They had a drawer that sounded like the same size as the one in Huntsville. I figured on just putting the cash and gold in there for the time being. I used my identification program to run each of the identities I had, and didn't come up with a hit on any of them. The social security numbers actually came up with the correct names, but with notations that the subject was deceased. The date of birth on the passport and driver's license was off by many years. The states issuing the driver's licenses indicated the licenses were all good. I used Google earth to find the house addresses and decided that I needed to do some more investigating. While in Vegas, I would check the house to see what the deal was. One of the banks and addresses was in Naples. That would be another one I could get to fast. Since all of the pictures were the same, I should be able to pass for the person, but without the heavy beard. My eyes and nose looked like the same guy. Our height and weight was about right. As long as I could copy the signature, I should be able to clean out the safe deposit boxes without drawing attention. Wanda had a few things for me to look at and sign. I told her I was flying to Vegas tomorrow. She said I could stop in at the station out there as they had a new ACE I could see. That was a good idea and justified me renting a car. It also gave the Marshal's Service a free ride for me. I left to go to the branch bank by the park early enough so I could get the box rented and all of the junk in it. I looked funny wheeling my bag and carrying the gym bag in. The bank rep didn't look surprised and helped me quickly get everything signed. We went back to the boxes and putting the large box on a rolling stand, she ushered me into another little room with a small table and a chair. This box was exactly like the box in Huntsville, so I put everything back into it the same way, except I didn't put the identities and envelope in it, nor did I put the guns in. I closed and locked the box and wheeled the box back out to be taken back to the vault where we slid the box in place. I had taken precautions and used rubber gloves to handle the box, as well as wiping everything down. No sense in having my prints everywhere too. Actually, the only problems with the money would be explaining where it came from, and how to pay taxes on it. I drove to Steve's place and walked onto the patio and found Steve sitting with all five of my women, plus Tina and Lena. Steve waved me over and said, "Get something to drink and come listen. I've been explaining a few things about the park to the girls. You might as well listen in." Instead of a beer, I built a tall Beefeaters and sat next to Steve. He was saying, "You see, you would have your own area, an enclosed area with plenty of room for a place that would have multiple living areas, as well as a private pool area for all of you. You would have to work on a design so everyone would have their own private space, and also where you would put places for boarders like Wanda and John, or Jan and her guy. You could probably even have more people than that if you wanted. What I'm saying is that you guys could have all the privacy you could possible want, and still be right here, a few seconds away by cart from the patio. Abe says it takes less than a minute to get here." Frieda said, "I'd love to live closer to all you folks. Sue, Mercy, Kathy, Juanita, and all the girls could just hop in a cart and come over to see us. That would be great." Nancy said, "It would be neat to live out by Deanna. We've become real good friends." Tiani didn't look convinced, but said, "As long as I can have a room or small private apartment just like I have now, that wouldn't be bad. I know I spend most of my time on Chuck's lap, but I like to have a place of my own." Brandy said, "You know we could sell the house and get a lot for it. It would go either into our big account or we could divide it into smaller accounts." I said, "Ah, I know I can get money for my place, but this place Steve is proposing is going to be huge. It's going to cost a lot of money." Steve smiled, "You know I'm just going to use your profits from the Hawaii properties to build this thing. I'll overcharge you for the land and the building and come out pretty good. You don't read your statements from the hotels, do you?" When I shook my head 'no, ' Steve said, "I'll get the sheets and we'll let Tiny explain them to you. What I'm getting at is that Chuck can afford to give you all a home out here. If you feel more secure keeping your home in town, keep it and rent it out, but let Chuck provide for you out here." Judy said, "I like the idea of keeping the house and renting it out. If we have to modify it for someone to lease it, we can, but if we keep it, we'll have it in case something happens with Chuck. It probably won't, but we would have the security of having it." Nancy said, "I like that idea. We should begin designing what we want out here, though. We'll make it a castle or something like that. Each of us can have a tower." Sue had come up and was sitting on the arm of the chair I was sitting in. She said, "So, Chuck, do you feel like we're ganging up on you? It is a great idea for you to be close." I just nodded. It didn't look like I would be able to get out of this, anyway. I said, "Okay, girls, you still don't have an opinion from Lisa, Wanda, and Jan. The other thing is, we'll probably have to help Steve expand the width of the patio another five or ten feet." Steve said, "Maybe another five feet. Any more than that and we'll begin losing too much of the yard." Sue said, "There's enough room for a lot more table area now. We have all that room on the other side of the bar that really isn't used. I want to put another pool table there and some arcade games like pinball or shuffleboard, and a foosball table." Steve said, "Get all of them. Ask the beer driver where we can get them. He'll know." As the patio filled up with happy people for the evening, I thought that it might not be bad to be out here with our friends. I still wanted to have some meals at home. Steaks, or something like that, grilled on our own grille. I liked having a family meal. I guess the patio was just a larger family meal. How in the world will they plan for that many more people? Kathy's son, Ben, was talking about this semester at school. He said, "At least I have someone to go to school with in the mornings some of the time. Gerry goes in the mornings, but doesn't have any afternoon classes. We'll end up having to drive separately two days a week." I didn't know Gerry, but everyone else seemed to know her. The university semester must be about half over, so people should be planning on spring break pretty soon. I wonder where the cool place to go now is. I was sampling some pretzels when Lisa came to sit with me. As soon as Lisa sat down, Tina came to sit with us, which meant Tiani came and sat on my lap. Lisa said, "I heard you guys talked about building a home out here. It would be neat to live close to these guys." Tina said, "I would like to be closer to mom and dad. It's nice to be so close to Dennis, but I miss being near the folks. So what are we going to do about Dennis and Marie? Are you going to keep the other house and just rent it out?" "Not really, Tina," I said, "my thought was to build a big enough place so we could all live together as we are now. Everyone could still have a private area like you do now, but we'll be out here. We could participate here at the patio and still have our own place." I nodded toward Dennis, "You and Marie are kind of like my family." Dennis said, "I know. I sometimes feel guilty about the way I like being with everyone at home, you know, your house instead of out here." Tina laughed, "Me too. I keep thinking it would be nice to live at home, but I wouldn't give up being with you guys. You all are my family too. I know Jan and Don feel that way. They tell me all the time that it isn't much fun when we're not there. That's why I've made them come out here to be with us. They like it out here now." I said, "We still need to have a family or home meeting about this. We'll do it right away. I want to make sure we're not screwing up what we have now." Brandy said, "As nice as your new area is, Chuck, it would be nice to have more space. We girls could have closets, rooms, or something off a main area just for us. You could still have your office area, and you and Lisa could have a giant studio for your instruments. You could even build it separate from the main house so you could be as noisy as you would want to be." Wanda and John had come to join us. John said, "It would be nice to be closer to the airpark. I can be out there in five minutes from here. It takes twenty to twenty-five minutes from the house now, and that's in good traffic." Wanda said, "It's really not any farther to the office from here than it is from the house now. I suppose it wouldn't be a problem for all of us that work downtown." "You know," Lisa said, "we need to make sure we have plenty of room for visitors. We all have friends from somewhere else that we would like to have visit. We need to make sure we have the extra room like Sue and Steve do. Steve's and your friend, Dewey, could stay with us some time when they visit. My folks from Atlanta could stay too. I'm sure we all have someone. I just want to say that if we build something, we should build it big enough to take care of all our needs. I like the idea of having our own music studio. We could make it into a recording studio too. Maybe even do some of our own music productions. That would be a fun hobby, but mostly, we would have a place to really let it out without feeling guilty about all the noise." Every time someone opened their mouth, I kept thinking, we're closer and closer to just moving out here. I thought real hard, "Mercy, you win, make it happen so I don't have to worry about making up my mind. Where are you, Mercy?" "Right behind you, Chuck, you don't have to yell." Lisa looked at her then me with a question on her face, then shrugged her shoulders. I softly said in my mind, "I love you, Lisa, relax." I could see Lisa's body relax. She turned and smiled at me. Mercy poked me in my back and told me mentally, "You're sneaky now, aren't you?" I said aloud, "Hey, it works." By the end of the evening, the girls were sketching ideas of how a house should be built to handle all of our custom pairings and groupings. I'm sure it will get crazy when they get with an architect. At home later, when we were all lying in the huge bed, Brandy said, "I think we'll get a bed that's a little wider than this one. We'll have to have a really big bedroom for it too. I like that we swap places at night sometimes. Everyone wants to sleep next to Chuck and he only has two sides." Tiani said, "Brandy, you're as bad as I am, and you are always sleeping on top of Chuck, so he actually has three sides." That brought a chuckle from everyone. From a far side of the bed, Lena said, "I like the big bed because I can sneak in and Chuck doesn't know I'm here." I sat up and said, "I guess it's okay to visit, Lena, but no swapping places with someone next to me. You know the rules. No sexy stuff with the landlord." Lena asked, "Am I still going to have a place, still be a part of your household?" Tiani said, "You sure will. We'll even plan for enough room for your sister, Tina, too. Just because you can't share Chuck in the sack doesn't mean you can't be with him and us the rest of the time." The really tall girl giggled and said, "That's good. One of these days, we'll get him drunk and I'll take advantage of him." When the goodnights started, the girls were trying to do something like the old TV program, "The Waltons." They began to say goodnight to everyone. I was probably sound asleep by the time they finished. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 24 Steve Thursday Tiny, Sue's dad Ben, and I were in the helicopter shop with Bret and Carter. Tiny handed each of the two men a check and said, "That's exactly half each of all the numbers we agreed upon. If you two have some cross debt, handle it yourselves. We can put a fork in this deal." Bret said, "You should have heard that asshole from Alcam when I told him I'd already sold out. He cussed and threatened me until I finally hung up on him. He called back and demanded to know who bought the place so he could call them to buy it. When I said, S&S, he just hung up. He knows you're not going to sell." Carter said, "We've cleaned out our desks. I think we've both damn near given away our houses, so we are out of here. I'm on my way to a rental in Key West. As soon as I can find a place to buy, I'll be a permanent resident down there. I might even look for a boat, a small one like you have, Steve, a sailboat." Bret said, "I'm going to Hawaii to work for S&S over there. Since you're going to handle helicopters over there, you need me. In the meantime, I'm going to find a cheap little grass shack and lay in the sun." The two men, the former owners, got up and left. Ben said, "It's crazy to watch you, Steve. You just expand and take on new responsibilities constantly. I hope you make this work. You know you have to learn how to fly these things now." I said, "I already have John looking for an instructor or two. I think there are a lot of us that will learn, and of course, we have to learn how to make more money with these crazy aircraft. Taxi service is fine, but there's more that we can do. I know those great big helicopters are expensive, but you can make good money lifting stuff to the top of buildings. I'll have to price some of the big ones." Tiny thanked Ben for coming, then said to me, "Let me go over the numbers for this place with you. We should be able to keep this place black if we just do maintenance on the contracts we have. Let me show you." We worked for an hour, then I called Jan to find out if they had any information about the men who had tried to sabotage S&S aircraft. Jan said, "Neither man is talking except to ask for their lawyer. Since they are both charged with murder and attempted murder of a federal judge, there is no bail. Their attorney can't even argue. We'll work on them every day until we get something. We do have some information on the driver that died. He is an employee of Alcam Helicopters in Orlando. The car is actually theirs and was assigned to the guy. The driver was supposed to be a chauffeur for the executives." I asked, "How about the guy that I hit in the head?" "He lived near Orlando, in Longview, but we can't find out too much about him. The office over there is pulling a warrant to search the house. The guy that you caught inside your building was a former employee of Alcam, but has been working out of the country in Panama for a couple of years. He's an experienced pilot and aircraft mechanic. He left the country to work down there after he was released from being held for suspicion of murder. Someone saw a helicopter drop a couple of things that looked like bodies out in the Atlantic. The chopper was identified and the log reflected this guy was flying. They never found a body, but that wouldn't be unusual, as it was when the sharks are in and feeding. Nothing could ever be proven. The more we investigate, Steve, the more this group over there is looking like we need to tear them apart." "Thanks, Jan; I'm going to continue extra security for out here and at home. Get rid of those people for me. I don't need bullshit like that." "The extra security is a good idea, Steve. I'll keep you posted. I know Chuck's group is working on the case with us as well. They go about it differently, so they might turn up something." In the charter office, DeDe, sitting in her wheelchair, said, "Chuck took those two couples to Vegas for us this morning. He said he would combine some of his business too. He told me to solicit another fare coming back this way. I'm working on a few people in L.A. that are going to Key West. Hopefully, Chuck can pick them up and make some extra money for us." "Chuck is really funny. He loves to fly, but he loves his job too. The guy will do about anything for anyone. Just look at his women, they idolize the guy." "No different than your women, Steve," DeDe said. "Yeah, but look how many he has. I only have four." DeDe laughed, "You would have a dozen if you'd let Sue and Mercy have their way. You just don't want to have any more. I think Chuck just let it get out of hand before he knew what was up. He has an uncanny way of making people feel good about being around him. I'm even a groupie of his. Have you watched John? He loves Chuck as much as his lady does. They think he is really special." "He is special, DeDe. I'm one of his groupies, along with all my women." "Queer for him, huh?" "No, but if I went that way, he would be high on my list," I said, almost laughing at how silly the conversation was getting. DeDe asked, "I heard he might move out to the park, is that right?" "Yep," I said, "I think they agreed to buy some land and build out where the other houses are. Chuck has a huge group that lives with him, so he feels he needs a giant place. He could probably do with what Sue and I have, but I think he's a house person." "That'll be cool; I really like the women that hang around with him. It will also put Lisa closer to here again. You know Chuck stole Lisa from the nudie park, don't you?" "I didn't know that. How did he steal her?" DeDe smiled, "He wiggled into her heart while she wasn't looking. She was flying him all the time and she was giving him lessons. That's all it took. She was a goner as soon as they began playing music together. She used to live with a pretty loose group of women and the guy that owns Park place. She's still friends with all the women, but isn't real tight with Tom Parks. Tom's wife said that Lisa was never really into men until she met Chuck." I asked, "Tom Parks wife is that lady named Zena, right?" "Right," DeDe said. "She's good looking and so is that redhead that lives with them. I think Tom is like you and has a couple of women. You see that tiny blonde, Joanie, out at Park Place all the time. She is one of Tom's and Zena's women." "Interesting," I said, not really all that interested. I have enough going on without knowing more about Tom Parks. I walked over to Wes' office to see how he was doing with his design. He was waiting while a huge blueprint printer was finishing a giant sheet of paper. Wes said, "I have all the plans for the first two designs so Jeff can get started. I went over the plans with him to get his opinion of stress levels and additional support. He agrees with me and according to all my calculations, these little birds should be tough ones." "Besides the air coupe, what do you have?" Wes showed me a couple of drawings and said, "This is sort of like that LSA that is some type of camper. I'm making it stronger, lighter, and with more things to make camping easier. I'm putting hydraulically settable pontoons on it for guys that might go fishing. We are going to be close on weight, but it just won't have a large fuel capacity when it's fully loaded. I've made it very flyable. It should have a great glide distance and should be easy to set down on water. It won't handle high winds on the water, but then, LSAs don't handle high winds well anyway. They're just too light." "Wes, did you rework the biplane plans? Jeff said you wouldn't let him start on the casting and molding until you modified some things." Wes said, "I did. I never did like the way the wing braces are designed. Now I have both wings centrally supported with the fuselage setting on a wing that is continuous from end to end. The top wing comes in two pieces, but the bottom wing is all one piece and can come off the fuselage for transport. The new plans for the plane makes it simpler, have fewer parts, and it should be more aerodynamic. I can't wait to see how low the stall speed is. I'll bet with any wind at all we can get it down to about twenty knots ground speed." (Note: In reality stall speed only has to do with airspeed and is not affected by wind.) "Wow," I said, "That's really slow. Hope it works out." Wes said, "I want to fly one with one of Abe's bigger engines. I'll bet the plane is a rocket. Probably really fast and should be able to do cartwheels if we want. The aircrafts I design are strong and can take some heavy stress for aerobatics." "Well, we'll all have to be careful with these things and make sure we don't get too crazy." Wes said, "Yeah, we will. Hey, these are all printed out. I'm going to run them over to Jeff." I said, "I'm going that way. I can take them if you want." "Naw, I have to talk him into doing the camper. I didn't tell him about it yet. Since he likes to fish, I'll bet he'll want to learn to fly just to use one like it. If nothing else, it will be a great kit plane." I went into the maintenance hangar and found Jimmy with a bunch of men around him. He was showing them how to do a maintenance procedure on a turbine. He had his old and new men, plus the guys from the helicopter shop. I guess Jimmy has found his niche as a leader and teacher. His dad would be real proud. Since it was close to lunch time, I stopped at home for lunch and the gym. Sue met me with a loving kiss, saying, "Kathy and Mercy are with Chuck's women. His ladies all took off today to work on designing their new house. What they showed me may take more than the six lots you said you would sell them." "He's on the end nearest the lake so he could probably have another two lots wider, and as many as ten deeper, if he wants. I just didn't want to have a big fence that close to the natural area where the cypress swamp begins. You know he's going to want a big fence. His ladies spend a lot of time in the sun nude. I'm glad we're getting him and he's not building a place in the nature park." "Me too," Sue said. "I'm really glad to have his ladies out here. With them all having babies, we'll be getting a second batch around here soon. Kathy said she thinks Angie is pregnant. That will be cool to have more babies around." "It would be lonely without the kids. We have so many that I'm always afraid I don't spend enough time with each of them." "You do fine. They all know we love them. They all snuggle up to you, even your rough and tough boys. The girls are all daddy's little girls, but they are all so very independent. I suppose they take after both of us." "I hope that's a good thing," I said, as I ate lunch. I asked, "How's your new accountant working out with Henry, the Moleson guy?" "He's doing great. He just about has the military invoices straightened out. He said we needed to invoice in smaller increments so the supply folks can pay us with credit cards. That way we can be paid faster and there is less hassle from everyone. He has us almost caught up. He should be less than thirty days by this time next week." "Wow, that's great. That'll really help the cash flow. Now that you have Wal-Mart, Sears, Penny's, and Dillards up to date, you must be cash rich. Time to start another factory." "Nothing right now, Honey. We're going to just expand our production on what we make good money on right now. If we do this right, everyone keeps on working and we can keep training new people to just handle the normal turnover. Everything is running so smoothly, it's time for us to take another long vacation. I'm getting anxious." "It would be nice to do right now, but we have some problems with some folks on the other end of I-4 that we have to work out. Chuck and Jan are working on it, so it shouldn't be too long. We'll know something soon." Sue kissed me, "Well start planning, Husband. The kids even said it's been too long since we've been sailing. If nothing else, we need to take a boat out for a long weekend." "That we can do, but it's so much work for just a couple of days," I said. "It's like we just get going and its over." "That's why we need the long vacation, Honey. It's time. Get this thing in Orlando handled. If you can't do that, go buy them out and tell them to go to the islands. Maybe that's what you should do anyway. Confront them, say boo! And see if they flinch." "I'll wait to see what Jan and Chuck find out." We went to the gym and took the time to go up to the pool and gossip with the ladies. It's always fun to hear the latest inside the park gossip. Everyone has fun talking about what they know about someone else. Nothing gets past all these women. Together, they have a better intelligence network than the CIA. My day was going pretty good. Back in the shop, I got with Abe to go over his tests on the composite plates Jeff had been making. The comparisons were for weight, bulk, durability, and our quest for making them bulletproof. Abe showed me four separate plates. All four were fairly thin and light. A lot lighter and thinner than I figured we would develop. Abe set up the four plates and explained, "Each plate was fired on from four hundred, two hundred, and one hundred yards with a fifty caliber. You can see this one has a hole in it at two hundred yards. It might be a weak spot, but we'll toss this one anyway. The other three all withstood the round at the three distances. This one with the least indentation was additionally tested with a forty-four magnum from ten feet. It deflected the round, with a dangerous ricochet. Jeff made me a Humvee body out of this material. We took it to the range and shot the hell out of it. We strapped some glass jugs of water in the engine and passenger compartments, then blew up what would be considered a strong IED under it. The glass jugs remained intact. I think we're ready to propose that we make the bodies for whoever has the contract for building vehicles." I thought for a few seconds then said, "Let's get Phil to go sell our product. He needs to get them down here so we can do the same demonstration for the buyers. If no one works with us, we'll build a vehicle and try to sell it to the military ourselves. How expensive is it to build a Humvee body out of that composite?" "More than regular fiberglass, but cheaper than you would think. Jeff has this down to a science. He says the little girl studying metallurgy at USF is really sharp and helped him put the correct fibers together. They're working together, even while she's still going to school. She's going to be valuable." "That's good to know, Abe. It's great to begin having some new blood, new talent coming along. Just look at Ben; the kid is really smart and just loves working with Dennis in R&D." Abe said, "He has some neat ideas on engines too. I think he and Mark have the answer to one of my turbocharger problems. The kid has a head on his shoulders." I left Abe thinking we could really hit a home run with some product like Jeff had developed. We could also build bodies for those drones that fly over areas of high ground fire. This would allow the drone to fly lower and slower, getting even more pictures and getting better targets. Yes sir, we need to get to the manufacturers right away. Tiny had some numbers he wanted to show me on the new biplane kit. He said he didn't put the figures together, one of his men did. He said he agreed with the numbers though. Tiny said, "Complete, with an engine, tires, and all parts, unpainted, we can get this out the door for right at twenty-seven five. That is really cheap. If we were to load it a little more, we could beef up our reinsurance. That would be good because this will be a higher risk. Someone else will be doing the labor and they may not be as exacting as we would be." That's easy then, Tiny, make it thirty or thirty-five. That's still cheap. For a fast little biplane that will be a real quality machine, that's a deal. You can make some additional money financing the package. You can even break up the package where they come and buy the engine later. I see you have stands and everything built into the price. Is that good?" "Sure that's good, Steve," Tiny said. "If they don't have the recommended stands, they may not get everything to fit right while they build it. This will give them what they need." "Have you seen Wes' idea of an LSA camper? I'd like to see what kind of price we'll have on that one." "I'm working on it myself. I think it's cute. Jeff gave me some preliminary numbers, so I'll work it out. I'm doing the same thing with Wes' air coupe. He's really trimmed it down to be very inexpensive to put together. I'll have both of those numbers by tomorrow, Friday." I said, "I told Abe to give Phil the boost to go sell the military contractors our ability to build vehicle and drone bodies that are very bulletproof. You need to help him when he gets a hot prospect. The dollar and cents stuff will be in manufacturing, so there can't be a price schedule." "I knew the day would come when we were going to be making stuff for other companies to manufacture. I suppose it's a good way to stay in business. I just like us to be the whole manufacturer instead of a supplier." "I know what you mean, Tiny, it's always nice to put your name on the product, but this will be good. Oh, how have we done on the composite boat hull? I know it's strong enough, but have we been able to resist barnacles yet?" "Not yet, but we're working on it. Jeff said his composite is tough enough to withstand sandblasting, but we have to scrape them and everything else. Composites aren't the answer unless they can resist barnacles." I said, "I'm sure he'll keep working. Say, get that new girl, Gerry, to work on the problem with you and Jeff. Abe did say she helped Jeff already." "I'll do that. I heard that she had been a dancer at the Mons while she's been going to school. That's neat. I understand your Ben thinks she's neat too." "Oh, that is the girl Ben took us down to the Mons to see one night. She was really hot on stage. Sue thinks she's really something. As long as she can help with some of our problems, she's wonderful. I'm going to go back out to the airpark. I'll talk to you later. Oh, we may have to make a quick trip to Hawaii. Bear and Crystal say they have a couple of ideas they want to put to us and don't want to do it over the phone." "Hey, I'm up for a trip to Hawaii, just give the word. You know we'll have to take half the park with us. Go buy a 747 or an Airbus so we can all go." "Probably should, but we'll just keep it down to a few. You know, G5 size." I left Tiny and headed out to the airpark. I had an idea for Jimmy and wanted to run it by him. I had remembered another detail and called Ruth while on the way. "Ruth, can you call our security guy and have him install video security in and on the helicopter hangar?" "It'll be done right away, Steve. I knew you were making the deal. I should have already called. I'll get it done," Ruth said. At the charter maintenance hangar, I found Jimmy working on the front struts of a G5. He was cursing the damage the guy had done to his aircraft. All aircraft here belonged to Jimmy, he only let us charter and fly them. At least that is what it seems like. "Jimmy, you know the way you did the tear down on the wrecked 172?" "You mean with video?" "Right, you took video of the entire operation." "So?" "How about doing that on all of your procedures so we can sell them to other mechanics? You're probably the most exacting and detailed mechanic around. If we had videos of you working on each problem and on each aircraft, people could buy them to learn to work on aircraft correctly." "There are already videos, but they're a waste of money. Too dark, the techs don't explain what they're doing, etc. Not a good idea." "Jimmy, I watched you do that procedure this morning on the turbine. You detailed and explained each step. If we had video of you doing it that way we could sell it." Jimmy said, "We would need someone with a handheld camera and plenty of good light so they could get close in on some things. I could like it, Steve. I could train new guys that way. It would save time. I wouldn't have to be over their heads and could test them later to make sure they understood like I do now anyway." "I'll get Star to get you a cameraman and you dictate the schedule. Get a good wireless lapel mike so it picks up your voice real well. We'll find another source of revenue right here where we're making some bucks now. We'll make up for what we spent going over all our aircraft." "That was expensive, Steve. I rented thirty-four mechanics, but we got the job done quickly. I also hired some of them. With the helicopter shop next door, I'm going to be spread pretty thin. The guy over there they call Tank, is a good mechanic. The others listen to him. He thinks I know more than he does, but he's wrong. I think he should be the lead guy over there." "If you think so, Jimmy, tell him. Use him to get the work done, but be available for questions. You've learned to lead, so do it." "You amaze me, Steve. You give a kid the chance to be the boss over all this. You sure have some guts. I'll bust my butt for you, but like I say, you sure have some guts." I slapped Jimmy on the back and turned away, smiling, as I think we found a way to make some good bucks with the video idea. In the charter office, I told DeDe to tell Star to see me tonight. She said she would tell her. DeDe also said, "You know we have three charters to Hawaii. What's the deal with us getting these long charters? It's really great. We need that third G5 back that we returned to the leasing company." "Call them, DeDe, and ask if they have it back or do they have something newer for us. You know that old G5 lease was too expensive. That's why Tiny said to let the lease end and get rid of the aircraft. Our lease didn't give us a chance to renegotiate for a better price. We had to keep paying the higher price, even though we were leasing other planes cheaper. Go ahead, if you think we'll use it. Get us another one. Have Tiny work out the lease." DeDe was smiling as I climbed into my truck and headed home. That's as much damage as I can do today. I was finished, or at least I thought so, until I was safely inside the patio drawing a beer into a nice icy mug. Just as the foam head domed over the sides of the glass, Juanita was standing next to me and said quietly, "Do you really want Chuck to live out here? Will that really be all right?" I looked at Juanita and asked, "What do you mean, Nita, why wouldn't I want Chuck out here?" Juanita looked confused for a second, then with very stern look on her face, said, "I know Mercy loves you more than anything on this earth, but you know how Mercy and Chuck are. They talk to each other in their heads. They have secrets. You know, Steve, they are probably making love in each other's head." "Have you asked Mercy about this?" "Heavens no, Steve, mi marido, I could not do that. I would be questioning her love for you and I know it is great. I'm just afraid they will do something within their minds and later it will be with their bodies." "But, Juanita, we have all made love together. Chuck has made you sing to the stars and I've watched." "That is different. We were in a state of lust and love. We all felt special at those times." Taking the luscious Latino into my arms, I said, "Juanita, I think my whole family loves Chuck and his whole family. If it were in my power, I'd add onto our house and move them all in here. That would be a crazy house, wouldn't it, Nita? Mercy and her mother have taught Chuck to use a gift he has. They can talk to each other. Chuck has the same abilities that Mercy and Missy do. He can see into others' minds. He doesn't use his ability much, but he's done it with me before to tell me something he felt was important. He does talk with Mercy and Missy because they can communicate at a different level than most other people. I don't think Chuck will try to put horns on me, or try to steal Mercy. As a matter of fact, I would trust Chuck with any of you and any of my children. Chuck is that proverbial 'one among thousands' who you can trust implicitly." "I don't know what implicitly means, Steve, but it sounds like you do trust him. I just don't want anything to happen to our family. It is so perfect, but always so delicate. That we women get along is special. It's because of our love for you, Steve. Of course it is because of our love of Sue, Mercy, and Kathy. I guess we all do love each other. But, Chuck? Do I love him the way Mercy does? Does Sue love Chuck that way too? Kathy?" "Nita, Honey, we all love Chuck. If he did not have all those women, I would make him live with us and we would all share him. I might even have to get Jim to teach me how to love a man." Juanita looked at me, shocked, and when I grinned she said, "Oh you!" then smacked me on the shoulder. We hugged, then I made her a Mojito and we talked of other things. Chuck's five ladies and a very tall young lady came in the door with Sue and Mercy. Lena is so tall, while the others, except Frieda, are all so short that Lena looks abnormal. She follows the other girls as if on a leash. Sue and Mercy came up to me for a kiss and a hug. While Sue was kissing me, Mercy looked at me, then at Juanita. She went to Juanita and hugged her. She whispered into Juanita's ear and I could see tears in Juanita's eyes. The two girls hugged tightly with Juanita's head on Mercy's shoulder. They stayed like that for a minute, then stood straight. Juanita said, "I'm sorry, Mercy, I just didn't want anything bad to happen to us." Mercy smiled and said, "Nothing will ever happen to us, my Nita. We are a special family. We do let others in sometimes. These ladies are part of a family that we will let in. We will all enjoy being closer." Sue said, "These women really worked at designing a house today. As a matter of fact, they designed about ten thousand square feet of house and another bunch of square footage for a garage, multiple guest quarters, a huge recording studio for Chuck and Lisa, along with lots of fun things for little kids. They have a huge playroom with skylights for a kids' playroom. I think they are going to have the most spoiled children in the area. They will be loved though." I asked, "Who is working on the place with you? Who is the architect?" Brandy said, "Our friend, Tom Parks. The man is a genius when it comes to design. We would say what we wanted, he would sketch it, and then draw a rough draft. As he was sketching, he would say stuff like, 'Wouldn't skylights be great there, ' or 'you could have a stone area there as it will be so heavy in traffic.' The man is a genius." "How do you know Tom Parks?" This was strange. "We met him out at the naturist park," Brandy said. "Chuck knows him and his wife, Zena, from work. They eat lunch together a lot. Tom said he wanted to help us design our next house, so I called him." "So where are some of these drawings?" Brandy said, "I'll go get them, but I wanted to wait and show Chuck. Tom said he would make more drawings and work on the floor plan. He said he would do the blueprints when we agreed on all the floor plans and elevations, whatever 'elevations' means." I smiled, "Sounds like you guys are excited." The dark Nancy said, "We even have a couple of places you could call mother-in-law apartments, but in this case they are cottages. When my mother wants to stay over, we'll have a place for her." Tiani said, "We all had our say about the house and Tom put in all the things that each of us wants. The person who hasn't had the chance yet is Chuck, but we put in stuff for him everywhere. We even put grab bars in the bathroom and shower for him. You know he can use his peg to take a shower, but he usually does it on one foot. He can balance on one foot for hours." They were all so excited, I was excited for them. Brandy asked the three pregnant ladies, "Do you want some juice or anything?" They all had some juice while little Tiani made some Mojitos for Brandy and her. She made a very light one for Lena and cautioned her, "Don't tell your mother I gave you this. She would be mad." Lena said, "I don't ever drink when I shouldn't anyway. I used to see what it did to Millie. She used to do stupid stuff when she got drunk. She's lucky to have Jonah who watches out for her now." Sue came in and said, "Chuck's going to be late. He had the chance to go pick up another fare. Since he was already in Las Vegas, he went to Los Angeles to pick up someone on their way to Key West. He'll be in late tonight." You could see the faces fall on the girls. Brandy said, "We'll just corner him in the morning and show him how far we got. Metarie said we could take off another day, so we will. We'll get this ready for the builder." She turned to me and said, "Steve, if you need someone to pay you for the land, I can do that very quickly so there's no holdup to build the house." "If Chuck say's he'll buy it and pay me, he will. I trust him." Juanita was grinning and said, "Steve trusts Chuck with his whole family, each and every one of us." Mercy was still with us, and laughed. The party continued on the patio. The girls stayed to eat and were called by Lisa who said she was just going to go straight home. She said she was really tired from a long day. When they left, everyone noticed we lost some of the energy that had been with us tonight. The kids loved the girls, and all of our group seemed to have adopted them. They were really a strange bunch to fit in so well. In bed that night, my four were discussing how crazy it was going to be when all the new babies came. They happily wanted to practice making babies that they would not be having any more of. It was a very loving evening. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 25 Chuck Thursday Lisa and I woke early enough to workout for a few minutes before showering and dressing to go flying. She was headed to Montana and I was going to Las Vegas. I was going to be able to do some Marshal's Service business, plus do some further investigation of the sniper I had disposed of during the recent mission that never happened. The girls were not happy to have to get up this morning, but it was to be a full day for them. They had made plans to spend time with Sue and Mercy again to do some planning for what I thought was to be for the babies coming. Lisa and I were both flying Learjets this morning, and we were both leaving early. When I arrived at the airpark at seven fifteen, the two couples I was transporting had just arrived by limo. The aircraft was ready, so I did my preflight with the mechanic on duty, and prepared to get going, after making sure my passengers were buckled up. I showed them how the coffeepot worked and where the booze was stashed. I checked and there was ice in the refrigerated container. We were soon at thirty-four thousand feet, doing about point six mach, or if you wanted to be crude, haulin' ass. We had a little headwind, so I needed to make a stop to refuel or I would be cutting it a little close. I flipped on the cabin speakers and told the passengers to pick a place to refuel. If we were going to just do a quickie refuel, we would stop in Amarillo. If they wanted to do some early morning partying, we could stop in New Orleans or Houston. They all yelled for a quick stop in Amarillo. On approach to Amarillo, I called transient services to have four inflight breakfasts brought out while we refueled. The service said they would have them ready. The runway and private operations area are close to each other, so it takes just a minute or two after landing to be parked and ready for the approaching fuel truck. While the service tech was fueling the plane, I received the four breakfasts, complete with some cartons of juice and milk for the passengers. The meals were still hot. After checking the fuel covers, I signed for the fuel and breakfasts and made a hasty departure. Too bad I didn't have afterburners like the fighters do so I could really scoot. We set down just about twelve thirty in the afternoon. I had called ahead for a limo that met us out where we parked. I left the aircraft to be serviced, grabbed my piece of luggage with the gym bag and some phone books in it, rented a car, and headed to the branch bank. The desk clerk for the safety deposit boxes was more security concious than the one in Huntsville. I showed her the driver's license, the debit card, and finally, the passport. She even noted the social security card and asked to see it. She compared everything and looked at me before saying, "You look a lot nicer without the beard." I figured I'd have to sign in or something, but she didn't ask. We went to the vault, where she moved a cart over to the waist high drawer and put her key in. I put my key in and we pulled the box out onto the cart. It didn't feel as heavy as the one in Huntsville, so I figured this one wasn't full of gold. In a little larger room than the others, I put on some of the surgical gloves and opened the box. The box was stuffed with forty bundles of cash and this time there was about fifty of the same size gold bars marked one hundred grams with three point two Troy ounces printed underneath. I put the cash and gold in the luggage and found a small black satin-looking bag with a drawstring. I pulled it open and, oh my, diamonds. I know nothing of diamonds, so I had no idea of the value, but they all looked fairly big to me. In the bottom of the box was another big envelope and another set of IDs in a rubber band. The envelope had a bunch of papers in it that would take me time to study, so I put the ID and envelope in my gym bag. After putting the phone books into the big box, I locked the lid and wiped the whole box down. I stripped off the gloves then went back out to desk clerk. We put the box back, with her making the comment, "You must have really filled this thing up today, it's a lot heavier now." I just smiled and followed her out to her desk. She asked me if I wanted to put the box rental on automatic withdrawal. I just nodded and she handed me a card to sign. I filled in the account number from the debit card and noted the annual payment amount had been paid about three-months prior. Outside the branch bank, I used the debit card to get the amounts of money on deposit. There was only about thirty-five thousand in checking, but almost a half a mil in savings. The account was marked as a money market account. I with drew a hundred cash and headed for the address on the driver's license. There was obviously someone living in the house, so I took a chance and rang the door bell. A lady holding a child on her hip opened the door and asked if I could help her. I said, "I'm Fred Dement," to see what she would say. "Oh, Mr. Dement," so nice to meet you. We just love the house. The rent you charge is really low or rather the perfect price for us. We don't get much mail for you, but we just forward it just like you asked. Come in a minute to look how we decorated." I followed the lady in. She put the toddler down and went to a small desk. She brought me a three by five card and held it out to me, "Is this still the same address you want your mail sent to?" I looked at the address, quickly memorizing 1424 Reynolds St., Key West, Florida. Handing the card back to the lady I said, "I'm really sorry to have bothered you, but I wanted to make sure you were happy with the house. I'm just here visiting and thought I would stop by." "No problem, Mr. Dement, I'm glad you did stop. Just keep renting to us. I think we might be able to buy the place if you decide to sell. I hope you bought it back when it was cheap. With the home values going down so rapidly, a lot of people are losing money on their homes." "I'm fine with what I have in the place. I hope you and your husband can buy the place. I'll let the agent know." I turned to leave, "Well, I do have some more stops to make. Thank you for your time." I left quickly, now knowing a little more about the guy who was trying to snipe at our target. For apparently being a pro, the guy didn't have the right kind of rifle for the distance shots he was going to do. He would have just wounded someone and probably would have been caught by the men at the house. It would have been easy to catch him as he went back for his Jeep. It didn't make a lot of sense, unless he wasn't used to killing from a distance. I went to the Marshal's station and visited with the chief and the new ACE. They were happy to see me and showed me their current activities. The station was busy with judges, but didn't have any escapees to deal with or other problems. Homeland had taken over the air marshal duties from them so now they were often assisting the FBI and DEA on surveillances. After a short visit and a cup of coffee, I told them I needed to begin the flight home. Back at the airport, I called the charter office to tell them I was going to head home. DeDe said to hang on a second. She was talking to someone behind her who kept telling her to "Ask him, just ask him, it would really be a smart thing to do." DeDe came back on the phone and asked, "Since you're in Las Vegas, could you go into Los Angeles and pick up a couple that wants to go to Key West? They want to get there as soon as possible as their daughter is having a baby. They called us because we were recommended. They can't get anyone to make the trip for them as they say it's too expensive. I quoted high and they didn't have a problem with the fee." I looked at my watch, knowing it would be a very long night. I told DeDe, "It's going to be about a twelve hour flight time day for me by the time I set down in Key West." "If you don't want to come back home to Tampa, sleep over down there. We'll pick up the charges." I thought for a second and said, "Sure, I'll do it. I'll probably stay over down there. It's going to be about eleven or twelve your time when I get in. Call the customer and tell them to meet me in an hour. What airport?" DeDe gave me the airport name and location. She said, "Thanks, Chuck. This really makes the company some money. It'll pay for a lot of the refurb you just did on that aircraft too." "Listen, have the customer pick me up a Subway or something. I'll refill the ice and dump the trash before I leave here. The fare coming up had a few drinks and coffee. I bought them breakfast at Amarillo." DeDe said, "I'll call right now. Thanks again." Since it was getting later in the day, I called Brandy on her cell phone. She said she was out at the trailer park and was talking with Tom Parks. I couldn't figure out what she was doing with Tom and Zena, but who knows. I said, "I'm doing a pickup in LA and have to drop them in Key West. It's going to be really late by the time I get to Key West so I'll probably stay overnight." "We'll miss you, Baby, but at least you're not out where people are shooting at you. Be safe and be careful. We'll see you tomorrow. I think we'll have a surprise for you." Just what I needed, a surprise from the Fickle Five. The flight into LA is always weird. There always seems to be hundreds of small aircraft flying in the area. Even though this airfield was good sized, there was still a lot of traffic. I was queued up in a distant pattern that overlapped another airfield's pattern. The controllers in the area must go nuts. I was given permission to land and followed another Lear in. Once I was parked, a limo came up to the plane, even before the refueling truck got there. A man stepped out and said, "We always know these S&S planes. They are so well marked. Honey, look at the cartoons on this one. It has that 'Deputy Dawg' cartoon again." They handed me a Subway sandwich and a couple of Cokes. I asked them if they were coffee drinkers and the woman replied, "Normally yes, but tonight, we're going to drink this champagne in honor or our new grandson. I can't wait to get my hands on him. Our daughter couldn't hold him in and had him about thirty minutes ago. Isn't it great? It's our first grandchild!" I congratulated them and showed them where the glasses were for their champagne. The man asked if he could open the bottle before takeoff and I assured him he could. Even with full tanks I should still refuel, so I planned on a quick stop in Texas again, but in Austin this time as it was more along the flight path. Before we left Austin, the man asked if I minded if he closed the door to the cockpit. I assured him it would be fine. I know Wanda and I played on a Lear one time. The way they had fixed this plane up was neat. The front right seat had been removed to make a small galley and to create the communications seats. The two second-row seats had PC tables and monitors that rose from the tables. Behind those were two seats facing back, then a long couch that would take up the area where two seat rows would be. Behind that, on one side was a head, and a nice lounger type seat was on the other. So the plane that would normally hold ten passengers now could seat eight, plus the pilot and co-pilot. The Learjet should have two pilots when flying passengers, but with less than a full load, a single pilot is okay. We set down about eleven, East Coast time. We had a great tailwind for most of the flight. I considered going home, but I wanted to check out the address while here in Key West. I rented a car and I drove to the address, even before going to a hotel. The house was on a busy street about three or four blocks from the beach. There didn't appear to be any lights on as I drove by, but it was hard to tell because of a tall fence across the front yard. I went back by and slowed at the driveway. There was a dusty car back under a carport and there was a dim light in the front room. The place looked like it was kept up, but didn't look occupied. In the rental car, I checked through the wallet we had taken off the guy. There was a security company card with a K.W. and a four digit number written on it. Well, hopefully that meant Key West, and the number was for the alarm. I put on a pair of the surgical gloves and palmed the set of keys that we had recovered. Hopefully this would work out, or I would have to explain why I didn't have a search warrant to the local cops. I rang the doorbell several times to make sure there wasn't anyone home before trying a key. The second key I tried fit the lock. When I opened the door I could see the alarm key pad and immediately put in the code from the card. The alarm disarmed. Good deal, I was lucky. Inside the door on a small table was a big cardboard banker's box with a bunch of mail in it. Because I didn't have much time, I decided that I would take the mail with me and not totally search the house yet. The place was clean and dusted. I walked through the house and found a long note on a yellow legal pad on the kitchen table that said, "Mr. Dement, The pool guy says you need a new filter. Should I have it done and use the credit card you gave me? "I paid the yard man and myself with the card and will do that until you come back. I really need to meet you so I know what you look like, instead of you just leaving me notes and money. Thank you for trusting me with your credit card. It's a good way to take care of the house. What do you want to do with that old car? If you have the title, we can send it to the junkyard. You can probably get at least a hundred dollars for it." The note was signed, "Rose." Rose's handwriting was very neat. The yellow pad had several pages turned under so I pulled them back to read some of the notes left by the homeowner. All the notes were simple directions for what he wanted Rose to do. He had her do laundry, manage the yard and pool people, and had even directed her to have the house painted. Considering how many identities the guy had, I wondered why he was the same Dement as he was in Las Vegas. I suppose I would eventually find out. The refrigerator had nothing in it that would spoil, indicating that he planned on being gone a long time. A check of the bedrooms found one big bedroom with a closet and drawers full of clothes. The place was not anything special, but the bedroom smelled of cigarette smoke. As a matter of fact, the whole house smelled from all the stale smoke. In the top drawer of the dresser, I found a stack of IDs but none of these had credit cards. I didn't count them, but there must have been a couple of dozen. I found the title to the old car outside so I took that out too. When I looked into a jewelry box on the top of the dresser there was a Visa card and a bank business card with a four digit number on it. The bank branch was here in Key West, so that would be another thing to check out. The guy had a few toys in the house. The TVs were all new and plentiful. There was a big one in the living room, one in each bedroom, and a fairly big one in the kitchen. The guy did like to watch TV. I went back to the closet to see if I had missed anything on the shelves. In the back of the small walk-in closet was a tall mirror leaning up against the back wall. When I pulled the mirror forward, I saw a small hole on the right side. The wall looked like it might come out so I moved the mirror out of the way and put my finger into the hole to pull. The back wall was hinged and came out easily. The closet behind the wall was jammed with every kind of pistol you could imagine. There were only a couple rifles, but there were some explosives, some rope, and several knives. So, the guy had a stash. I would have to clean the place out, but I didn't have time tonight. There was a hasp for a lock in a recessed area of the wall and when I stepped back out I saw a lock sitting on the top shelf. I took the keys out that we had recovered and found a key for the lock. I pulled the chain on the light in the closet, closed and locked the door. When I put the mirror back in place, I could see that there were some slots for the mirror to fit in. The mirror had covered the area that told you it was a door and recessed lock. Now it looked like it should. Hopefully, Rose wasn't nosy and didn't find the closet full of guns. Back in the kitchen, I wrote a short note in handwriting close to the original guy. I followed his pattern of notes. Rose, Here is the title to the old car. Get rid of it. I quit smoking and the house is driving me crazy. Please have the house painted inside and wash everything you can. I may have to get all new curtains and carpet. If I do, tell me. I'll try to see you in a week or so. Fred I checked the phone to see if it was working and it was. I couldn't see an answering machine but I did find a telephone number written on the bottom of the phone. I used my cell to call the number and the phone rang. That was good, I knew the number. I had to look around until I found another gym bag to load up the mail. I made sure I had not disturbed anything else. After putting in the alarm code from the card, I closed and locked the door, and left. It took me a few minutes to find the bank for the Visa card. I checked the code and found less than ten thousand in the checking account, but over four hundred thousand in the savings. I wonder if any of the keys on the key ring are for a safe deposit box. I would check. This is possibly the card that Rose was using, so I withdrew a hundred dollars and drove back to the house. After re-entering the house, I put the Visa and bankcard back in the jewelry box. I put the hundred in twenties I just withdrew on the legal pad and over it I wrote, "Tip." That should get me or Fred a few points. My adrenaline was pretty high and it was only one in the morning, so I drove back to the airport and took off for home. As soon as I pulled up in front of the hangar, the night mechanics came out to help me. They were both happy to have the aircraft back as they said there were a lot of charters tomorrow too. I moved the suitcase and my gym bags to the trunk of my car and helped the mechanics clean the trash from the plane. They said, "We'll vacuum it and wipe down the seats. It looks like whoever was in it last joined the mile high club. I laughed and said, "And I didn't even turn on the monitor." One of the mechanics said, "The DVR is always on. We could just download the DVR and watch it. Neither one of us is that kinky, so you don't have to worry about us. If you don't want the cabin recorder on, just push that 'off' button on the bottom off the monitor. The top button is for the monitor and the bottom is for the DVR." At home, I decided to just leave the suitcase and gym bags in the trunk as I really didn't have a place to hide it in the house. I needed a closet like the Key West house had. I was tired, but hungry and thirsty. I made a salad and a Beefeaters. While eating, I thought of all the places I was going to have to go to check out this guy. Oh well, this is going to be crazy. When I finished eating, I went to my room and found the bed empty. Wow, where did they all go? I stripped, brushed my teeth, and lay down. It may have taken me as long as thirty seconds to fall asleep. "You're home, why didn't you wake us up?" Tiani crashed onto my chest, pressing down on a full bladder. "Tiani, don't push, I have to go to the bathroom." She was grinning, "Sorry, get up, I'll help you to the john." As I slid out of bed, a sleepy Brandy came in the door. "You're back. I heard Tiani yell and didn't believe her. I thought she was using that as a ruse to get me up." I used the bathroom and found my peg. "I got in late, about two thirty this morning. I could use some more sleep, but I can get up now." As we all met in the kitchen area to make coffee, Lisa gave me a kiss, followed by Tina, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda. John and Wanda walked in and the day started. The coffeepot had barely finished when Jan and Don came down, with Dennis and Marie following. Lena came in rubbing her eyes saying, "My two bedmates abandoned me. It's too early to get up. I don't have a class until nine." Lisa said, "The master is home, so we all need to welcome him. Get your hug and have some juice." Tiani said, "Where were you that your clothes got to smell like smoke. Were you in a bar?" "Something like that. There was a smoker where I was, that's for sure. He's gone now though." I almost rolled my eyes thinking of where the guy was. Wanda said, "Jan has all kinds of news for you about the Alcam Industries investigation. Sarge has come up with some interesting information, as well." Frieda exclaimed, "Hey, I gave your office the lead, Chuck. When I checked the employer ID that Alcam gave us, we found it was fake. It didn't match any company. I called Alcam to tell them the number they gave me was wrong, so they gave me another number. This time when I checked, I found that it was indeed the number for the Orlando company, but there was no IRS activity, ever, other than getting the number when they incorporated three years ago. They have never made a trust fund deposit." Jan said, "When Sarge brought the info down to me, we ran it real quick through our database. We found seven total corporate names with federal tax ID numbers, with no activity on any of them. We pulled all the incorporation papers for all the companies and began pinning down exact addresses of all the corporate officers. We've established that there are seven distinct locations, and that doesn't include the new Tampa office that they just opened. They have a bunch of equipment that has magically appeared. We've been able to get a bunch of aircraft numbers, and we're checking them out right now." Wanda said, "I called John to set up a task force of our investigators and to have the Bureau put a half dozen of their people on it with us as well. They are working from DC to figure out what all these people are really into. They can put them all away on tax evasion now, but they think they can do more than that." I asked, "Have you told Steve about this?" Jan said, "No, and I'm not yet. This is confidential information." I turned to all the girls and said, "All of you, not one word to anyone. I know you girls handle sensitive information all the time at the employment office, but you Lena, Don, and Dennis, keep this under your hats, you too, John. I know this whole deal affects your flying, as well as you Lisa, but I'm sure you understand why we're trying to keep this quiet." They all nodded. "Good," I said, "I'm too tired to do much exercising, but if the pool is warm enough, how about a quick swim?" That was the right thing to do as everyone, including John and Wanda, were leaving clothes scattered as they made their way to the pool. I grabbed a stack of towels, walked out, dropped my peg, and dove in. We did swim fairly hard for fifteen minutes, then quickly dried off and went back into the warm house. We gathered all the clothes and did our morning bathroom stuff. The girls were all talking about the huge bathroom they were going to build. The way they were talking, it sounded more and more like a fancy military latrine. A dozen sinks, half dozen toilets, and a massive shower room. Yep, just like the military, but built just for a bunch of crazy ladies. Lena said, "You're going to have to have a shower head that is really high, so I don't knock my head on it the way I do now. Even my parents' house has shower heads that are too low." I think this house they were talking about was going to be something special. Who cares, I'll let Fred Dement pay for it. I have to figure out how to say I made it though, and pay taxes on it first." Wanda said, "You should come into the office. John called for you a couple of times yesterday. He said he wants to talk to you." Before I went to the office, I stopped out at the branch bank where the safe deposit box was. I brought in my two bags and proceeded to stuff everything into the one box. I counted up all the cash. There were 54 bundles of hundreds. That's two point seven mil. There are a total of four hundred and seventy bars. That's slightly over fifteen hundred and thirteen ounces. At roughly a thousand dollars an ounce, that's another million and a half. So there's over four point two and that doesn't include what's on deposit and the diamonds. This is going to be tough. I kept the diamonds and all the IDs with me and headed to the office. As soon as I walked in, Wanda said, "John's on the phone, talk to him. He's called twice already." "Hey, John, what's up?" John said, "Good, you've finally called, listen, it's Friday. How about coming up to get the wife and me and let us visit over the weekend. You and I need to talk and it would be a good time for it." "Sounds good to me, John, when should I come get you?" There was a laugh and he said, "Right now. Kenisha is dancing all over the place. I hardly ever take her anywhere, and she knows you and Jan. She wants to come see you. If it's warm enough in Key West, perhaps you could take us down there." I said, "Let me see if I can get an aircraft. I'll get one but I don't know when. I'll call you back. Where are you?" "I'm at the office, so you know Kenisha is causing a stir. The Director has already been in ogling my wife, and two of the Marshals are drooling all over the furniture. Hurry so we don't embarrass them." When I hung up, I called the charter office and asked DeDe, "DeDe, Honey, Baby, I need help, I need to pick up a couple in DC." "You want a Lear don't you? Well, I have a Lear going to DC to pick up a John Scott and wife. Do you want to do it or should I leave Lisa on the duty?" I asked, "Do you have other flights Lisa needs to make?" "No, that was her job today. It wasn't until this afternoon so I thought you could combine who you were picking up. We could give this John Scott from the Marshal's Service a discount. Do you know him?" "Yes, I know him and that's who I need to go pick up right now. I'll call Lisa and have her meet me out there so we can leave early." "No need, Chuck, Lisa is up with a student. She'll be done by ten so you guys can leave as soon as she hits the potty. The Lear will be ready." "Which Lear is it?" "The 55, I think it is real classy the way that they did the interior." I said, "It is, I'm surprised it still seats eight with the galley and couch." DeDe said, "I like the way you had them enclose the rest room. It's tiny, but it's just like an airline bathroom with the little sink." "I thought that would be better than the curtain that other planes use," I said, then added, "I'll see you in a few." Wanda said, "You're spending more time in the air than the office lately. Do you feel guilty?" "Not really, Wanda. I'm still answering e-mails and doing the reports digitally now. Everything is running smoothly, and since I went on that one mission with John, no one is calling." "I know, isn't it strange?" Wanda was looking through some papers. "This Alcam thing could come to head any day or maybe any minute. You need to be around just in case; it could be a difficult take down. If they have to take everyone at the same time, we'll have to have several offices come help. There are more than a hundred people with questionable backgrounds involved so far." "I'll be back this afternoon late. We might come by. John is bringing Kenisha with him, so it's going to be fun while she's here. We need a room for them to stay in." Wanda said, "You have it. Just have Lisa or Lena move into your area for a couple of days. Lisa probably has less, and her room will be easier to get ready. Lena is kind of a slob, but then she's still a kid." "I'll ask Lisa on the way up. If it's a problem, I'll put them up in the hotel or over at the girls' house." "I didn't think about their place," Wanda said. "That would be close too." I called Brandy's cell, "Where are you today?" She answered, "Still on vacation, Honey. I'm out at the Sue's and Steve's again. Frieda is with me, why?" "My boss and his wife are flying in and want to stay with us this weekend. How about moving Lisa into my area and making her room the guestroom. I'll make sure Lisa is fine with it, as she doesn't sleep in there anyway. The only thing she uses in there is the bathroom and the closet. My closet is still big enough to take her stuff, and I still have a bunch of empty drawers too." Brandy said, "Good idea. Call me and give me the okay. I'll make sure the room is ready for your boss. That's John right? He's more like a friend, isn't he?" "It's John, and yes, he's more like a friend. Anyway, he and I need to talk a little and this is the best way to do it. I'll call you in a little while." Downstairs, I took the bag full of mail back up to my office and put it in the safe in the big cabinet. I also put the diamonds in there. I had an idea of how to get rid of the diamonds, but I still needed to have a way to report the income. I stuffed my gym bag into the suitcase, then into the trunk. I figured there should be enough room for John's stuff. He'll laugh when he sees the rifles in their holders in the trunk. This is a police car, so why not have some weapons. Out at the airpark, Lisa was just landing with her student. I did the preflight on the Lear while she signed the student's log and went into the charter office. She came running back out and said, "Wonderful, we get to fly together. This is going to be so much fun. Let me go potty and we'll be on our way. Grab some sandwiches from DeDe. She sent out for a bunch of Subways." When we got on the plane, Lisa went to the right seat, but I told her, "Be command today. I'm probably going to put John's wife in the right seat on the way back so I can talk to John. We have some business to talk about." Then I asked her, "Can the girls move you into my room? We need the room for John and his wife, do you mind?" Lisa was grinning, "Do it. That'll make it permanent for me. I'll love it. You and me, Buddy, we have something going and now it's getting personal." She gave me a kiss with a lot of promise. I called Brandy's cell and gave the phone to Lisa. Lisa told her, "Move me, Baby, I want to be permanent in there. Mix my stuff right in there so I'll know I belong. I'll give you some special kisses for moving my stuff for me." Lisa handed the phone back to me and Brandy said, "Now I'm a little jealous. But I'm going to have a place in the new house the same as Lisa. We'll get her stuff moved and fix the room up real nice. You'll be proud." The whole way up, Lisa was talking about the new house the girls were planning. She said, "They let me help design your new bedroom. Actually, it's all our bedroom, with closets and rooms off of it. They have a huge bathroom designed that looks like one those dormitory bathrooms, and you should see the studio I designed. Complete with soundproofing and recording booths. It's big enough we can play in it and have a bunch of people to accompany us, plus it will have the rooms for individuals to record simultaneously for a big production. Oh, Chuck, you're gonna love it." Lisa was the chatty Kathy all the way to Andrews. As soon as we were parked, a big black Buick came rolling up to the plane. The Marshal got out of the driver's seat. John and Kenisha got out of the back. The Marshal shook my hand and smiled warmly, "It's good to see you, Chuck. You see what's happening. John has me chauffeuring him now. I guess he has you doing it too, flying him around. He has some things to tell you about your trip. I haven't thanked you enough for your country, and the Service can't. You really took care of an amazingly horrible problem. I can't really tell you, John doesn't know, and you probably shouldn't know. Just believe me, it was a bad situation." John got two bags from the trunk of the Buick and set them down by the aircraft. Lisa was directing the refueling, so I shook John's hand and received a very warm hug from Kenisha. Lisa got down from the fuel truck and just about fell over herself looking at Kenisha. I mentally said, "Down girl" to her, just thinking she was going to embarrass herself. Lisa looked at me strangely then shook hands with everyone. She remembered the Marshal from our trip to Atlanta and mentioned it to him. The Marshal said, "Those were the best concerts I've ever heard. I hope you guys do it again so I can watch. I had the guy that was recording it send me a CD. He sent me both a CD and a DVD recording of you guys performing live. It is probably the music most listened to in my home. If you have some more, please send them to me." The Marshal said he needed to get back and was happy to get rid of John for a week. He said he thought he had heard we were about to do some serious manhunting over around Orlando, so John might earn his keep for a change. I wondered what he knew that I didn't. We loaded up and I took the right seat to get off the ground. We climbed out to our assigned altitude and I got up to start the coffee. I said, "Kenisha, how would you like to help Lisa fly the plane? John and I need to talk, so it will give you a chance to sit in the front." She was so excited that I thought she would pee in her pants. That is, if she had any panties on. She had a very nice dress on that did show some good cleavage. When I had them situated with a Coke for Kenisha and coffee for Lisa, John and I sat in the seats back by the couch. "This is a nice airplane, Chuck. Is it one you bought?" "It's the last one I got. The one no one wanted to buy for some reason. The whole aircraft has been rebuilt, with the engines refitted, and all the gear rebuilt. The inside is all new of course, as is all of the instrumentation. Even the skin has been touched up with the new paint over it. It is nice." John said, "It sure is. This could have been the Service's but they wouldn't have put the money into it. How are you coming out on it?" "So far it's been rented continuously. I won't charge the Service for today, but it's been in the air enough to pay for itself." "No, no, you have to charge the service for the charter. You see, I'm coming down to possibly be the go between for the Alcam thing. It's really getting to be a big deal. Let me tell you how some of it even ties in with what we did." John took his briefcase out and pulled a file. He began showing me documents and pictures of suspects. He had some photos that were taken from a distance. He said, "This one was taken down in Miami where this company is causing some grief with some boat charter services. They are trying to muscle in and put the others out of business. Look at this guy. This photo is from about two months ago." I said, "He looks like the guy we met in the woods." "He sure does. Here, this is a blowup of the same photo with the detail enhanced. It's him alright." He put that picture away and brought another distance photo. "This is in Orlando a month ago, just before we went on our trip. That's him again." John then said, "In both locations, there were professional mob type hits on people. You know, a twenty-two round up into the skull. No blood, no muss, no fuss, and no evidence. By accident, you and I eliminated a real pro. The only name we have been able to associate him with was the name of the guy you said had a safe deposit box in Huntsville." "According to the Bureau, a couple of pros from New Jersey have shown up and now there's a guy from Chicago, who is on the wanted sheets, that is in town. These Alcam people are not going to play nice." John put his stuff away and said, "So what have you found out so far? Oh, before you tell me everything, I have to tell you a story. About six years ago I was sent on something similar to what you and I did. The difference was that it was in another country. You know I speak French, so you can guess where it was. Anyway, in the process of taking care of what needed to be done, I stumbled onto a bunch of bank accounts that had to be closed to cover the activity. I transferred all the cash to an account in the states and prepared to give it to the service. The Marshal told me to lose the money, to burn it, throw it away, bury it, just get rid of it. He told me to make it a bonus. Well, that's how I bought the really nice place I live in, and have plenty in the bank for my future retirement. I'm telling you this because I think you may have a bonus coming, so how much have you found so far?" "From two bank safe deposit boxes, I've found a little over four million." John smiled and said, "That isn't very much. Anything else?" "I found a couple of guns in Huntsville, and I've now found the guy probably has houses everywhere he has bank accounts. He has the one in Las Vegas rented, so I don't know what I'll do about that. The bank accounts have money in the checking and savings of each, a lot of money. Not a million total so far, but a lot. I found where the guy was living most of the time. He has a home down in Key West. He may have other places, but that one has been used a lot. The only strange thing about it is a closet full of guns and explosives. I need to clean it out so it doesn't cause anyone grief. He has a housekeeper that is taking care of the place for him. It is also where he has mail forwarded to him from all his locations. I did find a couple a dozen more IDs, complete with passports, so we know this guy has been busy." I took a deep breath and said, "I know we can't give the money to the Service but how do we report it so it can be used? We have to pay taxes you know." "I know, and it's not we, it's you," said John. "It's easy really. Do you gamble?" "No way, I wouldn't throw my money away." John laughed, "Well, you do now. I want you to gamble and gamble a lot. Keep track of every dollar you win or lose. You need to make some stupid bets so you lose a lot. I know you have some money, use it to set this up. You will then begin depositing cash into your bank account and claim it on a quarterly report as proceeds from gambling. You'll have some offsetting losses that will make it believable. You'll just be luckier than most. There are people in DC that still won't let me join a friendly poker game. They think I'm some sort of professional gambler. I spent a lot of weekends down in Atlantic City losing in the casinos, but winning big bucks in private poker games. Get my drift. The IRS doesn't care who you won it from, they just want you to report your winnings. If you have some losses to show with it, it's all believable." "That sounds too easy, John." "It is easy, and it's the easiest, most honest, way to put the money into your account. If you want to donate a bunch to some good charities, do it. But just gather all the goodies from all the locations and that's how to pay taxes. Too bad you don't have some more lawsuits to get cash from. That would be another neat way to get cash. Like I told you, go to South America and buy airplanes and bring them back. Use them to charter. Who cares how you got them. The government won't. If you're reporting revenue, they are happy. Even an audit will be fine. Just have a holding company from Brazil hold title on the airplanes. That'll take care of that. Send some cash to the holding company as lease monies and once again, you're in good shape. Buy a big boat down in Panama. Who's to ask where you got the money, or if you even paid for the boat? That will work too. The best way though is to make most of it through gambling. You'll get a fun rep out of it. You'll also get all the freebies out in Vegas and Atlantic City, even over on the Riviera. Gamblers that win are famous. Just look at the poker tournament people. They make millions and lose hundreds. Sound like a good deal?" "So, John," I asked, "How much of this stuff can I give you?" "I'll never spend what I have, Chuck. You don't understand, the deal I was involved in was enormous. This happens to a few people every once in a while. It's just your turn." I said, "I guess I feel better that a bad guy was eliminated, but I wonder how or why he was involved with those people down there and the ones at Alcam, here in Florida?" John smiled again and reached for his briefcase. "Look at this from the boat people. These people were in competition with some Mexican cartels for business. The ones we got rid of were actually business enemies of Alcam. They think the pro we left there did the job, when it was really us. Since their guy hasn't shown up, I'm sure they think he's laying low. I'm also sure he had a way of collecting without ever seeing them again. The man was a pro. They know how to handle their money. He was doing jobs in Europe and South America, as well as here. That's probably why he has so much gold bullion. If your deal is anything like mine, you're going to be tracking down caches for another couple of years. Don't worry, it'll still be there and you've already figured out that almost no one has met this guy or would recognize him. If you were to grow a big beard, you would sort of look like the guy. You don't have a beard, so you're the guy without the beard." "Should I quit the Service?" "If you want, I almost did, but I was promoted into an easy position. You can have one of those too, but you don't want to move to DC. You can just about have a job like mine where you are. Just don't get involved in a lot of shoot-em-ups, stay low. I've tried to get people to leave you alone lately. I'm going to begin using the guy that was your sidekick. He can take the lead for a while. You'll still be around for some of the stuff to help him, but let him do the dirty work." "Holy shit, John, this is too much. I wish I had that house cleaned up so we could go to the Keys and stay there. It's just a couple blocks from the beach." John said, "As soon as you get it ready, have us come down for a week. I'll stay in it for you. Hell, if it comes with a housekeeper, that's even better." "Listen," John advised, "You can find an attorney and explain that you used a bunch of aliases to buy a bunch of houses and hide money. You want to get honest and sell the stuff and report income. He'll do all the legal eagle stuff, and I've already told you how to report your income. Clean up all the loose ends out there. I'll make up some project for you so you'll have the time to get it done. You can buy some hotels over in Hawaii. You know I'm still waiting for my vacation over there. I want to go to the nude resort. Kenisha will have a blast." John looked at me and said, "How about a drink to celebrate your new wealth." I made us both a tall Bombay gin over ice. I got the girls more coffee and Coke. I thought to myself, poor Lisa is probably sitting in a puddle. Kenisha is one hot babe. The rest of the flight was talking about Alcam and what we might have to do. I assured John that the two Tampa offices were working with Orlando, sewing up the loose ends. The part that I didn't know about was Miami. We would see about that soon. By the time we landed in Tampa, John and I were a little tight. We were laughing and joking enough that Lisa said, "I think I'll drive us wherever we're going. Where to first, my love?" Kenisha thought it sweet the way that Lisa was talking to me. We loaded their bags into my car and let Lisa drive us to the trailer park. It was still only two in the afternoon. Steve and the women were still at the gym. Glenda said, "Are you guys hungry? I have some wings you can cook since you're already in the party mood. Steve and Sue might even take time off and join you." I held up my hand, "Wait a second, let me find out what the condition of a problem is first." I called Wanda, who didn't know the answer, but transferred me to the station. Sarge wasn't in, and Sarah said she didn't know yet, either. She transferred me to the Bureau, where I got hold of Jan. She said, "No sweat today or tomorrow. The earliest is going to be Sunday, but I think we're planning on Monday morning when they open. We've got Miami involved now, so this is pretty big. The task force is already in Orlando and in Miami. They have the business under surveillance and will know if anything is happening. We have some intelligence that when your friend took down those guys out at the airpark, it made all of them step back a little. We're watching though, since they have some new hired help in town." "Thanks, Jan, you just gave me the green light to party with John Scott. He's down for the weekend, or week, depending on what happens. Come out to the park after work, that's where we'll be. He will be at the house later though. He's staying with me." Jan promised to get Don and meet us. I got the wings and some hamburgers and began cooking. More people kept coming, and I kept cooking more and more. Steve showed up and we were cooking together. This was fun. Kenisha was having a blast with the women. My girls took her to meet everyone so she didn't feel left out at all. The kids soon began coming back from the rec center. School was out. The kids were wild, as all kids are on Fridays. Little Bonita saw me and wanted to be held immediately. Steve groused, "My youngest is in love with my best friend. I don't even get any sugar when he's around." Bonita leaned away from me and grabbed hold of her dad's head and gave him a big kiss on the mouth. "I love you, Daddy, even more than Chuck, but I'm going to be Chuck's second wife, after Lisa." I thought Steve was going to choke to death right then and there. It was a good thing Kathy was nearby and was able to smack him on the back a couple of times so he spit up the potato chip he had choked on. Bonita said, "Daddy always eats chips too fast. It gets him every time." I thought John was going to roll on the floor, he was laughing so hard. Steve just looked bewildered. Kathy hugged Steve and said, "How do you explain to your kid that mommy is daddy's wife number what? She listens to everything and puts it into her perspective. She's pretty smart, you know." Steve was just shaking his head when Bonita leaned into my ear and said, "You better treat your first wife real good so I'll be welcome. Should I find Lisa for you?" I smiled and said, "She's probably listening to her friends talk about a new house. Let her be. Perhaps later you and I, and maybe Lisa, can play some music? Would you pick out some songs for us?" Bonita was down and running into the house in a second. John asked, "What did you say to her that made her run away?" Kathy said, "He said something about playing music later and asked her to pick out some songs. You see, Chuck was her first guitar and piano teacher. She thinks Chuck is the world's greatest musician and Lisa is second. If Chuck builds a place out here, I'll know where to find her anytime she's missing. Chuck will probably go to jail for child molestation, while he's actually going to be the victim." Kathy was laughing as she held Steve to keep him from laughing too hard. Tiny came in and said, "Ah ha! A new person partaking of wings and hamburgers, and he even has a drink in hand. Introduce me quick, he may be a relative." John was laughing as I said, "Tiny, this is John Scott, my boss. John, Tiny, no last name, but he has a gorgeous wife." Ruth was standing next to him said, "I resemble that remark. Thank you, Chuck. Come with us up to the hot tub and I'll show you how much I like that kind of talk." Kathy asked, "Have you had any hot wings yet?" John said, "All of them have been hotter than I've ever eaten." I said, "I have some soaking in some special marinade. It's my own special recipe. Be prepared, my sweet, these will burn right down to your sweet pussy lips." Mercy came up, hugged me, and said, "Be still my heart. A man is trying to steal me from the wonderful Steve. He uses special hot sauce to do it." John asked me, "Are all your friends and their kids strange?" Sue was standing on the other side of Steve now but had unbuttoned enough buttons to cause a major commotion with her cleavage. She said, "Hey, Chuck, trying to burn our tongues tonight? Glenda said you only had one temperature on the wings out here, blazing." "These here barely have any of my hot sauce on them. These over here should be considered sort of between hot and mild. These are hot and pretty tasty. These in this big bowl were specially treated by yours truly to not be for the faint of heart, but for those who truly enjoy flaming." Shawna had come up and said, "You mean your farts will melt the paint right off your Learjet?" "I'll have you know that is a Bombardier Learjet, you little redheaded tease. Where's your monster husband that you refer to as Stump?" Charlie came up beside her and rolled his eyes. Shawna said, "You trying to compare your wimpy dick to the stump? Ha, this guy's got the world's biggest around stump known to man. If you serve him any of those real hot wings you've made up, you may see a demonstration on one of these tables. Hot stuff makes him crazy horny." Kenisha had come out to be beside John. Charlie said, "Say, who's the new chick. I likes what I sees. You, new guy, is that yours? Wanna swap? I have a redheaded she-devil that's a hell of a fuck." Trying to soften the conversation, "Charlie, Shawna, this is my boss, John Scott, and his obviously lovely wife, Kenisha." Charlie said, "Obviously lovely, but then we've lived through Sue and my redhead." Kenisha pushed out her chest and said, "Do you like my breasts? John gave them to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I think I like to play with them as much as he does." John's face turned pink. Mercy patted him on the arm and said, "You know John, this is a fun place where every one has a good time." She turned to me and said, "Are you going to cook those good wings or make me beg? How about a bj to get you to cook 'em?" Steve said, "My goodness, Mercy. You are being pretty aggressive tonight." "I want those good wings now, Steve. You like what they do to me. Last time we had some good ones, you cried uncle before Kathy and I were finished and we had to take care of each other." Steve was shaking his head as John was laughing and Kenisha looked bewildered at what was going on. I put all of the good wings on the fire and kept them turning while putting some more wings into the marinade. I kept taking them out and pushing the seeds into them by using a toothpick. That way the really hot stuff was right there inside the wings. It took about ten minutes to cook the first batch. I looked up and found Kathy and Mercy salivating for their treat. The surprise was that their new friend was the delectable Kenisha. I popped about six wings onto each of their plates and put some on a plate for me, then moved the rest of them off to the side so they would stay warm. At the first bite, Kathy's eyes opened wide and she nearly screamed, then said, "Damn, this is the hottest, the best wing I've ever had." Mercy was chewing slowly with big tears running down her now red face. John said, "No way have you made wings hotter than my lady can eat them. Let me have one." Kenisha held his hand and said, "My love, please don't, they will hurt you. These are hotter than even my father could make. You know how he likes his hot food." John didn't listen and took a bite. Now that's the wonder of truly spicy food. It doesn't reach out and bite you instantly. It sneaks up on you, then cripples you. It took about sixty seconds for John to gasp and then try to drown the spicy bite with beer." Gasping, John said, "Jesus, those are dangerous, and you're eating them as if they were nothing." Mercy, through the tears and burning of great tasting wings said, "These will make Steve the happiest man in this park tonight. He needs to have Chuck around more often. Steve could have some more kids." Kathy was grinning as she chewed the meat from the mini-chicken leg. She looked at me and said, "You were a good fuck on the boat, but right now, you would even be equal to Steve, the master. God, these are near orgasmic." With that, she choked a couple of times from the spicy hot taste, but kept right on eating. The wings were too good, so many tried to see if they were capable of eating these delicacies. The surprise was Michelle, Ryan's wife. She ate a couple then said, "Can you make some more. These are great. Mercy, Kathy, you aren't fair. You've been hiding these from me." Ryan tried one but knew that the spicy hot would catch him after he had eaten the wing. He was holding his hand over his mouth, almost crying, when his lovely wife decided to use her spiced tongue to try to soothe his burning mouth. It only enhanced the spicy burn. Ryan finally settled down in a chair with his head back holding a mouth full of ice chips to soothe the burn. There were no announcements this Friday night, but Tiny did use the microphone to announce and introduce John and Kenisha as my guests. Then he said, "Bonita is ready, waiting for Lisa and Chuck, to play some music for us. I present our three entertainers." Lisa had helped Bonita bring the keyboard and big amp up to the now stage area, in the big sliding doorway in front of the pool table. Bonita had the fake book open to our first piece. She said, "Mama wants some country, so this is first." I adjusted microphones for me, Bonita, and Lisa, then led off with a keyboard intro to "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys." This got everyone involved singing the chorus and refrain. By the time we were finished, there was a steady stream of folks tapping the beat. Next, we did some early James Young blues, followed by some Tim Rogers. Lisa had me use the electric bass that was brought out, but it really wasn't that easy to make sing. I played guitar for the Tim Rogers stuff and really wailed. It was just slightly this side of blues, in truly metal form. We slowed down and did Georgia, followed by Stardust. I wonder how a six year old picked out Stardust. We did a George Shearing number that Lisa enhanced with some true Les Paul sounding guitar. We ended with Bonita begging to sing Summertime, while Lisa and I softly wailed behind her. It was enough to bring tears to your eyes. We all bowed and didn't play any encores. Lisa and I helped Bonita put all the instruments away, but she brought out her acoustic and said, "Would you play some more, please?" How do you turn down a sweet six year old that is pledging to become your second wife? Lisa suggested some sixties folk songs, so when I began, "Hang down your head Tom Dooley," everyone began singing with me. This was what Bonita wanted. She sat next to me, smiling and holding the big fake book, so I could see the chord changes. We went through several requests from a lot of the older folks then I finally said, "My fingers aren't used to the exercise. Let's do one more. Bonita turned to a song from the sixties and I began, "You are my special angel." That brought all the older folks to the front to sing and help me through it. John was right there singing with them. When that was done, I handed the guitar to Bonita and kissed her. I said, "Its way past your bedtime, sweet thing. Good night, Bonita, I love you, little girl." She was beaming as she went to her mom. "Mommy, Chuck said he loves me. He said, I love you, little girl. That's what I wanted Mama, I'm tired now." Kathy picked up the little dynamo and walked down the hall with her. Lisa kissed my cheek, then all my girls were hugging me and kissing me. John said, "Jesus, how many women do you have?" I introduced them all as I said, "These are the Fab Five, John: Frieda, the tallest; Tiani, the tiniest; Nancy, the darkest; Judy; and Brandy. These are the ladies from the employment office that captured my heart early here in Tampa. This is Tina, a budding 'Hey you, almost a doctor.'" The long, lean, lanky one is the super girl, Lena. She doesn't get any bedroom privileges, but is my special friend anyway. She is one of five super huge girls from a near seven foot mom. Lena wants to be the skinny one and she is. You have to agree, John, it's hard to resist this big woman." Lena was blushing and pushing out her chest at the same time. She was really happy to be recognized with my other women. "And last, but definitely not least, Lisa, my partner in music, and it seems destined to be my partner in life." My other girls were screaming that I had made that feeling public. All five of my ladies swarmed Lisa and me. Tina was in the mix, as well as Lena. I heard Mercy in my head saying, "You finally said it. Now that's what I mean." I announced, "Its late folks. Lisa and I have had a hell of last couple of days. I'm taking my toys, all of them, and heading home. John and the lovely Kenisha are coming with me. We'll try to get up in time to join you for breakfast. I think John will enjoy the weekend show from you ladies." John looked confused, but the patio crowd laughed. We did get hugs and kisses from everyone, packed up, and left. On the way home, John asked, "When did you learn to play and sing like that? That was awesome. You don't need the Marshal's Service, you can make a living doing that." "John, I love to sing and play music, but the Marshal's Service, working and doing something constructive for a living, is what really makes me feel good. Music is a hobby. It makes me and others feel good. But what you and I did a few weeks ago is what I'm good at and what I can do. I don't like all of it, but the grand finale out there, that was one hell of a show." John just said, "That it was, that it was." At home, we showed John and Kenisha their room and he was really impressed. He said, "If these were rooms for people we were placing, I'm surprised you could convince them to leave. I wouldn't." John was impressed with all the people who lived in the house. John Truant, the pilot, made some drinks, including a good scotch for John Scott. I made a bunch of Mojitos for the non-pregnant girls, and we sat around in the kitchen/family room enjoying each other's company. When our drinks were done, I said, "How about going to bed and going out to the park in the morning for the fashion show. You girls get Kenisha ready in the morning. She seems to be a person who enjoys showing off." Lisa said, "Oh yeah, I'll help her in the morning." Tina said, "Don't be a hog, I'll help too." My five were giggling as they were thinking of how the two girls would help Kenisha. In bed a short while later, Brandy said, "You said it tonight. You told the world that you and Lisa were going to be permanent. That's so good." Lisa asked the girls; "Aren't you upset or jealous about Chuck telling the world that I'm the one?" Nancy said, "You don't understand, Lisa, we all know Chuck loves us. He might even love us as much as he loves you, but you are the one to stand up front with him. We are the ones to love him and you. We are the ones to give all of us happiness, pleasure, and lots of babies. Tina is the one to take him to new heights in intellectual pursuits. You see, Lisa, we all have our place with Chuck. We love you, Lisa, and we love you for loving our Chuck." Lisa kissed Nancy, then hugged and kissed each of the other girls. Tiani said, "Would you love on this babe. As soon as you knock her out, I'm next. I've got the juiciest pussy ever just waiting for you. Do it, Chuck, make Lisa sing, then make me yell." That broke all of us up, but the girls ganged up on Lisa and loved on her as I was loving her. It didn't take but a few minutes before she was screaming. This was followed by Tiani screaming her pleasure over and over again, until she was begging all of us to stop. I did some slow loving on my future mommies, then fell asleep while injecting some final fluids into Brandy. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 26 Chuck I could tell that I had consumed more alcohol than I was used to. I remembered the fun the girls and I had before going to sleep, and thought it funny how sometimes the amount of joy juice didn't affect all of your body. The day needed to begin, so I slipped from the massive bed, brushed my teeth, and went to make coffee. My peg must have thumped down the hall, as Lena came out of her bedroom and asked, "Are you going to workout?" With a smile, I said, "First, I'm making coffee, and then a little sweat would be good." Along with making coffee, I had a big glass of water, while Lena had juice. We went into the exercise room, both warming up on the bikes. It was when we were both on the treadmill that I glanced up at the clock, it was only five forty-five. "What are you doing up already, Lena? You never wake up this early." "I thought it must be time to get up when I heard you walking on your peg. Last night was fun. I went back to my room to sleep because it smelled too good in there with you guys. You know, I'm old enough to make up my own mind about men and things. I'll be twenty soon and that's old enough to be considered an adult. I may not be able to drink alcohol legally, but there are a lot of adult things that I can do, like vote in the elections. Chuck, I sometimes think it's because of Bobby, or that you just don't like me." "That's not an adult attitude, Lena. I like you, enjoy having you in the house, and enjoy you being with me when you are here. I'm almost ten years older than you and have experienced a lot of things that you haven't yet. It's like Steve and his women. They're almost ten years older than me and I look up to him as, in many ways, he has so much more life experience than I do. This is a crazy household, Lena, and sometimes our earthy nature takes over big time. You are special among us and among your family. Just relax with being who you are, and don't push for something that I just feel shouldn't be. I'd love to be closer with all your family, but I don't want there to be a rift between you and Bobby, or Tina and Bobby, or me and your folks. I want you and me to be buds, and not just sex buddies." Lena came over, lifted me bodily off the treadmill, and hugged me like Bobby used to. I didn't think she was that strong, but she surprised me. Lena said, "You can't stop me from loving you, Chuck. I'll mind, the same way I have been, and watch from the sidelines, but I want you to know that I'm not a little girl anymore, and I want in. I want to be a part of your crazy menagerie of women. The girls accept me, and you will eventually. I'll wait." Lena put me down. Our sweat had molded our shirts to our skin, showing her enlarged nipples. She said, "Let me go see what the pool temperature is. Hopefully it's near eighty." We walked into the kitchen where John was sitting at the counter, drinking coffee. He watched Lena walk out to pool and step in to check the water thermometer. She turned and gave the okay sign. John and I watched the tall girl strip and dive into the pool. Marie and Dennis came through the kitchen at that point, nude, and on the way to the pool. They both said good morning, totally unaffected by being nude in front of a stranger. John said, "My, oh my, is this a nudist park?" "No that's up near the trailer park, but no one wears a suit here while swimming. As a matter of fact, I'm on my way. Join us if you want." "Let me get Kenisha, she loves to be nude." Lisa came out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. She was nude, of course, and said, "Come on, Chuck, race me." The whole household was soon swimming, hanging on the side of the pool, or sitting on the entry steps in the shallow end. Kenisha was happy at being nude among us. When she got out of the pool, the cool morning air shocked her nipples into instant darts. Don and John were just getting out as well, and the visual feast all the girls were presenting had the two on the rise. John said, "Well, I guess you guys are just like any bunch of guys. Good looking women affect you the same. This house is too full of good looking women." Being curious, John asked, "Dennis, you and Tina look a lot alike. Are you related?" Dennis grinned, "Brother and sister. Steve is our uncle. He's more like a friend than an uncle, and I'm sure Tina doesn't want to be reminded of the relationship." Tina said, "Who cares. I'm living the way I want to live, and most think I'm a Lez anyway. This group gives me the chance to be myself like no other place. I'm too busy with school to even worry about it. You know, Denny, I'm going into my internship and will be pulling all kinds of crazy hours at the hospital. While you guys are having fun this summer, I'll be slaving away. At least I'll be using some of what I want to learn to do." John asked, "Are you in pre-med?" "Finished that," Tina said. "I'm in second year med-school and will begin rotations this summer. I'll be learning a lot, but you have to do the triage thing in the ER first. You don't do much doctoring, but you learn about diagnostics and the nurses teach you a lot of things. Most students have some extensive emergency med training already during our undergrad summers. Now we'll be able to put some of it to use." "What kind of doctor do you want to be? That is, what field of medicine do you want to practice?" John asked, looking upon the girl in a new light. "OB/GYN," Tina said. "I love to help women, and of course I love women, so it's only natural. I love the thought of helping women bring babies into this world, so I may specialize in that area. Not enough medical people are willing to specialize there, too much liability. I figure that if I never have a bunch of material things, no one can sue for me for it." The group migrated to the warmer confines of the kitchen. We mutually agreed to wash and dress, then head out to the park for Saturday breakfast. Brandy asked me, "Do you have a lot planned today?" "I have one thing that I want John and I to go do, but other than that, not really," I answered. "What's up?" Brandy said, "Tom Parks is going to work with us again today, and I thought you might want to add your two cents to the plans. You know this house out there is becoming a reality. If we can finalize the plans, it will be started this coming week." She continued, "The girls and I have decided we will keep our place and rent it out. You can do the same with yours or sell it. We actually know someone who might rent your place or maybe even buy it." "Who in world would want a big place like this?" I was amazed someone would want it. Frieda said, "Metarie doesn't want to be the director any longer, and the new man has a bunch of kids. None seem to be leaving home and he said he's going to have to take in his mother-in-law now that his father-in-law has passed away. He says that since his mother is already living with them, the two mothers could live in the apartment upstairs. This place would be perfect for him." "It's going to take a long time to build a house as big as you guys are planning you know. Can the man wait?" "He can," Frieda answered, "And you're going to be surprised at how fast this house will go up. With as many men as can be put on the job, it will be done fast." We all got ready and left for the park in multiple cars, as people were going different ways later. On the way, John asked, "So you're building a place out there?" I chuckled, "Steve and his ladies have tried to get us to move out there with them for a while. As you may have noticed, his ladies are nuts about kids, and want ours added into the mix out there. The menagerie I'm with seems to think this is a wonderful idea; so once again, I'm along for the ride. I really enjoy all the folks out there, and I love the camaraderie they have out on that crazy patio." "That place is different," John said. "I had a great time out there and instantly felt comfortable. It could have been the booze too, though." Lisa was in the back seat with Kenisha and said, "If you two are going somewhere today, I want to give Kenisha an airplane ride. We'll fly around the beaches and sightsee." "Good idea," I said. "I need to check with the charters, but I want to see what kinds of aircraft are available." Lisa said, "There's not a lot today. The G-5s are all out, along with the Citation and one Lear. I think the 1900D is out as is one other King Air. There are lessons today too, as Saturdays are busy. I'll probably use a spare 150 or 172. I haven't flown the 162 yet. That would be fun." I said, "Take the biplane unless you think it would be too cold." "It would be too cold on a day like today, there should be a spare 172," Lisa said. John was surprised, "The economy sucks and Steve's charter service is doing that good?" I said, "He doesn't charge an arm and a leg for aircraft rental, and I know his charters are fair. GAO has never kicked back on my travel, so they must be. A lot of companies have sold their private aircraft and they still need to fly. Several charter companies have gone out of business, but Steve is well capitalized, so he's hanging on. With the extra business he's getting, he can be profitable." As soon as John entered the patio, I thought his eyeballs would pop out. Kenisha said, "Oh, I want to do this too. You didn't tell me." Sue greeted us and led the ladies back to her office and design area. I told John, "Wait until you see what Sue does to those girls. Mine told Sue to get something ready for all of them for this morning, you'll love it." Tiny was motioning us to the bar, where he handed John and I two huge glasses of reddish looking liquid with a celery stick in it. I handed mine back and asked, "Can you give me a virgin one. I might fly today, and you don't want me out there liquored up, do you?" Steve was in a good mood this morning as the charter service was settled down now, and he had expanded security where his boats were docked. He did say, "Your man, Sarge, said that there could be a break in this thing tomorrow sometime. He asked that I put extra security here too. What do you think?" I looked at him and said, "If Sarge suggested you do it, and you have the manpower, do it. Perhaps the girls and I will stay out here tonight. I know you have enough room for us and John too. I'll check with Sarge later to see. Jan said she had to stay in touch today, as well." After a great breakfast, Tom Parks showed up with Zena. They all gathered at one of the big tables and spread out multiple drawings and blueprints. The girls made me look at all of it. I looked at everything, then noticed that one of the prints was titled 'security.' It showed all the usual window and door devices, but it also showed a great array of cameras. There looked to be two video walls that were devoted to security. One was in the big kitchen/family room/ living room combination, and one was in the giant bedroom area. I asked Tom, "Where did you get the idea to put the security system like this?" Tom said, "Wanda gave me the name of the architect that rebuilt your place. He gave me the plans for your place, so I knew that you wanted to be able to observe everywhere, just in case. Since video is so cheap now, it was easy to put it together. We need to combine video and data anyway, so the cabinet in the family room has all of the controlling devices. See this," Tom pointed to another spot in the main garage, "This is where all the cabling terminates for voice and data. The studio building, as well as the two guest houses or cabanas, are wired the same way. I was thinking you could have an intercom between all the places too." Zena said, "See the pool area, we are putting in these receptacles for security fence posts, so when you have toddlers, they can't get at the pool. We are including the child protective fence in all the plans. I like the way the girls have the pool with the steps across this whole side of the pool for entry into the shallow end." Tiani said, "That's the way it is now. The new pool will be longer from side to side so we can still do laps the way we do now. It's going to be nice, and see the hot tub up on one end of the patio? It's going to be big enough for all of us, with no crowding." I asked Tom, "You're going to include solar heating of the pool, right?" Tom said, "Sure, that and a back up natural gas heater. This area out here has natural gas available, so we'll make sure that's connected. As far as solar heating, you will have solar hot water, as well as some solar electrical storage. Steve said he has some new small wind turbines that should work in your area. According to the guy that's working with them, you will need three to provide sufficient electricity for what you have. See this building out behind the studio? That's the battery storage and power conversion area for your electrical supply. You'll have automatic use of public services, but if you generate excess, they'll be able to draw from you." Not knowing, I had to ask, "Where are you going to put those turbines, won't they be ugly and noisy?" "We'll put the three turbines across the back fence. That will give them plenty of exposure. We're using the smallest ones Steve's man, Mark, has developed. You are sort of an experimental project for him. He say's they will take care of you, and so far, the guy has come up with some good ideas. I'm planning on putting an array of wind turbines at the park. I'm going to use his technology, but put in bigger ones. I have permission and zoning to put them all along the far side of the lake and around the back of the property for aesthetics. Hopefully, we'll be able to eventually serve the entire park. That's probably wishful thinking, but if S&S can keep generating more power from smaller generators, it might be a reality." I looked at the plans for the master suite and sighed. It was massive, with eight doors off the suite that led to private sitting areas, small bathrooms, and all parts of a big closet. I made an exaggerated counting motion, one through eight, and turned to the girls, "Eight?" None of them wanted to answer, but Lena was sitting on the end of the table with a smile. Wanda said, "Knowing your group, perhaps you should go for ten. As long as you're building the place, you never know." I said, "Girls, these things look like jail cells or tiny apartments. Why would you have these while you have all the other area?" Nancy said, "We all need a private place. Sometimes all of us have to get off by ourselves, maybe just to read, or if we don't feel well. We need these." I turned to Tom and said, "How about a wide dead end hallway off the bedroom. Go ahead and make it five on each side. We may have visitors. Make each of the quarters big enough for a built in bed in case the girls want to take a private nap. With that and room for a comfortable chair, it should be nice." Tom said, "Good idea. I can do that. The separate areas will smell really nice, as they have specified cedar for all the closets and bathroom areas." Steve had been watching and said, "Too bad we don't have room right here, or you could just about build the quarters portion of your place in manufactured units like I have. That's okay, though, you're not going to be far. I'll know where my family is when I can't find them now." I told Steve, "I agree, I wish we could be next door neighbors. I think these two groups of women are going to mix it up pretty good." After looking at all the pictures and drawings, I said, "John and I are going for a ride. I know the kids have motocross today, so a lot of others are going to be busy. Ah, Jan, if anything happens, call me, I'll be in cell phone range. If you can't reach me on the cell phone, have the charter office call me." John and I got some hugs and kisses before leaving. Out at the charter office, DeDe was already there in her motorized wheelchair. She said, "I heard you when you were talking about taking a ride. I'm guessing a Lear, right?" I nodded, and she said, "It's pulled out of the hangar, fueled, and ready." John watched as I did the preflight then got in the right seat as if he'd been doing it for years. Before closing up, I took the empty suitcase with some phone books, an empty gym bag, and a single ID out and left the rest in the trunk. He asked, "Where are we going?" "First, Naples. I have a map here to a branch bank. I'm going to discover what's in this one. Then we're going to Key West to check on the house. I might be able to meet the lady that's the caretaker of the house down there." John said, "I don't want to know about this stuff, Chuck. This is yours, not mine." "John, I want you to see this. You can use the house down there too, any time you want. I'm telling you there is a lot here. This has to have been a major hit man for a lot of important hits. Hell, he was probably even ex-CIA. If he was, he wasn't ever trained as a sniper. That SKS he had wouldn't have made the shots he would have needed to make." "Okay, I'll go along, but what you find is yours, not mine. I'll never spend what I have." We rented a car in Naples and were at the bank when they opened at eight-thirty. John was surprised when I easily signed in as Benjamin Carter. He also laughed when the lady said I looked much nicer without the beard. He agreed with her, and that made her smile. We were ushered into the vault, pulled another big drawer out onto a cart, and were shown into a room. I noticed a video camera and went for the clerk. When I pointed to it she said, "I know, a lot of people have objected to that. Put something over it." "How long have they been there, were they here the last time I was here?" She said, "No Sir, they were just put in. Let me check to see if they are even on." The lady went to another door and came back and said, "They're not on, but let me give you one of these socks to cover it. I'll tell the manager that another customer has objected. Thank you, Sir." I didn't like the idea of a bank watching a customer in a private booth. Big brother is getting too big. When I pulled on the surgical gloves and opened the drawer, it was pretty much the same. There was only twenty-seven bundles of hundreds and forty gold bars. There were two more ID sets complete with keys, though. The surprise in this one was another pistol. Another twenty-two auto with a silencer. I removed a full magazine and ejected a twenty-two short rim fire cartridge. The extra round fit into the magazine. John just shook his head as he knew what the little gun was intended for. I put all the goodies in the suitcase and stuffed the gym bag in there too. The suitcase was full now, but not nearly as full as past boxes. After we put the box with phone books back, the clerk asked if I wanted to have auto withdrawal for the box rent. I asked her when the next rental was due and she said next month. I signed the card, making her smile. Outside the bank, I checked the two accounts and withdrew two-hundred from the checking. There was only twenty-two grand plus change in the checking, but the savings had almost a half a mil. In the car, John said, "That's still not a lot of money." "It is to a guy that never thought of a lot of money before. Let's see the house. It's close and on the way back to the airport." When I drove up to the house, a Latin looking guy was working in the yard. Two kids were playing out there with him. I introduced myself and the man smiled, "It is so good that you rent your home so cheap to us. It has helped while we get settled. The rental agent says this is the cheapest anyone rents a home like this. We have taken good care of it. Do you want to see?" "No, no, I don't want to intrude. I just stopped by to make sure the house was okay." A lady came out of the house, carrying an infant. Her husband introduced me as Benjamin Carter and the lady said, "Oh, you have mail. Let me get it for you." The man said, "We send it as soon as it comes. You don't get much, just bank statements and some junk mail that we throw away as you instructed." The lady gave me a brown envelope with letters inside. She said, "I just got a bunch of envelopes and stamps from the rental agent. She's very nice." I said, "I'm glad you get along. I hope you enjoy the home." The man said, "I'm going to be promoted soon and would like to buy the house then. If you will sell it to me cheap enough or at the appraisal price it is now, I will be able to afford it." "Tell you what. I'll talk to the agent and tell her that when you're ready to let me know so you can have it. See you again, I'm sure." On the way to the airport, John asked, "What are you going to do about the houses?" "I'll probably end up selling them real cheap or giving them to the people who live in them, depending on their circumstances. See what I mean though. This guy had a lot of money; I mean a lot of money. What was he doing still working with this much? He could have been living anywhere and enjoying life." John said, "It's not unusual for that kind of guy to enjoy doing what he did. He probably got off on the act. You and I do something like that reflexively, and we don't enjoy it when we have to." We flew to Key West and rented a car. I said, "There may be a car out here at the airport. I have to check the mail to see if there's a notice. The guy has a Ford key on the ring and since this was probably his home, a car is probably in the lot." The driveway of the house was full of work trucks. I guess the lady was immediately doing what I said to do. I pulled up on the sidewalk, barely giving John enough room to get out. As we walked to the door, you couldn't help but notice that the open front patio was full of furniture. When I looked in, there were painters and carpet layers. All the windows were bare as well. A carpet layer said, "Around back." John asked, "What are you doing?" "The place stunk, the guy was a heavy chain smoker. Everything in the house smelled terrible. I told the lady to wash everything, and replace anything that couldn't be washed. There's enough money in the checking account to take care of it." In the back, I noticed the pool wasn't green anymore, but the clear blue of a clean pool. A short, Hispanic lady was directing a workman that was messing with the guttering. When she saw me, she looked at me apprehensively, "Fred Dement?" When I smiled, the lady was real nervous. "Is this alright? I'm cleaning it totally, all the carpet, new blinds and drapes, everything. You need to get rid of the furniture. Should I buy more or do you want to do that. That stuff stinks. I'm so happy for you that you quit smoking. I know you will feel better. I can't imagine how much you smoked as it always took me hours to clean all the ashtrays." "Good idea, Rose. Just get rid of the upholstered furniture and I'll shop for some new stuff. You're doing everything perfectly, Rose. Did you get the tip I left you?" "Oh yes, Sir. Thank you, thank you. That was very kind. You pay me so well that you shouldn't do that, but thank you anyway. Are you here to stay now?" "No, I just wanted to show my friend the house and to meet you. I want you to know I'm happy with your efforts. Thank you for cleaning the house so well." "Mr. Dement? Can I make a suggestion?" "Sure, Rose, what is it?" She said, "Why don't you put a screen cage over the pool. You have so many trees, the leaves are clogging the filter all the time. It will save the filter and the pool would be nicer. My brother does that and I'll make him give you a good price." With a smile I said, "You know, I've thought of that. Tell your brother to do it and you pay him with the credit card. Make sure he doesn't do it too cheap. He has to make a living too." "Thank you, Mr. Dement." "Hey," I said, "Call me Fred okay. I'm leaving now but I'll be back soon for a night or two. My friend here will probably come with me or come by himself. While I'm here, I want to show John something." We went into the house and when I went into the master bedroom, the room had new carpet and the bed was stripped. I closed and locked the door then went into the closet that was empty except for shoes. I guess she was still cleaning clothes. The cedar in the closet was beginning to win the smell war. I noted the carpet was new in here as well. I lifted off the mirror from the brackets, unlocked the padlock and opened the door. When I pulled the chain, John gasped. I pointed to the packages of C-4 on the floor along with two canisters of military .45 ammo. John said, "Jesus, this guy has an arsenal in here. But isn't it funny, not a good rifle in the bunch. What are you going to do with this stuff?" "Run all the serial numbers then either sell it or trade it. If any of it is hot, I'll give it to the cops and tell them I found it." John said, "Well, you did find it. But Christ, what are you going to do with the C-4?" "I thought of that. I'm going to burn it. I'll cook a couple of meals on it and let it get used up that way. The detonators will have to go to a disposal unit somewhere. I'll find a way. Perhaps one of the busts I make will have a lot of junk. It can all go that way." Laughing, John said, "I'll have to detail you on a couple of the crazy captures up in Alaska or somewhere. You can find all the stuff up there." I locked up the closet and put the mirror back in place. John said, "With the mirror in the brackets you can't even see the recessed pad lock." Answering him I said, "I know, but when I found it, the door was unlocked, and the mirror was on the floor covering the door the way it was leaned up on the back wall. Hopefully, Rose didn't see it." We said goodbye to Rose and I rolled up the two hundred in twenties and said, "Use this for tips for the workmen or keep it yourself. I like to tip workmen though." Rose said, "I'll take care of them, Sir, ah, Fred. See you soon." As John and I left he asked, "Are we through with the tour? How soon can I bring Kenisha and her sister down here?" "That's right, where is this second wife?" "At home with her kids. She didn't want to leave right then, but understood that I was going anyway. Those two are very subservient. They both take care of me unbelievably. I'm a real king at home." "That's great, John. I have a lot of fun with my girls too. They aren't pushy, but they are opinionated and want what they want. They have become used to having what they want, when they want it, and know how to go about getting it. That they work is amazing to me. They have more than enough not to work, but they feel it is important. They are all working under their ability. All of them are grads of Florida. They are strange, very strange." On the plane, I said, "I have to change my name with Rose and get the house title transferred to my name or a holding company name. I want to totally get rid of all the aliases. I imagine the tax returns are going to be a pain." John said, "When you get everything done and out of the accounts, the Service can probably handle a lot of things as confiscation. Let me know if you have trouble getting rid of stuff." We landed and had transferred the suitcase to the car when a 172 came up. Sue got out with Kenisha, who was all smiles. As she hugged John, she said, "You must learn to fly and take me flying often. I really like that. If your friend can fly all these fancy planes, you can too. Learn how, John, I want you to." John just nodded. I asked, "I thought Lisa was going to take Kenisha flying?" Sue said, "She was, but the charter people needed a pilot for a quick trip to Atlanta. Lisa said she could use the money for her savings." Back on the patio, I took the time to look at what were becoming the finished plans. Tom had a bunch of sketches to show everyone what stuff would look like. He had a sketch of the hallway I proposed and a sample of a little room with a chair and built in single bunk. The closet, with built in drawers, looked really open, and there was a nice bathroom, complete with tub. I suppose it would be perfect for a lady to get away if she wanted. It was getting on about supper time when Charlie said, "Hey, how about all of us going for a ride later." He looked at John and said, "You can ride in Steve's sidecar and your lady can either ride behind Steve or with one of the girls. Sue, Mercy, and Kathy can ride behind some of the others." I asked, "You know I have more who may want to ride." Jim asked, "How many, let's see what we can do?"' Frieda, Nancy, and Judy said they wouldn't because of the babies, and Tiani said, "No, I don't want to ride. I'm ready to curl up with a good book." Brandy said, "Me too, Lena and Tina kind of want to spend some time at home. Go ahead, then come join us in relaxing." Lisa had just gotten back from Atlanta, so I asked her, "Want to stay in with the girls, or ride?" Lisa didn't take long before she said, "Ride." We were out of there and went home to get the bike. We bundled up a little as it was cool. John and Kenisha put on jeans and warm clothes. I told John, "I'm told the sidecar is really comfortable. This will give you chance to see for yourself." Back at the patio, we ate supper then loaded up on the bikes. The first place we went was Jonah's. Millie was in a great mood as the place was packed. Jonah was all smiles as he had a pig roast today and had done great business. Double D was busy with another barmaid, but took time to come around and give Steve a big kiss. She gave me a kiss and hug saying, "Sure glad to see you. You don't come nearly as often as you should." John was marveling at the group of bikers and how friendly they were. Kenisha was attracting a lot of attention as she is just beautiful, but the guys were respectful. Bikers are that way if you show them the same. We were all towards the back when I heard Millie squeal, "Bobby!" "Uh oh", I said to Steve, John, and Charlie, "We gotta go. If her guy is with her, that can be a problem, and I don't need it right now." Steve nodded and began gathering our group, getting some out the front and the rest of us vanishing out the back. John asked, "What's the problem?" I said, "Millie is Bobby's sister. Bobby still has the restraining order, as does her now new husband. That guy is nuts, so I don't want anything to do with them. There'll be a lot less trouble if we get out of here." When we came around the front of the bar, there sat Rocky Mountain, on what I guess was his bike. Standing around him were other monster guys that looked like wrestlers too. A lot of people were gathered around him in adulation. We were trying to load up and get out quietly when, "Hey you, wimp. Are you sneaking off so I don't have to pound you? I still you owe you, Asshole." The voice was getting closer, so I moved out toward the street for more room. He kept coming and had both fists closed with his arms straight down. He walked up and just swung. I guess he thought I would stay and take a punch, but I ducked and just pushed him away. He didn't fall but was surprised. I said, "Rocky, look, you're married to Bobby, you have everything you need. Leave me alone, you don't need this." Bobby came running out and said, "Rocky, don't, he can hurt you. I've seen him do it before." Rocky just pushed her away, hard enough that Bobby landed on her butt. A couple of wrestlers picked her up while Rocky was trying to figure out how to hit me. He said, "Stand still, act like a man, trade punches with me." "I can't do that, Rocky. You outweigh me by close to double and you outreach me by a foot. I'll just stay away from you. But this time, Rock, if you try to hit me again, I'm going to hurt you. Do you have any bouts coming up that you need to look pretty for?" The pretty part pissed him off and he charged, swinging. I took his hand and pulled him through a toss. With his mass, he went down hard. Instead of a killing blow to his nose, I only broke it, and still holding his wrist, I snapped it as he landed. The guy squealed like a pig. He was grasping his wrist and yelling. "You son of a bitch, I'll kill you for that. I'll lose a million if I can't fight." I said, "I told you that I would hurt you, and even asked if you were going to be fighting." The crowd outside the bar was huge and when his wrestler friends began coming toward me John backed up and pulled his weapon and badge. He said, "Leave them be. The big guy started it and I'm sure you guys don't want to get hurt as well. When the big guy gives up, I'll let you go at the little cripple one at a time." One of the wrestlers asked, "Cripple?" Bobby said, "He only has one leg, but don't fuck with him. Rocky should know better." John was standing his ground, while Rocky was trying to make up his mind. I got closer to him and said, "How much more money do you want to give me. How much time do you want to spend in jail this time? Have someone take you to the hospital. You're bleeding from the nose bad, and I'm going to hurt you real bad if you continue. You know it, so it's not giving up; it's making a good decision." I backed away as he looked confused. Bobby hollered, "Please, Honey, let me help you with your nose." Rocky looked down and just walked toward Bobby. John announced, "Anyone else?" A couple of the guys acted like they wanted to do a two on one with me, but John said, "One at a time. Keep it fair." A huge young wrestler came running from the back of the pack acting like he was going to hug me. I stood in front of him, leaned down then hit him in the solar plexus lifting him over my head to land on his back gasping for air. As soon as he got to his knees, he was throwing up. John asked, "Anyone else?" Bobby had taken Rocky into the bar and the other wrestlers were following. About that time a cop car came sliding to a stop. The cop asked, "A problem?" I said, "Naw, a couple of guys were going to show off, but they were talked out of it. Everything's cool." Several bikers were standing around and were nodding. The cop left. Steve asked, "Ready to get out of here?" "You bet, but let's ride somewhere else." Hap said, "Let's go south to St. Pete, those guys are always friendly." We did ride down to St. Pete to the club bar that Steve and Hap always went to. John about shit when he saw that he was in the middle of all those patch holders. He asked me, "Are you welcome here?" "Sure, they love Steve, and I'm with Steve, so they know I'm all right." One of the patch holders came up to me and said, "Heard you did it again. You just kicked that fake's ass again. I heard you hurt him this time instead of just tossing him around." I just nodded and smiled. The big biker slapped me on the back and left. John said, "These guys scare me." "Do you mean that after all the shit you've been through, these guys scare you?" John said, "No shit. They're tougher than anything we've been up against. I'm glad they're in a happy mood. It's hard to relax." "Relax, John, all they want is your respect. Have a beer, we won't be here long." A girl in a short leather skirt and open "Property of" vest, with bare tits showing, gave us all beers and gave Steve a big kiss. Everyone was attending to Kathy as well. It was soon time to leave, so we headed up to New Port Richey, had another beer, then rode back to Steve's place. We had some snacks and more beer on the patio, then I said, "It's time for us to get. John, Wanda, are you guys coming soon?" Wanda said, "We're getting ready to leave now." I asked John Truant, "Would you take John and Kenisha with you? I don't have room on the bike." We all got to the house to chat for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company. John said, "Man, you can pack a lot into a day. We did a lot. I'm bushed, come on, Honey, let's go to bed." We all locked up, turned on the alarms, and went to bed. The other girls were already snuggled up snoozing, so Lisa and I stripped, crawled into the middle of the mass, and went to sleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 27 Steve Last night had been strange. Chuck was in a fight, no that wasn't right. He really didn't have a fight. That monster guy attacked him, and Chuck just tossed him. He did whack the guy in the nose, but it could have been the heel of the hand into the nose, a killing blow. We all learned that one. That wrist thing Chuck did was so quick that it was just something that happened as the big guy went over the top of him. I was sitting drinking that first cup of coffee contemplating what had gone on when arms reached around me and soft lips kissed my ear. "I love you," a voice softly said, and it told me instantly that Sue was up with me. She said, "Everyone is acting tired this morning. It's already six thirty and Glenda isn't here yet." "She would be here, but I haven't turned on the light yet," I said softly. "Watch, I'll turn on the light and she'll be walking over here in a minute." I reached up and flipped on the light. Seconds later we heard a screen door slam across the big yard and also another behind us. Glenda came walking across the yard with her cup in her hand. She was wearing one of her slinky opaque gowns that were so pretty. I stood and we greeted each other with a warm hug. While she was pouring herself some coffee, Tiny and Ruth came in the back door. Ruth was already wearing her Sunday morning visual treat. Ruth gave me a hug too, but it was as if a full bodied nude woman was molding herself to me. She greeted Sue the same way. I think I saw Sue tweak one of Ruth's nipples. Tiny immediately began fixing Bloody Marys and was making one of his new concoctions. He had been experimenting with a mixture of orange and grapefruit juice mixed with vodka. The little bit of sweet key lime and tangerine juice he added made a delicious drink. The kids loved the mixture, so Tiny always made a huge amount and just added joy juice to the adults' drinks. Sue disappeared and returned in a short, sheer, gown but was now accompanied by Mercy and Kathy dressed the same way. Kathy is so much taller than Sue and Mercy that it is almost funny to see them standing next to each other. Juanita appeared in a gown similar to Glenda's this morning, and she was leading Trixie and Dixie. The little girls gave everyone hugs and disappeared into the house, probably to wake up their siblings. More and more folks and kids began coming in to join our morning gathering. Everyone was fairly quiet this morning. I would suppose it had to do with the fact that most had enjoyed a raucous evening the night before. Abe pulled up in his cart at the same time as three SUVs pulled up. Chuck and his entire group came out of the vehicles. His friend from DC and the friend's good looking wife, Kenisha, were with him. All the women were wearing the wispy gowns Sue had given them yesterday. Jan and Chuck were talking together, so I walked over to them. I asked, "Is this private or can I ask you two a couple of things?" Jan said, "Anything we have to say about the Alcam group, you might as well hear. I was telling Chuck that the team leader from the DC front line group wants to do something tomorrow morning. The intel has more hired help coming to town, and the strike force feels it's getting closer to them making a move." Chuck said, "Sarge says the observation teams have reported at least a dozen men have come to town. They drove in, so that means they brought their own tools." "The Miami Bureau, along with the Marshal's staff are ready to move in down there at the same time we move up here," Jan said. "They have cause to go in after them, so we might be able to clean out all the nests of rats at the same time." I asked, "What can I do? My security people are all ex-military and well trained." "Steve," Chuck said, "You need to concentrate on your home area and your businesses. Your exposed areas would be the yacht area and the airpark. You've proven you can protect the airpark fairly well, so do the same at the marina, and make sure you're protected here and in the business park. We don't know how much they know about you, so anything can happen." I said, "You know I'd give up everything to protect my family and friends. This is nuts to have a large group like that try to forcefully take us over. They really haven't even asked if I would sell out to them." Chuck told me, "If they can hurt your business, then the business value wouldn't be worth as much. If they can intimidate you into just giving it to them, they would be real money ahead." "Do you think we're safe during the daylight hours?" I asked. "They wouldn't do anything during the day, would they?" Jan said, "Probably not, but it would be good to stay vigilant. Since this is Sunday, they may think our guard is down, so keep your family close and keep your friends close as well." I said, "I don't like being threatened or being afraid to just be normal. Let's get Hap and make sure we have all the help he needs." Hap was having breakfast when the three of us sat down. "Hap, Chuck and Jan say we need to be careful today as some bad guys may think we would be relaxed around here on Sunday. Do you have enough help to watch here, the airpark, the shops, and the marina?" Hap was nodding, "We have some Sheriff's deputies helping out part-time at the shop and now out at the airpark. We have some Pinellas county deputies at the Marina. We should be fine there. I have men all over the business park and we're protected pretty well here. We put two men over at the sports complex to make sure the people there are protected. I'm spending lots of your money, Steve, but we should be good." Chuck said, "Sounds like you've put resources where you need, Hap. We just need to make sure all the units watch for any strange vehicles or something out of place." Hap said, "That is part of their marching orders. I've briefed all of the part-time deputies and they know this could be serious. I'm not saying we're impenetrable, but we should be damn near there." "Thanks," I said, "all of you. Hire as many as you think you need, Hap. This scares the shit out of me. If it were just me, no sweat, I can defend myself, but all these folks out here, the marina, and the airpark, are what I worry about." Everyone was enjoying breakfast when Mercy came to me, "Steve, how about we have a big boat outing today. Tiny and Kevin can take a couple of the big fishing boats out and you can take a bunch of us out in the "Have Mercy." It's at home this weekend and not scheduled to go out until next week. I can feel you, Steve, I know you're concerned. Let's just go have an outing for the day. We'll all be safe out there." I asked her, "Do you think I could get everyone interested in going out? It's already almost eight?" Mercy said, "Just announce it and watch them move." I stood up and said, "Listen, everyone, Mercy wants to go out on the big sail boat today. Tiny and Kevin are taking a couple of the big boats out too. How about all of us get ready and head over to the marina and enjoy a day on the water?" Heads were bobbing up and down, and even Chuck's bunch were all for it. I could see Chuck and Jan telling his group to go out and have fun today. They were staying behind. Chuck's friend, John, even had his wife, Kenisha, convinced to go with the girls. People scattered to hurry to get clothes on to go out on the water." Hap came over to me, "Good move, Steve. Get 'em all out of here so the kids aren't all over the place. It looks like Jan, Chuck, and his friend John are staying. Marie and Wanda seem to be sticking around as well. I guess they are part of Chuck's defense group. I see Mickey is over there with them. They will be assets if we need them." John had received a call on his cell phone and had walked away from the group. About the same time, Jan had received a call and did the same to go talk. I watched as John came back and spoke to the group. When I walked up, he stopped talking and looked at Chuck. Chuck said, "He can know, tell him." John said, "That was our strike force in Orlando. They just watched as eight big SUVs full of people left there heading west on I-4. They're following, but wanted to let us know that potential trouble was due in about forty-five minutes to an hour." Chuck said to me, "Get your people out of here and out on the water. You can take care of yourself out there. Take some protection and get. You should be out of the yacht club by the time they get here. We'll keep you posted." Hap said, "Let me alert all the folks that there is a potential threat." Jan offered, "You know, we don't know where they're heading. We need to be able to watch them to know where they're going." Steve said, "Let me get you one of our helicopters and you guys can go spot them driving this way and follow them. Just keep in contact with someone on the ground and let them know where they're headed." Mickey said, "The county has helicopters too. They can help on something like this." Chuck told her, "Then get them, Mickey, let's get our defenses up." I said, "I hate to leave you to do everything." Chuck said, "Just protect our families. You'll be safe out away from any potential problem." My family began appearing on the patio, ready to go sailing. It was a little cool, so all had heavier clothes on. It's funny to watch all the mothers inventory their kids. They had them all lined up, with all of our friends kids as well. My ladies were ready to leave. I gave Chuck a key and said, "Hap has a key to the house as well. Call me as soon as you know anything or if anything happens." They assured me they would. I felt really strange leaving my home and hundreds of residents behind. My family would be safe out on a boat and we would be able to defend ourselves out there easier. Tiny and Kevin got the drift that we needed to be out of the harbor area quickly and each had a large group on the boats and moving fast. My group was helped by the regular crew, who were on the boat cleaning, after getting back from a trip. They joined us going out for the day, ready to enjoy just being passengers. I had brought two suitcases full of protection and hoped we wouldn't need any. When we were pulling out of the yacht club, we encountered the Coast Guard who came aboard to do a life jacket check. I got the Coast Guard boat skipper aside and said, "There is a problem going on with some bad guys coming from Orlando. We're getting out away from land to avoid any potential danger. Have you seen any strange boats up this way? Especially any boats you might recognize as being charter boats out of Miami?" The Chief said, "We have seen a couple of Miami charter boats up this way recently. They haven't been in near shore before though. What's going on?" I said, "Call the FBI or the Marshal's Service, they're the ones working this. I know these people have or are building a charter service out of Miami. The next time you see one of their boats, run the numbers, you might get a surprise. I've heard they are muscling their way into business." "We'll do just that. Are you folks going to be alright out on the water? I saw two of your big fishing boats go out already." "I think we'll be fine, Chief. All of the women and the older boy and girl were with us when we had a problem on our last big cruise. We're just going to enjoy some sailing and let the water ease the tension." The Chief suggested, "Why don't you have those two big fishing boats sort of tag along, keeping each other in sight. That might be a good thing." "Good idea, let me radio them before they get too far out," I answered, as I reached for the radio microphone. As the Coast Guardsmen left our boat, I talked to both Tiny and Kevin on our designated frequency. Nothing out on the water is private, but we use an off the wall frequency that is probably never listened to by anyone else. We had some good wind and enjoyed being pushed along by mother nature. It was going to be more difficult getting back, but perhaps a passing low pressure area will help with some winds from the northwest later. Tiny and Kevin were about a half mile off my sides. They were idling along at our twelve knot speed. I could see they had outriggers working hoping to pick up some fish. Mercy had come to the helm to take over and asked, "How come you don't have the radar on? If you're afraid someone might come up on us, you should at least know if they're coming." "Good thinking, Mercy," I said. "Just didn't think we would need it today." As I turned on the radar, I asked Mercy, "So what's going on with Chuck. You two have a link going. What's happening with him?" Mercy grinned, "He's being Chuck. He focuses on something so intensely that his mind is closed to me. I know he's all right but that's all." When the radar was up, I took a grease pencil and marked the bogeys around us. Next, I turned on the collision avoidance system and programmed to alert for any craft approaching us within two miles. That would mean that any craft closing the distance between us would make the system alert us and mark the bogey. It had only been five minutes since programming the system that it gave the alert. I looked at the screen to see two bogeys with circles flashing around them. I picked up the microphone and called to Kevin and Tiny. "I want you guys to be aware that there are two craft closing on us. If they get close, you should be able to outrun them. Do it if it comes to that. We can't call the Coast Guard yet, since we don't know if it is a threat. I just wanted you two to know there may be a problem." Kevin came back, "Figured that's what was up. I've brought protection to use if necessary, and have a couple of men on board with some experience. We won't run, but will be cautious." I caught Sue's attention, "Just to be on the safe side, I want to get out the weapons we brought along and store them up in the lounge under the seats. Have Kathy and Juanita move everyone out gently while you do that. Then if I give the warning, get them all below. We may have a threat." Sue went to talk to Kathy and Juanita and I saw that the lounge area was quickly cleared. Sue assembled the rifles and stored them under the cushions. Since no one was around the helm, she brought me a rifle and a Glock to put in the cabinet. I showed her the two bogeys that still had flashing circles around them. She asked, "Where's Mercy?" I pointed to the rear deck where Mercy was standing with binoculars up to her eyes. I said, "She was the one who suggested the radar. I didn't even think of it. She must have had one of her feelings. Just be ready to get everyone below if necessary. Make sure you can see Juanita and Kathy at all times." We had begun our big turn to pull around to head north so we could pick up the wind from the northwest later. This move kept our speed down and allowed the two craft to get closer. The two boats were about a half mile away, but not closing, just following. They made the turn with us but didn't close. Everyone began eating as hotdogs and potato salad started coming up from the galley. The regular crew had the grill out and was cooking hamburgers, so everyone along for the ride was having a good time. It was around four o'clock that Tiny radioed that he had just received a call from Chuck on his sat phone. "He said that the FBI and his men along with the county had been in a prolonged fire fight with a group of men." I asked, "Where was this fight, Tiny? At the house? At the airpark?" "Shit," Tiny exclaimed, "I didn't ask. We should be back in cell range any minute. I'll connect up to an antenna and see." Mercy came up to the helm and pointed to the collision avoidance screen and said, "They're coming up fast, look." I said, "Get the girls and get everyone below, now. Then you girls get armed and come out with me." I radioed Kevin, "They're coming. Don't get too close and remember if they get between us to watch where your rounds go." He said, "Gotcha. Can't we call the Coast Guard yet?" "We're not threatened yet, Kevin, it's only two craft coming up to us," I answered, thinking the same way Kevin was. I radioed Tiny, "Put some distance between us, Tiny. If they chase you, pour it on, I don't think they can keep up." The girls came out with rifles and Juanita had a shotgun. Three of the crew came out with rifles and told me, "All the trips through the Caribbean and no trouble, yet here we are on a Sunday afternoon and we have a problem." The radio began making noise on the open CB channel. "Sailboat Have Mercy, heave to. This is the Coast Guard we are going to board you. Stop in the water to board." I picked up the microphone and said, "Are you nuts? You can't impersonate the Coast Guard over the open channel like that. Show me your colors first then I'll consider it." I said to Mercy, "Go in and call the Coast Guard on the emergency frequency. Tell them we're being approached by two boats telling us they are them." Mercy went into the main lounge to the weather helm and was using the radio as the open channel again said, "You must obey this warning. You will stop or you will be considered a danger. We will take your boat by force." The crewmen, Sue, Kathy, and Juanita were standing in front of me. They looked at each other and Kathy said, "I don't think so. Where do you want us, Steve?" "Look, I don't know how they will approach us. If they both come on the same side, no problem, but if they come up on both sides we need to have designated sides and you must find cover so you are protected all around. There are eight of us so if they split up, you three crewmen and Sue watch the port side, and the rest of us will watch the starboard. They're not coming up on us fast, so they are either afraid or they don't have the power. Go find positions and wait until they fire the first shot, or I fire. Be careful and make each shot count. You guys with shotguns, wait until they are very close. Use them for anyone who tries to board." Kevin radioed, "Looks like they are going to try to get in between us. We'll hold our fire and stay down. You're not going to hurt this boat if a round gets to us." Tiny said, "I've called the Coast Guard and heard Mercy calling. I'm moving forward about a quarter mile to be out of the line of fire." Mercy was close to me, so I asked her, "What do you think. Should I take down sail and slop around for them or keep the sail up?" She said, "Let's leave the sail up. If we have to take it down, we can. There's no advantage either way." Both boats were coming up on my left, the port side. They looked to be cheap twenty five foot day cruisers with a single outboard engine. They couldn't outrun anyone. If we had the wind to our backs, we could almost outrun them. A guy was on the bow of the lead boat with a bull horn. "Take down your sail; we are going to board you. We are taking your ship." Mercy was standing there and said, "Can I just shoot him. This isn't even a ship." I didn't have to say anything; one of the crewmen did all the talking. The guy with the bullhorn was pushed back by the force of the round hitting him. Another guy came out of the back and aimed a pistol at us. Mercy said, "Let me have the helm and you take care of this, will you?" I brought my rifle to my shoulder and watched the guy pitch back from a round. A quick glance at the other boat and I could see two men kneeling on the bow trying to get a target. I leveled my rifle across a gear brace and shot twice, two down. Sue hollered, "There are two men on the back of the rear boat. I can't get them from here." I looked, and sure enough, there were two guys with pistols playing cowboys and stagecoach. They were firing at us from a small boat in three to four foot seas. They weren't going to hit anything unless it was a very lucky shot. Since I could see them, I leveled off at them as I had the men on the bow. The first guy went down, but the second dove back into the cabin. From the nearest boat, a rifle poked out of the cabin window. Several rounds hit the person holding the rifle at the same time. All of sudden that boat idled down and let us move away. The second boat had also idled down. Kevin said, "How about I act like I'm going to ram them and see what they'll do?" "No, Kevin, no sense in getting nicks on your boat. I don't think they hit anything on our boat at all. Using handguns on the open water like that is pretty dumb." A voice came over the radio, "Have Mercy, this Coast Guard cutter Seagull, please state your position." I gave them our co-ordinates but said, "The attacking boats have desisted and are at idle aft of us." "We have you on radar, are the two boats close together?" I answered, "Yes, they are close together, but are not tied up together." Kevin broke in and said, "This is the boat, Still Fishing, I can stay and watch them until you get here." The Coast Guard asked, "The report was that shots were fired. You're out of the twelve mile limit, so unless it was an act of piracy, we have no jurisdiction." I radioed, "They attempted to, or at least stated, they were going to board us. They originally said they were the Coast Guard." The Coast Guard radioed, "We should be there in less than five minutes. We'll take them into custody and administer first aid, if necessary." I hollered to everyone on deck, "Put your weapons away, and get the folks back out on deck. I didn't get a hamburger yet." Mercy gave me a hug as I took the helm back. Sue came up and gave me a kiss and said, "No one fucks with this family, do they?" I smiled, "Not and lives to brag about it. I'm glad they were inexperienced sailors. Someone who knows the water wouldn't be out on a tiny craft like that in these seas, trying to hijack a boat." We were losing sight of Kevin and the two boats when Kevin said over radio to the Coast Guard, "Watch out for the boat on the starboard side. It looks like someone has a rifle back there." "Thank you, Still Fishing," the Coast Guard responded, "we see him. I'll have a man on the bow to take care of it. You should probably join up with your armada." The guy on the radio was laughing as he took his finger off the transmit button of his microphone. Mercy came up and said, "Chuck's involved in something heavy. I feel it." "Where are they at, Mercy, can you tell?" At that second Tiny said, "Mickey just said that the FBI chick, Jan, was shot, but is doing okay. They are at the airfield. Hap had them close all the hangars and lock all the doors in case of something like this. We'll have to find out what happened. What do you say, Steve, can we head in, I don't feel like fishing any more." "Go ahead, Tiny, it'll take us a little longer to get in." Kevin said over the radio, "I'll stay with you, Steve; everyone over here is enjoying some beer and brats. They don't care if we get back early or not." I asked Sue, who was hovering around the helm, "Call Hap to check on the house and park." She called, then told me, "Hap said no problem there at all, but the airpark had a big mess. He said he tried to get out there but they have it totally closed off." It was almost six by the time we were tied up at the yacht club. The crew told me not to worry about cleaning up. They would do it tomorrow, as they didn't have anything to do until the weekend. I thanked them for the help, and asked the one crewman who had shot first, "Why did you shoot so fast. You didn't wait for them to make a violent move or anything." The crewman said, "The guy was standing there announcing to the world that they were going to take our boat by force. That's piracy, and at that point, I can defend my boat anyway possible. The Coast Guard will probably contact you and me, but that's okay, we did what's legal on the open seas." Sue and I told all the crewmen that if they were in port, they were always welcome to come out to the house for supper. All of the people were soon on the way home. Sue said she had called Park Place for calzones and pizzas. She would stop on the way home to pick them up. At home, Chuck's women were upset as they had tried to call Chuck, but his cell phone was turned off. Kenisha said that John's phone was off too, and she was concerned. Mercy tried to tell them, "I can feel Chuck is okay. He's just busy right now. I think they still have a problem out there." The big TV was on the local cable news channel and they had a helicopter up near the airpark. They were talking about a raging gun battle with county and federal law enforcement officers up against a formidable group of people. The airpark looked funny, all dark with the hangar doors all closed. Hap was on the patio and said, "Every hangar has a man plus a deputy marshal inside to protect what's in there. We don't have to worry about equipment this time." Mark and Caroline came up to the patio and said, "The airpark is on the national news. The cable news network is providing a feed to CNN and Fox news. That is really something. What's it all about anyway?" I just said, "Someone is trying to be greedy, Mark. That's the whole of it." Chuck's girls were going to go home, but Sue convinced them to stay with us. I said, "As soon as he can, he'll call to let us know he's all right. Since he and John are together, you should stay here and keep Kenisha settled as well." Brandy said, "It's right here this time. We're usually nowhere near where he's being super deputy. This time it's just right over there," as she pointed to the north and east of us. "I feel we should be there with him, but I know we would just be in the way. How can we protect him though? We need to be there." Mercy herded the girls together to settle them down. At that moment, Lisa and Bonita began playing guitars and singing some songs. They began with "Somewhere over the Rainbow." Both of them were playing and singing. Lisa did some fancy guitar work on it, while Bonita was grinning the whole time. They continued for over an hour, when Chuck's car drove up and parked. John and Chuck got out and came onto the patio, where Kenisha almost knocked John down hugging him. Chuck's women all crowded around him, hugging, and kissing him. Lisa had hung back, then when the bevy of women relaxed, she hugged him and gave him a special kiss. Someone handed John and Chuck a beer so they could relax a little. Someone else asked, "What happened out there?" That's when John said, "Give us time to soak up a little beer and something to eat. I want some of that pizza and at least one of those famous calzones first." When everyone was sitting back, more relaxed someone again asked what happened. John said, "I'll let Chuck tell you, and then I'll tell the real story." ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 28 Chuck Sunday mornings are fun out at the park. The women wear near nothing, driving us men crazy. I anticipated a good time. When I woke and began my exercises, John joined me on a treadmill, followed by some weights. He said, "It sure would be nice to have you close by. We could workout together. It's a lot more fun to do this stuff when you have a buddy." About that time, Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani came in and began using the other treadmill and the stationary bikes. Little Tiani said, "We like to work out with Chuck, here or in bed. Both are fun." That made me blush and John laugh. Lisa said, "Chuck will usually form Tae Chi in the morning. Now almost the whole house is out there doing it with him." John asked, "Do you still take lessons, Chuck?" "I only go to the dojo to spar now. Not as often as I should, but at least once a month. I sometimes join in a class for some discipline reinforcement." John said, "I didn't keep up with the martial arts. Probably should have, but I'm lazy." I said, "Not hardly, John. You may not practice martial arts, but you still exercise and go to the range. Along with your very stressful days, you definitely are not lazy." "Hey everyone," Tina hollered, "it's almost six thirty, let's head to the park for Sunday breakfast and the fashion show. The rest of the household was up, and already in their 'almost not there' gowns. When John saw Kenisha in the gown the girls gave her, he almost dragged her back to their room. The girls all brought along some clothes for later, but loaded up in cars as they were dressed. Out at the park, John was once again totally mesmerized by even more women wearing teasing, visually treating, gowns. It was a voyeur's paradise. Steve walked over as Jan and I were talking together and asked, "Is this private or can I ask you two a couple of things?" Jan said, "Anything we have to say about the Alcam group, you might as well hear. I was telling Chuck that the team leader from the DC front line group wants to do something tomorrow morning. The intel has more hired help coming to town, and the strike force feels it's getting closer to them making a move." I said, "Sarge says the observation teams have reported at least a dozen men have come to town. They drove in, so that means they brought their own tools." "The Miami Bureau, along with the Marshal's staff are ready to move in down there at the same time we move up here," Jan said. "They have cause to go in after them, so we might be able to clean out all the nests of rats at the same time." Steve asked, "What can I do? My security people are all ex-military and well trained." "Steve," I said, "You need to concentrate on your home area and your businesses. Your exposed areas would be the yacht area and the airpark. You've proven you can protect the airpark fairly well, so do the same at the marina, and make sure you're protected here and in the business park. We don't know how much they know about you, so anything can happen. If they can hurt your business, then the business value wouldn't be worth as much. If they can intimidate you into just giving it to them, they would be real money ahead." "Do you think we're safe during the daylight hours?" Steve asked. "They wouldn't do anything during the day, would they?" Jan said, "Probably not, but it would be good to stay vigilant. Since this is Sunday, they may think our guard is down, so keep your family close and keep your friends close as well." Steve said, "I don't like being threatened or being afraid to just be normal. Let's get Hap and make sure we have all the help he needs." Hap was having breakfast when the three of us sat down and Steve asked him. "Hap, Chuck and Jan say we need to be careful today as some bad guys may think we would be relaxed around here on Sunday. Do you have enough help to watch here, the airpark, the shops, and the marina?" Hap was nodding, "We have some Sheriff's deputies helping out part-time at the shop and now out at the airpark. We have some Pinellas county deputies at the Marina. We should be fine there. I have men all over the business park and we're protected pretty well here. We put two men over at the sports complex to make sure the people there are protected. I'm spending lots of your money, Steve, but we should be good." I said, "Sounds like you've put resources where you need, Hap. We just need to make sure all the units watch for any strange vehicles or something out of place." Hap said, "That is part of their marching orders. I've briefed all of the part-time deputies and they know this could be serious. I'm not saying we're impenetrable, but we should be damn near there." "Thanks," Steve said, "all of you. Hire as many as you think you need, Hap. This scares the shit out of me. If it were just me, no sweat, I can defend myself, but all these folks out here, the marina, and the airpark, are what I worry about." Everyone was eating breakfast when Steve stood up and said, "Listen, everyone, Mercy wants to go out on the big sail boat today. Tiny and Kevin are taking a couple of the big boats out too. How about all of us get ready and head over to the marina and enjoy a day on the water?" Heads were bobbing up and down, and even my bunch was all for it. I gathered the women from my household and told them that they were going sailing as there might be a problem around the park or even at home. They reluctantly agreed, only because they would get a chance to go out one of the sailboats they keep hearing about. Shortly after that, John received a call, and I noticed Jan receiving a call too. They both motioned me over to them, along with Hap. Jan said, "The strike team in Orlando said a group of eight SUVs just left there. Our people are following them in the direction of I-4 right now." Steve had joined us and said, "Damn, they were supposed to wait until tomorrow." Sarge called me and asked, "Where do you think they are going?" "I don't know, Sarge, the only thing I can think of would be the airpark, but they already know there is going to be security there. I'm not sure what they think they would gain if they went there en masse." Sarge said, "I agree with you, but for some reason I think they may want to cause some grief where Steve lives, or out at his business park. They don't know what security he has there, so it may seem like an easy target." I had an idea, "Sarge, I'm going to get hold of the County Sheriff's office and ask if they could just detail a bunch of cars to sit in front of the access points of the business park and the trailer park. I'm sure if the people coming see a show of force, they will pass it by and go on out to the airpark. We can be ready for them out there. Have you got a helicopter in the air yet, or is Orlando handling that?" "The Bureau just put a bird in the air and Orlando is following them but off to the south of the highway, staying out of direct sight," Sarge said. "Our bird is going to do the same from the other side." Thinking of what would be the best way to handle eight vehicles of at least six per vehicle, I said, "Detail a team to get out to the airpark and close it down. Lock up everything and get any of the workers either out of there or where they can't get hurt. Make the techs shut all of the hangar doors so there is no easy access. I think we should have some men already waiting there and for another group to follow them in. If we can get enough men, we can have people at both ends of the runway so there is nowhere to run." Sarge said, "Let me get that started with the Bureau. We have enough time to get it ready. You call the County Sheriff and get that started." I found Mickey and asked her to help me get a contingent of patrol cars parked all along the business park entrance and the trailer park entrance. She said she would make sure there were at least three cars at every access point. She said, "Glad I'll be here instead of out at the airpark. That wild cowboy stuff scares the 'you know what' out of me." Steve's folks had packed up and were quickly out of the park. That still left several hundred people and families there, but the show of force in front should convince intruders it wouldn't be a good idea to come on in. I directed Hap to be in charge of his security people at the park, and to arrange them so that if cars did turn into the park, they could stop them at any entrance or access point. Jan asked me what John and I were going to do. I said, "We're going to get ready, and when the group passes here, we are going to follow them and be part of the closing group that follows them into the airpark." Jan said, "The Bureau is going to have a couple of dozen men out there with some of the deputies. There should be both deputies and agents at each end of the runway with the security men. There are security men in each building and Sarge said he would put at least one man with each security man. That should keep them out of buildings." Jan brought her portable up to her mouth and said, "Go ahead." The handheld broadcast, "We're passing Plant City now, so we're about forty minutes out at the pace they're going. We can't see into the vehicles, but they appear to be heavily loaded. We're guessing six to eight men in each vehicle." Jan said, "Ten four, we're setting up now. Tell me if they turn off toward seventy-five or come to two seventy-five." John came up to me and said, "I just got a call from the Director. He said that they are going to hit all of the Alcam offices and operations as soon as the first contact here is made. He said even the Marshal was getting nervous about this one." He turned and looked around and asked, "Show me what you're carrying in your trunk again. Hope there is at least one more vest around here." Jan heard him and said, "Come with me, John, I have a vest you can use. It says FBI all over it, but it'll keep you safe." John came back wearing the FBI vest as did Jan and Wanda. I asked Wanda, "What are you doing? You should have gone with Steve." "Not a chance. Marie and I are in on this one. It's in our backyard and we're part of the service. We'll stay here and make sure the place is secure, but we're not going away from where we might be needed." I told them, "Good, stay here with Hap's security people, Mickey, and the county people. If by chance these guys turn in here, find cover first then use your skills. Don't waste ammo on shots that are too long. Wait for them to get up close, just like the decision course. You know the drill." The two girls smiled at me then gave me a hug. That's a strange way to get ready to do business. Jan said, "I'll ride with you guys out to the airpark if you follow them. I've already told the chief what I was doing. He's so nervous; he's going to have another heart attack if he doesn't settle down." Jan's radio crackled, "They turned up I-75 and look like they're turning toward the trailer park. They are going to come from the south on Fletcher. It'll be a little bit before they get there." This waiting was making me nervous. I was always the aggressor, always pushing ahead to stop an attack. I went to them, not waiting for them to come to me. A few minutes later Jan's radio broadcast, "The group is approaching from the south. They are about two minutes away." I had John and Jan get into the car and drove toward the gate. If these guys turned in here, the three of us couldn't hold them but we would be a hell of a bump in the road. We parked beside the security shack where I noted the guard had what looked like an M-16. Hap was buying decent stuff. There were two County Sheriff's cars parked at the entrance, so it was doubtful the convoy would turn in here. The first car had slowed in front of the trailer park but then accelerated down the road with seven more big Chevrolet Suburbans following. As soon as they were nearly out of sight, I pulled out to follow them. We had just begun to follow the convoy, when I noticed that what looked like half the Sheriff's cars were coming with me. Jan said, "I can see two helicopters watching them, so the airpark people will know the time frame. It's only ten minutes out to there. I followed them right to the front of the airpark where the lead car didn't even stop. It drove straight through the closed gate, knocking it down, then drove across the runway. When that car got near the hangar, he stopped and all the other cars stopped in a row next to it. I had pulled up behind the operations building and the Sheriff's cars followed me. We were watching as more and more men climbed out of the SUVs. Only half of them had rifles, but a bunch had what looked like machine pistols, Mac10s and Uzi's. Those things sprayed rounds. I asked a county deputy if he had a bullhorn. He nodded and got one out of his trunk. Going to the side of the building, but not out of cover, I turned the horn on, "This is federal law enforcement. You are surrounded." About sixty men began shooting in my direction. Thank goodness everyone was behind the building. Rounds were hitting everywhere, skipping off the pavement, ricocheting off metal rails and poles, and the concrete block of the building. I tried again, "You are outnumbered, put down your weapons, you are surrounded." More rounds were fired toward where they thought I was. Behind me, I heard a short scream then a lot of cussing. It sounded like Jan, but if she was cussing, I didn't have to worry about her. I kept focused on the men now standing and looking toward the operations building. From the other side of the hangars, another bullhorn broadcast, "You are surrounded, put down your weapons." The group as a whole turned and fired toward the rear of the hangars. John came up beside me as I was raising my rifle. We both fired at the same time knocking down the first two men. We kept firing, knocking down at least ten before some men turned back around toward us and began firing. Of course, we were already down behind a concrete wall. One of the deputies said, "Some of them are getting in their truck. They're heading toward the end of the runway. Look, there are Sheriff's cars down there." About that time, I saw a car heading the other way on the runway, knowing that a reception committee was waiting in that direction as well. I peeked over the low wall to see several of the men who had been shooting at us run toward the hangars. They were splitting up. With so many men still trying to fight, this was going to take a while. I turned to the deputies and said, "Stay here. If any of you are good with a rifle, snipe them. Make sure of your target before you fire. There are a lot of law enforcement agencies out here. Whoever is best with a rifle, do the deed. John, you and I are going to get closer in, using the car as cover. Looking around, I could see Jan with her shirt torn off her arm. She had the sleeve wrapped around it and wasn't looking happy. She said, "I want to go with you. Don't you object. It isn't going to hurt me to help you out. Three of us can look in three different directions. Now, let's go." I headed to my car, with John and Jan following. I said, "I'm going to pull to about the end of the hangar and turn sideways. All of us get out on the driver's side. John, you and Jan ride in the back seat." We drove across the tarmac, but went to the outer hangar where there would be less places to hide. I pulled the car out in the open from the hangar and stopped. We all got out of the car as it was hit multiple times with rounds fired from men trying to hide in the small space where the doors and wall meet. I slid to the front of the car and found a target. I downed that one and found the next. John was firing steadily, the same way as I was. Jan yelled, "The car that went to the north end of the runway is coming back. We're exposed." I told John and Jan, "Fire at the tires, slow it down. I'll fire at the windshield; you can bet they don't have bulletproof glass." Jan was firing immediately, saying, "Yeah, they don't have protected cars, do they?" The car ground to a stop and four men jumped out. Jan, John, and I put them all down in a second. Who knows who shot which one? It would take the CSI and coroner teams to figure that out, if they wanted to. One of the Sheriff's cars had come across the runway and had parked where we were, but on the far side of Steve's hangars. They were firing a lot and I could hear fire coming from between the hangars to the side of us. Jan was watching in that direction when two men came running back toward the cars still parked there. They didn't look armed at that point, so they must have dropped their empty weapons. The car they climbed into spun around and headed out of the airpark. A volley of Sheriff's rifles stopped the car dead. Jan's radio began to chatter. The ends of the runway were reporting in. There wasn't any more firing, but we needed to be careful as someone could be hiding anywhere. I said to John, "Let's check the five vehicles first, then join in sweeping the place." Jan said, "The first group that took off to the south end of the runway was neutralized. Maybe we can find a couple people still alive and question them." John joked, "Then you better get Chuck to put his rifle down. I think he's pissed that someone would mess with his airplanes." "They're not all mine, John," I said, glaring a little. "Most of them are Steve's." As the Sheriff's deputies came across the runway, I directed them to slowly go around this hangar, then come down between the two main hangars. I could see the Bureau and deputy contingent sweeping the far hangars. John stood up and said, "That was a long fire fight. They were about to put up a hell of a fight. Glad they ran out of ammo. Those little machine pistols are scary, but not a very good fighting tool when the only thing those guys know is full auto." As I stood up, Jan pointed to my right shoe. The whole front of the shoe on my prosthetic foot was blown off. "Didn't you feel that?" Jan asked. "Too busy worrying about what was in front of me, Jan. You okay, you know you're going to have an adrenaline rush like you won't believe. I see a paramedic truck, go get that looked at." Jan's radio crackled then, "Steve Sharp's boat is under some kind of attack out in the gulf. We got a call from the Coast Guard as they are aware of our posture here right now because of the marina. I'll let you know what's going on as soon as I hear." Damn, I sent the women out on the boat to be safe and someone is messing with them out there. Steve and his girls are tough and a formidable force when they need to be. John asked, "Kenisha's there with them, can Steve handle this?" "They should be all right, John. I saw them hold off and totally annihilate some pirates on the sailing trip I took with them. You read the reports from the Coast Guard." John was shaking his head, "But Kenisha doesn't know how to fight." "I'm sure Steve has her and the kids all below deck. That big sailboat is strong and rifle rounds won't go through the steel hull. Tiny and Kevin were taking two other boats out there, so it isn't like they are alone." I said this knowing Kevin and Tiny had no training, and probably only had a couple of rifles between them. Steve's group was savvy and he had taught them how to fight off boarding pirates. I hope they had enough firepower on board. John said, "I need to find out what happened out there." "Follow Jan, she has a radio to the Bureau and should be able to find out what's going on." John asked, "You're not worried?" "Not with Steve and his ladies. Like I said, they are a formidable force." John just shook his head and ran after Jan. I began directing men to check downed men for anyone needing medical attention. The important thing was to separate the downed men from their weapons. Several of the agents and Deputy Marshals had some prisoners walking up between the hangars. We put them out, laying face down on the tarmac, until we could get them searched and cuffed. Medical people were going between each group of downed people, confirming dead or wounded as they moved from person to person. Two helicopters landed on the runway on each side of where the action had taken place. There were three more helicopters flying around, but all had television station markings on them. It took most of an hour to get a count and condition inventory of the group that came. A total of sixty-three had come. Eleven were now walking prisoners, thirteen were wounded and going to be transported to hospitals, leaving forty that were going to be pushing up daisies. That was a bunch of dead. The old Major from the Sheriff's Department came up to me and said, "Thank you for keeping my men out of the line of fire. They said you and that other guy were knocking them down left and right." "I don't know about that, but we did pretty well. You know we're not supposed to be shooting all the time. We need to capture the bad guys." The Major said, "We have it all on tape and video. You guys were doing a straightforward bust. The group that came started firing, and from the looks of the building over there, they shot the hell out of it. Good thing there aren't any windows in that area." "That's the little equipment room. There are windows everywhere else. I heard some glass break, but not a lot. Your men did a good job. I'm proud to have worked with them. Their presence at the trailer park kept these guys moving out to here where we could control the situation. You need to go door to door out here to make sure there weren't any stray rounds that hurt anyone." "We're already doing that. Mickey is working with your CSI crews to help get this cleaned up. It's going to take a while though," the Major said, as he turned to direct his people. Sarge and the Bureau Chief showed up. They both looked haggard from the strain. Sarge said, "You know this shit isn't supposed to happen around home, but I'm sure glad you and John were around." Sarge said, "We just heard your boat people are all okay and had held off a couple of boats that wanted to board their sailboat. The Coast Guard is on the scene and everyone is okay." The Bureau Chief said, "How come you let my assistant get wounded? Wasn't she staying back where she was supposed to be?" "There was so much lead flying for a while, that it was probably a ricochet. I'm surprised that's our only casualty." Sarge said, "One of our deputies got a round in the thigh down on the end of the runway, and I think that's all of our damage." "Good deal, hopefully all the other take downs are going well," I said, feeling relieved. "This was nuts. I'm interested to know where all these guys came from. I didn't think there were that many idiots that lived in this neck of the woods." "You guys direct your men and let's get this place cleaned up so people can go flying." Sarge told me, "This place is closed today, all day. There will be no flights in or out of here except the law birds. They can open in the morning." When I found Jan, she was cursing again because they had to put a few stitches in her arm. I told her it gave her character. She snorted and said, "That and a scar. Don's going to have a fit." "It's your job, Jan. This will probably be the most action you'll ever see, at least I hope so. This will also be good for your résumé. You might even get a station out of this." Jan gave me a crooked grin, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm waiting for the new house first. Don wants to get our own place, but I keep telling him that we're better off living with you all." "Don't lose the guy, Jan," I said. "He's a good guy. He really cares for you and the two of you are a good match." "He's just blowing smoke," Jan waved me off. "He thinks its nuts that I carry a gun, while he teaches hand to hand. I told him that it was all good and he loves my wakeup in the morning." Jan gave me a wink, knowing I would understand. About six, I told John, "Unless we're supposed to supervise someone, let's get out of here. I think a beer or drink would be in order. We'll do our reports when we get to the house. You're not going anywhere this week anyway, so let's go party." We said goodbye to everyone and checked with everyone to make sure they were taken care of. I found Jan and told her to come with us. She was undecided until her boss said for her to get. Back at the trailer park, there were still some Sheriff's units near the entrances, so I asked the gate guard if there was a problem. He said, "Hap wants these rental deputies and his extra men here all night, until he's sure the park is going to be safe. I like having the deputies out here, they make my life very pleasant." The folks were already back from sailing, so we were immediately hit with questions as to what happened. The first thing I said was, "You tell me what all happened, then we'll tell you. I want something to drink though, and I'm hungry. I want some of those calzones I see on the table." I had a big Beefeaters, while John had a scotch. We drank our drinks while hearing about the attack on the sailboat. When they were done, John said, "Chuck said I didn't need to worry about you all. He said that Steve and his ladies were a deadly formidable force. I guess you are." Kenisha told him, "I didn't even know what was going on. We were downstairs with all the kids watching a movie, and then Mercy came down and told us we could come back out. I thought the movie was part of the trip." Then Tiny handed me a beer and asked, "Now, tell us what happened out at the airpark." That's when John said, "Give us time to soak up a little more beer and some more to eat. I want more of that pizza, and at least one of those famous calzones first." When everyone was sitting back, more relaxed, someone again asked what happened. John said, "I'll let Chuck tell you then I'll tell the real story." I gave John a mean look then began, "We were told about this convoy of eight vehicles heading our way by helicopters that were watching them. You may not have seen them, but the Sheriff sent a bunch of cruisers to park all up and down the road, blocking access to the business park and here. We watched the group of Suburbans pass here then followed them out to the airpark, with a bunch of the Sheriff's cruisers following us." "The bad guys drove right through the gate and across the runway. While they were parking in a row between the hangars, we parked behind the operations building. I don't think they realized they had been followed." "When I made an announcement on a bullhorn, they all turned and began firing at where they thought I was. It was during that time Jan was hit by a ricochet or something that chipped off somewhere. Another agent, also using a bullhorn, announced from the back of the hangars, so the bad guys began shooting at them." I took a drink of my beer. "John and I began shooting and knocked down a couple. I think Jan was shooting too. They figured out that they were being shot at from multiple directions and scattered. Some got into a couple of the Suburbans and drove toward the ends of the runway." "John, Jan, and I ended up driving across the tarmac and parking so we could use the car for cover. We picked up a lot of fire, but that didn't bother us too much as the car hid us pretty well. From there on it was pretty cut and dried. The rest of the bunch pretty much gave up." Jan was looking at me like I had two heads. John was just shaking his head. Tiny caught John and said, "Okay, John, your turn, or should we ask Jan first." John said, "Go ahead, Jan, add what you want." Jan laughed and said, "For the most part, the events happened about in that order, but Chuck didn't say that when we began shooting back the first time, I wasn't any help because I only had a pistol at over fifty yards. I was watching and John forgot to chamber a round in the MP5 and by the time he had a round chambered, the safety off, and had made sure he was on single fire, the bad guys were already taking off. I might have hit one of them, but I don't think John fired a shot. Chuck just mowed 'em down. He was doing it like target practice, going from left to right hitting each of those men until they scattered." "When we drove the car over to the building, he was picking off stragglers every chance he had, and when the car came back from the end of the runway, he told John and I to shoot at the tires while he blasted away at the interior of the car. Nope, he didn't leave anyone walking or moving." "He was directing people where to go, how to pinch the stragglers in, and how to get them to give up. Chuck was really commanding out there. Let John tell you." John took a drink of his beer and said, "I've seen Chuck under fire and know how focused he is, so it didn't surprise me that he took over and told Jan and I when to fire. Like Jan said, by the time I figured out how to shoot the MP5, Chuck had done the damage. Each time there was a confrontation, he was the first to react, but kept telling us to keep our heads down and when to fire. The county guys think Chuck is some sort of one man war machine. The Major out there, Mickey's dad, thinks Chuck and Steve walk on water. That's the way it was, except Chuck forgot to tell you a round trashed the shoe on his prosthesis. He doesn't know when it happened, but I can tell you that it happened when we confronted the first stragglers over by the hangar. I saw his foot fly back, but he didn't even flinch, He kept right on firing at the moving targets. Now that's focused." My women were crowded around me and were pointing at my trashed shoe. Tiani said, "And I liked those shoes. You'll have to go out and get yourself some new kicks. We'll all go help you pick them out." Nancy leaned forward and said to the people crowded around, "If you don't know, in the hood kicks are what they call shoes." That brought a lot of belly laughs. I asked Steve about his encounter, and he said, "Kind of like yours. Some incompetent pirates tried to take a big boat from a group that knows how to fight. It wasn't as tough as the time with you down in the Caribbean. One of the crew didn't wait and began firing quickly, so the rest of us finished the job fast. By the time the Coast Guard got there, maybe one or two of the pirates were still alive. None of them got close enough to even attempt to throw a grappling hook over the side." Steve looked at Sue, Kathy, Juanita, and Mercy and asked, "What did you think?" Juanita said, "I only had a shotgun and no one got close enough." "I shot once at the cabin where the helm should be, but I don't know if I hit anything or not," Kathy said. "The boat did stop going forward though." Mercy said, "I had a shotgun too, so I didn't get to shoot at all. I was near Juanita on the rear deck where the ladder is. But no one came over the side." Everyone looked at Sue, "So I shot a couple of times, but there was only one good target for me to shoot at from up on the bow. The crewman and Steve shot everyone else that even looked like a potential pirate." Tiny said, "From where I was, it didn't look like the pirates had much of a chance. They motored up on us, declaring over the radio they were going to take the sailboat. I don't think so, not with the whole Sharp household on board." I asked Jan, "Find out how the Bureau did in Orlando and Miami." Jan went over behind the bar and made a few calls on her cell phone. She came back and said, "They are still cleaning up out at the airpark and over in Orlando. Apparently, the Alcam guys were going to try to bust up the other air charter company over there, but our guys were on it. Up in Daytona, a group attempted to intimidate the boat charter people there, but the owners and the local police were able to maim and capture all the attackers. Now, down in Miami, they only picked up fourteen of the men they were after. There are four to six that they missed. They said the ones they didn't get are very dangerous and could be seeking revenge." Hap was standing there and said, "We'll just keep the extra talent around here and out at the marina and airpark. That should help us sleep. All the men know that if anything at all looks suspicious, they are to call me and backup immediately." I said, "Too bad the house you girls are considering isn't built yet. It would be good to be out here while this is going on." Steve said, "You know, we have all the room needed for all of you to stay over tonight. Jan and Don, John and Wanda, Marie and Dennis, all of you can stay here tonight if you want." I said, "We'll go home. Everyone has to go to work tomorrow, so we need to start out from home. Clothes and all you know. I'm only fifteen minutes max from here if anything happens. Hap, you have my number, so just call if anything at all happens. I'll be here in a flash." John said, "You know, I'm letting down now and am really tired. How about let's mount up and get back to your place. I could use the bed." John turned to Jan and asked, "How about you, Jan, how are you doing? You should have had a pretty good letdown by now." Jan said, "I'm still wired. I want to shoot more of those bastards that shot at me." Her guy, Don, said, "Shot at you and hit you. You need to get some long sleeve body armor, Honey. I want to keep you around." All of the people from my place began gathering their stuff and taking it to the cars. We had brought three vehicles and filled them back up quickly. After hugs and kisses all around, we left for the house. Once home, I turned on all of the perimeter alarms and made sure all of the video monitors were working. I walked across the street and out into the heavy grass near the woods then came back toward the house. Inside, John said that the alarm tripped as soon as I was walking toward the heavy grass and the video picked me up and he was able to zoom in on me. That's what I wanted. The girls were talking about going home as they needed clothes, but I insisted they stay here. I said, "You know, I want you all where I can watch you. Knowing everyone here is safe is what I want." John was talking to me about possibly staying at the house down on Key West. Little Tiani had big ears and asked, "What house in Key West?" "It's just a place a guy had that I've got the keys for. We might go down, but it isn't big and the bed is too small for us. We would have to buy a bunch of blow up mattresses and put them together to sleep the way we do." Brandy said, "Hey, we can sacrifice for a house in Key West. How long will you have the keys?" "For a while, the guy kind of owes me, so we'll have to see. It's on a really busy street, but is just a couple blocks from the beach. We'll see." Frieda said, "You know, the Key West sun would be good for us pregnant women. All of us need that special beach and sunshine they have down there." I asked, "What about your jobs?" Brandy said, "We'll have trouble keeping these three working after they have their babies. Now they're talking about being stay at home moms. If they do that, they'll just get fat and mean. They need to work so our kids know it's a good thing to work." I was going to stay out of this fight any way I could. Tina said, "You know, Lena and I would get lonely if you all left us here while you went down there." "Spring break is coming," Tiani said, excitedly. Lena smiled and said, "Yeah, spring break in the Keys. That would be a blast. Only the rich kids get to do that." Brandy was smiling, "Stick with us, Honey, us girls are the rich kids, especially now that we have Chuck and Lisa." Lisa laughed, "You guys are too much. How is it that I'm rich now?" Brandy said, "Well, Chuck may not be rich, but he's doing pretty damn good. You're part of Chuck, so you're doing pretty damn good now too. Just hang with us, Lisa. The 'Fab Five' as Chuck calls us will take care of you." Frieda was laughing and said, "I've heard that he calls us the 'Fickle Five' too, along with several other classic descriptive names." Judy joined in, "Well, we do deserve most of the weird names you can come up with. We've put Chuck through a lot and he still wants us. That says something for the patience of the man. Come on everyone, my body says it's time for bed." We all migrated to our sleeping quarters as I made one last round to make sure the house was secure. John was still up and asked, "You don't think they would come here do you? Are you even listed as a resident here yet?" "There is the deed, but who knows. Better to be safe than just sure. Goodnight, John, you can sleep with both eyes shut." "Goodnight, Chuck, thanks for having us. Perhaps you can take us down to Key West for a couple of days." The girls were congregated in the big bed already. There was a space in the middle between Lisa and Brandy. All of them were smiling at me and when I moved up to lay down, all eight climbed on and were kissing me. They didn't stay long and moved to hug the back of the person facing me. Lisa and Brandy were each on a shoulder. Brandy asked Lisa, "When you marry Chuck, can we all be bridesmaids? I'm so excited that you will be the one. We all love you so much." Lisa answered softly, "Chuck hasn't asked me yet, but when he does, you bet. All of you will be there. If he could marry us all, I'd make him do it. Thank you all for thinking of me the way you do." Tiani rolled on top of me and said, "See, Buster, you have to catch up with this. Take this girl somewhere and propose so we can all get married. We want to take you off the market." I laughed, "Don't you guys think I'm off the market? My goodness, a man couldn't want anything more than what I have around me everyday. All of you are really an important part of my life." In soft voice, Lena asked from the side of the bed, "Me too?" "You too, Lena, you're important to me as well." The long tall girl leaned way over and gave me a sloppy kiss and said, "Thanks, Chuck." Tiani wiggled back across Brandy and snuggled behind her. I kissed Lisa on her now wet eyes and hugged her closer to me. She raised her face and kissed me so softly, we could have continued all night. Brandy was tugging at me and I kissed her too. Both girls were snuggled into my shoulders as I drifted off. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 29 Steve I woke up several times during the night, hearing things that were normal sounds. Sure wish Chuck had stayed, I would have felt a lot more secure. Funny how a guy like that can make you feel safe. He's just a guy, a one- legged guy with a crooked smile, who is as friendly as a kitten. He can be vicious when he's on the job though. Drinking coffee at 5:55 in the morning is a good way to enjoy the day. I called down to the gate guard to see how everything was going and he said that everything throughout the park had been quiet. He said that he had heard from the shop, the marina, and the airpark and everything was good. I reached up and flipped on the lights that caused a nearby door to slam and a figure to walk across the grass toward the patio. Glenda came in, gave me a hug, and poured herself some coffee. She said, "I saw you out here around five thirty, but I figured you had things on your mind. Is everything okay?" "So far, so good, Glenda. Wish we had more time to go sailing though. We might have to take a week and take a ride across the gulf or something. We're all getting the itch." Glenda said, "You know, if you guys were to sail to Europe again, I might even talk Martin into going with you. He's really enjoyed going sailing with you and it would be easy on him." Mercy came out and hugged Glenda. She said, "That would be wonderful, Glenda. You and Martin could have a real vacation. We all would love that." Mercy gave me a hug and a kiss, sat on my lap, and said, "You know what? Everything is safe. I feel it. We're all safe, Chuck and his folks are all safe and I think the bad guys are trying to recover something in Orlando. Why don't you call Jan so she can alert the people in Orlando?" Mercy handed me the phone that she had already brought out. I called Chuck's and he answered on the first ring, "Johnson." I said, "Relax, Mercy says for you to tell Jan to have the Bureau watch things over in Orlando. She thinks they are going to try to get something there." Chuck said, "I'll tell her, but I'll call over there right now to make sure they know right away. There should be a deputy team assigned to watch the place while the investigation is still on. Let me call, I'll talk to you later," Chuck said, and hung up. Mercy had a funny look on her face and she smiled. "Chuck is thinking of us and he's trying to feel what I feel from over there. We don't know those people, so we can't get a feel for them. But I've felt this type of thing before and I just feel it. Those men from Miami are over there." People were coming into the patio, getting coffee, still talking about yesterday's excitement. The cable news was broadcasting about the wild gunfight at the airpark and the associated raids in Daytona, Orlando, and Miami. They even had a one minute piece about how two boats had attempted to hijack a big sailboat, but were beaten off by the boat crew. The kids had eaten and were getting ready to go up to the rec center for school. The moms were gathering them to walk them up. When that bunch leaves in the morning, there is a vacuum where they had been. The patio is so full of life for that time when they are getting ready for school, then whoosh, they're gone. I was considering leaving for the shop when Chuck called, he said, "Tell Mercy she was right on. Just about the time I called, the duty men watching the place saw activity and called for backup. They caught two, and two are on their way to the morgue. No one is taking any chances after the wild day yesterday. Anyway, thank the lady and tell her she has to teach me how to do that." Mercy already knew who was on the phone and what he had said. She said, "He was talking to me at the same time he was talking to you. He's so open sometimes, it's like he's standing right next to me. He hears me the same way, but he tries not to listen since he thinks it's private. One of these days, he'll learn." "See, right now he heard me talk to you, and he's telling me to hush and to get out of his head. It's amazing how much we can talk to each other." Mercy leaned to me and said for only me to hear, "There's another one over there that has this same gift. Lisa is hearing Chuck and me. She hears Chuck clearly and wonders how. I'm going to talk to her. Hopefully, mom will hurry and get down here as she is so good at talking to someone about the gift." I smiled, thinking that having Mercy, Missy, Chuck, and now the ever surprising Lisa, with the gift of mind talking will be a definite good time. Chuck is so bashful about his gift that it will be crazy for Lisa to be able to communicate with him the way Mercy does. Juanita was worried that Mercy was too much into Chuck. Well, I want the two of them to be the best of friends, with my blessing. Now with Lisa in the mix, those three are going to be a crazy group to be around. Hap and Mickey came up to me, and Mickey said, "I've just got word from Orlando that the men that escaped the bust in Miami were caught trying to get something in Orlando. They are looking for whatever it was they went over there for now." I wonder what it was. Sue said, "I have to do some things at the old factory this morning. I might have to fly up to DC for a contract talk. They want to change some material specifications, so it might require a group of us. I'll fly, so there's no need for more. I'll probably try to take a King Air. It's perfect for our management group." "A Lear is about the same and at least thirty to forty-five minutes faster," I said, thinking that speed would be important. "Yeah, but I like to have a second with me in the Lear. The Beechcraft is quieter anyway. I'll take Chuck's since it is so nice. Anyway, I need to check a bunch of things. If I have to go, I'll call you." Sue kissed me and gave me a big hug. I was the last one on the patio when my cell phone rang. It was Chuck. "Hey, Steve, how about flying over to Orlando? We might make a few deals over there. Since it was your businesses that were targeted, you might get some preference." "What do you mean, Chuck? What kind of preference, and for what?" Chuck laughed and said, "Just fly over there with me and we'll take a look. If you're not interested, I might be. Come on, we'll take John with us to smooth the way. Brandy, Tiani, and the pregnant three are going to entertain Kenisha today, so go with me, okay?" "Sure, Chuck, do you want to come by for me or should we meet you at the airpark?" "Meet me at the airpark. Lisa is going with us and maybe we can get that guy, Tank, to ride along. We can use his eye." "What are you getting me into, Chuck?" "Relax, it's all good. You always say to take advantage of opportunities. Just meet me out there. DeDe has a 208 for us. It's either that or we take one of your helicopters." "An airplane is fine. I'll meet you. I'll probably beat you out there." I didn't beat them out there, as Chuck had called enroute. John, Lisa, and Chuck were talking to Tank in the helicopter shop. They were looking at the way the floor had turned out with a giant S&S logo painted in the middle of it. The two helicopters were sitting there, looking pristine, ready to leap into the air on demand. As I came in, Tank said to me, "You know, Steve, you need this guy as a partner in this place out here. The guy has got some kind of luck going his way. Come on, let's get over to Orlando." We flew over to an executive airfield between downtown and Disney. When we landed, we asked for and received permission to park at the Alcam buildings. There were still lots of cars and white federal vans parked around the area. John and Chuck walked into the melee of federal officers showing their badges. The local station chief took them into the nearest Alcam hangar. The rest of us followed along, surprised that Chuck was given so much respect by all of the deputies and agents. There were three passenger helicopters sitting waiting to be flown, just like the two in our hangar at home. On the other side of the hangar was a giant Sikorsky Skycrane. Tank pointed at the three smaller helicopters and said, "They have two of the Bell 206s like we have, and they also have a 210. The 210 is the military Huey, but it is reconfigured for civilian use. It's a real workhorse." The Orlando station chief walked up to the nearest small helicopter and said, "Johnson, you've been buying airplanes, and I know your friend here, Mr. Sharp, has just gotten into helicopters. Alcam wholly-owned the aircraft in this hangar. They're the property of Uncle Sam right now, but if you want them, DC says to give them to you at something over fifty percent of book value. They figure if we keep them and try to auction them, by the time we get that done, they'll need more maintenance and they'll lose more value." I looked at Chuck who looked back at me then the Marshal's station chief, "I don't know what these things are worth." I said, "A lot." Tank said, "Yep, they're worth a lot, but if we were to get these, we could use them or market them. We're turning down business now. That 210, the Huey, looks like it would be perfect for that county mosquito gig there's a bid open on. The bid would justify that bird and make a profit." The Chief said, "In the hangar next door are two older helicopters used for teaching. They are Schweizer 269s. They look pretty good and the records for all the aircraft here are in the office." Tank asked, "What about that big Sikorsky?" The Chief said, "The Coast Guard is going to come look at it, but they said that it would be easier if a civilian owned it and they just contracted it. They use them for setting buoys and to lift some of their smaller craft out of the water." Tank said, "That thing is worth about fifteen million. It costs a fortune to fly it too. It has a five hundred gallon fuel tank that doesn't last all that long." Chuck was just standing there with his mouth open. I smiled at him and asked, "So what is it going to take to make a quick deal on all of these and the trainers." "DC told me what to get from Chuck, or in this case, you. You can have the big one for five million, the two smaller helicopters for a million two, and a million four, and the 210 for eight hundred. They said that if you would take all of them and get them out of here, they would give you the two trainers. You can load up all the parts and tools they have here, but there is something DC wants." Chuck came out of it and asked, "What kind of string did they put on the deal?" "There are five pilots and three mechanics that are going to be out of a job," the chief stated. "They want you to hire them. We've run all eight and they are all ex-military and all clean. They have even been feeding us some information to help us build a case against the Alcam people. You hire them and you have a deal." I walked away from the group and called Tiny. "Do you know if I can afford a little under ten million to buy some aircraft?" Tiny was quick, "You can and you can't. You can if you strip both your personal and the business cash, but then if you do that, you're going to be short on operating capital. You know who you need to hit up for that, don't you?" "Who, Tiny? Who has a spare ten million?" "Your buddy, Chuck, does. Ben was telling me Chuck is really flush lately and needs to use some of the profits his investments have been returning. Look what you just did with only a part of the Hawaiian stuff. The man has the money, so twist his arm. Besides, you two need to be partners in something more than hotels." "Thanks, Tiny, let me talk to him." I waved at Chuck and he came over to me. "Chuck, I shouldn't know that much about your business, but I know you can get into this deal. I would be short of capital if I bought this stuff. I can't pass it up as it's over twenty million worth of goods for less than ten. According to Tiny, Ben said you have more than enough. How would you like to help those eight men relocate to Tampa and also be a major owner in a helicopter business?" Chuck's jaw was dropped again. He looked at me through squinted eyes and pulled his cell phone. "Ben Phillips, please." We could only hear Chuck's side of conversation. "Ben, I need ten million to buy something. Can I get that or borrow it?" "No way." "No fucking way, Ben." "Sorry, my mouth can get raw sometimes." "How hard is it going to be to make that much liquid?" "I don't carry a checkbook. "My debit card? Really? This is the Feds; do you think they'll take it?" "Okay, just make sure the bank will cover it. I'm going to give it to them right now." Chuck hung up and looked at me and smiled. "Ben says I can do it. Shoot fire, we'll be employing a bunch of people with this much equipment. Now, that's helping someone." We walked back to the group and Chuck told the station chief, "It's a deal. You can use my debit card and finish the deal." The chief looked at Chuck, "What in the hell are you doing with that kind of money?" Chuck said, "It's a long story. Some guy tried to hurt me a couple of times and this attorney in Tampa knows how to separate someone from their money." "The guy must have been important, or at least rich," the chief said. "He's a big shot star and has more money than common sense. So far, the money has been employing people. This will do the same. Do me a favor though, and don't talk this up, okay? Something like this will only make those DC clowns get on my case even more." "Gotcha, Chuck, let's get this done, then I can show you their fixed wing stuff." Chuck said, "Oh shit, please, no more." I said, "Don't worry; we'll only take what we need. You know we do have some rental and charter needs." Chuck gave the station chief his debit card, who then wrote down the numbers from it. He made a call on his cell phone and read off the numbers he had copied. We walked to the office in the hangar where a fax machine was spitting out paper. When it was done, the chief walked over to the copy machine and made two copies of everything. When he was done, he turned around and handed Chuck and me each a copy and said, "Let me introduce you to your new employees so you can get this shit out of my hangars." We went into a big lunch room where five men and five women were sitting at picnic tables. The chief announced, "For you original eight, this man is Steve Sharp, owner of S&S air charters in Tampa. He has purchased the four aircraft in the hangar and the two trainers next door. He has also agreed, as I promised you, that you original eight have a job at his place in Tampa. You other two need to ask about whether there are jobs for you there as well." The chief turned to me and said, "These other two women were not around when we interviewed the employees at first. The one lady, Betty, is the office manager, and was in charge of helicopter charters. This other lady is another mechanic who just started working here," the chief said this, and turned to the lady. "Joy, right?" The lady nodded. "Joy just got out of the army and this is her first job opportunity. If you want or need another mechanic, there she is. She doesn't have her own tools yet, but she is a qualified instructor pilot." I said to Betty, "Tell you what, since you know the ins and outs of helicopter charter, I could use you. Would you have a problem moving to Tampa, or at least out near the airpark where we are?" Betty said, "No, not at all. Just tell me when and where I need to be at work, and I'll be there." Turning to Joy I said, "I'm sure we can find a place for you. We're going to be short on space in the beginning, but we can use someone with your skills. Have you done much instruction on fixed wing?" Joy smiled and said, "I've been doing aeroclub instruction for the last three years. I've done some rotary wing instruction, but all in old Hillers. I'm not even checked out in Schweizers." "I'm sure we can fix that." I looked at all the men and other women and said, "Go into the office and have the office manager, what is your name again, Ma'am?" "Betty, Mr. Sharp." "Ah, it's Steve to all of you." I smiled at them then added, "Have Betty write up your names, social security numbers, current addresses, and send it to this fax number. My HR lady, Ruth, will begin processing this so you can get put on the payroll. You all need to get a bus or something and go over to Tampa to see where you might want to live. The company will pick up moving expenses, so you're not going to be out that. Now, if the pilots would stick around, I want to get some of these aircraft over to Tampa." The chief said, "Good deal. Now let me show you what else you might want." We walked over to another big hangar to find four Cessna 172s, a King Air, an Eclipse business jet, and an Embraer Brazilian business jet. I said, "I'm interested in the little Cessnas and the King Air, but these other two are aircraft I'm just not knowledgeable about." The chief said, "It's a package deal, you take all or none. We should be able to auction these. If you want all of them, you can have them for an even million." Chuck and I looked at each other and I asked, "Do the jets fly?" The chief said, "Go get those men and women from the lunch room and bring them in here." Chuck said, "I'll get them." He walked away and came back leading all the pilots, mechanics, and the office manager. The chief looked at me, and I asked the men, "How good are these aircraft in here?" The mechanics said, "We don't have enough men to cover all the aircraft that well, but we haven't been that busy. Everything in here is in good shape. Both of the small jets have had recent annuals and the King Air is pristine. As a matter of fact, the interior is copied off one of the aircraft over at your place in Tampa." One of the pilots said, "I fly the jets on charters and they are both nice. The Embraer Phenom 100 is the fastest, but can be awkward in a crosswind. It's pretty efficient and so far hasn't had many problems. Parts haven't been a problem so far, either." I turned to Chuck and he handed me his debit card again. I said to the chief, "We'll do these too, anything else?" "No, that's it. Get this junk out of here as soon as possible. I want these hangars stripped bare to the walls quickly so the landlord can rent them again." The chief left to finalize the deal on all the fixed wing aircraft, so I turned to Tank and asked, "How many of the helicopters can our hangar hold?" Tank said, "If we take the rolling platforms with us, all of them. We can put the five in our hangar right now. The problem is going to be the monster in there." I said, "We still have the empty hangar in back of the maintenance hangar. We can put the Sikorsky in there with the two business jets. I think if we were to move all our King Airs into the new hangar, these four 172s will fit. We can shuffle them around later. Okay," I turned to the pilots and asked, "How many of you are rotary wing qualified?" All five raised their hands, including Joy and two mechanics. One of the pilots said, "You really need two in the Sikorsky, so you have enough to get all of them out of here now if you want." I asked, "Okay, are either of you two other mechanics pilots?" They both nodded their heads. "Okay, who all flies these two jets?" Only four of the original pilots raised their hands. "You guys will have to make two trips. Once over with a helicopter, then come back to take the jets over. Joy, you take the Bell 210, you should be the most familiar with that one or else you take one of the 172s. Lisa, you fly the King air, and Chuck and I will each fly a 172. That should get them all over there. Let me call Jimmy, he'll go crazy. We'll get someone to fly us back so the jets can get there. Lisa, you and Chuck should fly with the other pilots to get checked out in the business jets. Looks like we all have a learning curve in the near future." The chief came back with all the papers and receipts and said, "Now get this shit out of here. How soon do you think you can clean out the place?" I told him, "This week. I'll get some labor and trucks and move this stuff as soon as possible." It took us about forty five minutes to get organized and to ensure all the aircraft were fueled and prepped. Since we were getting everything from the business, I assumed we were getting the fuel trucks as well, so at least that was a bonus. The Sikorsky took off first, with the other five helicopters following along carrying their rolling pads. Lisa flew out in the King Air, then the rest of us flew out in the 172s. Jimmy said he would have the new hangar open and would have the King Airs moved. The 172s landed shortly after Lisa, and Jimmy had us line all the aircraft up in a row facing the maintenance hangar so he could begin going over them. We soon heard the big Sikorsky coming. Man, that thing could make some noise. The helicopters all looked strange as they all had their rolling stands strapped onto their runners. The Sikorsky has wheels, so it can be pushed or towed with a tow motor. Jimmy stood out with wands to guide the aircraft to where he wanted them to set down. People were pouring out of the buildings to look at all the aircraft that had come in. Jimmy had the 1900D out for me so we could ferry everyone back to Orlando. We took time to introduce everyone and for them to have a tour of the facilities. There was someone in the charter office that was out of place. "Hey, Terrell, what's up?" "Tiny told me to come out to see if you want another couple of hangars. I talked to Paul and he said we could build a couple more across from the two new ones." I was grinning, thinking that Tiny was already figuring on growth. "Do it. How long will it take? We could use them today or tomorrow." "How about four to six weeks total, and if you're real lucky, three weeks." "That would be great, Terrell, do what you can but make them perfect just like always. Make sure you have enough open conduits to link all of the hangars together with both data and voice." Chuck was showing off his newest Learjet when I went out to gather everyone. I told Tank, "You stay and begin making sure the new aircraft are ready for work. You'll have more help soon, but in the meantime, let's get ready for some business." Betty came up to me and said, "I have some contacts over here for the big helicopter. The Coast Guard is looking for a contractor now for buoy placement. I know we need to keep the big one working since it's so expensive to keep." I said to her, "Betty, what would it take for you to get over here? I need you to be here to work." She said, "Not a lot. I'm divorced with no kids. I live for my job right now." "Tell you what, if you can run home while we're back in Orlando, get a bag packed and I'll put you up in our hotel. You can eat with us and we'll get you out here in the morning. You can look for somewhere to live and then we can get you moved. I know some of the guys are going to have families to move, and that will be more difficult. You be the leader and help everyone get going." "I can do that, Mr. Sharp, er, a, Steve," Betty said. Joy heard what I had told Betty and asked, "Can I come too. I need to find a place and I can help out here. I don't have any tools yet, but I'm a damn good mechanic and if you need an instructor, I can do that to." "Can you get some clothes real quick?" Betty said, "I can have almost everything I own in my car and at the airport in an hour." "What else do you have, Joy?" "I have a motorcycle that I'll need to get over to Tampa, but first I need to find it a home." "You'll fit right in, Joy. As soon as we get to Orlando, pack and come back. You and Betty will be the first over here." We all flew back to Orlando where we had left the 208 we came in originally. The Marshal's Station Chief had a couple of movers waiting to talk to me. I showed them everything that needed to be moved and the one mover said, "Are you saying that if isn't attached to the building, it's going?" The chief said, "That's the deal. He'll pay you to sweep the place one last time when it's done." "Hey, what's the hurry? We need to move this stuff intelligently. We need to mark it for where it will go or be stored. They can't just jam everything into a truck and dump it on the ground over there." I looked at the two men and said, "I'll meet you here at ten tomorrow with some other men, and we'll begin tagging everything. You can then pack intelligently and unload where we can get at everything." I asked the mechanics to mark all of their personal tools and get them together in one area. They began doing what was needed, as they were told they were already on the clock. The pilots for the two jets took off quickly. I waited until both Joy and Betty came back, then flew back in the 1900D to drop them off. I had called Sue to get her to meet me out at the airpark so she could get the two ladies checked in at the hotel. I told them both, "Tomorrow, Betty, you'll go back over with me to help tag and direct the move. Joy, you'll work with Tank and Jimmy getting the birds here ready to make us money." Ruth met me out at the airpark to begin meeting everyone. She said, "This is like we used to be, always hiring a bunch at a time. This is fun." She had the pilots there and said, "You men need to find places over here and then let us begin getting you moved. We can ferry you daily as we need you for a week or so, but you need to get moved. Let us know how we can help. Now, we'll take you back to Orlando and you can go home, enjoy your evening, and plan to move." I made the flight over to Orlando again, and with Chuck and Lisa, we made a trip through the three hangars. There were several deputy marshals watching the buildings as they still had not come up with what the four men had been looking for. Chuck and I went through the two fancy offices in the administrative area, but didn't find anything special. We didn't even find a safe. Chuck and Lisa flew the other King Air back to Tampa and I took the 1900D back. I noted that there were two big fuel trucks, along with a group of pickups and a van. They had two tow motors that would be heavy, so I would have to get some folks from the shop to get the vehicles and rolling stock to Tampa. We left and flew home to park in our usual spaces. Jimmy had aircraft already arranged in their spots. He told me, "When we're using 172s for rental and instruction, I have one row for rental and the next row for charter. I can get them five deep, and I only have them four deep now. Being in rows like this works out fine. The two 208s are in front over here and the 150s are in rows on this side." We walked over to the helicopter hangar and looked at seven helicopters. The two little trainers were in front, as Tank said, "I think there are several of you guys that need to begin training in these birds. We're going to need backup pilots for charters and utility work. You guys might even need to go to the Sikorsky school." Chuck and I looked at each other with a frown, but Lisa looked excited to learn. We noticed that Joy had found her way back out to the airpark and was working with a couple of men on a customer's King Air. Nice that she was comfortable with the other men. I looked at my watch and said to Chuck, Lisa, and Jimmy. "It's past beer thirty guys, how about we hijack Joy and get home for a beer?" Everyone agreed. Back on the patio with drinks in hand, I said to Chuck, "Did you know what we were getting into over there when you called me?" Chuck said, "Nope. I knew that they were possibly going to sell a couple of helicopters cheap, but I didn't think we would do what we did." I told him, "You know, I think you own as many aircraft now as I do." "No way, I only have my 208, the King Air, two Lears and, oh yeah, six helicopters, two more jets, and four 172s. You'll buy those from me right?" "Sure, Partner, we'll work something out," I said this while I winked at Tiny. Chuck looked at me and asked, "Tell me truthfully, was this overkill? This is really too much, isn't it?" I took a big gulp of my drink and said, "Maybe, but if we open up rotary wing service in Hawaii, we have one or two that can go over there. I think the Sikorsky will pay for itself if we market it right. The big helicopter can work throughout the state doing the big lifting jobs that it is capable of. If we don't limit the work area very much, I'm sure it will be busy. The two little helicopters are for training. Both are inexpensive to operate and you have to think the price was right." I had to laugh at that since Chuck got those as a bonus. After another big sip of my drink, I said, "The two jets are needed. If they are dependable and are good to fly, we'll keep them. If not, we'll market them and can sell them cheap. The King Air is always usable and rentable. The four 172s are gold. We can use them for rentals or ship them to Hawaii. Actually I'm almost disappointed we couldn't pick up more. A G5 cheap would have been nice." Chuck said, "If you don't buy this stuff from me, I'm going to have to hire someone to just keep track of them. Your staff is busy keeping up with what you have." I told Chuck, "That's why we hired Betty. She's used to handling charters, rentals, and lessons for helicopters. We're just adding a couple more of your aircraft to the inventory we have now. The pilots we're picking up are all both rotary and fixed wing instructors. You tell me, will they go to waste over here? The mechanics are the same. We'll still be short mechanics for our increased activity." Chuck sat back in his chair, with his head still buzzing from the day's activity. Ben and Beth showed up for supper and Ben came over to us. After shaking hands all around, he sat down near Chuck and leaned toward him and said, "It's good that you're re-investing money in real goods. By investing in a lot of equipment, we can incorporate a holding company to handle aircraft investments just like I created the holding company for the Hawaiian investments. You know that until recently, you were not using any of your gains, and to keep your money active, we were investing a good chunk into some risky ventures. You're like Steve, though. You can throw a nickel into the toilet and quarters come out of the faucet." "So, Ben," Chuck asked, "How close am I to being out of money now? That was a lot of cash to spend all at once." Ben answered, "Without my ledgers to quote you exactly, you still have your original cash invested half in stable mutual funds and half in ventures. Half of those are risky and have been profitable so far." Ben got up poured himself a drink then sat back down, "You know the Hawaiian properties have been showing a hell of a profit. The airfield is a ways from making a lot of money, but so far that place has been in the black and that includes with all the building going on. Crystal and Bear have the place producing as far as lessons, rentals, and charters. Since Steve is going to add helicopters over there, who knows what the margins will look like." "You still have cash available, Chuck. If something good comes along, call me and let me advise you." I told Chuck, "Just listen to Tiny and Ben. Between the two of them, they know what to do with a buck. We've been very lucky around here making money, almost like we print our own. Collectively, we're paying so much in taxes that we should be receiving citizens' awards. Ben, Tiny, Henry, and the accounting firm are constantly busy hedging our tax liability, but we're still paying a lot. Like I said, relax and let someone else figure out what to do with the money. You just keep using it for investments and to keep more people employed." I could see that Chuck was thinking about something, and he leaned over to say something in Ben's ear. Ben said, "Call me tomorrow, we'll talk about it." There was a commotion at the front doors. We all turned to see Chuck's women, along with Mercy and Kathy, Tom and Zena Parks, and Terrell come in. Chuck's girls all came to him and gave him some hugs, and Brandy said to us all, "Come over to the tables, we want to show you the house that Tom and Zena helped us plan. This is really going to be something." Brandy began, "This almost got out of hand, but there is a reason. All of us girls enjoy being together, but we each like a private area just for ourselves. Chuck needs the same and he needs an office area." Brandy pulled out a floor plan and pointed to one side of the house. "This whole side of the house is for Chuck and all of us girls. This is the big bedroom with the giant custom bed. Down this wing are rooms for all of us girls. We may never need as many rooms as there are, but you never know. Each of the rooms is like a giant walk-in closet. It's designed to be a closet, with a private sitting room, bathroom, and sleeping area. We were going to only have a small bunk, but we decided that each room should at least have a double bed. You can see how efficient the space is with the built in drawers, and each area will have a sitting cosmetic area, plenty of light, and a wall mirror. "Now, adjoining the big bedroom is the nursery for the little ones. Next are rooms for the kids as they grow older. At the entrance to the wing are Chuck's office and a sitting area, in case he needs to have business meetings. His office is next to the big family room and, of course, near the kitchen. Brandy continued, "We really didn't want formal living and dining rooms, but Tom and Zena said we should have one in case us girls become busy with women's groups. I think a big busy family room, connected to a kitchen is more fun, but we went along. So, up by the front door, are a formal living room and the dining room. But see, you can see straight from the front door into the family room and kitchen area. Look here, off to this side is another wing of the house that is important to the rest of our group. This wing will have two floors. On the main floor will be Wanda's and John's apartment over here, further down a little is Don's and Jan's. Over here is Dennis' and Marie's, and here is where Lena and her sister, Tina, will be. Upstairs will have four more apartments, similar to downstairs. One will be for Lisa, and one will be for Tina, in case they would prefer an apartment instead of a private room off our bedroom. If they go empty, we can use them for visitors. Outside the family room is a big covered patio, complete with a wet bar and grille for private parties. Then out from there, the full-sized screened pool. Off to this side is Chuck's and Lisa's studio. You'll have to look at those plans separately. Off to the other side of the pool is what this family really needs. Note that everything on the other side of the grassy area on the side and behind the pool is made up of pavers. They are in front of a twelve car garage that really isn't big enough, so if you go around to the other side of it, there are another twelve stalls. That should take care of the family for a while. We should probably just have a long open covered garage but we're going to make this building do double duty too. Upstairs, over the huge garage is going to be another home. That home is for any of our parents that may need to live with us in the future. We won't finish it yet and we have planned on an elevator in the event it's necessary. The space can be used for one, two, or even four, apartments. That's what we wanted to do, to provide a place for our folks in the event they need caring for in the future." "Since there is more than enough room, us girls thought we should have two guest cottages back here. They will only be two bedrooms each but will be nice to have for visiting guests or in the future for our parents if they wish to stay with us." Brandy flipped a bunch of drawings of what the house and various areas would look like and asked, "What do you think?" Chuck said, "That's really a big place." I told Chuck, "You only think it's big until you fill it with women, friends, and kids. It gets small real quick. With all your women and friends, it's definitely not too big." Dennis said, "I didn't think you were going to make it that nice for us. This is more space than we have now, and it's going to be a wing of the house so we will be more a part of the household." The couple that I wondered about was John and Wanda. Wanda was smiling, "See, John, this is even better than the big bedroom we have now, an entire apartment, just for us." John commented, "Yes, I think this will be perfect. Plenty of room, lots of privacy, yet we'll be a part of the family and we'll be right here in the park." Tom Parks pulled one of the sheets out and was showing it to Chuck. "This is just off the end of the family room. You see the offset of the family room from the bedroom wing. That's for cart parking. You're probably going to end up with six to eight carts, or even more. This will keep them under cover, easily accessible, and quick to get out on the street." I told Chuck, "You're going to have one hell of a place. You're worse than I am by having all those apartments for people who stay with you." Little Tiani defended Chuck, "We want the new place to be the same as the house is now, but better. All the people who live there now make our house, Chuck's house, a home. This is the best way to get us girls out of our place and with Chuck permanently." Chuck's cell phone was ringing in his pocket. He looked at who was calling and walked away from the group. You could see him becoming anxious, then I heard him say, "I'll be right there. John will come too. If anything happens, be careful." Chuck turned to us and said, "John and I have to go take care of something. We'll be right back." Chuck gave his women a quick hug and told them to take care of John's Kenisha and was gone. My cell phone began ringing. It was the one of the guards out at the airpark. He said, "The U.S. Marshal's office has about five cars out here and had us shut all of the doors and turn off all the lights. Do you know what's going on?" I said, "No, but the Deputy in charge just took off from here after getting a call. I'll get Hap and we'll be coming too. Just do as they ask." Hap heard me and followed me out of the patio as I hurriedly left. All I could think of was, now what? Mercy came running after me and told me, "Steve, you need to be careful, I'm not feeling good about this, and I can feel Chuck is nervous about this too. Please, let them do what they have to do and be careful." I stopped and said to Hap, "You're not carrying either? Go get what you need. I need to get mine, too. We can't go out there naked." Hap took off and I went back into the patio then into the bedroom to get my Glock and a holster. I did remember to pull an extra two magazines from the closet drawer. I looked down at the aluminum gun cases and pulled one out. Quickly opening the case, I assembled two ARs, grabbed six magazines, and walked back out through the now hushed patio. I smiled at everyone and met Hap as he was running back to my truck. As I got into the truck, Hap said, "My guy said the men out there were setting up all around the buildings with our guys spotted to watch the main entrance. I called some more men in. Hopefully, all the activity will drive anyone trying to get at the equipment away." I used my cell phone to call Mickey. "Mickey, can you track down your dad to tell him we may be having another problem out at the airpark similar to what we just had. I'm not sure exactly what's up, but he may be able to contact the FBI or the Marshal's Service to find out what's going on." Mickey said, "I'll call him right away. I think he's off today, but I'll call." When I drove into the airpark, I used my electronic gate opener to slide the gate open, and when I was through, I pushed the button to close it. As soon as I saw it closing, I drove across the tarmac to our charter office and parked. Our guard was right there when I opened the door and said, "I told them it was you when you drove up. They are really nervous about something. There are a dozen of them and Chuck Johnson and the other guy are making sure everyone has vests and rifles. Neither of you have vests, so get out of here. Go into the charter office. DeDe is about to have a cow in there. She was working on tomorrow's charters. She's probably in the break room, still working. The mechanics have shut down as the deputies wanted all the lights out." Hap and I were both cursing for not thinking of vests. The deputies were right though, we didn't need to expose ourselves without the proper equipment. We went into the break room, where DeDe had a stack of work orders and charter orders in front of her. She said, "Thank goodness you're here. Stay with me so I know I'll be all right. You know I hate to say this, but I'm going to have to have a second person to keep up. The days of planning everything on the fly are over. We're maxing out our rentals and lesson aircraft, as well as our charter aircraft. Tomorrow everything we own is going to be flying. Jimmy passed the four 172s that came in today, and they are committed too. The King Air that came in is chartered and that takes care of all of our pilots. We need to get those new men over here as we could charter those two little jets. I passed the business on to another company. That's how busy we are. How am I going to handle the charter for the helicopters too?" "You're in luck, DeDe," I said. "We're bringing over the office manager from Orlando to handle the helicopter charter, rentals, and instruction schedules. She will work out of another office right now, until we do something that can accommodate both groups. You two will work together as you're going to be sharing a lot of facilities." Thinking about moving all the equipment, I asked, "Does the airpark have any empty hangars we can use for a while? There doesn't seem to be much activity from the hangars behind us." DeDe said, "They're both empty right now. Paul consolidated his hangar space to the four hangars on the end. You can probably lease them from him if you want. I'm sure he could use the income. His mechanics are busy, but he's not exceptionally busy with rentals or instruction like we are." "Thanks, DeDe, I'll talk to him tomorrow." "Well, Hap, I guess we stay here and watch out for DeDe and the two hangars right here. Let's make some coffee then go upstairs so we can use those windows to look out. As long as we keep the lights off, we'll be inconspicuous." Hap and I made coffee then went up the dark stairs to watch the airpark from there. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 30 Chuck I was pissed as soon as I received the call from Sarge. I thought we had accounted for all of the men from the Alcam group. Apparently not, as Orlando reported that a group of men had broken into an Alcam hangar and when they were discovered, shot their way out. They had gotten away but were spotted by a state trooper an hour later, at a gas station on I-4. There were at least eight men in two Suburbans, so the trooper didn't attempt to try to capture them by himself. The trooper was following the two Suburbans at a distance and they were headed straight toward the airpark. After telling John what I knew, he called Orlando to find out what was happening. The Bureau was covering evening duty, guarding the hangars and was now in full battle mode as they had lost a man and had two more in the hospital. John and I couldn't believe that trained men could be surprised like that. John said, "This is getting hairy, isn't it? Wish we had time to get the strike force team down here. Sarge says that, with us, and the men he was able to scramble out here, we should be okay, but I can tell you, this is getting old. I thought I would be down in Key West by now." "Me too, John. I need to get down there and begin changing the titles for things and to have the housekeeper or manager, whatever she is, call me by my correct name. She needs to be able to call me for advice or direction." "I saw you say something to that Ben guy," John said. "Can he keep his mouth shut?" I said, "I hope so, I trust him more than most. He has contacts all over the U.S. and in South America, so it should be the right move." John offered me some advice, "Don't give him a lot the first go around. Feed him one deal, then if he is good to go, let him have all of them. Have you figured out what you're going to do with the money?" "The houses will all go to the people who are living in them if they want them. I'll make them pay something, but it will be affordable. I'll even have Ben set it up so I'll carry the mortgages. That way if they get into trouble, I can help them." I took a breath as we drove out to the airpark, "I think I've found several families that can use some help. I'm going to make sure they get on their feet, are working, and stable. I'll keep the cash available to help where I see I can. There's enough to do some good for a lot of people." "Good man," John said. "I figured you to do something like that, especially after coming up with, and turning over the thirty mil from that aircraft. Almost any other guy would have kept the money and been gone. That's why you ended up with that Learjet, plus a total rebuild. Everyone in DC thought you were nuts to have turned that money in. I think that is why you're still a deputy after all the wars you were in." We pulled into the parking area of the airpark operations building and shut down on the side of the building, out of sight. I called Sarge on my cell phone to let him know it was us that had pulled in. He said to come across the tarmac to where the van was parked. I popped the trunk and handed John a vest, a combat vest that would hold spare magazines, an MP5, and five magazines. I put a protective vest and a combat vest on, and loaded up with a full magazine in an MP5, plus five extras. I handed John two additional Glock magazines for a Glock 22. They would fit in his smaller pistol, but stick out some. We quickly walked across the tarmac, to be intercepted by Sarge. He led us to the office between the hangars and into a back room that had lights. He showed us a drawing of the airfield. Sarge said, "I can't imagine why they have come over here, unless there is something on one of the aircraft you brought over here today. It almost has to be something like that, since there is no way they would just want to get some form of revenge. They don't have an organization anymore, so they can't be in business. There's got to be something on one of the aircraft that were brought over." "You're probably right, Sarge," I said. "So how do you think we should do this?" Sarge said, "I have a guy at each end of the runway to make sure no one sneaks in that way. The only other access is through the main entrance. Everything is shut down so no civilians are in jeopardy. I have three men behind a van out front here and three behind a van down a ways. The vans look like they belong here so we'll be able to surprise whoever it might be. All of our cars are behind the hangars so no one can see them. There are always a couple of cars in front of the charter office so that doesn't look out of place." "Uh oh, someone's coming," I said, making sure a round was in the chamber on the MP5. We watched as a pickup truck pulled up to the gate. The gate began sliding open, the pickup pulled through and the gate began closing. One of the airpark guards said that it was Steve Sharp and Hap, he had called them. I said, "Go have him get into his charter office and to keep the lights off. He may not like it, but I don't have any way to protect the man." The guard ran out to intercept Steve. I could see that he parked on the far side of the charter office and both he and the other guy, probably Hap, went into the building. Sarge continued with his plan, "We're going to have a couple of men over by the operations building and when the group tries to come across the tarmac, we'll get them in the open. The men by the operations building will disable the two cars and take care of anyone that is left with the vehicles. The rest of us will take care of the men coming across the tarmac. If they decide to come across one at a time, we'll disable each one as they get to this side. Actually that would be the easiest. I think they'll come all at once though. Especially if they see there are no lights or other cars." I asked, "How close are they now?" Sarge said, "As of just before you got here, they were about fifteen minutes out." "You've told your guys what's happened in Orlando right?" "You bet, they will all be careful," Sarge said, nodding. "Okay, John and I will be set up on the end of the hangar to capture anyone that comes across alone. Give me a couple of those personnel tie-wraps. If they come across all together, we'll wait for your announcement and signal. Any shots fired will get our response." Sarge nodded again. We both reached for John's MP5 at the same time. I let Sarge do it and just smiled. Sarge put a round into the chamber, checked the firing position then pointed at the safety. He said, "John, you're on single fire, and this is the safety. These rifles have a real low pressure trigger pull, so keep the safety on until you need to use it." John was a little embarrassed, but probably appreciated the help and warning. The three of us went out to get into our positions. We were ready, and it was a good thing, as two Suburbans came into the parking area and drove right up to the gate to the tarmac. A guy got out and tried to force the gate open, but couldn't. He went back and leaned into the lead truck. The two trucks emptied out and we could see a total of ten men. The drivers doors on both vehicles stayed closed so that meant there was a total of twelve men over there. All of them were clustered together for a minute then two men came trotting across the runway directly at where John and I were standing in the depression for the hangar door. Both of the men looked to have some form of combat rifle. Shortly after they started, the other eight men began walking across runway. All of them looked to have small rifles or machine pistols. I pushed John back deep into the door depression and waited. When the two had come abreast of us, in the dark shadow of the hangar, I swung my MP5 at the head of the first guy. He crumpled as the other man stopped and was swinging around at me. I leaped at him using my hand to chop him in the throat. I followed through by wrapping my arm around his neck and twisting quickly feeling the snap of the neck. The man folded without a sound. John quickly tie-wrapped the first guy's hands, while I tore off the guy's shirt sleeve and stuffed it in his mouth. I put a tie-wrap around his head to hold the gag in. John and I dragged him to the building then did the same to the dead guy. We were just crouching down, getting a sighting on the group coming across the tarmac when one of the deputies announced, "You are surrounded. Put down your weapons and put your hands on your head." He said it three times as the group of men stopped still looking to see where the announcement was coming from. There was some hesitancy, then as if by some command, they all began firing at the hangars but turned and began running back toward the Suburbans. The rounds shot at us were our signal, so I began picking off the running men from the front first. While sighting at the third man, I saw our men over at the operations building going to take out the two drivers. They didn't fire at the men coming toward them, as they didn't want to hit any of their own men. John said, "Got two so far. You keep going from the front, I'll work from the back. We were down to two men when they stopped, dropped their weapons and put their hands up. The one guy was slow, and the deputies knocked him down before the man could put his gun down. The single man left was standing very still, yelling, "I give up, I give up."' There was a shot over by the Suburbans and I saw a deputy stagger back but brought his handgun up and fired three times. The deputy stood there and you could here him cursing from all the way across the tarmac. Deputies ran quickly to the downed men and the man standing in the middle of the runway. Sarge didn't stop there but went across to his man who had been hit. We could see the guy point to his middle and gesture at the Suburban. The guy I had hit with the butt of the MP5 was groaning. I cut the tie-wrap from his mouth and pulled out the shirt sleeve. John asked, "Can't I shoot the son of a bitch so we don't have to fuck with him?" The prisoner's eyes got real big, but I said, "I'd rather watch what happens when we give him to Orlando. They might want to play with him." The man asked, "What did you do with my partner?" "I hit him wrong and he's dead," I said. "Sorry, the guy didn't give me much of a chance to not hurt him." Before we even thought to read the guy his rights, he was asking, "I want to call my lawyer. You have to let me call as soon as I ask." John said, "We're in the field. We haven't advised you of any rights yet. When we get you in confinement and have read you your rights, we'll be glad to charge you with murder, and then let you call an attorney. There will be no bail for killing a federal agent. Plus you'll pull conspiracy murder charges on all your dead friends out here." You could see the guy look nervous. I said, "What are you looking for? What do you want?" The guy looked back and forth between us and said, "Can I make a deal?" I added, "Yep, you can make a deal. Tell me what you're looking for and who you're working for, and I'll make sure you only get charged with one count." "That ain't good enough. Make it manslaughter. I wasn't inside in Orlando, anyway." I smiled, "But you were here and it looks like of the twelve of you, only three are able to talk. That means nine counts of murder right here." "Make it manslaughter and I'll make your day," the guy said. John said, "Go ahead. I can make that deal with the prosecutor." The guy was still sitting, so I pulled my Glock and put it under his chin, "Tell me, tell me everything or I will say you were making a play for the peashooter you have in your ankle holster. I've already seen you have a chain around your neck and what do you want to bet that it's a handcuff key. Won't work with tie-wraps, but who knows what could happen when we get you in cuffs. Tell me." The guy held his breath as I pulled the chain from around his neck and found keys for the two types of handcuffs on the market. One was the standard in the U.S., and the other was the European style. I pulled his little 9mm from his ankle holster and put it in my back pocket. After patting him down and pulling his wallet, I asked again, "Tell me." "We were trying to get at the cash that was supposed to be shipped up on that jet from Brazil. The boss said it was there and we had to get it. He's having a fit because you guys have taken down all his operations and are selling off all his stuff. He has a big boat he's going to leave on and he wants his cash. There's one more guy that you're going to have to watch out for. He's another hired gun. He's about your size with a bushy beard. The guy is cold, real cold. He was sent after some Mexicans, and we heard he totally destroyed a house, a helicopter, and all the main guys from a couple of big drug cartels. When he gets back here, he's going to be tough to catch, but I can tell you, he's gonna want his money and he is dangerous." John and I looked at each other, and John asked, "What's his name and what is your boss' name?" "No one knows that shooter's name. He goes by the 'Master.' That's what he wants everyone to call him. He doesn't deal with anything but cash and dead people." John asked again, "What's your boss' name?" "You better get him, or you can bet I'll be dead as soon as I hit the pen. The man's name is George Marcockos. He's the Greek that has been putting your mafia guys to shame for a long time. The man is virtually untouchable." I asked, "Where's his boat?" "If he hasn't left yet, it's in Miami. He's waiting for us to bring his money to him. He's promised us each a million, so it must be a lot of money. I'm figuring that he was going to pop us when we turned over the ca sh. I was planning on trying to take it all and skip. I'd bet he has the Master down there on his boat ready to do us all." Thinking about everything, I asked, "How many more people are out there that we need to worry about?" The man looked at me sadly, and said, "We're all that's left. All the rest were killed or captured. Like I said though, Marcockos, the Greek, wants his money and if we don't get there, he'll send the Master to get it." "What's the name of the boat," I asked. The man actually laughed, "It's a great big sailboat called the 'Pure Greek.'" I pulled the man to his feet, "Don't say another word to anyone. If you stay quiet, I'll get you a deal with the prosecutor. If you begin talking to anyone else, you will probably get dead while in jail. Come on, John, let's get this guy to a deputy then see if we can get an airplane out of here." While we had been asking questions, Sheriff's cars had come to the airpark. Two cleanup vans from the Bureau and Marshal's office arrived, and the crime scene investigation had begun. I asked Sarge, "I need two men, two good men. We're going to Miami to see if we can finish this. You need to keep guards here tonight, and tomorrow, take that Brazilian plane apart. What these guys are looking for is probably behind the interior paneling. Begin there." "I'm going to get an aircraft and take us to Miami. I might take Steve Sharp, the S&S owner. Let me borrow a couple of vests." Sarge gave me a couple of vests and John and I walked back to the charter office. Steve and Hap met us as we entered the office. "You're all clear now. It's going to be a while before you can get out, but I have something to do. I need my Lear and if you want, you and Hap can go with me to see if we can get the last big wheel of this mess. He's on a sailboat down in Miami. You know where they all dock, and who to ask where to find the boat we want. How about it, want to come?" Hap and Steve looked at each other and Steve said, "Let's do it. Let me get one of the night guys so they can help us get your aircraft out." My Lear was soon out of the hangar. I pointed at the Embraer Jet and said to the mechanic, "Don't touch that airplane. The Bureau or the Marshal's Service may have you help them, but don't touch it until they are with you." The two deputies coming with me came up and said, "Ready." I put them and Hap in the plane. I had John sit in the back and put Steve in the right seat. We went through the startup checklist quickly and with all the lights on to keep people out of the way, we taxied out onto the runway. All the equipment and people at the crime scene took up the first third of the runway. I said to Steve, "I sure hope there is enough runway." Steve said, "Come on, you never use more than half of the runway anyway; you still have most of it left." We blasted down the runway and were quickly in the air. I said to Steve, "I'll call in a flight plan while you use the other radio to call the Coast Guard. See if they know where the Pure Greek is docked. It's supposed to be a big sailboat, so they might know." Five minutes later, Steve said, "We're in luck, as you heard, they said the boat is docked and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. They happen to have a watch on the boat because they had a tip someone might try to hijack it. I told them the U.S. Marshal's office was on the way to do some business on board. They will assist when we get there." We landed and rented a small passenger van. It took twenty minutes to get out to the yacht club where the big sailboat was tied up. As soon as he saw it, Steve said, "That's about the same size as my big boat, and it's made by the same company as my hundred and ten footer." I made sure Steve and Hap had their vests on and said, "I want you two to stay up here on the dock. You may get some action from crew trying to leave. Keep them all here and in front of you. The other four of us are going on the boat to get this Greek guy. He may have a bodyguard, but he's pretty cocky, so he may not." I had a deputy use his radio to have the Coast Guard get up close to the boat so they knew where we were. John and I each took a deputy and split up below deck. I sent them aft and the other deputy and I went forward, where I figured the master cabin would be. No one was in the gangways and I was hoping there was no one in the cabins we were passing. The doors to the master cabin were large double doors. I didn't even check to see if they were open. I kicked them in and jumped into the room with my MP5 leveled. A man and woman sat up in bed, looking at us in fear. I said, "U.S. Marshal's office, you are under arrest." The man had on long pajamas, so I had him roll over and used a tie-wrap on his hands. The deputy then cuffed the lady. We were pushing them toward the door when a huge guy came in the double doors with a forty-five and said, "Who do you think you're taking out of here?" The deputy didn't even hesitate. He put four rounds into the big man. The problem was the big guy began firing his forty-five as he fell. The man and the woman were both hit. The deputy was down on one knee with his rifle pointing down the gangway when he began firing at targets I couldn't see. I rolled across the floor to help and saw two men down and another in a doorway. I had a shot and took it. The guy in the doorway fell. We heard other gunshots from the other part of the boat, but stayed in position to take on anyone coming toward us. When no one came, I rolled back and checked the man's pulse. There was none. I checked the woman's and it was strong. I looked at her and could see she was only shot in the arm. The shock of being shot must have knocked her out. That's when I felt the dampness on my side. Now it hurt. Shit, not again. I looked down and could see a hole in my shirt where the vest had pulled up. The vest was too short. I pulled the sheet from the bed and tore a strip from it. I pulled up my shirt to see a long gouge out of my side. At least I wasn't gut shot. I wrapped myself up then rolled back to watch the door. I tore another piece of sheet and wrapped it on the lady's wound. I turned and asked the deputy, "You okay?" "Better than you, I know how to duck." I said, "Those damn forty-fives seem to have my number. Call your partner and see if they are all right." He made contact with John and the other deputy and they said they had a couple down in the back. They were checking doors working their way our way. I told them we had five down and one wounded." A Coast Guardsman hollered from the upper lounge, "You guys okay, need some more help?" I hollered, "We'll need medical help for one of the passengers and a coroner for the others. We have to check out the cabins down here before we get any farther." The Coast Guardsman said, "We'll come down and work from this end forward. Apparently the crew is off the boat. Your men on the dock stopped some of them trying to get back on." I told the deputy, "Go find a phone, or if you can raise the Miami station on the radio, get a bunch of deputies out here to go over this boat. We are going to confiscate this boat because it is part of the group that killed, and was trying to kill, federal law officers." The deputy turned the channel selector and called the local duty person at the Miami office. When they responded, he gave them the news that we had just made a bust down at his docks. He told them they needed to send a cleanup crew and back up and to just follow the ambulances into the yacht club. I left the deputy in charge of the dead men and the wounded lady and went topside and then up on the docks. John was already there, talking to the crewmen. There were eight men, all saying they had not been on the boat for a week and had been called last night to come on board to get ready to sail. We took all of their information and advised them that when they were released tonight to make sure they remained home. The Marshal's Service or the FBI would contact them over the next few days. John noticed my bandage and said, "Not again, Johnson, can't you dodge or duck?" I said, "The man was already dead, and just got lucky as he was falling. He ended up killing the Greek guy, and shot his wife too. She'll live." A little while later, the deputy was leading the woman off the boat. He had found a robe for her and a pair of slippers. She was cussing up a storm. "You have to let me get my jewelry and personal items. I can at least have my purse and my regular cash." The deputy was saying, "We'll let a judge tell us, Ma'am. That boat and everything on it belongs to the Marshal's Service right now. We'll get what we can for you." Four cars came right up to the dock. Two were deputy Marshal's cars and two were FBI cars. We handed the lady over and told the Marshals that the boat was confiscated. Steve was trying to get my attention. When I went over to him, he said, "Tell whomever you need to tell, I'm interested in this boat." I said, "There's a lot of blood in there." "Who cares, blood will clean up. I want that boat." It was unusual for Steve to act that way. I went over to the Coast Guard boat and said, "When the Marshal's get done searching this, call me and advise me where the boat is. I have someone who is interested in it." They wrote down my telephone number and who I was. The local Marshals now had their cleanup people on site and were beginning the search. They had already found two safes that they were going to have to get into. John had a prisoner that he had found and said, "I think this guy is an escapee that walked away from a camp here in Florida. Let's talk to him a while." We took the man and brought him out to where I could get treated for the long scratch on my side. While the paramedic was putting some goop and a bandage on the slice, John asked the man, "Where were you headed. I know you're a federal escapee. You might want to confide in me or you will be facing murder charges. People have died during your capture." The guy was really nervous, "I was talked into leaving prison and being a crewman on the boat. I think all of the crewmen are escapees. Markockos supplied men to some Canadians and to some people in Chicago. He put up the money and has, or had several ways for people to walk away from the camps. If the guy stays with who paid for him to get out long enough, they give him cash for a stake and let him out on his own. It's a good deal; better than waiting to get out. They give you a new ID and money. All you have to do is work five years for these guys or do some dirty work for them." I pulled my cell phone and called Bud Anderson. "Bud, catch the first airplane to Miami. I have someone you need to interview. I think we may have found a missing link." Bud said, "Good deal, I'll bring your sidekick back with me. This man is good. I love working with him." "Tell him that he might be working with you for while if you two are a good pair. I want you to have a backup. Call me when you get to Miami." I told John, "Let's round up those crewmen before they are let go. I think we need to run them all before they go home." We walked up just as a deputy was about to let them go. I pulled my Glock and said to the group, "I want you all to get down on the ground face first with your hands above your head. Please do this very slowly and don't make any sudden moves. You deputies cuff and chain all of them. After searching them, I want them to be transported to federal holding and held while we check their fingerprints. If any of you on the ground would care to do a little talking, any one of us will listen." You could see every one of them cursing under their breath. They knew they were caught. As the deputies were chaining them, one deputy said to one, "You know, I recognize you now as an escapee we were hunting about three years ago. Son of gun, you were right under our noses." Steve said, "Can I call home to tell everyone I'm all right?" "Sure, Steve, and don't say anything about my scratch, okay?" Steve nodded and pulled his cell phone. Hap was smiling and said, "Now I've seen you in action several times and I'm impressed. You are really something. As a matter of fact, all of you deputies are really something. You guys are real law enforcement. Taking on these types of bad guys can be hazardous to your health, but you don't even hesitate." The FBI and Marshal Station Chiefs were at the yacht club now, and were taking over the operation. I advised them, "We'll make up reports and send you copies when we send them to DC. Be aware that Mr. Sharp wants to buy the boat when we get done tearing it apart. I'm sure you don't have to put it back together if you give him a deal. We're out of here. This has been a hell of an evening." It was two in the morning by the time we got back to the Miami airport. I did the preflight with Steve and said, "I'm not buying fuel now. Let's head home and put this night to bed." We landed less than forty minutes later and taxied right up to the open maintenance hangar. I spun the jet and parked in front of the correct hangar and put a note on it for fuel. I had to go into the office to fill out the log book and put the low fuel notice on it. One of the duty deputies said, "Wait until you hear what Sarge and the men found on that little jet. They took enough money from it to buy a third world country." John said, "Well, now you know what motivated Mr. Markockos and his men." Steve, Hap, John, and I walked out with the deputies. I asked the two men, "Do you have a ride?" They said no, but would call a duty team. I said, "John and I will take you wherever you need to go." We drove them both down to the garage and let them out. I thanked them for doing such a good job. They said it was fun working with us. The one said, "You know we are both privileged to have worked with the top two deputies in the service. We'll have tales to tell for years." John laughed. We drove home, to my home, and parked inside the garage. I had to turn the alarm off, then on again after we were inside. John and I were having a drink at the counter in the kitchen when Lisa and Brandy came out of my bedroom. Lisa asked, "Are you hungry? Did you ever eat?" John looked at me and laughed, "You know, when we're together, something always happens just before we eat. I'd love something. What do you have?" Lisa opened a cake lid on the counter to show us, a stack of miniature calzones. I said, "Oh boy, you're in for a treat, John." The girls noticed my shirt and I said, "Just a scratch." They gave me a hug that included making the scratch hurt. They did sit down with us, Brandy said, "We should probably get Kenisha up and put her in her own bed." I rolled my eyes at Lisa and she blushed. I knew what they had been up to. John and I had finished two big drinks each and about a half dozen calzones each. I said to John, "I don't know about you, my friend, but I'm tired." John said, "Me too, it's already four so there won't be much left of the night." Lisa said, "I'm off in the morning, so I don't have to get up. I think all the girls are off again tomorrow, so we can sleep in for a while. Let's get to bed." When we were all in bed, after I had washed up a little and brushed my teeth, Brandy gave me a hug and said, "You know, you were like in my head while you were gone tonight. I knew when you found out you were hurt, so that told me not to worry. Lisa said she felt the same way." Lisa kissed me and snuggled into me, "You and I have been talking like Mercy talks to me. I'm going to spend some time with her to find out more about this phenomenon. For a while tonight, it was as if I were looking out of your eyes. A lady was hurt and at least two men are permanently gone, right? Like I said, it was as if I could see out of your eyes. Really strange." Brandy said, "I love you, Chuck, take care of yourself for us." Lisa said, "I love you too, my man. I'm after you, you know." A hand reached across Brandy and patted me on the face. Frieda said, "Good night, Daddy, I'm glad you're home safe." That was it; I fell asleep, surrounded by those who cared for me. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 31 Steve It was after seven when I woke up to an empty bed. I was still sleepy, but got up to at least start the day with everyone. When I sat down and joined the regulars with a cup of coffee, Sue came over and kissed me good morning, "Morning, Sleepyhead. I know you didn't get back until after four, but it's unusual for you to sleep late." "If there was not so much to do today, I would just go back to sleep for a while," I said, looking around while hugging my wonderful wife. "I see you didn't have to go to DC yesterday," I said to Sue, before taking a sip of coffee. Sue smiled, "We did go, but you were too busy buying helicopters and jet planes to notice. We were up and back quickly. They gave us new material specs to try out on a run. This kind of settles it, though. We're going to build our own material plant. Some manufacturer convinces the DoD to change specs to fit their material so they get the business, then the DoD gets a bunch of complaints from the field. We usually just go right back to the original material blend, but in the mean time, we're up to our eyeballs in excess material. The manufacturers make the minimum shipments huge before they give us any kind of discount. If we make the material ourselves, there will be a lot less excess lying around." I asked, "What do you do with the excess material?" "So far," Sue answered, "We make up a line of men's, lady's, girl's, and boy's, shorts, pants, and various tops with what we have. To date, Wal-Mart will buy just about any camouflage garment we make. We even used a huge amount of cutting scrap to make camouflage slouch hats. That was a real moneymaker. A couple of amusement park vendors even bought a bunch." Looking around, I saw Betty and Joy. They were having breakfast with Jimmy and Angie. It was good to see them getting along and becoming friends. Betty saw me looking at them and came over to me, "Joy and I have found a place to rent right here in the park. That lady over there, named Betty," Betty pointed to another woman on the patio, "rented us a nice place, very clean, and two streets over." She pointed again toward the park entrance area, "And it's only a short walk to here." "That's really great, Betty. It's nice that you will be able to be a part of our big family here. Today, you need to come with me over to Orlando and help mark all the equipment so we'll know how to unload it. What I will do for right now, is to move you into the offices that Wes has. I'll move him upstairs so you can be on the ground floor. You'll have access to both the helicopter hangar and the one where the Sikorsky is." "The stuff that won't quickly integrate into our hangars will be stored in another hangar next door to ours. Hopefully, by the end of today, everything will be on its way or already here. I'll get Kevin to get some men and drive the vehicles over." Betty asked, "Do you need Joy to come with us?" "Sure, that way you both can get the movers to get your personal stuff and they can bring it over at the same time. Is Betty's trailer ready?" Betty said, "It sure is, and that's a great idea. I'll be out of Orlando for good. I hate that city sometimes, and it has been nothing but nasty lately. I'm going to like it here, nice and friendly and, hopefully, peaceful." Kevin had come over when he had heard his name and said, "It may be sort of peaceful around here, but sure isn't calm. With all these kids, there is always turmoil. They are always busy. What do you need, Steve?" I explained about a bunch of trucks that needed to get from Orlando to the airpark right now. I asked Betty about the fuel trucks. "Betty, I guessed that both of those fuel trucks belonged to Alcam, is that right?" Betty said, "Two fuel trucks, a van, two pickups, and a big flatbed that can carry a helicopter. You know you probably have about two thousand gallons of fuel in the ground too. The one truck is empty and the other is about half full, so you should be able to pump it all out into the trucks. The fuel is clean and the pumps are certified. You can make another trip if necessary, or maybe sell any leftover fuel to another company over there." I said, "This field sells the fuel, but I'm sure we can work out something for him to own the two trucks. If he doesn't want them, we can use them ourselves and still buy fuel from him. He gives us a decent deal now. I would hate to have him suffer because we took over our own fuel." Betty said, "That's nice of you. Those men from Alcam would screw their mothers out of a nickel if they could. They didn't trust anyone and they tried to steal everything. We had to buy parts with cash since the dealers didn't trust us anymore." "Well, right now, Betty," I smiled, "we're in good with the parts vendors and have open accounts. Order anything you need. Tiny will give you dollar thresholds, but if you have to exceed them, call him for authorization. We have to rely on our people to keep the aircraft flying." Betty waved at Joy who came over. She told Joy about going to Orlando and picking up the rest of their belongings. Joy asked, "Can the mover bring my motorcycle back with him? The trailer we're renting has a shed to keep it in. I think Betty and I will be good roommates. I'm going to be busy learning from Jimmy, so I won't be around much. I love his shop. The man seems to know everything there is to know about airplanes and what makes them fly." Abe was sitting near us and said, "Then you haven't met our resident aircraft geek then. See that tall country lookin' guy over there with the dark headed girl? That's Wes, our geek. The man's forgotten more about airplanes than most will ever learn." Ruth said, "And he works right next to you, and from what Steve just said, he'll have his office upstairs over Betty's." I said, "He's engineering and building a new light sport aircraft. We are going to attempt to get into that market, as well as manufacturing and selling them as kits." Joy said, "Wow, that will be great. That industry is about to explode. It's a lot safer than all of those experimental kites and powered gliders." "That they are, Joy. Let me get dressed and we'll head over to Orlando and get this show on the road. We're supposed to meet the movers about nine." I turned back to Kevin and said, "Bring the big tilting flatbed with a forklift you can stick on the back. Bring about seven guys so we can get the ladies' vehicles back here. That should do it." I said to Ruth, "Move Wes upstairs today. I know you have the place wired up there already, so all you have to do is to move his furniture." Ruth said, "No need, "I have about the same furniture upstairs, as down. I'll have to move his drafting table, but that's all. The alarm system is already installed up there, and is a separate zone, so he should be fine. I'll have that done and get the downstairs cleaned early, although he really hasn't had much time to get messy yet." It took me ten minutes to do the triple S and dress. I took Betty and Joy with me to the airpark and was going to have Jimmy prep a 208 for me, but he reminded me that we were sold out today. When I asked DeDe she said, "Get Tank or someone to fly you over in a helicopter. You have plenty of those and I heard Tank say they only had flights for two." All I could think of was, we have a bunch of aircraft and I can't even get a 172 to fly to Orlando. I found Tank and said, how about a ride to Orlando in one of the helicopters?" He said, "I would do that, but I have a charter that I have to meet in about forty-five minutes. You're in luck, though, the little girl standing next to you has a bunch of hours in either the Bell 210 or the 206. I think the 206 is a nicer ride, but you might get off on flying in an old Huey." I looked at Joy and asked, "So you can fly us?" "Sure, and I know the 206 I want to use too. It's in perfect condition. I worked on it last." She was walking toward the helicopter hangar. She had me help her push the helicopter on its rolling stand out of the hangar, then began a detailed preflight inspection. When she was done, she said, "Mount up, both of you. Betty, sit in the back so Steve can ride up front. I'll start introducing him to a helicopter right now." Tank watched as she had completed her inspection and how she went through her startup. She was talking to me the whole time, step by step, pointing at gauges and listening to the rotors. She was smiling when she looked out at Tank and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back with a thumbs up as well. I guess we were on our way. With our headsets on, Joy asked for permission to access the runway for takeoff. The airpark was used to granting helicopters quick access as they would get out on the runway and head straight down the runway while climbing. Joy called in a VFR flight plan as we headed toward Orlando. The helicopter had a Garmin GPS in it that was similar to the ones in the 172s. We didn't go that fast, only about a hundred knots but it isn't that far across the state. Joy explained that this 206 was a 206L-4, a stretched version with a more powerful engine. It can seat seven, including the pilot, and get up to a little over a hundred twenty knots We set the helicopter down near the hangar where the office was so Betty could begin tagging stuff. I told Joy, "Why don't you get the fuel truck over here and refuel this helicopter, then fill both fuel trucks from the storage tank. Let me know how much is left so I can sell it here." The mechanics and pilots all came out to greet us. A couple of mechanics began helping Joy, and the pilots said they could assist Betty and could help out in the hangars marking stuff as to where it needed to go. The movers backed their trucks into the hangar and we separated stuff that we could put in our regular buildings from what would go into our storage building. The men were smart, as they began making an inventory of what we were going to store. An hour later, Kevin showed up with two big trucks to begin hauling vehicles. The first thing was to load and chain the two big tow motors. Kevin then got with the mechanics and had them point out their tool chests and the company's special tool cabinets. Kevin personally used the forklift to gently put the chests on the one big flat bed trucks. When they were done loading tools, the big truck was loaded to the max. They filled up the van and pickups with file cabinets and small parts, then finished filling up the other flatbed. When everything was chained down, he said, "I think I know where everything is going, so we'll unload everything and come back in an SUV or something, and help clean the place up. As the movers clear a building, we'll sweep up." The trucks moved out in a convoy. The fuel trucks were full as were the two big flat beds. Betty's and Joy's cars were at the airport, so they sent them on to Tampa too. They figured they could get a ride from our guys when they got back. Around noon, I had a couple of the pilots run out to get a few dozen subs. I gave them three hundred for two hundred worth of subs and a hundred worth of soda and iced tea. About the time they came back, Kevin pulled in with his men. We were just starting on the third hangar and when I told the movers to stop and eat, they were very happy to eat with us. We all ate while planning how to handle the rest of the day. Betty said, "I think everything is tagged as to where it's going to go. You guys are doing a great job inventorying for me, thanks. If we can get rides to our places and have the movers stop by, Joy and I can be completely moved today." One of the pilots said he would take them and one of the movers said, "I have another small truck that can run by and pick up what's at both places. I'll have two men go so the loading will be fast. We're going to need another trailer for everything here, and I'll have it out here before we finish lunch. We'll get this done in a day. We won't get it unloaded today though. It takes longer to unload than to load." I told them, "Bring it in the morning or come over and stay the night in the hotel, your choice." The mover said, "We'll get a fresh start tomorrow morning about seven. We'll be there a little after nine and take the day to unload. That will work. We have to begin a pretty big office move day after tomorrow, so this gave us a nice fill in job. The men are all happy this week." The pilots and mechanics got me off to side to talk to me. The oldest of the pilots had become their spokesman. He started out by saying, "I'm not going to embarrass you, but I have to say something for all of us." The man looked around then back at me. After taking a big breath he said, "We will not haul or handle anything that is questionable. We want you to know we just won't do it. The first time there is something shady going on, we're gone, all of us. We went through all of that shit already and don't want any part of it. We fly and fix what we fly. That's what we do." "Next, if you're good with that, all of us are willing to move right away. Only two of us own our homes and have families. They will be more difficult, but they are willing to move as well. We want to get moved, so all of us want to come over and hunt for places as soon as possible." The men just stood and looked at me. "First guys, I can assure you that you will never haul something that is illegal, or at least you and I won't knowingly haul it. We just don't do that. I respect the way you feel and agree with it. If you ever feel uncomfortable, come to me and let me know." I smiled, "For the two who own their homes, get with our guy named Tiny. Everyone knows him. You find where you want to live and he'll work something out for financing and to buy your house here. We'll take the responsibility to get it sold so you don't have to worry about it. For the rest of you, there are condos all around where I live. For those that might enjoy living in a trailer park, I live in one, and we have a great time. I'm sure there are rentals available. Just see the manager of the park or see one of the ladies where I live. They know the gossip and will point you in the right direction." "Now, while you are looking, you will be my guests at the Holiday Inn in front of the big business park near where I live. Plan on staying there until you find a place. When you have the place you want, again, tell Tiny and a mover will magically appear and you will be moved." "The deal is, that you are all going to be busy very soon. Our sales and marketing group is already canvassing the area to market our helicopter charters. We'll be very busy, very soon. They will have the Sikorsky busy on a daily basis, so we may have to get some more men trained on it. Hopefully, we can keep all the other aircraft busy too." For you instructors, there are several people to train in helicopters. Begin training with those little ones and then start right in using the Bell 206s and the 210. If we need other training helicopters, tell me, we'll get them." Okay, for those who are the instructors on fixed wing and can teach the two jets, I have a dozen people that need to be checked out. We can do some of it on charters, but if we have to burn fuel to get everyone proficient, we'll burn it." I looked around and asked, "So, who's going to come over and check in at the hotel tonight?" They all huddled together and the lead pilot asked, "If we come early, can we come over to that place Betty and Joy said you have?" "You bet. You, your wives, and your kids are welcome to come for our cocktail time and for supper. The other women will entertain the women, the other kids will suck up your kids, and you gentlemen will be beat up on by all the regulars that will be there. Go home now, get your families together and get over to the Holiday Inn on 41, just south of 54. Easiest way is to take I-4 to I-275 north. Turn left on Bearss, right on Florida, and a few miles down the road, the Holiday Inn will be on your right. Someone from the patio group will come get you. Or rather, I'll send a bunch of carts over to get you." There were smiles all around as they high fived each other and headed toward their cars. Kevin had taken the two women to their apartments and drove back with both women. I asked, "Are you going to have to stay over to get it done?" Betty said, "I had the most and it's moved. The van could hold mine and Joy's. They put Joy's motorcycle in it too and strapped it down. It will be waiting for us when we get there." I said, "What do you think, Kevin? The movers have everything loaded and your guys are sweeping the last hangar." He said, "Why don't we all make one last thorough inspection to make sure we're not leaving anything. The guys even took down the telephone system and all the paging equipment. I'm not sure why, but they did. You said strip it, they did." We walked through the three hangars and decided there wasn't anything left. Betty looked around and said, "It's like we've never been here. I didn't think you could do it this fast, but it's done." I said to Kevin, "Get your guys and get home. By the time you get there it will be quitting time anyway." I said to Joy, "Let's get this whirlybird checked out and get flying. I think this is the last time we'll be here unless it is to pick up or drop off a charter." Joy showed me every step of the preflight again. She didn't have a checklist and that was one thing I wanted to implement. When we were doing the startup, I said, "You did it differently than you did before. This morning you did some kind of reset on the instruments before you spooled the turbines." She said, "You were watching. You don't have to do that every start. If the aircraft has been on the ground for an extended period of time, it's always good to do that. Otherwise, just begin the normal start. We have checklists for this and the other birds. We've gotten sloppy about using them. We'll have to get them back out." "Good thinking, Lady. I want to fly perfectly safe. You'll hear me say 'perfect' a lot. That's the way things work best and how we stay in business. We strive for perfection. Everything we do, we try to be perfect." Joy said, "I saw the signs over all the doors, "Is it perfect?" "That's what I want you to ask yourself on every job you send out the door." "Are you going to be tough to work for?" Joy was looking at me, while still checking instruments. "Yes and no. I'm tough about the quality of work we give our customers. I won't ever beat you up on the time it takes to be perfect. I figure we make more by doing it right the first time. Just always do the absolute best you can. Jimmy is going to drum that into you. Tank is still learning, but he likes the concept." As we lifted off the ground, Joy said in the headset, "I like that. I like the idea that every bird is perfect before it leaves the shop." Joy had me work the collective and stick on the way back. The stick was like any other stick except if you pushed forward too fast the nose dipped and if you pulled back too fast the tail dipped. The collective controlled power, which you could turn into either altitude or airspeed, depending on how you moved the joystick. There was more to do when flying a helicopter, but I could see that it would just take practice, a lot of very expensive practice. I guess the big difference is that with a regular airplane you can trim it up and it almost flies itself, even without autopilot, but you have to control a helicopter all the time. When we were ready to land, Joy said, "Okay, keep your hands lightly on both the stick and the collective and feel what I do as I set it down. I'll try to set down square on the rolling stand." She did something I thought was different. She came down until she was about three feet off the ground, but to her side of the stand. She held the helicopter steady then slid sideways until we were over the stand and lowered the craft until the skids sat on the stand. She cut the pitch and let the helicopter settle and then went through about the same shutdown as you do with a Lear. When I opened the door, I was impressed that she had set the helicopter down as square on the stand as was possible. When I complimented her on her landing, she said, "I've always been good at getting up and down, but have a hell of a time maintaining level flight unless I'm going balls to the wall." Her delivery made me laugh. As Betty got out of the helicopter, she said, "These things are the perfect taxi. I can't imagine that more executives won't use our services. Did you know Joy had music playing over the headphones in the passenger area? It really made the flight very nice." Joy just smiled as she began a check of the aircraft. She went from point to point, shaking and pulling on various parts. She looked closely at almost every inch of the machinery from the tail to the gear case under the rotors. When she was satisfied, she went looking for the fuel truck. I walked with Betty to her new office. We walked through the helicopter hangar, and through a door that had not been used previously, into the office area. We entered into a hallway where there was a large break room to the left, and an office area to the right. Betty exclaimed, "All my file cabinets are here. All the flight records and maintenance records are already here, perfect. Look, at this nice desk, and wow, you guys have new computers. DeDe from the fixed wing charter said you have a great charter program. It tracks equipment usage as well as scheduling and maintenance. Whoever set this up left me a user's manual on the program. This is so nice." Betty looked through her stuff for a while then declared, "If I begin messing with this stuff, I'll be here all night. I'm getting hungry. Let's see if we can find my car." Outside, I looked across to the operations parking area and pointed. Betty nodded and said, "Yes Sir, mine's there and so is Joy's." Tank came out from his little office and said, "So how was your ride over and back?" "Great, Tank, you'll have to go with Joy to test her proficiency, but she seems to know what she's doing," I remarked. "The lady should; she was an advanced instructor until she wanted to be in maintenance full time. She flew two separate tours in Iraq. The lady can fly; she just likes working on them more, kinda like me." I said to Tank, "Well, perhaps she's the answer to your personal personnel search. I've heard several times you were too picky when it came to women. Carter told me once you almost asked DeDe out, but decided against it at the last minute." "I didn't chicken out. She only knows fixed wing and loves those little aircraft as much as jets. I'm into rotary wing and like those jets. I figured we were two different people." I said, "You're a riot. You'll have to check Joy out. She seems to like fixing any kind of aircraft. She likes to fly too." Tank smiled, "Oh, I will, Steve. A lady that likes to wrench, and is that good looking, has got to have something going for her." "Oh yeah, Tank, and did you know she rides a motorcycle? She had the movers bring it over for her today." Tank said, "No shit; that might up her value a lot. I'll talk to her, other than about work, that is." Betty and Joy came out of the charter office, waved at me, and headed for their cars. I was surprised to find Abe in the charter office. He said, "You having all that stuff in the spare hangar is like when you first bought all that equipment from your building at the auction. I sure hope you're as lucky with this venture as you were with your first one here in Florida." Abe picked up a stack of papers and said, "They did a good job listing the inventory of what they brought. You know, you're going to have to learn a lot about these whirlybirds. I think we'll have to clear an area so you can land one of these by the shop. That way you can travel back and forth between here and there faster. I think your folks down at the shop will go nuts if you land one of these in the parking lot. You better learn real quick like." "Come on, Abe, it's time for a cold one." "I'm waiting for Alice. She went up to Philadelphia to see her sister and caught a ride with little Lisa. They should be here any minute. I kind of like that Alice can catch a ride to different places with you guys. Sometimes you can go both ways with one of your flights." Abe kept looking out the windows expecting an airplane to magically appear. When a G5, or some other bigger passenger plane landed, there was enough noise to know they were there. "Well, Abe, DeDe, I'll see you for supper." On the way home, I called the shop to make sure there were no emergencies that needed to be taken care of. The only person I needed to talk to was Chuck. "Hey, Chuck, what's up?" "I was just wondering if you were headed home soon. I'm at your place with all the women from my house, except for Lisa. They're just waiting for the men, or for some miracle to occur so they can gawk at it." "I'm on my way right now," I told Chuck "Good, I have a couple of things for you when you get here." I said, "See ya in a minute." When I pulled up, there were a lot of carts already parked. It was only four forty-five. I went in and Chuck handed me a tall Beefeaters. He was grinning at me as if he might have had too much. He waved me over to the corner of the bar and said very softly, "I think we just made a grand slam." "What do you mean?" Chuck was shaking his head and said, "Last night we found out that there was money supposedly stored on the Brazilian business jet." "Okay." "Well, Sarge and company tore the thing apart and found a bunch of money. I mean a bunch, close to fifty million." "That's nice," I said. "Too bad we don't have it." "That's the thing, Steve. We may get it all." "What do you mean, Chuck, how?" "You see, we bought those airplanes and they were paid for and title transferred to us before they found the money. Sarge says that there is an ownership problem. It may be like found money. My boss, John, called the Marshal who happened to mention it to the AG and that guy flippantly said that it was finders keepers." "No shit. What are you going to do with it?" "What do you mean me, what are we going to do with it? That is your airplane." "Sorry, Charlie, or Chuck, but in this case, it's your airplane. You bought it and I wasn't intending on buying it from you. If there's a lot of money, it's all yours." Chuck sat back in the high bar stool with a glazed look. He mouthed without saying anything out loud, "What the fuck." I patted him on the knee and said, "I'll be right back. I have to say hi to the family and go potty." As I went into the house, I got lots of hugs from four lovely ladies. One of which was not Sue. Glenda told me, "Sue called from Atlanta and said she was on her way." "Atlanta? What is she doing in Atlanta?" Mercy said, "She went up with Hannah to see about some machinery that's for sale up there. She's planning on building a material plant. She needs some special weaving machines." Kathy said, "She already has Terrell out on the back property, figuring on how to place the new factory so it blends in with the rest of the buildings. She says it's your fault. You were the one that came up with making your own material to make T-shirts. She says if you can be successful doing that, she can be successful making her own material. She has already projected hiring another four hundred people. You better tie her down or she'll build out all that lovely property back there." After using the bathroom, I went back to find Chuck still catatonic, staring at his glass. I asked, "Where's John?" "Oh, I took him down to Key West for the week." "I thought all our aircraft were chartered." "They were, but I flew that new Eclipse Jet. I had one of the pilots check me out in it and flew it down. It's not fast, doesn't carry many people, and it doesn't have a long range, but it does fly nice and it seems to be in good shape. I had to hunt all over to find the checklists for the thing. I don't think anyone ever used them before." "So you're already checked out on both of the new jets?" "Yeah," Chuck smiled, "how about that? The Brazilian jet isn't too bad to fly, but seems wobbly at slower speeds. You have to burn in when landing to keep it from wobbling. There was only about a fifteen-knot crosswind and I had to crab like crazy to land. The pilot who checked me out even said that it wasn't nice to fly in windy conditions. We'll have to be aware of that and land with some speed." "So tell me more about this money, Chuck." "That's about it, Steve. Sarge and the Marshal asked a federal judge to make a ruling. The Service isn't even bitching about it. You and I both know that it's money that they came about illegally, and it probably came from out of the country." "Don't worry, Chuck, you'll have to pay probably close to half of what was found in taxes. Hey, if you have enough, let's fly to Hawaii and see if there're any deals over there." "No way, Steve. Let me learn to deal with being a resort owner over there first. How am I going to tell my family I found fifty, or rather twenty-five, million dollars after taxes?" "Why tell them. Just buy something that will make their lives that much happier. You have a new home to pay for." I took a big swig of my drink, "Hey, you know what you could buy. You could buy that boat down in Miami and take a cruise. My family will go with you. Let's get that boat, have it fixed up the way you or the girls would like, and sail to Europe. I'll bet you could get some kind of special envoy status to do that." "I don't have my captain's license. I didn't take the test." With a smile, I said, "So find out when you can take it next, anywhere in the country, and fly there and take the test. You might want to study a little, but you have a great memory." Chuck said, "I could do that. I might do that." He was thinking hard and said, "Damn right, I'm going to do that." I laughed, "Well, are you going to buy that boat and sail to Europe?" "I can do that too. You know what, I might just do that. You have to come along. I hope the boat is big enough for all of us." Chuck was such a pleasure to be around. Mercy came strolling up and asked, "Are you two discussing my favorite passion." Chuck looked at her questioningly and was almost embarrassed. Mercy grinned and hugged him, "Sailing. That other stuff is another thing I like." I gave Chuck the entrée, "Look inside his head, Mercy, see what's going on in there." "He's trying to keep me out. He doesn't want me to know something. You better watch it, Buster. I'll sneak in there when you're thinking about it." Chuck said, "We were talking about me buying a boat and both families going sailing." Mercy said, "It would have to be a big boat." Steve said, "How about if he bought a hundred and sixty-five foot Magellan." Mercy's head came up quickly, and her eyes narrowed, "Where would you get the only hundred and sixty-five foot Magellan ever made. And it's not a hundred and sixty-five feet, it's a hundred and seventy-five feet. We couldn't even afford something like that." Steve said, "I think Chuck has the inside track on the boat." Mercy said, "Wow, if you were to get that boat, you would have to remodel it to fit your needs. If you were to take us with you, you would probably have to make it into like two separate units. Wow, wait till Sue hears about this." "I don't have it yet, Mercy," Chuck said, "It's still a maybe." Mercy was excited, "With the luck you've been having, it isn't too much of a maybe, it's more like 'when.' Chuck, Steve, I'm getting excited, where will we go?" I said, "Chuck and I thought we might go to Europe. We could stop to see Michael and family, go see the new Italian factory, and stop over on the Riviera. You know, similar to our first trip there." Mercy asked Chuck, "Do you have your captain's license now?" "No, Ma'am, but I'll have it as soon as I can find out when and where the next test is. I'll get Steve and maybe you to take me out in your small sailboat and get used to sailing. I need to learn to do it myself." Mercy said, "I'll go log on to the website and find out when and where. They have them almost weekly somewhere around the country." Chuck used his cell phone, and from my side of the conversation, I heard, "John, Chuck. Nice, huh? Glad you're enjoying the place. Yeah, the lady took it pretty good. She did a good job remodeling. Stay down there as long as you like. I don't think the place will hold all of my people. It could, but it would be packed. I have a favor to ask. You know I may get that money, right? Well, even after taxes, I might have enough to buy that boat in Miami. Steve said it would be the perfect boat for me and my family. Anyway, if you can put in a good word for me, I can probably just pay cash, after taxes, of course." "Neat, enjoy, and make sure you walk down to the beach. Find out how much it is to join that fancy beach club as a day user. You don't have to pay for it, I'm flush, and you know that. Thanks, John, appreciate it. Bye." Chuck looked at me and said, "He said that you have first pick, as you said you wanted it first. But he did say we were going to hear about it quick. He's heard that they did a number on the boat trying to find more money. They did find lots of gold and jewelry in the safes. He said they actually found bags of cut diamonds." Chuck said he thought of something and called the Orlando FBI station. When he got the chief agent on the phone, he asked, "How are the two men that got hurt? Good, glad to hear that. Was the guy that was killed married? He wasn't? That's good that you don't have to worry about that. Oh, he was? Wow, he had a big obligation. Well, do me a favor. I don't want to act like a high roller, but let me know what it takes to do a trust for them so they can be assured they will be taken care of. Yeah, I'm serious. I have some money and tell me, what better way to use it is there? Good, just let me know and don't broadcast it. Thanks a lot. Just send it to my office and Wanda will give it to me. You guys did a good job over there, even if you did get jumped. Yes Sir, I think the place is totally cleaned out. You can pull your guards. Thanks again." Chuck was smiling when he got off the phone. He said, "That's better. I can do something else with that money. Tell you what, Steve. I have a bunch of places to visit in the next few weeks. If the boat comes through and you want to let me buy it, get your girls and my bunch together and design what needs to be done with the boat. If we can, we should probably try to get the original builder to do the remodeling." "You got it, Bro. That's exactly what you should do. The builder is right there in Miami. If you get it, we'll all go down and make sure we design it the way you want it." Chuck and I leaned back in our chairs, sipping our drinks. "Hey, Steve; hey, Chuck; everybody sure has been busy today." Tiny came in and slapped me on the back. "Steve, you're never going to guess what I did today." "No, so tell me, Tiny, what have you been up to?" Tiny had poured himself a mug of beer. He took a big swallow gave an "Ahhh," then said, "The company just bought two more distributors out west today. We made an offer on both of them a couple of years ago. The owner just accepted seventy-five percent of the original offer. He says he's ripping us off, but trust me, Steve, we'll have both of them making money quickly. I'll have men out there teaching our methods and have the buildings remodeled to meet our standards." I asked, "Which two did you buy?" "The only two out west with the same owner," Tiny said. "Oh," I said, "you bought us Las Vegas and Reno." "That's right. Now we can bid on all that highway work they are doing out there. We can set them up on maintenance to keep them running and make a killing. Our field guys know how to do that. I have to get someone to fly me out there so I can close both of them, but that won't be a big deal. I'll have them closed by the end of next week and have them remodeled in a month and profitable in two months." Ruth came in and said, "I'm glad you told me to fix up the upstairs out there when we built out Wes' office. That went quick. I was there when Kevin brought her files in. The movers will bring the rest of Betty's stuff tomorrow, so she'll be in business. Phil's guys already have work for us. They're concentrating on utility work, but will promote charters soon." Chuck was smiling at me, "You have so much going on all the time, Steve. You amaze me." "No more than you, Buddy. You're busy in your own way. So where are your women?" Chuck looked around and said, "You know, I don't know. They were here earlier, but must have left again. I thought they would be here when you came out, but they're not here." Chuck closed his eyes and Mercy came out of the house. "What, what do you want? Don't ask me, ask them. You don't have to yell either." Chuck grinned sheepishly, and said, "So where are they?" "I'm not their keeper," Mercy said with a smile. "It was just the five anyway, then Tina came looking for them. Call them on their cell phones." Chuck dialed his cell phone and waited. He must have gotten voicemail, as he hung up and dialed another number. The same thing happened, so he put his cell phone in his pocket. He looked around and said, "You know what, Juanita must be with them. That's why we're short of women around here." Shawna had come in and said, "If I'm around, you're never short of women. I'm enough for a crowd." Chuck closed his eyes for a while and then his cell phone rang. He smiled and answered, "Hi, Brandy, what are you up to? You did, really, that too? Just wanted to tell you I was back from Key West and was at Steve's. Should I meet you at the house? Okay, I'll be here." He closed his phone and put it away, smiling. Mercy said, "You told her to call you, didn't you? Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Chuck said, "I never know whether I'm doing it right or not. I try to just use mental pictures and not words. Sometimes words are misunderstood." Mercy nodded and his patted hand. "Make sure you work with Lisa." Chuck looked confused, "Lisa?" Mercy said, "Talk to her, she's listening. She can talk back to you, I'm sure. You two share a bond that has opened her mind. Talk to her." Chuck smiled and said, "I'm thinking of lovely Lisa, the Airplane Maid. I can hear Lisa laugh. Whether she is really laughing where she's at, I don't know, but I'm smiling." Mercy said to all of us, "What do you want to bet, that he rocked her wherever she is." Chuck went for a tall beer, and I said to Mercy, "We may be throwing too much at him at one time. He knows he has your gift, he just doesn't feel he should use it." Mercy told me, "He needs to use it, learn about it, and be comfortable using it. He can help people and help himself with the power of the gift." The owner of the airpark came in the patio and saw where I was. He came back to our group and we offered him something to drink. He ended up with a vodka Collins made by Ruth. He was sitting where Chuck had been when he asked, "Are you going to begin supplying your own fuel? I saw the two trucks you brought in." "Nope, not unless you want me to. You supply the fuel. Those are full because we brought them from Orlando as part of a package deal we got from over there." Paul said, "I heard that Alcam was raided by the feds and all their property was confiscated. Is that where you picked up all the helicopters?" "That's the place, Paul. Chuck Johnson, the Deputy Marshal bought everything to use here. He and I are going to be partners in the helicopter business." "It's good to know that I won't lose your fuel business. That's one of my big revenue areas. We sell our fuel as cheap as Zephyrhills so we get a lot of transient business. With the extended runways now, we get a lot of South Florida G5s stopping in to load up before they go across country. We're almost a dollar cheaper than the Miami area." I told Paul, "I don't want to be in the fuel business. You keep it, you sell it. As a matter of fact, Paul, how about you taking those two tankers when they're empty. I'll probably use up the fuel in them in the next couple of days at the most. We're flying a lot lately." "I know," Paul said. "Thank you for shifting a lot of your rental and lesson business our way. This airpark has become the place to come for instruction." "What else do you have on your mind, Paul? You didn't come over just for the fuel issue." Paul smiled and said, "The fuel is important, but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to buy those two hangars that are on the backside of yours. If you bought them, you wouldn't owe any rental on the one you want to store the stuff from Orlando in." "Sure, come up with a fair price and make sure you figure in the land cost so we own the property as well as the building. You know that I'll have to remodel, so you might take that into consideration. That way I won't need the new ones we were talking about so soon." Paul asked, "You still want the other property though, right? So you can build the additional hangars when the time comes." "I do." I leaned close to him and said softly, "Do you need a partner out there. Is cash a problem?" "It's always a problem. From anyone else, I wouldn't even consider an offer like that, but from you, Steve, it would be an honor to be in business with you. How about I sell you sixty percent of the airpark? I get to remain as property manager, but your accounting people can take care of that stuff for me. I know you get good advice from them." I motioned to Tiny to come over to us. When he was there, I said, "You know Paul, right?" Tiny nodded and stuck out his hand and smiled. "Paul could use a partner and wants to sell us sixty percent of the airpark. He'd remain manager, but we would provide our accounting people. Does that sound good?" "Sounds great, Steve. Paul, I'll have Ben Phillips, our attorney work out a contract and we'll get money in your hands right away. If there are funds that are needed for operation or for improvements right away, let me know and we'll work something out. Now we'll be paying ourselves those airpark fees, at least sixty percent of them, anyway." "I'll bet you can recommend a better insurance company than who I have right now," Paul said, in pleading voice. "Rates have just jumped again. Hopefully, we can make a better deal." Tiny said, "No sweat, we've been working on that problem and have made some great progress on costs. We'll get the underwriters to work on your package. I guess that's our package now." Tiny and Paul shook hands, then Paul and I shook hands. You could see some worry lines leave his face and some smile lines appear. Paul thanked us for the drink and said he should get home to his family. As soon as he left, Tiny said, "You know, I knew that was coming, but I didn't think it would be so fast. He's not in trouble yet, but he's anticipating that it's coming. With our increased business out there, we're going to be fine, even with doubling the number of aircraft." "We'll be fine, Tiny. We have all the lucky people on our side and besides, we do it perfect." Tiny smiled and toasted me with a near empty beer stein. The ladies called supper. The tables weren't jammed yet and I saw why. The new pilots and mechanics weren't here yet, nor were the two new ladies. I called over to the hotel to find that the bellhops were running errands and couldn't bring the folks over. I got a bunch of guys and we ran over to the hotel where eight guys were waiting. Four had wives and two had kids. We hauled them back and seated them. I apologized for not getting them earlier, and said, "Eat up, and after supper we'll go through all the introductions." Chuck didn't want to eat until his girls got back so he could eat with them. They should be here any second. Kathy and Juanita were with them, so they should be here any second. We could hear a car pull in on the other side of the big house. There was a commotion from that area, then through the living room of the big manufactured home, a stream of women appeared. First came Juanita and Kathy, who immediately came to me for a hug. After kissing me, they passed by Mercy for a kiss, and hugged a lot of kids on the way to find a seat at the table. Next came super tall Lena, along with Tina. The two were smiling and joking about what a crazy day it had been. A surprise was Zena Parks and a lady that looked like her older sister. Those two were followed by the redheaded Shannon, who always looked cool on the outside, but gave you the impression that she was a smoldering volcano inside. The diminutive Joanie came prancing in, arm in arm with the darker pixie, Tiani. The two were very cute together. Then came the dark Nancy, with Judy and Frieda. All three were holding their bellies as if they were caressing themselves. Brandy brought up the rear and looked as if she was totally frazzled. She looked at the table of food then over at the bar. I could see the indecision, but the bar won. Brandy walked over to the bar, put ice in a tall glass and began pouring Beefeaters into it. When it was almost full, she put the bottle back and raised the glass to her mouth. With her eyes closed, she took several swallows. As she pulled the glass away, the corners of her mouth curled into a smile and a calm came over her face. Brandy caught me looking at her and she said, "Herding this bunch through the store, choosing fixtures and tile, is more than one person should be expected to do. If you want indecision, you should have eleven women with opinions." I was laughing and said, "Come over to the table and sit. We'll eat something and you'll feel better." Chuck had gotten up and went to hug her. She was smiling as he led her back to the table. As soon as Chuck sat with her, all the girls launched into a description of their day. We heard another car stop and a car door close. Sue and Hannah came through the house and said to everyone, "Hope there's some left, we're starved." Sue gave me a hug and kiss and Hannah gave her family hugs, then they both sat and began loading plates. There was another car that pulled up, but this one stopped behind the carts. Lisa jumped out of her car and hurriedly came in to the patio. She gave Brandy and Chuck hugs, then asked Chuck to make her a drink while she used the restroom. A couple of minutes later, it appeared everyone was accounted for. As I ate and listened to Sue, I was at peace, feeling the immediate threats were gone and happy that many new people had joined us. Our group had outgrown our patio, but we would just continue as not everyone showed up at once. If they did, people would have to eat sitting on the couches or in the easy chairs. As it is, people sat at the bar and ate often. After supper, all of us sat around and just chatted for a while. Chuck suggested to all of his people that they return home for an early night. His women made the rounds, giving hugs to everyone, and kisses to many. Chuck's entire household had integrated with, and been accepted by, our group very well. It will be nice when they do live just around the corner. Chuck shook my hand, and with crooked grin said, "Think we can have a peaceful night? I'll see you tomorrow so we can make a plan." Later, while I was talking to Tiny, he said, "Jeff told me he delivered a full set of parts to Wes for his air coupe design. He also delivered the parts for Wes' redesigned biplane. I guess we're going to find out whether this idea is any good." I said to Tiny, "It will be. I'm not going to do much more than answer questions and get what's needed for everyone out there. I think Chuck may be rising as the leader and manager of all of those people. As he does that and assumes more control, I wonder if he'll stay a deputy. He mentioned that he has a bunch of running around to do, so I think we're going to see some activity out of him with the charter companies. Let's let him assume as much leadership as he wants. I want to see how and what he does." Tiny was smiling about the situation and enjoying a cold mug of beer. Our day was done. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 32 Chuck This morning was going to be a normal morning. That is, if there is such a thing as a normal morning in the zoo I call home. After I woke up, I slipped on my peg, drained my accumulated overnight bloat, and went outside to form and relax. While I was moving to each new position this morning, instead of music, I was putting together a plan. I wanted to gather all of the IDs with safe deposit keys and visit each location to move the assets to a single location. I already had begun using the local bank, so that should be okay. I had another idea as to how to handle the gold. If I were to change the gold into the currency of a South American country, then slowly transfer funds back to the U.S., it wouldn't be terribly suspicious. I could transfer the funds directly into one of Ben Phillips' accounts. For that matter, he may have accounts in banks in South America. He does have a home in Costa Rica. He is someone I needed to talk to right away. My plan was to gather the assets, transfer account funds from each account into Ben's accounts and pay taxes as if it were income. That would eliminate all of the miscellaneous accounts and Ben could work on disposing of the houses. At breakfast, I asked Wanda, "I have a bunch of running around to do. Do you think I could get a leave of absence or another vacation?" Wanda asked, "Could you combine your personal business with visits to offices? If you could, you could travel all you wanted and no one would question you. You might get interrupted with an emergency somewhere, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem." "Okay, sounds good, we'll handle it that way," I said. "I'll try to get together an itinerary and you can alert the offices." The first thing I did was to run to the bank at eight thirty and get into the safe deposit box. I pulled out a bar of gold, a bundle of money, the IDs I had left in there, and the envelopes that I had gathered from the other boxes. From the office, I brought home all the correspondence that I had gathered so I could work on it. Once home, I called Ben and asked him if he could come see me. He asked, "Can't you come to the office? I have a busy day today." "Okay, I don't want to, but I'll be there in a half hour. I need you as an attorney as well as financial advisor today." A half-hour later, I was sitting in Ben's conference room. While I waited for Ben, I looked over the room and discovered two cameras, so I'm sure the room had recording capabilities as well. When Ben came in and greeted me I said, "Can we go get a cup of coffee together?" "I'll have a secretary get us some," as he reached for a phone. I put my hand on his arm and said, "Please, let's go out for some." Ben's sharp and he understood. We walked out through the office where he advised his staff he would be out for a while. As soon as we were alone in a descending elevator, I asked, "Are the cameras and recording devices always on in your conference room?" Ben looked shocked, but then thought about it and said, "You may be right. They may be on all the time." "Ben," I said firmly, making sure to get his attention, "What I need to talk to you about is very confidential, and for this part of our conversation no one, and I mean no one, should be told any part of it." Ben said, "If you're in trouble I can get you good representation." "I'm not in trouble. As a matter of fact, I've discussed this with my immediate supervisor. That's why I'm going to do what I'm going to do." "Then what's so confidential?" "Let's sit so you can listen for a little bit." We went to a coffee shop and found a place in the corner that was empty and away from windows. With our coffee on the table, I began. "Ben, I must have your absolute assurance that everything I tell you will remain between you and me." Ben nodded and said, "You've been a good client for a while now, and I'm proud to manage your assets. Anything you want to have remain confidential will be so." I sighed, then said, "To begin with, sometimes my job requires me to do some strange things. Sometimes bad people are eliminated, but their elimination goes unheard of because these people have spent years assuming multiple identities. Their true identity can't even be traced. They could be a foreign agent, or just someone that became one of the people out there that perform dirty deeds, but not dirt cheap." "This just happened. The person that is no longer around had multiple identities, and everywhere he established an identity, he owned a house and had a bank account with a safe deposit box." I opened my briefcase and showed him a rubber banded set of IDs for Key West. Also in the case was a banded bundle of hundreds. I lifted out the bar of gold and said, "Each of the safe deposit boxes has lots of this in them. At least, I suspect the ones I haven't visited yet do also." Ben handled the bar of gold gently then placed it back in my briefcase. He took the ID set, looked through it, and said, "If you had a big beard like the picture, this could be you." "Ben, I've already been to a bank, used the IDs, gained access to the accounts, and removed the cash and gold from a safe deposit box. The lady at the bank thinks I look much better without the beard. As you can see, the signature isn't scribbled, but is in legible script. I was able to copy the signature and sign it easily. It was accepted." Ben was squirming, "What do you want me to do for you?" "I want to have the house in Key West transferred into my name or to a holding company. You said you already set up a holding company for some of my investments. In some cases, I want you to sell the house to the family who lives in it now. After that, I want you to help me transfer money from the checking and savings accounts into my investment account. I will gladly pay taxes on these new assets. Can you do that?" Ben nodded and asked, "What are you going to do with the cash and gold?" "You can probably help there. I was thinking of possibly setting up accounts in a South American country and putting the gold there. I could do the cash too, but I think I might be able to make a lot of the cash from gambling proceeds. Again, your advice would be appreciated." "You're as bad as those sports people. They get all kinds of offshore money that they don't want to report. They finally do report it and pay taxes on it, but they cry. At least you're willing to pay taxes. Actually, if you can get the cash and gold to Costa Rica, I'll set up multiple bank accounts and we can transfer money back to your accounts here. Since the deposits will be going into investment accounts, you'll have to pay taxes on it as income from a foreign source, and of course, taxes on any gains." Ben asked, "Is this more than a million?" I nodded, "Lots more." Ben smiled, "You're like Steve. He can't pick up a penny without it turning into a gold coin. I can do this, so tell me about the Key West house." "The place is just a three bedroom ranch style about two blocks from the water. It's nothing spectacular but it would be a great place for you to use for a weekend or a week. Let me know and I'll make sure the place is ready for you. I have a housekeeper/manager watching the place for me. It has a pool and a very nice open yard that's landscaped without grass. I advised the housekeeper of my name yesterday, telling her that I had previously used a fictitious name. I want to open a checking account down there so she can have money for property upkeep and to pay for landscaping, pool care, and any service man needed. I'll probably set her up with a checking account so she can pay the household utilities. That way, I won't have to worry about the place. We'll just go down and use it when we want." "I'll get a power of attorney for you to sign for this property. I'll contact an attorney in Key West. You'll have to give him a power of attorney, and I won't see you sign it, or know you did that. I'll just handle the transaction by sending money to the attorney who will put it into the new account that we will transfer from your investment account. You can do the transfer online. I see on this card a couple of passwords. I'm sure this one is the banking password. This short one here is for the ATM. Have you tried it?" I said, "I did and it worked." Sitting back I asked, "If there are houses in other states, can you handle those? I would probably just sell them real cheap to whoever is in them now. To help with the purchase, I could carry the mortgage." "Sure, Chuck, the same as the Key West place. You'll have to go to the city where the house is and sign a power of attorney to get rid of property." "Good deal, Ben. Let's work on the Key West account while I try to find out what's really out there. Tell me when you will be in Costa Rica and I'll bring you some of these assets." Ben said, "Bring as much as you can. The bankers down there love to deal with liquid assets. They'll make a bunch off your deposits until they are all transferred. You'll be popular. Perhaps you could buy the condo next to mine. It's pretty big, bigger than mine by a lot, but you could take Steve and his family down sometimes. You have quite a group at your place too, right? At least you've set up trusts for children yet to be born." "I do have a lot of people at home, Ben. They are planning on a new place in the back part of Steve's property. It should be something spectacular. It should be complete by this summer." Ben said, "Okay, now I see why you wanted me to come to your place. Tell you what. Next time you have something like this to discuss, just tell me that you're the client and you want me to come to you. I'll get your drift. I have to do that with Steve and Sue all the time." We shook hands and we went up to his offices where I signed a few power of attorney forms. Ben said he would talk to me more about our plan soon. Back home, I began going through the mail. Everything that was this guy's responsibility was on direct payment. There was a tax bill for the Las Vegas property that was easy to handle. I called the county and used the debit card to make the taxes current. Almost everything else was bank statements and a couple of real credit card statements that showed the balances as having been paid. I made up an Excel spreadsheet for each ID, entering the money that was in each checking and savings account. If all the bank statements from everywhere were correct, the guy had about eight million, under different names, spread all over the country. I counted a total of twenty-one different names and locations. All of them appeared to have a house or condo, since the statements had been mailed to a local address before being forwarded to Key West. After getting out a map of the U.S. and marking each city that I needed to get to, I made an itinerary to go to at least two cities a day over a two week period. I marked the cities where I thought I should stop in at the Marshal's office and allowed a full day at those locations. It would take a little over two full weeks. Now, I needed transportation. I would have loved to use my Lear, but I needed to use an aircraft that wasn't marked up so much. The Embraer had been easy to fly, so I thought I might just use that. It was painted with a single stripe down its side. I made a note to make sure we had it registered and went on from there. I called the charter service and DeDe answered, I asked, "How's the convalescing going. Getting tired of the wheelchair yet?" DeDe said, "That's right, I'll bet you spent a lot of time in a wheelchair." "Off and on for about a year; you get used to it and it can get you into some places faster." I paused then said, "DeDe, I want to use one of the new jets for a couple of weeks. Have you applied for registration?" She answered, "John's already got all of the paperwork in. We're using the same N numbers unless they change them on us. Do you want to use one of those? They don't carry many people." I said, "I'll be going alone, and I don't need the communications setups, so I don't need one of the Lears. I flew the Embraer back from Orlando to get checked out in it and it wasn't bad at all. How about I use that for a week and see how it does?" "No problem, Chuck. Jimmy said it was a pretty neat aircraft. As a matter of fact, he took it up for a checkout this morning for about an hour. He said we all need to get checked out in both that and the Eclipse." "The Eclipse is really a short range aircraft," I said. "It doesn't have a very good range at all. I'll fly the Embraer, and I'll beg if I need something more." DeDe said, "You shouldn't have to beg to fly your own aircraft. If you need either one of the Lears, let me know. Here's Jimmy, let him tell you about the plane you want to fly." Jimmy picked up a phone and said, "That's a fast little plane. It does over point eight mach and gets to altitude pretty fast. It seems to be fairly efficient too. I nosed around in the cabin and found a pull down screen that can be used for movies or as a PC screen. There is a full communications network on board. The other seats have plug in network connections. Are you going to make that your favorite toy?" "No, I know the Lears are booked and folks like to fly on them. I'll take the Embraer, or should we just call it the Phenom or P-100?" Jimmy said, "Any of those names will do. Do you want me to get it painted real quick?" "I think for what I'm going to be doing for the next couple of weeks, a plain Jane bird would be best. Did you see anything that needs to be worked on?" "Not really, the navigation system is pretty standard and everything works. Pay attention to everything and if you get antsy about anything, have it looked at or have me look at it if you're here. Maintenance also has a learning curve on the aircraft. The little Eclipse is pretty standard. I've been to school on both planes and worked on a lot of them. So, Chuck, when are you going to start rotary wing training?" "Soon, I guess. I might be able to work it in between some of the visits I need to make. Thanks, Jimmy, I'll begin my journeys tomorrow morning." I spoke to DeDe again to confirm tomorrow morning and hung up. I was ready, except that I needed to buy more of the cheap luggage. I went up to Wal-Mart and bought four of the same pieces of luggage I bought before, and four gym bags. I stopped at a Verizon store on the way back and picked up a dozen phone books. That should work." My cell phone was going off. It was Ben Phillips, "Chuck, I have an attorney in Key West that will handle the transaction. All you have to do is walk in, show your identification, and sign the transfers. He'll call me with an appointment time after he does the title search. You'll have to pay him about two grand for everything. Don't forget to buy insurance down there. It may be difficult, but do it however you have to. I'll call you when he's ready." "Thanks, Ben. I'll be out of town on and off, but I'll be near my cell." I figured that I should have a change of clothes and toiletries in case I decided to stay over anywhere. My first stop was going to be St. Louis, and then on to Chicago. I would dress nicely, but not up, perhaps in a simple suit, with a white shirt and tie. Total non-descript. All the IDs were now separated, so I practiced the two signatures needed for St. Louis and Chicago, and felt ready for the trip. I went into the office and cleaned up a few pieces of correspondence, then gave Wanda my itinerary. She asked why I wouldn't visit with the St. Louis office and I said, "I can get there anytime. Chicago is in too much of a mess for me to wander into right now. I'm going to get my business done in both places and get home." "What do you have to do?" "Wanda," I said, with a very sober expression, "I'm still cleaning up from John's and my excursion. It's going to take me a couple of weeks, but it should be done by then. You know the drill." She said, "You two must have been on something really cloaked. Not one word from anyone. The Marshal asked how you were doing a couple of days after you got back, but that's all. You be careful if you are still in danger on this." "No danger, just investigating and cleaning up loose ends. It's all good." I left the station and headed to the airpark. I found the bunch of new pilots and mechanics talking to Jimmy. He introduced me as one of the owners of the business, and one of the pilots said, "Yeah, you're the one that put all these aircraft on your credit card." I said, "Something like that, but what I want to know, can I have an intro lesson on one of these aircraft that don't have wings?" One of the pilots said, "Let me, and they do have wings. They just rotate. Do you want to go up in one of the toys or a real helicopter?" "Whatever I should learn in," I said. "Let's use the short Bell 206. You need to look for an old Hiller like an H-23 (civilian model was UH-12). Those were great trainers, hard to keep flying, but good trainers." The guy was an experienced instructor. He got out the aircraft's logbook and a formal group of checklists. He said, "These are for memorization. You can't fly a helicopter and read a checklist at the same time. Both hands are busy. Now, when you begin flying, you'll probably want to fly from the right seat if you're right handed. Most of us can fly from either seat." The man went through the preflight inspection in a very detailed manner. When we buckled up, he had me sit in the right seat, as he wanted me to become acclimated to sitting there. He used a formal checklist and pointed out each step. The engine spool up was about the same as a Learjet, so that wasn't a big deal, except that I had to be careful to keep motoring the starter until the exhaust temperature stabilized. He did explain each control and each gauge. He said, "I know you fly the big birds, so I know you have experience flying. Some of the dumb flying stuff I'll just mention, but I will drill into you everything having to do with this type of aircraft. Again, you can't pick up a manual or checklist when you're busy or have even a minor emergency. Both hands are busy. The most useful piece of advice I can give you is to avoid overcontrolling — handle the stick as if it were your pecker, and stabilize your right hand by resting that forearm on your right leg, while holding the stick with just a couple of fingers. Just think about moving the stick, and it'll move." I ended up flying with, and working with, the man for almost three hours. By the time we were back on the rolling stand, the aircraft was flashing a low fuel warning and I was worn out. I found I could hover in place, slide from side to side, spin around in place, and go straight up and down. The guy slapped me on the back and said, "You did great for your first day. Give me a month of days like that and you'll be a helicopter pilot. You'll need a lot of hours and practice, but you will be able to fly them. Get some hours in the toy birds, but get your real training hours in one of these. If you want to fly the Huey, they're actually easier to fly than this one, but they are noisier. This one gave me a chance to teach you while we were working." Because it was about five thirty, I suggested, "Let's close this up and go have a beer on the patio. You know you're always welcome over there." "That's what the owner, Steve Sharp said, I guess it must be true. Even Jimmy told us a couple times today. Let's get Joy out of the hangar. She'll work all night if you don't take her away. We've had to do that since she was hired." We pried Joy away from the evening mechanics. She said she was having fun working on stuff. She pulled off her coveralls and cap, shook out her hair, and said, "Okay boys, buy me a beer." Back on the patio, the other new pilots and mechanics were integrating into the group. The entire patio wanted to hear about the gangsters they used to work for. The two families' children were having fun with the kids that were abundant around Steve's house. Both sets of parents were impressed with the home schooling the kids were getting. My group beat me to the patio. They had come straight from work. Wanda, Marie, Angie, and Jan, said they convoyed out and were going to have to carpool as there wasn't that much parking out here. The girls, including Lisa, were happily going through catalogs looking at decorating ideas. Little Tiani came over and had me make her a Mojito, then sat with me. She said, "You know that if you build us this home, you're committing to us and we're committing to you in a way, too. We were talking about it today and decided that we want to do something with you that's formal, that'll tell you that we are serious, and that we're going to be around. We're also going to tell you that once we all agree and do this, we're not splitting up, ever." Tiani smiled, gave me a sweet kiss, and whispered, "I love you and want to be with you forever. I want to be with all the others forever too, but I want you." That was sweet. Actually that was the most any of them had ever said about absolute permanency. I liked that. This relationship was really unconventional, but I did like or actually love all of them. We would have to get together to set some rules of the road. Brandy soon came over and sat on my lap. She said, "I suppose blabbermouth told you we wanted to so something to formalize our relationship. I think we need that. I want it too, as we are all about to move in together to never be separated again. It's a really big deal for all of us. Let's go home early. We can even pick up steaks and just hash it out at home. I think we should have Lisa and Tina in on this. We'll talk about Lena, but we shouldn't include her. Wanda is going to stay with John so it's just us seven, at least for right now. Can we do that?" "Sure," I said, "Anytime you guys are ready. Let's get some steaks, potatoes, lettuce for salads, and whatever the pregnant moms need to eat. We'll have a quiet dinner together and talk." Brandy and Tiani hopped up and talked to the other girls. They told Lena something and she apparently was going to stay and talk to Barb and Ben. I said goodnight to all, explaining the family was looking for some quiet time. When we were all home preparing supper, Frieda wanted to start. She said, "This is our plan, Chuck. If you could, please wait until we're done describing everything to you. It isn't much, but we think it's workable." "We, and first, I mean the five of us who started out together, want both Lisa and Tina to be a part of everything we do. Tina, we know you have a long way to go in school to worry about domestic issues, so please just ride along with us for now. You can make a permanent decision later." "Chuck, we plan on becoming a fixed unit. That means or includes you and all of us girls when we reach the new home. We're already there mentally, as we all prefer to stay here with you. The new house will make it permanent. We may or may not sell our place. We were thinking about keeping it, but we're now leaning toward selling. The new house will be our home, all of our home." "I think the way the place is planned will give us ladies a private place when we need it, just like you will have your office to hide out in. We didn't give you a private bedroom since you have the big bedroom, and if you want to sleep alone, all you would have to do is tell us to go to our rooms. None of us see that happening though." "We want to make our mutual commitments formal in some way. Perhaps a ceremony that says we will all treat each other as husband and wife. Those of us with parents and family will probably want them to witness this, so if you agree, we'll work on it. We'll want to do this soon though, as we want the children that will be born to have a dad who is our spouse." "Here's the tricky part. We want you to marry one of us. We five want you to marry Lisa, but she may not be ready for a permanent commitment. It could even be Tina, but we all think Lisa and you are a perfect fit. You two have to work that out." "Another subject that has been pushed aside is Lena, and potentially, big Tina. We really like both of them and would enjoy having them with us. You think that would cause problems even though we don't think so. We want you to keep an open mind about them and let them be a part of our household for a long time." "Now the worst or hardest part. You know all of us, and that includes Lisa and Tina, are a little nuts over other females. We enjoy them. We also know that strange females could give us diseases that would harm us all. We all agree that we won't go around hooking up with other women and, of course, men. We want it to just be our family. The girls think we should include the folks from the park as part of our family too, but you might want to have a say on that. We definitely don't want you shacking up or hooking up with some strange girl in another city when you travel. I'm sure we can keep you happy and supplied with all the loving you could want." Frieda looked around at the other girls and asked, "Who wants to add to that?" Judy said, "I think Frieda said everything I wanted to say. I would like us to go out more. You know like out to eat, dancing, or even to a movie, sometime." "Yeah, that's what we don't do," Nancy exclaimed. "I want to go out together more often. When we get the kids, it's going to be more difficult to get out." Little Tiani just smiled at me and said, "I'm with them. I wantcha permanently." Brandy got up, gave me a hug and kissed me. "You are my kind of guy and I want us to be together. The house thing has made it for me. I feel as if we're all committing to each other. I'm the chaser around here since Frieda quit going to the P-club all the time. I won't do that anymore either. There's plenty of entertainment just within our family. If we include the folks in the park, then we'll really have plenty of choices." I looked at Lisa and she smiled back at me. She said, "Not that long ago, I had a talk with myself about you guys and Chuck. I love all of you girls a great deal. Since I've been with you guys, I haven't wanted, or been with, anyone else. And Chuck, you are my one and only guy. You and me, Buddy, we're together, forever." Lisa looked at the other ladies and said, "I do want Lena and Tina to be a part of the family too. If Chuck eventually agrees to it, I think we should become the Fine Nine for our man. It would also give us all more choices as well. Yes sir, Buddy, I'm ready to commit." Seven women looked at me expectantly. "Okay, you've told me what you want. I suppose it's my turn. I'm agreeable with everything you've described, Frieda. I do want a commitment and to be committed. I suppose there's no little house with a white picket fence in our future, is there? I do agree with us being more monogamous. I have you all, and love you all very much. You are all I would ever need or want. I agree that we may need to leave our relationship with the folks at the park more open, but I want you to know that you all, right here, are what is important to me." "Please, all of you, let's have a happy life." By the time supper was finished and we all had full bellies, I was ready to put my office in order and get ready for bed. I was planning on getting an early start. In bed later, Brandy said, "You know, this bed is just about the right size. We all seem to be able to be comfortable together and there's still room for big Tina. Lena, who had come home, asked, "You guys were talking about me tonight, I could feel it. Like they say, my ears were ringing. Am I going to become a full partner?" I laughed, "Perhaps one of these days, Lena. For now, just enjoy life and take it as it comes." Little Tina was lying next to Lena, and asked, "So just what's the matter with loving it up with me and the other girls?" Lena answered, "Nothing really, I just wanted to get my two cents in." This night was a cuddle night. I went to sleep with Lisa and Brandy on a shoulder, and Tiani lying on my chest. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 33 Steve Perhaps things are getting back to normal, or for what may pass as normal lately, and that has been near chaos. Everyone at the shop that had some activity to report visited with me, until Ruth looked in on me and said, "Its lunch time, and Sue has called to make sure you come home. DeDe said you are scheduled for a flying lesson this afternoon too. What's that about? I thought you could fly already." "I can, Ruth, but I need to be checked out in the new aircraft, and I have to learn how to fly helicopters. I guess now is as good a time as any." At home, I ate lunch with all four of my ladies. They all seemed in a good mood. Sue said she was excited because she was taking a helicopter lesson today at the same time I was. After a great lunch, we all went to the gym for an hour. Freshly showered, Sue and I headed out to the airpark together. Today, Sue was going to be taught by Joy, and Tank was going to work with me. This was almost like when I first began learning to fly in the Cessna 150s. Everything was new to me, all the names of parts and functions. The only thing that was familiar was the foot pedals and the stick. The name of the stick is the 'cyclic' control. The pedals actually do sort of what rudder pedals do on fixed wing aircraft, but are called 'anti-torque' pedals. Then there was this thing called the 'collective.' Since we were in the little helicopter, the left-handed collective had a twist grip for power like my bike. Tank took me through explanations of all the parts of a helicopter and how they worked. We sat in the cockpit to get the feel of the controls then he started the helicopter. Once started, he said through the headset's intercom, "We're going out in the field and practice lifting off and setting down. We'll also try to hover, as that is actually one of the more difficult things to do." For over an hour, I gently lifted off the ground went up about twenty feet then slowly set the aircraft runners back on the ground. Hovering was a real challenge. You have to work the pedals and the cyclic constantly. I think the big problem was that there is a lag between when you tell a helicopter to do something and when it does it. To go from side to side the rotors actually have to tilt. That doesn't happen at once but a split second or so later. So you are constantly overcorrecting. Tank did let me get up in the air about two hundred feet so we could go forward at about thirty knots, turn, and go back the way we came. He had marked a circle out in the field that he wanted me to try to land in. The circle sure seemed small while I was trying to get the helicopter in the middle of it. I was able to sit in the middle without touching the outer lines four times straight. When we went back to the hangar, Tank took over and landed on the tiny wheeled platform, amazing. When Sue was done, she told me, "That was fun, but the darned helicopter wouldn't stay still and would keep moving more than I thought I was telling it. This is going to take some practice." I told her, "My first instructor said to hold the cyclic with just a couple of fingers, and stabilize your right hand — your "cyclic hand" — by resting it on your right thigh. Then just think about moving the cyclic, without actually trying to move it, and it pretty much goes the way you want without so much danger of overcontrolling." We both made appointments for another two hours of instruction tomorrow and went home. There, we both made calls to make sure our businesses were running the way they should. Sue and I began discussing her plan to build her own material plant. She said, "The biggest thing is the weaving machines. They really require some space, plus trained people to run them. I have a list of people from where we are getting the machines. Hopefully, we'll be able to get the right people to move here who can train the others. I'd like to have the machines working twenty-four hours a day. We can make enough material for our product, plus make material for other manufacturers." I asked, "Is your cash flow sufficient to handle a major expansion like that?" "Henry says it is, even after Terrell gave me the estimates for what the building is going to cost. This is becoming a larger venture than I thought, but I'm determined to do it. We're wasting time waiting for material, plus we're paying a premium every time they change the specs. Now we won't have the extra cloth from buying and having the specs change. I think the manufacturers do that to us just so they can make more money. What they don't realize is that is how the industry has been run out of the country. The Chinese won't let you change your specs until the whole run is finished. Here, because we are a U.S. company, we are slaves of the Pentagon's whims." "What other type of fabrics are you going to make?" I asked, "Just military products?" Sue said, "The next fabric we're going to work on is the quality fabric we use for our basic blouse. It would be neat to be able to get our cost down even lower than what it is. I've made some good contacts with yarn and thread manufacturers and will be receiving samples soon. We'll work with whoever can supply the best product." Debbie called to tell me that Wes was looking for me. He wanted to show me something. I called Wes, who said, "I just heard you were out here taking flying lessons. I wish you had stopped in. I want to show you my progress, come out for a few minutes if you can." Back out at the airpark, I went through the maintenance hangar, through the new helicopter charter office, and into Wes's hangar. There sat an unpainted biplane. It looked complete except for paint. A little ways away was a low slung air coupe. The gear seemed very short, but then the whole aircraft wasn't that big. Wes was standing there with a huge grin on his face. His two men were with him and were equally as excited. Wes said, "The biplane is complete. We could fly it the way it is, but we'll take it apart, paint it, and put it back together. We have an exact list of all the parts, complete with videos of how each section is put together. We've done the same with the air coupe, but we may modify the model a few times before we're done." I was looking over the biplane and stepped up into the cockpit. While sitting in it, I pushed the pedals and shifted the stick to see everything working the way it should be. Wes showed me how the flaps worked, and then he showed me where the ballistic recovery handle was. This would release a parachute that would, in theory, let the plane settle to the ground without injury to the pilot and/or passenger. Wes said, "The only thing to add would be if the owner wanted more avionics. This type of aircraft is more of a seat of your pants aircraft like the one you have now, but this one should be faster and stronger. There are a couple of EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) flat panel devices that put all the flight and navigation instruments and commo control in one flat screen that look really slick and are actually cheaper and lighter weight than the old fashioned 'steam gauges' and radio heads." I went over to the air coupe. The front cowl for engine access was open. Wes pointed out a couple of modifications he wanted to make and he also had a different manner in which he wanted to route his wiring harness. He showed me his control cable routing and how good the feel of the surface changes were. Sitting in the air coupe was different. Even though it was small, there seemed to be sufficient room in the cockpit for two fairly good sized men. Wes explained the aircraft could be equipped with either a stick or a yoke, depending on the builder's preference. This one had a yoke that felt very good and was very easy to manipulate. Wes said, "I made a small scale model of this bird and took it over to Scientific Atlantic for some wind tunnel testing. It did very well and it should do well in full size as well. I'm going to lengthen the gear, as the way it is now it would be to easy to touch the tail to the runway when landing. Another foot higher should be fine. It won't create that much more drag, so we should be fine. Too bad we can't have retractable gear, or we could make this thing into a two hundred mile an hour fun bird." "We can always play with one later as an experiment. Right now, we're trying to come up with an inexpensive aircraft for a group of people who want to fly." I looked up at Wes and asked, "So when will you have the air coupe ready for its first test flight?" Wes waved at the bird and said, "I'll lengthen the gear and finish the mods I want, then we'll paint it up, and have the FAA inspect it as experimental being made for manufacture. I guess Jimmy gets to fly it first so we can see what else it needs. I'm concentrating only on what we want to include for our basic aircraft. Give me a week and we'll be ready to fly this. The biplane will be about a week also." Pointing to the rear of the hangar, Wes said, "I had Jeff make another set of air coupe parts for a second aircraft, but it will be with more avionics. We should have all three ready for Sun and Fun out in Plant City. If we can get certification, you can begin taking orders. I'll need more people then, but we should be able to be building at least four aircraft at once." "That's unbelievable, Wes. You've really done a job on this project. What else can I get to help you?" Wes said, "Nothing, Steve, you've made my life really easy. The computer design system you gave me is perfect. Jeff says it's easy for him to be exact with the specs that come from the finished design. I use the designs in sections so the guys can see exactly what fits where and what tensions and torque to use. We're really producing quality, along with being innovative." Wes was pushing the cockpit cover over the cockpit when he said, "This and the windscreen is Jeff's newest creation. He said the girl that is still in school, Gerry, worked with him to create a clear material that can be used as a windscreen and cover. She is using a product that is like Polaroid or Transition eyeglasses have to make the cover and windscreen darker in direct sun. This will keep the cockpit cooler, as well as aid the pilot. Jeff and his group are very innovative." "Well, Wes, let me know if you need anything else. I'm really proud and happy with your progress. You're going to make another S&S group successful." When I left Wes, I stopped by Jimmy's and asked, "Are you ready to be a test pilot?" Jimmy smiled, "You bet. This will be the first brand new airplane I will test. I've tested some other experimentals that people have put together in their garages, but none that were newly designed and built like this one. I can't wait to fly that biplane. Wes put the larger engine in it so it should be really hot. Hopefully, the aircraft will be as strong as Wes and Jeff both say it will be so it can be used for aerobatics." I asked, "Jimmy, how are you doing with the increased manpower and the additional aircraft, especially the helicopters." "Great so far. We're keeping up with the prep on the helicopters and have been logging a lot of hours on them. Listen," we both heard the heavy thump, thump, thump, thump, of a big helicopter. Jimmy added, "Here comes the Sikorsky after a hard day's work moving buoys. The Coast Guard has us tied up for this week and next. We also have a couple of machinery lifts to make downtown, and one in Lakeland. Your salesmen are out beating the bushes for us." "When you see Phil, you congratulate him. He'll be happy to hear you're happy." "Hell, Steve, I'm not the one to be kept happy, it's you. Let me get the Sikorsky in and do the nightly maintenance on it. That thing is so big it takes two men a couple of hours to do it right." Jimmy looked at me with a serious expression and said, "Betty and I were talking about a few FAA things that we're not in compliance on. As far as maintenance, I'm factory certified for Beechcraft, Bombardier, and all of the Cessna Citations. One of the other mechanics and one of the new guys is certified for Bombardier, the Eclipse and the Embraer. We're probably in good shape as far as keeping the aircraft in compliance but we will need to be sending guys to schools." He took a deep breath and had trouble looking me in the eye and said, "You fly all of the G5's with two pilots but you don't use a right seat in the Lear all the time. That's going to get us in trouble. I saw that DeDe knows the rules and is even listing a second in the logbook. If she gets caught, we'll lose our certification to fly passengers." "Steve, I know you play by the rules and usually always do the right thing so you have to start using a second person in the Lears. You only have to have a single pilot in the Citation, the Eclipse, and the Embraer but you are supposed to have someone with at least a commercial license in the right seat of the Lear." "Lisa and Chuck are both good pilots and very capable of flying that aircraft by themselves but unless you can get some kind of special authorizations from the FAA for single pilot operation, you're going to have to have that second pilot. Hell, put on a bunch of newbie just reached commercial pilots that need the hours. They can learn and fly right seat. Get them Lear training when the school comes around again. Bombardier is using us as a tech training center so we're in good shape with them to keep using our field for training." I said, "I know you're right Jimmy, I'll talk to Chuck. He's the one that is always on the go and if anyone is breaking the rules it's him. Lisa would just as soon have a right seat all the time when she has passengers except up in the Citation. We really can't take a chance on losing our certification." Jimmy said, "Good deal Steve. I knew if I talked to you about it, you would know what was right and would take care of it. This place is too cool to screw up." I did go back into the helicopter office and visit with Betty for a few minutes. She was happy to see me and showed me her week's charters. She said that she had begun scheduling lessons as well. She assured me that Sue, Chuck, and I were being given preferential treatment as to lesson time. She did say we might need at least one additional instructor pilot for both charters and lessons. I told her to call the federal employment office and talk to Frieda, Chuck's friend. She handles military personnel who are leaving the service. I said to Betty, "I talked to Jimmy about us not always using that second person in the Lears. I'll get it taken care of and make sure we are in compliance. Thanks for getting with Jimmy and DeDe about that. Your observance and suggestion is a help to the company. Again Betty, thank you." Betty blushed and said, "I didn't want to come off sounding like a know it all or want to be a shit disturber. I just wanted DeDe to know that if the FAA gets down on you, you don't keep your certificate. That was happening over in Orlando. But those guys didn't abide by anyone's rules." Back home, I sat on the patio with a beer and some chips, pondering how well everything was going. Somehow, I felt that I was missing something. There was an opportunity out there that was waving at me, but I wasn't seeing it. I was still thinking about what it could be when Mercy came and said, "Have you heard whether the Magellan is ready to be sold yet?" "Nothing yet, Mercy. I'll call tomorrow to check, but I was assured we would be called as soon as it was ready." "I want to go see it, Steve," Mercy said. "I want to see a hundred and seventy-five footer that is as nice as our Magellan. That has to be an amazing boat. Can you fly us down there to look at it? Do you think they would let you look at it?" "I don't know, Mercy. I'll try to call Chuck at work to see. I think he's out flying today though. He's using that new Embraer Phenom he bought. According to Jimmy, that thing is fast and nice to fly. We'll see how efficient and economical it is." Mercy was thinking hard and looked at me with a smile, "Chuck says what he's doing is none of my business. I suppose I have to honor that. He does have things to do that are none of my business." "Good girl, Mercy. Don't piss him off. The man has a lot of things working right now. With everyone pushing him about this house Terrell is starting, I'm sure he feels a little stressed. He does do a good job standing up to the pressure though." It was now a little after five and the patio was beginning to fill up. By six, the place was packed including all of Chuck's family, here sans Chuck. They said he had called and was due in any second. Henry talked to me about the projections he had come up with for Sue. He said, "I've overestimated on everything so we won't be caught short of cash. I've tried to factor in every adverse contingency there could be, to make sure we could do this without making the rest of the company suffer. It looks good, Steve, at the absolute worst, we will make a profit within two years. At best, we should have a first year profit in fabric manufacturing and the sewing plants should realize about a twelve percent increase in profits." "Wow, Henry, that's sizeable. I didn't think making our own fabric would make that much difference." Henry said, "You wouldn't think so but after putting all the numbers together, that's what it looks like. It's going to take six to nine months to build the plant even with everyone working on it. Sue's made a deal for some equipment that is fairly new and is hiring the manufacturer to relocate it when the building is ready. She's saving better than fifty percent on the equipment. Nancy is going to be going up to Atlanta to try to find the people who used to work for that company. If we can, we want to bring down a core of experienced people for both operating and maintaining the equipment." "That's the way to do it. Find people who know what they're doing and learn from them. Look at what Jeff has done. He's begun fiberglass shops here, St. Louis, Canada, Ireland, and now, Italy. He's become knowledgeable in making various other products and composites that will have an effect on all of the rest of the company. We just have to keep our minds open to new opportunities and take advantage of them." Abe came in and poured a beer. Alice was already sitting in a glider, with Glenda sitting in the one next to her. The ladies were having a conversation as their men gathered with the other men. Abe said, "Let me get Alice a beer, then you and I need to talk." Abe came back and said, "I think Jeff has come up with the perfect body composite for military vehicles. It's a hell of a lot lighter than steel and appears to be almost as strong. The good thing is it doesn't bend when explosives hit it but it does have recoil that can be dangerous. The real neat thing that Jeff and Gerry have come up with is the clear composite that tints in the sun. The composite probably borders on the strength of Lexan. So far the only round that penetrates the glass is a fifty caliber and it only wedges itself into the sheet. We tried from fifty, one hundred, two hundred and five hundred yards. All the same, only a couple of rounds stuck in the sheets. I think it's time to go after the military market. If we don't get manufacturers to let us make their bodies, we should make our own. We'll come up with our own vehicles and engines that will work and present them. I'll bet if we don't sell them to our own military, we'll be able to sell them to the Israelis or one of the other NATO nations." I said, "That's an idea I didn't think of, Abe. If we can't sell it here, we can sell it somewhere else. You already have a gas engine, do you have a diesel engine too? How about one of the diesels from one of your compressors or generators?" Abe replied, "Those aren't designed for the rigors of a vehicle. I do have an engine I've worked on for a while that should work. This has been an experimental diesel engine for about three years. It's very efficient, but isn't as powerful as a tank engine. Since our vehicle will be so much lighter, it would work in that for us. Let me put one together to work in our homemade Humvee. We should probably come up with our own vehicle design and possibly some form of a tracked vehicle, such as an APC. We can get armament from that gun manufacturer that's down between Waters and Benjamin right here in Tampa. He's got an exclusive with the feds, but we should be able to at least get copies to use. If we show him our vehicle, he'll get excited that he'll have another way to sell his product." "What do we need to get this going, Abe?" "Nothing really, there's enough space in the big building to put a couple of vehicles together. I'll get to work designing them and get some help from a couple of ex-army armor types we have in the company. We should be able to come up with something." I suggested, "You know if you were to make a tank, or something like a tank, you could build a steel frame to hold the gun and use our composite instead of sheet steel. You'll have to test it to see how it handles being hit by rockets. If you can do that, we would have a winner." "I'll get right on it, Steve. This could become a major manufacturing arm of the company and keep us rolling through a deep recession." "That's the way to think, Abe. Keep everyone working. We're doing really well at it so far." Abe went to sit with Alice, Glenda, and Martin on the gliders. Watching the four of them was a pleasure, as they enjoyed each other and the gentle action of the gliders. Chuck came in with a smile on his face. I asked, "What are you so happy about?" "I was able to do everything I set out to do today," Chuck said. "It's not everyday that I get to do that. I think I deserve a beer for that too." Chuck asked everyone that was around the bar, "Where is the nearest library around here? I need to do some research." Kevin knew where one was and gave Chuck directions. We all settled down for a quiet beer before the call to supper came. I got Chuck off to the side and said, "Chuck, you have to do something for me. When you are in the Lear, you need a second pilot, someone in the right seat with at least a commercial rating. If we were to get caught, we could lose our certification. You can fly the Embraer or the Eclipse, or the Citation by yourself but not a Lear." Chuck screwed up his mouth and said, "I wonder if the Secret Service or the Justice department could petition the FAA for some kind of waiver. There's too many times that I need to fly one of the Learjets. I'll call John and find out if he can have some one in the groups investigate that for me. I guess between now and then, I had best find someone I can have on call to be right seat when I need. I'll have to have them run through for a clearance but hopefully I can find someone." I said, "Thanks Chuck, I knew you'd understand." He said, "Tell you what I'll do. If I have to have a Lear, I'll fly my own and if I get caught, it isn't a charter. It'll all be on me. I'll get John working on the problem for me right away." That would and wouldn't work because if he got caught in an aircraft painted up like our other charters, even his personal ownership wouldn't really expunge us from problems. Hope he can get some kind of waiver. After supper, Bonita cornered Chuck and Lisa for some help with both the guitar and piano. We heard them in the living room as they practiced a couple of tunes over and over. It always amazed me how musicians were willing to go over the same piece of music so many times to get the tiniest differences to sound just right. A little later, we heard the nearly finished product as Bonita played the piano and either Chuck or Lisa played rhythm guitar with her. Later, after Chuck and his family left, Bonita had her mothers and me listen to her as she played Moonlight Serenade. We were all proud of her, but Kathy was just beaming. Bonita received a lot of hugs for her performance. Later, in bed, we were all lethargic from a busy day. Mercy reminded me, "You'll call about the boat, right?" Sue, of course, asked about what boat and Mercy said, "The hundred and seventy-five foot Magellan that Chuck is going to get and have rebuilt for our two families to sail to Europe." Sue sat straight up and said, "When? When he is getting it? When are we going? Why didn't you tell me that boat was a Magellan?" Kathy was up on one hand and said, "That's got to be a nice boat. I'll bet we'll have to rebuild the whole thing to make it our boat." Mercy added, "I think Chuck wants the boat to be special so he can have his whole family, plus all of us, on it at the same time. That's going to be a good time." I reminded everyone, "This is still up in the air. The boat has not been released yet and we don't know how bad the federal agents tore it up." Just as I said that, I remembered, "Wow, I wonder what's happened with the sailboats and the fishing boats that were up in Daytona. I forgot all about them. That's what was nagging me earlier." I got up and went to the phone in the kitchen. "Chuck? Steve here. Have you heard anything about what you guys have done with the boats in Daytona? You know we can use most any kind of deal on big boats right now. Our charters are full and we could rent out several more if we had the equipment." Chuck said, "I don't know, Steve, but I'll call in the morning. I probably should call about the big boat in Miami, too. I should know by nine. I need to be gone again tomorrow, but I'll try to find out before I leave." Back in bed, I told my ladies, "I just remembered that a bunch of boats were confiscated from Alcam in Daytona. I forgot about them because of the aircraft. The Miami charter service was just starting and I don't think they had any boats yet. It was like the office here in Tampa that was trying to open an air charter service without any aircraft." The excitement of a sailing adventure had the women worked up. We were soon pleasuring each other and continued for what seemed a long, long, time. When we were finally sated, I received kisses from my ladies as I drifted into dreamland. I was out at the airpark early in order to get an early start on my helicopter training. I was talking to Betty when Chuck came in. He said, "I just got off the phone with the office in Daytona. They are getting some listings together on what they have, but said that if we were interested to come over. If you go, the man to see is Terry Barker. He's the ACE. He said he would have someone take you down to survey the boats. You might take your boat guy, John, to survey them with you." Chuck was smiling and said, "I guess I have to change my plans as the big boat is ready to be moved. They want me to make arrangements to get it moved right away." I told Chuck, "You better call Mercy and tell her to get her butt out here. You have to take her you know. She can help you get the boat over to Magellan and then begin making arrangements for the modifications you want." Chuck called the house, then called someone else. You could see him rolling his eyes at what he was listening to. I finally heard him say, "Metarie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to have them all leave. They could do this another time. Okay, I promise. You can have a ride on it when we get it up to Dunedin." When Chuck got off the phone, he said, "I was going to use the Phenom again today, but that isn't going to work. My five plus Lena and now Lisa are coming with Mercy and Juanita. I need something bigger. I guess I better see DeDe." I went with him to see DeDe and she said, "No sweat, Honey, you can fly the King Air 1900D. Plenty of room and plenty fast enough to get down to Miami. I was going to give Lisa a job today, but since she's going with you I guess I'll let her stay off." After Chuck made his arrangements, I told DeDe that I could take the Phenom unless she had a better use for it. DeDe looked up at me and said, "Take a Cessna 206 to Daytona, unless you are taking a lot of people." I said, "Just John, the boat guy, and Tiny. We'll fit fine in a 206. It will be a lot cheaper to fly that anyway." DeDe said, "If you had more experience, I'd tell you to take a helicopter. The 206 would still be cheaper." John and Tiny showed up and we took off for Daytona. Once there, we rented a car and were met down on the waterfront by the deputy that was in charge of the boats. They had a bunch of smaller motor launches that were too small for our fishing charters. They did have one nice older forty-foot Chris Craft and two big sailboats; one was a sixty-five footer and the other a seventy footer. John and Tiny went over the Chris Craft and declared it decent, but when we went over the two sailboats, we found they were both in very poor condition. The seventy foot boat had so much rot in the hull we were all surprised it was afloat. John told the deputy that the boat wasn't worth more then five thousand at the most. The sixty-five footer was in better shape but the galley needed to be completely refitted. We discovered the fresh water tank was corroded, as was the holding tank. After starting the engine, John declared the boat was worth about twenty to thirty thousand, at best, because of the extensive work that had to done. We were looking at the sail and found it all to be rotten. The boat needed paint, varnish, and a ton of love and care. The deputy made a phone call and had a couple of conversations with people and told Tiny, "You can have the Chris Craft and the sixty-five footer for fifty-five thousand, but you have to take the seventy footer, as well. In addition, you have to get all these little boats out of here. We'll give you titles on everything but it all has to be gone no later than next Friday." Tiny said, "Deal." Tiny came to me and said, "Call your dealer over here and have him come over. It looks like all the little boats have trailers in the lot. I'll bet your dealer would love to have a bonus. We'll give him all the little stuff to be rid of them." "Fine, Tiny, but what are we going to do with the seventy footer? That thing probably won't make it back to our dock." "They have a re-fitter here that I'll give it to. It'll probably cost more than it's worth to re-fit the boat, but we'll go ahead and do it. The boat will be chartered all the time as it's a perfect two couple boat with a crew. We'll come out fine. I want the re-fitter to go ahead and do the sixty-five footer first, and get it ready as soon as possible. The new sail will cost a lot, as will the electric sail lifts, gauges, and instrumentation. We'll fix the boat up with good communications and have it making money within six weeks. The other boat could take six months just to get ready." I asked, "What does the Chris Craft need?" Tiny said, "Someone to pilot it back to Tampa. Perhaps John could take it. If not, I'll come over tomorrow and take it back." While I called our Daytona dealer, John went back on the Chris Craft then came back out. He said, "Let me use the car to go to the grocery store and Wal-Mart. I'll leave with it right away. The fuel's full, the water's full, and the holding tank has been recently flushed. This is a very nice, clean boat." While John was gone to the grocery store and to Wal-Mart, the Daytona dealer showed up with one of our field techs. I showed them the boats and said, "Find the accompanying trailers and get them out of here. I'll make sure you all get the titles, but they need to be gone." The field tech asked, "Can I use the company truck to take a boat back to Tampa?" "Sure," I said, "but be sure to grease the wheel bearings on the trailer before you get out on the Interstate." The dealer was calling his men to bring their pickups to take advantage of a deal. It was amazing how everyone seemed to find just the boat they had always wanted. Soon all the boats were gone except one twenty-five foot Wellcraft. The trailer for it was the last in the lot as well. Tiny came back with the re-fitter to take the boats over to his docks and I asked the re-fitter, "Would you have any use for a 25 Wellcraft? The one sitting right there?" He smiled, "Yeah, I do. One of my men is dying for his own boat. That would be great for him. How much can I steal it for?" I said, "Tell you what, do a perfect job on these two boats and it's yours free." The guy asked, "And you'll pay the going rate for the repairs? No arguments?" "I never argue if you do a perfect job. Ask my dealer here in town. You may even do business with us." The man said, "Yeah, I do business with S&S, they're very fair and always give us our money's worth. We have a big generator from them and our big compressors for sandblasters are from them. Thanks, my friend, I'll do a great job for you. But then, I would have done it anyway. I'll just be more meticulous than usual. The guys will hate me, at least all but one. He'll give me a hundred and twenty percent on this job." John came back and started the twin diesels and let them warm. We disconnected all the shore water and electricity, then untied him as he idled out into the water. We saw the overhead radar antenna begin to spin and knew he was on his way. As the two big sailboats were being gently motored to the re-fitters docks, Tiny and I shook hands with the deputy and headed for the airport. Tiny commented, "That was a good day. We added to our motor launches for the charter service, and when we get those two sailboats, we will increase revenues a bunch. We are booked completely on everything through New Year's this year, plus if you and Chuck get that other boat, I can rent your big boat. It was being held in reserve until you made your trip this year." I looked at him and said, "Thanks, Tiny. I think Chuck and I and all our families will make the trip this year. It should be a good one." Tiny asked, "You mentioned Europe, do you think that's where you'll go?" "I think so. The ladies want to go see our Irish friends, and I want to see the Italian factory. We won't go to Greece as they are having too much trouble. We'll have a good time in Italy and go to the Riviera. This time we might go to both the Spanish Costa del Sol and the French Riviera. We'll see." Tiny said, "There have been a lot of storms in the North Atlantic, so you want to stay away from there. Other than that, you should be fine." When we set down at the airpark, we no sooner had the aircraft in line for fuel than Tank came up and said to me, "Ready for your lesson? You can't afford to get behind." I waved bye to Tiny and followed Tank to the little Schweitzer helicopter. Today we did about the same, practicing going up and down and around in a circle. I landed within the marked circle five straight times today, always sitting down pretty close to the center. I was able to travel back and forth the length of the airfield feeling pretty comfortable at the controls. We were landing as the low fuel horn was sounding. This time, Tank had me land on the rolling stand. It took me a couple of tries to center the skids, but I finally set the aircraft down within the little stand. Tank took me around the aircraft to do the visual after landing check. We shook parts, pulled parts, and generally double-checked any play anywhere. He declared the aircraft as airworthy and had me fuel the bird so I would know how. While I was refueling, Sue set her little helicopter down on the rolling stand on the first try. She was dead center too. I guess women have that touch. She and Joy did the same check on the aircraft that Tank and I had done, then Joy asked if I would assist Sue in refueling the bird. As I was pumping fuel into the tank, Sue said, "I like helicopters. They are fun and they are easy. This is really great. I can't wait to fly into mom's and dad's yard. Dad will have a fit. I'll bet he's out here getting lessons the next day." A King Air 1900D landed and taxied up to the hangar where we now kept the King Airs. We could hear the laughter and chatter as the crowd came through the rear of the maintenance hangar. Mercy saw us and ran over to us, "You won't believe how nice that boat is. They tried to rip it apart to hunt for contraband, but you can't really hurt a Magellan. Chuck made arrangements for the boat to get over to their docks and we are going to have an engineer up here with plans so we can do our design. I told them to come Friday night and we could work on it Saturday and Sunday. I thought it would be nice to show them a good time." Sue hugged Mercy and said, "Isn't it exciting? We're going to have that monster boat all to ourselves. I wonder how much Chuck is going to have to pay for it. Actually, I hope he can afford it." All of Chuck's women wanted to go to our house for a while before going home. I could tell Chuck was anxious to do some kind of work, but he went along with everyone. We all headed toward the house. Chuck and Lisa arrived at the house, but most of his women, including Juanita and Mercy, must have taken a detour. They stormed the patio a few minutes later, announcing the slabs had all been poured for the whole complex at the new house site. I said to Chuck, "Your dream house is becoming a reality." Lisa said, "We are going to have the neatest studio around. I'm glad we went ahead and designed it to be just like the big commercial studios. We can play in it, but we can also record productions in it. I'm really excited about what we can do." It was motocross night, so Tina, Dennis, and Kevin were out in the rear, watching kids try to maim themselves. We went out to watch the debacle. Kevin was showing the kids how to ride slow while standing on the pegs. He had them lined up several feet apart to have a slow race. All the kids were pretty good at controlling their bikes, with the little ones actually doing better than the bigger, older, kids. When they were given the go ahead to have some fun is when the crashes started. Kid after kid crashed into one another. Both would get up, get their bikes back up and start them. Then off they would go again until they crashed once more. Some of the kids watched in front of them so they could avoid running into one of the downed motocrossers. You could tell which ones were the careful riders as they had the cleaner suits. We watched as some of the little ones were lofting pretty high on the jumps. Kathy was gasping as she watched Bonita get at least two feet higher than her big brother Greg. She came down smoothly and beat him to the corner. You could see Greg really trying to make his bike go faster. After a motocross night, the kids have to take a bath before supper, so we usually eat a little later. The excitement and exertion from the activity willingly had the kids on the way to bed a half-hour before normal. I was sitting with Tiny and said, "What do you think, Tiny? Do you think our boat charter business is about full of boats? How much more do you think we can really keep booked?" Tiny said, "I don't know, Steve. I wouldn't have tried to buy anymore boats, except this became a good deal. You'll have some happy people over at the Daytona dealership, plus you now have a rep with the feds as quickly getting rid of their problems for them. John is on his way back with a nice boat that he just absolutely fell in love with, and we are about six weeks away from having another sailboat to charter. Yeah, we probably have enough. The air charter service seems to still need more aircraft, as well as pilots. So far we've kept our regulars happy and have picked up a lot of new corporate users. We're doing real well." "I think we might be more cautious out at the airpark now that we have so many aircraft. Let's see if we can catch up with charters and pilots. I think we might be where we need to be for right now." "You know where you need to grow don't you?" Tiny asked. "Where?" "Your T-shirt operation can't turn out enough T-shirts for the races and race teams. You've doubled the size of the factory, work three shifts, and we could easily sell twice what we're producing. There is space to add on again if you want, or you could move the entire operation out here." I asked, "What would I do with that building if we moved. No one would want that thing. I wouldn't have if we didn't get it as part of the whole deal." Tiny said, "Then add on. We can use the rest of the land to just about double the size. There will still be plenty of room for parking and if you need, you can park people in Sue's lot, or down in the utility body shop's lot. They're doing pretty good with toppers, but not producing a lot of big utility bodies. We're doing everything on an order basis right now." "Okay, then let's build on to the T-shirt plant. I would normally say that we could farm some work out, or we could let Sue do some, but we already supply her with T-shirt material. The only way to go is out and up. Do it." Tiny said, "I had Terrell and Darnel look at the job and they've had an architect working on some plans. We'll just have to see whether what is planned is big enough." I suggested, "Get Sue's opinion as she has a good grasp as to what it takes to make T-shirts. The difference is we do so much screen printing." We both yawned about the same time and grinned. "I guess it's time, isn't it? The end of another big day in the life of the patio people. See you in the morning, Tiny." It didn't take long to put everything away and to have the place ready for the morning. All of us were in bed when Mercy said, "That boat is going to be so nice. I think we'll have the two big master suites together with all the kids up and down the gangway." Sue said, "What about the lower deck? There are two lower decks. I remember seeing the plans for the boat as it was so big." Juanita gushed, "It is beautiful. Even all taken apart, it is beautiful. The lower deck on one end is for the crew, but we can take that out if we want. The rest of the lower deck can be more cabins, or if we want, a gym, an office for the men, and lots of storage." I suggested, "You know the boat is going to be Chuck's. Shouldn't he have some input on the design?" Mercy said, "Well, we need to influence him, as he'll be so standoffish, our cabins will be at opposite ends of the boat. We need to influence his ladies for them to be near us, Maybe in adjoining cabins with doors and everything. We could have a hot tub room that separates the master suites. I just want to be able to get at his women." Sue added, "And him too, I'm sure." Kathy giggled, "Just think, we would have our two studs servicing us like queens. They would be so tired that we'll all have to pull helm duty while they rest." Juanita said, "I think that would be a good trade off. Can you imagine, getting some loving from both of them the same night. I wonder how long they can keep going." I said, "Hey, I'm right here you know. Chuck and I are not machines, and neither of us is eighteen any longer." Mercy kissed me and said, "You will be the most satisfied man on the high seas. I'll bet his ladies attack you when they are finished with us. We'll tell them how much experience you have loving up pregnant women. They'll be all over you." "You guys are too much," I exclaimed. "You think up all these scenarios and get yourselves all worked up." Sue was kissing my chest, on her way south, and said, "You betcha, we love to think about it, talk about it, then take some action. Oh boy, I'm first." It took a while but we did finally go to sleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 34 Chuck Yesterday's trip to St. Louis and Chicago was successful. I was able to clean out two more safe deposit boxes and take a look at the two residences. In St. Louis, there was a house in a decent subdivision not that far from Lambert field, the airport there. The branch bank was just up the street from the house in a small shopping plaza. They were very nice and were happy to see that I shaved that horrible beard. Chicago was more of a hassle, as the lady was saying I should go to the driver's license office for a new photo. I protested as it would cost too much and that I might want to re-grow the beard, especially if I decided to hunt up in Canada again. The signature was simple, and when she watched me whip off the signature with the funky P for Peter, she was happy. The residence in Chicago was a condo near the northwest executive airport. There, a young mother answered the door and thanked me multiple times for renting for so little. I explained that I may want to sell the property and might be able to arrange the payments to be near what the rent was. I thought she was going to kiss me, but I stood my ground and didn't get close to her. I was back in Tampa, with the goodies now filling the second safe deposit box. I wanted to begin transferring funds into the investment fund, and I wanted to do it with a computer that wouldn't be easy to trace. I would have to do it on the road through a free wireless connection or possibly through a library. I figured that I might use my laptop in the new Starbucks that was just down the road. I personally don't like their coffee, but I like their free internet service. On the way to the airport, I stopped at the Starbucks and carried my laptop in. With one of their giant muffins and a tall coffee, I logged onto the Huntsville bank and transferred money to the investment fund. I left fifty dollars in the account to take care of box fees for a while and logged off. I next logged into the Las Vegas account and transferred everything there into the investment fund. When I did Miami, I only transferred the savings account so that any outstanding checks would clear. From the activity of the checking account, there was enough to handle the household account until I could get the new account open in my real name. St. Louis and Chicago banks were branches of the same bank, but under two different account names. When those were done, I figured that I would continue to transfer funds from the various banks to the investment fund, but I would transfer the accounts only after cleaning out the safe deposit boxes. This morning, I was heading to Cincinnati and Cleveland. I figured I could get both of those done and possibly use a Starbucks up there to transfer funds while I was there. While driving to the airpark, the first person I called was John. I told him about the requirement for the second pilot on the Learjets and that if I were caught there could be severe penalties. I said, "Please, call the FAA and find out if some kind of waiver can be had. There are too many things I do that I can't take along someone else. You know that. What would have happened if we had showed up out west with a stranger with us? What would they have done? They might have even scrubbed the mission and you and I would be on someone's shit list. Anyway John, have the Marshal or someone big in Justice or the Secret Service lean on the FAA for some kind of waiver. If I have to demonstrate my ability to fly a Lear with one arm and one leg, I'll do it. Just get that done for me." John said, "You do have a point about the need. I'll see what they say and use some muscle to push with. The Marshal seems to be in good with people throughout the bureaucracy. He'll help get this done." The next person I called was the station chief in Daytona to find out what Steve wanted to know. They would be ecstatic to have a known buyer come in to evaluate the boats. After that, I called down to Miami to find out what the status of that investigation was. The Bureau agent said, "We've finished trashing that boat. Whoever buys it should get a hell of a deal, as it is a wreck after our guys took it apart." I called the U.S. Deputy Marshal Station Chief and found out he was planning on calling Steve and me later today. I told him, "I'll be down this morning and make arrangements for the boat to be moved. We can take care of any funds transfer while I'm there." At the airpark, where I was going to use the Phenom to fly down there, I told Steve about the deal in Daytona and the status down in Miami. He said, "You better call Mercy, she's really excited about that boat and wants to see it right away." I called out to Steve's house and told Mercy, "I'm on my way to Miami to have the boat moved over to the Magellan dock so they can begin working on it." Mercy squealed, "I'll be right there. You better call your girls because they want to go see the boat too. All of us need to see it." When I called Brandy, I couldn't believe how excited she became. She said I had to tell Metarie for her. When I spoke with Metarie, she asked, "What in the world did you say to Brandy? She has the other four about to go nuts. I guess they can take off, but what's happening that's so exciting?" "I'm getting a big sailboat, Metarie. I have an opportunity to get something special and it's something we may take a long vacation on soon." She said, "Taking my girls from me, are you?" "Not really, Metarie, just borrowing them for a while." "Well, as soon as you have that boat up here, Reggie and I want a ride. I don't think he's ever been on a sailboat, and I know I haven't, so we want to go out with you." I said, "Okay, that's an easy thing to do. We'll do that, but from what I hear, you better plan on a weekend instead of just an afternoon. It's too hard to get a big boat out in the water and bring it right back to dock." Metarie said the girls were already on the way to the airpark. DeDe suggested I let her use the Phenom and that I use the King Air 1900D as it was not being used today. That would work as we would have at least six people. Well, who should arrive at the airpark, but Lisa? She came up to me wrapped her arms around me, and kissed me. She then said, "Are you going to show me your new boat?" "How did you know?" Lisa grinned, "Brandy called me before she even asked if she could get off. Mercy's been talking to us about going on a sailing vacation soon." That's when Mercy showed up with Juanita. They were both very excited about the boat and couldn't wait to see it. I had to keep cautioning everyone that the feds had torn it up pretty bad while looking for contraband or money. By the time Brandy came, I had the King Air out of the hangar and ready for the trip. I loaded everyone up and isn't it funny, neither Lisa nor Brandy wanted to do right seat today as they all wanted to talk about the boat. Down in Miami, I visited with the deputy in charge of getting rid of the assets of the charter company there. He said all he had to get rid of at this point was the big Magellan, since the other boats were all leases that were taken back by the leasing companies. All of us went through the magnificent Magellan. I had seen the boat only at night and while involved in the capture of the former owner, and not had the opportunity to view the magnificence of the boat. The agents had taken down panels in the master quarters and in the main below deck lounge, but had not really destroyed the boat. The crew's quarters were a little rough, but not as bad as they had led me to believe. The deputy kept apologizing for having torn up the boat so bad, but the girls just looked right past the damage and kept poking their noses into every nook and cranny. They couldn't get over the magnificent galley and the adjoining dining room and beautiful lounge area. The guy must have enjoyed watching TV, because every where you looked was a big wall-mounted flat screen TV. Since I didn't know how to design a boat, I told Mercy that she would have to guide the girls as to how to make the boat livable. We looked at the bottom deck and found more cabins, storage rooms, and the crew's quarters and crew galley. In the aft area of the bottom deck was the engine room. The place was huge, but spotless, with two giant engines. There was a panel on the wall that looked very complicated, but I'm sure wasn't that hard to understand if you were taught. They had a very nice maintenance and machine shop on board, next to the engine room. On one side of the gangway was the water desalination plant. The tiny room looked like a lab with a microscope and all forms of test equipment. Next to that was a pretty big gym, with two treadmills, two bikes, two elliptical units, two four-station Nautilus machines, and two weight benches with lots of free weights. Across the gangway was the big laundry room. That was impressive, with giant washers and dryers, as well as a commercial steam presser. There was a big office that had beautiful leather furniture and a computer system that looked state of the art. The office looked like it was ready to go to work. Nothing had been disturbed in the office. I wonder why. That's the first place I would have looked for contraband. I was looking in a cabinet door on one end of the room and my mouth dropped. Inside was enough armament to start a major war. I couldn't believe that it was untouched. In the drawers beneath the cabinet was enough ammo of all types to be very dangerous. I went looking for the deputy and brought him back to the office. I said, "You might have missed something." When I showed him the weapons, he said, "Wow, that's a lot of weapons. You won't need to buy anything to protect this boat." "Don't you want to take these or at least check the serial numbers?" He said, "I'm sure they've already been checked. There's no way they didn't tear this room apart. I'd bet they were just nice and put this back together again. You can keep the weapons, as they would have pulled any full auto weapons." I looked in the cabinet again and saw at least two Uzis. I pulled them out, along with two Mac-10s, and put them into a case that was in the cabinet. I said, "Take these with you. I don't want to be caught with them while I'm sailing in foreign ports." The deputy just shrugged his shoulders and carried the case off. I was looking through the desk when I found a safe behind a door that looked like two drawers. The safe door was ajar so I opened it. The damn safe was full of money and boxes. I opened a box and it was full of jewelry. This must be what the wife had wanted. I wondered whether she was free or being held as an accomplice. Taped to the inside of the door were directions on how to change the combination. You could put in from three to six numbers. I pushed the programming button, pushed five as directed, pushed next, then entered "Chuck" on the number/letter pad that looked like a telephone number dial-pad. Anyone should be able to figure that out, but that would do for right now. I figured if they weren't smart enough to look in this cabin, they didn't need the loot. If the lady was free, I was going to find her and give her what she had been so desperate for. Hopefully, none of it was stolen property. I caught up with the deputy up in the main deck lounge and asked, "What do I need to do to take possession of the boat?" He went to a stack of papers and brought a sheet of paper. He said, "We had a surveyor on board that said the boat was probably worth a fortune, but we have ruined it. He estimated that if the boat were perfect it could be worth over seventy-five million, even in today's market. Another surveyor said we would be lucky to get five to ten million for it. We gave DC all the information, and that you or your buddy was buying it, and they said that you, and only you or your buddy, could buy the boat for seven million. That's seven million bucks. Can you do that? I said, "There's an investment fund that has the money. My friend is the owner of S&S Enterprises and has money. I have some but nothing like him. Let me call the investment fund and they can transfer funds while we're on the phone." The guy looked at me strangely. I called Ben Phillips and had a tough time getting through to him. I said, "Ben, I'm in Miami making another deal with the feds. Can you transfer funds from the new investment fund directly to their account?" Ben said, "Yes, but you have enough to just use your debit card." "Okay, I can do that but I thought that might be a good place to get the funds." Again Ben said, "Go ahead and use your debit card. That way if you decide to incorporate the boat, or have it held by a separate holding company, you can just sign it over." I said, "I just didn't think there would be enough to cover that." Ben said, "You can't buy another one, but this one is fine. You'll have to take Beth and me out on the boat. I'm glad you're getting something for yourself." When I offered my debit card to the deputy, he laughed and said, "Sure thing, Champ. Did someone let you use their card or what?" "Something like that. The fund manager just said that he would have the card cover the transaction." The deputy said, "You know what really sucks is that you have to pay sales tax on the boat when you register it. Let's see that's seven percent on the first five thousand and five percent on the rest. That's another three hundred and fifty thousand, one hundred dollars. Holy shit! Oh well, I guess the fund will have to pay that as well. I'll call your card in and you contact the boat company so they can come get it. It took a while to find Mercy so I could get the telephone number of the Magellan people. When I called them and began telling them about the boat, the man couldn't believe the man they had built the boat for would ever let it go. I explained that the man had died in the process of not wanting to let the boat go. Mercy was whispering, "Tell them that you're Steve Sharp's friend." When I did what she asked, the man said, "Wouldn't you know. The same guy is involved in two of the largest boats we've ever made. What can we do for you?" "I need the boat brought to your facility as we want to have it completely remodeled to suit our needs. Steve said that only you could do the job, so I'm calling. Can you come get it today?" The man asked, "Are you on the deck of the boat now?" I said, "Wait a second and I'll walk out onto the deck. Okay, now what?" "Look to your starboard and what sign do you see in the distance?" I looked that way and saw a large Magellan sign. "You are close. Can you take the boat today? I want to have an engineer come to Tampa so several people can have some input on the remodel. I think most of the lowest deck is going to be okay but the middle deck is going to be where the work is." The man said, "I'll send a crew to get the boat right now, and if you would, please come over to our offices before you leave town." I said, "We'll be sure to do that. I appreciate you dealing with this right away." "We are happy that you called. Now several people will have employment for a while longer. We were just about to lay off several men. They thank you as well." Back inside the main lounge, the deputy handed me my debit card and said, "Let me finish putting the information on these papers and the boat is yours." I said, "I'll be right back, I want to check something." Back down on the bottom deck, I went into the office and opened the middle drawer where I had seen a couple of big rings of keys. It took a few minutes, but I was able to lock the drawers on the desk and also the cabinets. I figured that if the office door was locked, that might alert someone. Up top, I found the key for the main ignition and the key to the door of the lounge. Out on deck, I found the keys for all the lockers then finally just took the keys to the cabinet and desk off the ring and put the keys for the lounge and ignition on the ring. I had the other full set keys bulging in my pocket. While all of my ladies were standing there, I asked the deputy, "Was the lady that was on here set free, or was she a part of the problem?" The deputy said, "She's probably going to spend the rest of her life in jail. She was implicated in a few recent murders, but they have her on selling arms to Venezuela, as well as to several drug cartels in Mexico and South America. Her husband was even worse, but he didn't last. According to the guys that are still alive, there is some big hit man that will be looking for money from that guy and the lady. They said he had been sent to do a job on some heads of Mexican cartels. The men said that their now dead boss had been pleased as his man had taken out several of his most hated enemies. The deputy said, "We haven't seen anyone hanging around looking at the boat, so he must not be back here yet. If he saw us, I suppose he wrote off his money." I asked, "Did you get a description?" "Yeah, we did. The guy was about six foot, one eighty or ninety, brown, blue, with a thick shaggy brown beard. They said we would know him as he smelled like smoke all the time and he would be smoking when we saw him. They said that when we saw his eyes, we would know it was him. You might see him but then, probably not." I kept thinking that this was working out better and better. The more I heard of the guy, the more I was relieved the man was better off gone. We soon had the boat on its way to the Magellan docks. I drove our people to the Magellan office and talked to the owners. They were very friendly and very happy to have our business. I told them that we were probably going to totally remodel the first below deck, but leave the bottom deck with the two larger cabins, the office, the utility rooms, and the crew's quarters. The middle deck should be sufficient to handle all of the rooms needed. We probably wouldn't need the huge lounge and the huge dining room. We would do some mods in the galley, have an open area for tables, and a smaller downstairs lounge. I had to tell them, "I'm not the final say on this. Just have your engineer bring the current plans and lots of drawing paper." The girls were far more excited about the boat than I would have expected. Brandy and Tiani told me why. Brandy said, "None of us have ever been able to brag about ourselves and that we were better off than many. This boat is a way to let everyone know that we are not living hand to mouth. This boat tells all that our family is elite and should be treated as such. All of us would like to put our noses up a little." Frieda said, "We're really not that way, but you should hear the remarks we get about us all 'having' to live together. Those people just have never seen our house. When we get the new house built, we will show everyone pictures and even invite some folks out to see it. But the boat, let them drool, let them wonder how we hooked up with the guy that owns it." Tiani said, "Now, Chuck can be our Captain Kidd, the peg leg pirate, taking his women as he finds them and sailing the seven seas. Our pirate captain will have his women and children, plus his best friend and his women and children, surrounding him on this gorgeous boat." When we left Miami, I think all the women were in a state of shock that the huge boat was really going to be ours. Lisa sat with me in the right seat and brought me coffee. She said, "That boat is really something. It doesn't look like you right now, but I'll bet you'll figure out how to make it yours. What are you going to name it?" I said, "Perhaps 'Lovely Lisa.'" She said, "How about 'Brandy's Beauty?'" "I'll have to have everyone's name in the whole name. We'll come up with something." Smiling, Lisa said, "You have been so lucky lately, even when you've been in those shooting incidents. You lived. You do find trouble though. I think the boat should called, 'Lucky Trouble.'" I laughed, "That should be on the back of a little trawler, or a boat like the forty footer Steve bought yesterday." "We'll see," Lisa said. Back at the airpark, all of the women headed to the patio. I found Betty in the helicopter charter office and asked if I could get a lesson. She looked at her watch and said, "Get Joy, all the rest are out right now. Let her take you up." I found Joy working with Jimmy and told her what Betty had said. Joy frowned, but said, "Okay, we can do that. Let's get you a couple of hours work in." She turned to Jimmy and said, "I'll be back to finish that." I said, "Hey, I don't take people away from what needs to be done. I can do this another day." We had to argue about it for a few minutes, but I finally won. About that time, a helicopter, the Bell 210 was setting down on a rolling platform. After it shut down, Tank got out and began his shutdown inspection. I walked out and asked, "Have you had a hard day?" Tank said, "Not at all. I flew a guy down to St. Pete and waited the rest of the day for him. He decided to send me back as he was staying the night." I asked, "I've had several lessons, how about a couple hours now." Tank asked, "What did you fly before?" I answered, "Mostly the Bell 206L and the Schweizer 330." He said, "Let's get the fuel truck and use this one. You'll like the way it handles. I'm sure you've had some Huey time as a passenger while in the military." I smiled as I left to get the fuel truck. I was talked through refueling the helicopter before Tank led me through the preflight inspection. When we got in the helicopter, he said, "Go ahead, start it up." When I checked for the checklist, he said, "You know how to start it, go ahead. Just keep motoring the starter till you reach idle RPM — that's that little tick mark on the gauge — and your EGT (exhaust gas temperature) stabilizes. The rest is what you don't know how to do." I did spool up the turbine and watched the gauges to make sure everything was the way it should be. Tank said, "I was told you were a natural, show me. Lift off and drift over to the center of the field. Get high enough that you can find the smaller of the circles." I actually did remember exactly what to do. I lifted the helicopter off the ground and didn't wobble around with it. I rose to about fifty feet and went to the smaller of the two circles and asked, "Do you want me to set it down inside the circle?" "Yeah, do that first, and keep the skids on the ground." When the bird was planted in the center of the circle, Tank said, "Now lift off, go to the end of the field, stop, slowly turn completely around twice, then fly to the other end of the field and turn around again." I did exactly what he had asked me to do and was hovering fairly well at the far end of the runway. Tank said, "Take me to Zephyrhills. Let's go see Sandy." I asked, "How about a flight plan?" "Sure," Tank said, "Do a VFR for about three thousand feet. Go ahead and put in the numbers on the GPS so you have direction control. But let's go back to the pad, and ask permission to take off using the runway." We flew back and I set down on the tarmac between our hangars and the runway. I called in the flight plan, changed frequencies, and requested access to the runway. I flew down the runway, gaining altitude, and turned toward Zephyrhills. Tank encouraged me to get up to about a hundred knots, which quickly took us to our destination. When I called the Zephyrhills tower, the controller asked if we wanted to go to the operations building. As soon as I said yes, he directed me to land in front of the building so I wouldn't be taking up time on his runway. After landing, Tank told me to shut down and we would go in for some water and a toilet break. Helicopters don't have toilet facilities, and taking advantage of every opportunity for a latrine break is not just one of the "Three Rules for Old Men", a la "The Bucket List" movie, but for pilots as well. As soon as we walked in the door, Sandy came flying from behind the counter and jumped on me. She was hugging me and kissing on me for over a minute. I said, "Wow, what a welcome." Sandy said, "This is the first time you've been back since you saved my ass. Tank, this guy shot that asshole right where we're standing, just as slick as grease on a hot day. Damn, Deputy Johnson, you are a sight for sore eyes." Tank and I got water and chatted a few minutes, and then I said, "I'm learning how to fly whirlybirds, so I guess I should be leaving." We went back out to the helicopter and Tank said, "We didn't do the post flight inspection, so let's do it now as our preflight." We actually did more looking at the mechanics than we do on the preflight. Tank had me start up and request taxi information. The tower said, "Take off from there and you're cleared up to three thousand feet, due west. You're clear and fifteen, with five knots from the north, occasional gusts to fifteen." Again, lifting off was no problem, but Tank asked me to hover right in front of the operations building. He told me, "Spin around and face the building and hold it steady, you'll get a treat." I did what he told me and was facing the building about thirty feet out. I was holding the helicopter in a stable hover when Sandy came to the door and pulled down her top, showing her very nice chest. She was grinning and giving us a double thumbs up. I had to laugh. Tank said, "Wave, and let's go home." I did wave then lifted straight up and headed due west while climbing. Tank said, "Sandy used to be on a training base years ago, and promised that anyone who could hold a good hover would get a treat. I remember her from way back then. She still does it for me and some of the other chopper pilots that come around. Don't spread it around; just enjoy the inner circle secret." I flew us home and was told to see how close to center I could set the skids on the rolling platform. Deciding to do what I had seen Joy do, I pulled up just above the platform with it on my right and slid over the top of the platform. I set the helicopter down on the platform so gently I almost didn't believe it was down. I had begun letting the blades wind down when Tank said, "You don't need me, except for learning emergency procedures, you need lots of practice. Every chance you get, take one of the Schweizers, or one of these Bells and fly. Go anywhere you want, but practice up and down. I need to teach you how to auto-rotate, so when, not if, you get into trouble, you'll know how to get down. But that's it. You know how to fly; now you know how to fly one of these. You just need lots and lots of practice. When you think you are pretty good, I'll get one of the pilots to take you up in the Sikorsky. I'll bet you'll love that. It's a totally different feel." Tank scribbled a bunch of stuff in my logbook and when I looked at it he smiled. "You're almost rated, Kid. Just go practice. Grab an instructor and a bird and practice. Next time we're out we'll practice auto-rotating." I said, "There's still a half-hour of fuel left, can you teach me autoration now?" Tank said "With your natural talent, I might be able to give you the basics of autorotations in that half hour, and then I can sign you off to solo. Let's try a hovering autorotation first. Follow me on the controls. First, we take up a standard 3-5 foot hover, then roll the throttle off to idle. Notice we push the right pedal in smartly to keep the loss of engine torque from pushing our nose around to the left. As we sink, we pull the collective smoothly up to cushion our touchdown. Now you try it." It all happened smooth as silk as Tank was describing it, with a gentle touchdown. I tried it, and overcorrected on the pedal so that the nose moved a little left, and pulled up on the collective a little fast so that the bird stopped sinking before it touched down, and then just dropped the last six inches or so. I thought I'd really screwed up. "Damned good for a first try," said Tank. "Good enough for a sign off on hovering autorotations, but try it again anyway." My second try was better, almost as smooth as Tank's. The whole process had taken less than 5 minutes. "Now let's get up in the traffic pattern and shoot some autorotations from altitude. I'll call the tower and tell them what we're doing." Tank had me take off and do a standard traffic pattern around the field at 800 feet above ground level, and when we were lined up with the active runway he said, "Follow me on the controls again. First, I'll roll the throttle to idle. When you're flying, instead of hovering, and the RPM goes down, the first thing you do is get the collective down, 'Keeping the rotor RPM in the green, ' and then you slow down to what's called 'minimum rate of descent airspeed', about 60 knots in this helicopter. You can vary the speed somewhat, trading descent rate for distance, to get into a good touchdown area when you are flying cross country. Look out front and see the mid-point marker on the runway. That's our target. Keep that in your 'sight picture' in the windscreen as we descend. Okay, at about 75 feet above ground — less in the 206 — start pulling back on the cyclic stick to pull the nose up and slow us down. That's called the 'flare'. Okay, great, as we pass through about 15 feet, pull the collective up smoothly and lower the nose." We touched down with hardly any bounce or slide. "Now you do it, Chuck." I took off and went around the pattern again, and when we lined up with the active runway, Tank just rolled the throttle down without prior warning. Oops! I was a little slow getting the collective down, but the rotor RPM climbed back into the green quickly as I stabilized our airspeed, once again sighting on the mid-point of the runway. When we hit 75 feet, Tank coached me to start pulling back on the cyclic, and then told me to pull up on the collective at 15 feet as I leveled the aircraft. The touchdown was a bit rougher than Tank's, but not embarrassing. "We have just enough time left for you to do one more, Chuck," said Tank, so I took off again. This time he didn't coach me, but I hit my marks and made about the same quality touchdown as before. "Like I said, Chuck, you're a natural! I'll sign off your logbook for solo flight, and you can get some practice whenever your time and the helicopters' time works out. Don't try any touchdown autorotations without an instructor for the time being, and don't fly with passengers, but otherwise, you're good to go for the time being. We'll do a progress check flight about every five hours of flight time until we can get you rated by an FAA check pilot — which I am, by the way." We did fly until the low fuel beeper came on. I was having too much fun to stop. We were almost ready to land when I felt the helicopter sway a little and Tank took the controls. "I have the helicopter," said Tank. "Follow me on the controls and I'll show you this new way to land." I noticed that Tank had pushed the right pedal forward quite a bit and that we were descending more rapidly than usual, about 750 feet per minute. Tank said, "Note your rotor RPM is in the green (safe) range. Look at the runway. See the numbers? We're going to land just past them. Keep that spot at about the same point on the windshield during the approach. You do it now, you have the controls." At about 150 feet Tank said, "We need to slow down now. Pull back on the cyclic and raise your nose a bit, checking that your rotor is still in the green. It's going to climb a bit, so pull up a little on the collective to slow it down. That's great. Okay, you're about 25 feet, so push the nose back down to level, easy, and start pulling up smoothly on the collective. Don't worry about your rotor RPM at this point." We settled down to the runway just past the numbers, bounced up a few inches, and slid forward on the skids about a yard. Tank pushed the collective down and the main rotor seemed to be coasting down. At this point, for the first time, I noticed the engine and rotor rpm warning beeps and turned to Tank with a question in my face, but before I spoke, he did: "The engine failed, Chuck. You just shot your first real autorotation! Think you can do it again?" The turbine wouldn't restart, so I walked to the maintenance hangar and for the emergency dollies and hydraulic jack and drove the tow motor out to the helicopter. Tank had opened the cowling and was looking at the left side of the engine. He said, "I think the problem was a low speed governor failure. This looks like old military surplus," pointing to a tangle of tubing. "We're going to have to do a safety audit of all the birds from Alcam to make sure they have documented parts. It won't take long and it will make our helicopters as near perfect as they can get." We pulled the 210 back to the hangar where Tank wrote up work orders on all of the aircraft from Alcam. When he was satisfied that no one would use the helicopters before they could be inspected, he said, "You did great today and now you're signed off to solo. What do you think? I think its Miller time." I was smiling as I left the airpark, feeling the satisfaction of having learned something new. I probably wouldn't use this knowledge that much, but it was neat to know how to do it and soon be rated. Imagine that, rated for both rotary and fixed wing. At the patio, with a beer in hand, Steve said, "Tank called and said you must have had rotary wing training in the service. Did you?" "No, never did fly before," I said. Steve said, "Then you're what Tank said, a natural. He said you were hovering as well as any experienced pilot. What's your secret?" "I don't know, Steve, you just think steady and don't over correct. You have to push that little trim button fairly often to keep it nice and steady. But the feel of the stick kind of tells you when to push it. I like the straight up and down though, that's a lot of fun. I did the backing up and going sideways stuff today too, and enjoyed that as well." "Don't rub it in. Sue and I are going to have to be coached for weeks before we are let loose to practice on our own. You need to learn well so you can teach helicopters too." I just smiled as maybe I could help out instructing, in due time. Steve asked, "So what does the huge boat look like? Is it as nice as the girls are gushing?" "I suppose it is. I just don't know what it will look like when they begin redesigning it. There is a lot of space, probable over fifty-five hundred square feet on the interior two decks, and that's less the main deck lounge. The bottom deck has a beautiful engine room, a very nice machine and maintenance shop, a big laundry, a good looking gym room, an office that is very plush, two big cabins, and the crew's quarters. The main living deck is plenty big enough to have two nice sized master suites and a bunch of rooms for kids and other couples. The galley is very plush. They do waste a lot of space with a huge formal dining room and a lounge that goes on and on. Considering the topside lounge and how huge that is, we really don't need as big an area below. It should probably be just a big enough area for some folks to watch TV or for the kids to congregate and play games." Steve said, "That's what we did with the Have Mercy. We made the galley and eating area all in one so it was more family style. The lounge off of that was really more for kids than anything else. You used it for guitar lessons. You'll probably be doing that again. Maybe we should put a real piano in there. That might be interesting." I had to say, "I'm sure Lisa will be putting in space everywhere for keyboards and amps." After supper, Steve was talking about a new college fund he was working on. He wanted to set it up for employees' kids, so that if the kids' grades were good enough, they would have the funding for four years of college. I asked, "Can I get in on that? I'd like to help some families like that, too. I'd really like to find families that are down on their luck and teach them how to make a living, like send the moms and/or dads to a trade school, but support them while they are in school. I'd really like to do something like that. I'll bet we could help five or six families at a time. Right now, during the hard times, I need to be doing something like that." Steve said, "Ben has a few programs you might want to get into. You and I will work on the college funding program and pick the kids that need the most help. I'm with you, Chuck, I want to help as many as I can, but I want to teach them how to support themselves." "I have an idea, Steve. You know how you work with Habitat for Humanity? You build a house every year for a family. How about I buy a lot and your tech school builds a house. You could build at least one house a semester, and we could give it away to a single parent household. When the house is complete, the girls could decorate and furnish it, or wait until the new owner gets the house, and have them help pick out the furnishings. What do you think about that?" "Damn good idea, Chuck. I'll make sure that is passed on and begun. We have just the area to build them too. There is a separate parcel behind the last condos we built that we can subdivide and build right there. The ladies could work in our factories, the kids could be cared for through our system, and they would live close enough that it wouldn't cost them anything to get to work. That's a great idea, Chuck. I'll donate the land and you pop for all the materials. You can even sponsor some of the tradesmen in training if you want. There's enough room to build a couple of hundred houses back there. What's nice is they are all walking distance to a grocery store and a lot of other facilities, including the sports center." I smiled as this would help my conscience a great deal; now to get more money into the investment fund. At home, I worked out with some of the girls then swam hard for fifteen minutes. Several wanted to spend a few minutes in the hot tub, so I joined them for a short time. Everyone was relaxed tonight, so we when we went to bed, there was a passive attitude that soon had all of us gently making love to each other. I kissed and hugged all of them, but only became intimate with Frieda, Brandy, and Lisa. Tiani kept trying to catch my eye, but she and Tina were trying to devour Lena tonight. Morning seemed to come early, but as soon as I was up, I decided to get a run on the day. I did the triple S and dressed, ready to hit the trail. Today, I would do the Ohio trip, and try to visit the Cleveland office. They had been very quiet for a long time. Out at the airpark, I prepped the Phenom and was in the air by seven forty-five. When I landed in Cincinnati, I was able to rent a car and be at the bank by nine thirty. I cleaned out the safe deposit box and closed that account, but left the cash in the checking and savings to transfer later. I was happy to note there weren't any raised eyebrows over the closing of a safety deposit box account. The house in Cincinnati wasn't that nice, and the young couple living there were both unemployed, as both of the companies they had worked for had gone out of business. I asked them if they thought they were going to be able to continue paying rent and the guy said, "I've been doing odd jobs for people and I'm doing a night shift at a Jack in the Box restaurant. I think we can make it for a while longer. My wife is even taking in laundry. As long as the car holds up, we should be fine. We know you can get more for this place, but please let us rent for a while longer until we can get on our feet. We'll both be working soon, I'm sure." This was more than I could take, so I told them to wait a second. Out in the car I took out one of the bundles of cash and stripped out ten thousand dollars. Luckily, I had the big envelopes with me so I dumped one and put the money in it. I wrote this note on the front of the big envelope. "When you're down to your last few dollars and things are looking grim, open this envelope for a surprise." I handed the envelope to the man of the couple and said, "Hold on to this. It might come in handy. Keep the good attitude and keep working. You'll get something, I'm sure." In Cleveland, the bank visit was quick, and the residence was quicker. An older couple was living there, and they were very happy with the condo. They told me that they planned on living there for the rest of their lives. I wished them well and took off for the Cleveland office of the U.S. Marshal. The station chief wasn't in, but his ACE was there. The ACE was a lady in her fifties with a great manner. We hit it off immediately and she told me everything there was to know about life in Cleveland. I was shown all of their work schedules and how they interacted with the Bureau located in the same building as they are. I left the station and headed to the airport to go home. By having moved fast today, when I landed in Tampa, I was able to find Tank and for more auto-rotation instruction and practice. When Tank tired of being an instructor, he had me let him down and told me to fly around and enjoy the sights until I ran out of fuel. I did just that enjoying the way a helicopter gives you the chance to go back and look at something so easily. When the low fuel alarm went off, I couldn't believe I had been in the aircraft for two and half hours. After the post flight inspection and refueling, I used a tow motor to put the rolling platform with the Huey on it into the hangar. On the way to Steve's, I stopped by the library and used one of their computers to transfer the cash from the two Ohio banks to the investment fund. This was moving right along. When I called John to see how he was doing, he told me, "My other wife, Kenisha's sister, has joined us, along with the kids. We're having a great time. Rosie has been a great help showing the women where to go for shopping and for night life. So far, it's been a great vacation. Can you come down to visit tomorrow for a little while? There are a few things we might want to talk about." I told John, "I'll be there in the morning. Probably before nine, so no sleeping late." John said, "Perfect, you and I can take a walk and talk about some stuff." The rest of my evening was nice. The friendliness of the group that comes to Steve's in the evening is wonderful. They do make me, and all of the folks from my home, welcome and happy. I was able to convince everyone that I had to be up early in the morning so we were home early and asleep before eleven. At nine twenty, I pulled into the driveway of the house in Key West. John had rented a Mustang convertible in order to fit in with the Key West lifestyle. After talking to Kenisha and meeting her sister, John and I went for a walk. John said, "The Marshal has been talking to me about the mission we went on. It seems that an international professional hit man is suspected of eliminating those cartel leaders. Apparently this guy has a reputation of being able to do just about anyone. The Marshal wants to know if we saw him while we were out there, and if so, what happened to him. So far the only thing I've said is that we did accomplish the mission as directed. It's funny how he knows what the condition of the group was when we left, but doesn't know the guy had been there at least a day before we got there." I asked, "What do you think? Should we confide in the Marshal? If so, what about the resources the guy left?" John said, "The man won't care about anything that we pick up along the way. He's the one who has smoothed the way for you to buy those aircraft and that big boat. He has helped your friend buy those boats from Daytona." John continued, "I told the Marshal that the guy people were talking about was part of this big bust you guys just did. The man apparently worked with the former owner of Alcam and they were fairly close. Alcam had dealings with the cartels, but the cartels double crossed them the way they usually do, by taking their money and not supplying the product. That was the reason for the assassin being out there trying to eliminate them." John added, "I think we should tell the Marshal that was where we got the SKS that we brought back. I think he will understand that the assassin would have killed the mission. The man knows you and I are trained to fulfill the mission." "I'll go along with that, John, but how do we tell him, and when?" "Let me call him and you go get him. He'll go get his wife and he can come down here and visit. You might take him back up to your place this weekend if you want, but you don't have to. He'll be good for both of us." I said, "I can do that. Give him a call and if he wants to come, I'll go get him. I'm flying one of the new aircraft we just bought. It'll fit him and his wife perfectly." John called the Marshal, and was smiling the whole time. When he hung up, I already knew I was going after him. I left John and went by the attorney's office that Ben had arranged for me to work with. He was happy to meet me and I signed the fake name to the documents and said that I would be glad to have the house out of my name. From the airport in Key West to DC, is about two and half hours in the Phenom. The Marshal had made arrangements for me to land at Andrews to pick him and his wife up. After seating them and getting them buckled up, we were on our way. Another two and a half hours and we were back in Key West. The Marshal said he enjoyed seeing the islands from the air and was impressed that I had become a proficient pilot. I had kept the rental car and drove the couple to the house. I explained to the Marshal the house belonged to an acquaintance that owed me, and I was using it for a few months. I might even buy the house eventually. After all of the initial greetings and a late lunch, John, the Marshal, and I walked down toward the fancy beach club so we could talk freely. The Marshal began immediately, "You two performed far beyond any expectations and accomplished more than could have been expected. There are a couple of loose ends that I'm personally curious about." We had sat down on a covered bench overlooking the beach and the ocean. The Marshal asked, "There have been several underworld reports that this Alcam group hired an international former CIA guy to take down the cartel leaders that you two eliminated. Since the surveillance tower near where you were recorded the carnage at the house, I know it could have only been you, Chuck, who could have made those consecutive shots. The other cartels believe it was the hired gun that did the job and were aligning to hit Alcam. Will you tell me the true story?" John looked at me, and I nodded. John told the story of how an unknown entity had crashed our party while we were waiting for the target. Because of the man's sloppy approach, we had figured him as a lowly paid hit man, not someone who was a professional. John told the Marshal that we had eliminated the intruder so he wouldn't screw up the mission. John never said we either killed the guy or that we buried him out there, just that we eliminated him. While John was elaborating about the few minutes of shooting, I was trying to listen to what John was thinking, but the Marshal was broadcasting loud and clear. He was thinking, "These two can be dangerous and did what they were requested to do without hesitation. The service owes them, but I know the service is already planning on using them again, especially Chuck." The Marshal kept repeating that same thought without any clarification of what was being planned. John was nervous about telling everything to the Marshal, even though the Marshal was doing everything possible to put John at ease. The older gentleman was slick though, and was definitely someone you would buy a used car from. The Marshal said, "You both know I came through the ranks as a deputy, and before that I was an Army Green Beret officer in Viet Nam. I was involved in several covert operations, but nothing ever like what you two just pulled off. I know you were both trained for missions like that, but you're never prepared for every contingency. You two cannot be recognized for your actions, but I can assure you that both of you will share rewards passed on to you from myself, as well as another high official." I felt the Marshal tense and heard him think, "I guess I better tell them." While we were just looking out at the water he was thinking, "This is going to be a lot tougher than this last one. They are going to be really out on a limb." The Marshal said, "We have a developing problem along the Texas border and you've heard of all the problems deep within Mexico. The Bureau and the service have identified several men who are instrumental in all of the troubles down there. Not surprisingly, none are U.S. citizens, but all five are usually on our side of the border. Because you two were able to complete the difficult job given you before, the service has something really different to ask of you." "We want you to capture these five men and bring them in. You can't leave them jailed in Texas and will have to take them to a neutral site. The best place to take them would be the Colorado federal prison. There, we should be able to keep them from escaping." John's mind was whirling, he said, "There's no way to get that close to these guys. They probably have hundreds of guards with multiple levels of security." The Marshal said, "You're right, they do. That's where you two really come in. The Bureau believes that if they attempted a full on frontal assault, they wouldn't even get close to the principals. From watching these people, we think there are a few places where their security may be compromised." I said to the Marshal, "You know that if we do capture these men alive, there are going to be heavy collateral losses." The Marshal was thinking, "No shit, heavy collateral losses, probably a total loss of all their security. I wonder how they will do it." "Yes, there is expected to be heavy losses of the security people," the Marshal said. "We accept that will happen. It would be good if we could capture each of the principals alive." John asked, "When does this have to happen?" The Marshal said, "A couple of weeks, next month. First, you two need to study everything we know about these men and maybe even observe them in person." Within the Marshal's head, he was thinking, "That's probably when both of them say adios to the service. They're going to find out how impossible this is and leave." I asked, "Why can't you organize several agencies to close off the border and to close in on these men. At your disposal are men from multiple agencies that are trained and tough. I'd almost bet it could be done with a large enough group. There would still be losses, but none as great." "Truthfully, Chuck, we have too many sympathizers and paid informants within the federal law enforcement ranks to ever make that work. It's a shame, because I'm in agreement with you. The various agencies should be able to conduct even a small war if necessary." I could hear the Marshal think, "We even suspect the Bureau agency chief down there. How's that for having our shit together." The Marshal said, "You two think about this. I'm glad you're taking a little vacation, John. I'd like to stay down here with you a couple of days then we'll head home. Chuck, thanks for coming to get us. When it's time to go home, we can get a commercial flight out of here, I'm sure." I said, "We'll see. If you all go together, I'll get an aircraft that will carry more people. It really isn't a problem to fly you back and forth. I get a kick out of doing it for you." We walked back to the house and watched as the women and kids played in the pool. John and the Marshal went to get their swimsuits on and I stayed a while to watch. After a while, I said, "I'm going to head home. John if you want to talk a little about this, I can come down. I might even have some more questions for the Marshal. I would like to begin looking at those files." Back at the airpark, I flew one of the little Schweitzer helicopters. They were fun as you could do a lot of very nimble maneuvers with them you can't with a larger aircraft. It was late by the time I got to the patio. They always have some food for late arrivals and fed me some roast pork with dressing and gravy. Steve came over and said, "You look deep in thought. Having a problem?" "Not really, Steve, just some decisions to make at work. There's always something that's difficult to do that needs to be done. I just have to decide when and how." I smiled at Steve and said, "That's what this place is for. To unwind and clear one's mind so one can make good decisions." Steve slapped me on my back on the way to the beer tap. Mercy came and sat beside me. She asked, "How does it feel to be able to use your gift. I don't know what you heard, but I know you were using it today. You seemed very pleased to have been able to listen to someone's thoughts." "It was, Mercy. Hearing what this man was thinking helped me know he was a good person and could be trusted. I was concerned about that." Mercy said, "You need to practice more and get into more peoples' heads. Listen to them. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's surprising. Use it, Chuck, it can be very important to you. You'll even start anticipating them. You'll know what's going to happen before it happens. I don't know how that works but when the time comes, it just happens." I nodded, "I'm beginning to know what you mean, Mercy. I listen to my ladies to hear their love and insecurities. It makes me want to just hold them all so they know they are safe and will be taken care of." Mercy observed, "They know they will be taken care of and they are very self-sufficient. They are only insecure because they have a hard time realizing you do love them all. Just keep loving them the way you do and they will be fine. You just have to watch so they don't add too many more women to the group." Mercy was laughing as she got up to go talk to someone else. It was time for me and my family to go home. I gathered them up and we all left together. At home, we spent some time exercising, followed by some swimming, and finished in the hot tub. This had the desired effect and found us all relaxed, snuggled together, drifting off to sleep. My mind was still spinning from what the Marshal was proposing. The more I thought about it, the more the whole thing sounded insane. I gave up as my mind shut down for some sleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 35 Steve It's amazing how well an operation can function without micro managing all the various components. Abe had delegated the job of developing the new military vehicle to a sharp young man from his rebuild shop. His qualifications were six years in the Army in a mechanized infantry outfit. His name is Gilbert Mary, but everyone called him 'Chance' for some reason. If someone called him by his last name, Chance would get a dark face and look threateningly at the mouthy person. Anyway, Chance had taken the challenge and was working furiously on three separate projects. He was working on a small troop vehicle like the Humvee, but a little smaller, and just a little larger than a Jeep. The second vehicle was a wheeled armored personnel carrier with a gun, and the third was a tracked vehicle that was a cross between a tank and an APC. Every time I saw Chance working on the small troop vehicle, it got larger until it rivaled the Humvee in size, but actually had more usable room inside. Chance was experimenting with multiple styles of the same product. He made some open, some partially open, some that were more like utility trucks, and some enclosed with gun positions. Jeff was having fun, as Chance would sketch an idea and Jeff would put it into his CAD and work up the body. They would argue over what the use of the vehicle would be for, and finally agree on a design. Jeff would immediately cast the body to fit the universal frame they had made so they could test the vehicle to see how functional it was. Abe had contributed two types of engines. One was a heavy diesel and another lighter, less powerful, diesel. He didn't want to use a gasoline engine as he said it was not as efficient and was more hazardous. Abe advised us that Sherman tanks in WWII, with gasoline engines, were called "Ronsons" by their crews, because they lit up like torches whenever they were scratched. They were using GM transmissions instead of designing one of their own, but said they could if it became necessary. At breakfast one morning, Abe told me, "Chance is ready to show someone what he has. He has the small utility vehicle in four basic body styles, a wheeled APC, and his version of a tank vehicle. The least acceptable is the tank type vehicle. So far it has taken some heavy hits from rockets, small arms, and even a 120 millimeter tank round. The big round disabled the vehicle, but it appeared that the occupants might have survived. They would be deaf and possibly have some broken bones, but would be alive. We were able to get the vehicle running again within fifteen minutes. So it did well, it's just not big enough to be really threatening." Abe said, "I'm going to use that new accountant guy that Sue has to help set up a review by the military. We're not going to try to sell them on the product, but show them our materials and why their suppliers should use our material and have us cast parts for them." "Good deal, Abe, set it up. That should be an interesting presentation. Will the presentation be held here?" Chance was now with us and said, "Of course, we'll show them the vehicles here, give them some rides, then we'll have the helicopter folks take us out to the bombing range. There, we'll mistreat the vehicles for the folks by driving them over bad terrain, and then we'll shoot at them. We are going to have multiple types of ordinance fired at the various vehicles, with the finale a couple of fighters strafing the APC, and finally, firing a rocket at it. We've tested it several times, and the vehicle has stood up so far. I think we'll turn some heads." "That's exciting, guys. Make sure you let me know when it is. I want to be there for the show." Wes came over, with Jimmy tagging along with him. Wes said, "Speaking of shows, we have an FAA observer coming this morning to watch our first test flight. Jimmy is going to fly the biplane and the air coupe. Something I didn't tell you was that we did build the second biplane with a smaller engine for the LSA designation. They will still be considered experimental when individuals build them, but they are really nice." I asked, "So tell me, do you only have one air coupe?" Wes grinned, "No, I built the other one, but with a full deck of avionics. They fit very nicely and don't add that much weight to the plane. We are still in good shape for a little over four hundred pounds of human and about a hundred pounds of luggage. With a full load of fuel, we'll be under max weight by over a hundred pounds." Wes asked, "Will you come out to watch this morning? This is pretty exciting." I said, "I wouldn't miss it, and I bet there are a lot of other folks that will want to watch." I turned to Tiny and said, "Use the PA and announce that we are going to flight test our new aircraft this morning. Jimmy is going to do initial test flights in four aircraft. While Tiny was announcing the test flights, I called Chuck and told him, "I don't know what your schedule is today, but Jimmy is going to test four of Wes' creations this morning. I'm not sure of how this works with the FAA guy, but this is also a defining moment for Wes." Chuck said, "I'll be there. I'm scheduled for some Schweizer flight time. I'm coming up on a hundred hours and feel pretty confident. I think I can fly any of the helicopters we have except the Sikorsky." I said, "You've really taken to those rotary wing aircraft, Chuck. I'm surprised you have such a touch with them. It's no wonder though, the way you took to flying as well as you did. Sue and I are still struggling to land on the platforms. We just can't hover that well." Chuck said, "I'll stay and watch the test flights then I need to get over to Baton Rouge today. I won't be there long, but I need to get there." The patio was soon almost empty as people headed out to their various workplaces. Sue, Mercy, Kathy, and Juanita came with me to the airpark. When we got there, we could see Chuck messing with one of the little helicopters. Mercy said, "I'm going to see if Chuck will give me a ride." She walked over to Chuck as he was checking the little Schweizer. They had a conversation and Chuck pointed at the left seat of the cockpit. Soon, the two were in a helicopter with the blades spinning. Chuck lifted off and gently drifted sideways out to the open field where the helicopters practiced their maneuvers. We watched as Chuck spun the helicopter around a couple of times then raised straight up to begin to go around in circles in one direction, then changed direction to do them the other way. Chuck did something that I hadn't seen before. He went to the far end of the field and went from end to end going up and down as if he were flying over small hills. He actually did this pretty fast. Then to show off, he landed in the middle of the big painted circle right on the X. When he lifted up, he made his way over to the platform and gently set the helicopter down right in the middle of the platform. Chuck was really good. After he shut down, Mercy came bouncing out of the helicopter with a big grin on her face. She said, "Wow, that's fun. I have to learn to do that." Just what I need, multiple wives wanting to learn to fly helicopters. The FAA inspector had inspected all four aircraft and was very impressed at their precision. He said, "If these fly as nice as they look, you may have a winner. I hope these biplanes fly nice, I love these things." Jimmy wanted to fly the small basic air coupe first. The aircraft was out on the tarmac where Jimmy gave it one last physical check. When he was inside the cockpit with the headset on, he radioed the inspector to establish contact then started the perfect motor that Abe had supplied. Jimmy and Wes had gone through the startup multiple times, so this was routine by now. We heard Jimmy request permission to taxi and he was granted access straight through to the runway. We watched as Jimmy went to the apron of the runway, ran up the engine, and released the brakes. The little plane didn't use five hundred feet before it leaped into the air. Jimmy took it up to about five hundred feet and flew back and forth across the open area where we practiced with the helicopters. Next Jimmy began climbing and was probably at about five thousand feet where he began to try to stall the aircraft. Jimmy went through multiple stalls, as well as several severe banks. It wasn't long before Jimmy climbed higher, then did a dive of about five hundred feet and pulled out smoothly. He went higher and dove deeper to pull out equally as smooth. The FAA inspector kept having Jimmy do various maneuvers until he finally said, "Bring it in. We'll do the checks on the stress points and see how it held up." Jimmy's landing was very smooth and short. He taxied up to Wes' hangar and shut down. All the mechanics were immediately checking over every part and component of the aircraft to see how it took the first flight. Jimmy said, "Wes, that bird is perfect. I'd fly it anywhere. It makes you want to see what it will do when you do some fancy flying." The inspector said, "While these guys look over the aircraft, which one do you want to check out next?" Jimmy said, "Let me fly the other air coupe. I'll put it through the same procedures so we know they are both good. I'll use the instrumentation to land. That will be an interesting experience." The other air coupe was quickly in the air and Jimmy went through all of the same tests. When he finished with the radical banks this time, he flipped the little plane over on its back and flew upside down for a while, then climbed a little to drop over, diving and lifting out of the dive. Jimmy was showing off a little. The last thing he did was at full power; he climbed straight up and fell over to drop about five hundred feet in a stall. There was not ever a ghost of a chance he would get into a flat spin. The little plane obviously handled very well. We watched Jimmy come in using the instrument landing system (ILS), made up of the localizer and glide slope indicators. He touched down flawlessly again and taxied up to Wes' hangar. When the plane was shut down, the FAA guy said, "Having fun up there today, Jimmy?" "Couldn't help it, Sir. The little aircraft wants to play. You should fly one, you'd love it." Jimmy had a bottle of water then began going over the small engine biplane. When he was satisfied, he climbed into the cockpit. Wes came out and handed Jimmy a leather helmet like the World War One pilots used to wear. Jimmy grinned and put the helmet on with the headset over the top. Soon, the biplane was on the apron of the runway. When Jimmy took off, he only used the first two hundred and fifty feet. The lift on the aircraft was tremendous. Jimmy took the plane through the exact same tests and landed after about twenty minutes. He almost ran to the big motor biplane, and as he climbed in, said, "I've paid some special attention to this one. Be ready guys, as this is a real toy." Again, Jimmy was in the air quickly and performed all of the tests the same as he had on the other three aircraft. That's where the similarity stopped. Jimmy was doing vertical climbs while spinning the aircraft. He did several barrel rolls, along with some fairly steep and deep dives. The FAA inspector even cautioned Jimmy over the radio, "Be careful, Son, you don't know whether it'll hold together." Jimmy came down and landed, dropping the tail when the plane was almost at a full stop. He taxied back to the hangar with a big smile on his face. He was yelling at Wes, "This is going to be one hell of a show bird. We'll sell this to all of the show teams." Wes, Jimmy, the FAA inspector, and another FAA inspector went over to some tables with forms spread all over them. While they had coffee, they looked over all the forms, initialed them, and put them in different stacks. Jimmy signed his test flight forms saying that he felt completely safe every minute he was in the air. When all the paperwork was done, the FAA inspector asked, "Would you allow me to fly one of the biplanes?" Wes said, "I would be honored if you'd do that for me. Which one do you want, the stock bird or the high performance one?" The man went to the high performance bird and checked to make sure there was plenty of fuel. Jimmy wouldn't let him off the ground until he topped it off. When that was done, he went over the controls with the inspector and watched as the man started the engine. We watched as the little biplane circled the field a few times while still climbing. When it was very high is when the inspector went nuts. He did rolls, loops, and dove while twisting. The man could fly and had become totally trusting of the aircraft. While he was flying that one, the other inspector wanted to fly one of the air coupes. He took up the fully instrumented air coupe and flew fairly conservatively around the field, never going higher than about five thousand feet. The two aircraft came down about the same time, with biplane landing first and the air coupe using the ILS to land. When the aircraft were parked and gone over for stress cracks or excessive wear once again, everyone was excited about the success of Wes' project. Tiny was showing Wes some spreadsheets and said, "Your S&S air coupe can be sold on the market for forty-eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five dollars. That's about as cheap an aircraft as is possible to make." The second FAA inspector asked, "How soon are you going to be manufacturing them?" Wes said, "As soon as all of the inspections and approvals are in, we'll begin selling them. We already have a few orders, we just need all the certifications." The first FAA inspector said, "Well, you passed this with flying colors. We have to do this again within thirty days. See if you can get some hours on the aircraft and we will repeat the tests. That'll give you clearance to begin selling them." Wes was sitting in a chair with a smile on his face. He said to Steve, "Thanks, Steve, for giving me this opportunity. We'll get these through a second test and have them ready for Sun and Fun. I'll bet we'll be snowed in with orders. Then I can make my next aircraft. I want to make that camper Jeff has molded for me. I'll bet that will be a popular little aircraft. Then we have to make ourselves a little S&S cub. We'll call it something else, but it will have both conventional and pontoon landing gear. Hopefully, we can build it within the same cost area." Wes looked around and asked, "Okay, guys, we need some hours on these aircraft. You can't go far as we're restricted to fifty miles of the home field, but we need the hours. Help me get them on." People were scattering as most had places to go. I watched Chuck take off in the Phenom and Lisa and the other little girl pilot take off in a G5. Two helicopters left for charters, and the big Sikorsky came out of the hangar to go lift a giant air conditioner to the top of a building. DeDe came to me and asked, "I have a short fast flight to Mobile, would you mind taking a Lear or the Eclipse over there?" "Sure, where's the passenger and we'll get right on it." DeDe said, "They're in Mobile and waiting. You'll take them to Orlando, and come back here. One of our helicopters is meeting you in Orlando to take them around the city. We'll take them back to Mobile in two days, but I'll have plenty of people then." I was looking across the tarmac between the hangars and I noticed that the only helicopters in house were the little ones. I asked, "Are we really renting out that many helicopters?" DeDe said, "You'll have to talk to Betty about that, but several of our charters now also include a helicopter for short distance travel instead of using a limo. The customers like the time savings." Over in the helicopter charter office, I asked Betty, "How are you doing, Betty? It looks like you're busy." "We're doing great, Mr. Sharp. We've chartered our aircraft everyday this week. Even the trainers are up for at least a couple of hours everyday." I asked, "Do you think we need to look for more aircraft?" Betty thought for a second and said, "Probably not. We do pass up some business, but so far we're keeping up. We could use a helicopter that holds more passengers. Some of your G5 fares want a helicopter to get to a beach resort or downtown somewhere. We don't have that covered, but that's about it. I think we're good. Ruth found me another pilot mechanic that is spending a lot of time in the air. He's been on a couple of fixed wing charters too. We're doing pretty good, Sir." I told Betty, "If it looks like we're missing too much business, let me know. Same if we look like we're not renting them out enough. This whole helicopter thing is new to me and us." "I'll watch out for you, Sir. We're doing well, and your company is doing well." DeDe found me and said, "John's back from his flight to Miami. He'll take the flight to Mobile." Sue and the girls came for me to take them home for lunch. There we ate, did our afternoon exercise, and finished off at the pool for some sun. Mercy said, "The Magellan engineer is coming back for another designing go around. He has videos of what they have done, plus some design suggestions. It took them a while to realize that there were two family groups with an unusual amount of women. Chuck's ladies have the size of the bed they want as they already have a bed that size at home. The engineer wants to have the kids in bunk rooms like the crew. They said we can have big rooms for both the boys and the girls. They think that would give us more room for other adults." "How many other adults will we have?" I asked. Sue said, "Mom and Mercy's mom. Maybe dad, but I doubt it. Merlin won't come either. Glenda and Martin are coming, and Maggie wants to come with us. Dewey may show up, and of course, we'll probably entertain the Irish a couple of nights. From what Chuck's women are saying, Don and Jan may come over to be with us a little while, along with Wanda and John. Dennis and Marie are planning on coming with us for most of the trip too." I asked Kathy, "How many of the older kids do you think will come?" Kathy said, "Barb will come, and possibly Ben, but the other two are not going to be able to get off. The military has them tied up now. Carl should have passed on the academy but he said it was too good an opportunity to pass up. J.J. should finish all of his training next month. His unit is due to rotate for a tour in Afghanistan. We'll have to worry about him then. The only thing that will keep him here longer is if he is accepted in SEAL training. He was recommended and has applied." I said, "Wow, SEAL training. Those are the elite of the elite. I hope he makes it." Kathy said, "Me too. His dad would be so proud. I know that you, his dad now, are also proud of him." Kathy kissed me with watery eyes. We were on the patio where we were planning for the weekend. Barb came up to us and announced, "You know that I've been accepted at USF and I'm proud to have gotten this far, but I don't want to keep going to school. What would you think if I joined the military? Actually, I want to join the Navy. You know, join the Navy and see the world." I suggested, "Barb, you had really good grades throughout school. It's late, but if you want to join the Navy, why don't you try to get accepted into the academy? Carl would be there with you for another year." "Yeah, but that's still school. I'm tired of school." I said, "Do you know what you do after basic training when you join the service?" "No, what, go to sea?" "No, Ma'am. You go to school, tech school. Depending on what you're going to do, the school will be from six months to two years. There are some jobs that are strictly on the job training, but you would get bored with them. You're too smart to be scrubbing decks or chipping paint. You'll do that anyway, but you don't want to do that full time. I'm sure you don't want to be in a kitchen eight hours plus a day, so think about it, but make up your mind soon." Kathy said, "Steve knows about this stuff, Honey. Ask Chuck, he'll tell you and you can ask that lady pilot/mechanic, Joy. She knows about the military." Barb asked, "So you don't have a problem with me joining up?" Kathy said, "If that's what you want to do, no. I want you to be happy with your choice." When Barb left, Kathy said, "That would be really cool for Barb to go to the academy. I'd love it that two of the kids did that. J.J. is on the rise quickly and will have completed his OCS training as well as his leadership training. I hope they've trained him for combat as well. If he goes into SEAL training, I know he'll learn to be a soldier." I said, "I'm sure they have. You know he had to do all the basic training and advanced training before he ever went to OCS. Everything since then has been preparing him to lead men into combat. You have some great kids, Kathy." She smiled at me and snuggled into my shoulder and said, "We have some great kids, Steve. You're as much their dad as Jake was. We're all proud to be a Sharp." Tiny called and said, "I didn't plan on a big deal tonight, but we should do something special for Wes. This is a big day in his life, and a big day for S&S Light Sport Inc." "So what can we do, Tiny?" "I've called the caterer for a pile of food and Abe and I have invited everyone from here, as well as the shops out at the business park. The big tent should magically appear in the next half-hour and we will have a party that should have about two hundred people." I said, "The Magellan engineer is coming tonight too, so it will be even more. Chuck said his boss, John, is in town again and will be here, so we have a pretty big group. It'll be the first big party for our new pilots and helicopter people too. I'll make sure they're all here." As I was telling the girls what was up, the rental company showed up with the tent. They were so used to setting up here, they had it up and the extra tables and chairs set up quickly. The caterer showed up to set up his equipment at the same time the beer truck showed up with extra beer. Sue was beside me and said, "Isn't it great when a plan comes together? You mention party and, wow, party stuff appears. Is this for Wes?" "It is. Call Jimmy and see if the inspectors could come by. They would enjoy seeing our organization and how we live." Chuck drove up and came into the patio area. He said, "Glad today is done. John's coming in this evening with his wife. You don't mind an extra couple of mouths to feed do you? Looks like it's party time." I said, "Tiny decided we needed a party for Wes. I think we can honor Chance for his job developing the new military vehicles too. Say, Chuck, how about entertaining a little tonight. Lisa is back, as I heard Mercy talking to her on the phone. How about getting together with her and playing something for us. Use that stuff you prepared before. It's been a while and no one remembers anyway. Bonita will love it if you let her play too." Chuck grinned and said, "Then I better hustle and get the instruments. I'll call Lisa while I'm on the way. I need a shower anyway." I thought that was a lucky break and would be really classy to have our own musicians entertain. Every time Bonita plays for us, all the moms are so proud. The dads are too, but it is special for the moms to watch the kids flourish. Thinking I should look nice tonight, I changed into nice jeans and a decent shirt; nothing fancy, just clean and neat. As all the kids from all the families began coming out to the patio from school and play, I noticed they were all clean. That's unusual anytime. They all had S&S raceday T-shirts on and looked cute dressed alike. Shawna was already on the patio with a beer, and said, "Damn, now I won't be able to find my own kids." I said, "Just find the ones with red hair. Toss Debbie's back and keep your own." Shawna was laughing loudly. Wes came in and said, "I shut the place down early today. I'm still so wired I can't stand it. Star is still out on a charter, but DeDe said she would be home as soon as the evening person shows up. How about that, Steve, the first big hurdle is behind us." "You built some great aircraft, Wes. You did a great job." Wes said, "I have a lot more to do. If you don't watch out, we'll be the best domestic aircraft manufacturer around. You know it isn't a stretch to say if we can build an LSA, we can build bigger aircraft. I'd bet that big engine will easily pull six passengers plus the pilot. Then, of course, the engine can be turbocharged for even more power." With a laugh, I said, "Let's get this LSA stuff down pat first. We might build more later, but that's a ways off. Just think of all the LSA designs we can build." "Makes your head spin doesn't it, Steve," Wes sighed as he stared off, thinking of the future. Mercy was leading three men over to me and said, "Steve, you know the owners of Magellan, right? This is their engineer and the owners came along. I told them they were in time for a party and would have to wait until tomorrow to work on the boat." I had stood up and said, "Glad you men could come. Please join us for a celebration of sorts. We have some things to celebrate and this is how we do it. Friday nights are for letting off a little steam, plus honoring some of our accomplishments. Are you guys staying at the hotel?" The engineer said, "We are. When I was here before it was so convenient I made reservations there again. The staff over there treats you like a king." Steve smiled and said, "Glad to hear it. That's the way it should be." The engineer said to the owners, "You see, the Sharps own the hotel too. All those buildings in that big park are theirs. They have a huge clothing manufacturing company here, and more buildings near here, as well as where the main S&S buildings are. This guy is all over." A bartender and waitresses showed up and began getting everyone drinks. The caterer was spreading snacks around as he began cooking mountains of ribs and chicken. The man knew how to treat our people. He came over to me and said, "I really appreciate the business. We haven't been that busy lately and this is a real help for all my folks. I brought some extra waitresses along so they can serve people. I hope that's okay?" "Perfect, you always do a good job for us. I'll try to have more celebrations so you can come out more often. We love the way you handle our crowds." Chuck's boss, John, came in with another older man, three women, and two kids. I went to them and was introduced to a real genuine U.S. Marshal and his wife. John introduced his wife and his wife's sister. John's wife smiled at me and said, "My sister is also John's wife. He doesn't say it right." I smiled at the lady's straightforward attitude. She had a little oriental appearance that was probably Thai or Philippine. It wasn't important. I told them, "Chuck had to run home and will be back shortly. As a matter of fact, there he is right now. They're bringing instruments to play some music for us tonight. We're celebrating and honoring some of our people's accomplishments tonight. How about a drink?" They all smiled, so I waved at the waitress. After greeting John and the Marshal, Chuck and Lisa hauled guitar cases in, as well as amps. When Chuck brought out a laptop computer, I knew we were in for something special. It didn't take the two very long to set up all their equipment. Chuck went to get our keyboard and brought it out and set up on the floor in front of the family room area sliding glass door. Bonita came out, dressed in shorts and an S&S raceday T-shirt. She had her guitar slung around her shoulder, and was carrying a folding chair. When all the equipment was arranged the way Chuck and Lisa wanted it, they went to the bar for some refreshments. Lisa came over and said, "You're in luck. Chuck and I were fooling around last week and made up a bunch of new songs. We have some great background on these. It sounds like a production. How about we just play some fun music for you right now? We'll do the show after your announcements. Chuck was gabbing with John and the Marshal, so Lisa moved him over to the keyboard and said, "Chuck has to do his lounge act now. Our little guitar player is dying to perform." The three played some gentle blues and jazz, softly singing a few that were good listening music. When Tiny announced that ribs and chicken were ready, there was a mass exodus to get food. For John and the Marshal's benefit, Chuck announced that there was no reason to panic. "There will be plenty of food for everyone. Let the crowd thin down a bit." Chuck had put a music video in the main player for all the TVs while everyone ate. It was the video of his birthday party in Hawaii. When the eating was down to piles of bones, Tiny got up and said, "You know we don't do this often enough. We'll have to create more excuses for this like we used to." He said, "For the general announcements, I want to tell everyone that your 401K plan has again exceeded expectations. While the market is weird, our plan has had a steady growth. The manager is doing a great job investing for us. Of course, it helps that our company is profitable and keeps more money flowing into the plan." People were clapping and whistling in appreciation. Tiny stood tall and said, "Be proud, ladies and gentlemen, while the country is suffering layoffs and unemployment, we've actually been hiring. You'll hear about that later. But I want you to know that S&S is growing, as well as Sue's company. She has just started building a new factory to make her own material. More expansion, more employment." Lots of applause and hollering. "You know S&S is expanding too. We just began the expansion of the T-shirt factory. We can't produce anymore as we are already on three shifts. The only answer is expansion. We're doubling the size of the factory and hoping to be able to keep up with the orders." More applause. "Steve will now tell you some historic news." It's neat to stand up in front of your friends and employees and be applauded so enthusiastically. I began, "I need to catch up on some announcements. You all know we went through some growth out at the airpark. We had the chance to buy the helicopter charter company out there and did. We expanded it by six more helicopters including one of the giant Sikorsky sky cranes. So far, the new helicopter operation is successful and the charter service is booked solid. Folks are signing up for pilot training in the helicopters and you guessed it, Sue and I are doing it too. The star pupil so far, is our friend, Chuck Johnson. He seems to have the gift to be able to fly just about anything. He's already flying a helicopter as if he's been doing it for years." "We had to have more pilots and mechanics, so welcome the great new people who have joined S&S. Stand up, new folks and be applauded." The new folks stood and we all applauded them. "They've already integrated into the community and most of you have met them already. Kind of nice to get some new blood, isn't it?" "Okay, you've heard about Abe's quest to build a better Humvee and, of course, everyone has joked about Jeff building new targets for Abe to try to blow up. Well, there was some method to their madness. The infamous Chance was put in charge of a project that is now ready to be presented. Chance and Abe have built a set of military utility vehicles, an armored personnel carrier, and a tracked vehicle that is similar to a tank. The difference between our vehicle and a tank is that ours is less than a quarter of the weight for the same size. So far, it's as strong but it can really move. I'd say a big advantage for the vehicle is that it could fire a big round then move fast enough that it would be hard to be hit by return fire. We've shot at it, exploded an IED, used rockets, and even a rocket from a fighter aircraft. The machine is still working. Chance and Abe are going to present it to the military next week. Good luck." More loud applause and hollering. "A few months ago, I introduced Wes to all of you and said we were going to try to build a light sport aircraft that could be sold cheap enough to be in demand. Well this morning, the FAA inspectors, hey, you two guys and your wives stand up. Anyway, the two inspectors came out and went through the new aircraft. Then the big moment came as Jimmy test flew all the new airplanes. The good news is the new aircraft all passed the tests." The hollering was deafening. Wes was even blushing as I wouldn't let him sit down. "Wes built two of his own aircraft design and two biplanes for us to rent out. We have to have another test after putting some hours on the aircraft and a tear down, but this is the big hurdle. What is really significant is that, our goal was to build a basic aircraft that was within the light sport specifications and be able to sell it for under fifty thousand dollars. We figured if we can do that, the world would beat a path to our door. This morning Tiny told me that we were going to be able to sell a completed aircraft, ready to fly, for just under forty-nine thousand dollars and make a profit doing it." There was more hollering and applause. "Besides that, the biplane can now be sold as a kit, ready to be built by the new owner, for right at thirty thousand dollars. That's some cheap flying." "So to all who've stood up tonight, congratulations. This is a feather in all of our hats. S&S continues to grow because we believe in excellence and perfect workmanship to build a perfect product." Lot's of cheering, whistling, and clapping. "Now, eat some more, drink lots, but remember to have one of the kids drive you home. They'll bring your car home at the same time and you can sleep it off tomorrow. Now, it's time for some great music. Tiny, turn up the outdoor speakers." Lisa, Bonita, and Chuck went over to their gear and turned on the microphones. Chuck said to everyone, "Lisa and I have fun making music at home. We've been experimenting, using our limited recording equipment, to build some productions. We're trying to build up some songs where we get to play instruments while pre-recorded stuff backs us up. Like the old great wall of sound. You'll hear, a B-3 Hammond organ sound, lots of guitars, drums, keyboards, and bass. For your entertainment, Lisa, Bonita, and I will sing and play various instruments with the productions." They started out with a loud raunchy version of the AC/DC Dirty Deeds to get everyone warmed up. Next they did some country to satisfy those that wanted some twang, followed by some bleeding blues. All Chuck had to do is to choose a song, and hit enter. The background music poured from the speakers, along with the fresh input of their voices and what they were playing now. Bonita had a great time and enjoyed having her own microphone as they let her sing lead a few tunes. Chuck and Lisa shut down around ten, with poor Bonita so tired she was almost sleeping in her chair. I joined Chuck and Lisa with John and the Marshal. The Marshal said, "That was almost as good as Atlanta. You guys have a lot of fun, don't you? I'm glad to see you enjoying yourself, Chuck. You are a hard worker and need to have that outlet." Chuck's women surrounded him and he introduced all of them to the Marshal. John had met them all already, but asked, "When did you add the really tall one, Chuck?" Chuck said, "That's Bobby's sister. She lives at the house while she attends USF. She's not one of my ladies, but is a good friend." I went over to see what Mercy was doing with the folks from Magellan. They were in good spirits. The owner said, "We should do this with our people. This was very inspiring. While the rest of the world is whining and grumbling, you're pushing ahead. I hope you remain successful." Mercy said, "I think we have the boat pretty well designed. We'll get you and Chuck to look it over tomorrow and send these gentlemen back to Miami. They are looking at next month for a completion date. How about that? We'll soon be sailing that rig." I said to Mercy, "Remember that it is Chuck's. He told me he took the captain's exam up in Savannah when he went there recently. He may need some more instruction, but it is his boat." Mercy said, "I think he feels like it is ours, both families.' We're all anxious to go sailing." Chuck and Lisa had put all of their equipment into their car and were herding everyone toward home. John and the Marshal were staying in the hotel across from the federal building downtown, so Chuck didn't have to worry about them this evening. When everything was cleaned up and the patio quiet, I sat with a beer, joined by my four ladies. We were all tired from the strain of the extra people. I said, "A man's home is his castle, but you ladies make it a paradise." When we went to bed a few minutes later, the ladies tried to prove I was in paradise. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 36 Chuck My mind was filled with apprehension when I rolled out of bed. I needed to form for a while to relax my mind. With both John and the Marshal showing up here in Tampa, something had to be up. Especially after both had been down in Key West recently. The unusual part was that John brought his wife, or wives, and kids. Well, I guessed I'd find out soon enough. The more I moved and relaxed, the more my mind focused on the goal I had set up to complete the closing of the bank accounts. All of the accounts, except one, that I knew of were now closed and the money transferred to the new investment fund. When Ben begins working on the residences, we should be able to dispose of them quickly. I was keeping one checking account open in case I needed a quick identity. I still needed to dispose of, or rather claim, a lot of cash and gold. Right now, I have five huge safety deposit boxes crammed full of cash and gold. It's going to take a while to haul all of that out of the country so I can send it back to the investment fund. A good thing was the start up of the residential building program for those less fortunate folks, especially single parents, to allow them to have a home of their own. The trade school has begun two homes that should be done within three months. If we do this right, we should be able to provide at least eight homes a year. They won't be huge, but they will be well built and should last the new owners for the rest of their lives. Ben thinks this is a great idea and will offset a lot of taxes. I think I might try to combine the home with a new car too. That might be the whipped cream and a cherry on top of it treat. After forming and swimming with several housemates who came out to be with me, we ate breakfast together. I told Wanda that I figured on being in the office with John and the Marshal today. At the office, I called John's cell phone and he said, "We're going to run the kids out to Steve's, then come into your office. We'll go somewhere to talk, but there's no panic right now. The Marshal and I want to go over some things. I called Ben to see if he was ready to begin working on the other residences. I had given him a spreadsheet with each location, who the renters are, what they're paying for rent, and what they want to do in the future. There was only one older couple that may not want to own their place. If so, we would figure out a way to put the place into a trust so they could be assured of living there as long they wanted. "Hey, Ben, how's the house in Key West? Are you ready to wrap that up?" Ben said, "It's yours. All the property has been transferred and you are the legal owner. You gave me your power of attorney so I just completed the deal. I'll set up a checking account within your holding company for the caretaker you have down there. She'll have a bank account to work with and should be happy to work with you. How about letting me rent the place for a week? Beth really wants to go down there." "Anytime, Ben, you tell me and I'll call Rosie. I think I'll set her up with a schedule book so when folks want to use the house, she will be able to schedule them." Ben asked, "Aren't you going to use it?" "I can, but I don't think my group will fit very well. There are only three bedrooms and two of them are fairly small. The nine or ten of us would make the place a little cramped." Ben told me, "You know that Sue and Steve are part owners of a very nice resort hotel in Key West, don't you? The other owner wants to sell. Why don't we use your investment fund to buy in with Sue and Steve? That way, when you want to go to the Keys, you'll have a place to stay. Sue said there is an owner's suite there that is huge." "If you think there is enough money in the investment fund to do that, along with helping others, go ahead." Ben asked, "Do you know how much you transferred into the investment fund? You know it was a lot, I mean a whole lot." "I don't know, Ben, and I guess I don't want to know. I'm going to be giving it away to those who need it as quickly as I can find worthy folks. The ones that are willing to work but have fallen on hard times are the ones I want to help. I want those people to have it a little easier. Perhaps help them find a good job, send them to trade school, help them with medical problems. You know what I want to do, so let me know as you run into those kinds of people." "Oh Ben, I want to contact the local group of the "Injured Warriors" to find out what they need. The group helps guys that were hurt in the military as well as families of injured and killed. I want to directly help those that are in need right now but I want to get the group involved in Steve and Sue's training facility so we can get the partially disabled back to work. This is good group of people to devote a lot of resources. They will need long term assistance so we should try to set up a way to monitor our help so our help is put where it needs to be." "I'll do that, Chuck," Ben said. "You're a good man to do that, but remember that some of your investments will bring happiness to many for a long time. Keep investing so you have the profits to do good with." "Thanks, Ben. I have to fight my greed and be sure to give back where I can." Ben offered an idea, "You know, I met a minister recently that has taken over a church out in Mango. The congregation is made up of poor people and the church is in desperate need of work. Why don't you donate the help to rebuild the building and then you can always drop off some of your cash to the church so they can help any of their parishioners that are desperate." "Good idea, Ben, give me the location of the place and I'll get by there and drop off a gift to the pastor. You arrange for the work to be done by S&S and maybe the trade school. Any material cost will be on the fund. That will be my good deed for today. Now we have to work on tomorrow." Ben laughed, "There will be lots of opportunities for you to use the money you have for good. Just watch for them and take advantage of the opportunity. Always make sure the recipients are truly worthy and then help them." I dug out the sheets of information that had been in the various big envelopes that had been left in the safe deposit boxes. I would show these to John and the Marshal. They would be surprised at what was listed. John and the Marshal showed up. When they were shown into my office, they both stood there gawking. The Marshal said, "I'm moving here tomorrow. This is nicer than anything in DC. I know your office was a judge's chambers, but this is incredible." John said, "When I saw it last, it wasn't decorated like it is now. Before it was kind of cold, but it is now really special." The girls had gotten us all coffee and had even stolen a couple of special law enforcement donuts from the station. We sat at the table snacking, and began talking. The Marshal said, "You've been doing a great job visiting around the various stations. Your men think a lot of you for doing that. Keep that up and if you were to go to more than one a day, or stay out over night a few times, the service will happily pick up your charter fees. You've directed men to complete the jobs you had been doing and they are being handled promptly and cleanly so far. I like your management." John added, "Since you haven't been leading every raid, your name has disappeared from the lips of the folks who abhor violence. Some have actually become more hawkish since they have been injured during raids." "I'm happy not to be shot at, John. I'll do what's necessary, when necessary, but if I can stay out of someone else's sights, I'm happy. When I'm needed, I'll be there." The Marshal asked, "Is this room secure?" I said, "It should be, the Bureau sweeps it at least once a week, and we've added a static white noise generator that is supposed to keep eavesdropping equipment from monitoring." The Marshal then continued, "We've found out that since the Alcam take down, some South American cartels have lost their contact here in the states. They are trying to find new ways and new people to handle their products. The group we are concerned about is having some internal conflict and may eliminate each other for us. If not, you and John may have to go try and catch them." John said, "We have discovered some interesting men that need to be taken care of." I looked at John, sensing almost fear. He continued, "It seems that over the last couple of years, eight former CIA operatives vanished, or went into hiding. The problem is they are all working as assassins or hit men. I think we eliminated one of them, and they don't have a clue as to what happened to him. That's good since they probably think he did what he was hired to do, but had something happen to him coming back in. They might suspect Alcam, as that group was very untrustworthy. Anyway, I've been developing dossiers on each of these guys." A lot of things became clear for me at that moment. I said, "I want you to look at some things I discovered when I was investigating the obstruction we removed during our mission." I took the papers and showed them a list. "This is a list of people I have found to have been killed over the past two years. Whether these were all killed by this man, or by the entire group, is unknown. Note the account number on this last column. On this group of papers is an account number listing. If we check on the dead guy here and reference the account number, the person that probably hired the hit was someone named Carlos Castro from Venezuela. This account for Piedmont, whatever, in Columbia, is indicated as the account number for someone named Juan Portego in California. When I looked up Portego, I found the man was a very important drug distributor until his death about a year ago. If we go through each one you'll see that most of the hits were involved in drugs. It appears the man worked for the highest bidder." The Marshal was looking through some of the other papers and asked, "Do you think these are the other people we're looking for?" I nodded, "What John just told me made what I had more understandable. There are seven sheets on seven separate people. This guy kept good records. You see, he has the other men's CIA operative name, several aliases, and the name each man apparently lives under now. We would have to cross reference a file photo with the ones on these sheets to make sure." John said, "If this is good info, finding these guys will be a lot easier." I said, "Remember, these men have functioned for years and years without being caught. They've left bodies behind to keep from being discovered and captured. Catching them off guard will be difficult. I'm for neutralizing them wherever and whenever we find them. I say do it quick, and cover up the assassination so there is nothing left to be found." The Marshal looked at me and said, "You know that's a tall order. If these men live in the U.S., you can't just go shooting people in the street. Someone will see you or the target. You'll never have the chance to get rid of the body." John said, "That's why we'll have to choose the location. If we catch these men, how are you going to prosecute them? They are full of stories the press will love to print and would probably embarrass our government. They've turned rogue, and if they are as prolific as this guy, they are responsible for a lot of dead people." The Marshal asked, "What are you going to do with the bodies?" John said, "Do what the Secret Service does with someone that ends up dead, cremate them. I'm sure we can get the Secret Service to give us local service centers to cremate the bodies." I said, "You know these men are wary. They've managed to stay alive through a lot of conflict. They are not going to be easy to catch. The fewer people who even know they exist, the better. They know other CIA agents won't come after them in the States, so they only actually have the Secret Service to fear." The Marshal said, "Perhaps I should turn this all over to them and let them handle it. But I'm afraid that if I do that, someone will let the cat out of the bag and these guys will vanish." Making a suggestion, I said, "How about I look these over and see if I can take one of them out? I'll see how wary they are. It might be that they think they are above the law or that no one could ever find them. This guy had enough information to take them out if he had to later." John said, "Do you want to do this alone? You don't want help?" "Help would be fine, but too many people might be seen where a single hunter might not be," I said to both men. "I do need one of those 308s with the scopes and the noise suppressors. I'd love to go back out to that range and practice with a silencer on the rifle." The Marshal said, "I don't know whether I can get you in out there. That is a very secure facility. I'll call and see, but it may be that you'll have to become a part of them somehow. If you do become a part of them, you may have other jobs, and not necessarily here in the states." I said, "Ask anyhow. I would like one of those rifles and I would like to use that range for practice." The Marshal pulled his cell phone and called someone. Our side of the conversation was: "This is Marshal one for remote three." "Hey, Fred, you know we had a team go through your facility out west recently. The young one-legged man in that team may be doing something important soon and would like to use your facility for practice. He also wants to talk you out of at least one of the weapons he used. What are the chances you can accommodate him?" There was a lot of, "Yeahs" and "Uh-huhs," and finally, "He said he would be willing to do that. You've already been through his jacket and know where he comes from. If you decide to do him, you might as well do his partner too. They might have to work together on a couple of things." "Okay, what name will you use when you contact him?" "Okay, got it. Thanks, Fred, you'll probably come out ahead on this deal, or at least I hope so." The Marshal hung up and smiled at me, "Someone by the name of Mike Mahoney will call you. He'll give you directions. This man could even show up here personally to give you the directions." The Marshal turned to John, "If you have to do something with Chuck, you'll be inducted the same as he is. They said they would prefer to only take Chuck right now and go from there." "Chuck?" The Marshal asked, "Are you sure you want to do this without John?" "This first one, anyway. I need to see how these men act before I do anything. If the opportunity comes, I need to take it, but sometimes surveillance is as important as the deed." The Marshal lowered his voice, "John told me you have discovered a large amount of money left by your bad guy. This money doesn't exist so if you find it, you get to keep it. Just don't get crazy with it and wave it around at people. You probably don't need it, as I understand you came into a lot of money because of your ex-girlfriends new boyfriend. I understand that you are doing quite well." John said, "How about taking us out to the airpark and giving us a helicopter ride? I want to see you operate one of these things. Do you know how much you are needed in DC to work with the Bureau, the Secret Service, and us? We are all clamoring for experienced pilots proficient in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft." With a smile, I said, "But then, I don't like DC. I'm sure my family wouldn't like it either. Come on, we'll go out to the airpark and I'll give you a ride. I guess I better call to see what's out there." "Hi, Betty, Chuck Johnson. I would like to use either the 206 or the 210 for a little while. Is either one available with an instructor?" "Good deal, the 210 will be perfect. I'll be out in a few minutes." I buzzed Wanda and she came in. "Wanda, we're going out to airpark to see if I can fly a helicopter. If you want to come along, you are welcome to come." Wanda grinned and said, "That would be fun. I'll go with you. Let me get my purse and advise the girls." I put away the papers from the hit man. I figured my safe would still be the best place for them. The Marshal said, "This office is gorgeous. You really do have it made here." John opened the wall cabinet that had the booze. His card was still sitting there among the glasses. He said, "You are slipping. You haven't even opened a bottle in here. My note is still here." I said, "You know, I've been so busy in the office that I don't even have time to think about a drink. One of these days there will be the desire and I'll be glad to have it here." Out at the airpark, Betty gave me the logbook for the 210. When she saw Wanda, she asked, "Why don't you take the 206, it would be more comfortable. I know you've got the hours in now and are signed off but on the way by the hangar office, grab Joy, she'll be happy to go with you today." I turned to Betty before we left her office, "Do you have any courier stuff to do?" "No, nothing right now," Betty said. I used a tow motor to pull the Bell 206 out of the hangar on its rolling platform, and then began doing a thorough preflight inspection with Joy watching everything I did. Everything looked good; including being full of fuel, so I loaded people, put headphones on them, and began spooling up the turbines. When the aircraft was warmed up and all the gauges were right, I said, "Hold on, here we go." I gently rose off the platform and slid sideways out to the practice field. I told my passengers, "This is what we learned to do first. Go up and down landing in the paint." I set down on the X, then rose straight up, hovering at about ten feet. I turned the helicopter around in one direction, then spun it in the other, while maintaining my single location. When I was finished showing off, I headed to the end of the field and turned around the go fairly fast to the other end. I took them back to the hangar area and set down on the rolling stand, then requested permission to access the runway and take off. We went to the apron and went down the runway gaining altitude the whole way. I took the aircraft down to the causeway going to Clearwater and flew along the water's edge until we were nearing the restricted area around MacDill AFB. From there we went across the bay to St. Petersburg across the land to the beach area. We stayed at about two hundred feet and flew up the coast, gawking at the beach people. I requested permission to fly across the approach and departure paths of St. Pete/Clearwater airport and made a direct flight all the way back to the airpark. John clicked on the intercom and asked, "Can you set down on the federal building? You can just let us all off there. You can meet up with us later for supper. I want to go to that Italian restaurant that's out by the airpark." I said, "Okay, I'll let you all out at the office and Wanda can give you directions." This was a first for me. Passengers and landing on top of a building. I found out there was a lot of wind up high like that. What made it even harder was that I didn't get any of the visual cues from my peripheral vision that I was used to during a landing, so just as my instructors had taught me during practice "pinnacle" landings on small mounds of dirt, I concentrated on keeping a good "sight picture" on the pad atop the building. Joy helped with a little coaching during the approach. I set down right in the center of the marked pad and shutdown so they wouldn't have to worry about the blades. While we were shutdown, I got out with everyone and escorted them down the stairs to our office floor. The Marshal said, "You are more surprising everyday, Chuck. The next thing you'll be doing is getting on the space shuttle." I introduced Joy to the office staff and showed her my very nice office. The Marshal's mind was open and I could hear him think, "I never know what this one is going to do next. It should be interesting." While Wanda was giving John and the Marshal directions, I was getting a copy of the data on one of the ex-CIA men. I had everything locked back up and said goodbye to them, saying I would meet them for supper. The flight back to the airpark was fast. The takeoff from the top of the building was what is called a "pinnacle takeoff", in which I picked up to a hover and then accelerated straight ahead rather than climbing out in a normal takeoff, since I was already pretty high up. I put the helicopter back on the rolling stand, inspected it, refueled it, and pushed it back into the hangar. I thanked Joy profusely for humoring me and letting me show off to Wanda, John, and the Marshal. I got the gym bag with my vest and a silencer for my Glock out of my car. The silencer was something that had not been turned in from our mission out west. Driving over to Hudson was fast, as it wasn't late enough in the day for the heavier traffic. My GPS told me where to look, and I found a very nice house on a street next to the water. I parked in a spectator parking area two doors from the house I wanted and used my field glasses to look the house over. There was no one visibly stirring in the home. I looked over the backyard thoroughly to make sure there weren't any signs of kids. While I was sitting there, I noticed about a twenty-five to thirty foot boat idling up to the dock at the back of the house. A guy stepped out of the cabin and tossed a loop around a post on the dock. He had fenders out and put a loop from the bow around another post. I watched as the guy, who matched the photo I had, was putting things away in the boat. He brought out some fishing gear and washed it off with a hose on the dock. Next he brought out some fish and put them on a cleaning table on the dock. With his back to me, it looked like he was going to clean the fish right then. He didn't, but stuck his filet knife into the table and went into the house and came back out with what looked like a large Tupperware container. Son of a gun, he turned his back to me again and went back to cleaning the fish. The distance was right at thirty yards and should be easy, except I had a silencer on the end of the gun. Oh well, might as well try. I didn't see any guns around the guy, and he couldn't be hiding anything under his shorts and T-shirt. Hoping no one would see me, I carefully aimed and slowly pulled the trigger. Luck was with me as the man fell over the table and stayed there. Now came the hard part. I needed to get the body out of sight quickly and check to make sure the house was empty. I drove around and entered the guy's driveway and parked in the back of the house. With a pair of rubber gloves on, I went to the body and picked the guy up and put him in the boat. His head wound was hardly bleeding at all, so I used some of the plastic he had for the fish to wrap his head. I cleaned the fish, put them into the container, and put it on the boat as well. I washed down the table and dock with the man's hose. Going through the guy's pants, I took his keys and went back to the house. The back door was still open, so I very quietly went in and stopped, listening. I stayed still for almost five minutes, but heard no one and felt no movement. After carefully going through the house and looking into every room and every closet, I went to the garage and found a Lincoln town car and Ford Expedition. The Expedition didn't have anything of interest that I could readily find, but the town car had several guns in the trunk. Besides one of the nasty little twenty-two automatics with a silencer, he had a Glock, an SKS, and a nice 308. Too bad I didn't have a way to get the 308 into my car without being seen. I went back through the closets, trying to find another stash of weapons like the Key West house, but found nothing. He did have a military 45 in the nightstand by his bed. I noted that only one pillow on the bed looked used. The other was like new with the pillowcase not even wrinkled. I had a thought and went back to the garage where I opened the town car trunk and pulled out the Glock 22 like mine. In seconds, I swapped barrels between the two guns, so that if someone checked the rifling on the round that killed the man, it would match what was in his gun. I checked the ID in the wallet and discovered it wasn't even close to the man's name on my listing. The only thing that was the same was the man's face. Deciding that I might just leave the guy in the boat, I put his pocket stuff on the kitchen table, found a garbage bag, and went back out to the boat. I took the plastic from around the guy's head and stuffed the bloody plastic into the garbage bag. The way the guy was laying face down, it almost looked like that's the way he had fallen. I know a good investigator would be able to tell the body was moved after death, but someone might miss it. With everything tidied up, I put the garbage bag with the Tupperware and plastic tarp in the trunk of my car and looked around. Strange that I couldn't see any windows, from any house, looking toward where the boat sat. On the dock, only his house had a view, so no one from land could have seen the man fall. It looked like my only exposure was my car when I shot, when I went to the house, and as I was going to leave. This was an acceptable risk. I would contact the Marshal and see if I could find a friendly mortician to cremate the body. I backed out of the driveway and drove to the end of the street where there was another ocean view. I figured on doing a little post operation surveillance to see if there were any neighbors around. There were only two houses with any kind of view of the driveway. I was scanning the houses with my glasses when I saw a car approaching the street. I got down and watched as the car went to the same observation parking area I had made my shot from. There was only one person in the car and when he rolled his window down, son of a gun, it was another of the seven men in my stack of ex-CIA assassins. He was using field glasses to scan the back of the house and the boat. I was hiding low in the car and was using the glasses through the closed window so when he used his glasses to check his surroundings, he passed right over my car. I watched him as he was doing something below the window area, then watched as he opened his car door and stepped out with one of those twenty-twos with a silencer. Man, these guys liked those little guns. The man held the gun down by his leg and walked across the back yard of the house between him and the other house. He didn't head for the boat, so I walked around the other way and approached the side of the house, making sure I couldn't be seen by someone from inside the house or someone from another house. The man came out of the back door and looked around, scratching his head. He walked down to the boat and looked in. As soon as he saw the dead guy, he quickly looked around, but couldn't see me. While he was cautiously trying to see every detail of his surroundings, I leveled off, and at less than twenty yards, did in the second ex-CIA killer of the day. The man fell right on top of the first body. That would work. Thinking, I should complicate an investigation even more, I went into the house, took the keys, and pulled the Glock from the trunk of the car. Still wearing gloves, I took the gun out to the boat and put it in the hands of the first body. I noticed his left hand was more callused than his right, so I changed the gun to his left hand. I checked the pockets of the second guy to make sure he had left his keys in his car. I walked to the observation parking area and drove the car back to the yard of first guy. I was going to try to dispose of the bodies, but if I couldn't get it done in time, there would be some confusion anyway. After getting into my car, I once again studied the houses around the neighborhood. I wondered why the second guy was hunting the first. Perhaps they were suspicious of each other since the guy disappeared on the mission John and I went on. I need to see the Marshal and get some help, so I drove back to the hotel where they were staying. I had taken the gloves off and added them to the garbage bag. When I parked in the back of the building, I took the garbage bag and tossed it into a dumpster behind the building. It was full, so I shifted some cardboard boxes over the bag. Calling John's cell phone, I found him and everyone else upstairs on the roof enjoying the pool. I said I was coming up to visit and to tell the duty people I was coming. There must be someone in the transport suite, as there was a duty man downstairs. I checked in with him then took the elevator to the roof. I got John and the Marshal to the side and showed them the piece of paper I had copied at the office. I showed them the address and said, "This man lived just over in north Pinellas County, so I went to watch him. He was alone and I was unseen, so I eliminated the first of the ex-CIA agents.' I took a breath and said, "When I had the scene straightened out, I parked at another observation area. A car came through and parked where I had originally parked. The guy got out of his car and I saw it was another of the ex-CIA men. He had one of those twenty-twos with a silencer. He went through the house, then went to the boat where he found the body. At that time, he became apprehensive so I eliminated him too. His body fell on the first." The Marshal said, "Holy shit. You did all that since you left here?" "What I need now is someone to help me get those two bodies to someone who will dispose of them. I think I've covered my tracks pretty well, and there was no one in the neighborhood at home that I could see, but then you never know." John looked at the Marshal and said, "You said you had a network of Secret Service people that would help. Can you find someone?" The Marshal was shaking his head, but said, "Let me call. They might help you clean up the scene even more. You'll have to get rid of your gun too." I said, "That shouldn't be a problem. The guy had a Glock 22, so I swapped barrels. The barrel used on him is now in the gun that's in his hand ... The second guy could be a problem, but the round passed through his head and is out in the water." The Marshal called and said, "Me again, Fred. I need one of your special cleanup crews here in the Tampa area. Good, have them call my cell. Thanks, we're cleaning that problem up faster than expected." The next thing he said was, "I'll give him your number or another number. What do you want? Okay, I can do that." The Marshal said, "Someone will call shortly. You'll have to describe how you left the scene. They will clean it up." It wasn't five minutes later when the Marshal's cell phone rang. He answered the phone then handed it to me. I had to describe the neighborhood, the house, and the boat. I did give them all the details I could. They said they would go get the boat using another boat but would leave a pair of men to gut the house and remove the second guy's car. They'll take care of making the house look like it's abandoned. They will try to make sure there are no other weapons in the house also." "Do you want me to meet you to assist?" The voice on the phone said, "That's not necessary. We have your cell number if we need to contact you. We'll evaluate how you left the scene, and try to help you improve on how you leave a scene in the future. I should contact you sometime tomorrow to give you an all clear. Oh yes, we do run those eliminated through our fingerprint and visual identification system to confirm their identities." I said, "Thanks, let me know the identities so I can cross them off my list." The man asked, "Are there anymore around here?" "I don't remember where the second guy came from, but there is supposed to be another one down in West Palm." The man said, "I'll get you a number for down there. You're in our database now, so call when you have a need for our services." When the guy hung up, I asked the Marshal, "Tell me, what if I went berserk and called those guys to clean something up?" The Marshal said, "I'm sure they told you they would identify the two ex-CIA guys. If you were to do one like that for personal gain, they would know within twenty-four hours, and you would then be the hunted. I don't think I would want you or them hunting for me." I nodded and agreed. "Okay," I said. "I'm going to my office for a few minutes then home to clean up. Do you want me to pick you guys up or do you want to drive yourself?" John said, "We'll drive from here. We'll go home tomorrow and let you do your thing. If you are as successful with any of the others, that will be a very good thing." Back over in my office, I went through the papers and found the other man who had shown up. His sheet said he was one of the more dangerous of the men, and that his residence was in West Palm. I copied that sheet and put the copy in my pocket. I was really surprised at how sloppy these guys were. They must be so overconfident that they just don't take precautions any longer. I asked Wanda, "Do you and John want to come to supper with us out at Park Place? It will be a party as all the women will probably come." Wanda said, "I want to, and I'm sure John will want to come. He should be back by now and should call to let me know when he is. What time?" "I don't know, but I'll call you. I'm heading home to clean up. I've had a busy day. Let me call John Scott and find out." John said for us to meet out at Park Place at seven, so I told Wanda and asked her to get a reservation for us for about seven-thirty, if possible. The adrenaline rush was leaving me pretty tired so I showered and dressed in some nice clothes. The ladies came home and were all excited about going out to eat. All of them cleaned up, and dressed up with makeup and all the fixings. They all smelled great. Lisa and Tina arrived home about the same time and were also excited to go out. They were dressed fast, and with makeup as well. Lena walked in the door looking very tired. The girls said that we were dressing up to go out to eat and she immediately perked up. In minutes, she was dressed up with some light makeup, ready to go out. I suggested, "How about we go on out and wait in the lounge. I would enjoy a drink as I'm sure some of you would. Frieda, Nancy, and Judy, you are the designated drivers tonight." Frieda said, "Good, then we can take the Expedition. If we cram the four little people into the big back seat, we can get nine in the car. Let's roll." Out at Park Place, we sat in the lounge enjoying the fun atmosphere. Judy and Frieda went into the pool hall to shoot some pool. Soon Lena, Brandy, Tina, and Tiani joined them. I was left with Nancy on one side and Lisa on the other. Both talked to me about their day and some other trivial things that had gone on. My cell phone rang. When I answered, the voice said, "You did a good job out there, as well as a good job describing the layout. It's all done and the boat is scrubbed and tied up back at the dock. The house is locked up and all of the identifications are in our hands. You did get the two you thought you did. We have confirmed their IDs with the CIA. They wanted to know where they were so they could come get them, but we told them we only had their fingerprints. I know you probably didn't have a lot of time to evaluate where the bodies would fall, but be sure to think about that if you are supposed to get rid of evidence." "Thanks for taking care of that." The man laughed and said, "You didn't have time to go through the place, but we did find a cache of weapons in the refrigerator in the garage. We also found a nice stash of cash in the bedroom in a false bottom of the box springs." I said, "I wouldn't have looked there, but then you guys are pros at this stuff." "Okay, I'll talk to you the next time you need us." The man quickly hung up. Nancy asked, "Was that from your work?" I said, "Sort of. It was a man who helps me with problems at work." That satisfied Nancy while Lisa was happily hugging my other arm. She said, "This is nice. We haven't been out for a long time. I hope we do this more often." Nancy said, "Me too. I like this and would like to go out more. You'll have to get used to having a date night. Say, how about we go to a movie at the mall after dinner?" "We'll have to see how late it is, Nancy. It may be pretty late by the time we all eat and talk." About the time the girls came back from playing pool, I was on my second double. John, his women and kids, along with the Marshal and his wife, came in the door. It was right at seven thirty. Wanda and John came in and Wanda looked over at all of us and asked at the desk whether our table might be ready. It was, and the hostess escorted us back to our big table. Dinner was awesome. I had some veal scampi while everyone had something special. John told me, "We got a call from our helpers and they said you did a great job. They said they will be happy to help us in the future." I said, "They called and told me I had missed a gift in a box springs, as well as a refrigerator full of toys." The Marshal laughed, "You didn't have much time, so I wouldn't worry about that. Good job, Chuck, and they did confirm both items were good." We actually finished eating before nine. John and the Marshal were getting ready to leave, when the Marshal said, "We're going home tomorrow. If you're going our way you can take us? Otherwise, we'll go commercial." I said, "I do have something to do up in that direction, so I'll take you. How about I pick you up at nine? That will give me a chance to get a few things together." We all left and the girls all agreed on a movie at the mall. We watched a real chick flick with lots of kissing and crying. At least I didn't fall asleep. Later, at home, all of us were sitting around in the kitchen/family room area and were talking about the new house. Brandy asked me, "Are you happy with the floorplan?" "Sure, what's not to be happy about? There is plenty of yard area, a nice pool, the studio is going to be awesome, and you guys did plan on a nice office for me. I hope it is what you guys want. I like the idea that the kids' room will be right next to the bedroom. I thought you girls might even want to put the babies' bassinets in our bedroom. There's plenty of room and we could hear them better." That got me three women on my lap at once, giving me hugs and kisses. Frieda said, "You are going to be such a good dad." Judy said, "When I have this baby in my arms, I will be a very happy mother. It will be like my life is complete." Nancy said, "This baby will be so spoiled. We may not be able to keep her in our bedroom. That is, unless you don't mind my mom being in bed with us. Dad might object to that though." That got a laugh. Brandy asked again, "Are the little rooms for all of us too much? Is it going to be okay for us to have a little hiding place?" I said, "You should have made those areas bigger. You have clothes closets, with a sitting area, and a bed to nap in. That's not much of a private room." Tiani said, "They will all have a desk and a PC so we can have a place to do things too. I think our rooms will be perfect." Lisa said, "I don't need a room, I'll just hang out with Chuck." That got a lot of moans from the other girls. Lena said, "It's so nice that you included my sister, Tina, and me in your plans. I know I feel special and a part of your household too." All of us soon migrated to bed. There was a spirit of closeness that had all of them wanting to receive me. I loved all of them. I didn't finish in all of them, though. By the time we were sated, I was more than done. Stick a fork in it. Good night Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 37 Chuck I needed to get a move on this morning. I wanted to stop at my office for copies of the sheets on the other ex-agents we are looking for, and to see if Cap might have a decent 308 I could borrow. I was downstairs in the range office by eight. I asked Cap about a 308 and he said, "We have a new one that no one has even looked at. Let me show you." Cap pulled a case similar to what I had out west and opened it. There was the twin of the rifle I had used before, complete with the dual swing away scopes. I said, "Now I have to go somewhere to sight it in." Cap said, "I used the distance frames up to a thousand yards. If you've used one of those sighting frames, you know it's accurate." "Show me those, Cap, let me see how you sight this in." We went to the range and he turned on a rear video display. He told me to use the scope and try to sight in at that distance. I did, then checked with the spotting scope and it recorded the same distance. I said, "That's uncanny. Here, let me click this back to two hundred yards." I checked the rifle and the scope and both were right there showing two hundred yards. "Cap, order another one of these rifles. I'll sign this out as I need it." He said, "Why don't you just leave with it. I don't think it was ever inventoried into stock. Here, have four boxes of match grade ammo that aren't here either. If you get tired of it, bring it back and we'll inventory it." I planned on giving it back, if and when I was able to get out west for some more practice and could get a gun of my own. Just for fun, I asked Cap, "Do you have a noise suppresser or silencer for the Glocks. I need to practice with one on my weapon." Cap dug around in a bottom drawer and came out with two different styles. I pointed at the one that looked like mine and he handed it to me. Cap asked as I was screwing on the silencer, "How far do you want to be able to hit something?" After thinking about it for a second, I said, "It would be nice if I could be accurate to at least seventy-five yards, but a hundred would be great." Cap said, "I'll set you up with a fifty yard target first. Go ahead and use that, then we'll let you waste ammo at the ridiculous distances." When I fired these target rounds, I was slow and deliberate, making sure I was steady and right on target before squeezing the trigger. When I finished with the fifty-yard target, Cap gave me one at seventy-five. The first ten round magazine was only good for six in the white, although I did hit that target all ten times. The second magazine was all in the paint, and all head shots. On the hundred yard target, again I hit the target all ten times, but only got four of ten in the paint. The second magazine was seven of ten and the third magazine was ten of ten. Cap said, "That's awesome at that distance with a silencer." "I just need to know if I can do it, Cap. With all the crazy stuff going on, I need to be able to standup to anyone. I should be able to avoid distances like that, but I need to know I can do it if I have to." When I was all done, I was cleaning my weapon and asked Cap, "Do you have any extra barrels for my Glock? This one seems to be a little off." Cap reached down and brought out a new barrel. I put that one in and suggested he just have the old barrel I exchanged evaluated instead of pitching it. I thanked him profusely before heading up to the office. Wanda had a couple questions on operations that I answered before copying the information I needed. I studied the five remaining ex-CIA agents for a few minutes, to make sure I would recognize them, before advising Wanda that I was leaving to take John and the Marshal back to DC. I was to meet them at the airpark as my car would not carry us all. They had ordered a taxi for the family. When I arrived downstairs, the Marshal was waiting for me. He said he wanted to ride out with me so we had a few minutes to talk. The Marshal began, "Chuck, it's good that you went after the problem as fast as you have. If you're lucky, you might be able to quickly handle these men. If they had kept their activities out of the country, no one would have ever said anything, other than foreign entities would be here hunting them. Understand that what I've asked you to do is highly unethical, but is necessary as there are several government and military figures that have open prices on their heads." The man continued, "No one but John and I know that you've been asked to do this. The people you call for disposal are the tightest lipped group within the Secret Service, so they will never divulge your activity. I'm telling you this so you know that there will be no one hunting you when this is done. Stay covert, stay out of sight, and stay lucky." While the Marshal had been talking, I was listening to his inner thoughts. What he was telling me was what he felt. The man actually felt fear of these men. I mentally nudged him to relax and he said, "John tells me all the time about how he feels so safe with you. I feel the same way. I just know you are protecting me and mine. Thank you, Chuck." I smiled at the Marshal as what do you say in response to something like that. DeDe had promised me the bigger Learjet so I could haul everyone back to DC. I asked the Marshal if he had cleared me into Andrews and he said yes. I also asked him if he would help me get services there so I could leave the aircraft for a few hours. He pulled his cell phone and immediately made arrangements. He turned back to me and said, "Got you a car to use too. Hope you like Mustangs." At Andrews AFB, after putting the Lear in a parking position, I took my gym bag and the new rifle case in the transport vehicle to a small office at the edge of the security area. There a man said that I had been assigned the dark blue Mustang and added that if I was going to be gone overnight, I should call to advise them. The first thing I wanted to do was to get an appropriate case for the 308 as the case it was in just looked like it might be a rifle case. I didn't need the advertisement. I stopped at a large gun shop in Baltimore and asked to see some travel luggage for hunting rifles. The first thing he showed me was the common aluminum case. I asked, "I'd love to have something that looked like nice luggage. Something I could buy additional pieces that would look like it." The salesman showed me a couple of nice leather cases then said, "How about a Samsonite case." He brought me a nice case that looked like a small thin suitcase or an oversized briefcase. "That will be good, I'll take it." When I left, I drove to a nearby park to take care of few things. After parking in the middle of a bunch of cars, I opened my gym bag and got out my vest and put it on under my shirt. Next, I got out my GPS and put in the address I was looking for. To make sure I was ready, I brought out my binoculars and opened the rifle case and a box of ammunition. I filled the magazine and screwed the silencer on. I also screwed the silencer onto my Glock and felt as if I was ready. Hopefully, this person was going to be around his residence today. Getting to the condominium complex where he lived wasn't a problem, but entering it would be. There was a security gate complete with an older man dressed as a guard. Across the street was a Hyatt hotel with parking almost to the street. I parked there and used my field glasses to see if I could see door addresses. Each unit had a doorway and a garage door. After studying the layout, I was able to define what door would go with what garage door. The door for the man I was looking for was actually the second from the high security fence and was partially obstructed from my view. I needed to be higher in order to see the door and windows easier. The hotel had a parking garage but I figured they would have a room card security system for access. They would also have security cameras. I was about to rent a room when the garage door to the condo rose and a BMW 700 something, backed out. Instead of pulling away, the car pulled out, then backed into the short driveway. My target got out of the car and went inside the house to haul some luggage to the car. The last case he brought out was a case that looked like the one I had just bought. Too bad I couldn't do the deed in the open, as it would have been an easy four hundred yard shot from where I was. The target closed his condo door, appeared to be locking it, and then went to his car. To be ready, I pulled the Mustang out to the exit, and when the Beamer headed away from the condo, I followed at a long distance. The car headed north. I followed him up I-95 until we exited way up by Philadelphia. It wasn't too difficult to keep the pure white BMW in sight, but when he turned into a small subdivision in a suburb called 'Landsdown, ' I had to pass by the street he had turned into. I pulled into a park and ride parking area and pulled out my notes. Using my GPS for a map I found that one of the ex-CIA agents I was looking for had his residence in that subdivision. This was strange. I had to see if I could locate where the guy I had followed was parked and then decide how to proceed. The first thing I noticed as I drove through the subdivision, was all the for sale signs. It appeared more than half the homes were for sale. When I drove past the house the local man lived in, I noticed the BMW in the driveway of a house across the street with a for sale sign in front of it. I also noticed something strange; an upstairs window was open about six inches. If I were to drive past too many times, I would be noticed, so I drove to the next block behind where the BMW was parked and found an empty house with a sign in front and parked as if I was supposed to be there. All of the adjoining yards were open so there must be deed restrictions on fences. It was strange as there were so many houses that were empty. I put my Glock with the silencer into my waistband and took my field glasses. The weather wasn't going to help, as it had become darker and felt like rain. I didn't have a raincoat and it was chilly so this could be a wasted trip, but I wanted to see what was going on. The street where the original target was at and the second guy with the BMW curved to the left fairly sharply, so I checked a house two doors from where the BMW was and found it empty. I had put on a set of rubber gloves and tried the back door. It was locked but felt loose. Using a credit card, I easily opened the rear kitchen door and went in. I checked from the downstairs window to see if I had a view of the house where the BMW was and discovered I could look right at the partially opened window, as well as see the secondary target's house. Upstairs, there was a window where I could use my field glasses and stay back in the shadows. The first window I looked at was the partially open window across the street from the secondary target. I could clearly see my original target at the window, with a barrel sticking up over the window sill. Looking back over toward the residence where the other ex-agent lived, I could see various lights, but no movement. This could be a long wait. For comfort, I checked the bathroom to see if there was running water. There was, so I took a leak and flushed. I also took a drink using the gloved hands to cup the water. As I came back to the window, I noticed a van backing into a driveway two doors down from the local ex-agent's house. The van had "City Heating and Cooling" written on the side, so I was going to dismiss its presence. Because I had nothing better to do, I watched as the driver got out of the van on the far side, instead of the driver's side. That's strange. When the man went to the back door of the van, he opened the doors and took a large tool box out and went to the front door of the house. This house didn't have a for sale sign, but the man didn't ring the doorbell. I saw him messing with the lock and then push the door open. He did a double check around him and went inside. I had not gotten a clear look at the guy's face as he had a cap on. About that time, I wish I had the rifle with me. There was movement in an upstairs window where the van was parked. I watched as a window pane first had a hole cut into it and then it was completely removed. Unless you were looking at the window closely you couldn't tell the little pane was gone. That's when I could see a man kneeling with a rifle at his shoulder. It looked like the rifle had a silencer. He didn't fire but was scanning all across the street at all of the houses. I made sure I was completely out of sight and stayed that way for a while. When I looked again, the man was standing back in the shadows but he had the same problem the man up in the woods had. I could see the lit end of a cigarette. Around six in the evening, lights in the local resident's house were going out. When the garage door began rising, I was afraid I might lose the men who were here with me now. Luck was with me, the local resident agent, walked to the garage door and looked out at the now steady rainfall. "Crack," a single shot sounded, as I saw the man in the open garage door fall. When I pulled my glasses up to the window where the BMW was parked, I saw that man pitch back. Quickly changing directions I looked at the upstairs window where the van was parked and saw that man still holding his silenced rifle to his shoulder. This time he didn't have his cap on and he was close enough to the window that I could see his face. Another ex-CIA agent. Holy shit, this is really getting strange. The agent who had just taken out the original guy I had been after was from Chicago. He was definitely here specifically to hit one of the men, but I guess he decided to let the BMW guy do the first one and he would do the shooter. The next thing I saw surprised me. The van guy came out of the house, pulled his van near the garage door where the guy was and put the body in the back of the van. The guy even cleaned up a little blood spill. He did something and the door to the garage closed. He then pulled the van across the street and backed up in the yard near the front door. That's when I decided to get in on the fun. I went downstairs and outside, moving in the shadows until I had a clear view of the back of the van from the side of the house. Soon the van guy carried the body of the BMW guy out to the van and dumped it in next to the other one. He didn't shut the van door, but went back inside the house and was inside for at least ten minutes. He came back out with some cleaning stuff and the BMW guy's rifle, putting it all into the back of the van. He was fishing in the BMW guy's pants when I eliminated the fifth ex-CIA agent. After lifting the last man into the van, on top of his ex-cohorts, I used my cell phone immediately to call the special number for help cleaning something up. The person on the other end only said, "Address, please." I had to walk around to the front of the house to get the correct address. When I gave the address, the female voice asked, "Single?" I answered "No, three." The voice said, "Busy today. Are there any vehicles?" I said, "Two, a BMW and a commercial van." The voice, "Where are the items?" "In the back of the van." The voice asked, "Will you still be there?" "Not unless I need to be." "You might want to remain near to secure the scene. A crew should arrive within forty-five minutes." She asked, "Is there any special cleaning to be done?" I said, "I don't think so. It appears the last one down did all the work." The female voice cheerfully asked, "Do you want confirmation?" Responding, I said, "That would be good." She ended the call with a, "Thank you for calling," and hung up. These covert people were strange. To keep from getting totally soaked, I walked back to my car and drove it to where I could see the BMW and the van. True to the girl's word, another van pulled up and four men got out. They checked the back of the van and one went to the BMW and opened it. One of the men disappeared into the house and was in there for a while. I saw a strobe of a flashlight through the windows a couple of times. There was a light at the window that had been open for longer than the others, so I guess that guy discovered where that individual had departed this world. The men were quick and efficient. Ten minutes after arriving, the two vans and the BMW left the scene. I sat in the car slouched down in the seat just watching the scene. There had been too much going on to just leave without observing the area for a while. I sat for an hour and almost fell asleep. That wouldn't do. When I felt everything had happened that was going to happen, I waited another fifteen minutes, and pulled out and drove back down I-95 to Andrews Air Force Base. Back out at my aircraft, I put the rifle case, the new suitcase, and my gym bag into the Lear. It was after eleven, so I called home to tell the ladies that I wouldn't get in until after two. Tiani asked innocently, "Whatcha doin?" With a smile in my voice, I said. "Oh, acting like a deputy today." Tiani said, "Be careful, we'll warm up a spot for you." As I was doing my preflight, my cell phone rang. The same female voice from before said, "All three are confirmed," and hung up. While I was still looking at the outside of the aircraft in a slow drizzle, my cell phone rang again. It was the Marshal. "I guess I'll have to come see you again so I can find out how you were able to meet three of them. Good work. Hope the last two are equally as easy." "I do too, Sir." The Marshal said, "Be careful, and even though this is a priority, you don't have to be in a rush. Haste can hurt." "Thank you, Sir, I'll be careful." The man hung up as there wasn't too much he could say over unsecured phones. I was getting damned tired of being wet. I took off my vest and put it into the gym bag, along with the silencer that I had taken off my Glock. The last thing I did before beginning the startup procedure was to set up the coffeepot. Climbing out of Andrews was a little bumpy, but as soon as I cleared about twenty-five thousand, the sky cleared, and the winds calmed somewhat. I pushed the button on the coffee maker and enjoyed smelling the brewing coffee. With the instruments set up to get me home, I was able to reach around and get the coffee pot, pour a cup and put the pot back without spilling anything. I pulled the two remaining ex-agents sheets out to look where I needed to go next once again. One was in Reno, and the other was in San Diego. I wonder if they were going to be on the hunt for each other, or the others, as well. When I approached the airpark, I keyed in the signal for the runway lights and set the aircraft down gently. When I parked in front of the jet hangar, two things happened. The doors began opening and a fuel truck pulled up. Eddie, one of the night mechanics said, "This bird has an early morning appointment. DeDe left a message that if you needed an aircraft tomorrow to take the Phenom." I transferred my stuff to my car's trunk, thanked Eddie and the night girl for taking care of the aircraft for me, and headed home. There, I just left everything in the car and went into bed. I was still damp and chilled, so I took a quick warm shower and slid into bed outside of Lisa. She snuggled into me and pulled the covers over us. I was asleep quickly. The girls were trying to be quiet, but I woke up anyway. I sat up, stretched, and surprised them when I said, "Boy, a guy would think he would at least get a good morning kiss." Seven women gave me a hug and kiss as they said, "We all want to get in early today. We're trying to make up to Metarie for all the time we've been taking off. We thought that if we went in an hour early and left an hour late every day for a week, we would have everything in the building caught up. Metarie has lost a couple of secretaries and has had a difficult time getting new help. We're going to take care of her." I said, "That's sweet of you girls. I wish I had more time or I would come in and help you." Frieda said, "That would be a twist. You could be my secretary for a day. My girl is out on maternity leave and I've been trying to do everything myself. I'm behind too." I slid my peg and pair of shorts on to go into the kitchen and make coffee real quick. The non-pregnant girls had some coffee and the pregnant ones had juice. I was getting used to their wants and could anticipate them now. When they were getting ready to leave, Brandy asked, "Are you going to be home today?" "Probably not, I have to go to both Reno and San Diego. I might just try to do both and stay overnight. That would be the smart thing to do. Anyway, all of you give me a hug, and I'll see you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." The girls left, so I showered again, dressed, and put some clothes into a suitcase. I went out to the car and brought in the new rifle, as well as the new Samsonite case. This rifle was a precision piece and was easy to break down. It came apart in three pieces, the rear stock, the main mechanism with the scopes, and the barrel. Since I had cleaned the gun at the range, I fit the pieces into places in the big briefcase. I put the silencer in and filled the four magazines with rounds and put them in the case as well. If I ever needed four magazines at one time, I would be in some kind of bad trouble. Hopefully, that would never happen. I used the shredder in my office to shred the copies of the five sheets of the ex-CIA agents and put the remaining two in my pocket. That should be all I would need. I took the time to clean my Glock thoroughly, as well as the silencer. Wanda came into the kitchen just before I was going to leave and said, "I have a telephone number that was left for you. The man said he was your range officer out west and you would know who he was." I said, "Oh good. I have been waiting for his call. I have to go that way, perhaps I can see him on the way. Ah, Wanda, I'm heading out to Reno, and then to San Diego. I will stop in the San Diego office to say hi, but I'm not sure when. You can tell them I'm coming or just let me show up, your choice. They're pretty laid back, so they won't mind if I drop in." Wanda agreed, "You're right. They are laid back out there. Since you helped clean up out there, they've had no big problems, but the DEA and FBI are as busy as ever, helping Homeland Security figure out who they are." I waited to call the range contact number as there was a two-hour time difference there, so it is now only five o'clock. I had a late breakfast at Park Place and went to the airpark. The Phenom was waiting for me on the tarmac, so I loaded my stuff and did a preflight. I thought I would stop for fuel in Houston and call the range officer from there. Once I arrived in Houston, I called the range officer. He said, "How are you doing, Johnson. I hear you want to use our range to practice." "I do, but I don't know how to make arrangements to visit." "When do you want to come?" "I'm going to be going near where you are today. If I could get some practice today, that would be great." The man said, "Tell you what, I'm going to send you to our welcoming committee so you can get in. They'll make arrangements for you. When you get here, they'll tell me and bring you to me or tell me and I'll come get you. I hear you want to steal a rifle too. Is that right?" "That would be good," I said. "The one I used before was a good weapon." The range officer said, "Both of those were good. You show up and I'll see what I can do." The next person I spoke to asked me, "Where are you coming from?" "I'm in Houston and would be traveling toward you." The voice said, "How about filing for Reno. As soon as you're in the air, use this frequency and call for directions. You won't get air cover today but you don't need it for a visit. Oh, we're still Mother, and you're still Eyes." Before starting up, I filed a flight plan for Reno. When I was in the air, I selected the given frequency and said, "Mother, Eyes." Through the headset, the man gave me coordinates of where to shut down my transponder, and the new heading to take when it was off. He said, "Call me back on this channel at that time." Just like before, as soon as I called in, he said, "You're black, descend to five thousand feet, and lock on to this approach control frequency. When you are on a five mile final, we'll contact you." As I was on the last couple of miles descending to the runway, the radio said, "You're cleared to land, runway 09, clear and fifteen, from the east at fifteen." I did the follow me truck thing into a low hangar, and shut down where directed. A little cart came for me and I rode down into a tunnel then back up where the range was. The range officer said, "You know, this is lunch time. I'm hungry, want some lunch?" I smiled and nodded. We rode to the supply room in his cart. The officer asked, "Can you give this man a set of clothes real quick. If you still have the pack he used, he'll have a set of fatigues in there that fit." The man brought me a set of clothes and a pair of boots. He handed me a gym bag and said, "Put your civvies in this. If you come back, wear the fatigues and boots. Everyone dresses the same here. That's how we know who we are." He laughed. There is no modesty among most military groups so I changed quickly. Both men exclaimed over my special leg and the toy strapped on the prosthesis. We rode to the big mess hall I had eaten in before. We went through the line and had a nice lunch. There were no cash registers, just everyone dressed alike, with very few markings on the fatigues. As we left, I saw the leader who had previously briefed John and me. He nodded at me, but said nothing. I guess once something was completed, it was never to be mentioned again. Back at the range, the officer handed me a case that was a little scratched up. He said, "Here's the rifle you used before. The only thing different is the barrel. We usually change them out after a mission. He handed me a box and said, "Here are four more barrels. If you have to use this rifle, change the barrel and send the used one to the address inside the box. The recipients will take care of it for you. Now, let's do some shooting. What and where do you want to start?" I said, "How about I start at a hundred yards using the silencer and go up in hundred yard increments to a thousand. After that, try to confuse me on distances so I can get used to the built in range finder." I set up at the table using it as a brace. The first five rounds were as perfect as you could want. The next few rounds were a half-inch or so off, and I was a full inch off at eight hundred yards. I waved at the range officer to stop and checked to make sure the scope fit tight and checked the silencer. I unscrewed the silencer and shot at the target. Dead center this time, so I said, "Do you have another silencer. As you see, I'm about an inch off at eight hundred yards." The man handed me another silencer and I screwed it on. This time my round showed up almost dead in the hole of the round I had fired without the silencer. I said, "Better, let's go to a thousand and then let me use the range finder." At a thousand yards with the silencer, I was able to hit the target as close to dead center as I could have wanted. The officer said, "I'll give you some movement and change the distances. I will only change the distances after you shoot." The first target said five fifty so I clicked the scope to five and gave a fraction of elevation. The round hit above the ear. The next was eight hundred and was easy. Then the target was up close at two hundred yards. The movement was rapid and took me a second to get the rhythm. The hit was good and then the next surprised me. I laughed and pulled my Glock and nailed the target. It was only about fifty yards out. I said, "If I had my silencer I could have tested that too." The range officer said, "I forgot you had your sidearm. I suppose you would be prepared for something of that nature in the field. Nice hit with a sidearm." He asked, "Want some available light practice?" "Sure, give me movement, and wind at five hundred." The target lit up as I clicked the scope to five hundred yards. The target wasn't at five hundred; it was out to seven hundred. I smiled to myself as I clicked the scope and made a slight adjustment for the wind. The movement was erratic, but I nailed the target. The range officer said, "You sure have a penchant for head shots. Don't you ever fire at the torso?" I said, "I do, but it seems every time I do, they are wearing armor. I end up wasting ammo having to shoot them a couple of times to spin them around so I can head shoot them. Why not just shoot them that way first?" "You have a point. So you do know how to stand a target up?" "Yes Sir, we learned that early in operations." The range officer smiled and said, "Ah, Semper Fi." "Ooorah." "Should have known, you are very good, even if you are now a civilian and don't get that much practice." "Thank you, that's a compliment from a guy that watches shooters every day." He smiled and nodded. I said, "Let me clean this weapon up. Thank you for providing a weapon I'm used to. This can be an advantage." The officer said, "You must be important as the directive came from a high place. Hopefully, you won't need it. When you need practice, come back." When the gun was clean and in its case the officer brought out a bigger case and said, "I made the suggestion that if you needed the 308, there must be times you might need this. Want to fire a few from this one?" I opened the case to find the fifty I had used before. The man said, "This has been sent back to the manufacturer for modification. Please note that a magazine fits in the rifle. There are only seven rounds total, but that should be sufficient." After picking up the rifle and examining it I asked, "Will the explosive rounds fit the magazine?" "They do. I noticed when I sent the weapon back that you had not used any of the conventional rounds." With a smile, I said, "I love things that go boom. Those sure do." The range officer laughed. "Load a magazine and fire a few. You still have to use the bolt to eject the empty and load the chamber." The officer gave me five hundred yards first for an easy shot. Next he gave me about seven hundred and fifty with movement on the target, another fairly routine shot. Next he surprised me. The target was way out there. I used the range finder to note the target was near fourteen hundred yards. Just before I was ready to shoot, the officer added wind and movement. I used the maximum distance on the scope and aimed carefully at the body, getting the rhythm of the movement. The target blew off the carrier. I said, "That was way out there. I could barely see it." "That was a good shot. You don't rattle and that's good. That means you'll take your time and make a good shot in just about any condition. You're done. There's nothing more I can do for you." As I began cleaning the big rifle, I asked, "So I can keep both of them?" The man nodded and pulled out a couple boxes of fifty caliber rounds. He said, "One each conventional and explosive. When you need more, ask. I'll give you my card. There will be an answering machine. Just leave a message and I'll get back to you. Don't leave your number, I have it stored already. Use your call sign, Eyes." When the rifles were clean and ready to use again, I put everything back into the cases, along with another box of 308 match grade rounds. The range officer gave me a ride back to the hangar where the Phenom was sitting as I had left it. As he left me at the plane, a fuel truck came up and the guy said, "I'll load you up, okay?" We fueled the aircraft and I did my preflight. I asked the fuel driver if they wanted to turn me around with a tow motor but he said, "Naw, you can spin it after you spool up. The door will open as soon as you fire up. Call in for movement instructions." When I called in, I was given instructions as I spun around to head out the door. I trailed the follow me truck out to the runway as Mother instructed me, "Stay under five thousand, and land in Reno. Remember to turn your transponder back on after you set down. We'll remind you this time." Forty-five minutes later, I was shutting down in the private aircraft area in Reno. I had already flipped the transponder on when I received, "Eyes, Mother." "Eyes." "You did good, come back and see us." There was a pause then, "Play nice." That was a strange group out there. The day was getting pretty far along, so I did the car rental gig and wandered around, using my GPS to find the residence of the ex-CIA agent here. The way to pass through a neighborhood to make sure you are alone in the quest for someone is to first, drive a dumb looking car and second, you try to move through fairly quickly. When I put my luggage into the rental car, I found the best city camouflage known to man. There were two magnetic signs that said "Jones Real Estate" with a telephone number in the trunk. Now I could drive slower and gawk at all the houses. I could also scope out any cars that might look out of place on the street. The house that I wanted was easy to find. But the neighborhood made observing it difficult. The house was on a cul-de-sac that made it silly to pass through more than twice. I didn't see any cars out of place, and I didn't see any activity at the house in question. There was a house under some form of major renovation on the next block that offered a view of the front of the house I wanted to watch. There were a couple of big trucks, but they were there for trash disposal rather than to haul workers. No one was there today, so I could park between them and not be out of place. I was more prepared for a stakeout this time, since I had taken a leak and had a bottle of water and a cup of coffee to go along with a gas station chicken salad sandwich. When darkness began creeping in, I waited for lights to come on in the house but nothing showed. There didn't appear to be blinds on any of the windows, so I should be able to see at least a glow if someone was up and around. I stayed until nine, then left to find a hotel and food. For whatever reason, I had kept the ID of the first guy I checked out in Huntsville. I had also kept his checking account alive and had charged a few things on the debit card. I used that name to rent the car and to check into the big hotel in Reno. Don't you love the big casinos. They are busy twenty-four hours a day. They are an easy place to find good food and a fun place to watch people. After putting my suitcase in my room and calling home, I went on the hunt for food. After a pleasant steak dinner, I thought I might try what Missy said was fun to do. I went to the blackjack tables to see if I could anticipate cards. I know you can win at black jack if you pay attention, so I tried to do both. My thought processes were not that good. I was either deep in the dealer's head listening to him bitch about having his brother-in-law visiting, or I was focusing on whether to hit sixteen. Missy said that what you had to do was to just fix on the card sleeve or think of each person's cards. When the dealer dealt, I knew he had eighteen when he had dealt the cards. He flipped up a king and an eight. The first person he went to had a two showing with another two down. The player split them, which I would not have done, but then I'm not a gambler. He ended up with nineteen on one of the two cards and busted on the other. The next person could only get to eighteen and then it was my turn. I had eleven and the sleeve suggested to me that a face card was next. I pointed at my cards and a queen put me at twenty-one. Amazing, I won. I did this a few more times but stopped at a low number a couple of times as I felt I would bust. I was even paid off a couple of times doing that, as the dealer busted. I wanted to see how this talent worked at the poker tables, so I sat at a medium pot, seven card stud table. I hate having so many cards, but then the hands can get wild especially when you're playing with several players. The first two hands didn't give me anything to play with past the fourth card, so I used that time to study the other players. The next hand I was dealt a pair down and when one guy began betting wildly, I was able to hear him laughing as people folded. There was only him, another guy, and me left. The other guy had a pair of sevens down. The fourth card didn't change anyone's mind except mine. I now had trip jacks. That hand would be hard to beat most any time. All I had to do was to call the crazy man. The other player had some elation in his manner, so I looked to see that he had a set of sevens. Damn, that's too bad. He's going to go crazy while I had a set of Jacks. I studied the cards held by the dealer and could feel what they were going to be. This was more than anticipating what they would be, but the cards told me that I was going to get another Jack and the other man would get another seven. Wow, two hands with four of a kind. When the betting began before the seventh card, the fruit basket betting wildly folded knowing that at least one of us remaining players had his nothing beat. The other player with four sevens bet the farm, he bet all the chips he had left, which was a raise of almost two thousand dollars. I had to buy more chips, which I was allowed to do, so I could call. The seventh card was dealt and meant nothing to either of us. He knocked to check and I did too. The man spread out his four sevens and was grinning. As he reached for the pot, I laid down my four jacks. He looked like he was going to cry. I said, "Sorry about that." The man looked really beat, so I peeked into his mind. He thought he was going to win enough tonight to get back on his feet. You just can't do that. I didn't stay in the guy's head, as it would have been too much of a downer. I left him with the thought that he should apply for a job here at the hotel instead of playing games here. I don't know where that came from, but the guy did look up and smile to himself. He left the table and headed in the direction of the offices. This game was not that much fun, so after a couple of hands that had me trying to play with nothing, I left that table and wandered through the casino. Mercy said her mom could anticipate the ball color and number at the roulette wheel. I traded my chips for roulette chips and concentrated on the wheel. I kept thinking red, so I put money on only the red. The little ball came to rest in red 16. The next was red 25 and then I felt the ball would fall on black 18 so I moved my money to a black square. The ball fell into black 18. That's eerie, two spins in a row that I anticipated not only the color, but also the number. I seemed to have red 19 in my head so I put half my winnings on red 19 and half on red. Son of a gun, the ball landed in red 19. When I won again by picking the number and the color correctly, I noticed a man come to stand next to the croupier. They watched me closely as I hesitated before I put money on black 20. The croupier even put a different ball into the wheel after spinning it up faster. When the ball landed in black 20, the new man came to stand beside me. I looked into the man's mind and found he was not a nice man. He was hotel security, but he was also a bully. When I was going to put a bet down, he acted like it was accidental but bumped me hard enough to knock my chips over that I was putting on a number. I quickly raked them off the table and looked at the guy sternly. He grumbled, "Sorry," but didn't move away. I separated ten thousand from my winnings now and waited until the wheel was spinning, but the ball was still in the croupier hands. I said to the man next to me, "Can I bet now?" He looked at me weird as I used my left hand to put money on the black 20 again. He had a silly grin on his face all the way until the ball bounced and stuck in black 20. The croupier even looked at the guy to see if he should pay off. Several people were now betting with me, so the payoff was getting big. I let everything ride, putting it all on the red 27 and several people followed me. A few seconds later, I was richer. The guy said, "You need to quit. Leave the casino. I don't know what you're doing, but you can't win like that." I said loud enough for the other gamers to hear, "You want me to leave because I'm winning? That's not very nice." The guy grabbed me by the arm and said, "Come with me, Buddy, you and I are going to talk." I reached up and put my thumb on the guy's carotid artery and pressed hard enough for him to stagger. I stood back but I had the sidearm from his shoulder harness in my hand, stuffing it in my waist band. He came to his senses and reached for his gun that wasn't there. That's when I flooded his mind with thoughts of, "Help this man, don't try to bully him. Suggest he try another game." I did this over and over as he just stared at me and tried to figure out what had happened. All of the players were watching and some might have even seen me take his gun. They didn't like seeing a winner hauled away from a table, so they were becoming adversarial toward the croupier. I asked for my chips to be exchanged to standard chips. The dealer gave me several large denomination chips, plus a stack of others. I tipped the croupier and headed toward the cashier. While I was cashing in the chips, another security guy was watching me, so I was quick about cashing in and going up to my room. I had a problem though as I still had the first security guy's gun. This was not good, since I was checked in using a fake ID. Damn, I had not used my head while experimenting tonight. Looking up and down the hall, I didn't see anyone so I took my unopened suitcase and went down the stairs. A fake leg and stairs is not fun going down sixteen flights of stairs, but I made it to an outside door and left the building. I doubled around and got to my rental car. This time, I drove down the street to a no name motel and paid cash to check in. I unloaded and took apart the guys 1911 automatic. I made sure that my prints were not anywhere on the weapon and took a walk, dropping pieces and parts at each trashcan along the sidewalk. Back at the hotel, I took a quick shower and went to bed. I learned something tonight. It's best to go gambling with friends and it's best to not win too much from one table. At least I did know I could anticipate some things in a casino, and knew that it would be fun to do again. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard Mercy mocking me, telling me that I was chicken to take off so easily from a bully like that. Oh well, I'm going to live to tell about it. I woke early in the morning, showered, dressed, and headed back to the house I had been at the day before. I sat in the same spot at five thirty in the morning, focusing on the house. I didn't feel any energy coming from the house at all. When I focused on the house next door, I could feel more than one person and how gently they were sleeping. I couldn't see into them and felt their comfort. I almost went to sleep as I felt their slumber. When I focused on the house of interest, I realized there was no one there. Well, no sense in hanging around here if there was no chance of taking care of business. While heading to the airport, it seemed as if my sixth sense was telling me I was being followed. I couldn't pick out any headlights that stood out, so I drove to a Denny's and went inside. I asked to sit in a corner booth where I bought a newspaper and sat with my coffee, waiting for my order. Two men came into the restaurant and took seats with a view of my table. I noticed them because the waitress had wanted to seat them over by a window, but they had pointed at a specific table. The more I checked out the two men, the more I realized they were the last two on my list. This was not good, as I was in an exposed area with my weapon, but no silencer. If these guys got cute, I would have to shoot inside a fairly busy restaurant. I needed to figure out how to get out of this. I focused on the nearest guy and only felt hate and anger in him. When I focused on the other man, I knew he was the brains. He was calm, but concerned his partner would give them away. He kept telling his partner to be cool, to wait for the right opportunity. A few minutes later, the man said, "He might go to the bathroom, one of us can go in and finish him in there and we'll get out of here." The angry man said, "I want to do it. He's probably the guy who has been killing us off." The man said, "I don't think so. He's from Huntsville and is just a country boy in the big city. We'll get rid of him, but I think he might have been sent here just for you." That was interesting. They had found out my fake name and where I was from. They must still have contacts to trace people. Well, I could go into the bathroom and wait to take out one of them, but then I would have a cleanup problem. It would be best if I found a place that was good for me and finished the game. I ate slowly and took my time. My watchdogs ate hurriedly as they didn't know how fast I would leave. When I was done, I casually went to the cashier, paid my bill and left. The two men watched me go to my car while quickly paying their bill. I was only familiar with two places. The street where the one guy lived and the parking garage at the hotel, I chose the parking garage as there was lots of cover. While going to the hotel parking garage, I took off my coat and put on my vest and put my sport coat back on. I reached into my gym bag and pulled out the Glock silencer and screwed it on, then I put three more magazines into my coat pockets. When I drove into the garage, I made sure that I went slowly so the two guys wouldn't lose me. I went up to the fifth floor that seemed to be fairly full and found a single slot near the elevator, a logical place to park. When the two men passed me, I slid from the car and duck walked in front of the cars to get about ten cars down, closer to where the two men were parking. They both got out of the car, doing the swivel head routine, and they both had those silly little twenty-two automatics with silencers. They kept looking around and were walking toward my car. No one was coming, so I rose just enough to put them both down quickly. They were so confident that they didn't even suspect I knew they were coming. Both men were big and it took a lot of effort to drag them back to their car. It was everything I could do to put them into the back and front seats. They did bleed, but it almost looked like oil instead of blood. I pulled off one guy's coat and tried to wipe up the blood. I didn't do much except mop it up, but it did look better. I pitched the jacket into the car along with the cheap twenty-twos. Back in my car, I called the special number. This time a man answered and asked "How may I help you?" I said I had a couple of items in Reno. He asked where and I gave him the hotel parking garage, the floor, and the car they were in. The man asked, if there was need for extensive cleaning. I told them some, but not much. He asked if I would remain at the scene so it would remain secure. I agreed and told him to hurry, as I needed the potty. He laughed and said the crew should be there in fifteen minutes. The last thing he asked is if I wanted confirmation. Of course, I said I did. Less than fifteen minutes later, a van came through the parking area and stopped behind the two guys' car. They used some kind of chemical on the floor to quickly wash it, then drove the car and the van toward the exit. I waited for about five minutes and drove out of the garage, heading toward the airport. No one was following me and when I turned in the car, I pulled the two magnetic signs off the car and threw them into a trashcan. Once on the plane, I relaxed. All of the bad guys were gone. None seemed to be that good and all were so overconfident that they were dangerous to themselves. I went up to the operations building and ordered a fuel truck and went to the bathroom. To make the trip look right, I did fly to San Diego and visited the office there. Hal was still actively working and insisted we go home to eat. It was there that I was told Maria had met a fine young man and was now married. She was expecting her first child and Hal's first grandchild. I had received my confirmation call and shortly afterward, the Marshal called and said, "I can't believe you handled that so fast. You'll have to tell me about it sometime. Good job, now go to work being a deputy." While flying home, I kept thinking that I didn't want to be a hired assassin for the government. I needed to tell them that I would be happy to attempt to arrest people like that, but I didn't like just eliminating them. Something was wrong with that. My conscience couldn't take a lot of that sort of thing. At home, I was greeted by Lena and little Tina who said they were about to head out to Sue's and Mercy's. They said the girls were going there for supper. I called Wanda to advise her I was home, and she said that John Scott had been trying to get hold of me. I called John and he said, "Good job, Johnson. I want to tell you something, but you'll have to come get me to tell you. How about coming for me in the morning and flying me up to Chicago. We can talk and do a special arrest while we're up there." Thinking about what a special arrest might be, I said, "Hope it isn't like the ones I just did." "No, this is the conclusion of a long investigation. The person doesn't suspect we're going to arrest him, and we are the ones that need to do the deed. It won't be dirty, just politically messy. Oh yeah, bring Wanda along, as you will need her support on this one." "You have my curiosity now, is this overnight, or just an up and back." "Probably just up and back, but bring along some extras to be sure. You'll see me in the morning. Andrews at nine, okay?" "Damn, John, that means I have to leave here at six thirty." "Oh well, that's the life of a plebe. See you then." He hung up on me, laughing the way he always does. Steve's place was fun, but I couldn't drink as much as I wanted to as I needed to get up and get going again early in the morning. Oh well. The ladies were in a crazy mood tonight, and it took some extra effort to make them all know I cared for all of them. It was fun and did let me let off steam. I had told everyone that Wanda and I had to be gone early in the morning, so we were up and out of the house before five thirty. At the airpark, the Phenom was fueled, checked out, and ready to fly. I parked at Andrews just before nine. The black Buick drove across the tarmac, and both John and the Marshal got out. As soon as they were out of the car, the Buick took off, letting me know I had two additional passengers. We talked while I was refueled, then I loaded them onto the plane. John said he would ride up front with me so I showed Wanda and the Marshal how the communications system was supposed to work. Wanda had experience with inflight communications systems, so she could show the Marshal. Once in flight, John said, "I promise to keep you out of stuff like you just did. That was special as the men involved had become very dangerous. They probably still have some contacts in their old group, so you could have been expected by the time you finished." I said, "I was expected, and that's how I got them. They followed me from my stakeout to Denny's. I led them back to a better place so they would think it was easy to take me there. You know how to do it. I was the hunter instead of the hunted." "I'm glad it was as easy as it seemed to us here. You're lucky at a lot of things, and I'm glad you were lucky at this one. I promise, no more of that." "Good, John, I don't like it. I can do a mission when necessary, and make an arrest even with some collateral losses during the arrest, but I don't like just putting them down like that." John laughed, "Good way to put it. They were a bunch of rabid dogs. You did what was needed. Did you know those men had actually accepted a hit on our favorite Marshal? They did, and we're going to make that person's arrest later this morning." "In that case, I'm glad I was able to take care of the problem." "You've met the regional guy up in Chicago before. He's a great guy, but thinks he should be the Marshal. He has the Chicago mentality, and has set himself up as a king within our own service. Hopefully his minions won't cause us any problems, but be ready. I'm sure the Marshal is briefing Wanda so she will be prepared, as well. We'll try to do this gently and quietly. When we clean out the office, we'll call the successor at his hotel and have him come in. Wanda will take care of the paperwork and we'll introduce him around to the Bureau Chief, as well as the current Station Chief. Hopefully, everyone will be agreeable and won't cause any grief. I think the current Deputy Marshal in charge is ready for a normal relationship with his regional." It took until almost one to get to the federal building in Chicago. We went directly to the station and briefed the chief. We took him with us as a witness and went to the next floor up and entered the lavish regional manager's office. The secretary was pretty upset that we pushed straight through. Wanda told the secretary to keep her hands away from the phone. When we went through the door into the office of the regional manager, four guys were standing attentively in front of the regional manager. All four jumped back and almost looked as if they were going to pull on us. John smiled at the four men and asked them to step out into the lobby area. When they were gone, the Marshal said, "Frank, you're under arrest for a variety of crimes that include conspiracy to commit murder, theft of government property, and conspiracy to promote organized crime. Please hand over your badge and sidearm." The man looked at the Marshal, but looked back at me warily. He didn't make any quick moves and lay down his badge and gently pulled his weapon from a shoulder holster to put on the desk. The Marshal said, "You know the position, don't make this difficult." After cuffing and chaining the man, the Marshal said, "So far so good." He handed me two more sets of chains and said, "The four men out there are also being charged. Be careful as they are suspected of some rough stuff." We went out to the lobby and I asked the four men, "Very slowly and very carefully, raise your hands and put them on top of your head. You know my reputation, and know I will not hesitate to protect myself and those around me." The four men looked at me and the Marshal said, "You are being arrested for conspiracy to commit murder, theft of government property, and conspiracy to promote organized crime." I cuffed and chained two of them, while the Marshal and John did the other two. The Marshal asked the secretary, "Are you a part of the deal up here? I hope not, as I don't have a new secretary for the new man." The girl said, "I'm just a secretary, I do what they tell me. Sometimes I don't want to do what they want me to do, but I need the job. I'll do whatever you want to keep my job. I can be good to you." The Marshal said, "Don't talk like that or you'll be working the streets. There will be no trading favors in this office. This is a law enforcement office, not a slave quarters or a bordello." The lady was embarrassed, but held her head up and said, "Good, I will be a good secretary and support my new boss." The station chief had a couple of his men come up and shake down the new prisoners. All five were then taken downstairs where a federal judge arraigned them. All five were hollering for their attorneys, and all five were given the opportunity to make a call. It was too late though, as all were finished with the judge and booked by the time their attorneys showed. All five were being held without bail. The new regional came and was introduced to all. The Marshal told me that I should make a point to visit here at least monthly for a while. I promised to do that. Wanda had all of the paperwork complete and said to the Marshal, "I'm ready to go home, Sir. How about you?" The four of us were out of there and flying back to DC within a half-hour. On the way, the Marshal sat up front with me. He repeated what John had said, and told me, "You've done more for the service than the service has done for you. I want you to know that we owe you. You've been lucky at a few things and that has brought you some wealth. It hasn't affected you and you are still a good deputy. That makes me proud to be your boss." I said, "I don't have a problem doing my job and today was a good example. It could have been messy, and I was ready to do what was necessary, but it turned out great. I would much rather attempt to make a capture and an arrest than the others I just did. I don't want to do that again unless it's absolutely necessary. You might even have to give me some good proof." "Not to worry, Chuck. I don't think that will happen again." He paused then said, "Are you going to take a trip in that new sailboat you bought? I heard that thing was made for a billionaire that got greedy. Amazing how that happens. I doubt you ever will, but don't ever get that way, Chuck." "I pray I won't, Sir. We may take a trip soon. It seems my friend, his family, and mine, are planning a trip to Europe. I think that would be fun. It might be for too long, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes." The Marshal smiled, "You have a lot of good will credit, so don't hesitate to tell us when you want off. We'll be sure to work something out." From DC to Tampa, Wanda sat up front with me. She asked, "So are you any closer to figuring out how to handle your group of ladies?" "I think so, Wanda. All of them accept Lisa as the leader. The original five accept Brandy as their spokesperson. Strange, but I'm good with the way it's worked out so far. I'm still amazed that all those women are getting along. I didn't know that was possible." Wanda said, "It has to do with you, Chuck. Your presence promotes harmony. Something about you makes those around you gentler, happier, and wanting to get along. I wish you could identify it and market it. You'd be a multi-millionaire from book sales." "I don't know what it could be, but I like it, Wanda. I enjoy the harmony we have and I can tell you the loving is wonderful, but then you know that. Are you and John happy with the plan for all of us out at the park?" "Very happy, Chuck," Wanda sighed. "We both enjoy being a part of your household. We both enjoy your crazy ladies. This will be the best of both worlds for John, as he will be near Steve and friends, and also live with you and all of our friends." "Sounds almost like a commune or cult, Wanda. I hope this is a good thing." Wanda was smiling, "It will be, Chuck, it will be. I anticipate lots of little kids running around in the years to come. That will be very nice." When we were back in Tampa and sucking up some of Steve's booze, Steve asked me, "Would you be interested in a hotel resort in the Keys?" "If you mean Key West, and if I have enough money, my answer is yes. My investment fund has been growing rapidly. What do you have?" Steve said, "Do you remember the hotel you stayed at when you went down there with some of your ladies? Ben might have even hinted something about it once before." I nodded. Steve said, "That's the one. I'm already half owner of it and the other half is now for sale. I want you and I to buy the place and I want to use the owners' suites often. We might remodel that whole top floor into one giant suite so we can all go down there and party hardy." "Sounds good, Steve, I'll get with Ben so you can do what you do best. I'm sure my crew will be ecstatic." Steve said, "You know, you and I are becoming more and more acclimated to some nice leisure places. We need to make a trip to Hawaii to check up on Bear and Crystal, and to check on our resorts over there. Abe, Tiny, and Henry have all gone, but you and I haven't. Dewey says everything is going as planned, so all is good. We need to go see how it's going ourselves, though, so plan on it." I said, "I will. Now that a lot of my running around seems to be coming to a close, I will enjoy hanging around home a little more." By the time we made it home, I was a little fuzzy and had to let someone else drive. Everyone was fine with that, as I had been under a lot of pressure and they could feel it. I was put to bed sweetly and cuddled to sleep. What a perfect way to end the day! Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 38 Steve I was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee before going to bed. Sometimes it's nice to just be by yourself for a few minutes to gather your thoughts. There seems to be all kinds of things happening at once. Wes was bringing an aircraft in at the targeted price, Jeff, Abe, and Chance were creating a show of our new material for the military, there's Mark's new wind generator that appears to be the most efficient yet. Of course, hidden among all of these accomplishments is Gerry's translucent composite that is similar to Lexan, but a hell of lot cheaper to make. Jeff and Gerry were able to make the cockpit windscreen and hood for the LSA air coupe with new material by creating a formula that was similar to the Transition and Polaroid glasses that tinted darker in the direct sun. Gerry said that although the material was now perfectly clear, she needed to work on the thickness so it wouldn't distort at certain angles. It looked pretty damned good to me on the new military vehicles. I would be very happy to supply a vehicle with it that could take on an IED in Afghanistan or Iraq. The new man from Sue's accounting group helped Abe arrange a military showing of our product. We would display them in the showroom, then outside in the open air. After seeing the internal workings, we would take the visiting dignitaries to the bombing range by helicopter and really show off. This meant showing multiple completed vehicles. The big shots were due in at the Air Force Base at ten. We would ferry them to the shop, demonstrate the vehicles and show off our tests results, feed them something special in our cafeteria, then ferry them out to the bombing range. Chuck had suggested that we use the 206L for our guests, while our staff could ride in the other Bell 206s out to the bomb range. If we wanted to all ride together, he said for us to enlist the help of the Air Force. Chuck's first suggestion is what we went with, except that we wanted to bust up the military people and put them in different helicopters for safety reasons. Because of charters and scheduled lessons, I had to ask Chuck to be one of our helicopter pilots. He readily agreed and said it could be considered his duty to help escort other federal dignitaries. There were two Department of Defense civilians along for the ride to help evaluate what we were showing. As I sat there sipping coffee and contemplating everything, I was very satisfied with life and how everything had been working out for the company. Yes sir, I have it good. Now on with the day, and the week. When I woke on the day of the showing, I did have some butterflies in the stomach as it could be worth a lot to our company. It could keep hundreds of people working and probably put hundreds more to work. It would all depend upon what we sold. Would it be only components, whole bodies, or complete vehicles? If we had the right information, our prices were going to be the best these men had ever seen and, even better; it would be for a superior product. Abe, Jeff, and Chance were at breakfast with Tiny, Chuck, and me. We all reviewed our plan and the presentation. We smiled at each other and I said, "Let's go get 'em. Chuck's flying them from MacDill to the shop. We need to block off the front parking area for the helicopters to land. We'll bring the other three birds over after we get these men on the ground." Chuck left us to go get the 206L. I had heard he had been practicing flying that particular aircraft just so he would give his dignitaries a good ride. At the shop, Tiny had some mannequins dressed in fatigues from Quality Wear, complete with a sign saying "Quality Wear clothing, military supplier." We had to go out on the market to buy the beige boots. The showroom was really looking good. We had one of the open frames hanging from the ceiling above the completed vehicles, and a series of plates that had been shot by various weapons, including RPGs and fixed position rockets. Outside, on the side next to the rebuild shop, was our selection of vehicles that showed what they look like and to give the dignitaries an opportunity to ride in them. We had to buy special license plates so we could drive them on the roads. The tracked vehicle couldn't go out of the yard, but we were planning on a road test demonstration of the rest of them. At nine twenty, Chuck was hovering in front of our showroom window, setting down so the men could exit directly into the building. It was a beautiful day, so the men were going to enjoy our Florida sunshine. I introduced our crew and myself, describing each of our responsibilities. Chance began the presentation by describing what our goal was for each vehicle. He would open a door, or flip a hood up, while he described how each vehicle would fit military use. Jeff then described how the composite material had been created. He introduced Gerry, and let her describe the technical part of the translucent windscreen material. Abe took over and showed each of the panels, describing the weapon used on it, right down to the fifty caliber rounds stuck in the material. Abe walked over to the tracked vehicle and said "The M1A1 is almost seventy tons. This vehicle is only a little over fifteen tons, fully loaded with about the same fuel and armament. The vehicle can travel near fifty miles an hour and is considerably more efficient than the Abrams." Abe looked at the men and said, "I'm not suggesting you replace the Abrams with this unit, but that you can augment the group with a lightweight unit that can withstand almost as much firepower as the Abrams." Abe continued by describing his contribution of the new style diesel engine. He described why he created it, and how it was powerful enough to propel all of the vehicles shown. I think the people seeing our presentation didn't believe us. ' We took them through the shops, described what each group did, then went outside to play with the vehicles. They thought our version of a utility vehicle was neat since it appeared to be low to the ground, but had pneumatic cylinders to raise it for additional clearance when necessary. Abe explained that was an option and that the standard clearance was fourteen inches. We offered to give the men rides. We drove out of the yard in all the vehicles and around the business complex. We stopped to allow each of the visitors the opportunity to drive the vehicles. We even took them behind our buildings where there was a drainage creek they could drive through to show how easily the all-wheel drive trucks navigated hazards such as that. We promised to show them some abuse of the trucks when we got out to the bombing range. We came back to the shop in time to escort the men through the food line, where they were served some of the best meatloaf or pork chops known to man. Everyone ate heartily and finished with some of our great coffee. I advised the men that we would take helicopters out to the bombing range in order to save time. The other helicopters had landed and were ready for passengers. I explained that I wanted to break up the party and have the dignitaries in separate helicopters. The highest ranking officer thought that was a good idea. He wanted to ride in front with Chuck and climbed right in. Chuck grinned at me and rolled his eyes. When all the passengers were secure, Chuck led us out of town and across the countryside to the Avon Park bombing range just north of Sebring. We landed near some tents that were set up for the visitors to sit under while we demonstrated the vehicles. First, all of the vehicles drove over hazards and very rough terrain, increasing speeds until the trucks were bouncing five and six feet off the ground. We showed off the tracked vehicle by having it climb near straight up and then go straight down. We didn't show a rollover, but said we had done several rollover tests and found that the vehicle could easily be righted by another vehicle. Just about the time Chance was saying this; the tracked vehicle was driving sideways on a steep incline and rolled over onto its side. The operator got out and had the APC come over and used a steel cable to attach it to the tracked vehicle. It was pulled over and the operator got back into the tank, started it, and drove over to the firing range. The armed vehicles fired several rounds, demonstrating their ability to fire military ammo. Even the utility vehicle, with dual fifty calibers mounted, fired to show what it was capable of. Then I said, "Now, we are going to show you something you haven't seen before. We're going to try to blow up these machines. We'll first blow up a small utility vehicle and the wheeled APC with what would be the force of the strongest IED currently used in Iraq or Afghanistan. We're going to do this without people in them, but I think that we will make our point." Two Air Force technicians took some charges out to two of our demonstration vehicles that were about a hundred yards out, and set them under where they would do the most damage, directly below the engine and front passenger compartments. When they came back to stand by the rest of us, you could hear us all hold our breath. Kaboom! Kaboom! The light utility vehicle bounced high into the air but came down on its wheels. The wheeled APC also rose, and came down with a flat tire. Two of our men wearing fatigues, ran out, jacked up the APC and changed the tire. Another two men got in the vehicles, started them, and drove them back and forth in front of the observers. The men under the tent actually applauded. Next, we put a utility truck out at a hundred yards. A couple of Air Force guys began shooting rifles at the vehicle. Then they brought out a fifty caliber. First the conventional round was shot at the side, then the explosive round. Next was an RPG that rocked the vehicle considerably. When that was done, a man ran out, started the vehicle, and parked it so that it was facing the observers. The Air Force technicians fired all their toys at the vehicle again. The fifty caliber round stuck in the windshield, just like always, but a second explosive round couldn't dislodge the first. Abe pulled his trick and had Gerry run out, get in the vehicle, and drive it next to the tent so everyone could see the results of the firing. They all went over the vehicle, rubbed where small indentations were, and looked at the glass where the fifty caliber rounds were stuck in them. One of our men came out and changed quickly both windshields, showing how easy it was to work with our design. Chance said, "I have one more demonstration for you, but this has to be done at a greater distance. If you notice, we're taking the tracked vehicle and the APC about a half mile out. The third vehicle is to bring the operators back. We don't test live fire with humans in the vehicles. We have a group of crash dummies that record what the impact is inside when they are hit. When the operators were safely back, the Air Force Captain on the ground radioed for the strikes to begin. The first thing two F-16s did was to do two separate strafing runs across both vehicles. We could see the APC rock from the hits. The two jets came roaring back, firing rockets that both had direct hits on the two vehicles. They came back around and did it again, flying overhead so low that we could see the rivets in the bottom of the aircraft. You would think the two vehicles would be toast, however, two utility trucks with several men, went out to the vehicles and had to replace all four wheels on the APC and had to remount the track on the tracked vehicle. Two operators climbed into the vehicles, started them up and drove them both back to the tent. Our guests were sitting with their mouths open and their jaws on their chests. Chance invited the evaluators to inspect the damaged parts they had replaced, and to check out the interior of the two vehicles. Abe had a shit-eating grin on his face as he watched the men swarm over our damaged, but still running, vehicles. One officer came over to me and said, "If I had not seen it in person, I would have bet the film was doctored. That was an incredible demonstration. You do know, Mr. Sharp, that we can't simply blow off the contracts that we have with our suppliers." I said, "I know that, but you can specify what materials are used and that our material meets the criteria to protect the bottom of the vehicles and the occupants. If you need some extra APCs that are not already contracted for, call us and we'll bid. If you need more utility vehicles, call us and we'll bid. We know that our bids will create a problem with your other suppliers. We also know that we will beat any delivery given by your other suppliers. That's why I'm suggesting that you can have them use us to supply them with the products that will protect our soldiers in the field." He said, "You gave that to us in the information we received this morning. I was wondering if you really meant that. I'm curious though as to how you will protect your patents on the products if you give them the means of creating the product." "We won't give them the formulas, we'll only supply finished product. Like I said, we want to supply your vendors with better product. You can specify it and even suggest where they can obtain it. We'll do the rest." The officer asked, "If you don't get big orders from our suppliers, what will you do with your vehicles?" I honestly said, "Sell them to buyers that want to purchase them. The Israelis have observed some of our tests while they were watching some bombing runs. They have indicated a strong interest in our line of vehicles. They wanted to purchase the designs, formulas, and engine specs, but we don't sell those. We sell finished product." He asked, "So you would sell your vehicles to foreign governments?" "Yes Sir, I would, but not to governments that we have trouble with. I would be reluctant to sell to Venezuela, definitely not to North Korea or Iran. I probably wouldn't sell to China or Russia, but I would sell them parts or bodies for the right price. You see, my goal is to keep men working. We need orders for that. You can help us to do that." He said, "If we do recommend your bodies, that will put some other men out of work." "If we get the orders, I will need good men to come to work for us. We have some of the best people in the country working here and in our other plants. We can integrate those displaced into our work force and teach them our "perfect" way." "I saw all those signs throughout your shop. The "Is it Perfect?" signs over the door. That's kind of presumptuous, isn't it?" "No Sir, we demand that product leaving our shop be as perfect as we can make it. S&S employees work toward that goal every day. Ask them, anytime." He said, "I might do that. You have an interesting operation." Chance was telling the observers the demonstration was concluded and that we would be hauling them back to the Air Force Base. We broke the group up into two helicopters and had them take off to bring the men back. When Chuck showed up at the patio later, he told me, "That general said he thought for sure you were going to wine and dine them tonight. They had to have their aircraft readied as the crew wasn't even on base. I almost suggested they stay overnight and come out for a nice party." I laughed, "Wouldn't you know it. We try to play it straight and we get the "I want more" treatment. Well, we showed them what we promised. We fed them lunch and ferried them around. That should be enough. If not, next week, we have the South Koreans coming, along with Brazil and Peru. I think we can sell enough to keep men working. The trick will be to get paid by the countries purchasing the equipment. They are so used to handouts from the U.S. that they may think they can get this for free too. It ain't happening." We all celebrated and ate some great barbecue. The two pigs that were roasted, along with the dozens and dozens of chickens, were all very tasty. I think everyone had their fill. While we were eating, I told Chuck, "How about coming south to Key West with me so we can finalize the deal on the hotel. Bring everyone you want and we'll go down for tomorrow night." Chuck went to his group and talked about a trip to Key West. They were all for it. He came back to the group of men all smiles. He said, "The whole contingent is ready. They would pack right now and be at the airpark in an hour if you said go." "Early tomorrow is good. How about we meet out there around eight or eight thirty? We'll take two King Airs down. You do the 1900D with some of my folks and I'll probably take your B200. We'll stay until late the following afternoon. That'll give the kids and everyone a chance to get some sun and eat some conch fritters." Tiny said, "You know what we need? We need a big airplane. Hell, some of the movie stars have 747s. We should be able to have something big enough for fifty people in open comfortable seating that is capable of flying to Europe or Hawaii. You know what? I'm going to find out what we would need and get one. I'll bet we can charter it a lot if we promote it." I looked at Tiny sideways. He grinned and mouthed, "You know we need one." Will we ever say 'enough?' Chuck was rounding up his family and suggesting they get home and pack so they would be ready in the morning. I thought it funny that he keeps talking about buying some kind of bus for all the people he hauls around. I suppose that if all those women begin pumping out kids, he's going to need one. My ladies were excited about going, and the more they talked, the more people wanted to go. When we had a final total, I had to call the hotel to see if there would be room. They said that reservations were down until Sunday. There were lots of people checking in for the week then. We decided to use all of the King Airs and the 208s. If necessary, we could even use the sixteen passenger G5. Perhaps Tiny had a point. We could sometimes use a big aircraft. Sue had called her mom, which meant Ben and Beth were coming along. That would be two more. Well, shoot, I guess we would need the G5. We ended up with so many going that Chuck and I agreed that we would use the G5 to come back and get a second group. Morning was a total riot as the kids were hyped to go to Key West, but disappointed they wouldn't be home for motocross lessons. Bonita was whining because she would miss her piano and guitar lessons. She wanted all of it, and was upset that she couldn't make up her mind as to which was most important. Kathy straightened her out though, as she said that staying home was not an option. We were all out at the airport, loading up in every available fast passenger aircraft we had. Only the one G5 with the fancy interior was staying because it had a charter for Saturday and Sunday. The 208s took off first, followed by the King Airs, one Lear, and the G5. We were only leaving twenty behind so we could use the Learjet and the G5 for the quick turnarounds. Lisa and Chuck were in the G5 and I flew the Lear. Sue, Jimmy, and Brandy flew 208s, John flew the King Air 1900D, and Star flew a King Air B200. As I flew south, I kept thinking that a big aircraft would be a good thing. It's just hard to justify something that cost upwards of forty million or more. We would have to buy a very used aircraft and rebuild it inside and out. I wondered how many charters it would require to make an aircraft like that profitable. The operating cost on a big aircraft has to be steep. Perhaps if we do something like this again, we'll charter a bigger aircraft. Chuck and I quickly made the round trip and the trip back to Key West. We didn't miss much and were out on the beach with the rest of the families by noon. The kids were having a blast and didn't want to quit having fun for lunch. The hotel helped as they set up tables outside for us so the sand caked kids could just rinse off under the outdoor showers and sit down to eat. In the afternoon, Ben had Chuck and me meet with the former owners who were selling out their share of the hotel. When the papers were all signed, Chuck said, "In some ways, this is better than the places in Hawaii. It is close and we can come more often. You know you can use this place for one of the benefit weekends you provide your employees, Steve." "I have been doing that, Chuck," I said, as we were walking back to our group. The adults were trying to get a little less sun by the middle of the afternoon. Chuck's two dark women both said they had already got sunburned. By five, the kids were so tired that they were almost falling asleep on the beach, so we rinsed them down and took them to our rooms for a good cleaning to get them ready for supper. A lot of people wanted to go out barhopping along the beach, but someone needed to stay with the kids. Chuck said, "I think I'd like to stay and watch critters tonight. Most of my crew would like that too, so let us be the babysitters tonight." Glenda said, "Martin and I will be here too, but we're both so worn out, we might need babysitting ourselves." Chuck, Lisa, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda were going to watch the kids while the rest of us went out to run amok on the Key West beach bar circuit. The folks staying in elected to order room service with the kids and have all of them have a fun sleepover in the big owner's suite. The first place we hit was a restaurant where Sue had made reservations. Since we were such a big group, the only way to get served at once would be by reservation. We were a little early, which meant everyone needed to have at least one Margarita in honor of the redhead. Charlie and Shawna were half in the bag by the time we finished eating, but insisted they accompany us on our quest to drink Key West dry. They did switch to beer, and that seemed to slow down their quick rise to a drunken state. It was good to have so many of our friends with us as we partied on the beach. Sometime during our travels, the local police cautioned little Tiani about chasing chickens. She was getting a good load on and was being crazy. Brandy tried to control her, but that was near impossible. Tiny resolved the problem by picking Tiani up and carrying her under one arm while holding a staggering Ruth with the other. Around two in the morning, we were near the hotel and all agreed that we couldn't drink the island dry. We had tried, but it was not possible. Back at the hotel, all of the parents checked on their kids in the big suite. All of the kids were on the floor with blankets over them. Lisa and the three pregnant women were on a pullout bed, and Chuck was asleep on a couch on the other side of the kids. When we came in, Chuck woke immediately, saw it was us, and went back to sleep. Tiani and Brandy crowded into the pullout bed with the other four girls and were instantly asleep, clothes and all. My ladies were more than a little happy this night. Juanita even had a few too many Mojitos. Some of our revelers went back out to the hotels big hot tub to party some more, but my family snuggled up in a king size bed and quickly fell asleep. Oh my. I could tell that I had too much to drink last night. The clock on the hotel nightstand said eight, but it felt like it was still too early to get up. I got out of bed and took a shower, shaved, and brushed my teeth. I was almost human again. When I came out of the bedroom, the kids were all awake and in their swimsuits, ready for the beach. Chuck, Lisa, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda were following Glenda's lead in getting the kids to eat breakfast. Chuck handed me a tall glass that appeared to be a Bloody Mary. I waved it off as I said, "I have to fly today. It's a good thing it will be this evening or I would be in trouble." Chuck said, "Not to worry, this is virgin. I thought it might help, even without any of hair of the dog that bit you. There's aspirin on that tray over there. Drink that and have some coffee and food. That will straighten you out. You'll also want some sun today to sweat that stuff out of you." As people woke up and staggered into the main living room area, most just hugged a tall Bloody Mary glass and sipped with closed eyes. All of the people piloting were directed to the Virgin Marys and coffee. As we ate, more food was delivered. Chuck explained that he had ordered multiple breakfast setups to be delivered every half hour, for a couple of hours, so the food wouldn't get cold. Soon Glenda, Martin, Chuck, and his ladies took the all of the kids out to the beach. The kids were instantly splashing in the surf and exploring for shells up and down the beach. The adults were doing a good job of watching the various groups, keeping the kids that were in the water near shore. By ten, everyone was awake and ready for the sun. The hotel said the owner's suite was good until tomorrow, but the other rooms had to be vacated by noon. We had everyone bring their bags to the owner's suite so their rooms could be made ready. After lunch, a lot of the ladies wanted to go shopping to get things for those that couldn't come. All the men said we would watch the kids and have fun with them. The hotel had volleyball nets set up and we tried to organize some games, but they ended up by just batting the ball back and forth. Some of the little kids were building big sandcastles and other buildings that were sort of recognizable. The important thing was they were having fun. The lifeguards came around and told every one that there were shark sightings near shore and would prefer for us to stay out of the water. All the kids would go out to the edge of the surf, stick their toes in the water, then run screaming away from the ocean. The ladies returned with many bags around four-thirty. We decided it was time to clean up and begin our migration back to Tampa. We did it pretty close to the way we came down, leaving a bunch at the hotel to pick up after we had delivered the first group home. By eight, everyone was back in Tampa, Lisa and Chuck were cleaning up the G5, and I was cleaning up the Lear so the two aircraft would be ready for Monday. At home, all of the kids were over tired from playing in the sun for two days. They ate a little pizza, took a bath, and were in bed before nine. Chuck and I had a beer together, discussing how I had conned him into being a part owner of a helicopter charter company. He kept trying to tell me that it was better if he was just a friend of the owner. I finally told Chuck, "Look, the helicopter charter company is still an S&S company, but you're half owner of that separate entity. Tiny will get with you for some money to pop for your half of the original purchase price of the company I bought out. I want you as a partner for this and we may have to have you as a partner on the fixed wing side. We'll see about it in time. Right now, you are a half owner, I'm a half owner, and the S&S 401K fund is about a forty percent owner. That means you and I only own thirty percent each. You will still receive income from the helicopters, but you have to pay maintenance and hangar fees for them. You see, you and I and the S&S 401K plan own two helicopters and some parts inventory. The rest of the aircraft are owned by you right now. As we have income, we'll buy some more and own them the same way we own the original two." Chuck said, "Do I really want to be a business owner?" I told Chuck, "You do, and you'll be happy you are. This is a way to get into something besides law enforcement. Have your avocation become a vocation. Besides, you're going to have to begin teaching pretty soon. You've been dodging the fixed wing training, but you can't dodge the helicopter training." Lisa was sitting by me and asked, "When are you going to teach me rotary wing. Brandy wants to learn too. She says she has had an introductory flight and is scheduled for a lesson with Tank next week. I want you to teach me. Now that you're checked out on all the helicopters except the big one, you can teach me and check me out. I know it's expensive to fly helicopters for practice, but I don't spend any money anyway. Come on, Chuck, say you'll do it." Chuck couldn't refuse and just nodded, saying, "Of course, I'll teach you. We'll work on it in the evenings or mornings depending on the time you have." Then she said, "You have to teach Charlotte too. She's dying to get to know you better anyway. While you were gone the last time, I brought her home overnight and all the girls really liked her. They think she may be a candidate to be one of their toys, which means she could be your and my toy too." Chuck looked sternly at Lisa, "Enough women. I have too many already. How could I possibly pay any attention to another lady with the group I have as it is? Please, Lisa, no more women." Mercy came over to Chuck and Lisa and said, "Perhaps you could send her here so the four of us could evaluate her." Lisa said, "Oh Mercy, Charlotte is just a cute little country girl that hasn't made up her mind what park she wants to play in yet. Leave her be. She'll make up her own mind." Soon Chuck and his extended family began getting ready to leave. They all thanked me and the ladies for inviting them to come along on the weekend trip. I don't think they put together that Chuck and I were partners in the resort hotel yet. When they find out they can go down and stay in the owner's suite anytime they want, I imagine they will be flying down there often. As the evening drew to a close and the patio was cleaned up and put back together, I sat outside with Mercy on one side and Sue on the other. I said to them, "You know, having Chuck and his family here in the park with us is going to make this place very busy. I'm sure you notice how he doesn't seem to want to play adult games like most of the others out here. We might have to go easy on him." Mercy said, "He may not, but his women want to play with all of us women. They're not really interested in other men, but they do enjoy the ladies. Chuck thinks the world of all of us, but doesn't necessarily enjoy the wide open life style. I think he thinks he's giving something of his ladies away and he thinks he's stealing something from you, Steve. I know we've all told him many times how we enjoy sharing with him. We've even had him in our bed. He still feels that way. Sometimes his hormones get the better of him and he goes nuts. The rest of the time, he enjoys us all, even loves us all, including all of the kids, but he doesn't necessarily want a wide open sex thing." Sue hugged me and said, "He doesn't mind his ladies doing things, just like you. He just doesn't think he needs all of the sharing we've done in the past." Kathy and Juanita came out. Kathy picked Mercy up and sat Mercy on her lap as she sat next to me. Juanita sat on my lap. Kathy said, "I'm kind of getting that way in my old age. I loved all the wild parties up at the hot tub when Jake was alive and then when you came along, Steve. But the last year or so, I think all of us have toned down a little. I enjoy being with just my family, and of course when Sue brings some extra girl loving around. I like Chuck and love the way he makes me and all of us feel, but I'd rather Steve be my guy." Juanita was smiling, "I was afraid Chuck would steal Mercy from us and it wasn't that way at all. I think that Chuck was resisting Mercy's sexuality but enjoying being able to communicate with her. The more I'm around Chuck, the more I know he loves and respects Steve and would never try to take one of us away." Sue said, "You see, that's why we all love him. He's so respectful but so gentle to all of us. He treats us so delicately whenever we're around him. He does that with his women too. He's going to be like Steve and be a good dad to his kids. You have to feel a little sorry for him as there are going to be a lot of kids." Kathy said, "He may not reach Steve's number for a long time. Lisa may have one, and maybe Tina, but probably not for a long time. Brandy will be good for one or two, and Tiani, probably just one. Nancy may quit with one, but will probably have another. Judy though wants a bunch. Frieda will probably stop with her twins. So you figure that's only about ten. We've got them beat with only four us and only three producers." That caused some laughs. It was Mercy that had the final say, "But if he lets Lena and her sister, Tina, become part of the family, he could be in trouble. Those two come from a big family and will want to have at least four each if they can. That will put that group in the insane asylum category." All the talk about babies had the girls wound up and it took me a long while to calm them down. Actually, it took them a long time to calm each other down, as I was done the first time through the batting order. Those ladies were getting better the older they got. I love Monday mornings. It's a new day, a new week, lots of things to do, places to go, and people to see. Sue had told me she needed to get an early start, so I kissed her awake, which woke Mercy and Juanita too. The five of us had a fun shower and were ready for the world by six o'clock. I turned on the light and had coffee going while Juanita and Mercy began making some breakfast biscuits. It's easy to include about six dozen biscuits while you make up batter for pancakes for the kids. Glenda came over in her big robe to get her hug and have coffee with me. We chatted for a bit, while Kathy, Sue, and Juanita were getting the kids up. By six thirty, the patio was full and buzzing with activity. Mickey and Samantha came to me and asked if we could talk privately. Samantha said, "I've been offered a job in New York City with the Times. They want a traveling reporter and photographer. The money they're offering is obscene compared to what I've been paid down here, and it is an opportunity of a life time." I said, "Congratulations, Sam. That's great, sort of. But what happens to Mickey?" Mickey said, "That's part of what we wanted to talk to you about. Sam and I have been close for a few years now, and although we both are more into each other and girls, we have always liked you, Steve. Samantha is going to be too busy to do anything but her job for a long time. Me on the other hand, I'm going to be here. I could go back to live with my folks, but I don't think so. I've been gone long enough that I like living out here." "What can I do for you, Mickey?" I asked sincerely. "How can I help?" Samantha said it, "We want you and your ladies to take Mickey in sometime. We want you to love her, make her feel special and help her not be lonely. We've already spoken to Sue and Mercy and they are all for it. You know how they are. We just want you to know that we want that from you too." "I'm honored you two think of me that way. I can't promise that we'll have the blazing times we did back when you first came here, Mickey, but you're welcome to share our warmth anytime." Sam said, "Mickey will meet other people. She might even meet a guy one of these days that will ring her bell the way you do, Steve. I hope so, anyway." Mickey hugged Samantha and had watery eyes. She said, "We have been the best of buddies for a long time. We've gone through a lot together and shared a lot." Sam said, "Mickey has helped me through the time I had no work, and while I was still going to school. Without her and her encouragement, I would have never finished. I'm glad I can leave here and still have you all as my friends, as well as know that Mickey will be among friends and will be taken care of emotionally." Mickey said, "I have to get to work. I'll see you this evening." Samantha gave Mickey a big kiss and the two clung to each other a few seconds. When they parted, Mickey left hastily, and Samantha sat down with me with tears streaming down her face. I asked, "When are you leaving, Sam?" "This morning. I'm all packed. I'll try to get a place up there but if not, I'll store my stuff down here. I don't have that much. My clothes, my cameras, and my laptop go with me, so I'll be set. You know me; it doesn't take a lot to keep me busy and happy." "Damn, does everyone know you're going?" Samantha was drying her eyes now and said, "I think so. I've tried to tell everyone, but haven't approached you yet because Mickey wanted it that way. Thank you, Steve, you've been the best friend a person could have." "Come back to us, Sam. One of these days you might want to relax from the rat race. Remember us. There will always be a place for you here." "I know, Steve, thank you. Now let me cry some more as I say one last round of goodbyes." When Sam left, Mercy sat down with me and said, "It is sad that for her to reach some of her goals she has to leave someone she has been so close to. But you know what; I don't think they were ever thinking that they were partners for life." "That's what it sounded like to me too, Mercy. I think they are both still looking." Mercy grinned at me and said, "We'll take care of Mickey though, won't we?" I grinned and she leered. This caused us both to laugh. She said, "Sue and I need a new toy for a while. We'll take care of her for you. You may have to finish her off for us, but we'll do all the up front fun stuff." If I could have caught Mercy, I would have turned her over my knee and spanked her at that moment. She ran away, giggling like a little girl. Her "triples" were chasing her trying to find out what was funny. Kathy brought me a breakfast sandwich and a fresh mug of coffee. When she sat with me, she said, "So the splitting couple finally told you. I thought for a while that Sam was just going to leave and not tell you. She was hesitant to tell you as she thought you would tell her to stay. You know she would have stayed if you told her to." I said, "I couldn't do that. This is a big opportunity for her. This is a lifetime career changing event. I'm proud of her and how hard she has worked to make ends meet while she went to school. You know she has paid Mickey back all the money she borrowed and caught up with her share of the rent. That's something and it is real determination to do right. Mickey didn't even want her to do it, but Sam insisted." Kathy said, "Yeah, Sam is a good kid, I'm sure she'll do well." Kathy suggested, "You should see how fast Chuck's place is going up. I think there must be a hundred men working over there. They are really going to town on that place." "I'll stop in on the way to work this morning. I need to stop in to see Dennis at the R&D center anyway. Your Ben has been a big help over there, even though he's in school. I can't believe the contributions he's made helping Dennis, Mark, and Gerry. They are constantly coming up with new items and improving stuff we already have." Kathy admonished, "That's our Ben, not my Ben. You're his dad." "I know, I feel that way too. It's amazing how our kids have progressed. Barb is going to probably be leaving for either the academy or for basic training. Now it just depends on her acceptance. Greg is becoming a real ball player and has been rapidly progressing in motocross." Kathy smiled, "And little Bonita is going to be a rough tough tomboy riding a motocross bike, but then turns into a sweet little girl when she plays music. She is very talented and very smart too. I think she learns her schoolwork quickly so that she has more time to play and practice." "They are some great kids, Kathy. I'm proud to be their dad." Folks were leaving for work, so I took my truck and drove up to the new house being constructed. I was amazed. There were block buildings everywhere, and they all had roofs with shingles already on them. There were probably ten bricklayers building a tall fence around an area that appeared to eight lots wide and about sixteen lots deep. Along the back fence, they were erecting four towers that would support wind generators. At the far right rear corner of the property was the battery building with the electric conversion equipment. When I walked to the farthest building on one side, I discovered it was going to be a huge garage with a big apartment on top. About sixty feet from the garage was a small two bedroom house that was going to be cottage one, and another sixty feet away was going to be cottage number two. Sidewalks were connecting all of the buildings. Sort of in front of cottage two, and out from the main building, was the studio building. This studio was going to be big. The inside of the main building was too confusing to understand what it would really look like yet. I'm sure it will look more like a house soon. There were electricians pulling wire in all directions to accommodate electric, video, sound, security, voice, and data. I'm sure it was being planned properly, if not, it would be a nightmare. Satisfying myself that this was a monster job, I went to see the R&D folks. Dennis was working on the manually controllable pitch propeller for Wes. Wes was thinking he could use this to give the aircraft more power on climb. He figured that on takeoff and climb out, the propeller could have a bigger bite of air, then once at altitude, you could reset the pitch for seventy-five percent power and fly all day. Dennis and Ben showed me how the control would work. There was another knob similar to a throttle knob that pulled out or pushed in that would be located high on the dashboard while the throttle was low. That should keep them separate. Wes elected to have a manual control rather than an electronic, as he felt the manual would be easier to maintain. Dennis showed me a couple of projects Mark was working on that were a little off the wall, but Dennis assured me that they were actually beginning to work. Mark wasn't there this morning as he often stayed home for a while in the mornings. Considering he was receiving a nice chunk of money for the licensing of his two big inventions, he really didn't need to work at all. The man was fixed for life. He was also contributing to the S&S income structure as well. As he kept shrinking the size of his wind generator, he would be generating even more income. From the R&D center, I went to the airpark for my rotary wing lesson and practice. I had actually been signed off as rotary wing rated, but I flew the small helicopters for practice at least an hour every day of the week. If I kept that up, I should become proficient before long. Sue was doing this as well, but found it as difficult as I did. Mercy was already doing better than Sue and I, and had only been in training for two weeks. Jimmy said we were using the little helicopters so much that he was going to have to pull one down for its 100 hour inspection soon. Considering Chuck bought them with fresh twenty-five and fifty hour inspections, that meant we had put a lot of hours on them quickly. While I was at the park, I checked in with Wes. He was measuring while fitting a full wing to a bloated fuselage. Wes looked up and said, "This is the camper. Take a look inside. We had the truck shop do the interior for us. This is really slick. They came up with a lightweight foldout bed that is the equivalent of a queen size. There isn't a lot of floor space when the bed is out, but then you don't need it when you're sleeping. The seats swivel around so you have a place to sit while undressing, if you need it. In the overhead and the back there are cabinets for the cover area. When the bed is put away, there is a fold up table with enough room for four, but the aircraft is designed for only two people." "We were able to save a lot of weight with the new composite, so we can carry three hours of fuel with a half-hour reserve. That will give the little aircraft about a three hundred and eighty mile range." Wes was like a little boy with a toy. "I had Hank and Shawna paint this one in camouflage, using summer and fall multiple greens, brown, and dark orange. I thought it might attract some of the true hunters and fishermen at the Sun and Fun show. Of course, if they actually fly it into the back woods for hunting they'll want to paint it in Day-Glo orange. Otherwise, somebody will mistake it for a deer and shoot it – and besides, it would be too hard to find in camouflage colors if anything went wrong." "Wes, this is really fancy. This is going to be expensive, isn't it?"' He said, "Not really, Steve. The interior adds about four grand to the aircraft and the size of the cabin adds a little. I think this can be delivered fully assembled for under sixty. We've been learning a lot on how to save on materials. Jeff has got the cost of the composite way down since we're making a lot of the stronger type. Your men at your shop can build a frame out of the lightest and strongest metals known to man. They are really good." Wes said, "Look at the way this wing fits. This model has a one piece wing. The other model we'll build will have two wings that bolt on. It will be as strong. What do you think, Steve?" "I'm impressed, Wes. How are the retractable pontoons coming? Are you going to be able to takeoff or land on a runway and then put the pontoons down and land in the water?" "That's the plan. It should work fine. We can make it work on the ground, but the tell all will be if we can do it while flying. We've tested the concept when we have the aircraft held off the ground, but who knows what it will act like at a hundred knots." "This is really an amazing aircraft, Wes. So you think you can bring it in for under a sixty thousand?" "I think it's a done deal, Steve. Tiny will give me the final figures when I'm done with the modifications. We'll have an option list a mile long, but a buyer wouldn't need any of them. Just load your fishing equipment or hunting equipment and take off. Fly to where you want, land in a field on these big tires, or land in the water. I think we'll add some money in for some lessons on water landing. We should still be under sixty." "Let me take one of the new aircraft up to get some more time on them. Which needs the time?" "You won't believe this, Steve, but everyone has been out here flying them and we have the time required. We're going to get a test flight observed and tear them down. The FAA will inspect the parts and we can put it all back together again. Take one up if you want, though. I really like the coupe with the instruments. I also put a big engine in it so it climbs out fast. I think we're going to try the variable prop on it next week." I pushed the fancy air coupe out of the hangar and used Wes' preflight card to check all of the points before startup. Getting into the aircraft is easy and surprisingly comfortable. I went through the procedures and cranked the engine. While warming after startup, I pulled the canopy down and locked it. The noise was really low. This would be a pleasure on a long flight. I set the flaps, called for taxi instructions, and was routed directly to the runway. Once cleared, I entered the runway and poured on the power. This little aircraft quickly buzzed out of the airpark perimeter. I flew over to the coast then came back, going all the way up to ten thousand feet. I tried to stall the aircraft and had to get into a radical nose high position before it would drop off. I let the little plane dive a couple of hundred feet before pulling out. There were no creaks or groans, just the low hum of the engine. Coming around to land, I did such a steep bank I almost did a wingover, but held it in a tight vertical position. The instruments were accurate as I used them to guide me down to set lightly on the runway. When I pulled back into the hangar and parked, Wes said, "I do the same thing. I go up for a half hour to an hour, and stay for an hour and a half all the time." I looked at my watch and was amazed that I had been up that long. I guess that's how the little aircraft got all their time so fast. I thanked Wes, then stopped to say hi to Jimmy on the way out. Jimmy said, "Dad wants you to bring him some helicopters. He says to go buy some old Hueys and he'll put them back in working order and keep them rented over there. He said there is a need for ten plus passenger helicopters to get between islands. He thought someone could actually make money providing a scheduled service." I said, "I'll have to have Tiny figure that out. Perhaps one of the accountants we sent over there can do that. I'll get Tiny to talk to them about doing it that way." Back at home, I realized I had missed lunch so I scrounged some leftover roast to make a sandwich. Everyone was gone, so I had the patio to myself for a while. Since it was very cloudy, I didn't worry about getting any sun, but I did want to go over to the gym. I did an hour at the gym and came home to shower. It was only three, so I went into the shop to talk to Tiny about Hawaii and to Debbie to catch up on what needed to be done. Debbie said everything was running well. We had plenty of engine, frame, sheet metal, and fiberglass orders, so all our main shop people were busy. Our rebuilds were a little backed up, but not terribly so. Debbie said, "I think all you have to do is to push the button that says start in the morning and everything runs great, even the utility body people have orders. The T-shirt plant is looking forward to the expansion, and that covers it. You know the RV place is a little slow, but the repairs are up. The truck body shop has enough orders to keep one crew busy and the cart plant is operating at about seventy percent capacity. Not bad." "Good job, Deb, keeping everything running smoothly." "It's easy, Boss. Like I said, I just press the start button in the morning and it all works fine." Debbie said, "I started a new business. We're doing custom painting of vehicles for customers. They want vans, trucks, and cars painted like we have ours. Shawna and Hank have set up a price schedule so the company gets paid for the materials and time in the booths, plus a profit. We charge a lot, so Shawna and Hank make triple time while they work on one of those projects. It's a money making project. Those two now have apprentices that are becoming pretty good cartoon character painters." Debbie was grinning, "They interview the customer and take lots of pictures of them, their business, and their friends, so they can do cartoons. We have enough orders to keep those two busy for a couple of months." "That's great, Debbie, that's the way to use your head. Think of another way to make a buck. I'll go back and congratulate those two." "You might not want to go back there right now. They have three engines they're all working on they need to get out for this weekend's racing. It seems the race teams have been crashing and blowing engines lately. All by being stupid, but still a blown engine isn't going to run." "I'll let them be and go home. I know when I'm not needed. Oh yeah, Tiny and I may head to Hawaii next week to check out what Crystal and Bear want us to look at. I'll let you know the schedule as soon as I know it." Home was peaceful until I had multiple kids on my lap and on the couch next to me. I chatted with all of them until they had things to do and places to go. By this time, folks were coming home. Mickey was my sidekick tonight, as we had a few to celebrate Samantha's new adventure. About bedtime, Mickey disappeared with my women. When I closed up the patio and the house, I found the five of them snuggled sweetly, almost asleep. I was directed to hug Mickey and let Sue hug me. We all were asleep quickly. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 39 Chuck The weekend had been good for me. Staying at the hotel with the kids had been good for me as well. Lisa, Frieda, Nancy, Judy, and I had a ball playing with the kids. We played cards, or rather a multiple deck version of "War." It's funny to have so many in the game. It took a long time to get completely around the table to everyone. It also took forever for someone to win. We also played with about ten sets of checker games. Some of the older kids organized a game of monopoly with Frieda and Nancy, while Lisa and Judy were playing some video games with some others. As it got later, we had a snack and put in a Disney movie. The kids all settled down on the floor with pillows and blankets. Glenda and Martin went to bed while the ladies pulled out one of couches and laid on that while watching the movie. I sat on the couch over a bunch of the kids and watched them all drift off to sleep. That had been fun. Anyway, that had been a lot of fun, as was the nice hot sun. While I was down there, I called Rosie to see how she was doing. She said the house was ready for visitors again any time. I asked if she needed anything and she said no. She told me, "I get to spend a least a couple of hours sunbathing every day. You should come by to see, you know I sunbathe in the nude." "You don't say. Hmm, I'll have to come by to see that. I might bring along one of my ladies, they like nude young ladies." "Oh, Mr. Johnson, you are a devil." "Not any more than your proposal, Rosie. But it's just to look, right?" She giggled before hanging up on me. People do that to me all the time. I was planning on making a quick trip to Miami this morning to see a man about a black bag I had. Out at the airpark, I took the Phenom and was quickly in Miami. My appointment was for ten thirty, so I was about twenty minutes early. When I met with the jeweler at his store I said, "I wish to turn these stones into cash for an investment fund. I understand you buy bulk diamonds." Mr. Cohen said, "Let me look at them. I'll have to evaluate each one and make sure they are all real." "Yes sir, you will. If you don't mind, I'll stay with you and you can get this done quickly." The man looked up at me quickly as I spread the diamonds on the tray the man set out for me, "There are a lot of diamonds here." "I know. I'm sure you can have one of your other people test them for authenticity while you grade them. I've seen people grade diamonds quickly before. I'm sure you do it all the time." "But I should weigh each one and that will take some time." I suggested, "How about doing a hundred today and I'll come back for another appointment in the future. Or, you could weigh all of them after they are tested and graded. That way you can pay me on weight and grade just like you do at the market." The man's face fell, "No, I can do this. You have a good suggestion. I don't want you to leave. You could go to someone else and they may make a good deal instead of me." "Good, let me help." "Oh no, you sit and watch. Here's a loupe to check what I grade." Another man came with a bunch of tiny discs and tweezers. They sorted them first by physical size, then began using the discs to see if the diamonds were real. The jeweler spent an exorbitant amount of time looking at the first diamond, then did the same on the second. He kept looking and looking at each diamond until he handed one to his helper and said, "You grade this one for me to see if you see what I see." The helper took a long time examining the diamond then said, "I don't know what you think, but it is in the VVS-1 category." The helper picked up one of the other diamonds the jeweler had looked at already and did the same examination. "Yes, definitely VVS-1." The jeweler said, "This is going to be expensive, let's continue." It took three hours to look at all of the diamonds, and when they finished he had three piles. He pointed at each and said, "VVS-1 blue, then these are all VVS-1 white, and these five are VVS-2 white." Next they weighed each pile first with a digital scale, then with a balance beam scale. The man noted the weight of each group and went for a sheet of paper that he had printed out from his computer. He calculated the amounts for the diamonds then subtracted ten percent from the total. He said, "I get ten percent for appraising them and reselling them. I will make more than that on these, but this is my final offer. If you want to wait to sell them, you still owe me the appraisal fee." The amount was much more than I would have possibly thought. I gave him the bank transfer number and he went into his office to make the transaction. The helper said, "You know he's checking to make sure there wasn't this amount of diamonds stolen somewhere in the world, don't you?" I said, "I think that would be smart, but I'm surprised he didn't do that first." The helper said, "If I tell you and you get nervous and leave quickly, you might leave us some diamonds." "As you can see, I'm not leaving. I am going to call my person who watches my account to make sure the money is transferred." The helper laughed and went to the door of the office. "He's calling to make sure we transfer the money." I heard the jeweler laugh while he was still in the office. "Chuck Johnson for Ben Phillips." "Just a second, Mr. Johnson." "Hi, Chuck, what are you up to?" "I need for you to make sure a good chunk of money is deposited into the fund as we're speaking. Can you do that?" "Sure, hang on while I log into the account. Let's see, okay there is a transaction in progress and the amount is, wow, seven million, four hundred fifty six thousand? Where did that come from?" "Some loose jewelry that I had from one of the boxes. Buy some houses for some single moms out there." "We'll talk about it okay? The fund is looking good." I said, "Thanks Ben, I'll talk to you later this week." The jeweler had come back in with me and the diamonds and began putting them into trays. I said, "I have some miscellaneous jewelry that could have been stolen at one time or another. The pieces look expensive enough that it will take you some time to evaluate them and to check them out. I would appreciate it if you would do that. I will pay for your appraisal and if you want to buy any of the good jewelry, that would be even better. I'll bring it around later today. Do you make rings?" The jeweler said, "Yes, we will make anything you want." "Good, I may have a bunch of rings to be made and I want them all to be nice and to be alike." "I can do that, Mr. Johnson. Please, bring your other jewelry by for me to appraise. If it is stolen, I can get it to the rightful owner, and if it is all good, I will buy it at wholesale market value less ten percent." "Fair enough, Mr. Cohen. It was nice to do business with you. I'll see you later this afternoon." I drove to the Magellan Company, where I was treated like a king. They wanted to feed me, give me champagne, a drink, anything. I told them that I needed to get something from the office on the boat. They took me out to the dock and I boarded. I went down to the second deck below the main and went to the desk in the office. There, I used the key to open the door then keyed "chuck" on the safe's keypad and opened the door. I pulled out one of the bundles of cash, split it up to different pockets, then took the two big boxes of jewelry. To make it look like I was after more than the box, I took a couple of file folders from the small cabinet then locked up everything. Topside, I thanked the Magellan people and complimented them on the work they had completed. The owner said that they should finish by Friday and for me to plan on coming down to get the boat then. I drove back to the jeweler and handed him the two boxes. I said, "This should be all of the miscellaneous jewelry I want to get rid of. Hopefully, it is all good as the source was rich enough to have paid a fair price for it." Mr. Cohen was happy to accept the jewelry and he and his helper made a quick inventory and gave me a copy of the list. It looked like a lot of glitter to me, but what do I know. I was touching down in Tampa at four thirty. As I taxied to the big jet hangar, both of the little helicopters came back to their pads and took some time to get centered and set down on the rolling pads. Lisa and Sue got out of the helicopters. Lisa came over to me and said, "I like those things. The man said I was like you, a natural at handling them. You and me, Buddy, we're right for this stuff." I told Lisa, "I'm on my way to the patio for a drink. Am I going to meet you there?" "No, Chuck, I have to take some men to Atlanta. We're leaving at five thirty." "Are you alone or do you have a right seat?" Lisa said, "No one else is available. There are six passengers and we should have a right seat." I said, "Let me call and tell Brandy that I'm doing the charter with you." "Oh goody, we'll go see my mom while we're there. I'll call her right now, while you call Brandy." We made our calls before I went in to tell DeDe that I was going with Lisa. She said, "Good, you don't even have to worry about a uniform. I'll get your name tag and these guys will be cool with it. Besides, you have a thousand dollar sport coat over a pair of slacks that has to be at least two hundred bucks. Man, you sure to do buy some good clothes." "I'll take you down to the warehouse, DeDe. This coat was probably a hundred and the pants were probably thirty or so. The knit shirt was as much as the pants." DeDe said, "You do have to take me there. I'll be out of this wheelchair soon. I want some of those good threads for that kind of money." Lisa and I did the preflight on the Learjet with Jimmy watching over our shoulder. As we finished, he wandered off nodding his head. We must have passed, as he didn't say anything. As soon as the six men showed up, I seated them as Lisa began the startup procedure. I pulled the door shut then settled into the right seat after punching the coffee pot button. We were soon at altitude, so I got up and made sure that the pilot had coffee, and the passengers had what they wanted to drink. All six were straight bourbon drinkers. I showed them where the bottle was and went back to the cockpit as some of our Atlanta music came over the speakers. Lisa was smiling as she said, "I always have some of our CDs with me whenever I fly. I play them for most of our customers. Nice, isn't it?" We were down in Atlanta by seven, and after getting services for the aircraft, I rented a car and we were on our way to Peaches. When we walked in the door, you would think we were some kind of aristocracy, or perhaps kids that had been away for ten or more years. All of the family there came running to give us both hugs. Mom, or 'Peaches' to me, was waiting for her hug from Lisa. Peaches was getting upset as she didn't have anything special for us to eat, so Lisa said, "How about us taking you out for something? I know you don't eat until you close, so let's close early and go out." The big black lady was undecided until I leaned over and said, "Come on, let your daughter take you and your kids out." She smiled real big and said, "Let me get a clean scarf for my hair." We drove to a fancy restaurant that Peaches said she wanted to try. There, I gave the maitre d' one of the hundreds I had and was immediately given a great table in the rear that was quiet and lavish. We were immediately attended to and everyone had coffee or tea, and Peaches had a glass of wine. The young girls were fascinated by how ornate all of the place settings were, and how fancy the dinnerware was. We ordered some spicy crawfish for an appetizer and enjoyed the hot sweet delicacy as we talked. When the crawfish were finished, and before our salads were served, Lisa said to Peaches, "Mama, I think you will have to come to Tampa for my wedding." The lady looked at Lisa with a surprised look and big tears began running down her face. She leaned over and gave her a big hug. "Oh, bless you child, bless you. I'm so happy for you, when is it going to be." "I don't know yet, Momma, he hasn't asked me yet." The whole restaurant heard Peaches begin to laugh. She said "Lordy, Lisa, how can you ask me to come to a wedding that you don't know whether it will happen or not?" Lisa said, "It will happen, Momma. Just ask Chuck." Peaches looked at me and I said, "It will happen. I really don't know when yet, though. I suppose I've asked her in different ways and we have the approval of all of our friends. I think there is something else that goes with this though. Ask her, Lisa." "Momma, Chuck is building a beautiful home in Tampa for us to live in. It's very big and he's building some extra houses and apartments there too. How about you come to live with us down there? The girls can go to school there and I'll make sure they go to college. You won't have to work so hard, and if you want to cook, there are people we live around that eat together. You can cook with them." Peaches had a serious look on her face, "Lisa, Honey, this is all I'se known for over twenty years. This is how I'se raised my babies, including you, Honey. I feeds lots of people at my place. You knows that." "Momma," Lisa said, as she held the big lady, "You told me several times lately that you're just not making enough to even buy the girls clothes lately. You told me you were going to Goodwill to get their clothes." The big lady hung her head and I could see a big tear run down her face. "Momma, it's time I looked after you. I want you to live in lots of luxury, I want you to enjoy your days, and I want you around when I have my own baby to raise. Please, Momma, let me take care of you?" Peaches raised her face with the biggest smile and said, "Sure, Baby, I'll let you do that, but leavin' here is gonna be hard. What will I do without Pops around or that big lug, Rags. They don't eat here much anymore like they used to, but they's still my best friends." Now Lisa had tears in her eyes, "I know, Momma, but you'll have lots of friends where you'll live with me." After we ate a delicious meal and went back to the little restaurant. We were sitting, having some iced tea. Peaches looked up at us and said, "Lisa, Honey, I have a problem that's gonna be difficult to handle. We were short the rent and utilities last month and I borrowed from Sharky. You knows what he's like. He says if I don't pay him soon, he be takin' one of the girls to work for him. I have to do something about him." That's when I said something, "How much do you owe him, Momma. Let's call him and I'll take care of it." Peaches looked a little shocked and also had a little fear in her eyes. "Oh no, Honey, you can't do that. He don't know you and he's mean. Besides, he thinks he's gonna get one of my girls." "Let me worry about that, Momma. You don't know me well, but I can take care of myself." Peaches said, "He be big, I mean really big." "It's okay, you know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." "Oh, Lisa, Honey, what kind a man you got? Does he do everything like that?" "He's a good man, Momma, and he's a pretty tough guy when he has to be." "I'll call Sharky, but he may not be happy not to get one of the girls." Lisa said, "There's no way he's going to take one of my little sisters and make them into one of his girls. You told me he wanted to do that to me too, but the state took me before he could get me." Peaches used the portable phone to make the call. She had to argue, but it was agreed that Sharky would come over right away. He didn't believe she had the money. I asked Peaches, "How much do you owe him including his interest?" She answered, "I had to borrow two thousand and his interest is fifty percent a month. I owe him three thousand now. I don't have that kind of money here. We barely did two hundred dollars all day." I said, "I have it. Let me go to the bathroom, and then I'll count it out for you." I did take a leak in the bathroom, and I counted out five thousand in hundreds and put it into my front pants pocket. Everything else was in my sport coat pockets. Back out in the restaurant, I pulled the wad of money from my pants and counted out the three thousand and looked at the rest of the money. Instead of pocketing it, I handed it to Peaches and said, "Now I'm your loan guy. You take this until you can get the restaurant sold and ready to move down to be with us." Peaches mouth was open, holding all that money. She stuffed the two thousand into her massive cleavage and put the three thousand into her apron pocket. She was grinning as a huge very dark man came through the door. He walked up to Momma and stuck his hand out, "You better have all of it, all three thousand, or I take this white bitch and one of your girls right now." The man was ignoring me as were the three smaller men that had come in with him Peaches said, "Why don't you learn to speak nice to people, Sharky? I bet you would do a lot more business if you did." "Shut the fuck up and give me my money or I'll break in both of your girls right here on your tables. Now give it to me." Peaches handed Sharky the wad of hundreds. His eyes got big and he counted it quickly. He said, "I think I should get a hundred percent interest if I can't have these bitches. Give me another thousand or I get the girls anyway." Peaches had a shocked and terrified look on her face. I said, "I think you've received what was originally agreed. Why don't you take your money and let the lady be?" The huge man looked at me and laughed, "Who're you talkin' to, Honky? You with this white bitch? I think I'll just take her with me and show her what a real man be." I smiled, "It would be a good idea if you just left. I promise not to hurt you if you leave now. Otherwise, I will have to do something I don't want to do." The big black man and his three helpers came to stand about four feet in front of me. The huge man said, "Now just what don't you want to do to me?" I smiled again but this time my hand went beneath my coat and smoothly came out with my Glock. As I held it up to the big man's head I said, "Now you've pissed me off. Get on your knees, all of you with your hands on top of your head. Any false moves and you will become a sprinkler. You are all under arrest. Peaches, please call the cops. I'll just try to keep my finger from getting itchy until they come. Now get on your knees now." The big man didn't want to do it, but his three men all knelt on the floor. As they went to the floor, one began moving his hand behind his back. "You with the red shirt. If you bring that hand out with a gun, you won't be able to say good morning tomorrow. Sharky, on your knees and all of you, hands on your head." The big man lunged at me. From reflex, I moved to the side, tripped him and hit him in the back of neck as he was going down, crushing a table as he fell. That was enough distraction for the idiot that had tried to go after his piece, to begin bringing what looked like an old forty-five automatic from behind his back. Again, reflexes had me putting a round into the guy's shoulder. I wonder why I didn't head shoot the guy? Sharky was moaning that he was hurt, that something was sticking him. Still holding my gun on the other two men, I used my foot to step back, then pushing, I rolled him over. One of the slats from the back of a chair that had crumbled under him was sticking out of his stomach. "Momma, call 911 again and tell them to send two ambulances." There were sirens coming. Two police cars slid to a stop outside the restaurant. Four policemen came running into the restaurant. I was holding up my badge so the men would see I was a police officer. The first guy in the door looked at the carnage and used his mobile radio to call for a supervisor and an ambulance. He looked around and corrected himself and asked for two ambulances. The other cops began searching the two men on their knees and came up with two guns each. One in the waist and one in an ankle holster. They found the same on Sharky. The one policeman said to Sharky, "I guess you finally met someone that would stand up to you, Sharky. I should probably get some help and just throw you into the dumpster. You're not going to make it anyway, big guy. Especially if I use this big knife of yours to do some operatin' on ya." Another policeman said, "Easy, Dan, I know you don't like the asshole, but you have to treat him nice like all the other riff raff he runs with." The first policeman looked at Peaches, "What is this lowlife in here for. You didn't do business with this sleaze bag, did you?" Peaches just hung her head and said, "You gots to do what you gots to do." He said, "Oh, Peaches, you should have said something and I would have had everyone in the precinct over here eating. I guess we haven't been supporting our own lately. I'm sorry, Peaches." The second policeman was looking at my badge and asked, "What's a Deputy U.S. Marshal doing here?" Peaches stood up and said, "That's my baby, Lisa's man. You don't be messin' with him. He took care of us just now. That Sharky was gonna renege on our deal and was gonna try to take Lisa and my girls for interest. I done paid him what was agreed." As the other policeman was going through Sharky's pants he found the wad of bills. He asked Peaches, "I don't suppose you want to charge this guy with usury would you?" Peaches shook her head, "No, a deal is a deal. I agreed, I paid." Some fire department paramedics came in. Two began working on the guy with the shot up shoulder, while two more were trying to figure out what to do with Sharky. They made the guy with the bullet wound get up and walk out to the ambulance. He was being read his rights as he was being arrested for an unlawful weapon. The policeman standing with Sharky said "You're in big trouble, my boy. You're a convicted felon, and possession of a gun is going to get you a minimum of ten years. What do you say, Sharky, how about giving this money to Peaches? She needs it to raise her kids." Sharky growled, but said, "Give it to the bitch, I ain't gonna be needin' it." The policeman handed the surprised Peaches the cash. He turned to me and said, "I should probably ask for your weapon, but you'd give me some crap about not being able to give it me and we'd have a pissin' contest over it. How about you give us your name, rank, and serial number for our report and you make a report as well. That should just about take care of it. You want credit for the bust?" I said, "Naw, you guys deserve it. I'm just along for the ride tonight. This was sort of a surprise." He said, "Well, you took down one of Atlanta's nastiest tonight. These guys never learn. There's always someone that's badder than they are. Let me take everyone's name for the report and I'll let you folks be." They helped Sharky stand with the wood slat still sticking out of his stomach. They had him walk slowly out to the ambulance as they said he was too big to carry. Sharky was bitching the whole way out of the door. Automatically, I pulled my spare magazine from my pocket, dropped the one in my Glock, and shoved the full one into the gun. As I pocketed the magazine with a single round missing, the policeman said, "You've done this before haven't you?" I just smiled and began picking up pieces of the chair and table. The two girls went for a bucket and mops while Peaches said we were going to need some coffee. It didn't take long to clean the floor and straighten out the restaurant. Peaches said, "Thank goodness there weren't any customers in here." When we were having some coffee, Peaches tried to hand me the three thousand. I said, "Use that to pay off bills and get ready to come to Tampa. I know you love this place, but see if you can sell it. The new place should be ready in about a month. I think I need to have them build you a bigger place down there so each of the girls can have their own bedroom." The two girls looked at their mother then at me, "Do we have to? We like to be with each other. We've been in the same room all our lives. We sleep in one bed and Momma sleeps in the other. It will be nice if Momma has her own room and we can have one of our own." Lisa said, "I figured it that way. That's why I didn't ask for a three bedroom cottage." I said, "There's always a method to you girls' madness." I went back into the kitchen so I could have a few private words with Peaches. I asked, "Do you have a bunch of bills that I can help with so you don't owe anyone anything when you leave?" She smiled and said, "What are you, Boy, you rich or something like dat?" "Peaches, I have money from a couple of things. I do gamble though and the good thing is I hardly ever lose. Just today I won enough money to have wads of hundred dollar bills in my pockets. Now, how much can I give you so you won't owe anything?" She said, "Probably just a little over five thousand. If I stay another month, I'll have rent and utilities, but they won't be due right away. Hopefully, I'll have enough business for the food man." I turned away and counted out ten thousand in hundreds. I turned back around and said, "Put this away and pay cash for everything so it is caught up. If the girls need clothes, go buy them. Don't be lavish, but there's money when you need it. Now, don't go telling on me, just take care of business." "Lordy, man, you got the gamblin' bug and makes that kind of money. You gots to be the luckiest man alive." "Peaches, I am lucky, and I like to share my luck. I'll owe you for the rest of my life for taking care of Lisa. She loves you dearly, and if you come to live with us, she'll be happier than you can ever believe." The big woman came to me and hugged me. As I hugged her to me, she said, "I ain't had no one to look out for me for lots of years. Thank you for taking care of me and the girls. They're not little girls anymore, but they are still my babies, just like Lisa. My man was sick for so many years, but the restaurant took care of us all that time. Now that he's gone, the restaurant isn't doing so good anymore, so maybe it's time for me to say goodbye to it." Lisa came into the kitchen and said, "You trying to steal my man, Momma?" "Oh no, Lisa Honey, but he does feel good to hug. I'se just borrowing him for a hug, that's all." Momma put a bunch of food into some containers and said, "You two take this home so you can eat later. Let me close this place down tonight and get my girls upstairs. I think we've had enough excitement for one night." Lisa hugged and kissed her Momma and we left the little restaurant as the lights were being turned off. Lisa hugged me to her and said, "Thank you for wanting to help Momma like that. You know when she said she had borrowed money from Sharky, I knew you were going to make the man hurt. I don't know why or how, but I did. He was always so mean to me and Momma, and I knew you would hurt him. I'm sorry he got stuck with a piece of wood, but I'm not sorry he's going to jail." Back at the airport, we went through our normal procedure of the preflight inspection and the startup. When we had climbed out to our assigned altitude and I handed her a cup of coffee, Lisa asked, "Where in the world did you come up with that money? Do you always carry around that kind of cash?" "No, not usually, but I had some extra on me today. I thought I would have to buy some stuff and needed cash to buy it. It didn't happen, so I had a lot of extra on me." Lisa looked at me sideways, "I guess I have to believe you, but there's more to it than that. I feel it. Mercy says I can see into your head. I wish I could. There are so many things about you that are strange. I know you love me, and I know you're a good deputy, but you do some of the strangest things like you just did by giving Momma money. You just happened to have five thousand dollars lying around in your pockets. Something tells me that isn't all, either. You are really strange, Chuck." I laughed, "At least it's a good strange. Did I tell you what happened when I was in Reno?" "What, now you're going to tell me you won a lot of money?" "I did, I won at blackjack, and I won at roulette. I won enough that a floor guy wanted me to leave. It was easy, you just pick a color or a number, and if you can, you pick a color and number. That's when the payoff is big." Lisa said, "Stop, you are doing it again. You're being strange again. I'm taking you to the Hard Rock and let you show me. We'll play some blackjack or other cards and see if you win. I want to see." "Anytime, Lisa, I think I have a gift for winning." She said, "You are one lucky fucker, that's for sure." I had to laugh at that. I got us some more coffee and we chatted about the new house the rest of the way home. We landed about midnight and put the plane into the hangar after refueling it. While I pumped fuel, Lisa cleaned up the inside and replaced the glasses with clean ones. We shut the hangar doors and said goodnight to the night charter clerk. At home, the girls were still up and wanted to hear about our trip to Atlanta. Lisa let it slip that I had gotten involved in a skirmish, and after telling the whole story, Lisa said, "If you had been there, you wouldn't have been worried at all. I just knew Chuck would take care of it. I was totally calm. I think Momma was calm too, because no one screamed or cried or anything. Chuck just took care of the problem." I got lots of kisses and hugs from the girls and was ushered toward the bedroom. I hung up my coat with the extra cash in it, as well as my pants, and washed up. When I slid into bed, my pregnant ladies wanted some loving, then the non-pregnant ones wanted some too. Lena and Tina weren't with us tonight, so it wasn't quite as crowded. Before dropping off to sleep, I told Brandy and the girls. "We might need a couple of more of those cottages for guests. It wouldn't hurt to have a couple more and there is room in the back. Let's say something before they finish building that wall in the back so we can get some more space." I was in a cocoon of loving ladies. The feeling of all of them near me gave me a good feeling and had me full of love for them. This was special, special enough that I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 40 Steve Chuck had come out for breakfast this morning to talk to me about something. When we had our coffee and were sitting at the bar away from people, Chuck said, "There's a bunch of things coming together all at once. Magellan called to say the boat's ready to be picked up. I've transferred funds and paid them, so we can bring it up any time." He took a sip of coffee and said, "You want to go to Hawaii for a few days, which at a minimum is a day going and a day returning. I can get the time off, but the time may be important for other things." Still sipping his coffee, he looked at me a little odd, and said, "I need to make a trip to Costa Rica for some personal business and that will take at least three days. That trip will depend on what Ben has lined up, but I think he's planning on making it soon." I looked up and asked, "Anything else?" "Plenty, Lisa wants me to give her and your new girl, Charlotte, chopper lessons. Then there are the guys out at the helicopter shop that are looking to me for leadership. I'm giving them their rein and letting Betty schedule the aircraft, and it's working out so far. Hell, they know more about running a helicopter shop than I ever will." I laughed, "That's the way you manage Chuck. You pick out the leaders and ask them to make everything happen. Each of the people are cogs and all of them together make the wheel turn without any hiccups. You're doing right." "What's with this anyway, Steve? You're the owner of that joint out there and you should be giving the marching orders." Still laughing I said, "You forget so easily, Chuck. You bought in already. Tiny said everything is a done deal, right down to you autographing the power of attorney for the operation. Yep, you are the majority owner of the helicopter operation. I think you need to be in with me on the fixed wing operation too. You're spending more time out there than I am, and you seem to be interested in everything." "Steve, Steve, Steve, don't do this to me. Christ, I'm a Deputy U.S. Marshal that hunts escaped criminals and protects federal buildings and employees. That's what I am, that's what I do. I'm not some mega-business owner that knows how to manage a thousand employees or how to make a multi-million dollar operation work." "Give it a rest, Chuck. I need you as part of that operation, and I sort of tricked you into becoming a part of it. Somehow, someway, you've come up with enough money to do all this stuff, help some people get back on their feet, and still can go buy one of the nicest sailboats ever built. If you need help getting stuff done, let me know and I'll help. You see what's happening, don't you? You have more to do in life than being a deputy; you have to be the man of your house. You have to be the final word for a bunch of people who look up to you out at the whirlybird shop. Decisions won't come easy sometimes, but they will come. Just hang in there, and if I can help, pull my chain." Poor Chuck, I don't think I helped him all that much, but at least he knows I understand. I leaned over to him and said, "If you want, I can send John and a crew down to bring the boat up here, or Mercy and I will go get it. That's the easy one. Just say the word and I'll get it done. As far as Hawaii is concerned, I thought we would leave Wednesday and be back Sunday. So big deal, we'll leave next Tuesday or Wednesday and not this week. We'll have enough time to work with Crystal and Bear on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and fly back on Sunday. It's a fast trip, but we're not going for a bunch of changes or decisions. We're just going to find out what Bear and Crystal have up their sleeves." Chuck's cell phone started ringing. He answered it and then said, "Hey, Ben, just the man I was talking about. You are, huh? That soon? Okay, sure, I'll fly us down this afternoon. How about we leave around one? Okay, then we'll leave around two or two-thirty when you get out to the airfield. I'll file the international flight plan and get an aircraft ready." "Oh yeah," Chuck said into his cell phone, "You're in Key West. Okay then, meet me at the airport at the private aircraft operations building. Make sure you thank Rosie for me and if you would, leave her a tip. I'll give you a C-note for her when I see you. I know that's too much, but she's looking after everything for me. See you then." Chuck called out to the airpark and asked for Jimmy. "Jimmy, did you get that mod completed on the 55C? Right, the long range tanks. Great, Jimmy, transfer me back to DeDe and let me talk to her." You could see Chuck burning the brain cells thinking, then he said, "DeDe, I need the Lear 55C for today and tomorrow. You can use the Phenom for most everything except too many passengers. Please tell me it's possible. Great, DeDe, I love you. Thank you. Right, I'll be out to preflight it around one. Please have them fill the new tanks too. Thanks." Chuck hung up his cell and said to me, "I had the 55C modified to long range. We should have a range of over twenty eight hundred miles. We'll use it to go to Hawaii. I'll be back in a couple of days, and we'll make the trip next week or when I get back. Send John and any crew he might need to pick up the boat. That will take care of everything at this moment. I gotta run. See you later." And just like that, Chuck was gone. I waved at Mercy to come over and said to her, "The boat's done. Chuck has to go somewhere and wants John to bring it up. What do you think?" Mercy looked aggravated, "Darn, I wanted to make it a fun trip for his women to come up in the boat. I guess if they can't go, John might as well go get it. I'll ask Brandy to see what she thinks. The girls might want to go bring it up anyway. If they do, I think you and I could sail it up. We don't know the boat yet, but we'll learn. We could always take some crew. We should probably bring John anyway. He'll know what else we might need on it by helping us sail it up." I said, "Sounds good to me, I'll call John and have him pick a couple crew members out that would be good. We'll take a few boxes of food for a quick trip. Call Brandy and see if the girls want to go. Hell, find Lisa and see if she wants to go. The charter service can do without her for a couple of days." Sue came over to me and said, "What's going on, Mercy is about to jump out of her skin?" I explained the quick trip to Sue and she laughed, "I should have known it had something to do with sailing. She's so excited about our planned vacation that she's going nuts over it. She's got all the clothes for the kids planned already. I mean all of the kids that are going. She is really excited." I asked, "What do you think. Want to come along? We could have a night on the boat. That would be nice." Sue said, "I have too much going on right now. I have to go in front of the county board for the permits to build the new building. They're talking that there will be too much commercial footage out here, when there are buildings that could be modified within a half-hour of here. I will explain that I need my people near me, not across town. Besides that, it is our land." "Be nice, Honey, those bureaucrats can be a real pain. They have thin skins, so don't insult them." Sue was heading toward the kitchen as she said, "I know, I know, it's the same old game. They would rather have us give them money than to make it and employ people." I called John, our boat charter manager, to see what his schedule was. His easy response was, "To bring that boat back up here, I'm available in about, oh let's say, five minutes. When do we leave?" "I'm setting it up now, John," I said. "How about picking out a couple of crewmen that can help on a quick trip like this? I'm not sure of the passenger list yet, but we could have a dozen by the time we get out of Miami." John said, "Hell, a dozen people are few enough that they will get lost on that monster. We'll have to put GPS on passengers to find them. I have just the two who would enjoy the trip and would love to crew on that boat. They're in port and not due to sail until next week. I'll get them going and you call me." I called out to the airpark to find out if I can get an aircraft to fly me to Miami. DeDe laughed, "What is this. The day everyone in the company is going to fly somewhere. Chuck, at least, is flying himself. Maybe he can fly you down. He's leaving here around one." I said, "I'll have to find out whether the Lear is big enough. The 55C will only carry ten. I'll call you back and let you know." I found Mercy and she said that all five girls were going. That would be seven with us plus John and two crewmen. There wouldn't be enough room for Ben. Then again, I wondered where Ben was. I called Ben's cell, and when he answered, I asked, "Where are you, Ben? Are you in town?" Ben laughed, "No, Beth and I are in Key West waiting for Chuck to pick us up around two or two-thirty. He's flying us down to Costa Rica this afternoon." I said, "Good, the only thing better would be if you were in Miami. I'll call Chuck and see what he thinks." Ben said, "We can get a commuter into Miami if we have to. They leave here every thirty minutes. It's only forty-five minutes to get there." "I'll call you, Ben. Let me ask Chuck." I called Chuck, "Hey, Chuck, since you're going to the Key's to pick up Ben and Beth, could you fly your girls, John, Mercy, me, and a couple of crewmen down to Miami. I know that would be an extra hour up and down, but if it's a problem, Ben said he could catch a commuter to Miami." I could hear the wheels turning in Chuck's head, but he surprised me when he asked, "How much luggage?" "You know your girls. Just tell them to bring the minimum." Chuck said, "Okay, we can do that it'll only add an hour to the trip down. We can leave whenever you want. I can be ready in an hour. I've got my travel bag and I'm ready. Should I call the girls?" "You call your women, and I'll get everyone else out to the airpark." I went in and stuffed a couple pair of jeans, some T-shirts, shorts, and a couple pair of deck shoes into my duffel bag. I took it and my protection suitcase out to the patio. Glenda said, "I wish I had the time or I would ride up with you. I'll bet that boat is really something." "It is, Glenda. You'll be riding on it soon, anyway. We'll take it out a couple of weekends before our trip. I need to take Chuck out for at least a three or four day cruise to familiarize him with sailing again." Glenda said, "Our trip will be the biggest event of our lives, Steve– since our wedding, anyway. Martin is really excited about it too." Mercy came out and stuffed her clothes into my duffel bag and said, "I'm ready. The girls just called and said they were on their way and had used Chuck's duffel bag for all of them. Let's head to the airpark. John and the crewmen should be about there." Out at the airpark, Chuck was fussing around the Lear, doing his preflight. He was checking over the modification and checking the fuel gauges over and over again. When I brought my duffel bag out, Chuck grabbed it and stuffed it in the luggage compartment and shut the hatch. Shortly, John and the two crewmen showed up with only gym bags. They all said they would just stuff them under their seats. Chuck just shrugged his shoulders. Then came Frieda's SUV with her, Lisa, and 'Oh shit, ' that's eleven. Chuck just nodded and said, "Lisa or Steve can ride up front with me." Chuck grabbed the girls' duffel bag and put it into the luggage compartment too, and this time, latched and locked the hatch down ready to fly. He got everyone on board and looked at everyone, mentally adding up weight. He should be fine considering we didn't have much luggage and had some small people on board. Then I remembered that the aircraft was heavier due to the added fuel tanks. Lisa got into the right seat with Chuck and I saw them go through the startup procedure. While we were taxing out to the runway, some great blues music began playing over the cabin speakers. Lisa announced, "This is music from our Atlanta trip a while back. Hope you like it." When we took off, Chuck really poured on the coals making sure we had enough speed to lift off. We seemed to get into the air easily and were descending for Miami almost as soon as we had reached altitude. All of the women were excited about the boat, so when we landed, they were all anxious to get a taxi to the boatyard. Chuck unloaded the two duffel bags for us and was ready to takeoff almost immediately. Mercy had Chuck off to the side, talking to him as if there might be something wrong, but she came back to the group with a smile. Chuck received kisses and hugs from his women, then we watched as he started up the Lear to continue his journey. The two taxis dropped us off at Magellan at one thirty, where we were then shown through the plant, followed by a formal presentation of the work that had been completed on the boat. The girls were most interested in the interior of the boat and were excited over each of the changes. I was impressed by the way they had designed the two main cabins. Both were oversized, with a lot of room around massive beds. There was a hot tub room between the bedrooms that also contained a cedar sauna. It seemed the boat was luxurious in every way that one could imagine. The galley and eating area flowed through to a large lounge that had distinct areas, so groups could be involved in something without disturbing the other group. The children's rooms were unique as the girls had designed the rooms with multiple bunk beds. There were more beds than kids, but Chuck was trying to remedy that. The guest rooms were extensive. There were a lot more guest rooms with private bathrooms, or heads, than you would think there could be. It did appear that the size of the boat did allow a lot of space to work with. Up in the main deck lounge was another staircase or ladder that went to the roof of the lounge, where there was another hot tub, and a large sunning area for people to lay out. Just strolling around the deck was a treat, as there were so many lockers and items of interest. The topside lounge had a massive weather helm. There were multiple screens with dozens of gauges that reminded you of the cockpit of an aircraft. A great feature was the arrangement of a large chair for the captain, with two couch type seats on either side of it. The visibility was superb and made you feel comfortable inside. There was a large locker at the rear of the boat that contained a heavy duty Zodiac inflatable dingy that was inflated and had an outboard motor on it. Also on the rear deck was a lift with another large inflatable dinghy on it. When we went to look at the outdoor main helm, I was surprised to find only a wheel. John, Mercy, the two crewmen, and I were all surprised at how sparse it was. The Magellan owner opened a couple of large latches and swung out the two large doors that created an instrument helm area that rivaled the one inside. Three radar screens, along with a large GPS screen, were easy to see standing at the wheel, with switches for sail control located within easy reach of the wheel area. One of the very unique features was the computerized monitoring system. The computer monitored every vital function of the boat and displayed a synopsis of the status on the screen. There were even areas you could enter 'What if' questions, so you could make the right sail choices. We were instructed that the outdoor helm was weatherproof, but it was recommended that during severe weather, the helm be closed and secured to limit the corrosive effect of wind driven saltwater. Brandy had been designated to take care of any unfinished business with Magellan, so she and John spent a few minutes with the owners. When she returned to all of us who were still gawking in awe of the massive boat, she was carrying a large satchel that she said contained instruction manuals and guides for all of the equipment on board. Now, Chuck's planning paid off, as he had made sure that our initial shakedown voyage would include one of Magellan's sailing engineers. Also along for the ride were an interior engineer, and a specially hired chef to cook for us and to show the folks how the equipment within the boat and galley worked. The presentation of the boat took almost three hours, which meant we were going to encounter a lot of boat traffic out on the water after a workday. When it was time for us to depart, Mercy placed the girls around the deck to watch for various events, and placed Frieda on the bow with a pair of binoculars and a bullhorn to warn approaching boaters. The huge motors started easily and ran almost completely silent. We cast off with John, the engineers, and our crewmen watching us to make sure we could handle a boat this size. I was able to gently leave the Magellan docks and crawl out to the channel that led to the Atlantic. Our goal this evening was to get out far enough that we could raise sail, then go to the south of Key West and sail back northwest. Our main objective was to get some experience with the boat and to see how it sailed. We also wanted to avail ourselves of the two engineers so we could learn as much about the boat as possible. I used the computer to give me the information for what sail I wanted to raise and initiated the sequences that would raise yards and yards of sailcloth. As two huge sails were hoisted, I had to smile as on the front sail was the cartoon character 'Deputy Dawg, ' on the rear sail was a large S&S logo, and below it, the Quality Wear logo. I wonder whose idea that was? That's when I wanted to look to see what the name of the boat was. Mercy said to me, "No one has named the boat yet, but there are several suggestions. I'm sure Chuck will name the boat soon." I asked Mercy, "So what was the serious talk with Chuck about when we landed?" Mercy said, "He's up to something, and he won't let me in. I can tell that it's something he's uncomfortable with, but he's determined to do whatever it is he's doing. Chuck can sometimes be real scary. You know he wouldn't do anything to hurt you, or anyone else that didn't threaten his family and friends, but he can get involved in things even faster than you. He assured me that he was fine and everything would go well. I made him promise to use his gift if he needed it." Once the sail was powering the boat, I let John man the helm while Mercy and I explored the rest of the boat. On the second below deck, we investigated the engine room, the maintenance shop, and the desalination room. The gym was really nice sized and full of good equipment. The office area was very plush. It had its own small head, and had four portholes for natural light. The two large cabins on this deck were really fancy, and there was the very big, and very modern, laundry room with two huge washers and two huge dryers. I suppose there could be a need to wash a lot of clothes with as many passengers as the boat could carry. The crew's quarters were very nice and comfortable. They had their own galley, as well as two nice heads. There was captain's quarters and bunks for twelve additional crew. The bunkrooms were actually spacious, with only two bunks per stack instead of the usual three. This deck did have a lot of room. Up in the galley, the Magellan chef was busily preparing a baked fish dinner that was going to be good, if the smells were any indication. The big table was set so all of us could eat together. Mercy and I went up to the main lounge, then on up to the sun deck above. We had to laugh as all six of Chuck's women were nude, enjoying the late afternoon sun. Lisa said, "This is better than the nature park. This is so quiet and smooth. I know we're moving as the boat rocks a little, but it is so smooth and quiet." Mercy had to agree. We cautioned the girls to dress soon so they wouldn't burn. They agreed and began dressing right then. We went to see John at the helm and he was enjoying himself while chatting with the sailing engineer. I suggested he take a more detailed tour of the bottom deck as it was very interesting. The engineer and John left the helm and went below. This was very pleasant, but also very exciting, as this boat would soon carry us across the Atlantic to visit Europe and go deep into the Mediterranean Sea. After supper, Mercy and I got together with everyone and discussed what we would do about the direction we were going to take. I wanted to head northwest and get out into the gulf. There was a good storm coming across the gulf, and I wanted to feel the boat in adverse weather. The engineers, John, and the crew thought that was a good idea, so we headed out. We had also agreed to two hour shifts at the helm, with two people responsible for the boat at all times. As always, we were aware of our surroundings and constantly monitored any traffic near us. Mercy took some time and instructed the ladies on what their responsibilities would be if we were to come under attack when we were in some hostile areas. None of them seemed alarmed and were ready to help defend the boat if necessary. They were considerably more mature about it than they acted most of the time. Our first night out in the open Gulf of Mexico was uneventful. Mercy and I took the first shift, from midnight to two, after everyone had settled down. We actually had the helm from about eight on through two as we figured the next shift guys would be tired from a long day. We could sleep through till six and be fairly refreshed. It was funny how this big boat was really nice, but it wasn't like the Mercy Mercy, or the Have Mercy, yet. It didn't have the familiarity the other boats had. Of course, this was just the first outing in it so it was still new and strange. I liked the way it handled, and I enjoyed the way the sails caught the wind. The boat was big enough to have been three-masted, but only had two, with large booms to hold big sails. When John and a crewman came on duty at two, John commented that this boat was really a premium sailboat. He said, "This is a boat for billionaires, an escape boat for the high powered businessman that needs to rewind. You need to advertise it that way and maybe only rent it out to one executive type at a time. They could always invite another couple while traveling." I asked, "How many crew should a boat like this have?" John thought a few minutes and said, "Probably six. A captain, a chef, and four deck hands that are also engine room capable. They would also have to do laundry and cleaning, unless the charter specified maid and wait staff. You could go with a crew of eight to ten if you really thought you need them. The intimacy factor would probably keep the crew small." "You'll have to talk to Chuck to see how he wants to rent it out. You never know what he'll do when he gets a taste of the open sea. He might just drop out and live on board with his harem." John laughed, "When you hired me, I thought you were really over the top to have multiple women. Chuck immediately outdoes you. I can't tell though, are there more women that he didn't bring along?" I nodded, "Yeah, these six are the main players, but he has another young lady that wants to be a part of the group, but she's in medical school right now. You know my niece, Tina, right? There is another, but Chuck wants her to be just a friend, not a part of the intimate group." Shaking his head, John asked, "How does he keep them happy; how does he manage so many women and they stay out of each other's hair?" "There's something about Chuck that is very calming to most people. The man gives off good feelings to those around him. The girls he has are very female oriented, if you know what I mean. They like girls but they adore Chuck at the same time. Their relationships could be interesting in the future, so we'll see what happens." The next afternoon, we were getting into some heavier seas and encountering some winds that were fifteen to twenty-five knots, gusting up to over thirty-five. The sailing engineer assured us we could keep our sail up all the way up to near fifty knot gusts. We kept checking the rigging to make sure it was holding, as the strain from the wind was showing some really heavy pull on the gauges. We did play in the wind some, pulling around so we could tack in the heavy wind in order to feel how the boat handled with a heavy crosswind. The boat is so big there was not a lot of lean. The kids would have a difficult time rolling across the floor. When the heavy storm came with the driving rain, we did lower the sail and power up the engines. We were happy with the boat's easy handling of the fifteen to twenty-five foot waves that broke over the bow. Below deck, Tiani and Judy were a little queasy from the constant rolling from the big waves, but the others did well. One experienced crewman even got a little unsettled for a while. He was in the galley getting a Seven-up and crackers after the first hour of the storm. When the storm finally passed the next day, we turned the boat and began sailing back toward home. I think John, Mercy, and I were happy with the way the boat handled the heavy weather. The sailing engineer said, "You know, this is the first time a new buyer ever put one of our boats through that kind of test. I'm surprised more don't do that, but you've proven that you respect the sea and you know how to handle a boat in weather." Mercy had the girls out on the deck with buckets of clean water, scrubbing the beautiful teak decking where it was installed. She also showed them the proper method of polishing and cleaning the rest of the exposed boat. It was funny to watch the three pregnant girls working so hard to be a part of the crew. I was impressed and felt as if our future trip might be a real pleasure. The two crewmen were scrubbing right along with the others, instructing them as to how to get the clean water to scrub out the salt spray. With our sail up, the rigging dried out quickly, and we used some treated water to wash the rigging as we raised and lowered it in order to treat all of it correctly. Everyone enjoyed a day of sailing in the bright sunshine, with a nice wind pushing us back toward Florida. We were on schedule to arrive in Dunedin around three or four in the morning. We decided that we would just stay on board while tied up at the dock. John said, "The yacht club has installed some great lighting. When we get in close and need the light, I'll use my cell phone to call the number. You push one to turn them on and two to turn them off. You'll like it as the lights are like stadium lights and make the whole club waterline as bright as day. Then to find your berth, you push in the berth number and a rotating blue light comes on at the front of the berth." We slowly made our way into the channel and after turning on the new lighting, we turned the boat ever so slowly, and backed into the new berth John had made ready. Mercy and the two crewmen were doing the lashing to secure the boat to the dock. Once we were tied up, we connected to shore services and switched over. One of the crewmen went to the Mercy Mercy and came back with two bottles of champagne. He said, "This trip needs to be celebrated. Too bad the new owner isn't here, but we'll do something with him too." Even the three pregnant women celebrated with a toast and a few sips. I think we were all very pleased with how well the boat sailed. That's when one engineer said, "Other than the original shakedown trips, this is the first time for this boat to be out on the open sea. Everyone in the company was wondering how it would be and now we have first hand experience. We'll get Steve, Mercy, and John to write up some sailor comments for our advertising. Comments from our customers are what will keep us in business. We do have an order for a sixty-footer right now, but we want some orders for more one fifty plus sized boats." I said, "You never asked us for comments on the hundred and ten footer. That boat is just about as sweet as sailboats get. Mercy would rather sail that one than the big Mercy Mercy." The engineer said, "The original owner of that boat didn't have a great experience with the boat because he didn't know anything about sailing, and if you remember, that boat had been targeted to be a drug boat. We just figured the boat should just be a great boat and leave it at that." Mercy said, "Well, if you ever want some testimonials on it, I'll write something and I know any of the crew who work that boat will happily write some. That is a great sailboat." "You know," John was saying, "the hundred ten foot boat was so magnificent when I saw it that I didn't believe Steve was actually making a deal on it. The man who sold it didn't know how to make it something personal, how to make a boat a happy place. Sue and Mercy remodeled it twice before they got it the way they wanted, and it's been chartered continuously since. People call and ask for it. They'll do that with this one too, when the girls get done decorating it." The two crewmen said they would go on to their house and bring more crewmen back with them to begin scrubbing the boat top to bottom. They said that everyone will want this boat to really shine. The rest of us went below and crashed for a couple of hours. In bed, Mercy said, "This is going to be a good boat for our families. I can feel it. The boat is talking to me already. She wants her owner though. It's as if this boat, although just an object, knows that her owner isn't with her yet. She's waiting. Chuck will have to come see the boat to make it whole." "Mercy, you can be really strange. You talk to something like this boat as if it were a person. It may have a personality, but it is just a boat." Mercy said, "Ah, Steve, you have to feel it. The boat really enjoyed showing off for us, but she knows her master will make her complete. Those ladies were part of her master and made the boat almost complete. It only awaits Chuck." We slept until six and woke to find the girls already busy messing in the kitchen with the chef. The chef was sitting at the counter, watching as the five were busy playing with the big stove and utensils. He would give a direction here and there, and when he saw Mercy and me, he just grinned. "These women were in here just about to take over, so I came out to help them get acquainted with the galley. I think they'll do fine." I used my cell to call home. Sue answered and said she would be on the way over to get us soon. She said, "Call Chuck. He's home, as he came by here on his way home yesterday. He'll want to see the boat too. As a matter of fact, since its Saturday, there might be a lot of people that want to see the boat. I'll wait, and when the patio is full, I'll announce it. Call Chuck though, as he was anxious to hear." I dialed Chuck's cell, "Johnson." "Hey, Chuck, drive over to the marina and see your new boat. Mercy said you need to make your boat happy and show it its master. You need to drive to the airpark and get Frieda's car though, so there will be enough room for your family to get home." Chuck said, "I'll be there as fast as I can. Probably forty minutes, at the most." Brandy had heard me and said, "Maybe we should wait to make breakfast for him?" Mercy said, "No, don't do that. Let's have some breakfast and get the galley cleaned up before the mass hysteria begins. If this is like most of the time, there will be nearly a hundred people showing up." The two engineers and chef said, "We should probably make arrangements for a taxi to get out to the airport." I told them, "Have a little patience and I'll see that you are flown back to Miami as soon as I can get you to the airpark. If there isn't a charter going that way, I'll get someone that needs time in a King Air to get you there." The three were happy to hear that. The chef got me off to the side and said, "Would you be in the market for a chef that enjoys boats? I'm just a casual temp for Magellan and I am looking to find someone that could use my talents. I am one hell of a chef and know how to please everyone's tastes. I have a degree as a nutritionist, and have studied with some great chefs in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. I would love to work on a boat like this or any of the boats I see out here with your logo on it." I motioned John over and asked, "Do you need a chef? This man is looking." John said, "We do need a chef. One of ours just took a job with one of our charter couples. They hired him away from us as they loved his cooking. I'll get you an application and have our personnel lady work your app. We can give you an answer Monday." The man sat back smiling and said, "That will be great. By the way, Mr. Sharp, I used to cook at a restaurant in San Francisco that you probably know, Merlin's. I remember Mercy from there." Mercy had heard that and looked at the guy, "I thought I recognized you. Dad was so upset when you left. Where did you go?" "I was offered a job I couldn't refuse on Donald Trump's yacht and to be the head chef at his hotel in New York. I couldn't stand the city so, after a year, I took a position in Miami and have been there since. I almost called your dad to beg for my old job back, but I enjoy being around the water and would love to work a boat like this." We were having coffee and some fresh rolls the girls had baked when a voice called from the lounge, "Hello, down there. Can a guy get a tour?" Tiani was up the big curved stairs or ladder instantly. Brandy and Lisa followed, but the three pregnant ladies smiled and waited, knowing Chuck would come down. When Chuck was in the galley area and had hugged and kissed his pregnant women, he hugged Mercy, and said, "You sure have been persistent trying to get into my head. Some things are private, Mercy. I was taking care of some personal business. You'll probably know about it in the future, but now isn't the time. Now what's this about this boat needs its master?" Mercy and the six women began talking at once. It was almost comical, as you really couldn't understand what was being said. Finally, Mercy put her fingers to her mouth and whistled loud enough to hurt our ears. "Hey, I was talking," she said. Then, when it quieted, she continued, "Chuck, this boat needed you to come explore it, to let it know her master is on board and likes her. Plan on taking her out soon, very soon. She's waiting for you to take command." Chuck was grinning, but just nodded his head. "I'll take her out right away. I'll probably need some guidance to learn the boat and it has been a while since I've sailed. I do want to sail her though." Brandy said, "Come on, girls; let's show him our cabin and the rest of the modifications." The interior engineer went with them as Chuck was given the tour. He took his time and spent an hour going over all of the cabins on this deck. He didn't even go below to the bottom deck as it had not been changed. When he came back, he complimented the Magellan engineers. "You have done a wonderful job on the boat. It is beautiful. I really appreciate how fast you were too. I'm looking forward to sailing her very soon." There were voices coming from up in the main lounge. People from home began coming down the stairs. That's when Chuck said, "Let me gather my brood and get them out of here so there won't be any more congestion." Lisa and Brandy were frowning at Chuck, "But, Chuck, this is our boat. We want to show it off. Please, let us show off our new boat to everyone. We'll go home early. Do you have something you need to do?" Chuck said, "I do have a quick trip I have to make to see John. It's only for a short meeting, but I need to do it before it gets late." Tiny handed Chuck his keys and said, "Take this to the airpark and we'll pick it up on the way home. Work is work; you have to do what you have to do." Chuck got kisses from all his ladies and said, "I should be back by five or six. Save some food for me." Chuck's women were now complete, as Tina came with the patio crowd as did the super tall, Lena, and her sister, Tina. It was amazing how big Tina looked like a young Bobby. You could tell she was slimming down like Lena, but she still had her family's big heavy look. She was beautiful, but still very large. Everyone explored the boat from top to bottom, looking at everything on it. Glenda and Martin picked out the cabin they wanted, and Glenda went looking for something so she could claim their room. Mercy told her that it would be hers and not to worry. Sue loved the boat and was totally ecstatic with our cabin. It was the same size as Chuck's and much larger than the cabin on the Have Mercy. Sue couldn't believe the closet space that was so well hidden. Again, every cubic inch of space was put to good use. Later, I found her on the bottom deck sitting in the big leather chair behind the desk. She said, "This is a nice office. I wonder if Chuck will let me work down here while we're sailing." I said, "I'm sure he will. We'll all use it. He may have to have some private files, but he'll probably be fine with us using it. Did you see the nice gym?" Sue said, "I did. We can use the gym then get some sun up on that top deck. This is really a nice boat. You know our air charter pilot, John, and Wanda may come along? He was saying he had now hired sufficient staff that some of the people can take a vacation for a change. I think he knows Lisa is going with us, and if he comes too, that will be really nice for him." "We have been pushing out there for quite a while. Now that the fixed wing and rotary wing charter services are well staffed and booked, we can relax a little. It's time to get DeDe and Star some time off too." Sue said, "You'll have to work on that. They may not be interested in time off until Wes wants to take a break." "You're probably right. Say, what did you do with the kids?" "Motocross day, do you think they wanted to see a boat when they can ride their motorcycles? Tina had to beg to be let go. Dennis said he was sure he could get Marie to come over later to look at the boat. Kevin said he would come see the boat when he went fishing tomorrow." My cell phone rang and I saw it was Chuck. He asked, "Since you blew off the trip to Hawaii this past week, what are your plans? I need to make arrangements if I'm going. I did get the Learjet 55C modified for long range and if we want, we can take that. It's a little faster than a G5." I said, "We should go no later than Tuesday or Wednesday and still come back Sunday. Can you go?" Chuck said, "I'm planning on it. I'll make the arrangements. Talk to you later, I'm cranked up and about to takeoff." Wow! I had blown off the trip to Hawaii with the extra days in the gulf. The testing was important, but I should have stuck to my schedule. Oh well, we'll get there soon. It took most of an hour to get everyone ready to return home. We had several different directions to go in order to pick up Tiny's car and to get Magellan folks home. The excitement of the new boat was intense, but life goes on and the boat would wait. At home, all the kids were happy to have had a great day riding their motorcycles. They greeted me as if I hadn't been gone long. Mercy's four hung on her for a minute, then joined their siblings and friends. Life was instantly back to normal. I called Crystal to explain the past week. She said, "Sail the new boat over here and let me see it." "Chuck just might do that. He seems to really like the boat. Anyway, we'll see you by Wednesday evening. We're not bringing a lot of people, just a few. See you then, Crystal." With that done, I could relax on a lazy Saturday afternoon and evening. Around six, Chuck showed up at the patio to have a drink before going home. We chatted for a few minutes, planned to visit the boat tomorrow, and he left for home. I enjoyed being in my own bed, surrounded by all my beauties. We were all in the mood and it took a couple of hours of intense loving to calm everyone. The addition of Mickey had me working overtime, as she wanted some male attention. Sleep did come, and it was a good night's rest. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter and FAA legal knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 41 Chuck For me to not sleep well means there is a crisis. I guess there were many crises going on. It was just after five, but I was wide awake, so I slipped from bed, used the bathroom, mounted my peg and went outside to relax by forming for a few minutes. I was concerned about getting the cash and gold down to Ben in Costa Rica. If I could get out of here with all of it, I could leave here and fly direct. I might have to pull some tricks in Costa Rica to get the stuff to a bank, but I figured I could get it done, either all at once or over a couple of days. This way, I could move as much as I wanted into the new investment fund. Ben had told me he had an offshore investment fund that he was doing fairly well with, but he didn't have a ton of money in it yet. I don't know how much there is to take down there, but there might be a ton of money in all that gold and cash. There was too much of it to transport in one trip, so I was planning on at least two, or perhaps, three trips. The gold is really heavy and needed to be carried with some of the cash at the same time so a bag wouldn't be so heavy. I thought to myself, as I stretched into a position, 'Each two hundred pounds of gold would be worth about a million.' Would that be right? When I checked prices, the hundred gram bars were worth over eleven hundred, so the thousand gram bars should be worth eleven thousand. So it takes around two hundred pounds of gold per a million. I had counted a few drawers and think there was about six hundred pounds of gold so that would be three million. In those same drawers there were over six hundred bundles of money and those were twenty bundles to the million, so that's over thirty million. I'd get it done and get it down there, but it would take a couple of trips. The money was becoming just something that I didn't value. I did value the new house we were getting. I valued the aircraft out at the airfield. I thought the new sailboat would be really nice but, what I really valued were those women sleeping in the house. I brought my stretching to a close and walked back into the house. Lisa was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee and poured another for me. She said, "You looked deep in thought so I let you do your forms by yourself this morning. Is everything okay?" "Yeah, just some odds and ends that I'm trying to straighten out in my mind." Lisa got up and snuggled into me. She said softly, "Thank you for wanting to bring momma and the girls down here. I know she'll be happier when she gets down here. You know she's going to baby all of us. She'll want to cook for us all the time and try to do everything. We'll have to make her just be a busybody in her own cottage." "She'll be fine," I said. "When she meets all the ladies, she'll be happy to cook with them and join them in their card games and gab sessions." Lisa asked, "What do you have for today? I may not have to fly as one of the charters cancelled." "I need to talk to Steve this morning then do a few things at the office. I'm going to run out there real quick so I can catch him for breakfast. Want to come with me?" Lisa answered, "No, I'll stay here for a while. I need to straighten out my clothes in the closet and drawers now that I've transferred into your room. You know the girls have moved most of their clothes over here too. I can't believe your closet and drawers hold everything for six of us." Lisa joined me in taking a shower, then waking up the girls so they could get to work. I said goodbye to them and drove to the park. I was telling Steve that I felt pressured of late because of so many things happening at the same time. He just kept saying he would help, and that it was good that I was becoming more a part of S&S. He even talked about me owning part of the fixed wing air charter service. We agreed he would have John and a couple of crewmen go to Magellan down in Miami and pick up the new boat. That would take care of a major worry. I'd love to go on the boat's initial cruise, but I needed to get Ben and the money down to Costa Rica. While I was having coffee with Steve, my cell rang. It was Ben who said, "How about going to Costa Rica today. Beth and I want to go down there to check out that big condo next to us that's for sale. We want you to buy it. If you do, then Sue and the kids could come down for a weekend sometimes. Anyway, what do you think?" I told Ben, "I can pick you up by noon or one. What do you think?" Ben said, "How about two to two thirty." When told him, "I'll meet you at the airpark about two then." As soon as I hung up, I realized I really didn't know where he was. I called him back and asked him, "Ben, where are you?" Ben said, "At your place in Key West. Beth and I have had a great time. That beach resort is a great place for meals. We've been down there everyday visiting with people." "Okay, Ben, I'll meet you at the private aircraft operations terminal at around two. See you then." Steve was sort of laughing again as he said, "Ben and Beth are really moving around lately. He told me he was staying at a house that you have use of down there. I thought he would stay at our hotel. Sue says her mother liked the house." After saying goodbye to everyone, I drove to the house to pick up an overnight case for me and all the extra suitcases I had purchased, and then I went by Wal-Mart to get four more. At the bank, I cleaned out two safe deposit boxes and filled up eight suitcases. They were heavy, but manageable. My concern was to keep them from being so heavy with the gold that the seams of the suitcases would split. The cheap cases were surprisingly strong. I had a neat little folding hand truck that I was able to haul the cases to the car with. I brought the last six suitcases in and only cleaned out one more drawer that was stuffed almost too full of cash and gold. That would leave two big drawers, but I would take care of those another trip. Out at the airpark, I was stuffing suitcases into the reduced cargo area when my cell rang. It was Steve, "How about flying your girls, me, John, Mercy, and a couple of crewmen down to Miami. I talked to Ben and he said he would take a commuter up if you didn't want to make two stops." I said, "That's how many people?" Steve said, "Your girls, Mercy, John, two crewmen, and me." I thought a second and said, "Okay, that's ten. A couple will have to use the seatbelts on the couch. Since the modification, the aircraft usually only sits eight, with a jump seat for a stewardess when we need one. Come out anytime. I'm already getting the Lear ready." When everyone showed up, there was an extra person, Lisa. Well, Steve or Lisa would have to ride up front with me. When each group arrived, I quickly loaded their duffel bags myself so they wouldn't notice all the suitcases in the compartment. I had to do a quick mental calculation to make sure I wouldn't be overweight. I had a thought; we should have a large scale area like trucks use so we could weigh aircraft before takeoff to make sure of the gross weight. That would be a great double check. We didn't have any trouble getting off the ground and we were quickly landing in Miami. I got the bags out of the compartment for the folks, and received lots of hugs and kisses from everyone. Mercy got me off to the side and asked, "What's going on, Chuck? I can tell you're concerned about something. Let me in, Chuck, maybe I can help." "It's just something that I need to do, Mercy. I need to take care of this and get on with life. Enjoy the boat ride and let me get this done." She said to me, "Chuck, if you get into a situation that you need to control, use your gift. It can be powerful. You can influence people, Chuck. You can suggest to them to think the way you want. Keep that in mind." She gave me hug and seemed satisfied with my answers. Now I just had to get to Key West and then out of there with no hassles. I sure hoped everything would go okay as I was using the painted up aircraft as some additional cover. Since the S&S aircraft had often been to Costa Rica, I figured they might overlook the plane during an inspection. It was not quite one thirty when I landed in Key West. I had radioed for the fuel truck and was topping off the fuel when Ben and Beth came from the operations building, carrying just two small bags. Beth said, "Don't you just love being down here. All you need is shorts and a swimsuit. We didn't even wear those while we were at the house. Rosie was very cool about our nudity around the house. We tipped her and it was from us, not you. We'll be coming back down here." The two stayed in the passenger area and sampled the liquor in the bar. I was glad I had filled the ice bucket. The trip is just about three hours, but I was thinking of just about every scenario that could be a problem during that three hours. The one thing I hoped for was that I was not going to embarrass Steve or his company. After we set down in Costa Rica, a customs man came out to the aircraft to greet us. Ben knew the man and greeted him. They shook hands warmly and the man checked out the cockpit and passenger area of the aircraft. I had opened the cargo hatch and was pulling out a suitcase when the customs man came back to take a look. Thinking of what Mercy had told me, I thought hard, "Tell this man to have a good time here. Tell this man to enjoy being in Costa Rica. Tell this man you want to be his friend like Ben Phillips." I kept thinking those thoughts over and over. The customs official smiled at me and said, "Enjoy being in Costa Rica, Mr. Johnson, please, come stay with us for a while." I said, "I have to go back home and come back today or tomorrow, but I plan on possibly buying a home here." That took the man away from the cargo hatch. He really had not looked into the hatch, only approached it. Beth had called a taxi and it was a Chrysler Town and Country van. While Ben talked with the customs man, I unloaded fourteen big suitcases putting them into the back of the van. I left the aircraft open for more inspections. The customs man protested, but I said, "Hey, that's what you do. I'll leave it open for right now. I'll be back to leave shortly." Ben and I went to Beth's and his condo, then took a quick look at the condo he wanted me to purchase. The place was really big. The man who had lived there had been some kind of super rich playboy. He was selling the place fully furnished with a huge round bed that was actually bigger than my bed at home. I might want to change some of his colors, since I'm not big on red and black bedrooms. I told Ben, "Buy it. Have Beth make the bedroom more presentable and maybe figure out how we can modify it so Steve and his family can all stay in it at the same time. How many maids do you have to have to keep something like this up?" Beth said, "We have two, but they are so inexpensive. Two maids are less than having your lawn cared for back home." Ben and I left to go to the bank. Ben went in and made arrangements for some help to carry the suitcases in. Ben said to the banker, "This isn't all of it. We'll have the rest by tomorrow. Now, we need to count this and deposit it. As far as the gold, let's just put that into a safe deposit box for right now. We can convert some later, perhaps when everything is brought down." As the banker and four tellers began counting, Ben said, "Take twenty of those gold bars out. That will be a little over two hundred thousand. You'll use about a hundred for the condo and you can have a separate account here with another hundred. You'll need it to buy food, pay for your maid service, and all of that. The place may need some maintenance, and you do have a monthly fee, just like condos back home. You do get a discount if you pay by the year. We do that with ours." Instead of twenty, I counted out thirty and said, "Let me have a bigger account for right now. I may come down often for a while. My boss may even want to use a place down here." After watching the folks count money for a while, I asked, "Do we need to stay to watch them count?" Ben said, "No, they are wonderfully trustworthy, a great bank. You'll enjoy doing business with them. They were the ones who handled all the transactions for Steve when we made a big oil deal in Mexico several years back. I've used them since for all of my off shore investments." We took the thirty bars of gold to be weighed and converted to the local currency. Ben and I both signed signature cards for each account and then left to take Ben home. When we got to his condo, Beth had the local real estate representative there with four very attractive and very sexily dressed young ladies. The real estate rep, who was a woman, asked me if I was really interested in the property. I said I certainly was and wanted to go ahead with the purchase. Ben took over for a while and negotiated what I thought was a price so low that it was stupid. The agent thought it was a wonderful price. When they were done haggling, the agent had the four ladies stand, "These are the maids from the apartment. They would like to give you a tour of your new home in Costa Rica. They were well trained by the former owner as to how to take care of the man of the house." Beth was sniggering, almost choking, from holding back a giggle. As one of the four girls took my hand and said, "Please, let us show you how nice your new home will be." I waved at Ben and Beth saying, "Come on, come along. They must know more about the place than we saw before." Ben burst out laughing. I asked, "What's up? What are you two laughing at?" Beth came and pulled me down so she could whisper in my ear, "They are trained to be your sexual toys, as well as maids. They are going to show you how nice you will have it when you are here." I stood up straight and said to the agent and Beth, "Come along with me so they won't try to get me to do something I don't want to do." The agent said, "They will do to you what they wish in front of anyone. If you don't wish to do something, tell them. They will mind. You may have to give them something to let them know they are not repulsive to you." As we toured the apartment, the girls took turns holding my hands and rubbing my arms with their chests. By the time we went up the big stairway to the bedroom area, I was getting excited, but was still determined to put the girls straight about my abstinence from their favors. In the big bedroom, I sat the four very attractive girls on the bed and said, "I have a wonderful family at home with attractive women I consider my wives. Please don't be upset, but I am faithful to them, and will only be intimate with them." The agent translated what I said so they would hear it in their language too. All four looked a little disappointed, and one said, "But you are here and they are there. I see you are interested in us, or is it the two other ladies. Let us help you with the interest you're showing." I smiled and said, "How could I not be affected by your beauty? I still only wish to be intimate with my ladies back home." I took out some cash from my coat pocket and handed each lady a hundred dollar bill. "Please, take this as my appreciation for what you wanted to do for me or with me, whatever. When my ladies come down, you will like them and hopefully you will still wish to continue helping me keep this home as nice as possible." The four looked at their hundred dollar bills and gasped. Then all at once, they were off the bed and hugging me, kissing my face and cheeks. The one said, "Now we want to show you our gratitude more than we wanted to welcome you to your new home. Please, Sir, let us." I did separate myself from the lovely ladies and said, "I must make a hasty trip back home. I may see you again tomorrow, but please remember that we will be great friends, but not lovers." The agent was almost laughing when we left, and said "Those four just received more than many months of wages as a gift. You know you do have to buy them clothes. The next time you get them clothes to wear, you might choose less revealing outfits." Beth said, "Ben would have never resisted. Those four are very attractive. I would have enjoyed watching you take them all on. You could have, you know. The agent and I might have even joined in." I laughed and said, "Darn, I didn't even think of that." We were laughing as we entered Ben's and Beth's condo. I told the agent, "Ben will make arrangements for the money to be transferred and will set up something so you can manage the condo and the staff. If any of them leave, I don't think it takes four to keep the place up. I think two would be more than enough. I'll let my ladies decide that at another time." After a hug from Beth and a surprising hug from the agent, I shook hands with Ben and said, "I'll call you from the aircraft before landing back here. Meet me with the same cab so we can get to the bank. I should be here between noon and one. It's too late today to get back and still get to the bank." Back at the airport, I filed the international flight plan, made sure the fuel was topped off, and called for the customs agent to check the plane before taking off. I shook hands with the agent then began my startup. While getting ready to depart, I was thinking how convenient it is for the international language for air travel to be English. I was also glad for having the experience flying the charters to Europe, as I knew how to file the flight plan. About three hours later, I was in Miami getting my customs inspection. The customs officer even dug through my travel bag. They used a dog to walk through the aircraft and released me. I refueled and headed home. At the airpark, I told the night clerk that I would be using the same aircraft tomorrow, and that there were no maintenance issues. On the way home, I stopped at the trailer park and had supper with Sue, Kathy, and Juanita. We were joking that I had traded my ladies to Steve for them. They were bragging that I had made the better deal. Tiny was teasing, "Hell, he not only gets you guys, he gets all these other women as well." After supper and a beer with the guys, I headed home. There were two Wal-Marts on the way home and I bought all of the suitcases in the size I needed. I hope they recognized their recent sales of suitcases were an anomaly and not a trend. I figured eight more suitcases should hold everything I needed to take to Costa Rica. When I got home, Tina and Lena were having some ice cream in the family room while watching TV. I joined them and they were talking about how neat it was going to be to have a big boat. I mentioned that we might go out on it for a weekend soon and they were both anxious to make a trip. Lena asked me, "Could I ask mom and dad to come along. My sister Tina will want to come to, I'm sure." I told them, "Sure, we'll plan some weekends and make sure they get a chance to spend a night or two on board." When I went into the bathroom to brush and wash, I was alone in the bedroom but when I came back out, there were two heads on pillows in the middle of the big bed. Tina asked, "Can Lena and I spend the night cuddled to you? She promises she won't do anything. I won't promise that, though." We did kiss a lot for a long while. Tina's hand found my interest under the covers, and Lena did what was asked. When I turned to my side to hug Tina's back, the long Lena snuggled up to me and kissed my neck. She had her arm holding me, while Tina worked to fit me into her. Tina turned her head to kiss me and said, "Stay still now, we all need to sleep." Morning found me on my back, with a very intense Tina slowly moving up and down. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open in an "O," as she filled herself completely before she would rise and then slide back down. Just as she was clutching me internally with an orgasm, Lena leaned over me and stuck a nipple in my mouth. The uniqueness of the act had me squirting into Tina as Lena shuddered in a climax with us. Lena pulled her nipple from my mouth and kissed me, then Tina. She said, "That was so good. I think I felt everything Tina did just now. If you do that with me every now and then, Chuck, I promise to be good and leave you be." I gathered the long beauty in my arms and hugged her. Although Tina was still planted on me, Lena was hugging me and received some nice kisses. Tina lay down and got into the kisses as well. She said, "I needed that last night, but I think I liked it even more this morning. Come on; let's get some laps in for some exercise." I said, "How about a half hour in the gym, then some laps?" That got groans, but we did exercise in the gym for a half-hour, then moved out to the pool for some strenuous laps. When we had drifted to the shallow side with the steps, Lena said, "You know, now that Bobby's officially married to that creep, you can be my friend and visit with mom, dad, and Tina. The twins would be very happy to see you, and I know my brothers like you. When I talk to Michelle, she always asks how you are. You know you are still a friend to all of us, even if you won't keep me as one of your wicked women." I laughed, "Wicked woman, huh? What kind of wicked would you be?" "As wicked as you'd let me. That's what I would be." "Oh, Lena, you are so beautiful, I don't know how you resist all those good looking young guys that I'm sure are chasing you." Tina said, "In her defense, you are good looking, keep us very nicely, and we don't have to listen to their childish come-ons. Their lines are from hunger. You wouldn't believe how crude most guys are." Lena said, "Do you know that yesterday, some guy actually asked if he could bring a ladder and fuck me. He just came up to me and said that, as if I would even be interested. That's what I get all the time. Assholes. If some guy were to really be nice and ask me to go get a Coke or something, I would probably go, but crap like these drooling dimwits spew, is not appealing. That's why I'm in my second semester of martial arts. I exercise every day and spar constantly so I can do to these guys what you did to rock brain Rocky horror." I had to laugh at the Rocky horror reference. I'd bet that came from her mom or Michelle, as Lena is too young to remember the Rocky Horror picture show. We had a quick breakfast and the two ladies got ready to leave for classes. Tina said she had an evening rotation tonight and probably wouldn't finish until after midnight. She said, "Their three to eleven-thirty is more like three to two-thirty or three, but then, this isn't as bad as the next step. Internship will be really tough. I'll really be proud to be there though." They left and I was setting the alarms when Wanda came into the kitchen. She was dressed, ready for work. She said, "John called yesterday and wants to talk to you. He's busy doing something and says it's a real bonus for you. Don't know what it is, but he was excited." Looking at my watch, I figured he was still at home or possibly being driven to work. I poured myself another cup of coffee and dialed his cell. "This is Chuck. What's up, John?" "Hey, you lucky fucker. You not only get the brass ring for having possession of the aircraft before we found the money, but you are in for a big bonus from the service for the cash that was found in the other six guys' places. Since you took care of the six that were scaring the shit out of most of the hotshots up here, you are now removed from the permanent shit list to that of renowned and exalted one. Notice that we're not even talking on secure phones." John was excited and said, "Anyway, they are trying to funnel some of the findings to you. I tried to tell them that anyone who would pass up taking over thirty million one time before, wouldn't want anything special, but they are insisting. It is on the QT that they are doing this, but they are going to give you a million dollar bonus, and have the IRS forget that you have it. Someone said that you are being, I think the word is exempted, from any examination for a while so you can absorb some of your bonus. Just report your normal stuff and they won't peer into your soul." "That's cool, John. I had my lawyer, the money guy, find those explosives out on the beach and turn them in this past week. The locals were all excited about explosives washing ashore. I've had all the guns run, and they are all clean. I'll clean them out of there over the next few months and sell them to gun stores. I'll have those nasty little twenty-twos melted down or something. You know that I've got nine of them now. They must be cheaper by the dozen." John said, "That's good that you're taking care of all of that. The cleanup guys from the Secret Service are getting fat from those seven. You should have taken the houses apart yourself. I've heard some stories about a lot of bonuses coming from their investigations." I said, "Like you said, John, I'll never spend it all. But then I am looking for a big airplane. That might take a few mil." John said, "We might confiscate something big. If we do, I'll let you look at it. The Service might just give it to you. Like I said, you are the golden boy right now. Those guys were making a lot of people very scared. The pressure is off and the Bureau has brought in all the folks that were putting up the money. We're getting lots of properties from these guys too. They have a couple of Rolls Royces that just came in. Want one?" "No way, John. I've got a good Chevy to drive. With the nicer paint job and wheels that were put on it, the car looks pretty good too. Well, you know, you rode in it." John laughed, "You're still driving that car that was shot up?" "Sure, I just had the holes patched and had them give me a neat paint job so it doesn't look like a cop car anymore." "I just wanted to tell you, that you're getting a bonus from the Secret Service and the IRS is going to let you skate on it. Everyone made the deal so you are good on it. Otherwise, they would have had to give you over three million to get you one. I told them you were pretty well fixed, but they wouldn't hear of it. They still can't believe you did in a couple of days what ten of their men couldn't get done in two months. The Secret Service wants to put you on, but I told them you were already in their quiet black outfit out west. That shut them up." I said, "John, I may have a neat place for you, and even the Marshal, to go visit. I'll let you know when I get back from Costa Rica. I put a bid in for a place next to my banker down there. It's pretty fancy and comes with four of the sexiest maids you'll ever see." John laughed, "So the plot thickens and you're getting an offshore place now, huh?" "Just an opportunity that I'm checking out, something that I can turn if I ever need the money. It's also a neat place to go to for some relaxation time." "Well, my friend," John said, "I'll be interested in taking you up on the offer of a visit. I'll tell the Marshal so he can begin planning. He's thinking of another visit to the Keys." "Anytime, as the place is always ready. Go down and have some beach time." John finished the call, "The Marshal and I may need to speak to you this weekend. Keep your phone on, okay?" "I'll do that, John. Talk to you later." That was strange; John was talking about a lot of stuff that should only be mentioned on a secure connection, or under secure conditions. Something is up on that. It's as if he wanted to be heard and wanted someone to hear what had happened. It's his bag; I'll let him play those cards the way he wants. Back at the bank, I was able to clean out one drawer completely but only about two thirds of the other. I figured that leaving about six or eight dozen bars of gold in a drawer along with about twenty-five bundles of cash wouldn't be bad. I might need cash sometimes around here. I hauled my eight bags to the car and headed to the airpark. I loaded the plane, along with my overnight bag, and began a preflight. Jimmy came out and asked how the flight was. I told him I didn't need the new tanks, but it was good to have them. I checked weather and filed my international flight plan. I called for a customs inspection and was given the go ahead. They know S&S is a charter company and usually don't hassle them. This was a different flight path, as I was flying direct to Costa Rica from Tampa. It was still right at three hours. When I was about a half hour out, I used the satellite phone to call Ben. I told him that I would be in at twelve thirty and he corrected me, "Ten thirty, my friend. We're two hours behind Tampa. I'll see you at the airport and distract the customs official." When I landed, I was sent to the nearest parking position to the operations building. The customs guy showed up about the time Ben pulled up. The two were yakking away as I unloaded my eight suitcases. I left everything open, offering to have the customs agent check out the plane. He glanced at the suitcases in the van as I kept saying to him mentally, "Tell the man to enjoy living here, tell him you're glad he's moving in, tell the man you are happy to be his neighbor, tell the man to enjoy living here." The guy did shake my hand and say, "I'm sure glad you're moving here or at least have a home here. We are happy to have you. Please come often and enjoy your stay." I'll have to tell Mercy that her suggestion worked. Ben and I drove straight to the bank where the official was happy that I only had eight full suitcases. When I told Ben that I left some in a safety deposit box, he couldn't believe it. I said, "Hey, I just cleaned out what I could find. There might be more and I didn't clean out what some other men had. I'm even getting a bonus for giving so much to the services." Ben said, "I don't know what you do, really, but it must be very important for you to come out ahead like this. You are really wheeling and dealing. I have a place for you to dock your boat down here. I bought you a berth at a very exclusive yacht club. Now Steve and Sue can use the place and they can even have their charters stop in to use the facilities. The monthly upkeep at the club is cheap and you need the exposure. You're going to be considered a big investor down here. Come see what Beth has done to your condo." We drove back to Ben's condo, then walked to my new one. Beth was with a couple of women who were directing workers who were putting up different drapes and refinishing the bedroom. The big room had been re-carpeted since last night. Beth came to me and gave me a hug and said, "I've made this room into a room that can be enjoyed by both men and women. I had the decorator come over last night and they began right away. Don't you just love the way these people get right to it?" "I'm impressed, Beth. Between you and Ben, you're making this place more appealing every minute." About that time, one of the girls, or maids, came strolling into the bedroom carrying a tray with some cups on it. She smiled sweetly and said, "Master Chuck, Miss Beth said you liked strong coffee. This is some of my country's best coffee beans. Please enjoy." My eyeballs must have been bulging, as Beth whispered, "Down boy. I've had to threaten to neuter Ben if he didn't quiet down." The young lady was wearing an extremely skimpy thong bikini while prancing in on very high heels. Holy shit, she was nice. The sweet thing stayed and watched as I sipped the delicious coffee. This was really great. I smiled and thanked her. She walked out of the room with every pair of male eyes, and some female ones too, watching her delicious bottom wiggle up and down as she walked. Beth was almost breaking up. "You know they are going to tease you to the max. You better bring your women down here so they will leave you alone." Ben received a call on his cell phone. He spoke a few minutes, then turned to me and smiled. As he led me from the room, he said, "Wherever you got all of that, go find some more. That's almost another hundred million not counting the gold. You might need the security of the gold, but the cash should be invested down here as well as the investment fund at home. You're going to take a big hit on taxes there, but,,,, " I had held up my hand. "Ben, I told you I'm getting a bonus from the service. I didn't tell you that they are not going to even know I exist this year with the IRS. I'm just supposed to report what we normally report and any special gain can be forgotten about." Ben said, "I don't trust them and I'll report everything. I'll offset a bunch from your philanthropic stuff, but we'll report everything. We won't report stuff from here yet, as it isn't in your name. How about getting about a mil in the bank down here to live on, should you have to come down unexpectedly? That would keep you and yours comfortable for the rest of your lives if it came to having to do it that way." "Probably a good idea, Ben. This can be an escape place for Steve too. It's only three hours away and is a beautiful climate. I'll want to look at the Pacific side too, as there are some beautiful islands over there." "They're all sold now. Very rich men came down and bought them all. The government said they couldn't have them, but could be reimbursed what they paid for them. The folks who didn't work with the government became totally disenfranchised, and lost their land without being paid." Ben added, "There are a few small islands out there off the coast of Belize, Honduras, and Nicaraqua that might still be available. You would have to see if it has water and vegetation before you could get excited about it." I mentioned, "If I were to have an island, it would need to be at least a couple of hundred acres with water and plenty of vegetation. It would preferably have enough length to have a runway long enough for a Lear. I know we're talking about a lot more than a couple of hundred acres, but that's what I would want. It's not a priority though." Ben said, "I'll work on your investments and then we'll see what kind of island we can find for you. I know anything you find, Sue, Steve, and his family will join you enjoying it. That will give me incentive." Two more of the delectable maids came strolling through in their daringly tiny bikinis. They were happy to see me and came up to me to grasp my arm and smile at me. I loved what the heels did for their butts and legs. Wow, they were nice. I told Ben, "If you need extra help, you should use these girls. They don't have a lot to do if I'm not around. I'll have to have people come down to use the place. I'll have to watch out though, as the men will want to make use of the available pleasures that are prancing around." Thinking of how most wives would react, I said, "That could be a problem. I'll just tell them to save themselves for their future husband." Beth had joined us and said, "Just bring Sue and her fellow women along with your women. I'm sure all of them will be able to figure out what to do with them." Beth was giggling as she headed back upstairs to do something. I told Ben that I was going home. I was relieved to have all that stuff moved down here. What's left would be fine for emergencies at home. I took a taxi to the airport and began my preflight inspection. I noticed what looked like something oily on the ground out by one of the wings but didn't think much about it. I did the visual inspection of all the gear, the tires, and the fuel closures after having the tanks topped off. That's when I kept looking at that little six to eight inch oily looking patch. I went to it and knelt down to run my fingers through the almost dry spot. It was oily, a thin oily, probably hydraulic fluid. I looked up and there was an oily patch on the bottom of the wing right where the gap between the flap and the aileron is. I used my cell phone and called the Tampa airpark. After getting Jimmy on the phone, I described what I had found and he said, "You probably have a leak at the hydraulic coupling that feeds both the aileron and the flap. If they don't have someone to work on it, call me back and we'll fly down to fix it. Call me back anyway." I asked, "It is safe to fly?" "You're never safe if you see a visible problem and don't fix it. Why take a chance to lose all of your hydraulic pressure over water. Get it fixed and pressure tested. Call me." I went into the operations terminal and asked about technical service. They made a call and told me to meet the mechanics at the aircraft. Two men came out in a truck to find out what the problem was. I showed them the oily spot then the oily area under the wing. They nodded and one went to get a power screwdriver and some bits while the other re-attached the grounding straps to the aircraft. They asked me to make sure that all power was turned off in the aircraft. While I checked that, they were unscrewing the access panel for the couplings. When they dropped the panel, a lot of fluid came out. At least a glass full, probably over a half-pint. One of the men moved the flap and there was a squirt of fluid that shot over his shoulder. The other man moved the aileron and more fluid flowed out of the feeder coupling. After some more checking they said, "We need to pull your aircraft into the hangar and see if we have the parts for repair. These are Bombardier parts so they should be available here. Do you want to stay with the aircraft or go to a hotel?" I said, "Depends on the time it takes to fix the problem. If it's going to be late before it's fixed, I'll just stay the night. Let me hang out with you until you know what the final problems are and if you have the parts." When the tow motor came out, I shut the stairway door and hooked up the aircraft myself and rode with the tow motor to the hangar. The mechanics loved all of the caricatures on the aircraft and had extra help as they began pulling parts from the wing. This was a good thing, as while the group was working on one side of the aircraft, two more mechanics opened up the access panel on the other wing. Sure enough, those couplings were also deteriorated. One mechanic brought out an English language notification that had just arrived about possible coupling problems. It was suggested that both couplings and hoses be replaced at that coupling and the coupling feeding the wing. They had a set for one entire wing but not the second set. They began calling other parts suppliers to find the parts they needed. It was during this period that my cell phone rang. It was a stateside call. Jimmy was calling, "Hey, we just got a bulletin to be on the lookout for deteriorated couplings. Yours are pretty new as we replaced everything when that aircraft was brought in. Everybody and their cousin is calling for parts, so there aren't any. How are they fixed down there?" I said, "They have enough for one wing but not the other. The other side shows some real bad deterioration. It's like the metal the coupling is made of is tin or something equally as flimsy." Jimmy said, "We're tearing our other Lears down tonight to check them. The earlier couplings are fine and unless they have had a mandatory change from a major, they should be okay. The old couplings should last forever. The new hoses will probably need changing over time, but not the couplings." I told him, "It looks like I'll be stranded down here for a while." Jimmy answered, "No way, Jose. I already called Bombardier to have them ship you the parts on the first available flights straight through. They will ship enough for both wings, so tell your people there to hold up for right now. When you get back, we'll do all of the couplings on the whole aircraft to be sure." "When do you think the parts will get here, Jimmy?" He answered, "Probably tonight. There are flights out of Canada, non-stop to Miami and plenty of flights from Miami to where you are. Bombardier said you should have parts by one or two in the morning. Get it fixed and bring it home. Make sure they pressure test the lines and that there is no drop off on pressure anywhere. They know how to check it. Call me when it's done and I'll talk you through a cockpit check." "Thanks, Jimmy, I guess a beer is in order. I'll buy you one on the patio when I get back." "It's a deal, Chuck." I told the mechanics what was happening and they were instantly on the phone to Bombardier to order more parts for their other customers. One of the mechanics was already opening up another Lear that was in the maintenance hangar. I called Ben and told him what was up and that I was taking a taxi back to his place. He said, "Stay in your own condo. The bed is made up and I'm sure there's food. Come out with us tonight. We're going to the yacht club you just bought a membership at. They are supposed to have great food." "I'll do that. The less time I spend around those women, the better. They could become distractions." Ben said, "Come on, we're going to dress for tonight." I protested, "I don't have anything but what I have on and a fresh shirt." Ben said, "Here talk to Beth." When I explained that I didn't have any nice dress clothes, Beth said, "Tell the taxi driver to stop at the La Tux men's store on the way. Have them fit you real quick with some pants, an open collar shirt, and sport jacket. They'll fix you up. They're not cheap, but they are quality." The taxi driver knew the store and said he would wait. When they began fitting me, they almost had a stroke over my gun and the prosthesis with another gun. I showed them my badge and they felt better. When I tried on the pants, they marked them, and I took them off. I tried on the sport coat and it fit very well, and even fit where I wore the gun without bulging. By the time I was back in my regular clothes, they had my new clothes including the shirt, altered, steamed, and pressed. They had me try on a very nice pair of slip on shoes. These were nice on my foot as it felt like they were specially made just for me. They said they would go with the pants and sport coat, along with the belt they gave me. I was figuring the bill would be at least a thousand to fifteen hundred when they said it was only five hundred and thirty bucks. I peeled off six hundred U.S. and they gave me a ton of change in Colons or what they referred to as CRC. The owner of the shop who spoke very good English explained that my purchase was worth three hundred and thirty thousand Colons. He said that few people could afford clothes such as I had purchased. I agreed, thinking that I needed to see the folks at the men's merchandise mart. When I showed up at my condo, I had to ring the doorbell. All four ladies met me at the door. The obvious leader said that Beth had told them I would be staying over. They took my bag and the garment bag from me and told me that I needed to get ready to go with Ben and Beth. Upstairs, the four began stripping me and jumped back when they saw my gun. I explained by showing them my badge and telling them about being a Deputy U.S. Marshal. I couldn't get rid of them, and when my pants dropped, they jumped back again because of my prosthesis. I had to explain in slow English that I had lost the leg in the war. They became overly touchy then. Not good. I finally said, "Please, I need to shower and shave quickly. I don't need assistance to do that." I think only one understood English well, while the others followed what she did and they spoke in Spanish as they followed. I grabbed a pair of shorts from my bag and went to the bathroom, where I took off my leg and hopped toward the shower. I didn't make it to the shower before four very cute naked ladies joined me to hold me up while I tried to wash. This was definitely a challenge, as I could feel myself growing the whole time I was in the shower. I finished quickly and had to stand while they dried me and stood to watch me shave. They didn't touch me improperly the whole time, and actually were very nice. I put on my clothes, along with a pair of socks from my bag, and was ready to go. The four, still naked, stood looking at me, nodding their approval. The one said, "We will be waiting." It was time to at least find out their names, so I asked. The talking lady said pointing to the shortest, who was always on the left, "This is Minell, the next is Flori, this is Mertine, and I am Maria." I asked, "Do the others speak any English?" "Oh yes, they speak English very well, but I am the oldest and am in charge. What I say is important. If you ask them, they will speak." I said, "Thank you for helping me dress ah, Minell, Flori, and Mertine. Thank you, Maria. Please dress as I will be back soon. Good night." Ben, Beth, and I took a taxi to the yacht club where we were treated like visiting royalty. The manager came to visit and wanted to know if it was true that I was the new owner of the hundred and seventy-five foot Magellan. He made me promise that I would be bringing it soon. He handed me a card that resembled a credit card and said, "This will allow you to enter the club at anytime. Our bar is open twenty-four hours. You can also get something to eat anytime. After we were seated, I explained the reactions of the people to my guns to Ben and Beth, and they thought it amusing. Ben said, "They don't openly carry guns here. You'll notice even the police hide their guns." When I told of the difficulty in taking a shower and dressing, Beth said, "If Ben had been in your place, I think there would have been four well fucked little girls." Ben said, "Watch your mouth, Beth. This is a fancy place." Beth replied, "But I'm not fancy, Ben. You know that, especially when you want me on my knees." I was the one laughing now, as Ben colored from the comment. Beth said, "It's easy to embarrass him. I love it because he's always putting on airs." We enjoyed a delicious dinner served by very attentive waitstaff. As the meal was concluding, the manager came to me and said, "Mr. Martinelli wishes a word with you. Please, let me introduce you." When Ben began getting up with me, the manager held his hand up and said, I'm sorry, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Martinelli specifically stated only Mr. Johnson." Ben and I both frowned, but the manager looked apprehensive enough that I walked with him to another rear table to meet a large rotund man with red cheeks and massive hands. Four very attractive young ladies, that rivaled the four I had at home, surrounded the man. The manager said, "Mr. Martinelli, this is Charles Johnson, Mr. Johnson, Dominick Martinelli." Martinelli didn't attempt to stand but raised a massive hand toward me. When I took it to shake it, his grip was weak, soft, the kind of handshake that makes you gag or shudder. I smiled at the man as he removed his hand from mine and reached for a large piece of meat and popped it into his mouth. He chewed it for a few seconds, swallowed, then waved at me, "Sit, have some goat. Dino, bring the man a drink. What do we pay you for if you can't make a guest comfortable?" The manager scurried away, while Martinelli popped another piece of what I now knew was goat, into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "I understand you will be bringing a very large boat here. Are you aware of the pirate situation out in open water? It is very bad, very, very bad." The manager brought me a drink that appeared to be another Beefeaters, but I wanted to sneak up on it to make sure. I smiled at Mr. Martinelli and said, "I have a very well trained crew. We've fought off attempted hijackers in the area before and also in parts of the Pacific." "So this isn't your first visit here with a boat?" I said, "Actually it is my first here with a boat, but not the first in these waters." Martinelli leaned forward on huge forearms and looked at me intensely, "Let me tell you, no one is safe in these waters, or even this club, unless they are protected by me. I do this for all of the friends of the club and I am willing to do that for you. Since your boat is the size it is, I will be happy to protect you for a hundred thousand Colons a month, you know, about two hundred U.S. and when you are in port another five hundred thousand a week, or a thousand dollars." "I'll tell you what. Perhaps I will keep this membership for the restaurant privilege only. As far as the pirates, I value my boat too much to take a chance by bringing it down here if there are real pirates. I don't see any reason to take a chance with hijackers or pirates, do you?" First Martinelli frowned, then his lips curled up in a smile, "You don't understand, gringo, this is my country, I tell you when you can enjoy yourself and I tell you when to give me a tribute. You will be happy here if I am happy. You will give me this small amount each month and I will expect you to bring your boat here as well. I am very well connected in your United States and can cause you a great deal of unhappiness wherever you may live there. My friend, the Master, takes care of people from the states that bother me. I don't know you yet, but I will. You do this for me and I will allow you to be happy. Now go, get away from me, you are making me angry, I will send for my tribute tonight." I didn't know what to do with this bully because we were in a very nice place with lots of people around. I had not checked to see if there were others watching him or me. It just hadn't occurred to me that you had to pay protection money to be happy in Costa Rica. As I got up, Martinelli said, "I know you are staying in the big playboy condo up the hill. My men will be by in a little while for my tribute. Please, don't disappoint them. They could be very ungentlemanly to your little friends. Now, get out of my sight. You have embarrassed me in front of my chicas." I went back to the table and smiled at Ben and Beth. They were ready to leave and stood. Ben asked, "Did you enjoy meeting our local Don. The man thinks himself the king of the area and asks for taxes from the U.S. residents down here. We give him the equivalent of about twenty-five bucks a month to make sure no one bothers our condo or maids. That's cheaper than a security service back home." As we got into a taxi, I said, "I wish you had warned me about him, as I'm not happy with the way the man wants to threaten me. Personally, I think the amount he's asking for is too much considering I'm not here that much. He wants a premium when I have the boat here, and demands I bring it soon." Ben laughed, "Get used to it, Chuck. This is the way it is here. If not him, another would figure out a way to coerce us into giving them something. Their greed doesn't match that of a stateside gangster, and we are sort of using the place for our personal entertainment." As we got out of the taxi and walked up to their condo, I said, "Ben, you paid good money for this place. You employ two ladies to take care of your place, plus use local labor to remodel and do all sorts of odd jobs. You are contributing to their economy. You shouldn't have to pay for the privilege." Beth looked worried, "Don't rock the boat, Chuck. You have enough money to just pay this guy and let it be. Don't make him angry. You don't know what kind of clout the man may have in local politics. Perhaps you shouldn't own a place down here if you're concerned about something like that man." I shook my head and said goodnight, walking over to the big condo a little farther up the hill. As I approached my door, I thought I saw movement down at the street level. It looked like someone moved back into the shadows or behind something when I rounded the corner. Oh well, come have some fun, Buddy, I'm a little aggravated. I tapped at the door and it opened to show me the four ladies lined up and waiting for me. They were dressed in gauzy, near opaque, short gowns that were very attractive and didn't make them look too inviting, although the four were all extremely good looking. I motioned them toward the large living room and had them sit. I asked Maria, "Who is this Martinelli person? Tell me about him. Is he connected to the police? To politicians?" Maria frowned, "The man never wastes time when he thinks he has a chance to get money from someone. He takes money from shop owners and even the poorest seller in a stall at the market. He likes to take a few Colons from everyone as he says that it is the way to pay tribute to someone who rules and protects them. When people object, bad things happen to them. Their wives and daughters are raped, the sons beat up, their homes burned, or business robbed. Girls that are maids such as us must pay also. He says girls like us who take care of our employer in bed must pay more. He calls us whores or even worse." I asked, "Does he have protection from the police?" "No, but they leave him alone because no one will talk about him. Martinelli has many men who he pays to keep him safe. The former police chief tried to put him out of business, and now the old chief is laying in the graveyard. Even judges pay him tribute." "How come the Costa Rican government doesn't do something about him?" I was really wondering how this could be. "Does he have family that are around in the government?" Maria continued, "Martinelli came here from Italy or Sicily years ago and just began threatening people. No one stood up to him, or when they did, they disappeared. Now, the man has many bodyguards and many women who wait on him. I would be afraid to say this to anyone else, but he is a pig. A huge pig who always looks like he's going to eat you when he looks at you." I looked down in thought and then looked back up. "He is sending someone to collect money tonight. I will give it to them now, but I do not like this. When you know me longer, you will know that is not good. I will find a way to end this." Almost like magic, there was a knock on the door. I motioned for the girls to leave the room, to go upstairs away from the door. I pulled the pile of Colons I had received as change earlier and saw it was not enough. I pulled two hundreds from my wallet and had that. With the money in hand, I opened the door just far enough to view the person knocking. "May I help you?" I thought I was being polite. A very large man slammed the door into me knocking me down as he and three other men entered. The four stood over me and said in very good English, "Mr. Martinelli is not happy with you. We are here for his gift." I had edged back and was pushing up to stand. The big man put his foot on my chest and said, "Stay there, you look good on the floor." One of the men pointed at the area above my shoe and said, "He only has one leg, he's not a problem." The big man said again, "I like him on the floor anyway. I see you are smart and have your gift ready. I think you should give something extra to make Mr. Martinelli like you more. Say, how about another hundred in greenbacks. That will make him like you lot." There were four of them. Bad odds, considering I was starting this from the floor. They hadn't noticed my gun yet so I needed to keep that concealed. Somehow, I also needed to get up from the floor. I smiled at the big man and said, "I guess you have me. Help me up and I'll get your boss a nice gift." The man said, "You are lucky, the boss didn't give me the okay to enjoy your chicas. We know you have nice ones and I would enjoy them. You remember, we can knock you on your ass anytime. You don't give Mr. Martinelli a hard time about your gift; you just give it to me when I come to see you." He reached down and with one hand under my armpit easily lifted me to my feet. Watching the four, I brushed off my sport coat and rubbed my hand across my buzz cut. As I pulled my wallet from my back pocket, I pulled a hundred from it and started to hand it to the man. As he reached for it I pulled it back and said, "You know, if he likes something like this so much, perhaps he would like more. If I were to be able to look him in the eye when I give him a nice gift, I would want to give him more." The big guy was so used to people being muscled into compliance he smiled and said, "When would you like to see Mr. Martinelli to give him this gift?" "How about right now? I'm ready to go see him right now." The man frowned and said, "I will call to see. He usually doesn't like to be disturbed when he is eating and entertaining his ladies." The big man talked on his cell phone then when he closed it, said, "He is pleased you wish to see him to give him a nice gift but he can't see you tonight. I will come for you at ten o'clock in the morning." I said, "Sorry, I will probably be gone by then. I have to get up early to leave in the morning. The next time I'm here, I'll come." The man stepped toward me and said, "You will come tomorrow morning. If Mr. Martinelli says tomorrow, it will be tomorrow. If I need to stay here to make sure you will come, I will. Enough of your telling me what to do." This wasn't working out right. Now that I was standing, I could handle the four of them, but I didn't want to kill or wound them. My displeasure was with their boss. I asked, "Does your boss live far? Will it take long to get there?" The big man replied, "As long as it did for you to come home from the yacht club. We'll go there in the morning and you can join him on his beautiful yacht." Thinking that would be a better place for doing something, I said, "Then I will see you in the morning." The four were actually fairly polite and backed out, closing the door softly. As soon as they left, I watched as they made their way down the hill and got in a car parked there. The girls came down the steps and asked, "Did they hurt you? Did they take your gun?" I said, "No, they didn't hurt me or take my gun, but I don't want blood on my new carpet. Do either of you have a bicycle or something like that I can borrow?" Maria said, "We each have motor scooters to get around." I smiled, "Can I borrow one for a few minutes? I promise, I'll bring it right back." Maria led me to a lower level and showed me the four motor scooters parked in the garage behind an old Mercedes 450SL. I said, "Open the door for me and I'll use one of these for a few minutes." In seconds, I was buzzing down the hill toward the yacht club. As I turned the last corner, I saw the car that the men had gotten into, move away from the attended gate. I pulled up to the gate and dug out my card. The security guard looked at me funny, but smiled and said "Buenos noches, Senor." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter and FAA legal knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 42 Chuck After parking the motor scooter next to the club, I walked toward where the men were getting out of their car. I watched as they walked a short distance to what looked like a seventy or eighty foot motor yacht. Three of them stood outside as the big man went inside the yacht. After a few minutes and some laughter from inside the boat, the big man came out and the four boarded a large barge-like houseboat across from the yacht. There were just a couple of lights on in the houseboat and they went out within five minutes. My eyes were now accustomed to the dark and I saw only one man, who was probably a night guard, on the motor yacht. He wasn't very alert as he mostly just sat with his feet up on the rail of the boat. I needed to get at him, and then figure out a way to get rid of the other men on the houseboat. After watching the man nod off a couple of times, I looked around for something to attract him. There was a bolt and nut lying on the ground where I was standing, so I picked up the nut and threw it to the dock on the side of the yacht. The guy sat up quickly and looked over the side. He couldn't see anything, so he went to a locker and came back with a flashlight. He looked all around, trying to see what had made the noise. When he went to look on the other side of the boat, I threw the bolt to the dock. Luckily, it hit a metal bucket hanging on a dock support. The man came running back to look, but this time, he walked down the boarding plank and began looking on the side of the dock. He had come fairly close to me and had just turned, shining his light along the dock. A short two steps and a quick choke hold, cutting off his oxygen, and he was soon laying on the dock, out cold. I yanked his shoe laces off his sneakers and used them to tie his wrists behind his back. I tore one of his shirt sleeves off and stuffed it into his mouth. I tore the other shirt sleeve off and used it to hold the gag in his mouth. With a lot of effort, I dragged and carried the man down to houseboat and laid him on the deck. I walked down the dock until I was at the far end of the houseboat. I loosened the rope that was holding the boat to the dock then walked back to the front and untied that line too. There were a couple of shore connections that I released and removed. Being careful to not make any noise, I lifted the boarding ramp from the side and set it on the dock. That was all that was holding the boat. I pushed it out of the dock, slowly letting the outgoing tide aid in guiding it out of the dock area and out into the lagoon. Hopefully, the boat would continue to drift until it was out of the yacht club harbor and actually at sea. Now for the real problem. I could tell that the cabin lights on the yacht were now out, but that didn't mean everyone was asleep. I also didn't know how many men might be on board to guard this 'king of the area.' I kept thinking, "Don't kill anyone. Do this without killing everyone." But then, I kept answering myself, "How do you convince someone that they are not a king? If they shoot at me, should I shoot back?" I wished I had my silencer. I actually wanted one of those nasty little twenty-twos with a silencer on it. Damn, I didn't think this through very well. There was a chair just inside the front main deck entrance that was probably for the guard during bad weather. I opened the door nearest the chair and found a laundry and storage room. There was a coil of thin line there, so I used the knife that was laying there and cut off four pieces about six feet long. They would immobilize someone if I needed to do that. I went to the deck below to get at the master cabin. There was a nice galley with a dim light. As I went to the door near the master cabin, I opened it slowly to look inside. My eyes were aided by some light coming through the porthole. This was a small cabin, but it was empty. Across from this door, I opened the other door and found an exact copy of the other side, also empty. Hopefully, there wasn't anyone else near. I opened the large door with the ornate handle that had to be the master cabin. The door swung open soundlessly and revealed the huge man on an oversized bed with two women, but there were at least four women sleeping on the floor. One of the women on the floor had a bloody face and another was lying kind of funny. I saw a third was actually awake. Her eyes were following me. I put a finger to my lips to indicate to stay quiet. She nodded ever so slightly. Then with her hand, she pointed at the girl who was lying funny and then put her hand on her throat in a choking manner and stuck out her tongue. I could see a tear forming in her eye. That's when I pulled my Glock and moved toward the bed. Above the head of the bed was a shelf with some interesting gadgets. There were several pair of handcuffs and other types of locking restraints, along with a ring of keys. Also among the toys, there was a Billy club and a couple of nasty looking whips. In the back, to one side of the shelf area, was a revolver that looked like a 357. I reached for the revolver and stuck it in my belt, then picked up the club and poked the girl on this side of the big man. She looked at me and the gun and gasped. I put my finger to my mouth again and motioned for her to get up. She did, after she reached across to the other girl and poked her and had her get up with her. They both moved to the far side of the room, hugging each other. I saw the marks on their backs that must have come from the whips. The big man was on his back, snoring with his mouth open. I poked him in his huge belly attempting to wake him, but he kept right on sleeping. I wondered why none of the women had killed him in his sleep. Since he didn't wake up with the poke in the belly, I used the Billy club to whack him hard on the shoulder blade. I was beginning to feel pretty mean, so I gave him a whack on the bridge of the nose. That wasn't nice, since he struggled to grab his nose and woke up cussing. He looked at me, then the gun in my hand pointing at his face. The man didn't hesitate; he struggled up and tried to reach the side of the bed where the revolver had been. Almost laughing, I swatted his hand with the club then watched him grimace in pain as he clutched his hand. He then reached to a big button on the side of the headboard and pushed. If that brought people, I was ready. If the buzzer was wireless to the men on the houseboat, they would be surprised. I was hoping it was wired and I had disconnected it. The big man and I waited, but no one came, so I said to him. "I think you murdered a young lady last night. You will have to pay for that." While still trying to hold his nose and hand, he sputtered, "She's nothing but a whore, hardly worth a Colon. She's worth nothing. I've already paid too much to own her." That pissed me off, so I cracked him across the mouth for being so foul. He looked at me evilly and said, "You will die for this. I will have my men cut you up and cook you. I'll feed you to the peasants of this place. If you think you can run, the Master will take care of you in the states." The man actually began laughing that villain laugh like cartoon movies used to have. Knowing that the man was too big to cuff his hands behind his back, I slapped one cuff on his nearest wrist and rolled him over on his stomach. As he was laughing and cussing at my attempt to cuff him, I slapped another cuff on his other wrist then locked the two cuffs together. That would hold him. I pulled the line from my pocket and tied his feet together. The man kept making lots of noise, cussing in multiple languages and spitting at me. I tore off a large chunk of pillowcase and stuffed it in his mouth. I hadn't noticed, but the five girls in the room had gently moved the dead girl away from the bed and were now standing behind me. One picked up the Billy club and hit the big man across the knee. Oh my, but that would hurt. Another girl grabbed the club and whacked the guy on his elbow. The third got him on the foot, while the fourth and fifth took their turns to nail him on the other foot and elbow. Not wishing to let the ladies get too violent, I asked them quietly, "Is there anyone else on this boat?" One of the ladies was a fair skinned blonde, and she said, "No, the men, cooks, and maids are all on the boat across the dock." I said, "Let's go let the lines loose on this boat and take it out of the harbor area. I think we might be able to talk to Martinelli better out at sea. Although I had a little experience as a captain of a sailboat, I didn't know much about powerboats. Hopefully operating this wasn't much different than the sailboat with the engines. The boat had been backed into the dock so I was able to pull up the boarding ramp, untie the front and rear lines, and prepare to move away from the dock. At the big helm area, there was a red sign that said, "Turn on fans before starting engine." I thought this was a diesel engine but I did as instructed. After the fans had been on for a couple of minutes, I started the engines. There was a separate sign that said, "Switch from shore power." I ran outside and disconnected the shore connections. Nice that there was something to remind me. I wasn't much of sailor yet, so this could be an experience. Back at the helm, I figured out how to engage the props and began idling away from the dock. Steve had instilled in me to move slowly when you were unsure of how or where you were moving. As we idled through the harbor lagoon, I saw the houseboat drifting farther away from the harbor out to sea. I wish I had a grapple with a long line so I could just tow it far out to sea so it would catch the southern currents that would take it toward Antarctica. As I passed the outer buoy, I flipped on the running lights to alert any other boats that I was moving. I did note the position of the harbor opening on the notepad next to the primitive GPS at the helm. When I was about ten miles out, I idled down and took the boat out of gear to drift while I went to check on what the women were doing. Two women were in the galley treating two of the others backs where whips had cut them so bad. That was a horrible thing for Martinelli to have done. As I headed toward the master cabin, one of the ladies broke free and ran to me, holding her hands up. She kept shaking her head not wanting me to go into the cabin. The blonde, fair-skinned girl wasn't there, and I needed to find her. As I went for the door, the girl I wanted to find came out of the door. I thought at first that she was hurt as she was covered with blood. She looked at me and smiled, "That bastard will never kill or maim anyone again. I finished it once and for all. You can tell the police, but I don't care. He killed little Carla last week, then Susan, and now Celine. Who knows how many he has killed and dumped out here in the ocean. The man was so horrible; I know it was only a matter of time before he would kill me too." I told the girl, "Strip, get those clothes off and find a shower. When you're clean, help these other girls treat their wounds." I didn't want to look at the room, but opened the door to look. On the bed was the two arms still held together by the handcuffs. Parts of the huge obese man were all over the bed. I almost got sick, but remembered what the man had done. After shutting the door, I said to the girls who were all looking at me, "We'll go out about ten more miles and dump him overboard. You girls need to begin cleaning up that room. I don't know how you'll do it, but you need to clean it." About thirty minutes later, I stopped the forward movement again and, while at idle, considered what to do. I didn't have to do anything. The girls began carrying sheets full of body parts to the side of the boat and dumping them over. They had made three trips and were headed below again when there was a sudden frenzy of activity in the water. Several sharks had been attracted by the blood and were now tearing apart the pieces remaining in the water. The girls had stopped to watch the carnage and all of them were grinning and laughing. This was a very macabre scene. A little while later, a nude blonde girl came up the ladder from the galley and handed me a cup of coffee. She asked, "May I reward you for saving us? All of us want to reward you." I smiled gently and said, "Please, put on some clothes and prepare to meet the world when you return to the dock. All of you may remain on the boat if you want, but you all need to clean this thing up." She said, "The bedroom is mostly clean. We have brought Celine up to take her to her parents. They knew she had been taken by Martinelli. He gave them a thousand Colon and told them they were being overpaid. She was not an only child, but was the oldest and was working to help the family. They will have some comfort to know she is no longer with Martinelli." It made me sick to think someone would think a human was worth less than two dollars. I asked, "What will the police say when you bring a dead Celine?" "Nothing, they know she was taken by Martinelli and would not confront him anyway. Now they don't have to worry about it. Soon they will realize he is not here any longer and his men are gone too. We didn't even pass the houseboat on the way back." We idled into the lagoon and yacht club harbor area where I turned slowly then reversed the props to slowly back into the dock. I didn't bang the fenders on either side much and was able to be almost stopped by the time the back of the boat hit the fender area at the rear of the dock. I jumped off and tied the lines on the back, then the front. After putting the ramp back in place, I reconnected the shore connections. All the girls were now dressed in shorts and regular tops. They looked like the young ladies they were. The blonde asked me, "Can we stay on board for a while? There is food here and we will be safe if the other men are not here. If they come back, I think we will kill them too. Please, give us the gun Martinelli had." Hoping the others understood, I said to her, "You know you can't just kill people. The police might come and take you away and put you in jail, or worse." She said, "No one will ever say anything against you or us about this terrible man that was on this boat. Now the boat is yours. He killed the couple that used to own this boat because he wanted it. They were nice people who came here to retire. I knew them and worked for them as a housekeeper. They had no family and only wanted to live a peaceful life. Martinelli killed them and took the boat. No one has contested him or even questioned him when he said he bought the boat from the couple. I know where he keeps the papers, you will see. Can you come back down to the boat today? I want the manager of the club to know you are the new owner of the boat. If you need money to pay the club, there is money in Martinelli's safe. Money he took from everyone. He kept it all right here on this boat." I said, "Why don't you keep the boat and live on it. You keep the money and live here." The girl smiled and said, "I want a man to look after me. I want a man, such as you who has rescued me, to keep me. Won't you do that?" I said, "You don't even know my name. How can you want someone like me to keep you?" "But I do know your name. Martinelli and one of his men talked about Charles Johnson all day yesterday and last night after they came back from seeing you. They said you were called Chuck by other people. They know you have money and they wanted it." "I see. Did they know I am committed to women in the U.S.?" The girl said, "No, they don't know you are a man such as you are. Keep us; we won't make your other women angry. We will serve them too, but I want you to keep me and I'm sure the others will want you to keep them. We need to go to the doctor to make sure the pig did not make us sick. He made us take care of his filthy men, as well as himself. If we didn't do as he asked, he would whip us and then kill us. Please, keep us." When it looked like I was going to agree, the girl said, "Can you give me some money, only a few Colon to go to the doctor and to give to Celine's parents so she can be buried? They will want to thank you for rescuing her body. Please let them." I went below to a small cabin that was pointed out to me. It had a big safe in it and the door was open. Inside the large safe were stacks of money. There was a lot of U.S. currency, some Canadian, some Euros, but mostly big bundles of Colons. I took two bundles of Colons and handed them to the girls. I said, "Give some to Celine's parents and use some for the doctor and to buy plenty of food. If you need new sheets or more cleaning equipment, buy it." I took the blonde girl that was the speaker with me to the master cabin. I was impressed. The floor was actually clean, as was the bed and surrounding area. I asked, "What did you do with all those things he used to tie you up and to hurt you with?" "We threw them away when we threw him away. Everything that hurts people is gone. Can we show you how we would enjoy making you feel good?" "I'm still committed to the girls in the states. Where are you from anyway?" "I'm from Philly. I ran away when I was fifteen and found my way down here on a rich man's boat. I've lived here almost nine years now, and have learned the language, as well as the customs. I can live here now without getting into too much trouble." I handed her the gun and said, "Be careful with this and only use it if you have to. Remember that you only have six shots and you must make each one count. If eight men come at you, perhaps you might want them to be lined up so one bullet will hit more than one." She said, "Men are cowards. If I shoot one, the rest will run. With the sound, many will come, but none will bother us if they know we are armed. Since this is a boat, the police will leave us alone." I yawned and said, "It's morning and I must return a motor scooter to its owner. I will try to come by before I leave." When we went topside, the manager of the yacht club was standing on the dock. When I walked out, he grinned and asked, "Does this boat have a new owner? Will you be keeping it here? You are a member and you will only have to provide docking fees." The girl came forward with a stack of Colons and asked what fees would be owed for a year. The manager said, "Oh my, all inclusive you could keep your boat here for very little. Let me count out what would be correct." The girl watched as the manager counted out some of the paper money, and handed back most of what she had given him. He said, "Thank you, Sir, for being a great member of the club. What did you do with the houseboat?" "The last I saw of it, the boat was heading out to sea. I suppose they had someplace to go." The manager looked confused, but reached for me and hugged me. He said, "I think you are a hero here in this community. Please, don't be like the one who is gone." The girl said, "He won't be, he is a good man inside and will be a good person to all." The manager actually had tears in his eyes. He said, "Now the people in the community won't be afraid for their daughters or children. They will rejoice that he is gone. Please allow us to celebrate with you." I yawned again and said, "I'm sorry, I'm very tired and think I should go to my home for a while. Please, Sir, look after these women and make sure they are protected. Make sure they are treated nicely. Perhaps you can help find them husbands to make a life of their own." The girl said, "Oh no. I will make a life of serving you. I like being taken care of by a man. The other girls do too, but perhaps not as much as I do. I'll watch over them, and if they want, I will find them good husbands." I waved and wanted to walk away, but five women ran to hug me. They all kissed me multiple times and jabbered in their native tongue. The girl who had been their spokesperson said something to them and they let me go with smiles. She said, "They all want to thank you, as I said they would. Go get some rest, but please come to see us before you go back to the U.S." Up at the yacht club main building, I found the scooter and started it up. The little moped, or whatever it was, strained but made it up the hill to the condo. As I pulled up to the garage door, it opened and my four new housemates were standing there. I pulled in and they surrounded me. Maria asked, "Are you alright? What did you do? What happened?" "Maria, I am very tired and very hungry. Let me make something for breakfast, then I need to find out about my aircraft." We went up to the kitchen where the girls gave me a cup of coffee and got busy making me a piece of steak of some kind and some eggs. They gave me some fried potatoes and had toasted some bread in a big toaster oven. As I was eating, there was knock on the door. I went to the door to find Ben. He pushed in and closed the door immediately. He said, "What in the world did you do? The whole town is talking about you and that Martinelli isn't here any longer. They said that his boat is now yours. What happened, Chuck? What did you do? I said, "Take it easy Ben; I think Martinelli is taking a swim far out in the ocean. I wasn't actually the cause of his demise. I did capture him and his boat, but I didn't do him in." "How did you, ah, what did you do with all of his men? They were all in that houseboat across from his yacht." I seriously and honestly said, "I don't know where they went. The last I saw of the houseboat, it was going out to sea. I have no idea what happened to it." The girls had just given Ben a cup of coffee when the doorbell rang again. I opened it and found Beth. She came in and said, "The manager just called me and told me that you now owned this big motor yacht down at the club. Where did you get that? Isn't Martinelli's the only big motor yacht down there right now?" Ben said, "Martinelli is swimming with the fishes. The boat is Chuck's now. Can you believe it? In just one day he cleans up our town. Just one day." I said, "Ben, don't make a big thing about it. Most people don't want to even mention that man's name. He did many very cruel things and I saw a young woman's body the man had killed. The man was the devil's child. Let him be." Ben asked, "If you didn't kill him, who did? Did you make him walk the plank?" "Just remember that the young girl had friends on board that were angry their friend had been murdered. Their revenge was probably justified." Beth was nodding and said, "You are like Steve. You don't let wrongs go unpunished." I yawned again and said, "I am very tired. I think I'll take a quick nap then check on my aircraft." Maria brought my cell phone and said, "This has been ringing a lot since you've been gone." I looked and saw that Jimmy had been calling. I called him and said, "What's up, Jimmy? I haven't been out to the airport to check on the aircraft yet." He said, "Don't bother. The parts are still in Canada. There was a run on the needed parts, so everyone is scrambling. I had Hillsborough hydraulic begin working with a guy out in the business park that has a machine shop. He's making the couplings for you and the hydraulic shop is cutting the hoses and testing the finished parts. We'll have your parts to you by this evening. You should be good to go by morning. Your A&P mechanic down there has to sign off on the FAA form 337 for the parts you're being sent. Sorry about that, but we're going to make parts here and sell them to and through Bombardier under their production certificate. I flew Wes up with a set to sample and they had the FAA give their blessing and authorized us to build and ship right at a hundred sets to them and/or to drop ship them to their customers. There's a ton of red tape if we wanted to sell them ourselves but this way the machine shop will be happy, and Steve will be happy because we're turning a bad situation into a profit. If you want the straight scoop, call Steve, he'll tell you what we did." "Thanks, Jimmy; I appreciate you taking care of me. If my girls get back from their cruise, tell them I'll be home soon." He said, "Not to worry, Chuck. Steve and Mercy decided to ride out a storm to see how the boat did. They probably won't be home till tomorrow night, so if you want to talk to Steve, call him on his Sat phone." "I'll still beat them then," I said. "This is nuts, isn't it? A quick trip down here is becoming a vacation. Okay, I'll let you know when I can fly again." Jimmy answered with a smile in his voice, "Hell, I'll know before you do. Those guys down there have ordered six sets of the new couplings. I'll talk at you later." I hung up with Jimmy and called Steve's sat phone number. It took a few rings before Mercy picked up the phone and answered it. After saying hi to her I finally got hold of Steve. "What did you do to get me parts down here so fast?" Steve told the story, "When Jimmy told me that he could get a fix for your aircraft I had Wes find out what needed to happen for us to fix our other birds plus how we might be able to sell some of the units ourselves. Wes found out how to do it so we sent him and Jimmy up to Canada to Bombardier customer support and he told them that we're getting our fleet back up right now with these couplings. He tossed them on the table and told them that if they would license us to build the couplings on the old pattern, instead of what their current vendor is screwing up, we can deliver X couplings at Y price by Z date. He told them they have a worldwide AOG (Aircraft On the Ground) situation right now, and we have production facilities in Europe and Asia which can serve those markets on the basis of data we can e-mail to them, using their current personnel and equipment. We know the MIDO (Manufacturer Inspection District Office) in south Florida, and they'll give approval tomorrow if they give the license today." Steve continued, "They jumped at the chance to clean up a major problem and Jimmy came up with a profitable fix for the Lear you took down there. Tiny had Wes distribute the information to Ireland, Italy, and Hawaii so they could produce what might be ordered if time became a factor. Pretty neat don't you think?" I said, "Your people are amazing Steve. They grow roses right out of the cow patty. No processing involved. Anyway, thanks, great job." Steve said, "Don't tell me, tell Jimmy and Wes." After I hung up I turned to my two guests and said, "Now, Ben, Beth, I'm going to take an hour's nap then go down to the yacht club again. If you want to come, I'll come and get you on my way. Did you know there is a car down in the garage?" Ben said, "No what kind?" "An old Mercedes 450SL. I didn't see the hard top, so it may only have an old rag top. I didn't look. Why don't you check it out, Ben? You could use it when you're here." "Then I'd have to drive. I would have to stay sober. I like someone else to drive." Beth was pushing him toward the door. Over her shoulder, she said, "I'll look at it and make sure it runs, Chuck. I like to drive myself." I went upstairs and took off my clothes. They were disappearing as fast as I removed them. While in my shorts, I lay down on the bed and was asleep almost instantly. I rolled over on my back and bumped into a soft form. I was thinking it was Lisa or Brandy, and almost reached for whoever it was. As my eyes opened, I saw one of the cute little girls laying there in a skimpy bikini. She was smiling at me. I raised my wrist and looked. No watch. The girl said, "Ten o'clock. You said only an hour, but I let you sleep an hour and a half. You were very tired." "Thank you, now I need a shower and some clean clothes." The little girl was instantly up and took my hand to help me stand as I had taken my leg off. I smiled at her and began hopping to the bathroom. She didn't leave, so I stood in front of the bowl and tried to shield myself from her as I peed like a racehorse. When I shook off, I hopped to the shower and had to sit to swing my leg over the side of the oversized tub. As soon as I stood, the young lady, now nude, was in it with me, smiling away as if this was a normal thing to do. The shower was actually asexual, except that I got a boner that didn't want to go down. Every time she took me in hand to attempt to relieve it, I moved it off me. She just couldn't understand that she wasn't supposed to do that. Outside the tub, I shaved and brushed my teeth. When I went to the bedroom, someone had even washed my stump sock. My slacks were washed and pressed, and the shirt I had worn down was now clean. I put on my now clean sport coat that I wore down here and walked downstairs to the kitchen. I was greeted by several hugs and Maria kissed me square on the lips. Maria said, "Thank you from all of us for ridding our home of that horrible man. Everyone was afraid of him and the government didn't, or couldn't, do anything about him. No one knows what you did to him, but he isn't here any longer and you now own the boat he killed that couple for. You are our home's hero." I said, "Bad people often go away and never come back. I don't know what happened to the man, so let us leave it at that." Maria grinned and said, "You will still be our home's hero." The girls fixed me some kind of salad with fresh fish that was delicious. When I was through eating it, I said, "I need to go to the yacht club. If you girls would like to go with me and explore the boat, you are welcome. There are some girls on board that you might want to help if you can. Only one speaks English, so you can teach them if you want." They became excited and wanted to know what to wear. I suggested, "How about nice shorts and blouses that cover everything. Look expensive, look as if you were my wives. You know they would dress nice." The frenzy only lasted about five minutes before they presented themselves to me. They did look nice. I would be proud to be seen with them anywhere. The taxi took us to the yacht club where I thought the security guard was going to kiss me. The taxi driver wouldn't accept my money until I stuffed what was probably too much into his shirt pocket. I was getting to believe this Martinelli had been hated and feared by all who came into contact with him. Down at the dock, a nice schooner was in the slip where the houseboat had been. A topless lady was sitting on deck with a drink in her hand. She hoisted it and said in English, "Howdy, Neighbor. I hear you're quite the man. I suppose thanks are in order." I just grinned and waved. As soon as I was on the deck of the yacht, the five girls from the yacht ran up to me and hugged and kissed me. The blonde said, "Thank you for returning. Are these your lucky wives?" The four girls that came with me laughed and began speaking in their native language to the other girls. While they spoke, I went below to the little room with the safe and tried to figure out how much money was in the safe. There looked to be nearly a half million in U.S. Currency and probably close to several billion Colons. That isn't that much in real money, but it was a lot. Now, how much will these girls need to live on? This would probably be their only money available unless Ben and Beth could look in on them. Oh yeah, that's right. I didn't tell Ben and Beth I was leaving. I called Ben's cell and when he answered, I said, "Get a taxi and come down to yacht club. Come aboard the big motor yacht. It looks like my crew has the place cleaned up very nice." Ben said, "We were waiting for you. How long have you been down there?" "I just got here, Ben, you haven't missed anything. Come on, I have some questions for you." There was a note on top of the safe that had four digits written on it beginning with L12. Figuring that was the combination, I spun the dial and tried the handle. The bolt stayed out of the door. I dialed the combinations with decreasing turns from four left and wonder upon wonders, the door handle withdrew the bolt. I slipped the paper into my wallet then took out what was about a million Colons. I put the money into a cigar box on a shelf and shut the safe. It never hurts to have some cash in reserve, especially in a foreign country. When I came out on deck, Ben and Beth were just arriving, and the topless chick from the schooner, who now had a halter on that really didn't cover her large droopy breasts, was standing with a guy wearing one of those cute white captain's hats. He was decked out in a white shirt and pants straight out of naval folklore. I was introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Knowles from Texas who were retired and wandering the Caribbean. Jack Knowles said, "We are members here and travel back and forth often. I have to go back to Texas to take care of some business every couple of months, but we languish here the rest of the time, enjoying the club." Mrs. Knowles, or Sheila said, "Jack and I have so much fun. You'll have to meet our friends. We have many very attractive friends that are into having intimate parties, if you know what I mean." She emphasized 'If you know I mean' by hefting one of her huge droopy tits at me. Ben was drooling, but Beth was being a little distant. I think she has better taste. The yacht club manager came down to the dock and said, "We've topped off your fuel and checked out your engines. How about taking us all out for a run? This is such a nice boat and it needs to be run. Will you do that, Mr. Johnson?" I said, "Dino, call me Chuck, please. First, let's make sure there are enough life jackets and let me check for a runabout in this rear locker. It looked big enough." There was a nice sized runabout with a motor on it in the locker. The little boat was on a cart that would get it to the davits on the rear of the boat. The blonde had another locker open and was counting a mound of life jackets. I said, "Looks like more than enough. Let me get this started, then we'll disconnect shore services and cast off." I started the engines and the generator and stepped outside the helm area to see two uniformed club personnel disconnecting services and then standing by the lines. I yelled "Cast off aft." The man untied the line and tossed it to the rear deck. "Cast off forward." Another attendant untied the line and tossed in on the bow. I smiled to myself at being the big shot captain. Stepping back into the helm area, I shifted into the forward gear and began idling out of the dock area. As we reached the edge of the harbor, I gave the boat a little more speed, then began pouring it on as we reached open water. I watched the twin tachometers to make sure we weren't revving too high. It appeared we were only at about ten to twelve percent power. The one gauge was registering ten knots, so I increased the engines to sixty-five percent and we were soon cruising into the wind at over twenty knots. Ben came in and said, "Sue said you had your captain's license. You handle this boat well for just beginning with it. It is a nice boat. That one girl is taking everyone on a tour. You are really lucky to have an all-girl crew like this." Beth stepped into the helm and said, "If Ben had an all-girl crew like this, he'd fuck himself to death. The man can't keep his hands off these Latin beauties." She was laughing. Ben was frowning and said, "I'm no worse than you. Every time I turn around, Carlotta is trying to haul you off to the bedroom. What do you do for her that she wants more and more?" Beth was grinning and grabbed Ben's crotch, "The same as I do for you, Honey. I love to use my mouth." I looked at the two and said, "Too much information, Guys." Beth said, "Wouldn't you like me to show you how good I am? Ben loves to watch me suck someone off." I was choking and Beth had to slap me on the back. Ben said, "I guess not. Here I thought Chuck was a worldly guy." "Not into other men's wives, that's all." Beth said, "How about sisters?" I had to laugh this time, as they were really funny when away from Tampa. They were not the two uppity people they let on to be. We went out about twenty miles and were heading back in when Sheila Knowles came into the helm area with a tall drink. She said, "I understand you're a man after my own heart, a Beefeaters drinker. Have some to celebrate. You're going to be toasted all night long. The club manager has invited every official around to come celebrate that 'the wicked witch is dead.' I wish I could find a recording of that so I could play it tonight." I didn't gulp the drink as I had not had enough sleep or enough to eat yet. As we did get closer in, Maria came to me with the blonde girl and said, "Would it be okay if we become friends with the girls on your boat? We could share many things together and make sure both the boat and your new home are always very clean and neat. Please, Chuck, can we?" "Sure, Maria, just enjoy the company. You know you girls are free to go. You are free to marry and be wives and mothers." "We know, Chuck, but right now, for a while anyway, we want to serve you. Please bring your ladies and friends here to enjoy Costa Rica. We will make sure your stay is unforgettable. You will be a better owner than the fake playboy who used to own the condo." When I spun us around and gently idled back into the slot, I think everyone was impressed. Jack Knowles said, "I'll have to have my captain do that. It saves time when we go out." The manager of the club said, "There is a special party honoring you tonight. Please come as everyone wants to welcome you to our community. Please make sure you come, as the food will be the best, and you will be very surprised how grateful the community is." Ben said, "You'll go away from this party with some extra wives, that's for sure." "What do you mean, Ben?" Ben smiled, "Some of these business men were paying the guy a fortune. They will give you their daughters, as the word is out that you would treat the girls right and be a good son-in-law. Martinelli would have just stolen the girls, and who knows what happened to the many he has taken." "No women, no wives, help me. Get Beth, get anyone, but explain to them that I have enough women. What is this, a town with too many women and they are trying to get rid of them?" Beth came to my rescue. "No, Chuck, they do have more girls than boys, but boys help take care of the family and you only have to keep feeding and clothing the girls. Unless they sell them or marry them off, they have no value. Take a few home Chuck, your girls will love them and they will make good housekeepers." "No wives or women, Beth. Christ, help me will you?" Beth grinned and said, "I will, but it won't be easy. These people are ecstatic that you have removed the scourge of the area." After the boat was tied up, I said to everyone, "I'm heading home for another nap. Please, wake me an hour before this party. I'll see everyone later." When I headed toward the front of the club to get a taxi, eight women were following me. The blonde said, "We left one girl in charge of the boat. She will watch the boat for us. We'll take turns this evening so she can go to the party, as well. We all will have new dresses and can't wait to go out." At home, I was followed upstairs and eight sets of hands undressed me. The boat girls gasped when they saw my leg, but pointed at the spare gun and were jabbering about it with smiles. I lay down and was soon hugged by one girl, who was lying behind me. Another spread a blanket over us, and I just drifted off. I wasn't going to rid myself of the women. Someone kissed me on the forehead. I opened my eyes and it was one of the boat girls. She was smiling, but had watery eyes. She kissed my forehead again and the blonde's voice came from behind me, "She wants to give herself to you to show you how much she appreciates that you have freed her. She wants to serve you for your lifetime. She is very happy to serve you now." I smiled, brought her forehead down, and kissed it. She actually sobbed, but was grinning. I think she knew I was happy to have helped her. As I rolled to get out of bed, one of my house girls helped me to the bathroom, where I had an audience as I took a leak again. I rubbed my chin and felt whiskers, so I dropped my shorts and hopped to the tub where I sat down to swing my leg into the big tub. Just as I turned on the water, Maria and three of the boat girls stepped into the shower. Maria said, "I've made them promise they would not handle you, only wash you. If they become insistent, just remove their hands and speak to them." I did shower without being molested, but was vigorously washed and dried. I think they felt they had accomplished part of their goal when I was standing at the sink shaving with an enormous hardon. One of the girls came into the bathroom with a stump sock and my leg. I put it on and went out to the bedroom to find a new pair of pants that went with my new sport coat. I didn't ask where they came from, as I assumed they had come from La Tux. I'm sure Martinelli made their life hell too. When I was dressed, all the girls vanished and Beth called from downstairs, "Come down and have a drink with me, Chuck. We'll loosen up before we go to the club." Beth was very sexily dressed, showing some of the great Phillips' cleavage. Sue's was bigger, but Beth's rivaled her, and right now in the sexy dress in front of me, Beth was the front runner. Beth came up to me with a drink in one hand, and leaned her large soft bosom into me as she very sexily kissed my lips. She said, "I wish we had more time so we could repeat some of the fun we had on the boat this past year." I rolled my eyes and was caught. Beth said, "I know you liked it, and I know I liked it. You're not married yet, so it's not like you're cheating." "I know, Beth, and the ladies would say to go for it, but I'm different from them because I like the fact that I'm committed to them. Perhaps again sometime in the future, but right now I want my ladies to know I'm only theirs." She said, "Damn, I sometimes wish Ben would be like that. Steve is like that too, but Sue keeps bringing him toys. Ben's getting his ashes hauled right now. Carlotta is a sex kitten. She loves my box and his dick. We both squirt, so she is after both of us all the time. It's tough to keep a stiff dick around her as she's always sucking the life out of them." After laughing at how she described Carlotta, I suggested, "You need to become better friends with the Knowles. You know you can use that boat whenever you want. Find a captain and crew to maintain the boat and to take you out, but make it clear that the girls must be left alone. If they want to marry one, I'll come interview them and decide. I will act as the parent and go-between." Beth laughed, "You won't fuck 'em, but you'll take care of them and look out for them. You're something else, Chuck." We had our drinks until Ben showed up. He said, "I had your Mercedes checked out and registered in your name. I bought you insurance so you can drive it when you're here. Beth will probably use it more than you. Oh yes, I registered the boat in your name, as well. I found registration documents from the old owners, but none from Martinelli. The locals would register anything for you right now, so if you see something you like, ask." Ben was laughing at what he considered a joke. We left for the club with my eight well dressed ladies. They all looked elegant in their nice dresses. I think the four house girls had some input on the clothes for the boat girls. At the club, I was greeted by applause as I came into the main club and dining area. This was almost embarrassing. The manager had me stand at a table with a glass of champagne and began speaking first in the native language, then in English. He said, "This evening is to honor our new member and community resident. He has rid us of a terrible plague that tore up this community for years. We all wish to thank him, but he wants only to be our friend. To Chuck Johnson, our friend." Everyone downed their glass full of champagne and applauded again. As I stood there, people began coming up in a line to say something and to grasp my hand. Women kissed and hugged me. Men kissed my cheeks and hugged me, some with tears in their eyes. Businessmen were very warm and tried to say thank you in their broken English. This took over an hour, and we finally sat and were served some of the best baked fish and steak I've ever had My glass of wine or Beefeaters was never empty. As the evening wound down, Ben and Beth took my hand and led me to the corner of the room where there was a grand piano. Beth said, "Play for these people. Play anything you can and they will love it." It was at that second that Sheila Knowles leaned across the side of the piano to let her huge bosom dangle into view. Beth saw that and leaned over next to her and asked, "Does this inspire you, Chuck? How about a double later?" My fingers did the talking as I thought of what Sheila had said earlier and began playing and singing in English, "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz." I think every one in the club was singing. It's funny to hear something you know being sung in another language. They were all happy for losing a tyrant. When I began playing 'The wicked witch is dead' there was mass laughter and applause. I switched to 'Georgia' then played what Bonita had played and sang, "Somewhere over the rainbow." After that I stood and said, "Enough, let someone else play tonight. I'm thankful to be among friends." I was beginning to feel a little tipsy and didn't want to be hungover to fly tomorrow. I did get some coffee and was fed a delicious piece of special fried banana pie, strange but delicious. From there it was time to say goodnight. I walked the ladies back to the boat. There the blonde asked, "Can we remodel the master cabin? It needs to be torn out and rebuilt just for you. We will do something special just for you and make it totally different." "Please do that. I don't even want to look into that room. Clean it completely out, and clean out everything that belonged to that man. Sell what you can and burn the rest." I quietly asked, "Do you have enough money to take care of yourselves?" She said, "Yes, you left us a great many Colons and you are only a phone call away. Mr. Phillips said he would get us more money when we needed it. He also said you were going to pay us a wage as crewmen for taking care of the boat. We all want to thank you for that." "Well, good, I am going back to the states tomorrow, but I will come down to visit soon. This place isn't that far and many of my friends may come and want to ride on the boat. Make sure you find a good captain." I hugged each of the ladies and left them. They were still waving at me as I turned up by the clubhouse to wave at them a last time. They had been through so much and were happy to just be free of their tormentor. At the condo, the ladies were very attentive. I had to keep refusing drinks, but did have a couple glasses of delicious juice. When I went to bed, four ladies joined me, all trying to touch me. They were very soft and gentle. None touched me improperly, and two had their heads on my shoulders. I was amazed at how gently they treated me. I was awake at near six my time, which was four their time. I drifted back to sleep for a while then woke at six local time. As soon as I was up, the four girls were all over me. I had to herd them out of the bathroom so I could take a shit. Too much togetherness. As soon as the toilet flushed, four girls helped me into the shower and washed me thoroughly. Only one watched me shave and brush my teeth, but two more were in the bedroom to help me dress. As soon as I was dressed, I went downstairs and found a great breakfast of steak and eggs, with hash browns and toast. I would have to teach them how to make biscuits and gravy. The doorbell rang while I was sitting back, drinking my coffee. I answered the door and saw Ben and Beth with overnight bags. Ben said, "We're going back with you. The office said one of the deals I've been working on is ready to produce some money. You'll be coming back soon, so make sure you invite us along." I hugged the four girls and said I would be back soon. They were all smiling as I left. The taxi took us to the airport. I put my bag and Ben's and Beth's bags into the Lear and had some conversations with the mechanics. They thanked me for my business, then I handed them the wad of Colons I had left and thanked them again. I left two happy mechanics with their mouths open. After a thorough preflight inspection, I shut the door and spooled up the engines. It was good to be getting back in the air. I called the tower to open the international flight plan and was advised that all aircraft were being diverted at least a hundred miles from any Cuban air space. That would make the flight almost an hour longer, so I told my two passengers and set up the GPS to alert me for the turn back to Florida. Four hours later, we were touching down at the airpark. Jimmy had promised me that a customs guy would be there so I didn't have to land in Miami or the Keys. The guy looked at our passports and checked out the aircraft. He initialed the logbook and accepted a small tip from Ben for accommodating us. Jimmy began looking at what the mechanics had done and was happy with the repairs. He told me, "We're making a premium on those couplings. Since we're selling everything as a set for both wings, we're getting top dollar. That Billy from the business park is one hell of a machinist. He's turning these things out by the bucket load." I happily drove home, thinking about how the initial objective had been achieved, and that there had been an entire drama played out that netted me, or my holding company, a big boat. Now my objective was to see what was happening with my ladies, or was that my family? First stop, the patio at the trailer park. Kathy told me, "Sue's in and out of here constantly trying to find out where those guys are. They rode a big storm out and are now on their way in. Your new boat has passed with flying colors. Steve said it handled great." I said, "I want to get home and relax in the pool or hot tub. When you know when they will be here, call me. I want to go meet them." Finally, I was home. It was Friday afternoon and that means the two girls were still at school, or in Tina's case, the hospital. I worked out in the gym and even spent a half-hour on the treadmill. Afterward, I swam like a madman, winding myself then doing it again. I felt great as I showered and washed off outside. I opened a beer and looked through the freezer for something to eat. There were some steaks, so I was about to pull them out when the phone rang. It was Tina, "Come out to the patio for supper. They're having steak. Since a lot of people are gone, Tiny said they were not having a big Friday night party but would need your appetite." I asked, "What about Lena?" She said, "Lena and big Tina are already out here. Lena's getting kind of sweet on Ben. Since Ben and that scientist girl, Gerry, have become only buddies, Lena's all over Ben. I think he likes her too." I smiled at how cool that was. Lena found someone to return all that love she had to give. I said, "I'll be out in a half hour." In jeans and a T-shirt, I was on my way quickly. Traffic was heavy, but I still made it in time to have a drink, then a draft, before supper. The steaks were delicious and the company was great. I spent time talking to a lot of people I didn't hardly ever speak to. The new Moleson guy was very interesting as he had a lot of experience dealing with the military. He said, "Even though I was only a ground pounder, or what they used to call a "leg," I learned a lot in the service. Since I've been out, I've put it to use too." We heard from the boat. Steve said they would be in early in the morning, so if we wanted to meet them come out about six or seven. That sounded good, so I told Lena, big Tina, and little Tina that I was headed home. Big Tina asked if she could ride with me, as Lena wanted to stay a while with Ben. Little Tina was going home too, oh well, this one, big Tina obviously wanted some one on one with me. At home, big Tina asked for a drink, but I said, "That is a no no in the house. When you are twenty-one, you can drink all you want. I do want you to know that you have to follow the rules of life here. That is just one of them, and I'm sure Lena has told you that." Tina said, "Lena said she can have a beer out at the trailer park." "She better not let me catch her drinking it. I've told her, 'no drinking.' I'm telling you now. 'No drinking.'" She was going to protest again, when Tina said, "I wasn't twenty-one yet when I first moved in, and he made me live by the same rules. My mom and dad would let me drink at home, but Chuck asked me not to drink until I was of age. It didn't hurt me, and I think I even respect myself more for living by his rules." Tina was a little flustered and went to bed. Tina gave me a hug and said, "I'm bleeding like a stuck hog right now. Would you prefer I stay in my room?" "Not if you want to snuggle. I'd love to have you snuggle with me. Sex isn't what we sleep together for. It's the closeness." We were asleep in minutes. About an hour later, a big young lady climbed under the covers and scooted back to me. She turned her head to me and kissed me. Big Tina said, "You're right, I was acting childish and that's even more reason I shouldn't drink. Night, Chuck." I was smiling as I drifted off. The Tina hugging my back gave me a squeeze to let me know we had won. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 43 Steve, Sunday mornings are always fun around home. Chuck showed up with his crew, dressed to stimulate as much as my ladies did. As breakfast was eaten, Chuck said, "I want play with the new boat. What do you think, Steve, could we take it out for a while?" People heard Chuck's request and were speaking up, "Yeah, take us out on the new boat." "Let's see if Chuck can captain his new boat." "Come on Steve and Mercy; let's help Chuck check out his boat." Sue rolled her eyes and said, "We're not going to get any rest until we all go take a ride on the boat. Let's get dressed and get it out into the gulf. I'll call mom to see if she wants to come." Sue came back and whispered into my ear, "Ask Chuck about his other new boat. Mom said there was a hell of a story behind it. She said she would tell us when they get out to the boat. They will meet us there." As his girls were changing clothes, I asked Chuck, "Beth said I should ask you about your other new boat?" Chuck looked at me almost as if he was aggravated and said, "It's a long story. Let me tell you later over a drink. Some of it isn't pretty." I let it go and figured the story would come out in time. I was curious as how he had come up with another boat, though. About fifty people headed to the marina yacht club to take a ride on the new boat. It took a long time to get enough life jackets from the other boats so we could go out. Some of our regular crewmen from the other boats were at the docks and wanted to come along. Why not, the more crew, the easier it would be. I introduced Chuck to all of the working parts of the boat. We inspected the engine and maintenance rooms, along with the desalination room. Chuck couldn't get over the size of the laundry room. He did check out the gym room and smiled as he looked into the plush office that was on the lower deck. Topside, I opened the helm area and explained all of the equipment and the computer. I had found out that the screen and keyboard outside was a terminal off the computer at the inside helm or bridge. Chuck just nodded, found a couple crewmen, and instructed them to disconnect the shore services. Chuck went through the procedure for starting the engines and let the engines warm. He said, "A bunch of people are bringing food and beverages. They should just about be here." About twenty people were pushing carts up to the boat. The carts were emptied and the goodies taken below deck. I introduced Chuck to the new Chef the boat charter company had hired and said, "Today is probably an on deck grille day. I saw lots of hot dogs and hamburger put aboard." When everyone was on board, Chuck hollered for the crew to release the lines aft, then the forward lines. He engaged the propellers and gently took the boat out of the club harbor and out into the channel. As we motored out of the channel heading for the gulf, Chuck was busy checking gauges and smiling as he got the feel of the wheel. He said, "I wanted to see if I felt comfortable manning the wheel of this monster. I love this thing, and can see how one can get hooked on it. I hope you don't mind that I just took over. Trust me, I feel more comfortable with you next to me." I said, "You're doing great, Chuck. I'm surprised you're as comfortable and as good with the boat as you are. This is one hell of a boat." When we were clear of land, Chuck began raising sail. He was using the computer for the configurations. This was perfect, as now I knew I could depend on him to take over if necessary. When we were under full sail, Chuck shut the engines down and was relaxing at the wheel. He said, "You know what, Steve, I think one guy could just about sail a boat like this by himself. If no one bothered you, and you didn't get into too much bad weather, this could be a fun getaway for a guy." I said, "That's what they make the smaller craft for. If you had a forty-five to sixty footer rigged the way this one is, it would be perfect, small enough to be able to do everything on board, yet large enough to handle heavier seas. You and I will look for one of those so we can get away on a weekend or to rent out to experienced sailors. I'll bet there's a market for one of those." All of Chuck's ladies came to learn about the helm. The pregnant Frieda and the dark Nancy showed the most interest. I think they will become Chuck's first mates out in the water after they have their babies. Mercy came up and said, "Don't hog the helm all day, Sue, Kathy, and Juanita want a turn." I said to Chuck, "Let's have a beer and get in line for a couple of those hamburgers." The kids were having a great time exploring the boat. All of them were up to the top of the high deck, then down to the engine room on a continuous rampage. Big Tina and Lena were hanging on to Ben who was regaling them with tales of our past sailing adventures. Both girls were fascinated with the tales of pirates, hijackers, and gangsters in Hawaii. Ben did have some pretty good sea tales to tell. Tiny was sitting on one of the big deck chairs with a beer in his hand. Martin and Glenda were sitting beside him. He said, "You know, a sailboat is nicer to relax on. Just listen," he paused, "quiet, just the sound of the water along the boat and the rigging groaning and snapping. You hear the sea birds so differently on a sailboat than you do on a motor launch." Glenda said, "This is as peaceful as Martin and I have been for a long time. This is wonderful. Martin likes our cabin that I picked out. We are going to enjoy the cruise to Europe." People everywhere were just enjoying the wind in their hair and the sun. Off to the west, we could see some storm clouds building, so I went into the main lounge to look at the satellite weather on the monitor there. There was a small storm coming, but it wasn't moving fast. We should be back in by the time it gets here. Up top, on the sun deck, several women were bare, enjoying the sun. The two super large girls had Ben nude and were massaging oil into his skin. My sister was acting as a chaperone, telling the girls to keep Ben's excitement level to a minimum. Greg asked me, "Can you show us what all of the dials and gauges mean down in the engine room? That is really interesting." We went down, with a couple of the other boys following. Stevie and CJ were with us as I began describing what each gauge meant. I said, "You can control the engines from down here or up at either helm. I could even engage the propellers from here if I had to. See this big handle? That is the manual lever to engage the propellers. If the electronics were to go out, the boat can still operate." We went into the desalination room and I showed them what the machinery was doing. "We really don't need that much extra water right now, but it is good to run machinery so it will continue to work right. Let's check the purity of the water. First, we get some that is from the flow on the way to the holding tank. We test the water for salt or foreign substances by using these test strips. We'll pull an eyedropper of water out first. Now each of you stick one of those strips in and read from this chart what the directions are for each one." The boys read what the colors of the strip indicators meant. I put a drop of water on a slide and then adjusted the laboratory microscope so we could see how pure the water was. The boys took a turn looking through the eyepiece and Greg said, "It's very clear. It doesn't look as if there is anything in it at all." I said, "That means it's pure and good for us to drink. We use the water we make for drinking, to wash ourselves, wash clothes, cook with, and make ice." Stevie asked, "Do we use seawater for the toilets? That water looks kind of green. I smiled and said, "We must have the intakes open for sea water to be used. We can also use our fresh water. When we use sea water, we have to clean the tanks differently than with fresh water. Let's shut off the intakes, then we'll go flush the toilets a couple of times." I turned the big valve to shut off the seawater intake and then applied some air pressure to blow out the small holding tank that feeds the toilets. I turned on the fresh water valve and let water flow into the small tank and showed the boys the gauge that showed the fresh water rising in the tank. When it was full, we walked to one of the two cabins on this deck and flushed the toilet. They went next door and flushed that one as well as the one in the office and the one in the gym. After flushing them a couple times, they reported that the toilets were now very clear. We checked out the crew's quarters and they asked why they had their own galley. I explained, "Some people who charter the boat, or some people who own boats such as this, have others sail it and take care of them instead of doing it themselves." CJ said, "Doing it yourself is half the fun. I'm glad we don't need anyone to sail the boat for us." Stevie was nodding and said, "You mean like the Irish people and their big boat? That one is too much to take care of the way you have polish all the furniture everywhere. I would get tired just washing the windows every day." That was sort of funny, but very true. I said, "Sailboats have to have daily care too you know." Greg said, "We know, we learned how to polish all the brass and chrome last summer. We washed the deck with the moms and did the cleaning in our rooms too. It didn't take very long at all when all of us worked together. When we go to Europe soon, we'll do it again. Should we be cleaning now, Dad?" "Not today. The crew that will be working around the boat will take care of it. Those guys like this boat as much as Chuck does." Stevie asked, "So this boat isn't ours. This is Chuck's boat?" I said, "Yes." Stevie asked another question, "So how come we are all going on one boat? Shouldn't we take a boat for each family?" I said, "This is a big boat with lots of room. Chuck had the boat built with two big master cabins and lots of smaller cabins just for all of us and he had the boys' and girls' bunk rooms built just for you guys." Greg said, "Do you know that every bunk has a light and a place for a book and other stuff. The bunk rooms even have a couple of big chairs plus a table with a bunch of chairs if we want to play a game." Stevie said, "We'll probably all be in the big lounge or topside in the top lounge most of the time. The big lounge up top is really big. It's nice up there because of all the windows. When we're not outside, that will be the place to be." We made our way back to the deck to see that Mercy was directing Chuck to begin making a big turn to head back toward home. Lisa was standing on the other side of Mercy, listening intently and asking questions as they manipulated the sail. When we had turned around, we caught a great sailing wind and Chuck unfurled more sail to take advantage of Mother Nature's push. We were now sailing at a little over fifteen knots, very fast for our size craft. Juanita took the wheel and Chuck went to the bow to watch as the boat slipped through the swells with no noticeable feel to the rolling water. While he was standing there, his women gravitated to him one at a time. First little Tiani wanted Chuck's arm across her shoulder. Frieda came next to stand beside him. Nancy and Judy walked up and joined the three, and shortly, Brandy, Tina, and Lisa joined them. They stood with their arms stretched around each other. Sue and I were standing a little behind the group on the bow when Kathy and Juanita joined us. Sue said, "I think those folks will be good sailing companions for us. Being on board a big boat for over a month might be more than our relationships can stand, but for some reason, I think we'll be fine." Kathy said, "Chuck and Steve both have a quality that people enjoy being around. With both of them on board, we should be a happy group." Juanita asked, "Is there any danger going to Europe like there was in the Caribbean?" "I don't think so, Juanita, but we'll be prepared. I think Chuck's girls will respond well if we were to get into trouble." Kathy said, "You know those crazies, the hijackers, took a Russian ship in the straits north of the United Kingdom. No one knows how they got that far north but just the thought of a bunch of terrorists and kidnappers on the open sea makes me want to get some deck mounted guns." I told Kathy, "With what we have, I'm sure we could withstand several boat loads of bad guys at the same time. Picking off the ones who are exposed and placing some of those explosive shotgun rounds should take care of us. Who would want to get closer if they were met with that type of defense?" Sue was chuckling, "If we have Chuck's ladies working with us, we would be able to cover all of the boat without worrying about someone sneaking up on us. I wonder if Chuck has been teaching them yet." I said, "I'll talk to him about it. I'm sure he will make a plan to make sure his ladies can protect themselves." We were back at the dock about six. The kids were worn out after a day in the open sea air. They had gotten a lot of exercise continuously going from the bottom deck to the top of the lounge. I think they were becoming comfortable with the boat and felt it would work for the time we would be gone. The group decided on pizza for a quick supper, so Sue and Lisa rode together and picked up stacks and stacks of pizzas from Park Place. I'm sure they were used to our Sunday evening Pizza-thons and were probably wondering where we were as we didn't order until after six thirty. At home, Chuck said, "I'm heading up to the northeast tomorrow to check in at some stations. I'll take the Phenom as I can legally fly single in that. Even with the waiver I have for the Lear, I probably shouldn't take advantage of it. I also want to look at a Citation X and another smaller CJ series. The big Citation is really fast and could be an answer to some of our long distance flights. It has a great range, but isn't very efficient. I'll check it out to see if it's a deal." I told Chuck, "We probably have enough small jets now. If we get more of the small Citations, we could begin selling some of our Lears. There's a great market for them and we need more aircraft that can be flown by a single pilot. If we can keep our per flight payroll and costs down, we will remain one of the cheapest charters around. We still need to find an aircraft that has forty or fifty passenger capacity. We have calls for a lot of larger charters. So far we've been able to rent aircraft, but that skews the profit, so we're working pretty close. Keep your eyes open for a larger aircraft." Chuck said, "I know that I caused a lot of potential problems by flying the Learjets by myself, but it was truly necessary. It was my fault for starting that and for allowing Lisa to do it too. She knows the rules and was just trying to save the company money." I told Chuck, "Just make sure you keep your logbook accurate and watch your daily hours on duty. With all the rules there are, we need to make sure we stay in compliance. The helicopter group is doing a good job and we need to keep the fixed wing group doing the same." Chuck was stretching and yawning, and began gathering his family to head home. His girls were always reluctant to leave the ladies of the patio. They always seemed to want to talk the night away. The patio was soon nearly empty. Just my ladies, plus Mickey, who seemed to be spending a lot of time with Chuck's ladies when they were here, were left. When the patio was straightened out and the coffee ready for the morning, we migrated to the bedroom. It had been a great day for the family; a fun day full of camaraderie among all of our friends. We had become more familiar with the new boat and were feeling more confident with it each time we were on it. In bed, there was some loving with me contributing mostly to Kathy and Juanita. Mercy and Sue were busy with Mickey, and seemed to wear themselves out while enjoying each other. As I slipped off to sleep, I kept thinking of how neat our trip was going to be. Monday, the great race begins again. At breakfast, DeDe asked me if I could help out with a charter on a B-200, and asked Sue if she could spare the morning to fly right seat on a G5 down to the Keys. DeDe said, "This is going to be a great day for the charter companies. Betty told me they were completely booked and we are nearly sold out as well. I have Chuck giving lessons this morning before he leaves on his trip. He has to wait until Wanda finishes with her Monday reports, then they will leave." Sue and I left for the airpark to take care of DeDe's requests, while the rest of the group headed toward their own duties. When we arrived, Chuck was already returning with his student. I could see him instructing the new student to fill in the logbooks before turning in the plane's book to DeDe. We all walked into the charter office together, where DeDe went into her point and go mode. She said, "Steve, your King Air is ready. By the time you finish with your preflight, your fare will be here. Sue, the G5 is boarding now, so if you'll go help John, that will take care of that and you, Chuck, Betty needs you to use the 206 to hop down to the air base and ferry some dignitaries to the federal building. I promise, you can leave as soon as that's done. Wanda called and said she was running late." Chuck and Sue looked at me and grinned. I grabbed the logbook DeDe was thrusting at me and was followed out the door by the other two. DeDe immediately returned her attention to the student and was asking him when he wanted to schedule his next lesson. I said to Chuck, "Your ladies are going to have to come up with some people for us out here. It looks like we need all kinds of pilots, and most of the ones we'll get will have to go to specialized schools. I think we'll just ask for pilots with commercial tickets and help them get their air transport ratings. That way they can teach too. We're getting a lot of requests for instrument instruction lately." By the time I was ready to go, the passengers going to Mobile were standing at the plane. This was a simple flight. Just up and back, with a two hour layover, while waiting for the customer to conduct business. Once down at Mobile, I refueled and straightened up the aircraft, then checked out the vending machines in the operations building. While I was there, I handwrote a note to post on the pilots' bulletin board saying S&S needed pilots. We offered top pay for Lear and G5 ratings, and also dual rated fixed/rotary wing pilots. We need teachers, instructor pilots for both basic and instrument lessons. I figured that would get as much attention as the ads we were running in the trade magazines. We found out a lot of people just didn't want to move anywhere, or not move to Florida. When my passengers came back, one of the men said, "Can I ride right seat with you? I need only a few more hours for my commercial ticket." "Sure thing, do the preflight with me and I'll let you help me spool up." He introduced himself as Dan Bunting. He was a relatively new person with the accounting firm he was working for. As we started the aircraft and began taxiing to our position for takeoff, he told me how he had come to Tampa for the job he had. He also told me that he enjoyed accounting, but was bored to tears most of the time. That's why he had taken up flying. Once we were in the air, I let Dan set up the autopilot to see if he knew what he was doing. When that was done, I asked, "If you want to be a pilot, or do something as a pilot, we need instructors. We can help you get the hours you need for your commercial and instructor ratings, then we can work toward your transport license. We do need instructors for both basic and instrument. Stay with us and you can learn rotary wing as well as make a living flying." Dan said, "Accounting is a guaranteed way to make a living. Not bad pay either, but it can be really boring. There's not much excitement. I almost went to work for the IRS, thinking I could be an investigator, but I found out those jobs were few and far between. I will take you up on your offer of flying time to get my commercial. I do want to instruct and that is the next step for me." By the time we landed, I had Dan convinced to visit with DeDe in order to set up something. When we landed, DeDe was gone on an errand and Star was working the phones and counter. I briefed Star on what Dan wanted to do and she said, "Are you free this afternoon? I have two more flights with King Airs that you can get some time on. You might have to serve coffee, but you can get your time." Dan left the office, talked to the other men he was with, and returned. "I'm ready, when do we take off?" Star grinned, "You can leave with Charlotte. She just got back and is refueling. Go out and help her get the aircraft ready." When Dan left, Star said, "Nice looking guy, and he isn't pushy. Perhaps he can be my answer to DeDe's Wes. I didn't see a ring, and he didn't have that married look." I was laughing but asked, "Is the G5 ready for the trip to Hawaii?" Star looked at her paperwork and said, "It looks like you'll be taking the Learjet 55C. You are only going to have a total of six on board and two are the pilots. You don't need a G5 to wander around on." I thought for a moment then realized we had trimmed the passenger list so we would get more business done than partying. It was just going to be me, Chuck, Tiny, Henry, Jeff, and Terrel. The Lear would be fine. A helicopter sat down on a rolling pad and shut down. I watched as Chuck got out and did his postflight inspection. I wondered why he wasn't gone on his trip. I walked out to talk to him. I could tell Chuck was aggravated by the look on his face. When I approached him, I said, "Hey, Chuck, what's up?" He turned to me and half grinned, "The bosses are beginning to piss me off. I picked up passengers out at the base that turned out to be my boss, the Marshal, and their wives and two kids. I barely had seats for everyone. At least they didn't want air travel to Key West, but now I have a favor to ask." Chuck had finished doing his postflight inspection and said, "When they heard I was on my way to take care of some business today, then going to Hawaii, they wanted to ride along. I know we were planning on the Lear, but if we could take a G5 that would benefit me a lot." I rubbed my chin and said, "Good, we'll take a G5 and take them too. That's a long flight for kids, so be sure to have them bring a lot of games and videos." Chuck said, "Thanks, Steve. I really don't want to take them, but how do I refuse?" "Not a problem. Set them up at the owners' apartments at any of the resorts. That should take care of them. Tell them you won't have a lot of time to spend with them as you have a couple of full days while we are there." Chuck and I went into the operations office to change types of planes. Star wasn't happy, since she now had to max out a Lear with passengers on a few trips we had to cover. She liked to use the G5 instead of filling up a Lear. Remembering the trip Chuck was supposed to take, I asked about it. He said, "We ended up having a video conference with the Marshal, John, Wanda, and me handling our end, and the two stations at the other. Not what I wanted, but that's what management said to do." Chuck said, "I don't know about you, but I'm on my way to your place for a couple of drinks and to meet my folks. I know it's early, but I think I'm done for the day." Star looked up and said, "Then you could take a student, couldn't you?" Chuck frowned and asked, "I could, what kind of lesson is it for?" "This will be her last basic lesson before she begins instrument training. She's supposed to do her flight exam on Friday." "She?" Chuck asked. "You know I don't like to go up with women students." Star looked at the students name and said, "You know her, anyway. This is Tom Parks' wife, Zena. She didn't finish before because of the accident. Come on, Chuck, you can do this for me. We're really short. If you don't want to do it, you take the desk and I'll do the lesson." Chuck just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess I'll have to wait for that drink." As he was turning away with the logbook Star had handed him, she turned to me, "And you can take Charles Donaldson for his last instrument lesson. He's finished his night requirements. He only needs one more hour of hood time. Please, Steve?" On the way out of the office, I told Chuck, "You and I need to figure out a way to attract more pilots. Today was ridiculous. A couple of people had asked to be off, but we shouldn't be staffing that close." Chuck agreed as we approached the two aircraft scheduled for lessons. He was going to be using a 150 and I had a 172. I remarked to Chuck, "This is my 172, my first airplane, how about that." The good looking Zena Parks came jogging up to Chuck and gave him a hug. Chuck handed her the logbook with the preflight card and let her begin. My student came walking up and smiled. He stuck his hand out and said, "Donaldson." As I took his hand, I said, "Steve Sharp. Glad to give you this last check out before your exam." He said, "I'm kind of sad that the instruction is ending. I've really enjoyed how the various instructors have been. Now, I guess is when I begin to just fly myself where I want." I said, "You'll have a great time going places and visiting people a long way off. You won't have to fight traffic and you can have long conversations with your wife or someone you take with you." As he took the preflight card and inspected the aircraft, he said, "I haven't been lucky enough to meet a lady yet. I used to be too busy to worry about it, but I've been too lazy to go out to bars and that lately. I guess I'm just not destined to find that kind of relationship." I said, "Hey, you're young, give it a chance. The right person will come along. You never know when you'll meet her." Charles Donaldson had learned his lessons well. He was ready for his exam and I was sure he would pass without a problem. It seemed that there were multiple exams to be given this week on Friday. I suppose that was good use of an FAA examiner. We flew a different pattern today. I had him go to the coast and travel the beach at a thousand feet to get the feel of how much fun you can have if you want. On our trip back north, I had Charles fly at nine thousand feet so he could practice his stalls. When we were back toward the airpark, I grabbed the throttle so the aircraft seemed to lose power and watched what the student did. He didn't appear panicked and checked his position on the Garmin and banked toward the airpark. He began circling about two miles from the end of the runway, but off to the east until he called in to say he was a student declaring an instructional emergency. They gave him a straight in and he came about and lined up with the runway and set the aircraft down gently. Charles pulled the hood back and said, "I don't think I'll miss that hood. It makes the cockpit very claustrophobic." I congratulated Charles and told him that if I were the test administrator I would pass him on the spot. Back at the airpark, I made sure he was scheduled for his test on Friday, shook his hand, and said goodbye and good luck. Chuck and Zena Parks were coming into the charter office to conduct what business needed to be completed. When they were finished and Zena had left, Chuck turned me, "Now it's time to go for a drink. If we're leaving in the morning, I won't have but a couple and a good meal. I've already been requested to meet my ladies at your place. I'll be glad when we move out to the new house. It will make home closer." "Chuck, it isn't that bad now. You live about fifteen minutes away on a bad traffic day, so it isn't too bad. I'm glad your family enjoys mine. It will be fun when you begin having babies to share as well." Chuck said, "It will be mentally easier then. I am looking forward to it." At home, Chuck and I were just pouring drinks when his boss, John, and the Marshal showed up with their wives and John's kids. The kids went looking for mine while the wives looked for the women they knew. John and the Marshal asked for and were poured drinks, and we all sat at the bar enjoying being able to just relax. The Marshal said to Chuck, "I hear you may have a place in Costa Rica to use for weekend getaways or vacations?" Chuck said, "I have a place, but it still needs work. I'll let you know when it's a good time to go down there." John asked, "So where should we stay in Hawaii?" He told them, "I've arranged for you and the Marshal to stay in the owner's apartments at one of the resorts I've invested in. The other investors are nice and let a small investor like me use them." I saw the Marshal and John get Chuck off to the side and speak with him for a while. Chuck's face didn't change one way or another, but I could tell he was a little aggravated. Shortly after he spoke with them, he had Wanda off to the side to talk with her. Chuck was having a beer with me, when he said, "It's good we're taking the G5. I'm going to need to take Wanda with me. It seems this is more than a short vacation for the Marshal and John. Under the circumstances, I think I will bill the service for the charter. If what I think is happening happens, we certainly will deserve it." I asked Chuck, "Should I ask someone else to fly first or second seat on the flight? Will you and I be okay for this?" Chuck nodded, "I should be fine. They shouldn't need to further brief me during flight time. But you know what, we're going to be in the air around ten hours, how about getting Wanda's John to fly with us and to relieve each of us? That would be the legal way to go. If we went by the letter of the law, we should layover in LA. I think we can do this and still be rested with three of us." I nodded and said, "Probably a good idea. I'll find out from John if he's up for the trip." John said he would gladly go with us since we were taking his bedmate. He also said, "I haven't been to Hawaii in years and years. It will be good to see what you guys are up to over there." Shortly after supper, Chuck said he was going home for a long night's sleep in preparation for the flight to Hawaii. Wanda was getting ready to leave with John, along with Chuck's ladies. I switched from beer to a cup of coffee since I needed to be equally alert tomorrow. Everyone on the patio knew I would be leaving early in the morning and left early, so the patio was clean and ready for the morning by nine thirty. I was in bed by ten and asleep by ten thirty. My ladies needed some attention before I took off. I was surprised, none of them wanted to come along. I was up, showered, and dressed to travel by six thirty. Glenda was my early morning buddy before Tiny and Ruth came in, with Tiny carrying his bag. My ladies fixed us a quick breakfast before kissing us goodbye. Out at the airpark, the G5 we were going to use was parked on the ramp, ready for us. Chuck, John, and Wanda were already there, and Chuck was doing the preflight with his usual thoroughness. When I put Tiny's and my cases into the luggage hold, I saw a strange looking suitcase. It was fairly large, but not very thick. When I tried to move it further back, I found it to be heavier than it looked. The Marshal, John, the wives, and the two kids showed up and were loaded onto the aircraft. Chuck looked around and said, "I guess it's time. Shut the door on the way to the cockpit. I'll begin the checklists." Everyone was in their seats and belted in. Wanda was in one of the communications seats, with her briefcase open, already working on something. In the cockpit, Chuck was at the stage where both pilots had things to do and observe and I began reading down the checklist. The engines were spooled up and all of the indicators were in the green. Chuck used the radio to request taxi instructions, then switched to another frequency to open the flight plan. We were off on the first leg of the trip. If we were in a real hurry, we could fly non-stop to Hawaii, but most people prefer to stop in Los Angeles or San Francisco to refuel before the long oversea hop to Hawaii. During the first couple of hours of the trip, Tiny sat in the jump seat behind the pilots' seats in the cockpit and we discussed everything we wanted to accomplish on the trip. We wanted to see how the various remodeling projects were coming along and to see how well each of the resorts was doing, instead of just looking at numbers. I was excited that the two resorts had set up some reciprocal agreements to share their facilities. This gave both resorts more attractions. Tiny had gone back to the main cabin to sit in a regular seat and relax when I noticed Chuck looking a little strange. We had been in air for about four hours, when I saw Chuck do a double take out of the window on his side. He leaned forward and looked out my side of the cockpit. He switched to an obscure frequency that I didn't recognize and asked, "Are we going anywhere special, or are you just making sure I get to L.A.?" Over the radio, I heard, "You just have company to L.A. but we would like for you to refuel at Santa Ana, at your namesake's." Chuck said, "I'm not familiar with a Chuck's airport out here." "Aw, come on, Eyes, you know the one, John Wayne Airport." Chuck was shaking his head at the comment. "Anything special on the ground there?" The radio talked, "Just land and buy fuel. Your fuel and fees are taken care of. You're just being given a courtesy escort." "Roger that. Are you with me all the way?" "We're just checking in with you so you know where to go. We have to get back to our training mission. See you around, Eyes." Chuck switched the radio back to the regular frequency then punched up SNA to find out the correct approach frequency and instructions. I asked Chuck, "Is something happening or going on that I should know about?" Chuck said, "Not yet, but it's beginning to add up, isn't it? The two guys back there showing up and wanting to go to Hawaii with us, I get some instructions to carry special equipment, and now escorts to an out of the way airport refueling stop. Trust me, Steve; I'll keep you and yours out of harm's way." John Wayne airport in Santa Ana isn't a huge airport but has a decent runway that is long enough to support even a 757. Ground instructions had me go to a hangar remote from the operations and tower building. When we were parked, Chuck went out to talk to the fuel truck driver then came back into the cabin. He said, "A car is coming out to take you up to the operations building for a few minutes. Stretch your legs and let the kids unwind and run a few minutes. The next hop is a little over five hours. Ah, John, you need to stay here. Marshal, you should probably go with the others." The Marshal frowned, but did as Chuck asked. That's all I knew until we came back to the aircraft. Chuck was standing with a dark haired man who was introduced to us as Sam Nightfox. The guy was average height, looked fit, with a demeanor and stance like Chuck's. Chuck said, "Sam is going to ride with us to Hawaii. We were asked to give him a ride." I got everyone on the plane and buckled up before shutting the door. John Truant was in the right seat, helping Chuck go through the startup procedures. I did notice that John Scott and the Marshal were sitting in the back of the cabin with our hitchhiker. They appeared to be in deep conversation, but then, if Chuck said he would keep me out of it, I knew he would. About three hours into the flight and after I had napped for a couple of hours, Chuck asked me to come up and take over for him. When I got up to the cockpit he said, "I gotta pee bad and I'm coming up on the max time in the cockpit." He turned to John, "When I get back, do you want me to spell you, John?" John smiled and said, "Naw, I have someone new to talk at for a while. We'll finish up. Make some fresh coffee and relax." Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 44 Chuck We were on the second leg of the flight going to Hawaii. We had refueled and picked up a passenger that I didn't know, and from the way John acted, he didn't know him either. Before going to the head, I started a fresh batch of coffee then headed to the rear of the plane. Wanda told me to stop by her when I got back. I passed John, the Marshal, and Sam Nightfox going to, and coming from, the bathroom. When I sat next to Wanda, she said, "You received a secure transmission that I've printed out. I'm sorry but I don't have any secure covers. You'll have to keep it on you until you can read it and shred it. It says, 'For your eyes only.' Moving to another seat, I read the three page document. It didn't make any sense the first time through, so I had to read it a couple of more times. That's when I realized that page three was missing. I went to Wanda, "Wanda, there are supposed to be four pages. See if you can print out page three for me. The transmission may not be up for us anymore. If it isn't, you'll have to send an interrupted transmission memo." Wanda logged back on and was able to print the transmission again and this time it included the third page. As soon as I read the page, I understood what the whole thing meant. I needed to brief both John and Sam Nightfox. There was nothing that said the Marshal should be briefed, but there was nothing that said he shouldn't. I would take a chance and tell him. I kept the fourth page of the message as it had a map and times printed on it. I sat next to Sam and said to all of them. "Sam doesn't know why he's on this airplane and why he's going to Hawaii. John is in the same boat and I don't think anyone anticipated you, Marshal, would be coming along." "John, you have a specific responsibility while we are in Hawaii and the Marshal can help. Your ability to talk to various government agencies will be important." "Sam," I said looking at him, "I assume you brought along field clothes." Sam nodded and said, "That was about all they told me to bring, except for my equipment." I looked at John and said, "Sam is going to act as observer, spotter, and cover. The activity will occur tomorrow morning, but Sam and I will have to be in place tonight. We will also need to have the information you will get and give by then." With their interest at the level necessary, I began to explain what was happening and what was expected of Sam and me. When I was done, John said, "Now that you're a part of those folks, they are going to use you a lot. This must be something strenuous or they wouldn't have brought Sam along." I looked at John and said, "It also could mean the odds of mission completion are not that good. They need you more than me." Sam was nodding and said, "I've been on these before, but never with someone like you, Chuck. You're like a civilian, not an ops person. With that fake leg of yours, I think I know who you are though. Your reputation is growing," I said, "Let's focus on the mission, as it appears to be serious enough that a lot of people could be hurt if we are unsuccessful." The Marshal was a little ashen-faced and said, "The collateral of this is too much to even contemplate. This should be a bigger operation than just you two." I looked at the Marshal and said, "Actually, Sir, the fewer people who know about this, the better chance we will have to complete it. Please, don't divulge any information of this to anyone. The repercussions could be very serious." John's head snapped up and you could see the cloud come over his eyes. Just the thought of what he could be requested to do was more than he could handle. He just looked at the Marshal and said, "Say nothing to anyone. Absolutely nothing, please." I think the Marshal got the picture and nodded. I went over what John needed to accomplish and told him to sit next to Wanda and begin using the satellite phone so we could assure ourselves that the first part was in place. The Marshal asked, "What can I do? Anything?" I told the Marshal, "You can stay silent and pray everything goes as planned. I may need you to intervene later, but not beforehand." "Got it," the Marshal said. Sam asked me, "Do you think you can make a shot like that? The way it looks and sounds, it's like somewhere around thirteen to fourteen hundred yards. That's beyond the accuracy of almost any kind of rifle." I said, "I've never fired from that distance, but from the looks of the operation, I should have more than one shot. Probably three or four to get the hit we need." "Man, that's still a long way," Sam said. "I wish we could get closer." "I do too, but I don't know how. We'll see. We'll do some recon while we can. We'll get to Hawaii in the early afternoon there. We'll see what we can get to go take a look at the countryside. The group I'm with has an interest in an air charter company and we might be able to get a small plane or perhaps even a helicopter to use. I'll have my secretary call ahead to see what we can get." John had finished his call and came back to tell me, "I talked to the highway department and they said they were going to be at the bridge working before nine. I have their frequency so we need to pick up a radio from the Service with multiple frequency capability." Sam said, "I have two handhelds in my gear. Now I know what they are for." "Excuse me a minute," I said. "I need Tiny to do something for me." "Tiny, can you call Crystal or Bear to find out if I can get an aircraft or even a helicopter this afternoon. I should have it rented for at least two hours. Be sure to tell them I'm rated for rotary wing." Tiny sat with Wanda and used the satellite phone. A few minutes later he said, "You can have either one. They said they have both an old Huey or rather a converted Huey, a Bell 210 and a 172 that are open and available." "Thanks, Tiny, appreciate that you took care of that for me." I told Sam, "Do yourself a favor, we're both safe, let's get a nap so we're fresh when we land. We'll stash our stuff and take off as soon as possible. We'll make your contact at the appointed time and know if this is a go or not." I found an empty seat and put the back down as far as possible. I was asleep instantly in the mode to 'sleep while you can.' It's amazing how the body recognizes that it needs the rest for a future event. Of course, it could have been all the training I had before. Wanda woke me gently and said we were on approach and we should put our seatbelts on. I woke Sam and he sat up smiling. My kind of guy, ready. As soon as we landed, we were directed to a new hangar where I could see the S&S logos on the walls and floor. When the door of the G5 opened, a big lady rushed on the plane and hugged Tiny. She found Steve, then looked at me and said, "And the new owner investor, Chuck Johnson." She hugged me and said, "We have all kinds of things to show you all, but from what I heard, Chuck needs to borrow an aircraft. What do you want, Chuck? Fixed or rotary?" I said, "How about the Huey? If it's in good condition, it would be a good useful aircraft." Crystal said, "If you know Jimmy, then know his dad is more finicky than Jimmy is. He is so meticulous everything is perfect." I told Crystal, "We need to put our gear somewhere secure. Is there a place here?" Steve heard me and said, "Let us take your gear. I'll keep it secure until you're back. We're probably going to be at one of the resorts by the time you get back. Someone will bring you to us." I looked at Sam and he nodded. The big guy, Bear gave me a handshake and a hug, then said, "How's the human target doing, you been shot lately?" I laughed and said, "Not really. Tell me where is this Huey you are letting us test drive." Bear pointed to an older man standing next to a Huey and said, "That guy right there will check you out. If you do the preflight correctly, you'll fly right out of here. That's how he hires pilots." Sam and I walked over to the guy and I introduced myself to him. He said, "How could I ever forget you. You were the one getting that airplane, the B-200 and the one who helped my son get his job down in Florida. I'll not forget you son. Show me what you know about this bird so you can do whatcha got to do." I looked for the card and reached behind the seat to see if a card was there. It was. I had already begun the shake, rattle, and roll of checking out the aircraft. I was climbing all over the aircraft, in excess of what the card required, because that is what Joy and Tank had taught me. When I was done, I remarked on the chain at the rear and he said, "Its fine with some slack. Just watch it when you do your postflight. Write it up if you think it's excessive." I asked, "Is this where you want it when I return?" "Put it on that platform, if you can," he said, before handing me a business card. He said, "The airport frequencies are all there, so make sure you treat this as a busy place. They'll give you a direct if you ask for it." I told Sam, "Get in and buckle up. Put the headset on and I'll get us running and turn on the intercom." Because I had been flying the 210 so much, I was flipping switches and listening to the turbine spooling up quickly. It's funny how you tap the same gauge lenses regardless of what kind of aircraft you're flying in. You always seem to be checking for a sticky gauge or one that is misreading. I dialed up the tower and identified myself, "Pine Air, this is Huey 9740 ready for taxi instructions." The tower came back with "Huey 9740, Pine Air, you're cleared to runway 18, clear and fifteen, light and variable. You're cleared for direct takeoff." I repeated the message and lifted off, hovering slowly as I lifted to about fifteen feet. I drifted toward the runway, checking for any ground traffic. When we hit the runway, I began climbing as soon as we were going down the runway. It only took us about forty minutes to find the exact road and terrain we were to set up on. We made approaches from both sides of where our ops point was to be. We hovered over the spot to see what kind of look we would have. We slowly went down the side of the mountain, and then about halfway to the target area, we found a little washed out area that was almost invisible from above. Sam kept saying, "I need to get off and check it out. It looks good, but is it too good? Set down up top and let me check it out." I said, "We don't have any protection. I can't let you go alone." Sam pulled a Glock from his boot and said, "I'm not totally bare. Let me check out the second ops. If we can make it there, that would be a guaranteed spot." I backed the helicopter up, set it down on top, and let Sam get out. I watched as he went down the side of the mountain without disturbing the terrain. He was an experienced field man. I watched as he checked the area in all directions and he kept disappearing in the canopy, perfect cover. From a few hundred yards away, I watched as he made his way back up the hill with out trampling the vegetation. This was more difficult than going down. He wasn't even puffing when he got into the Helicopter. The man was in shape. When he had his headset on, he pushed his button and said, "There weren't any tracks around the area and it doesn't look as if anyone has ever been there. That's where we will set up. Let me mark our map, but I'm not sure we should divulge our change of ops. When we meet my contact, we'll decide. You've met the people we deal with, if anything is out of the ordinary, we do the mission, but we do it our way." "Roger that," I said, glad to have an experienced man with me. We meandered around the bridge area and went up the highway, then out toward the water before turning back toward the airfield. When we came back to the airfield, I saw a platform with 9740 on it and knew that was where the helicopter was supposed to go. I did a Joy approach and hovered about three feet off the ground and slid gently up over the platform and dropped to it just as gently. When the bird was shut down, I began doing the postflight inspection and was very thorough. The chain at the rear was the same so I let it slide. I looked at the aging helicopter and marveled that it was still kicking. I wondered how much action it had seen thirty-five or forty years ago. We were walking toward the ops building when the old guy came out of the hangar. He said, "Thanks for putting the bird on the platform. That's something I can't seem to teach the tour guys to do. None of them can hover worth a shit. They're good pilots, but not great, if you know what I mean." We shook hands and he said, "There is a car and driver waiting for you up at the ops building. Come see me before you leave. I have an old helicopter you might like." Sam said, "I have a cell phone that I'm going to turn on when we leave this field. It's off so it can't be traced. If we can, I want to stop along the way to make the call." We found the car and the young driver and told him we weren't in a big hurry to get back. We had him stop near a pineapple field and under a bunch of trees. Sam turned on his phone and made his call. I couldn't hear what the conversation was about, but I could see him jotting notes on his hand. He hung up the phone and shut it off. When we were en route again, Sam said, "Let's get ready for some fun as soon as we get back. I think we'll enjoy our night and morning." At the resort, Steve took Sam and me out to a row of cabanas and said, "I put you two out at the end here in case you need to have easy access to leave. Whatever it is, good luck and be careful. Chuck, when you have the chance, go to the office area here. You remember the place. You can find us through there." Sam and I changed into our field clothes, complete with vests and combat vests. We loaded up with extra magazines and then I got out the fifty caliber. I said, "I don't think I need to take the 308 for this one. I'll only use explosive rounds for the truck and hope it doesn't have armor. If it does, I'll have to blast the cab." Sam Nightfox looked me in the eye and said, "I'll bet you didn't know anything about any secondaries did you?" "Where in the hell will they be? There won't be anything left for a quarter mile when that truck goes." "They will be stopped at the bridge. If they get out of their car, you'll need the 308. These secondaries are very important and must be eliminated. They are as important as the truck." I pulled the 308 out and checked it then slid it into the field case. I said, "The problem with all this is that I don't have a close up rifle. I'd feel a lot better with one." Sam pulled out what looked like a tinker toy. It was a wadded up bunch of metal and plastic. He said, "Here, this is your present. The range officer said you would like this. Let me show you how it unfolds." The bunch of junk became a useful looking weapon. Sam took one of his magazines and seated it then pulled the breach to chamber a round. He handed it back to me and said, "Disarm it and fold it back up. That little piece will be your backup. Note it has the single fire, burst, and full auto modes. It's accurate too. The only thing you don't have is a night scope." I released the magazine and jacked the round out of the chamber. I pushed a release buttons and the M-16 folded up into a bunch of metal and plastic. It fit neatly into a small sack that hung from my side or belly. I swapped four magazines for my Glock for four for the M-16. We both jumped up and down to make sure we didn't jingle. Sam asked me, "Do you still have your ID?" I said yes and pulled the chain from my T-shirt. He nodded and said, "I don't know what you're capable of with one foot, but I've been assured you won't hold me back. If we get separated, we're on our own unless we're back to back." I nodded and we prepared to leave. Sam used his cell phone and made a call that was less than twenty seconds. He said, "We'll go to the eighteenth green and get picked up there. The course is empty and we'll be fine." We reached the eighteenth green and almost instantly a very quiet Huey dropped to the green to let us on. There was a crewman with a door gun that gave us a hand up. We were not even sitting when the helicopter swooped away heading toward the target area. The crewman pointed to a cooler and then to his mouth. Sam opened the cooler and took out three sandwiches and three Cokes. By the time we finished with the sandwiches, we were getting ready to land near the ops site. The helicopter did a couple of sweeps in all directions to make sure there weren't any infrared signatures on the ground. When they were satisfied, we set down, and the pilot did something I didn't believe. He shut down. When all was quiet, the pilot said, "We are screened from the horizon here and can't be seen from the road. We are to wait here until you finish your mission, then carry you back. As you see, we have some snacks and I know you have some MREs in your pack. Water is at a premium as we only have a couple of dozen bottles, and you two each have a canteen. We should be fine though. Let me do a postflight on the bird, so I know we'll takeoff." The crewman loosely spread a camouflage net over the helicopter so it couldn't be seen from the air or from a distance. When the pilot came back, I motioned for Sam to step outside. I said, "We should tell them that we have an alternate ops point." Sam said, "Yeah, probably, but this is really spooky. They never do something like this. I mean, never. We do our job and they come get us. They didn't give us any alternate pickups, so that is that answer. What do you think? Do you want to trust them?" I said, "Tell you what, we'll do our thing, and when we come back to the chopper, we'll break up and come back from two directions. The door gunner would be the one to watch out for. The pilot only has a sidearm. If the door guy fucks with his fifty, do him. If the pilot fucks with us do him too. Just don't mess up the helicopter; we need it so we can get out of here. The target could have people following that could be a problem. I'll do the truck and the secondaries, then we'll book." I said, "I only have two magazines of seven rounds each for the fifty. All fourteen rounds are explosive. If I have to use the 308, I can fire ten rounds and reload a ten round magazine. If I have to fire that much, we're in deep trouble. I'll leave the cases in the Huey and carry the weapons in." Sam nodded and we went back to the Huey to break out our weapons and get into position. We used the neat little hot water contraption to make some instant coffee then began getting ready for the night. I told the pilot that we found a better ops point that took a couple of minutes to get too. He gave us a frequency to use if we needed assistance. Sam dialed it into the handheld radios and gave me one. I checked my cell to make sure it was off, then the two of us began the trek to our ops. We went off in the wrong direction, then doubled back below the ridge so they couldn't tell where we were. We went downhill quietly and were soon ensconced in the little washout covered with trees. Sam broke out his optics and sighted in to the road and the bridge. He said, "I have seven hundred to the road and seven fifty to the bridge. Can you do both without changing sight adjustments?" I was looking at the target area through the scope of the fifty and said, "I can and will. These will be good targets but I have to remember I'm shooting down so the gravity won't affect the round as much. I have to aim a hair high." I took out the 308 and checked the target distance and found it to be what had been called. That's when I began to sweep the entire area, looking for anything out of place or any movement. Sam was doing the same and only once did he say "Look over at my three o'clock. There's movement, what do you see?" I put the 308 scope on the area and saw what looked like a dog playing with another dog. I said, "If this were in the states, I say wolves or coyotes, but here I think they are wild dogs." Sam said, "That's what it looked like to me too. I'll watch to make sure that's all it is." I said, "I'm surprised we didn't pick them up with the infrared earlier." "Me too." With that, I focused on the area until I saw the two dogs go into the ground. They had a burrow there. I said, "They have a dugout over there. They were probably in the ground. They didn't have collars and definitely acted wild." I said to Sam, "Get some sleep; it's going to be a long night. We have ten hours before that truck gets here unless they come early. That, they might do." While Sam was asleep, a car came from the east and headed west in the direction the truck was going to come from. That was the only traffic I saw. I woke Sam and I snoozed for a couple of hours, then we reversed and he slept. I went back to sleep at four and woke up at six, and noted Sam watching the dogs through his scope. He said, "I think they have pups. I've seen little heads poke out of the burrow a couple of times." "Any more traffic?" I asked, as I took a drink of water. Sam said, "None, perfectly quiet. We should see some highway trucks come along soon." It was right at eight when three highway trucks began setting up barriers and had men out on the bridge with heavy power equipment. They actually began tearing up a square of the bridge. There were men on both sides of the bridge with signs to stop traffic in either direction. They had set up signs in both directions warning of road construction. A car came from the east, rather fast. The car stopped for the road guard and then was let across the bridge slowly. When the car cleared the construction area, it sped up and disappeared. Sam raised his head and said, "That was one of the secondaries. Too bad we couldn't just take him now." At eight fifty a car was coming down the road. This was a big four door older Cadillac. A mile or so behind was a big white panel van with "Dorothy's Flowers" on the side. Sam said, "Acquire the target." I put the fifty right on the box, then had a second thought. If I disable the cab, I can blow the box at will. I told Sam, "I'm going to take out the cab first and then blow the box. That way they can't turn away." He said, "Fire at will." I squeezed off the round and almost watched it as it hit inside the cab, right through the window. The whole cab blew up. I shifted to the car and blew it up, hoping the workmen had hit the deck. Shifting back to the truck, I put a round right into the center of the truck. Kaboom. The truck blew apart into thousands of pieces. I shifted back to the car to make sure there wasn't any movement. It appeared one person was trying to move out of the burning car so I let a second round go into the car. If that doesn't take care of the problem, nothing will. Sam said, "There's a car coming very fast from the west. Get ready." The car wasn't a car, but some kind of pickup with what looked like a fifty caliber mounted on the back, over the roof of the cab. Not caring who they were, I followed the truck until it slowed for the junk on the road and let the fifty caliber say howdy. The round hit the cab where the ammo box was stored for the gun. Rounds were going off in every direction. The pickup swerved off the road and plunged down a very deep ravine. I checked on the workers to see them scurrying to get into their trucks on the east side of the bridge. In seconds, they were gone. Hopefully they were all OK, but I figured them to be operatives of some sort. I finished putting my equipment away and gathered my brass. I said to Sam, "Let's get. You go to the west, I'll come up on the back side from the east. Let's merge on the chopper in fifteen minutes from right now, mark." Sam set his timer and I was moving up the hill to the other side. We scrubbed our way out of there to make it look as if no one had ever been there. We slowly made it up the hill. I unfolded my new little toy and put a magazine in it and chambered a round. I checked the safety and the single round mode. The first thing I noticed was that the chopper was already running, but the blades were not making any noise. I checked the gunner and he was just looking everywhere, but his hand was not on the grip with the trigger. I was on the side to look at the pilot and could see he didn't have his sidearm drawn. I walked up to the side of the helicopter and said, "Thanks for getting ready for us." I thought the crewman was going to faint. His eyes were as big as saucers, but he recovered and said, "You walked up on me and I was looking at you. You can't do that." Sam appeared from the other end and said, "You shouldn't scare our crew that way. Come on, let's get out of here." The crewman said something to the pilot and we rose up slightly then slid off the side of the mountain keeping the mountain between us and the road. On the way back, the crewman handed us both headsets and motioned for us to put them on. Once we had them on, the pilot said, "There is a debrief scheduled for end of operation. They said you were going to be jittery about it, but it is on the airfield you came in at this morning. We have a hangar there that we'll fly into. Don't panic as you will be safe. We'll take you back to where we picked you up when you're done." Sam looked at me and rolled his eyes while I tried to figure why this mission was so much different. I had been sent out to do a job in the southwest and did it. Then later, I had to take out some bad guys that were associated with them. No one wanted any debrief on that. This was straightforward, as we blew up a truck that was obviously meant to go somewhere else and destroyed a car full of whoever it was. Nope, this was very clean. The only catch was the pickup with the gun. I had packed my fifty and the 308 back up in their field cases, and was ready to get off the aircraft when we landed. I expected some kind of welcoming committee, but there was only a guy in a suit. As soon as we deplaned, he motioned for us to follow him. I wonder if he realized both Sam and I had the safeties off our rifles and had them now on burst to quickly do the most damage. The man moved quickly, turning into the building and passing people working in offices. In a conference room, the man asked us to sit. He said, "We'll bring you something to drink if you want." Sam and I both shook our heads. He said, "They said you probably wouldn't want anything." Sam and I were sitting with our rifles ready to spray at the level of the table if necessary. Neither of us was tucked up under the table. That's when the shock came. The Marshal and John Scott walked into the room, with a couple of uniformed guys that had a bunch of junk on their chests and lots of stars on their shoulders. The Marshal said, "You two can relax now. This mission is done and we're here to tell you what you've done." John was smiling at us and said, "Chuck, I'm sorry but I didn't know everything about this mission until you completed it a little while ago." The Marshal sat down and said, "A few weeks ago, we were alerted that a group in the mountains was planning on blowing up Honolulu. They planned on putting that truck in the middle of the new shopping district and blowing it there. You saw how strong the blast was. It was probably five times stronger than the blast in Oklahoma City. Thousands of people could have been killed. When you took care of the truck and the car full of people, we had the FBI and some National Guard troops take the compound they built up there. We should have it completely taken care of by now. While you were on your way back, several units of the National Guard Engineering task force were cleaning up the crater in the road. Within a few hours, the road will look like new and there will be no scraps of anything up there." I asked, "There were a lot of people that knew of this one. How did you know it was going to come off okay?" "We didn't," the Marshal said. "That's why you and Sam. You both have experience getting out of tight spots and could have probably gotten out without help should the mission have gotten out of hand. You two would have worked in concert to neutralize any opposition you found. I understand you even did your magic appearing act on the helicopter crew." "There's too much out of the ordinary, Marshal. This is just different." One of the brass stood and said, "Once again we are thanking you for a job well done. Your accomplishment has saved many. It's possible others could have done it, but we had confidence you would complete the mission expeditiously. Well done and thank you." I had to ask, "So how close do you keep tabs on me and what I'm doing. How did you know I was going to Hawaii?" The Marshal answered, "The unit you worked with and are now a part of, does keep you in their sights, but it is a protective measure more than defensive. If they keep you healthy, you will be available so they make sure you stay out of sight. They did say something about an incident that happened in Costa Rica, but they did not give me any details. This nice gentleman is the head of the unit you have been working for. If you think there is a way to improve their operation, he will give you a way to contact them. Now, do you feel better?" "I suppose. This is still very strange. How about you, Sam?" Sam smiled at me and said, "When I go out, I want to go out with Chuck. We work well together. I'd like to stay and fly back with Chuck, if that's all right?" The nicely dressed man said, "That will be perfectly fine, Mr. Nightfox. I look forward to observing your progress within the service. Actually, both of you, as Mr. Johnson seems to have become very valuable to the service. To answer your earlier question, Mr. Johnson, if you had not been scheduled to leave for Hawaii when you did, we would have asked you to come here in one of our military aircraft. You see, you and Mr. Nightfox were already chosen for the mission." The Marshal said, "Now, John and I are going to enjoy our short stay here in Hawaii. We will be traveling back commercial. I understand you won't be going back until Sunday." "That's correct. We should have our business completed by then." I was still wary of these guys. The other guy with all the brass said, "We have some surplus aircraft from several branches that might be good for you here. We have two Sikorsky command helicopters, a Bell 407, and a Super Huey — a Bell 210 — fresh out of the Bell factory — no military-only parts in it yet. If you would take them all, we can make a very advantageous deal." The guy was wearing a Naval uniform, so I said, "We'll take them, Admiral. Just haul them here and we'll make them airworthy." He said, "The Seahawk command helicopters are in very good shape right off a carrier. The Bell 407 is DOT surplus from an earlier confiscation, but the Bell 210 is a fresh conversion. We'll fly them in tomorrow and contact you on the mainland to make arrangements for payment." "Thank you all. That's one of the reasons I'm here. We, or rather the company I'm helping, are beginning to branch out in helicopter charters and rotary wing lessons. Any training aircraft that might be available would be appreciated." The Admiral said, "I think we can find some training aircraft for you, considering you just saved a few thousand people and millions and millions of dollars in damage. I'm glad to hear how you've been employing so many people and most recently you've been working with families to get them resettled and working. That is very commendable." The Admiral leaned over to the Marshal and they had a quick whispered conversation. The Admiral looked back at me and asked, "Can you wait a couple of days for the training helicopter?" I smiled, "Of course. We don't have anything special now so anything on our horizon would be a benefit." The Admiral said, "I think we'll have you fixed up right away. You'll like what the Marshal and I have for you." The group rose as one and all left, except John and the Marshal. When we were alone, the Marshal said, "Good job you two. Now go have some fun and get some business done, Chuck. John and I are going to enjoy the rest of the week with our families." I looked at Sam and he looked at me. We almost burst out laughing. We were still clutching our rifles under the table in defense of some unknown thing. I said, "I guess for something so damn scary, that turned out alright." Sam said, "And you just bought four helicopters, just like that?" He snapped his fingers. "We need them. A command helicopter like the Sikorsky Seahawk carries sixteen passengers and will be perfect for inter-island commuters. We can outfit the 407, which carries up to six passengers, for taxi service, and use the Huey or Bell 210 for quick transport or hauling with some removable seating. We'll want to install passenger steps on the 210, though. They sure do clean up nice from what I've seen." "If you have that much money, what are you doing in a black ops group?" "Sam," I said, with a sigh, "It's a long story. One of these days when we have enough beer and time, I'll tell you about it. Until then, forget I have any more than anyone else." "What kind of people are you helping?" "Anyone who needs it, Sam. My friend has a big company with a huge training department. I find people, he trains them, and they get hired. Simple really." Sam said, "I know a lot of people that need jobs. Can I send them to you?" "You can, but they have to want to work and they have to want to do perfect work. Anyone with the desire to improve themselves by working gets a job. The usual rules apply about drugs and that type of thing." He asked, "Can I work with you on that sort of thing?" "Sure, come on, let's get back to the resort and we can have a decent meal, a drink, and then I can get to work tomorrow." Outside, the guy who had driven us out to the resort the first time, was waiting for us. He said, "I'm your transportation. Let's get going. You're late for supper." We drove out of the hangar into the Hawaiian sunlight on the way to the resort. For some reason, Sam and I didn't breakdown our collapsible M-16s yet, still waiting for that other shoe to drop. When we were let out at the cabana, I said, "I think you get one and I get another. Right now let's shower and find out where the food is. We'll lock up our toys and get." A few minutes later, we were clean and dressed as regular civilians on our way to the hotel. Our driver had waited and took us the mile to the resort where we found the restaurant. As we entered, Steve hollered, "Over here. Come have some of this delicious food." When we sat down Steve asked, "All done?" I nodded, "You bet. We even got Crystal a couple of Sikorsky command helicopters, and a Bell 407 and an upgraded Huey, a Bell 210. You'll be able to use the 407 for taxi service and use the Huey for utility and transport duty." Crystal said, "Really, four more helicopters?" "They'll be delivered tomorrow. Now tell me how many mechanics and pilots you've hired." The dinner went on like this as we listened to Bear and Crystal describe their plans. They surprised me by telling us they were making the old cargo aircraft pay for itself hauling various items island to island. Their motto was 'if you need it now, you need S&S first.' That's when Steve blew me away. He announced to Crystal and Bear, "Tiny sort of tricked Chuck into becoming a fifty-fifty owner of the helicopter group. Since he was already in for a third here, Tiny thought he should be part owner of S&S air charter too. According to Tiny, Chuck is now an equal owner of that operation, which means he's a major owner of this operation. Now, Crystal, how much money did you need to capitalize the aircraft you wanted?" I was dumbfounded. I didn't say anything or protest, but I was going to say something to Ben for doing stuff like this without telling me. I thought I was weaning myself away from the air charter mess, but now I'm more involved than ever. "Nice of you to tell me, Steve. So now, how about us concentrating on what all Bear and Crystal want to do, then we can check out the resorts." I had just said that when a guy and two ladies walked in with kids. Dewey said, "Hey everyone, we made it. How about the service at the airport? They are treating arrivals like gold. No one out there knew who I was, and they treated me like I was really special. That's the way to run a private airport. The new operations building is really nice, Crystal. That is a great design change. Combining the tower with the building makes it all look snug and important. I like it." Sheila said, "Steve, you are so bad since you didn't bring anyone with you. When Dewey said he was meeting you here, he tried to tell me, but I haven't seen the girls or the kids in so long, I thought they might be along." Steve said, "I promise, the next time I'll bring them, and as a matter of fact, we should come up to visit you guys. It has been too long." Dewey lowered his voice and asked, "What's this I hear about someone buying a hundred and seventy-five foot sailboat? I even heard it was a Magellan." Steve grinned and pointed at me, "That guy bought it and had it remodeled for our now planned trip to Europe. What do you think, Dewey, do you think you can get your junker through the canal and go to Europe with us?" Sheila asked, "Are we going to see our Irish friends?" Steve said, "Yes." Dewey asked, "Were you planning on a visit to the Riviera?" Steve said, "Yes, but this time I have someone else even luckier than I am." Dewey gasped, "No way, that isn't possible. Someone luckier than what you were will bankrupt the casinos." Steve said, "Naw, this guy gets a guilty conscience every time he gets lucky. He has the touch, though; he has even tested it in Reno." Dewey looked at me and said, "Are you that guy? Are you even luckier than Steve? Can it be true?" Steve said, "It must be. How much have you lost since we bought these resorts and the airfield?" Dewey said, "It's uncanny how these properties are just flowering and blossoming. They are money wells that keep pumping profits. We've told the management to keep reinvesting in the properties and to make sure the employees are taken care of, and what do you know, they keep making more money than they spend." Steve was grinning, "He has the Midas touch, Dewey. Everything he touches becomes special and good. We need to have him dissected and find the secret ingredient." I held up my hand and said, "So far I've had a few lucky breaks. But remember that luck can change just as fast the other way. Let's not get carried away." I said, "Sam, I think you and I need a lot more to drink tonight. This place is just so full of shit that we need to succumb to its wonderful peaceful atmosphere." Dewey said, "Chuck is full of flowery baloney too." He was laughing as Sheila and her sister were asking me about the new boat. Sam asked me, "Do you really have a hundred and seventy-five foot sailboat?" I answered him, "Sort of." Steve heard me and said, "He does, but he doesn't like to let anyone know. Let him tell you about the seventy-five foot motor launch that was just given to him. You see, the man is just lucky to be around." "No shit," Sam said. "I want to hang with you, Buddy." When it became almost midnight, I said, "I need to call home to say good morning. Is that right? If it's seven hours earlier, then if it's midnight here it's five o'clock there. Damn, I got that mixed up again. That means to call them when they are out at your place, Steve, I have to call at one or two local time. That won't work. I'm heading to bed. I'm bushed and need some sleep. Night all." Sam and I went out to the lobby and asked for a ride over to the far cabana. Steve came out and said, "The end cabana is Chuck's and the next one in is Sam's." Steve told the concierge, "Give these two a cart to get around in, will you?" The concierge was busy getting someone to bring a cart up for us to use. Steve told them, "Tomorrow, get another cart so they both have one." Steve pointed at me, "This funny looking guy is one of the owners." You would have thought someone shot him; the concierge was apologizing to me and said he would take care of us right away. I said, "Being an owner doesn't make me special. It means I should be treated like any other guest. Now show me how you would treat any other guest. That's how I know the resort will be successful." Sam and I were whisked off in a cart to our cabana. We were told to call them in the morning for coffee and they would bring us back to hotel when we wanted to be there. In the end cabana, Sam said, "This was a crazy day and night. You are really strange, Chuck Johnson, and I think the service knows it. All I wanted was to be in line for number one duty and you have me blowing up stuff in Hawaii. I'll never make number one duty if they find out about this shit. Let me get my stuff and get to bed. Both of us have been up too long, and you might have drunk too much." We carried his stuff to his cabana. The keys were in the door so we took them out and opened the place up. I hoisted the windows so he would get the sea breeze then said goodnight as he was trying to strip down. The man couldn't hold his liquor. Then again, I really didn't see him drink anything. "Hic." I guess I can't either, "Hic." I locked up my cabana and opened the windows. After fumbling to get my clothes and my leg off, "Hic" I finally was in bed. I thought real hard about each of my ladies back home. I had warm spots for each one and said I love you to each one. I kept coming back to Lisa and mentally held her in my arms. We kissed, oh so softly. As I drifted off to sleep, Mercy was telling me what a good boy I had been. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter and FAA legal knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 45 Steve I was having coffee in my room at the resort. I had the patio doors open, looking out from the ninth floor toward the beautiful lagoon or small harbor in front of the hotel. It was still too early for beach people, but there were workers cleaning the beach. Two tractors were dragging the sand, smoothing it out to make it more appealing to the tourists. In the harbor and at the dock were several large yachts and sailboats. None, however, rivaled the Have Mercy, the Mercy Mercy, or Chuck's new boat. I wonder what he will name it. There was knock on the door. I let Tiny in and he poured himself some coffee then sat with me facing the Pacific. Another knock on the door and I let Dewey in who also poured himself some coffee then dragged a chair over to join us in contemplating the deep blue expanse of water. Tiny asked, "What do you think? Is Chuck done fooling around with strange goings on?" I said, "He said he was and his boss, John, and the Marshal disappeared to go spend time with their families. Chuck still has that Nightfox guy with him, and from the way they were getting along, they may have become life long friends. Neither one will give us a hint of what they were up to, so it must have been important." Dewey stated, "Chuck was drinking pretty steady last night, which is unusual for him. I thought he was asking pretty intelligent questions even though he was drinking heavily." "That he was," I said, thinking of how Chuck was acting last night. I remembered that feeling well. It's the adrenaline let down after something that could have been hairy. Booze only takes the sharp edges off your thinking as you're still seeing three hundred and sixty degrees and questioning everything moving around you. Nightfox's eye movement told me he was still high from a scare too. Whatever it was, it must have had a good conclusion, because there was no panic in either one of them. Tiny said, "I think we need to alert the mechanics about the helicopters that are supposedly being delivered today. Chuck said the large personnel helicopters were in good condition. What did he call them? Command helicopters?" I answered the question, "Those are helicopters for people like Admirals or Generals that need transport for them and their immediate staffs. I think whoever Chuck is doing things for is using equipment to repay him for what he's doing. The equipment we bought over in Orlando was worth five and six times more than what we paid, or actually, what Chuck paid." Dewey asked, "Where did Chuck get all this money? I thought he used up his money in investments here." Tiny answered Dewey, "I mentioned last night how lucky Chuck was. He bought an aircraft from the feds then found millions and millions. The Attorney General says ownership had passed to the purchaser. I don't know how much there was but it was enough to buy all those aircraft, as well as the big sailboat." "Holy shit," Dewey exclaimed. "That was lucky. What else has he been lucky about?" "From what I've overheard between John and him, Chuck came into some money that couldn't be turned over because of how Chuck had to come into it. Since Chuck's been being used for some pretty hairy shit, I can only imagine that a lot of the money came from drug cartels or people who dealt with them. You'll never figure it out though, as Chuck was smart enough to move a bunch of it offshore" Tiny said, "And of course, your father-in-law isn't going to tell you how much Chuck has. Dewey, just to give you an idea of Chuck's luck, he apparently tried to help a community down in Costa Rica that had a bully tyrant selling protection to everyone, including the communities poorest. According to Sue's mother, Beth, one day the bully is pushing Chuck around, and the next day, the tyrant and all his men had disappeared. The community wanted to anoint Chuck king, but he danced around that. He did however have to claim a seventy-five foot motor yacht that had been taken from a deceased Texas couple. It seems to the victor go the spoils." Dewey mused, "I wonder if the boat is anything nice?" Tiny said, "Apparently nice enough that it has a valuation down in Costa Rica of about thirty-five mil. In the states, who knows what it would be worth?" I said, "Tell him about the women." "Oh yeah," Tiny said, "Beth said that the boat came with a bunch of women Chuck rescued. They won't leave Chuck, and he has told them they can stay on the boat indefinitely. They take care of the boat and will attend all who come aboard that Chuck sends." Dewey laughed softly, "The man does have some luck. Chuck seems very perceptive of others. It's almost as if he can see inside you or listen to your thoughts. You know, kind of like your Mercy, Steve. It was my turn to chuckle, "He does seem to have that ability and lately has been learning how to use it more effectively. The surprising part is that he won't use it for his own personal gain. At least, I haven't seen him do it for his own gain. He will influence someone's opinion when he needs to and that's it. He uses it to encourage people all the time. He gives them self-confidence." "That's neat. That's the way to use a gift like that," Dewey said. Tiny said, "How about going for breakfast? We are supposed to meet Crystal and Bear at the airfield, then tour the hotels down here." I said to Dewey, "I still haven't told Chuck that he bought out Mike's share of the new hotel in Anchorage and the other property we bought here. I seriously doubt he has any conception of how much money he has. Ben said he has been struggling to invest it all so it doesn't just vanish in taxes. That's why they started an offshore investment fund in Costa Rica." There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Chuck smiling as if he had not had an ounce of liquor to drink the night before. Chuck said, "Let's get breakfast and this day started. I'm really excited to see how the airfield is doing." We spent a great deal of time at the airfield. All of Crystal's and Bear's ideas were good ones, but it would take some time to implement them. They did show us the new cart plant that was being built. This was another of Jeff's specials, using more robotics than people. He defended the use of machines by saying that "We don't have bored employees this way. I've tried to install robotics for the repetitious jobs and use the skilled labor for the more exacting tasks." Tiny said, "This plant should be in full operation within a month. We already have orders that exceed the first six months of capacity, but the customers are willing to wait for a Hawaiian made cart rather than having them shipped from the mainland." There was no way a cart plant can survive on the islands, but we're going to run it for a while, at least, to provide locally produced products. The Hawaiians are very proud people and look to buy product made or grown in Hawaii. In the afternoon, we watched as six helicopters landed in front of the ops building. Two were old Hueys converted to Bell 210s, one was a Bell 407, and two were newer command helicopters, Sikorsky Seahawks. The sixth was a bright red Robinson. Jimmy's dad was all over them and was checking each one to see what they would need and what he could do with and for them. He told us, "The command choppers are really nice. They are ready to be put to work. I'll do a full annual to make sure, but they look ready and if the logbooks are accurate, they are in good shape." He turned and pointed at the two Hueys, the Bell 210s, "Those babies have to be like brand new conversions. Look at them, they're freshly painted and everything. I hear that the Bell factory strips old Hueys down to the frames and renews everything that's even a little off of perfect, puts a whole new nose on with new avionics, and replaces the rotor and drive system with one from their twin turbine Huey. They even upgrade the engine by 400 horsepower. Basically, they're brand new helicopters. We will use them for utility and transport. We'll get some removable seating and can use them right away. I think we can keep them in the air enough to pay for themselves. The 407 is perfect for the air taxi service we want to start. Now that little Red Robinson is perfect to give lessons in. I'll bet all of the instructors we have are qualified to fly it. All of these are a great start for our company here. Whoever pulled this off has my applause." I said, "Thank Chuck. He made the deal with the Navy. He has pull with someone and he seems to get good deals all the time." Chuck said, "Can we borrow your Bell 206L? If you don't have anything chartered, we can use it to go see the hotels." He was soon spooling up their 206L with everyone on board. Jeff, Crystal, and Bear all came along with Steve, Dewey, and Tiny. Our tour was fun, as we were able to renew friendships that had begun the previous summer. We enjoyed seeing the improvements they had made. It was at the first hotel where I showed Chuck the improvements that had been made, that I said, "Chuck, I know you're not fond of surprises, but this is an especially good one. Mike and Chanda have begun to devote more time to investments in Ireland exclusively. Mike wanted to get out of this resort, so I asked Ben if your fund could handle the investment. Congratulations, Chuck; Dewey, you, and I are now partners in this venture too." Chuck didn't frown, but looked at me funny. He asked, "So does that mean I'm partners in the Alaskan deals as well?" I smiled and said, "You are, but if you don't want to be, Dewey and I have agreed to buy you out." Chuck was actually laughing as he said, "You know, I know Ben wouldn't spend more than I have, and I know he is conservative enough to make sure I can pay my taxes. I'm just constantly overwhelmed that there is so much money. I'm trying to use it for good, and there is just more and more of it almost every day." Dewey walked over and said, "You know, Chuck, I've heard of all the different ways you're attempting to help families. That is really great. Remember, the more you can invest to make a profit, the more families you can help. I like your scholarship ideas, too. That is a great way to help people progress. You are doing it right. You're not giving away freebies, but are helping people help themselves." Chuck asked me, "Is there anything else I own that I don't know about?" I said, "I don't think so. You are a full third owner of all of our Alaskan properties, so that is a good thing. You are now a full third owner of all of our Hawaiian properties. With Dewey's knowledge and your luck, we have to be successful together." We ended up at the resort where we were staying and decided to eat at the clothing optional restaurant tonight. We wanted to check out the new restaurant catering to the nude clientele, rather than the popular fully clothed restaurant. Dinner was great, but the bare bodies were a bit distracting. The decision to build the extra dining room was a good one, as it was full too. Back at our regular resort, we looked into the new casino to see how it was doing. The manager had made the gaming a low key fun place. He did have some high stakes tables, but even there, the atmosphere was one of 'let's have fun' rather than frantic high pressure gambling. While we were in the casino, I asked Chuck, "Care to show us your skills? You know we're going to have you play when we're on the Riviera." Dewey said, "Lets try Blackjack first, then we'll move on." The cards I kept being dealt were terrible and I didn't want to play any of them. I did stay on one deal that I knew the dealer would bust on. Chuck looked to be ahead a few hundred dollars. We migrated to the roulette table. After exchanging chips, Chuck said he felt red was good and it turned up red. Red was good two more times. Then Chuck announced 'black 12.' Black 12 it was. The croupier immediately was looking around for a pit boss. When Chuck chose 'red 23, ' everyone followed and once again we were paid off. The croupier asked, "Do you know something I don't? Is there a new way to play that ensures a win?" Tiny, who had been quiet and observant all evening, said, "Chuck is just one of those lucky people, like Steve. If you follow these two guys around, you'll notice the rainbow always ends where they are." Chuck said, "I'm just lucky. I'll probably lose pretty soon." Chuck finally said to everyone, "Look, I guarantee you this next bet will lose. If you put your money down with me, you will lose it." Chuck put all of his chips on red 30 and ball dropped into black 19. Several people were bitching, but Chuck just said, "I warned you." Chuck showed me his hand. He had written 'black 19' on his palm, amazing. Chuck wanted to play craps for a few minutes and was laying chips all over the table. The surprise, or non-surprise, was that he was winning every roll on most of his bets. He said, "There are too many different ways to bet, so if you win on some, you'll lose on others. You can win a lot of money real quick here too." When we were out in the lounge, Dewey said, "We will kill those people on the Riviera. A couple of the casinos over there are really bad. I think they are crooked, but with Chuck's insight, he'll have them crying on the high stakes tables right away. I think that will be a blast." Chuck said, "I have to ask you guys a question." I said, "Go ahead." Chuck fumbled around a second then said, "With all of the money you two have, and how much you know I have, why in the world would you want me to win so much on the Riviera?" Dewey laughed, "Those money moguls are so stingy they will push you out of the way to pick up a coin. I've been an investor there for many years and I have to have a lawyer and an accountant go over the books monthly to be sure that they are making the distributions correctly. They've screwed me more than once. I'll just enjoy them biting the bullet when someone wins. They've finally screwed me around so that I don't see any books from the casino. I only really know what happens on the hospitality side. You know they're cooking the books from the casino because I'm not French. You, Chuck, will help even me up. I think we'll have fun and you can invest some more money in people." I told Chuck, "You'll love the way you're treated when you begin gambling with big bucks. You need to start out with a couple hundred thousand Euros so they know you're a high roller. They will be kissing your ass all over the place. They'll be trying to bring you drinks continuously so you will bet recklessly. When you keep winning, they will think it's an anomaly and a lot of people will be betting with you, making their losses bigger. They'll get you to go to the high stakes pits and that's when you will really come out a winner. You see the chips down there are different. The smallest is the equivalent of about a hundred grand. You'll see people drop a million on a single bet and then get excited over winning a couple of hundred thousand. You, my friend, will do well. We'll get you to play craps there too." Dewey added, "If your gift is like Missy's, Mercy's mother, you will know the correct way to play even if the game is rigged. I'm sure they tried to weight the ball or do something like that when we were there before, but she knew it before it happened. You seem to know too, so it will be fun. Steve and I can't keep up with you playing craps, but we'll throw a bet in with you every now and then. You can win a bunch and throw a big party if you want. That way the profit will partly go to Dewey. That would be fun. Chuck was satisfied with the answers and said, "I think I have to do one more thing for the Marshal Service with Wanda tomorrow, but that should be all. I'm really impressed with the changes and success of the hotels. It appears the managers we chose were good choices as they have been successful." I said, "You actually chose them. You found people who were leaders and brought them to us. They were good choices and we have prospered with them." The four of us were doing some heavy lifting at the bar when Tiny said, "When I got together with Steve, we went through some of the most phenomenal growth you will ever see in any industry. We just kept growing and growing, making more products, doing more business, and making more money. It was unbelievable." "When Steve got together with Dewey, we went through some more expansion that boggled my mind. I just stayed on the ride, since it was fun working with someone like Steve who kept coming up with new ideas." "We've never stagnated. We've constantly shifted the emphasis of our efforts to where the action is. We've continued to grow. Then the economy took a hit and I thought we would have to contract, but we didn't. We just shifted people around to where we could use them." "Then you came along, Chuck. Since you've been around, the aircraft stuff has gone nuts, and the rest of the business is picking up as well. We picked up the two distributorships in Nevada, the T-shirt plant is in the process of being doubled, it looks like we're going to be fat from military orders for our vehicles, the R&D department is kicking out new ideas and products almost weekly, and even the RV store has had a bunch of sales. It's all been since you've become a part of us. I know you're a Deputy Marshal, but you've influenced S&S somehow." I tried to soften up the impact of what Tiny had said, "Tiny's a numbers guy. He plots, plans, and compares numbers all the time. He gives us great advice on whether to go or not to go every day. You've probably contributed to us with your friendship, Chuck. It's been a lot of fun to be around you. You and your family have fit with us and that has had a positive influence on business." Chuck said, "I think this has all been a coincidence, but thank you for thinking that I had something to do with it. If I did, good, I'm glad. If I didn't, well, no harm has been done as long as we keep doing well together." The next morning, Chuck, Wanda, John Scott, and the Marshal were in the restaurant having breakfast when Tiny, Dewey, John Truant, and I came down. They were looking over a bunch of papers and discussing something, then everything was put away and they ate. Chuck came over and said, "We have to go into Honolulu for a while. We'll be back this afternoon. I'll be done with everything I have to do by this evening. I know we were planning to stay until Sunday, but I'd be in favor of going back tomorrow, Saturday, if you would want to." Dewey said, "I'm leaving tomorrow anyway." I said, "We can probably do that. We'll spend today with Crystal and Bear and get everything planned out. If you have time when you get back from Honolulu, come by the airfield. We will bring those two back for a nice dinner and a few drinks." Chuck said, "Good deal, that way we can take John and the Marshal back with us. Nightfox is going to come with us too, if that's all right." "Might as well," I said, "we brought them, we can take them back. Where do John and the Marshal want to end up?" "Probably L.A. for all of them," Chuck answered. "I think they have something doing out there before heading home. I don't have anything to do with what's going on there that I know of, so we'll go on home without the extras." Chuck headed over to his people and it looked like they were leaving. Tiny said, "Chuck gets a lot of time off, but they manage to keep him busy and doing crazy shit so often, that he doesn't have time to find a direction in life." I defended Chuck, "He has a direction and actually is following it pretty well. Chuck does seem to find a lot of distractions along the way. When I talked to Ben this morning, he's still going on about how Chuck has totally turned that Costa Rican community upside down. He says, the town wants to do something special for Chuck, and Ben's afraid it would drive Chuck away. The community apparently has gotten together and totally remodeled the boat that he inherited down there. The female crew on the boat is telling everyone how Chuck saved them from certain death, while his house staff is telling the community what a good person he is because he wouldn't go to bed with any of them because of his women at home." Tiny laughed, "He sometimes does seem to have some pretty strange attitudes. He turns down some strange stuff in Costa Rica, but comes home to a house full of willing women." "You know," John Truant began, "Chuck is like so many of the military pilots that I've served with over the years. They would fly into anything, anywhere, and come out smiling, but you never knew when they would decide to just wipe out every enemy they could hunt up. I saw guys fly into anti-aircraft fire so thick that you could walk on it to blast the source away. They would get back to base with holes all over their birds, but they were still flying. They were gifted and blessed with some magical safety shield around them. Chuck took to those helicopters as if he'd been flying them his entire career. If he had both legs, he could still be one of the better pilots in the service." The bunch of us left for the airfield to work with Crystal and Jeff a last day. We had actually made all the decisions necessary and made sure everything was locally funded. Jimmy's dad had one of the 210s gutted and had a local upholstery shop working on the cabin; they were recovering the cockpit seats and refitting the gauges and instruments. "The 407 is going to require some work but we have a new mechanic that just got out of the Navy that is certified on that and the big ones. We should have them ready in a week or so. All six birds are in really good shape mechanically. The Robinson training helicopter they sent is a great trainer and is cheap to operate. A hell of lot cheaper than using the big Bells. We'll get a lot of use out it." The man was waving some papers around and said, "I recognize these. This was a confiscation that was shipped over from San Diego last night. It must have come on one of the big transport runs they make every night. Chuck must have some some pull with someone." Crystal was happy as she said, "We are applying for a regular commuter service permit between islands with our new command helicopters. We've found a retired Navy helicopter mechanic with Sikorsky factory training for what is really an S-70, but is a Navy HH-60 Seahawk with airline seating. We have the retired Navy pilots who can fly them available to us, so if everything shakes out, those two big helicopters should be in the air making us money soon." Bear wanted for us to think about something. "We've had a few, and to qualify what I'm going to say, I say only a few, four, requests for charters to the mainland for groups of twelve to fifteen. I know that four charters for a G5 wouldn't support that kind of aircraft but it would be neat if there was a way to support that kind of charter. We could advertise a price based on deadheading a bird over here, doing the charter, and deadheading back. I know that would be expensive but I'd like to see a cost for that. The way to potentially make something like that work could be that when we had a charter from here, we could spot advertise on the mainland for a week or two in Hawaii in one of our resorts for a special price. That could cover the cost of the trip over to get the charter we have and the trip back, in addition to possibly making a buck on the specially advertised Hawaiian adventure." Dewey said, "You know, that might work. I have two G5s now and they are not flying all that much lately. Do you have any potential charters right now?" "I sure do," Bear smiled, "that's what made it important to mention. I have a group of twelve businessmen wanting to go to Seattle for a week. It's actually eight days. Do you think you could get a dozen or so people to sign up for a special week plus in Hawaii?" With a laugh, Dewey said, "Seattle people are dying for sunshine any time. I'll bet we can advertise on the radio or TV for one day and the trip will be full. Good idea, Bear. We would tie the bird up over here for a week, but that wouldn't be that bad. If there were that many charters in the states it wouldn't be a good idea, but the way business is right now, it would be a great idea." Dewey smiled, "Set it up, I'll have my staff in Seattle make it happen. We'll plan to get here about a day before your charter leaves and do the same on the return. That should be profitable, all around." Crystal offered, "If that is a good idea to fill the resorts, how about you charter some golf weeks or weekends over here for the high rollers. You could fly them over for a three-day golf weekend and fly them back on Sunday night. You can pick up the charter business there, we can provide helicopter taxi service to the resorts and the resorts can pick up the business here." Again Dewey became excited, "Another good idea. That will probably justify another G5 if that works. I'll bet we could duplicate that in San Francisco or any of the West Coast and western cities. If the trips were once a month, we could alternate four different cities. Son of a gun, Crystal, that's a hell of an idea." Crystal said, "Don't forget about spring break at the rich universities. I'll bet you could pick up a full load from any of the Ivy League universities. You might even be able to charter a much bigger aircraft. The limo service here could handle transportation from here to the resorts and you could even separate a little area of the nude resort for the college crowd. I'll bet the college kids migrate to the nude side pretty quick. If you were to do that, you could sell space to the beer, soda, and food people and all of the recruiting people that come to those events." I said, "Now that's good thinking. Have you mentioned this to the resort managers?" Crystal said, "We're going to present these ideas to you at lunch today. Come on, we'll get an early start. All of them are ready for you." I could see that Dewey was really enthused over the ideas that had been generated by the Hawaiian group. The idea that they were working in concert proved that they wanted to make S&S a success over here. The luncheon that had been planned to be served in a conference room became somewhat of a party. Since the cat was out of the bag, they didn't want to put on the presentation they had prepared. I said, "You guys went to a lot of trouble to plan and prepare. I want to see how you planned to tell us of your ideas. Please, go through the whole thing for us. How you all have worked together to show us how you plan on succeeding is important to us. Please go ahead." Bear became the moderator and introduced all the participants of the projects. There were five resort managers, along with the two golf course managers and the key people from the airfield. The presentation was over an hour and had each of the participants giving their part of the plan to share resources. The realization that each of the facilities would profit from the increased usage was an inspiration to them to promote the ideas to us, and when they were through, we mainland folks applauded loud and long. I wish we had videotaped the production, as it would have been great to show back home. I stood and said, "I think I can speak for all of us, that this was great. I wish we had a video of that performance to show to the mainland folks. They hear about you guys, but really don't understand the complexity of your responsibilities. Hopefully over this next year, the company will be sending several hundred employees on vacations at your resorts. We're planning on making a Hawaiian vacation a special bonus, and also offer it to employees at a subsidized rate. I say subsidized, because the company will pick up the difference between the price they pay and the normal rates, so that we don't short the facilities over here. We'll take advantage of your package deals, but you'll profit from the tourist dollars in the restaurants and maybe even the casino." "Folks," I continued, "I think that everything you propose is good and I plan on making sure you have the necessary funds and backing to make them work. Keep us informed of your progress and any new ideas you may come up with." Crystal raised her hand, "I have one more idea that could even be something for the locals. If we were to have a fairly large sailboat to charter for weekends, or a full week sail around the islands, I think we could keep reservations full year around. You guys have been successful with charters for the rich back home, and I think we can do trips with multiple couples and be successful. The idea would be to have a crew to sail, cook, and clean. We have hospitality people now, all we have to add are sailors. Depending on the size of the boat, say ten couples could be on a good sized sailboat and really not get into each others way. This idea is in the beginning stages, so think about it. Tiny can work numbers on it." Bear said, "You know some of the tourists at the hotels might want to jump on a cruise for a weekend to augment their Hawaiian vacation. The family from the big island has begun having their special luaus here now and our hotel patrons are keeping them booked solid. Since we solicited them to open here, our customers have been signing up for a native luau as soon as they check in. It's something we should have probably done on our own but it's neat to assist a Hawaiian group to grow and prosper at what they are good at." "Good going all of you," I said, applauding the effort on their part to share the wealth and to encourage entrepreneurship. "It's important to build relationships with other business people on the islands. Please continue to do that. It will make our growth and expansion special." We ate a great lunch then continued to have cocktails and talk about the projects and plans. When it became time for them to check on their businesses, we said goodbye and told them we would be departing tomorrow, Saturday, morning. They were sad to see us go, but happy we had come to hear their proposals. Dewey and I were in the bar with Jeff and Tiny, when Chuck came in with his arm in a sling. Wanda, John, and the Marshal had funny looks on their faces. John and the Marshal said they were going after their wives as they planned on eating with us tonight. I asked Chuck, "Should I ask about your arm?" Chuck said, "Some asshole was waving a gun around downtown and I took the gun away from him. He got lucky and shot me in the arm, but it's just a bunch of stitches and didn't hit a bone." Tiny asked, "How come you were the one to do that, and why didn't you just shoot him?" "There were too many people around the guy," Chuck said, disgustedly. "He had shot at a jewelry store, and was about to start shooting at a sidewalk café, when I caught up to him. We were on our way to eat lunch with the Station and Bureau Chiefs when we walked up on him. There wasn't anyone else to do it." Jeff asked, "If you were with a Bureau Station Chief, a Marshal Station Chief, a U.S. Marshal, and John Scott, how can you say there was no one else to do it?" Chuck frowned at Jeff, "All those guys except John are older, out of shape, and they don't react that fast to stuff like that. When I went after the guy, the Marshal held John back so he wouldn't get hurt. John is too important to our service." John Truant had seated Wanda and ordered her a drink, then asked, "Okay Wanda, you were there, what happened?" Wanda looked at Chuck and said, "Chuck is my boss and I have to ask him if I can tell the story." Chuck smiled and nodded to Wanda, as he waved at a waitress, showing his already empty first drink. Wanda cleared her throat and began, "We were just about to cross the street when we heard a shot. I didn't see the gunman right away, and Chuck pushed all of us into a doorway then ran, I mean the one-legged man ran to where this guy was. Before Chuck could grab him, the guy saw Chuck and fired at him point blank. We saw Chuck jerk back, but the next thing you saw was the guy being lifted off his feet and falling back. Chuck had hold of the gun and pulled it free of the guy's hand as the man was falling. Somewhere in there, the guy had pulled a knife. We saw Chuck deflect the knife and strike the man on the ground. The guy never moved again." Wanda took a gulp of the drink she had just been served and continued, "That wasn't the bad part. Several cops came running up on Chuck and knocked him to the ground and cuffed him. People all around were hollering that he had saved everyone, but the cops wouldn't listen. Chuck was bleeding. The Bureau and Station Chiefs tried to take over, but the cops were a bunch of keystones and were being very rude to everyone. The Marshal showed his ID and badge, and the cops told him they would arrest him if he interfered. That's when the Marshal got real mad. He called someone on his cell phone who called someone else, and so on. Pretty soon the Chief of Police and the Governor showed up. Chuck was finally released and a paramedic called to help him. The cops had not even attempted to stop the bleeding." "The crowd had become pretty vocal and mean. The cops were being harassed for being stupid and not listening. The Chief of Police promised the crowd he would discipline the officers and the crowd calmed." "Now the really cool part that Chuck just hates. There was a TV crew downtown taping an interview with the sidewalk café owner about his success when all this happened. The TV cameraman said he had everything, from the first shot right through until Chuck was bandaged, on tape. We have to watch the five o'clock news to see it. We need to get someone to tape it for us." Chuck had finished his second drink and looked a lot mellower. I asked Chuck, "Did you go to the hospital?" Chuck glared at me and Wanda said, "He refused. He said that the paramedic did everything that the emergency room would do. They did give him some pills and some extra bandages, but I don't think booze was included in the doctor's orders." "Let it rest, Wanda. I'm still too pissed to be reasonable. If there's any swelling tomorrow, I'll go see a doc, but I would prefer to see my doc at home." We all sat and thought about what Wanda had said. I looked around to see if the lounge had a TV and realized they had a giant screen TV on the wall across from us. I pointed at it to Tiny and he got up to go to the bar to get it turned on. Wanda got up and spoke to the bartender and a few minutes later the TV came on with a low volume. Wanda said, "It's on the right channel. It's almost five, and I'll bet it's the lead story." She paused a second and said, "The news reporter insisted on interviewing Chuck while he was being patched up. Chuck didn't want to talk to her, but the Marshal told him he had to for the good of the Service. If they show all of it, you'll see Chuck, complete with a smile on his face, explain that he had to kill the man to keep him from hurting anyone else." Chuck groaned in anticipation of the news broadcast. The intro music began for the "Action" news broadcast and a lady reporter immediately began with, "There was a heroic act today that saved countless people in downtown Honolulu. We'll show you highlights of what happened, but we will have a special after the news to show you our entire footage and the interview with the hero." They went through an abbreviated report with video highlights of the man shooting and Chuck attacking the man. You did see Chuck jerk back from being shot. They didn't show Chuck finishing off the guy, and I hoped they wouldn't show that later either. They did have the Marshal telling the reporter and camera that Chuck Johnson was probably one of the bravest Deputy Marshals in the country. Chuck was shaking his head over the whole thing. Chuck had ordered a snack of pieces of shrimp, lobster, fish, and steak. He was dipping pieces of the tasty bites into some sauce that is reported to be pure fire. Wanda tried a piece of lobster with just a dab of the sauce and she turned pink and downed her drink in one gulp. I had to laugh as I had seen Chuck, Mercy, and Kathy eat food that hurt to even smell it. When he finished, he looked up and said, "I think I need another just like that. All that confusion down there and I didn't get any lunch. You know how I like to eat." Chuck ordered another, but larger, snack tray and asked, "Do they make that sauce a little spicier? That wasn't very hot." I thought Wanda would choke. The news ended and the special presentation began. They showed the entire confrontation with the on-scene reporter narrating throughout the video. We could see Chuck shoving his group into a doorway then leap at the man. He was shot and we saw the man bring out the knife as Chuck was still holding the hand and the gun. That's when Chuck's hands became a blur. The knife went somewhere and the man was still. Chuck was holding his arm where he was shot when the cops came running up and knocked him to the ground. You could see the crowd trying to intercede, but the cops were waving their batons keeping the people back while their cohorts roughly handcuffed Chuck. A real strange thing though, was they never took his gun from his waist holster. They may not have seen it and they didn't pat him down. We saw the Marshal shoved back by the cops with a policeman shaking his baton in the Marshal's face. John was reaching for his sidearm when Wanda held him back. There was real pandemonium. When the Police Chief and the Governor showed up, there was a lot of activity followed by an ambulance and the paramedics. While Chuck was being patched up, the reporter cornered Chuck and we saw the Marshal say something in Chuck's ear. When the reporter began questioning Chuck, he smiled and answered her questions with a calm, gentle voice. When the reporter asked Chuck what he did to the gunman, Chuck thought for a second and said, "The only appropriate response to your question is that I killed the stupid asshole so he wouldn't hurt anyone else." That caused a lot of laughter among the patrons of the lounge. The reporter asked, "Did you have to kill him?" Chuck's response was, "I tried to let him live, even after he shot me, but when he tried to stab me, I had to make him stop. I'm sorry he's dead, but then I'm not sorry I defended myself and kept others from dying." The camera showed the reporter who had mascara stains on her cheeks from tears she had shed. She said, "Thank you for taking care of us. I was so afraid for everyone and then for you. That you survived is wonderful. Charles Johnson, U.S. Deputy Marshal, you are a true hero." The camera showed her kissing Chuck on the cheek. This caused the lounge crowd to applaud and holler "Yeah." Then the reporter interviewed the crowd, the paramedic, and finally the Marshal. All in all, it wasn't that bad for Chuck but you knew he didn't want anyone to know what he did. The waitress brought Chuck another drink and, as she kissed his cheek, said, "You drink free here for the rest of your life. Thank you." We all chuckled, as Chuck was one of the owners of the whole resort. No one needs to know that, do they? Several people in the lounge came over to say something to Chuck, until he finally put his hand up and said, "I have some of the best snacks known to man right here in front of me. Let me eat them in peace. Thank you all for your comments." Chuck went right back to swabbing the pieces of good stuff through the liquid fire and popping them into his mouth. John Scott, his two wives, their two kids, the Marshal and his wife appeared with another gentleman with a black bag. The Marshal asked Chuck to come with them a minute. They were gone at least a half hour, but this time Chuck came back without the sling and with different clothes. He had changed. We chatted for a while then went to the restaurant. John Scott and the Marshal had Chuck between them and were talking to him almost non-stop. Chuck finally sat back and put his hands up, "Give it a rest, guys. I'm fine. You heard the doc. He said I didn't need stitches and that I was in good shape. Another couple of holes aren't going to make me any different than I already am. I'll just leak a little more than before." John Scott said something to him, and Chuck eyed him kind of funny. "Now who in the hell is going to object that I had to kill a guy that was trying to kill a bunch of people. The do-gooders can't be that bad. Show them the damned video. Show them that the guy shot me and was trying to stick me with his knife. Everything I did was reactive, defensive. The only reason I used a killing blow is because I couldn't get the knife turned around to slice his throat." The Marshal said something and Chuck stood up and said, "Jesus, if you want my badge that bad, just ask for it. Christ, I don't want to cause you two to have to defend me in DC. I'm just a lowly deputy that tries to do his job." The Marshal had Chuck sit real fast, and was trying to pacify him quickly. I had never seen Chuck that pissed. He was shaking his head and I wondered if he had too much to drink. That's when I saw that he only had coffee in front of him. The food was soon served and it was some delicious prime rib with various sauces to dip the meat in. The chef came out and hovered around Chuck. They shook hands as they were friends from Chuck's visit the previous summer. As Chuck's meat disappeared, another piece magically appeared. The locals were treating him as a hero, if not his own people. After supper, we adjourned to the special outdoor open lounge that was for smokers, but in a setting of couches and big stuffed chairs. Tiny brought Chuck a big cigar and a glass of single malt scotch. He said to Chuck, "You should enjoy the trappings of your station tonight. I'm proud to be in your acquaintance." Chuck really got off on Tiny's little speech and shook his hand. After a while, John Scott and family and the Marshal and his wife left for their quarters. It was getting late and we were flying in the morning. After Chuck finished the drink that Tiny had given him, he went back to coffee and was very happy to be with all of us. Tiny and Dewey tried to fill him in on the proposals that had been made today, but Chuck said, "You know what? I think I'm going to come over here and see what all I'm involved in before long. Bear and Crystal can show me, along with the people who run these resorts. I won't cause any trouble and I'm going to say hi to everyone and not have anything to do with work while I'm here. I might even bring my whole family with me." We migrated to our rooms, with Chuck leaving with his new friend, Sam Nightfox. They walked back to their cabins while talking together. I woke up Saturday morning, ready to get going. I dressed, stuffed what I had out into my bag, and went downstairs to the lobby. I didn't beat Chuck or Nightfox, since they were already there with their bags and strange looking cases. We ate a good breakfast with everyone, then were transported to the airfield where John and Chuck went over the aircraft with Jimmy's dad. When they were satisfied with the aircraft, they closed the door and began firing it up. We were soon out over the Pacific on the way home. When we landed at John Wayne airport in Santa Ana, you would have thought we were special as a fuel truck was there immediately, as well as a minibus to take us all to the operations building. While we were there, a Cessna Citation X landed with government markings on it. It parked next to the G5 and I could see Chuck and Nightfox having a conversation with a couple of men. When we all went back to our G5, John Scott, his family, the Marshal and his wife, all got on the Citation. Sam Nightfox took his bags and left with the minivan. Chuck was smiling, so his conversations must have been okay. When we loaded up, Chuck said, "I'll get this thing going so John can relax a while. How about you, Steve, fly left seat, and then John can come up later and spell me for the last hour or so." When we were on our way home, Chuck said, "I almost said goodbye to the service yesterday and today. But you know what? Those guys from DC just told me that all of the services thought I had done the right thing. John and the Marshal are just too gun shy of all the do-gooders back there. You know, Steve, I've been doing some special missions for the Secret Service. This isn't for public consumption, but I wanted to tell you. You're kind of like a brother or something to me. Anyway, because of some of the weird stuff they've sent me out on, I'm going to get a lot of slack from everyone. I was just told that the Marshal Service owed me at least a month off for saving the Marshal's ass in Hawaii. That's funny, isn't it? The Marshal and Scott were both giving me shit about doing that guy in, and DC is giving me a month off if I want it." That was as much as Chuck had ever said to me about his job. Funny, isn't it? You can be close to a guy, be friends too, but you don't really know him. Chuck told me he was doing work for the Secret Service. I knew from the military how that branch of security had some very black ops units working around the globe, darker than the CIA and the NSA. If they were happy with Chuck, he was in good shape. But then I thought that if Chuck does work for them, they are watching him, which means they are watching me and us. In this case, that's a good thing. I wondered who the person watching us at the park or in the community was. Whoever he is, he's good, as I haven't had a second thought about anyone around us. Nice to know someone like that is there. When we landed at the airpark, all of our families were there to meet us. Sue, Kathy, Mercy, and Juanita surrounded me and hugged and kissed me. They were saying how the local news had played the incident with Chuck in Hawaii, and they were worried that I might have been there. I assured them, "Nope, I was with Crystal and Bear, along with the resort managers hearing some great proposals." Chuck's group surrounded him and I did hear him say, "If you saw it, then you know everything, and you know I'm fine. Let it be the end of it for a while." They were all hugging him and not letting him hardly breathe. We unloaded the luggage from the G5 and began preparing to go home. Chuck came over to shake my hand and apologized, "Next time I promise not to spend so much time with my job. This was supposed to be for S&S and our mutual investments. What is the name of our group anyway?" I smiled and said, "We're the DSC, Dewey, Steve, and Chuck. We are some of the classiest investors in all of Hawaii and Alaska. You and I have to go up there soon, you know. We need to check out our properties up there. Let's take all of our families up there soon." Chuck said, "I'm all for it. Tell me when we're leaving." We all left for home. At the patio, our group was hanging around to say hi to us. It was way past bedtime, so we all went to bed where I was required to appraise the territory I had not been playing with lately. As I completed my trip through five women that included Mickey, I thought, 'How does Chuck handle seven? Or is that six?' Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 46 Chuck I woke up at home early Sunday morning after a wonderful evening of loving enjoyment with all of the ladies. We spent a long time making sure we were all very happily satisfied before falling asleep. I ended up with Brandy and Tiani sleeping on my shoulders. This morning, all the ladies were sleeping peacefully and there was no reason to wake them yet. My body clock was all screwed up, but I was awake just a little earlier than most days. After making coffee, I went out on the grass to enjoy my internal music and stretching into form after form. The first presence I felt was Wanda, then a few minutes later, Lisa and Marie showed up. They were all up extremely early on a Sunday. I thought over the intense week I had just experienced, and about how nuts John and the Marshal were getting about violence and their fear of the DC bureaucrats. Some things just have unhappy and violent endings, and nothing can be done about it. My mind wandered to Sam Nightfox and his statement that he was transferring to a station around here. I wondered what that would mean, as Sam was a very intense man. He was very likeable, but I was apprehensive that he could become a little clingy. Perhaps I could get him captured by one of the women that seemed to be in abundance around here. After I closed and the others followed, we leisurely swam laps until we tired. By the time we finished swimming, the pool was filled with nearly everyone from the house. We showered and dressed, then met in the kitchen/family room area to discuss whether we wanted to go out to the patio for Sunday breakfast. Brandy said, "I want to go out so Chuck can see how the house is coming. They are really moving along. We're going to be in it soon. They finished the garage and the four cottages you wanted. I mean they are done with those. The wind generators are up and are already supplying power to the buildings. The studio is complete, but the electronics Lisa wants aren't installed yet. Some technicians are coming out to begin working on the computer system and recording equipment. Anyway, Chuck, you have to see it to believe it. Besides, I think we all love the Sunday food and show out there. Brandy held up a semi-opaque short gown and said, "See, we all have new gowns and they're a little more conservative than the others." I told the girls, "Let's go then. Do the rest of you want to come, or do you have other plans?" Wanda said, "John and I are coming. We want to see the house." Dennis commented, "Marie has shown me the house daily so I know how it's coming. We're going fishing out on the boat with mom and dad today." Jan said, "Don and I are going with Dennis and Marie, and I think Lena and Ben are coming with us." Tina was standing beside me and said, "I'm with you, but I have to go in this afternoon for an overnighter in the ER. Let me take my car so I can come home for a short nap before work." We arrived at the patio and had a great time with the rowdy and sexy group. We were having a good time when Terrel cornered me and said, "I think we'll be mostly done this week. We'll need to punch it out and get the landscaping finished, which may take another week. The electronics guys from your service came by to help us set up the video security system. They really know their stuff." Terrel suggested, "Your ladies are going to want to begin decorating this week. I think they already have an idea of what they want. Lisa told me her mother and sisters from Atlanta are moving into the cottage nearest the studio. She can bring them anytime, since the cottages are done. They need decorating, but that's all." He paused and added, "The guys have all enjoyed working on your place. I used it to show a couple of people thinking about building so they would know what we're capable of. We've already signed four nice contracts for some really big homes. One is even bigger than yours." "Thanks, Terrel. We didn't have a chance to talk over in Hawaii, but the work you did over there is perfect. Did you take a lot of men from here?" Terrel said, "Not really. I sent Frank Stuart over there to supervise the jobs. He's been a hell of a foreman here and I felt he could handle what I wanted over there. He hired all local labor and you saw what he did. He's assisted the contractors on the hotel remodeling and the new construction they have put up. I think Frank has earned a place over there. He wants to start a division of S&S construction over there, but wants to stay mostly in commercial." "What does Steve think of expanding his construction company?" Terrel grinned, "Steve's always for something new, but Tiny is making Frank get him figures on a thousand different things so he knows how to advise Steve. So far, it looks like Frank might be able to make it happen." I said, "Then that's neat. It's always fun to watch how Steve expands. You're going to be busy here with the T-shirt factory as well as the new factory that Sue wants." "Both are already started. Darnel is working on them. When your house is done, all the men will be shifted to those other jobs. I kind of wanted to see how fast we could build a first-class home. You'll like how none of the woodwork looks like it's been rushed. Everything fits perfectly and it really does look great. The rooms for each of the ladies are really very nice and comfortable looking. You'll want one for yourself. Deana already said she wants me to build something like that in our house so she can have some solitude sometime." "We're going over to the house after breakfast this morning. I think some of the girls' parents are coming to look at it too. I'll tell Lisa to begin getting her momma down here. She'll really get excited over that." Steve and Tiny had seen me get mad at John and the Marshal. I don't lose my temper often, but I did that time. I was a little embarrassed, but had gone to greet them when I had come into the patio. As Tiny handed me a tall glass of Bloody Mary, he asked, "Are you flying today?" When I said 'no, ' he took that glass and handed me another. "You can handle the real stuff then." Steve was just as friendly as ever, and neither one mentioned anything about my outbursts. I guess I can let that go and forget about it. These people had become my close friends and we're now also business partners. It was then that Terrel had approached me. After breakfast, half the patio went over to the new house. We had to tour the new garage with the unfinished upstairs. We looked through all of the cottages, noticing a little different design within each one. Lisa thought the one for her momma would be perfect. I was amazed at the studio building. There were electronics being installed everywhere. There was even a little alcove dedicated for the sound and video servers. Lisa was really proud as she had contacted the big producers to help her design the studio. The house looked done to me. We went over every inch. Every drawer was pulled out in every bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. All of the private rooms for the girls were really nice. They were larger than I had envisioned, but they would be perfect for some privacy. The cedar paneling and flooring smelled so good. It was like aroma therapy in there. Terrel, Tom Parks, or someone else, had designed in separate air conditioning zones for each of the little rooms so the user could regulate their own temperatures. That was really smart. The kitchen and giant family room were really beautiful and open. The entire glass wall between the house and the patio and pool opened completely to enjoy the outdoor feeling even more. The pool had been filled and was beautiful under the huge cage. I did notice a large grassy area between the pool and the studio, and between the pool and the driveway on both sides. These would be perfect for morning exercises as well as in the future for little ones to play on. Going from the kitchen/family room area to the front door were the formal dining and living rooms on the left. To the right was the gigantic office my girls had built for me. It was big enough for the beautiful desk that was already there, a couple of leather couches, and a table and six chairs for conferences. There were also two very nice leather chairs in front of my desk that I tested to make sure you didn't sink down in them. To the left of the wide entranceway was also the hallway to the apartments. Each apartment was a little different, and each was really special. They had their own small kitchen, as well as living room area. Each had two bedrooms that would be good for visitors or offices. Wanda made a point to tell me how perfect the place was going to be for John and her. Dennis and Marie showed us their apartment and how much they really liked it. Don and Jan got me aside and Jan said, "We almost decided to get our own place, but we're glad we waited. This is a special place and it's all ours. This is better than being away on our own. Thank you, Chuck, we are very thankful." The other apartment sized area downstairs was the huge exercise room. The place was really special and had some equipment, but also had the spaces for the equipment we already owned. When I asked Terrel what wasn't done yet, he said, "I have the upstairs area to complete. We have it in two individual very large units now, but it can be easily remodeled to be just like this is. The girls say it will be for their parents if they needed to be taken care of, but I think if that were so it would be better if they were smaller units. What do you think?" I said, "I think the smaller units would be best as there is no way any of the parents would hide from the rest of the household if they lived here. They wouldn't need that much room anyway. If they did, we could put them in a cottage or over the garage." Terrel smiled and said, "I'll do the four apartments up there then. I was right about that point of deciding what to do. We'll have those done by Tuesday, painted and floored by Wednesday. We'll punch it all out with the girls and finish the landscaping. You might want to begin moving in by Friday. We can finish anything else we need to later." "Holy shit. That was really fast. How did you do it so fast?" Terrel said, "With over two hundred men on the job that are all good, it was easy. Everyone had a job to do and they did it. They all worked together and you see what kind of work they do. They are proud of what they build." I gathered all my women in the family room/kitchen area and had them sit on the tall high backed chairs there. With Terrel standing beside me and a lot of interested folks from the patio observing, I asked my ladies, "Can you ladies get this decorated by Thursday?" There was a collective gasp and Brandy said, "My mom will help and I know Tiani's and Nancy's mothers will help. What do we need to decorate?" "You will need to decorate the whole house." Again more gasps and sighs from the audience. "Jan and Don, John and Wanda, Dennis and Marie, you are in charge of decorating your own spaces. Lisa, Brandy, and Frieda are the money managers, so just have them tell you where to go to get what you need. The decorator Brandy has should do any window treatments. That way everything will be installed correctly. You girls have to decorate the rest of the house. You don't have to do the formal rooms, but I'm sure you will. Furnishings should have already been picked out, and of course, a lot will come from our house." Brandy asked, "When should we plan on moving?" I said, "Have a couple of moving companies bid to move us on Friday." All of the girls mouths dropped open and the squeals began. Brandy said, "We can do that. We'll be done no later than six on Friday. I'll get this organized and we'll be in our new home Friday evening." She turned to all the people standing around and said, "This Friday, we will serve you folks in the formal dining room and everywhere else you can find a place to sit. We are showing off Friday." This seemed to be what the bunch of them was waiting for, as they huddled together, then pulled Terrel into their huddle. They broke up and Frieda said to me, "Can you come home with us now, because we have to get our plans and head to a couple of stores?" I nodded okay as Judy and her rounded belly came up and hugged me. With some tears in her eyes, she looked up at me and said, "This is so good. That you want me and want our baby enough to give all this to us is so overwhelming. I promise to be the best wife or harem girl you could ever want. We're going to have a wonderful baby." I kissed Judy and held her until Brandy pulled her from me, heading for the car. Lisa was beside me walking out, and I asked, "Do you think you should decorate the cottage or should you wait to let your momma decorate for herself?" "She'll want to do it and the kids will have a great time getting their own furniture. When should I bring them?" I said, "Tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, or any day you want, as long as it's soon." Lisa was really grinning and said, "I'll call her. She sold the restaurant and is ready to move. I'll go get her tomorrow." At home, the girls got their notebooks out and compared what they were to do. Brandy said, "I'll have the movers begin packing tomorrow so we can easily make the move. I'll make sure the apartments get moved too so everyone will have enough time to get organized. She turned to me, "Chuck, can we move the gym early? That would be one more room completed." I said, "Sure, move what you need. I don't have a lot of personal stuff and will move what little I have easily on Thursday or Friday." Brandy said, "We might have to stay at the hotel Thursday night because our bed will probably be out there by then. I think we should wait until Friday to officially move in." Lisa said, "The studio has its own alarm system and telephone line so you can put your instruments out there anytime. I'll get all my stuff out there too. I still have some out at Tom's and Zena's and more still in Atlanta, but that will all be taken care of this week. Let me call Momma to tell her." The girls said they would be back and they left in two cars, going in two directions. My cell phone rang and Metarie said, "My goodness, what have you done to them this time? Brandy was nuts on the phone. I just told her not to worry about it as the windows would take care of themselves." "We're moving into the new house, Metarie. They just found out we can move in on Friday." She said, "Oh, no wonder. They have talked of nothing else since the house was thought of. When can we see it?" "The girls are planning an open house Friday night. That will be a testament of their organizational abilities; plan on it though, because knowing that group, it will be done." "You're right, it will be done. Brandy promised to send whoever she could to work all week, but said she would probably be out. Well, Chuck, I'll see you Friday. Good luck with that bunch." I loaded up some boxes with the stuff from my office and then loaded the car with a lot of my instruments. At the house, I used the key Terrel had given me and carried the boxes into the office area. I looked at the office again to see how nice it was. This was sort of like my office at work, but the woodwork was more ornate. Behind closed doors was a giant flat screen TV. Other doors concealed a wet bar with a mirrored back for glasses and bottles. There were nice bookcases for hundreds of books and to display toys. The room did look masculine, and did sort of reflect me. It was very nice. After putting all of my office stuff away and arranging the few items on the bookshelves, I went to the car to begin bringing equipment into the studio. I noticed the studio windows all had good blinds on them and figured curtains might be added later. Over the two doors of large storage closets with big shelves, were the names, 'Lisa' and 'Chuck.' I put all my stuff into the closet marked 'Chuck, ' but took out the blues king and strummed it throughout the building to see how the acoustics were. In the glassed in recording studio, the sound didn't echo at all. It was perfectly flat. A lot of care and research had been put into the construction. Once that was done, I had a choice. I could visit at the patio, go home and prepare to bring some more out here, or go to the airfield. I didn't feel like any more airfield stuff, and didn't know whether or not I wanted to go to the patio. I just went back to the house and finished loading all of my instruments and musical electronics. I even put the small file cabinet full of music into the car. After putting the rest of my instruments and music in the studio closet, I looked around for the alarm information. It was in the computer alcove. The code was LC1369 for right now, so it was fairly easy. The place looked shipshape, so I set the alarm and locked it up. I did go to the patio this time. Kathy came out and said, "They all went over to play with the big boat today. They were going to begin making lists for what they want to take with them." "How come you didn't go?" Kathy smiled, "I kind of wanted to be around so Ben and Lena wouldn't be left totally alone. They need some supervision. I know they're fooling around, but they still need to be watched a little." "I guess, Kathy. I never had that problem because by the time I was their age, I had Uncle Sam for a chaperone." She laughed and said, "I guess he is a good chaperone. J.J. and Carl are both so busy they don't have time for anything else. Did you know J.J. was in Afghanistan for a couple of weeks and is now getting ready to rotate over there again?" "Really, I didn't know he was through with training yet?" "He isn't, but they need troops and they are sending a bunch of men from training over to fill in on garrison jobs while the seasoned troops are in the field. He's had enough training that he'll be fine. Steve had some long talks with him and feels J.J. can defend himself." I said, "Still it's scary to have one of your own over there." "I know," Kathy said, "It was the same when Jake went. I know it has to be done and I know my J.J. is a good man for it. I'll just pray a little more about it. Mercy says he'll be fine and she does seem to know things." Ben and Lena came in while Kathy and I were having a beer. Lena almost asked for a beer, but decided to have a soda. I smiled at her and nodded my approval. Ben went with the program and had a Coke with her. They didn't stick around long and left. Glenda came out from the kitchen and asked, "Do either of you want something for lunch? There is some leftover soup in the big fridge and plenty of sandwich makings. I think I'm going to lie down with Martin for our afternoon nap. I'll see you two for supper." When they were gone, Kathy said, "They are both getting a little on the frail side. Glenda won't quit and Martin is still out every day trying to help folks. He doesn't have to do it, but he likes to be busy. That Shirley lady that is a friend of Mark's and Caroline's is beginning to come over a lot to be with Glenda. She says she likes to have the time to gossip over here with the other ladies. Her friend, Betty, is getting frail too and has been staying pretty close to home." "Folks get older, Kathy, we can't stop it. That's one part of nature that is hard to accept." I said, "I think I'll head home. I might get the bike out and ride a little later on. I might be back." Kathy said, "If your ladies have anything to do with it, you'll be back." At home, I toured the whole place and decided that there wasn't that much to take to the new house. The girls would have a lot from their house, but that could be done over time. I figured we wanted this one emptied and ready for the guy from the employment office to move in as soon as possible. I figured that if the guy couldn't qualify for a loan, I could either carry the loan or rent the house to him. Either way would be okay with me. I decided I should work out and put on shorts and my sports leg to use the dreaded treadmill for a while. After forty-five minutes on the treadmill, I used the weights for a half-hour, then went to the pool to swim. Back inside, showered and dressed, I was about to have a beer when my cell went off. I could tell whoever it was, was on a sat phone. Lisa said, "Meet me at the airpark in about a half hour. I have momma. They don't have a lot, but it'll stuff your car. We might borrow one of the luggage vans." "My goodness, what are you flying?" "The Phenom. This thing has plenty of cargo and interior room to stuff. Anyway, get on your horse and meet us." "Click" My goodness, how did she get up there, get them out to the airport with all their stuff, and fly back already? I drove to the airport and saw Lisa's car. Inside the office, Charlotte, the pilot was watching the desk. She asked, "Are you here to give some lessons?" I laughed and said, "No, I'm here to haul Lisa and her momma home. She's coming in on the Phenom and should be here any minute." Charlotte leaned over and turned up the airport approach and field radio receivers. I asked, "Who do I ask to borrow a luggage van?" Charlotte smiled and said, "I guess you'll have to bribe me. I have the keys." As she handed me a set, she said, "Both are in good shape and should be full of gas. This is the one four truck. The last two digits of the truck number are one four." "Thanks, Charlotte, I'll move it close to where the Phenom parks." When I had the truck moved, I heard the thrust reversers make their loud noise, then heard the plane begin to taxi this way. Through the front window of the Phenom, I could see Lisa and one of her sisters. Both had huge grins on their faces. Lisa parked the plane to be refueled and then moved into the back of the aircraft. When she opened the door and let the hydraulics let the stairs down gently, I held out my hand for the youngest sister, Sheena, and then the older one, Timetra. Big Momma came to the door and it looked like she had lost a lot of weight, like maybe a hundred pounds or something like that. She came down the stairs, with my hands ready to catch her, and took me into her arms and hugged me so tight, I was losing my breath. She held me back and said, "It is so good to see you and to know you want us like you do. I promise, you'll never regret this. You're saving my babies' lives. Mine too, probably." Lisa came out of the plane with the first arm load of stuff and said, "Take momma and the girls into the office so they can use the restroom. I'll begin unloading." I took them into the office and introduced them to Charlotte. Charlotte was surprised that Lisa's momma and sisters were very dark, but she was perfect with them. I said that she should keep them until Lisa and I had the plane unloaded. With my help, we had everything off the plane in minutes. Lisa said, "This is all momma had. She said she would let me get her and the girls some new clothes down here. She said she sold or gave away everything else. The people who bought the restaurant are not very nice and were glad to get rid of the girls and momma." As she gave me a hug, I told Lisa, "How about having them come home with us or stay at the hotel for tonight? There isn't any furniture or anything in the cottages yet." Lisa said, "There is my room that John and his wife were staying in. The bed is big enough." I said, "We can do that, but we need to put this stuff, except the clothes they will need, into the new cottage. We'll go by the patio, introduce them, then take them home." Lisa nodded and said, "We can do that." "You drive my car with them and I'll follow with the van. We'll bring the van back and go to the house or plan for supper." We went to the new house and introduced them to their new home. You would have thought it was a castle the way they were making over it. Lisa and I had everything in the cottage except the clothes they needed for the next day or two. We locked up the cottage and I gave the keys to momma. She said, "My goodness, keys and all. This is so enormous, so unexpected. This is a dream come true for all of us." Lisa hugged her and said, "Me too, momma." A minute later, we were at the patio. The reception was perfect as my five were all there, along with Deanna and her little ones. Kathy was first to get to us and said, "So you're Momma and these are Lisa's sisters." Kathy hugged the big lady and smiled. "Welcome to Florida and welcome to the patio, the meeting place of friends out here." Glenda was next and said about the same as she gave Momma a hug. The big lady had tears running down her cheeks. My ladies were equally as loving, but had met the lady and girls before. Alice and Abe came in and were happy to meet her. I found out Momma's name just then as she said, "They all call me Momma, but my given name in Minnie. So it's not far from what I'm called today. I think everyone has called me Peaches most of my life. I'll answer to any of them. I kinda like Peaches though." I said to Kathy, "Momma or Peaches makes some great Cajun food. You'll love it as she knows how to make it spicy." "Oh my yes," Momma said, "I love to cook and can't wait to cook for my new family." That's when Glenda said, "You know you eat here most of the time and that we all eat together. A bunch of us ladies cook supper every day. You'll love all the people and the good time we have. Your girls will have friends here in no time, and you will have all of us ladies to gossip with and play cards with. You might not want to lie out in the sun with us, but we do that almost every day too." "My oh my, you sure are busy out here. I'm going to just love it." She looked around and said, "I'll need to get my girls into school tomorrow. Will you all help me do that?" Lisa said, "I'll help do it all in the morning, Momma. I told you it would be wonderful here." I suggested, "We need to take the van back to the airfield. Let me take it back while you visit. I'll be right back." Lisa gave me her keys and I left for the airpark, turned in the van with a full tank of gas, and drove Lisa's car back to the park. When I got there, all my girls except Nancy, Frieda, and Judy were gone. "Where did they vanish to?" "Furniture shopping. They were out of here before the dust settled from the van. Talk about excited," Kathy said. Frieda said, "That is so nice for you to do this with Lisa's adopted mom. I don't think anything is official, but I'll bet we can do something so she can take care of the girls if she needs to. Lisa has said her momma was losing a lot of weight and she didn't know why." I said, "Well, that's another thing that needs to be taken care of right away. We'll find out." I had a beer and the three pregnant women all had sips from it while it was cold. We talked about the new house and what I had done so far today. The three lamented over how hard it was going to be cleaning out their present house. "Just have movers do all the heavy stuff. You sit or stand there and tell them what to do with it. You won't be pushed, and you'll have plenty of time to get it in place. Do it slowly and have a good time doing it. If you guys have to, take a leave of absence. I'm sure they will give you the time you need because you are going to be moms very soon." The three were smiling with me, and Nancy said, "Oh you, you just make it sound so easy. I hope it is." Judy said, "Everything I own in life is either at our house, or your house, which is our house too. It will be good to get everything in one place. I'm going to love the new house." "What do you think, girls, should we go home or stay here?" They said, "We'll stay here. The ladies are going to play some cards in a few minutes and we want to play." I let them go to the table where the card game was going to start while I got a beer. Abe said, "How about playing a couple games of eight ball? I haven't played much lately." Abe and I played until Martin came and he played for a while. A guy named Jim, with his wife, Kate, came with a couple of kids. Kate played cards while the kids played with a couple of other kids in the house. Jack and Abe became partners and Martin and I partnered up in several games of doubles eight ball. By the time it was beer and food time, I was getting to be a better shot. The three I had been playing with were pretty good. Just as we had filled our mugs, people began coming home for the evening. A group of motorcycles came up and parked on the grass outside the patio. Steve, Sue, Mercy, and Juanita came, with a couple of dozen kids in two cars, along with Sue's mother and the little girl who was the Sheriff's department forensic person. I think it was Mickey. My girls with momma and her girls arrived, and came into the patio very excited. Lisa was really smiling and said, "I put a lot on your credit card today. You said for me to do it, and I sure did it. We bought all the furniture we need, all the bedclothes, and a pile of school clothes. We'll get more later when they see what the kids are wearing here. Momma is so happy, we have towels and curtains and a bunch of the bathroom stuff she'll need. We'll get more, but I think she can move in tomorrow when her furniture gets here." "Wow," I exclaimed, "You were really busy. I'm surprised you were able to get so much done." Brandy said, "I'm not, I know how to push people through a store. There wasn't any dawdling, and at the furniture store we only looked at the good stuff, so there wasn't a bunch of chintzy stuff to paw through." Tiny and Ruth came in the door with stacks of pizza boxes. Steve and his women went back to Tiny's big SUV and brought back buckets of wings and calzones. Supper was served. While we all ate, Momma said, "This is probably one of the most exciting days of my life. I've been so nervous and worried about everything and now I feel relieved, relaxed, and safe. This is the first time I've felt safe in over twenty years. This is nice." Lisa hugged her momma and explained to those around how Peaches had become her momma. She told of that terrible day the child welfare people had come for her over a year after her father had passed away. She also told of her push to get her pilot's license and the years it took to achieve her air transport rating. She said, "If not for Momma, I wouldn't have had the guts and will power to get it done. She encouraged me and here I am." We had a great evening. Steve, Sue, Mercy, and Juanita were warm and huggy with Peaches. They made her feel right at home. It didn't hurt to have Deanna and her kids there either. Darnel came over and welcomed her and said, "I have to introduce you to my dad. He's been alone for a lot of years and you two might enjoy going to a movie or out to eat sometime." Momma said, "Are you matchmakin'? Isn't that something? My first day in this place and a nice young man is trying to get me to meet his daddy." Nancy told her, "We're good people here, Peaches. We aren't as mean as some city people and these folks don't see color very well. You'll see." As it grew late, I encouraged my group to head home as tomorrow was a workday for some of us. At home, we settled momma and the girls in their room, but pulled the couch out for the two girls. In the kitchen, as I was having a drink with a snack of cheese and crackers, I told Brandy, "I've had a talk with Metarie. If all the girls are not needed to get the house ready, send some to work. If you need them all, she said that would be fine, and she would see you in a week or so." Brandy said, "I was planning on begging the time off, so thank you for getting that done. This is really one of the most exciting things that I've done. My mom has been going nuts over the house and will help. Nancy's and Tiani's mothers are going to help too. Sue, Mercy, Juanita, Beth, Betty, and Joan are all going to help, so it should be easy. We'll make sure our mothers to be aren't overworked." I told them I had moved my office and instruments. I told Lisa, "The code for the studio alarm is LC1369 until we change it. They monitor it at the gate for the park." Lisa said, "I can't wait to play out there." Momma was sitting at the table and said to Lisa and me, "I didn't tell you yet, but Pop's had to close. Some kids tried to hold him up and shot him. They didn't kill him, but he was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Rags went on a rampage and was about to be arrested, but he has sort of settled down. He says he might close as well. When I told them I was selling out and moving down here with you, they asked me to find them a place down here for both of them. Do you think that's possible?" She was looking at me so intently, as if desperate, and I said, "I'll tell you what. I will have someone I know work on that. I think a real classic jazz and blues club would be good down here. If we located it kind of in between the city and county, and made sure the club or clubs was known for mixed musicians and patrons, I'll bet you could get a decent draw. I'll look around." Inwardly, I was smiling as this was just what some of the money I had was for. I know Steve has an interest in a club and restaurant, so I'll get that manager to help me put something together. Ben likes all that glitz stuff, so I'll let him help me too. I'll bet I can get a lot of this done with cash, and I knew where to get that. Timetra and Sheena were so glad to be in a nice safe home with new clothes and lots of friends, that they were almost overly excited. Tiani had them put on borrowed swimsuits and took them outside to the pool to swim their excitement off. Lisa said, "Get your trunks on; I need a little exercise too." In a couple of minutes, everyone was in the pool, dressed for a change, with Peaches sitting on a towel on the steps, with her feet in the pool. We all swam until we were tired and got out to dry off. I helped Peaches, or Momma, up and we went into the house. The lady gave me a hug and said, "You are the man for my Lisa. Take care of her and my babies if I'm not here." I told her, "Don't talk like that. Tomorrow you will see my doctor and we'll find out if there's anything wrong. Don't worry though, as we will take care of you. You're ours now, Peaches, you're ours." She hugged me so hard it hurt my heart. Some people do have it so hard in life. At least I can help this time. After Peaches and the girls had gone to bed, I was sitting with Lisa, planning her day with her Momma. I told her, "I'll get her in to the doc early so you can be back at the house to place the furniture and direct the decorators. Make sure she does all the tests and find out what other tests she needs. We'll take care of her, Lisa, Honey, I promise." I had to hold her while she shook through a couple of tearless sobs. Later in bed, the girls were all talking. Judy said, "You know, I was thinking that we should probably spend a last night at our house, but I don't want to be away from Chuck when he's home. Isn't that silly?" Tiani said, "Not at all, Judy. I've thought of the same things, but I can be in bed with two of you between me and Chuck and still know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. I've kept thinking we would find men of our own that I didn't have to share, but I keep coming back to 'I want Chuck' all the time." I kissed each one and rubbed the big bellies of the mothers to be. They were all so special. The idea that I had contributed to the babies within them was very inspiring. I think Tina, Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani were as much in awe of the process as I was. The coming babies bonded us tighter than I could have imagined. That inspired me, and I thought I needed to go see a jeweler I knew in Miami. We actually went to sleep without any sex, but we did lots of kissing until we drifted off. When I woke up in the morning, I had a nagging feeling that I was forgetting something or that I needed to do something. As soon as I was up, I worked out in the gym room as it would be empty by tonight. When I headed for the pool, dropping my drawers along the way, Lisa caught up with me, carrying my swim suit. I laughed and said, "We'll have to break the girls into our open ways in the morning." We swam hard and showered under the outdoor shower before going in and dressing. Our five roommates were sleepy and didn't want to get up until I said, "You have furniture being delivered." They all got up and got going fast. Lisa figured she had flights today and dressed for it but then called in to see if she could be off to take care of personal business. She could and she changed. I called my doctor friend's private number and explained about Peaches and also said, "I have a new hole that I promised to have checked today. Can we do both real early?" The doc said, "I don't have any hospital visits this morning, so be here at eight. I'll do your lady, and my nurse will attack you. She's been wanting to anyway. Be here, Chuck, and we'll take care of you." I told Lisa and she told Momma to get ready. The girls were going to go with us early today and then go to transfer schools later. They were going to be busy. Lisa and I hauled Peaches to the doc and he took her into an exam room right away. The nurse had me strip my shirt off and opened the bandage. She checked the wound, asked about it, and said, "I saw that on the news. That was you, huh? ABC was commenting that it was too bad you killed the guy. CBS said that you should have given the man more of chance and NBC said you were overly aggressive and he might only have killed three or four others if you had just taken his gun away and subdued him." She laughed, "Fox news said you should have shot him earlier." She said I looked good and that it was healing fine. I had to agree and she gave me some more goop and bandages. About twenty minutes later, the doc came out and said, "I can't find anything to be worried about. I took a lot of blood for tests and we'll get a urine sample. We'll run all the tests and see if she settles down now that she isn't under so much pressure. That she's losing weight is a good thing. That she's concerned isn't. If necessary we'll give her a full body MRI just for fun. They are really something." Both Peaches and Lisa were feeling better when we left. We got to the new house before the furniture truck. There were workmen everywhere. Several landscaping guys were digging in a sprinkler system and some were already laying sod. They had planted some trees in the back and front of the property, but none around the house. The idea was that the tree roots could undermine the house, driveway, and sidewalk. When the furniture truck arrived, all of the women accompanied it to the cottage. The poor men didn't have a chance, as the women were directing their every move. Each piece was arranged just so. While that was happening, there was a torrent of activity in the house. Decorators and workmen were hanging drapes and the decorators were trying to decide the exact placement of art and objects. Two huge vans pulled up from two different furniture stores. I walked back to the cottage to get Brandy. She announced to her group, "Come on, our stuff is here. Let's move." They vanished, but Lisa stayed to help Peaches get stuff arranged. The two girls were decorating their room the way they wanted, so they were very happy. Lisa said, "I'll take the girls to school in a little while to get them signed up. We'll hang around to get an idea of what they're wearing, then do some quick shopping. We should be back by four or five. What do you have going?" "I have a couple of errands and will be back early. You should also help the girls up front. Tina won't get a chance at this." Lisa said, "Tina listed several things she wanted done as far as decorating. She's no wallflower. She tells everyone what she wants. She's a good leader like Brandy is." I left them and checked in with Brandy. The girls were all standing with hands on their hips as furniture was placed in the formal living room. The place looked very nice with the fancy drapes up. The dining room already had the table and chairs, a fancy buffet on two walls, and very nice paintings hanging on the walls. There were additions to the staff. Two little Asian girls were cleaning where everyone had stepped or carried something through the house. I think they would have preferred if people removed their shoes. I made it to the car and drove to the airpark. I did check with Wanda and she said there weren't any waves. I checked out the Phenom and flew to Miami. There, I rented a car and headed to the jeweler. The man was surprised and was trying to apologize for taking so long to confirm the jewelry was legit and for the slow appraisal. I told him that was fine and that it was not why I was there. I said, "I want seven rings. I think they are all this size or smaller." I had swiped one of Frieda's rings as she had the largest hand. I figured smaller was easier to do than to make them bigger. "What I need is seven identical rings that could be a set of seven, or seven of only one style and design. I want a ring that could be an engagement ring and could also be considered a wedding ring. If you can do it, make the set of seven plus a matching man's ring for me." He looked at me real strange, so I said, "I have seven women who want to all be my wife or part of my harem. Whatever it is, I want a special ring for all of them. The guy was still thinking I was nuts and kept trying to get out the appraisal of the jewelry I had brought him. "Look, here's a bar of gold to make the settings out of. Keep what you don't use as partial payment. I want each of the engagement type rings to have diamonds. Don't be too chintzy, but don't be obnoxious. Can you design something like that for me?" The guy was just nodding at me and then pulled the papers out he had kept trying to show me. "See this? This is the listing of the jewelry you brought me. All of it is classic and hand or custom made. It's all one of a kind. I want to sell it as it is because we can get a lot more for it that way. This one brooch has probably six carats of diamonds, along with the rubies. Something like this is probably worth two fifty or three hundred grand. All told, you probably have six or seven million in jewelry, and I'd like to market it for you." "Okay, market it, but when can I have a design, so you can make the rings." He smiled and said, "You know I'm going to sell you the diamonds you brought in here don't you?" "Sure, that's good business. So what's the deal, when can you give me some designs to choose from?" He said, "Come back Friday. I'll have the designer and my wife work on something special for your situation. Will there be one of these that will be special?" I said, "Yes, but I think they all want the same thing. They don't know I will get them rings, and we might get them toe rings or something like that too." He said, "Fill their fingers with your love. Fill their fingers with gold and diamonds. I can do that for you. The gold you brought can easily make seventy rings. I'll work on it for you." I left, laughing. I don't think the girls would wear rings on their thumbs. But then, women do some strange stuff. Toe rings would be cute. I think what would be cool would be large gold chokers. They would be heavy, but really beautiful. I might do that for Christmas. I was back at the airpark quickly, and had the plane checked in and refueled. DeDe was getting around real well now, and asked me to give a lesson. I gave an older guy his fifth lesson. We did all the practice stuff and I had him do the landings as I kept my hands and feet close, but not on the controls. He did fine, but had a lot of trouble with the constant barrage of questions about flying. I'll have to ask John if you should always do that. The new house was abandoned, and there was no one in the cottage. I drove to the patio and found everyone there. The two girls had met a couple of kids that were in high school. Barb was in the same year as Timetra. Barb was neat, as the two girls went over all the things that were happening here that was of interest. Sheena had found another girl, but this one was Asian. She was tiny, while Sheena was larger, but not heavy. When I sat with Peaches, she leaned over to me and said, "You know what? When I weighed in on the doctor's scale, I'm down another twenty pounds or so. I've lost over a hundred and thirty pounds. Another hundred off this frame and I'll be in good shape. I've been watching what I eat and trying to walk every day. You have that big pool, so I'm going to get in that so my knees won't hurt. I'll be nice and slim and will even turn your head." I smiled at her and said, "You've already turned my head. I've enjoyed you since the first day I met you." "Oh, you sweet talker, I love it. Go say something like that to my, or is that our, sweet Lisa." With a grin, I said, "I do that all the time." Steve came in from work and we enjoyed a drink with Tiny and Phil. I listened to the business talk and wondered about the variety of things that were going on. Steve told me, "You know that I really don't have my thumb on everything, but I know what they are talking about and have witnessed enough to stay interested. The key isn't to know everything, but to have managers that know everything about their area of interest. Some areas take more than one manager, but you have to let them handle the details. You make informed decisions and follow up." I said, "I was wondering about that. There is so much going on in so many different directions. I'm just involved in a couple of things and can't keep any of them straight." "Just ask DeDe and Betty when you need info on how you're doing on charters. Ask Jimmy on fixed wing maintenance profits. Ask Tank on rotary wing contracts. If you want a big picture, ask Tiny to have one of his people get you a spreadsheet for a specific area, or for the entire charter business. Remember though, that we now own an interest in the airpark so that is going to skew some of the figures." "I didn't know I was a part of the airpark purchase," I said. "Am I?" Steve said, "You sure are. Everything out there except Wes' project is partly you. We should probably get you into the LSA project, but that's still a venture. You own fifty percent in everything else out there. Of course, you're paying fifty percent of the salaries and costs too." Now that is staggering. "Don't sweat it, Chuck, everything is fat right now. When things get skinny, then we'll figure another way to do it." This was a special evening for Lisa, now that she had her momma in her new house and nearly settled. I didn't know whether they would stay out here tonight or come with us. When she was sitting with me, Lisa said, "Momma is so happy. The girls have the room just the way they want it and are really excited. They are going to be happy in the house." Nancy and Tiani had joined Lisa and me. Tiani asked me, "You know how you guys are always nude when you swim?" "Uh huh," I said, nodding. "Well, Peaches asked us if we thought it would be okay if she also swam in our pool without a suit. She says she doesn't want to buy a suit right now. She also said she didn't think there was anything wrong with the human body. I told her that we usually swam nude and she said we should continue." I asked Lisa, "And what about your sisters?" Lisa giggled, "They were always running around without any clothes. I don't think its exhibitionism; they just like to be naked. Momma was never very bashful either. You know where I lived for a while, out at the naturist park. I'm okay with it." I looked at Tiani and Nancy, "And why are you two the ones to ask me? Why didn't Peaches ask me?" Nancy grinned and said, "She thinks you're some kind of stud and didn't know whether you would object to a heavy lady being naked in your pool." Tiani suggested, "Maybe you need to give her a treat or would that be a treatment. You could always make love to her and give her thrill." I closed my eyes, imagining Peaches' smiling face in orgasm and got a hardon. I smiled at Tiani and said, "Might not be a bad idea." Lisa was rubbing my protrusion and said, "You leave my momma alone. She doesn't need my own man giving her some loving. She'll get plenty once men know her." I hugged Lisa, then grabbed Nancy and Tiani and pulled them onto my lap. Nancy was holding her tummy, but I was gentle. I kissed the two and said, "You can tell Peaches that she can play in the pool naked all she wants. Be sure to tell her I'll be looking. She might want to wait until the workmen are gone during the day. They will be gone from there in a couple of days." Brandy brought me a drink and Frieda was with her. Brandy said, "All of the furniture is in the bedrooms except our bed. We'll move that Thursday or Friday. Everything else is moved. We'll bring some of the tables and chairs from the suites at home. I hope you don't mind, but I've made a deal with the new man at the employment office. He's going to get all of our extra furniture, your old office furniture, along with the lawn stuff in the garage. You're getting an extra hundred thousand out of it. They love your furniture and want to keep as much as they can." I asked, "How does that stack up on what you spent on the new stuff?" Frieda answered, "Good, we got big discounts from Haverty's and from the fancy furniture store at the mall. We have probably spent less than that on all of our furniture, plus the new stuff for the two cottages. We still have to fill up the upstairs apartments and the other two cottages. You need stuff for the studio, but Lisa said she has it picked out." "I suppose it really doesn't make any difference, does it? Whatever we need, we'll get it." Brandy said, "Between my mother and me, we've spent a lot on decorating. The place is really looking nice though. Uh, I sold all the TVs and bought new. They are in and hooked up, along with the whole house music system. I've always wanted music throughout a home and now we have it. There are six channels, so we could have six different programs playing at once, or playing a single program everywhere." "What have you forgotten?" I asked. Brandy looked shocked and asked, "What? What could it be?" With a smile I assured her, "What we need in that house now is all of you and our kids. The place is big enough for us, all of our families, and our friends." I was pounced on by six women. Lisa said, "Tina moved all her stuff to her new room today before her tour in the ER. She says that the place is truly wonderful. She's going to sleep at Steve's and Sue's during the day until we get moved. She's so busy we don't get much of a chance to see her." I suggested, "Let's get Peaches home and then get a good night's sleep ourselves. You girls are probably going to be completely finished out here by tomorrow." Remembering the two Asian women at the house, I asked, "Who were the two ladies cleaning at the house?" Brandy said, "Those two were recommended by Sue. They wanted to be domestics and will take care of the house and complex for us. Right now they live in the trailer park, but we might have them move into the house or one of the cottages." "They don't look very old." Nancy said, "They are both near thirty. They are sisters who are both widows. There is a story there that we'll have to find out about. Their husbands were killed in some obscure problem in China and the two escaped to live here. Sue had helped them with their immigration status when they worked at her factory. They didn't like the men approaching them all the time and wanted to be domestics. Is that all right?" I said, "If you think they are good people, and you want them in your home with your children, I'm happy. What's happening with Marie from our house?" "She's going to work for the new man, but might come out to the park. If she does, she will work for us too. You know we're going to need a lot of help when we begin having a lot of kids running around." I smiled and nodded, "Brandy, I suppose your mother interviewed the two ladies who are working in the house?" Brandy grinned, "She sure did; for over an hour plus she had that lady over there at S&S, Ruth, run them and their fingerprints through the federal and Interpol computers." "I'm still not used to having so many people working for us." Brandy said, "Get used to it. We girls are going to be pampered now that we have our big new home and babies on the way. We have the money, whether you have it or not. We're going to enjoy ourselves. We won't have a butler or a cook, at least right now, but we will have housekeepers and nannies. We'll be pampered and taken care of." We took Peaches and the girls home and got them settled, promising to be here to pick them up early for breakfast. At home, the house was beginning to feel a little empty. We had a drink in our family room/kitchen area, and talked about what needed to be done yet. We went to bed with all of us thinking how we were beginning a new era in our lives. I went to sleep early as we were all quiet, with our own thoughts. Somewhere in there, Lisa was telling me, "We're going to be happy in our new home, and I love you." I was thinking those same things to her as she gave me a squeeze. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter and FAA legal knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 47 Steve Monday mornings are always fun. Everyone is getting started on a new week, with new energy, new ideas, and new motivation. My first task was to return a stack of non-urgent calls that had come in the previous Friday. The first was that the St. Louis cart plant was concerned their production was not keeping up with orders. The easy solution was to ship the extra production from Florida since the local plant was working at less than sixty percent capacity. I think the St. Louis plant manager wanted to expand, but keeping local people working was important too. Then there was the Chicago RV store and maintenance facility that was experiencing unexpectedly increased maintenance business. I asked if they could use any of the mechanics from the rebuild shops as it was looking like they might have to lay some off. Again, better to keep people working, even if in different areas. Abe was excited that Chance and Jeff were meeting with some military contractors about supplying bodies for their utility vehicles. They were planning another demonstration out at the bombing range. Jeff was concerned about transportation and wanted me to get it scheduled. Tiny, Abe, a couple of field techs, and a couple of sales techs had left last night for Las Vegas and Reno to begin directing how to get the two new distributors and dealerships into S&S condition. Tiny wanted me to look over some figures he had prepared. He wanted to know if I might want to open a manufacturing plant at the Las Vegas location, since they had a lot of land at that facility. Phil and Judy wanted me to call them in Hawaii, where they had been setting up a small sales office that would market all our products, as well as the charter services. Phil had an idea he wanted to run past me. I would have to wait till around two in the afternoon since we were six hours ahead of them. I did have a conversation with Gene who was elated that his two cars came in first and second in Sunday's race. Anyone could have heard the excitement in his voice. He wanted to rent the "Andies" again to make his cars perfect for next Sunday. Gene told me, "This time the request isn't coming from me. It's coming from the crew chief and his crew. The girls helped them so much the last time that they want to put them on permanently. The girls keep refusing, but they tell me there are others who may want to travel with us. Tell me; are there really others that are that good?" "There are, Gene, but they are even stranger than Sandy and Mandy. I have a group of four that come as a package. They are sisters and brothers that have married and become a group, if you know what I mean. Then we have two groups of gay guys that are really good, but in one case, the two guys are a little aggressive. You'd have to have an armed guard around them most of the time. We have a very militant couple of ladies that are great mechanics, but short of people skills. You know me, Gene, I hire perfectionists and they blend in here." Gene said, "The girls told me I should raise my own mechanics. They told me to have my guys bring on a couple of guys fresh out of tech school, and teach them race cars. They said that would serve me well in the future. They also said they could intern at your place. I guess I'll have to try that." I was having a cup of coffee while talking to Ruth about Tiny's trip. She mentioned that her, now expanded, personnel staff had come up with some problems with some of the employees out there. "Steve," Ruth began, "I have four people whose social security numbers are no good. These aren't the usual Latinos, but Caucasians with bad information. There are a couple of men and a couple of women of Hispanic descent that need green card help, but the four I'm talking about just don't exist. This is a major problem. Are they hiding their identity for a criminal reason? Are they a plant from another company to find out how we operate? What should I do, Steve?" I sat back thinking about the problem. "The easiest way to handle it would be to dismiss them immediately. Even if they are key people, we don't want that sort of element around. Reporting this to local law enforcement probably isn't the smartest thing either. How about calling Wanda, give her the names of the four people and let her give the information to the FBI in Vegas. Let's do this, too. Go through the folks in Reno real quick to make sure all their numbers match. That way if some have the same problem, the Vegas office can coordinate with the Reno office." Ruth was nodding and asked, "Is this something you should personally go out there for?" "Hmmm, I could, there isn't that much happening here right now. I could show up and not make any waves while Tiny and Abe lead the refurbishment. Want to come? You could begin working on the four Latinos that are going to need help. This way you can better determine their value." Ruth smiled, "Good deal. A freebie vacation to Vegas with the old man. Tiny will be happy I showed up." I called out to the airpark to see what aircraft I could get. DeDe told me, "If you're flying it yourself without a right seat, you can have the Citation or a King Air." "Give me the Citation, it's a little faster and I don't need a lot of room." DeDe said, "You should look into a CJ4 or another Embraer. Both are faster, with longer range, and they are rated for single pilot. The Embraer is pretty efficient too. You'll have to do a study." "I think Tiny and John are working on that DeDe. Surprisingly the Learjets are pretty efficient, but they do require that second pilot. We're working on getting ours approved for single pilot operation. The main thing is that we have enough aircraft and pilots for what we need right now." DeDe laughed, "If we run out of aircraft, just about anyone around will rent us a plane. We're the only ones flying lately." I said, "We can all thank Tiny for that. He figures costs and knows how to make everything fit to be profitable at affordable charter rates." Kathy answered at home, so I told her what I was doing. I asked her if she would put a suitcase together for me. I told her that Ruth was already heading home and doing the same. On the way home, I swung by Chuck's new place to see Juanita and Mercy. There must have been thirty or forty cars in the street and driveway. When I entered the front door, there were two smiling oriental ladies with cleaning materials in their hands. I asked them, "Do you know where Mercy Sharp is?" Both bobbed their heads and one said, "Yessie, Missy Mercy is in big room by kitchen." Walking past the formal living room and dining room, the fancy décor didn't give the place that soft of an appearance. The rooms were beautifully furnished and decorated, but too fancy for me. When I walked into the kitchen and family room, I knew where people would always congregate. This was my type of room. The kitchen was on one end, with a big bar and eight high bar chairs. Across from that was a rather large table with sixteen chairs, and then the huge family room. This was furnished with a couple of couches, big, comfortable looking chairs, tables, and lamps, but on one wall, was a huge television that had to be at least six feet wide and almost that tall. A bunch of women were sitting around a chair grouping, looking at samples of something. I spied Mercy and went to her. Juanita saw me and stood up for a hug, then Mercy did the same. Mercy said, "The girls are picking out their personal room's bedspreads and rugs. They are really almost done decorating already." I told Mercy about going to Las Vegas and she almost immediately frowned. "Be careful, Steve, I don't feel good about something. Is Chuck going with you?" "No, I'm going with Ruth. Tiny and Abe are out there already, and we're going out to check on something. Is Sue around?" Mercy said, "She's upstairs, but I think you should get Chuck to go with you." "Oh Mercy, this is just a check it out sort of thing. I'll be fine." Mercy smiled and asked, "Can I go with you? I want to practice going to a casino." "Sure, you can come, Mercy. I'm not going for fun though. We'll have to make time to go to the strip." We both went upstairs and found Sue helping direct some of the décor installers. She was with a diminutive black lady that was introduced as Tiani's mother. Sue listened to what I was going to do, but was looking directly at Mercy the whole time. She asked, "Do you want me to come too?" "If you want to, but Ruth and I are going to check something out." Mercy said, "I'm going with him, he'll be fine with me." Sue nodded and pulled me down for a kiss and hug. She said, "Be careful out there, and don't get involved in something that is more than you can handle." As I rolled my eyes, Sue snapped, "And don't roll those eyes at me. You know what I mean. Just be careful." Mercy came with me to the house and quickly packed a suitcase. I went into the bedroom and pulled my Glock from the closet gun safe. I took both loaded magazines, thinking that Mercy had spooked me a little. I did put my clip-on belt holster and gun in my travel bag and headed to the patio. Mercy came out and asked me if I had brought some nice clothes. When I said, "Sure, some almost new jeans," that didn't cut it. She said, "Get some of those dressier western cut pants you have, and bring a sport coat. We need you to look sharp, you know, sharp Steve Sharp." I pulled a couple of pair of the pants she talked about off hangers and brought the sport coat that went with everything and took them with me. Mercy was going through my bag and replaced everything, putting the pants into the bag so they wouldn't wrinkle. Ruth was ready and the three of us headed to the airpark. The Citation was fueled up, ready to go. We were planning to stop in Amarillo, Texas, as with any headwind, the range of the Citation wasn't far enough. We could stop in Houston, but Amarillo would be faster and had cheaper fuel right now. Mercy observed me going through the startup and takeoff, then went to the cabin to talk with Ruth. The two did bring me coffee, and when I announced we were descending for Amarillo, Mercy came up front to be with me for the landing. While I refueled, the girls went into the operations building to use the restroom and found some sandwiches. I used the facilities too, then we were soon on the last leg to Las Vegas. I'm glad we had stopped for fuel, as we did fight a headwind almost the whole way. Las Vegas has a continuous stream of limos that go between the airport and the city. It's only a ten to fifteen minute ride to the strip, but we needed to be on the north side of the city, so we rented a car, and with the help of the GPS, drove to the dealership. Tiny and Abe had workmen and employees cleaning and painting. Tiny had electricians hanging additional lights, and workers on high lifts cleaning and painting the ceilings and high walls. Abe was working with some men, tearing down an old generator. As I passed by, he said, "There is a fortune in generators and compressors sitting out back that we can rebuild. We might have to open a small rebuild shop out here." The field sales techs were working with some girls they were training as customer sales people. They were using Phil's and Judy's techniques to begin canvassing all the old and existing customers in the area. It looked like the place was underway to become one of our shops. Ruth had found a harried administrator that told her, "I do everything right now. I handle all the receivables, payables, personnel, payroll, and until earlier today, all of the order entry. Thank you for taking that from me. Unless I can get rid of some of these other responsibilities, I think I'm going to resign. This has become more than I can do." Ruth assured her, "I will make sure you don't have to do everything. You might have to help with payroll and personnel, but coordinating everything that goes to accounting and handling coordination between sales and service is a big enough job in itself. Come help me with something before we get too far." Ruth and I took the harried lady to the former owner's office and Ruth asked, "Can you get the personnel files for these four men?" The lady left and returned with some file folders. Ruth began looking through them asking some questions, "They look like they all came here about the same time. Did they come together?" "No, they showed up a day or so apart. We needed drivers at that time and Jess, the former owner, hired them." Ruth said, "I see where you ran their names and social security numbers through the local police department. Do you do that with all employees?" Mary, the admin lady said, "No, but since these were going to be driving, I wanted to know if they had a decent driving record." "Are they out making deliveries now?" I asked that, thinking I could talk to them when they came in at night. "Three are, but one took off today for a doctor's appointment. He should be in tomorrow if you need to see him." "Who handles the delivery schedules?" "That's Jorge," Mary said. "He's the one out by the rear door where the on-site mechanic's room is." Ruth pulled her notes and said, "You know Jorge is an illegal don't you? We have to get him a green card if you think he's worth keeping." Mary was surprised, "No way, the man has a social security card and number. How did you find out he was an illegal?" "If you run them through the feds, they will confirm the social security number and name, as well as the current address for the person. You have three others, a guy and two women. We won't fire them, but if they are worth keeping, we will make an effort to get them legitimate. We'll sponsor them if they are of good character." Mary said, "Jorge is very conscientious. He's here early every morning and keeps track of all of the field men and drivers. He's been doing a good job for over two years." Mercy was with Ruth and me, just observing and jotting notes on a steno pad. When Ruth and I sent Mary back to work, Mercy told me, "She suspected Jorge, but she didn't want to lose a hard worker. She doesn't like those four men, but doesn't want to say anything. I think you should talk to Jorge." We walked back to where Jorge had a desk with a stack of work orders on it. He was scheduling deliveries for the next day and shaking his head. I introduced myself and he said, "This is difficult today because we have someone out, and the three who are out, are taking a long time for deliveries. They should have been done by two and it's already getting close to four. They must have had bad traffic or problems with customers. If we're behind today, it'll be worse tomorrow, as it's going to be a heavy delivery day." There were pictures of men up on Jorge's board, so I asked him, "Are any of these the three men who are slow today?" He said, "Yeah, I should use them to throw darts at." "Can I have these pictures?" Jorge grinned and said, "You can, but I have good ones in the drawer. I use the picture so I remember the gringos' names. No offense meant, but these four guys drive me nuts as they are always switching around between trucks. The pictures help. I put the pictures up on the routes they are on so I know who is where." Jorge gave me pictures of the four drivers without me asking for the fourth man's. I sent Ruth in to evaluate how we should bust up Mary's job, and I took Mercy out to the car and called information to find the FBI office. With the help of the GPS, Mercy and I quickly arrived at the Bureau office. I spent several minutes explaining what I knew and what I needed to know. The agent was blasé telling me, "We're not employment counselors. You know if you don't like someone, you should let them go." I said, "Please, look into this, as something is wrong that four men should come to our offices about the same time and none are who they profess to be. I'm sure if I asked my friend, Chuck Johnson, he would find a way to investigate these." "Then you should ask this Chuck Johnson, I'm not your nanny." That pissed me off. With Mercy's hand on my arm, I used my cell and called Chuck. When he answered, I asked, "Are you still sort of the supervisor of the Bureau offices, as well as the Marshal's offices?" "Yes, but only when needed. I don't try to do the direct supervision thing any longer. The regional agents do that now. What's up?" In front of the agent, I explained, "I'm at the Bureau office in Las Vegas with what could be a problem with four employees here. The local agent, ah, Agent Jim Winfield, doesn't think he should be my employment office." Chuck laughed, "What kind of discrepancy do you have?" I said, "Ruth came up with these four that really aren't the people for the names and social security numbers they gave. She also has four in Reno with the same problem." Chuck said, "Is the agent in front of you? If he is, put him on." I handed my cell to agent Winfield and waited. The agent listened for a couple of minutes and was about to say something, but the longer he listened, the darker his face became. When he handed me the phone back, he was pulling out an investigation form. Chuck told me, "I think the man will begin an investigation. I will speak to the regional agent in Reno and have him coordinate. It sounds strange to me, too. Be careful, Steve. Do you want me to come out there?" "No, Chuck, we'll be okay, I just want to make sure of what's going on in my own places." Chuck said, "Put Mercy on." "How did you know she's here?" "Just put her on." Mercy listened and said, "I'm prepared." A minute later, she said, "He is too, but not right this minute. I will, Chuck." She handed the phone back to me and Chuck said, "Just be careful. Listen to Mercy if she gives you a warning. Remember, I'm just a few hours away if you need me." We gave the agent all of the information for both locations and watched him write a note and fax all of the information to his regional agent in Reno. He said he would begin investigating the men this afternoon. We exchanged cell phone numbers and we left. Mercy said, "I'm not sure the man will really work on this problem, but the regional will. He will demand answers from the local agent." Back at the dealership, we watched as the three drivers came in, turned their delivery records in, and left for the day. I did notice that they didn't use a time card. When I asked Mary about that she said, "Those four never will fill out a card. They just write it in every week instead of doing as I've asked." Mercy and I walked back to Jorge and asked, "Do they leave early often?" Jorge said, "They leave when they come in. If they stay, they are very disruptive, so it is better they leave. They won't do anything else or work with any of the other men." "How about showing me the trucks they use. Do you have a mileage log? How about estimated distances between stops." "They won't match if you're going to check. They must go a long way for lunch or something. They always have a lot of extra miles at the end of the day." "How come you let them get away with that?" "Ah, did you see them? They are big men. They told me when I asked them that it was none of my business." "Jorge," I asked, "Can we find other delivery drivers?" He laughed, "In this economy? Las Vegas is desperate for jobs. The unemployment out here is terrible." I smiled, "Start looking, I'm not happy with what these men are doing." Jorge looked worried, "You are not that big. Those men are mean. I know they have beat up one of the men when he questioned them on something." "What did he ask them that made them mad?" "I don't know. It's better to keep to yourself with men like that." I motioned for Jorge to come close. "I know you are an illegal that works hard and tries hard to do a good job. Ruth is going to work getting you a legal green card. I don't approve of you being an illegal alien, but you're working for me already and you try hard to do a good job. We'll get you taken care of." Jorge's face went through surprise, fear, apprehension, then relief, as I talked with him. He began shaking my hand continuously until I patted his hand and said, "We'll get it taken care of, Jorge. Just keep doing a good job. Let's look at those trucks real quick." The big delivery trucks were pretty standard and had the ability to pull a trailer, compressor, or generator. I looked through the cab and the covered cargo area, but found nothing unusual. Mercy was looking with me and said, "These trucks are not very friendly feeling. They really feel evil for some reason." I said, "Let's go to Radio Shack and pick up some GPS cell phones, or maybe we can get the FBI to loan us some tracking devices." Back inside, I called the agent and asked him if he wanted to put a GPS tracking device on the trucks, but he said he didn't have any reason to do that yet. Ruth was interviewing a lady and had Mercy and I speak with her as well. Ruth said, "This is June Venus. We want to hire an assistant for Mary to handle the duties she has. Tiny has set up an accounting firm for here and Reno, but we still have to handle a lot of paper to funnel to them. This will make the operation run a lot smoother. Mary does admit that she probably is missing some billing because of the many duties she has." We were impressed with how the building was beginning to look. Tiny had a sign painter making our special signs over doors and around the work areas. While thinking about it, I called the Reno regional agent and asked him, "You know, if you want, you can put tracking devices on our trucks up there. That might help figure out what they might be doing." "Great idea, Chuck said you were a good guy and would work with us. Will you let us do that in Las Vegas too?" "Sure, just tell your man down here to come by this evening so we can get them on the trucks while they are in house." The regional said, "I'll call right now. Thanks for working with us. The agent down there should have what I have by now. These guys are non-existent as far as public records are concerned." About an hour later, another FBI agent showed up and identified himself. He said, "The other agent has been reassigned for some reason. It came rather suddenly, but that gave me the responsibility for your case. Let's get these devices installed on the trucks." Before everyone left for the day, Ruth and I spoke with the other three illegals. They went through the same emotions Jorge showed while we talked to them. The other guy, Jose, hung around until the two women left and said, "You give me chance. I will be good for you. I work hard. I don't like men who are bad, and you have four who are very bad. The delivery, they are bad. They are men who deal with cartel de drogas. They deliver more than your equipment. When I tell them to stop, they beat me. They say they will kill me if I don't stay silent. I'm not afraid of them, and now I have told a patron what I know." Mercy went out to try to stop the FBI agent but he was already gone. I called the number on his card, but had to leave a voice mail message. The regional agent answered on the first ring. I relayed what Jose had told me and he said, "We'll be on them in the morning. Make sure you have them make deliveries in the morning." I checked with Jorge and he said, "You did good to talk to Jose. He is a good man. He sends money to his family and will try to bring them here soon." When I asked about tomorrow's deliveries, he said, "All four men have a big day. There won't be much time between deliveries." I thanked Jorge and said I would see him in the morning sometime. I rounded up our Tampa bunch and told them, "How about I take you out for dinner, a couple of drinks, and we'll let Mercy show us how to gamble for a few minutes, but only on the cheap tables." Since it was well after five, we let the store staff lock up and go home, while we made our way to the hotel to check in and dress for the evening. We drove to the strip and ate in a fancy restaurant that was dirt cheap. The food was excellent and the service warranted a good tip. After dinner at Wynn resort, we wandered through their casino to see what it looked like. The place was palatial, but very warm and inviting. We all traded cash and credit cards for some chips and wandered through the tables. Tiny wanted to play blackjack, so we stopped at a table, but Mercy said this wasn't our type of table. She took us to another with some smiling players. We played for about fifteen minutes, never winning a lot but staying pretty even. I nudged Mercy toward the roulette area, and she said, "I'm not my mother. I really am not good at forecasting where the ball is going to land. I can tell you if the table is friendly, but the rest is up to you." We did play a few games, winning one of three on color, so we weren't down a lot. As we passed by a craps table, Mercy pulled me to it and said, "Now this I know. Let me play with a few of your chips." Mercy was knowledgeable enough to lay bets for the next thirty minutes that fascinated me. After her turn throwing the dice, she finally said, "I'm done. I think I've used up my luck now." She had a pile of chips that was pretty impressive. Tiny and Abe had been betting with her and were grinning all the way to the cashier. We had to rescue Ruth and the sales and tech types from the banks of slot machines, where they bemoaned the fact that the one armed bandits lived up to their name. We were back at our hotel's lounge, having a drink, before nine. We all needed to be at the dealership early the next morning, so we gravitated to our rooms. Mercy was very loving. She said she was taking advantage of having me to herself. After showering and dressing the next morning, Mercy pulled my gun and holster out and said, "Wear your sport coat and take this with you today. It won't do you any good if it's in your luggage. I checked; Nevada and Florida recognize each other's carry permits. You're legal and I'll feel better." I had to ask, "What's up, Mercy? You've been antsy about this trip since I mentioned I was going." Mercy hugged me and said, "Sometimes I have feelings that tell me caution or danger. This has all of that in capital letters. There's something wrong here, and it's more than just those four men. I've listened to everyone at the dealership and I don't hear anything threatening, but I feel there is danger here." "We'll be careful then. If you sense something, tell me. Help me keep a lookout and be my extra eyes. Do you think we should call Chuck?" Mercy looked a little confused, "I don't know. He might think I'm being silly. We can't make him come here on one of my feelings. He's busy; I can tell when he's doing something important and probably dangerous, as his mind is cloaked." "Okay then, Mercy, it'll be you and me against the unknown forces out there." I acted like a muscle man cocking both arms at shoulder level acting as I was flexing my muscles. "Oh you," Mercy said, punching me as we walked out of the room, heading for breakfast. Abe, Ruth, and Tiny were telling the sales guys and techs, "Breakfast on the weekends is special. The ladies wear some of Sue's special lingerie and tease everyone. It's really a lot of fun." Ruth said, "Especially if you're a lady and enjoy teasing." She spotted Mercy and said, "And Mercy is just exactly that, one of the teases." At the shop, I found a place for Mercy to watch the drivers' area. I went to see Jorge and ask if he was ready today. He said, "The trucks are loaded and all four are in different directions today. I have to be firm with the men today as we are a little behind. Just look at how loaded the trucks are." I took the bills of lading for one truck and looked at the equipment stacked in the truck. Most of the load went to two places and they were near each other and early deliveries according to the route sheets. Nothing looked out of place on the truck, so I pulled the door closed and gave the papers back to Jorge. He had four clipboards neatly arranged on his desk. I joined Mercy who said she had spotted the FBI agent in his car in the parking lot across the street. She said there was a van down the street with two men visible through the front windshield. She said, "Now that van does not make me comfortable." She handed me the FBI agent's card and said, "Call him and advise him of the van. He may want to call for help or wait to see what happens." I called and told the agent about the van. He said he would have another agent in the area drive by to check the van. He said, "We have some really non-descript cars that we use for observation. I didn't get a chance to check one out this morning, but I wasn't planning on following close since we have the tracking devices on the trucks." He said to call him if the van moved. The four drivers showed up and were very surly with Jorge. They pushed him away from his desk and looked over the clipboards and the deliveries. One yelled and said, "What the fuck is this. This will take all day to do." Another yelled at Jorge, "You're gonna have to take some of this shit off here, I ain't delivering all this shit today." I didn't care who these guys were. If they were my employees I was going to say something. I walked out to the table where the four big men were. "Say fellows, I need to remind you that you are the employees and you are assigned work to get done." The four men were not used to being addressed like this and turned to look at me. I continued, "Now that I have your attention, please decide who is going to take what route today. These deliveries are important and need to be completed today. Can you do that?" "Who the fuck are you?" One of the big men said, and took a step toward me. I smiled at him and said, "I am the person who signs your check. Now will your next check be your last one, or do you want this job?" One of the other guys grabbed the guy and pulled him back to the group and said something to him. They all talked and another guy said, "Sorry, ah, ah, Sir. Jim here just gets a little mouthy sometimes. We'll get these orders delivered." He turned to the others and said, "Let's get going, the day is wasting." They took the clipboards and met outside for a minute, then one used a cellphone and made a quick call. They all started their trucks and drove off the lot. As soon as they had gone to their trucks, Mercy went to the front to watch the van. As the trucks took off in different directions, the van left, following one of the trucks. I called the agent and advised him of what direction the van and truck went in. He said he had called for multiple backups so each truck could be tailed, but at a distance. He was going to follow the one that the van was following. Jorge came up to the office and said to me, "You were either very brave or very foolish. Those men can be mean. You know what they did to Jose." I said, "Jorge, I said what any business owner would say. This is a business and it must be run as a business. So what's next on the agenda today?" He showed me a space he was cleaning out for the addition of the welding equipment that was forecast to come in. He said, "You guys have several lines of goods we don't have now. I love those S&S T-shirts and hats you sell and give away. As soon as we advertised that we were now an S&S shop, a lot of people called to ask if we had any of your race day T-shirts." "You'll get a supply of the regular T-shirts, but you will get about ten dozen race day T-shirts each week for your customers. Hopefully, we'll have a chance for the trucks to have a day at your store here and in Reno sometime this season. Customers love to see all of the racing equipment on display." The mood in the store was becoming lighter with each wall painted white. Every time an S&S logo appeared on a wall, the employees applauded. One of the sales techs came up and asked, "Are you going to do the floors this weekend?" I told him, "Ask Abe. He knows the schedule." Some men were wrestling with material trying to assemble some heavy duty racks. I suggested using the fork lift and told them to get Abe to help. Abe had just begun, when he sent a tech for me. "Steve, get that ancient arc welder over here and fix this bunch of racks. None have the brackets welded on. Can you do it with what they have?" They did have the correct rods, so I hunted up a leather smock, gloves, and a hood. I gave my clip on holster and sport coat to Mercy and began welding metal together. Abe had come up with some grinding tools and spray paint so that we could do a first class job. The crowd of onlookers grew as they watched the owner of the company and the senior mechanical engineer, Abe and me, welding and grinding the giant racks. Some of the men got involved and began painting what Abe completed and within about two hours, the racks were ready to assemble. We only had to let the paint dry. When I grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the welding dust and scrap, another employee took the broom away and told me to let him do it. It was good to have the store coming together, working together for a common goal. Ruth and Tiny had ordered in a huge buffet for lunch. While the employees ate, he made announcements and attempted to explain how our 401K savings plan worked. Ruth announced to all that they would need to complete the short applications for our health insurance and to also complete our applications so we knew what equipment they were qualified to operate. Abe told all the folks, "If you don't know how to drive a forklift, we'll teach you. If you don't know how to weld, we'll teach you. If you want to be a mechanic, you have to go to night school, but we will also teach you. This company takes their employees and teaches them how to be better and more knowledgeable men and women. One thing you're picking up is that from Steve on down to the last man, we strive for perfection. No one will bitch about how much time it takes you to do perfect work, and we will help you learn how to do perfect work. Speed comes with practice. If something goes out our doors, ask yourself, 'Is it perfect?'" I said, "I love for our shops to be beautiful when we open in the morning. It makes me want to come to work in a place like that. When your floors are all complete, you will be dragging your family and friends to see where you work. You'll be as proud of the place as I am. Keep in mind, we knock off a little early, clean off all of the equipment, put it back where it belongs, and clean up the shop. When we go home at night, the place will look like it did when we came in that morning." As the afternoon wore on, I could see that people were working with Abe and the field techs, getting a handle on how S&S did things. When the day was nearing four, the racks were all assembled and began to be loaded, as well as a huge tractor trailer that arrived full of welding equipment. I watched as three delivery trucks pulled into the parking area at about the same time. The three drivers came in, spoke briefly to Jorge, got in their cars and left. At close to five, the last truck showed up with a very tired looking driver. He turned in his paperwork and left. Jorge went through the delivery receipts and made a listing of the delivery times. I watched as he went through each of the trucks. The last truck through had the most glaring time opening. There was an almost two hour time lapse between the second big delivery and the next delivery. That must have been why he was so late. Jorge pointed out how close the last several deliveries were in time, saying, "The man had to really go fast to do these that fast. I wonder where he was for those two hours?" Mercy brought the FBI agent to me. He got me off to the side and said, "All of the chase cars had interesting days. That van caught each truck and unloaded some large boxes to each truck. We made note of each of the offloads of the boxes as well. We have a chase car following the van right now, so we'll have more information tonight or tomorrow morning." I asked, "Have you been able to identify any of those men yet?" The agent said, "We think one might be an escapee from a federal pen. We have good photos of them and the men in the van. We are running them through the recognition software right now. We did get the Marshal's office involved since we think the one is an escapee. They are investigating him now. They put a tail on him when he left today." "So what do you think is going on?" "I don't know, but I kind of think it is drug deliveries of some kind, perhaps prescription drugs. I can't really disclose any more of our investigation, but I wanted to advise you to be careful and stay in populated areas. Since we don't know what these guys will do if they catch on they are being watched, I have to suggest you either leave the area, or hire someone to watch you." I said, "We'll be all right. We are aware of the possible danger. Find out what the deal is because I'm planning on canning those guys very soon." The agent did ask, "Please wait until we have some better evidence, then you won't have to can them. We'll take them to jail." I relayed what the agent and I had discussed with Mercy and she didn't look any more concerned than she did before. She did say that she felt as if we were being watched today, but not by any of the employees. She felt as if there were eyes outside the store, but she didn't know where. We ate at the hotel and discussed what else needed to be done at the shop. Ruth said she was through getting people to assist Mary, and the sales techs had set up the customer service people. The lead sales tech said, "We are already realizing some nice orders from the established base. Tomorrow, we will begin interviewing field sales people with technical backgrounds. One of our show trucks will bring one of the completed pickups for the field sales techs tomorrow. We'll have the show truck to put in front of the store, as well as one of our painted up field sales tech trucks." Abe said, "We have already hired three men for here and three for Reno. As soon as this location is complete, Tiny and I will run up to Reno and see how they are coming along. This one will be complete when the floors are done. Ryan will come through and he will begin their sales training schedule for all of our equipment." Tiny asked, "There is a lot of land back behind here. We can have a cart plant, or just a cart showroom, and bring carts from St. Louis or down from Montana. The reservation up there is turning out good product at a very respectable rate." I suggested, "Let's keep the cart plants we have working and ship from there. Let's build a cart showroom next door and get some advertising and field sales going on that too." Tiny said, "You know you still don't have a manager here, or even a good candidate yet. Usually there is someone who rises to be seen, but so far no one. Is there someone in one of the other stores that is ready?" I suggested, "Call Ryan. Have him come out and to bring who he likes as our next guy to promote. He's made some great selections so far, and has built the business where he's had influence." Abe agreed, "He's a good man. Now that Michelle is going to have to take off for her baby, Ryan may need some additional staff to take care of his reporting. You might even need at least one more Ryan." Tiny and I looked at each other and laughed. Tiny explained, "We talk about this all the time, Abe. Somehow, while the economy is going into the tank, we keep hiring and hiring. Just look at this place. We've already hired over a dozen sales girls and mechanics, and we're still looking for more." Abe grinned, "Yep, we do hire a bunch of people, don't we?" While it was still early enough, I called Chuck. I told him about what the agent had told me and said, "This could be in your area of interest. I'm wondering if all the drivers might be from the same place. They all have fake IDs, and they all have the same demeanor. You were working on something like that weren't you?" Chuck said, "I was, and I am. Let me get my guys that are working on that problem case to come to you. They are in Texas right now following up some leads, so they can be there by morning. Let me get them started." Mercy and I were in the lounge, having a nightcap, when my cell rang. "Steve Sharp" "Hi, Steve, we haven't met yet, but my name is Bud Anderson. My partner, Jim Blake, and I just flew in from Texas and want to be on site in the morning to watch the four men you have. We have a list with photos of everyone who has walked away from a federal penal camp or escaped in the last ten years. Where is your business in Las Vegas and what time do you get there in the morning?" I told Bud, "We get in about seven-thirty, but you can meet us at the hotel for breakfast about six-fifteen if you want. Everyone here is a friend of Chuck's, so you will be welcome." I gave him the name of the hotel, and he said, "We'll meet you for breakfast in the morning." Okay, we were ready to see what was going on with the nutty stuff at this new Las Vegas store. Mercy and I had talked to our family at home earlier, both of us assuring them we were fine and not getting into any trouble. When we went to bed, Mercy said, "I'm supposed to give you enough loving to make you think all four of us are with you." She did try, but we wore out early. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 48 Steve (Tuesday) Mercy and I were in the restaurant early, having coffee, when a couple of salt and pepper guys came in. I stood and both came toward me with their hands stuck out to shake. They sat with us and were brought coffee. Bud Anderson, said, "I've been working on this case for a year and thought we had most of it put to bed. There must be more to it, as you've turned up a significant group here in Nevada." Jim said, "Chuck split me off as his backup a while back to work with Bud, and I do have to say that we have been busy continuously. I miss Tampa, but the activity is fun." We discussed what had occurred to date and why I had discussed the situation with Chuck. Bud asked, "If the Bureau has already photographed these guys, their facial recognition program should have picked them out by now. Do you guys have any prints from them yet?" I looked at Mercy and said, "Let's skip breakfast and get over to the shop. We can use Bud's kit and dust the four trucks real quick and get prints that way. It will give us time to clean up the powder used for dusting." After calling up to Tiny and telling him we were heading to the shop early, the four of us drove two cars to the shop. I opened the shop and discovered the four trucks pulled into the loading bays. Bud and Jim quickly began going over the trucks. They gave Mercy and me some spray cleaner and paper towels to follow and clean after them. We were already done with the four trucks when Jorge came in. I told Jorge that Bud and Jim were friends of ours from Tampa and were visiting. He said, "I finished loading the trucks last night and left them inside. The deliveries are not as heavy today, so the men will be happier. They shouldn't be so surly this morning." The four of us went up front to see if the Bureau car was parked in the lot across the street. It was, and so was the white van down the street. The van must have just arrived, as it wasn't there when we drove up. I called the FBI agent and asked, "How are the batteries holding up on the GPS units?" He replied, "Good, still over seventy percent. I heard from my boss that a couple of deputies are in town to check out the men we're tracking. I think we can use all the help we can get on this one. I wanted to call the DEA, but the Special Agent in Charge wants to wait as he thinks this might relate to some other cases we've been working." I told him, "The van is back this morning. Are you going to take any action today?" "I can't give you any details," the agent said, "But we are making progress in our investigation. We're watching the van, of course, and we've found another vehicle watching your premises. We will be watching it as well." It was times like this I wanted to just lock the doors and send everyone home. This was getting to be like Sue's first clothing plant, too many angles, and too many bad guys. Being so far from home gave me a bad feeling. Mercy came up beside me and said, "Don't worry, Steve. There are a lot of men watching out for us. Let's go have some coffee. Mary brought some rolls in this morning, and I know I'm hungry." Tiny, Ruth, Abe, and the sales and tech guys came in. Tiny said, "This one is about put to bed. Ruth, Abe, and I want to run up to Reno this morning and see how that plant is doing. There is a guy up there that I think will become the manager, so I want to get up there right away." I told Tiny, "Good idea, don't act as if you know anything about the delivery guy problem. That has to be kept confidential." Abe and Tiny looked at each other and Abe said, "Seems like you've been through all this before, doesn't it? We just need to make sure the building up there is on schedule. Oh yeah, Ryan might be in this afternoon with the guy who might be a good leader for this unit." Tiny and Abe took off with their rental car, while Mercy and I sat in the former owner's office, looking out over the street. The office had windows looking to the front and side where the delivery trucks were now parked. We watched as the four delivery men parked their cars and walked toward the building. It was funny to watch them as they were walking side by side, four wide, as if it was the gunfight at the OK Corral. They were all in regular shirts and pants, so I could see they didn't appear to have guns, but they looked as if they were a united front. I told Mercy, "You watch up here. I want to see what kind of interaction they have with Jorge today." By the time I reached the warehouse area, the men were already heading for their trucks. No chit chat, no arguments, no nothing this morning. I asked Jorge, "So how were they this morning?" He said, "Quiet. They looked at the orders and deliveries and looked at each other and left. They're doing what they do every morning. They stand out there talking a few minutes then one of them uses his cell phone and they leave. If they were to hustle, they could be done by noon. They won't though, and will come in about three-thirty or four." I went upstairs to watch as the delivery trucks left, but they all headed in the same direction, with the white van following. I noticed a Ford SUV pull out from a gas station at the corner following the van. When I called the agent, he asked, "Did you see the black SUV pull out and follow the van? That's the other vehicle I told you about. We have the delivery trucks in a cluster about six blocks down. It looks like the van is joining them. Gotta go, the boss is calling us in on them." Damn, I wish I could watch, but knew better than to get in the way. I looked around for Bud and Jim, but they were missing too. Mercy and I were still looking out the window when we saw the black Ford SUV coming our way fast. The truck pulled into our parking lot and the two front doors opened with two guys jumping out. One had what looked like a small automatic rifle in his hand. I yelled, "Mercy, stay down, get Mary and stay down." I ran for the steps and just as the two men burst through the door, I was rattling down the stairs with my Glock in hand. As the guy with the rifle swung toward me, I put two rounds into his body. The man went down but his partner had his hand leveling at me with a pistol. Bang, bang. Shots were fired from behind me and the guy fell forward still holding his gun. I looked to see Mercy still holding the automatic I had given her. She was watching the two men that were down. I ran to the men and kicked their weapons away from them and knelt to check pulses. The man Mercy had shot was dead. The one I had shot was still breathing, but was bleeding from two rounds to the chest. Mercy was standing beside me, looking outside, and said, "One of our delivery trucks just pulled up outside. The driver is coming in and looks like he has a gun. Get down and get to the side, Steve." We both hugged the wall and when the man stepped through the door, I yelled, "Drop the gun, you don't have a chance. There's nothing you can do. Drop the gun." The man looked confused and waved the gun toward where he thought my voice was coming. That's when I noticed the hammer wasn't even back on his older forty-five and he didn't really look capable of doing anything. I said again, "Drop the gun and live. There are cops all around. Drop it." The man looked at his pistol, then threw it at the far wall. As soon as the gun left his hand, he was crumpling. You could see blood seeping from his back. Two plain cars slid to a stop in our front parking area next to the delivery truck. Men came racing from the car through the door with guns drawn. I yelled, "If you are a cop or FBI, show your ID." Both men stopped looking for me and produced their wallets with their badges and ID. Looking around, I could see faces looking through the door windows that went into the warehouse. I directed Mercy, "Tell those people to stay clear of here and get someone to call for an ambulance." One of the FBI guys said, "We've got some on the way down the street. These three got away from us down there. We did capture two men that we can question. Those two deputy Marshals are deadly. They didn't leave anyone alive in the area they were in." Mercy came up to me and tucked her Glock into her waistband while I put mine back into my holster. We were standing there when the original agent pulled in and came into the showroom. He said, "Sorry about letting these guys get away from us. We were concentrating on the van and the delivery trucks when these two took off. The delivery driver was hit, but got into his truck and came back here." Mercy went upstairs to settle Mary down and I told the agents in front I was going to settle my people down in the back. When I had them all together, I tried to explain there had been some kind of criminal activity going on from our delivery vans and the FBI had intercepted them. They all should avoid the front of the store for right now, but it would be appreciated if they continued with what they were supposed to be doing. I did get Jorge off to the side, "Your deliveries aren't going to get done today. See if you can call any of the men you think will be good drivers for us. I have to tell you that you need to make sure they are legal. I mean legal Social Security cards, addresses, and licenses. No guys hoping for help with a green card this time. When I hear we can go get the trucks, I'll come get you and we'll get them back here." A white van with FBI markings was out front and men were photographing the dead guy, while paramedics were working at the other two. While they were working on them, the guy I had shot died. The paramedic said that he had bled out internally. Man, I thought all of this crazy shit was long gone. It had been a lot of years since I went through this. That made me think that I sure am lucky to have Mercy around. That was good shooting, and just in time. I went upstairs and found Mercy beginning to come down from her adrenaline high. She said she wasn't shaking, but was a little nervous and still scared. I gave her some hugs that seemed to settle her down and told her to see if she could call Chuck to tell him. The FBI wanted our sidearms, but I objected saying, "If we give up our guns, we will be unprotected." One agent said, "That's our job, we are here to protect you." I pointed at the corpses and said, "Just like you were here to protect us from these guys." Bud and Jim were back and Bud said to the investigators, "I'll vouch for Mr. and Mrs. Sharp. Check their Florida carry permits and take statements, but they should be allowed to retain their weapons." Mercy had to come down with her purse to show her permit and I showed them mine. They inspected our guns and took down the serial numbers while they took statements. It was during this time that Chuck walked in the door. He was smiling and said, "Never fear, Chuck is here." Mercy burst out laughing and said, "You're just a little late for this one, Chuck. At least you didn't get shot this time." Chuck huddled with Bud and Jim then came over to us. He said to Mercy, "Okay, Annie Oakley, so you're protecting the old man on the mainland now?" Mercy said, "It happened so fast that I had to do something, Chuck. Steve was still holding his gun on the first guy with that machine gun looking thing, and the other guy was raising his gun at Steve. I had to, I had to protect Steve." Chuck nodded and said, "That's the way it happens, too fast to do anything but act on instinct. Thank goodness you did, Mercy. I'm glad to keep my friend around." With that, Chuck hugged me with a spare arm then pulled Mercy into him to hug her at the same time. I felt Chuck's true feelings for us then. He was genuinely happy we had been spared. Bud came over and said, "We need to work the two men still alive fast before word of this gets up the ranks. We need to work fast, Chuck. Come with us and let's get some quick answers." Chuck turned to Mercy and me and said, "I'm going with these two derelicts and do some investigating. I know where you're staying and will talk to you later. Oh, a, you might want to stay alert, and maybe even buy some ammo to replace what you've used." As the adrenaline rush wears off, besides being tired, you are also hungry. Mercy said to me, "Can you take me somewhere and feed me? I'm starved. Find out if they are done with us for right now. I had Mary order a dozen pizzas to feed the men out back. I want more than pizza though, and we need to find a gun shop like Chuck said." I informed everyone I was leaving for a half-hour or so. I did ask an agent where I could find a gun shop. He said, "There's a sporting goods store down on the right. They sell all kinds of ammo. Show your permit and they will sell to you." We stopped at the sporting goods store first and bought a box of .45 and box of forty caliber hollow point rounds. Mercy found and bought an extra magazine for her gun too. In the car, Mercy dropped her magazine on her Glock 27 and reloaded it. She also loaded her new magazine and put it into her purse. When we were both once again fully loaded, I asked her, "What made you bring your gun. You never carry a pistol with all our kids around all the time." Mercy said, "I had a bad feeling about this trip, and when you wouldn't get Chuck to come with you, I decided to come and be your protector. You know our family watches out for our own. This is just another time when the Sharp family acts together." As I drove, I asked Mercy, "Are you okay? That was a pretty bad scene. Are you okay with what happened?" She smiled at me and said, "Us women are tougher than you think, Steve. There's nothing I won't do to protect my family. What happened, happened, and was necessary. I feel bad a man died, but I don't feel bad that it was my hand that did it. He would have hurt my family and I won't let that happen." "If you feel you need to talk to someone about it, make sure you do. Having to do something like that is a shock." Mercy said, "It's no different than when we're on the boat, Steve. We women protect our family, period. Now feed me." We ate lunch at a barbecue stand, augmenting the sandwiches with large hot peppers, while we ate at outside tables. Back at the shop, the investigators and crime scene people were cleaning up the floor. One said to us, "You know you two really did some damage with those hollow points. Those guys didn't have a chance. It's a good thing that guy didn't get to use that Uzi. That thing sprays rounds everywhere. He had a ninety round magazine, so he could have done a lot of damage." I said, "We were lucky. They were not. The driver looks like he'll live, but he's now tied to some dead people, so he's worse off. Thank you for cleaning up for us." When everyone had left, Mercy said dryly, "Um, I thought the FBI was going to be around to protect us? Maybe we need to call Jan and see if she wants to come out here too?" I pointed across the street to show Mercy the original agent's car parked over there. She said, "He doesn't need to sit over there. He can be in here in the air conditioning." "Go see how Mary is, and I'll check with Jorge to see what's up with the trucks." Mercy headed upstairs and I went out back. People were working, so the excitement was over and people weren't scared or apprehensive of what had happened. Jorge was drinking a Coke and eating a piece of pizza when I approached his desk. He said between mouthfuls, "They released the trucks, so I took some of our men and we picked them up. I sent two men out to make the deliveries we had. They should be able to do them all if they hustle. I have some guys coming in to interview this afternoon. Ruth left me with some piss cups and dipsticks to test them. I also have a website to check their driver's license. Hopefully, we can be good to go in the morning. We have a good delivery day tomorrow again. We have our first welding equipment to deliver too." A flatbed trailer was backing up to our dock door at that moment. The driver got down and handed Jorge his papers. Jorge said excitedly, "We're getting two forklifts, a couple of compressors, and two big generators. Wow, this is great. We'll have equipment to sell." I left Jorge and his men to unload the truck and went inside to call home. Kathy answered, "Hey, Steve, what's this I hear you and Mercy had a war at the Las Vegas store? I'm sure glad she went with you. Sue's disgusted we all weren't there to do it together. She seems to think we're invincible as a family." "We are, Kathy, but there weren't many bad guys, so it only took Mercy and me. You guys haven't told me you've been going to the range. Mercy was deadly today, literally." Kathy said, "We've all been going weekly. We've been taking all of Chuck's women with us too. They are getting pretty good. Brandy and Lisa both have a good eye and shoot really well. All of them, even the mothers to be, can protect themselves. We all thought it would be good if they are going to be sailing. We've had them shoot shotguns and they are learning to shoot your AR15." "My goodness, Kathy, with everyone trained, we won't have to worry about anyone messing with us, will we?" Juanita got on another phone and said, "The big boats are too big for just a few of us to cover, so it's good to have five or six or seven more defenders. I like that we will have trained people." To change the subject, I asked, "How are all of the kids? I sure do miss them." Kathy said softly, "They miss their dad too, but they are fine. When will you guys be home? Tiny called and said that the Reno store is just about done. He didn't know about your problem in Vegas then, but he probably does now." "I'm not sure about the timing, but be assured we will be out of here as soon as we can. Ryan is coming with a potential manager in a little while, so after he gets here, I can make a decision. It will be one more night though, that I know." Juanita said, "Come home, Esposo, we all miss you and Mercy. We're too used to being a group. Chuck and his ladies are becoming like that too. I think they are almost done moving, so they will be permanently out here by Friday." "That's good to know. I like having Chuck around. As a matter of fact, he's here now to help investigate this mess. I've got to go now, I'm sure Mercy will call again." Mercy told me, "I think all of the evil is gone from here. Chuck seems to think so too. I'm glad we have seen the evil go away and know this will be a good place. There is work to heal this store, but you've already started." Tiny called and asked, "What the hell is happening? Just about the time someone from that store called up here to tell us there was a gun battle in the lobby there, this place erupts. The FBI captured our delivery drivers and a drug supply truck. Our drivers were delivering to dealers while they delivered our products. The warehouse manager is already interviewing drivers. Ruth found a supply house to get her drug test supplies and won't even interview people before they test. She's tough. The man who should be our manager is well thought of by everyone here, and has the background for our company. He said that he knew all about S&S from trade magazines long before we even talked to his boss about buying the dealerships the first time. He already has "Is it Perfect?" signs over all the doorways, your type of guy." "That's great, Tiny," I said. "Ryan has the man he thinks is right for this location, and this place is just about done. The only thing left to do yet is all the floors and they will be done this weekend." Tiny said, "Abe said that the local guy has already taken his recommendation and has a compressor and a generator torn down and is rebuilding them. The new forklifts and the other products were just delivered, so I think this location is on its way. The sales and tech types up here have been here all week and have the new customer sales ladies working the phones and are already generating orders. So far so good. How about picking us up on the way home so we don't have to drive back down there? We'll stay here and you can pick us up in the morning." I laughed, "Was that a hint? I'll talk to Ryan and Chuck. If they don't need us, we'll be out of here. I'll call you if you need to meet us at the airport." Mercy had heard most of the conversation and said, "Chuck's on his way back now, and he thinks his men are going to make a big bust somewhere." "Mercy, did he tell you this or are you listening to him?" Mercy blushed, telling me the answer. She defended herself saying, "If he didn't want me to know what was going on, he would have cloaked his mind. He's wide open right now, so it must be okay for me to know." "Just don't go where you aren't supposed to be, please." I hugged her, but I knew she would still be in Chuck's head all the time. Mercy said, "Lisa told me that her momma got a clean bill of health from the doctor. He told her that she was losing weight because she wasn't as stressed as she used to be. Isn't it wonderful? Lisa can have her family with her just like Sue does, and I do some of the time. You know, Steve, I'm having a hard time separating our family from Chuck's. We're all running together. When kids begin coming, it's going to be even more difficult. Isn't it exciting?" I sure did have a strange family. I guess it was going to be even stranger, and an even bigger family. I liked the idea of more kids and looked forward to watching the little ones grow and learn. Ryan and the new man went through the shop with me, looking at all of the changes we had made and introduced him to everyone. The new man, Bob Mendal, was from the St. Louis store. Ryan had been grooming him to take over a store for some time and this was his big opportunity. Bob said, "If someone will clean out my apartment for me, I'll just stay here. I can transfer everything else up here. I want to begin making this an S&S shop as fast as possible. We have to get some welders in here and one of our trucks. We'll have to get salesmen out beating the bushes for more contacts. I can help with that too." I loved the enthusiasm. I told Ryan, "It's yours to call my friend. I'm going back in the morning, and I know Michele will be waiting for you too. When is she expecting?" Ryan grinned, "Any day, any minute, anytime, Steve. She says she doesn't feel funny or anything, but I do want to get home." "Get Bob settled, have someone ship his personal stuff out and rent him an apartment. Get him a truck or car and let him take over. If you're comfortable, I am." Ryan said, "I think I have him ready. If you're not leaving until tomorrow, I'm leaving now. I want to get home. Somehow, I think the time is near." Mercy was grinning and said, "You better hurry then, I think you're right about the time being near." That sent Ryan into motion and he was saying goodbye to everyone as he went out the door. Bob said to me, "Thank you Mr. Sharp, er, a, Steve. I know you like people to call you by your first name. I appreciate the opportunity. This is a great chance to prove something to myself." "Tell you what, Bob, have Mary coordinate getting the stuff from your apartment shipped here. She can help you find an apartment too, but meanwhile, I'll get you a room at our hotel. I would like you to eat with us this evening to have a chance to talk, so anytime you're ready, we can leave." My cell went off, "Steve, Ryan here. I'm sorry but I forgot to give Bob his bag. I'll leave it at the private aircraft operations desk. Michelle called and said she was feeling funny. She's at your house with Kathy, Juanita, and Sue. I'm out of here in fifteen, so I'll talk to you later." I laughed and told Bob about Ryan. He said, "If my wife, if I had a wife, were about to have a baby, I would be nuts too. It is really exciting." Mercy was bobbing her head. She said, "It's just as exciting to the mother. I love being a mom." We said goodnight to the staff and went to the airport, then back to the hotel. While I was at the desk, getting Bob a room, I noticed the desk clerk looking through apartment ads. I asked, "Where would be a good place to find an apartment near here, sort of toward the highway?" The little girl said, "I think this one." She pointed at an ad. "The prices are right and I know this place is nice. No trouble and quiet. My roommate and I have to move because our place is being torn down for a condo or something. Do you need an apartment?" I pointed to Bob next to me and said, "No, but Bob here, does. He's moving here." The girl's attitude became predatory and she smiled brightly at Bob. She said, "My roommate and I are both single and would love to have someone to help us with our suntan lotion. I'm getting off at six and we are going to the apartment complex to look. Do you want to come with us? We might be able to make a package deal?" Bob began to say, "I'm going to eat..." Mercy elbowed him, and said to the young lady, whose name tag said Mindy, "Mindy, Bob would love to go with you. We can talk to him later. Come on, Bob, wash up from the day and you can meet Mindy down here at six." Bob was looking back and forth between Mindy and Mercy confused. I said, "Don't worry, Bob, women will do that to you all the time. Enjoy." On the way up in the elevator, Mercy said, "She's cute and is really interested in you, Bob. You'll have a good time with her and her roommate. You'll find a good apartment while meeting some nice young ladies at the same time." Bob looked at me and said, "Are women that easy to meet? Maybe I've just been missing it when they tell me they are available. I almost blew her off because we were going to eat together." "She looks like she'd be more fun to go with than Mercy and me. You'll probably get hooked into taking them to dinner anyway. If not, call me to see if we've eaten yet, and if we haven't, come eat with us and I'll buy." Bob was bobbing his head, "Great idea. Meet women and eat with the boss all in the same night." Mercy and I cleaned up a little and went down to the bar. We had just sat down when Chuck, Bud, and Jim showed up. Chuck said, "This was a great day. Bud put together a couple of more pieces to our puzzle and I was able to give the Bureau some guaranteed leads on solving one of their bigger problems around here and up in Reno. The DEA is salivating to take over the case, but now, even the Secret Service is involved due to some counterfeiting. This is a good one, Steve." Chuck looked at Mercy and said, "You were digging around all day, weren't you? That's fine for today. You know this is really a good day for the Marshal's Service. We have just about completed one of the most complicated investigations they've ever had. We've been lucky to have found the answers, but it has also been dangerous to discover some of the traffic. Bud and Jim have been very diligent in tracking. Both of them are real bloodhounds." We had some drinks, and at about seven, Bob called to ask if we had eaten. Since we had not, he was on his way to eat with us with his new friends. When Bob came in, he was accompanied by Mindy and two other very nice looking girls, one white, one black. Bob began introducing the girls. He said, "Mindy, Judy, and Rhonda, this is Mr. Steve Sharp and Mrs. Mercy Sharp. I don't know these other gentlemen, but if they are friends with Steve, they are good people." I was standing and introduced Chuck Johnson, Bud Anderson, and Jim Blake saying, "Please have a seat and order a drink before we eat. How was the apartment complex, Bob? Something of interest?" Bob said, "It's perfect for me, but then, I don't need much. The girls are going to rent an apartment right next door to me. Isn't that great? Our apartments are just above the pool, so we will almost be able to jump off the walkway into the pool." Mindy said, "Not that close. It is nice though, and it will be nice to know my next door neighbor. All three of us girls will be good neighbors." Mindy looked at Bud and Jim, "Do you guys live here too, or are you just visiting?" Bud said, "Afraid I'm just visiting." Jim said, "I think I'm transferring here. With neighbors like you three, I wonder if there is another apartment nearby for me." Mercy and Chuck were watching the interaction of the group intently, so I knew they were using whatever power they had to try to understand what was going on. We ate and drank, joking and laughing throughout the meal. Everyone was in a great mood, and by the time the meal was over, it was getting late. I said goodnight to everyone and said I would see them in the morning. I did mention to Chuck that we would be leaving in the morning. In the room, Mercy said, "That was intense, that guy Jim mentally hooked up with that little dark girl the moment they met. I can't tell which one is in heat the most. I hope Chuck isn't going to try to get him away from Vegas very fast." I asked, "So what about Bob; is Mindy good for him?" Mercy said, "Who knows, they like each other, but neither one is interested in something permanent right now. Bob is still surprised he doesn't see girl opportunities. He's young and he'll find the right one, but it doesn't hurt to have friends like Mindy. She's a good person." We went to bed and enjoyed some serious loving before falling asleep. Breakfast with Chuck, Bud, and Jim was fun. Chuck and Bud were teasing Jim as he was looking tired from lack of sleep. He kept saying, "This is so unexpected. I think I've met someone I really like. How am I going to stay in touch with her, doing what we do?" Chuck had a suggestion, "How about you stay in the Vegas office a week or so and clean up all of the investigation notes on these men here. Bud can go up to Reno with us and work on those men. By the time he's done, you should have come to some kind of understanding with the young lady about your work that requires you to travel extensively. It does seem as if this one problem is just about wrapped up, so it might be that the Vegas office could use another deputy. If you want that, ask." Jim was just staring at Chuck and finally said, "Thanks, Chuck. You've been my best friend for a good while now and have put me with Bud, another great friend now. I'll have to really think hard about getting out of special investigations. But this girl is something. I've never met anyone that has rung my bell like she has. You know we weren't all lust last night. We ended up talking until after three. We actually fell asleep on her couch, fully clothed, and slept in each other's arms until I woke up at five thirty. How's that for a sort of first date." Mercy patted Jim's hand and told him, "Just tell her what you feel and be honest with her. She might be more than you think and want you to remain on special investigations. You know some women understand their men have responsibilities." Bud was grinning, "You're such a dreamer, Jim. You're always talking about finding that one and only, as if she's going to come out of a cloud of smoke and whisk you off your feet. I hope this is the one so you don't have to keep wondering when she will come." Chuck asked, "Do you mind taking Bud to Reno with you? I have to check with the new Chicago regional Deputy in Charge. He's been busy lately re-arranging people, and I want to go over his personnel changes." Mercy, Bud, and I put our bags into the rental car and followed the new manager to the store. It seemed as if none of the crazy stuff from yesterday was going to have any residual affects. Even Jorge was ready with his new drivers this morning. He confided with us that it was easy to find as many drivers as we wanted. "There are many people out of work locally. These new men will also contribute inside the building when they are done delivering. This has been a good change." Bud, Mercy, and I went to the airport, checked out with operations, and flew up to Reno. We picked up a rental car and Bud drove to the Reno Marshal's office, while Mercy and I drove to our new store in the southern part of the city. Tiny and Abe were busy with the sales and tech people. Abe took a few minutes and told me, "The delivery men were all arrested yesterday, along with several other people that were caught in the mass arrest they had at a nearby park. These people all worked for some group out of Las Vegas who have suppliers in south Nevada along the Arizona and California borders. The FBI and the DEA were here with dogs, but didn't find anything. They will be a while checking out all their leads." Tiny declared this location ready for the weekend floor painting and to be an official S&S location. The place did clean up nice and was impressive. The employees seemed to be busy and were excited to be a part of the S&S family. Tiny, Ruth, and Abe were ready to go home so we went back to the airport, made sure the Citation was fueled and ready. We had to make one stop and decided Columbia, Missouri, would be good. Sue and I used to stop there on the way to see Dewey, since they had less expensive fuel. They still did, and were still as friendly as they had been. Back at home, Mercy and I were lovingly greeted by Sue, Kathy, and Juanita. The ladies were all over Mercy for having been my protector when the incident took place. There wasn't much talk about it, and nothing was mentioned when Chuck's ladies showed up. Brandy announced that they were ready to move completely and all the ladies were hoping Chuck would be back for their Friday, tomorrow evening, open house. That night, after having played and talked with all of my children, the ladies had me neglect Mercy while I enjoyed their many fine attributes. They collectively made Mercy feel very good about coming home. As I drifted off to sleep, I was pleased to be the king in this castle. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 49 Chuck (Monday) When it rains it pours. That's the saying on the salt box, but it sure is true sometimes. Everything is happening at once. Personally, the girls are all nuts about the new house being ready to move into this week. At least Lisa was able to get her momma and sisters moved into their new cottage quickly. She's so concerned that her momma is happy and getting along here, that she's totally distracted. Things should settle down for her soon. The freaky five have gone over the hill lately. They have so many people working in the house that it's impossible for them to keep track of what's done and what isn't. I think Brandy divided up areas of responsibility to everyone and they're each just looking after their assigned section. I'm glad I have other things to do, a lot of other things. John is in some kind of turmoil in DC and seems to need to constantly be out of there. He's asked if he could visit the house in Costa Rica. He was planning on taking his whole family, so he should enjoy his trip. The wives may be a little miffed at all the extra women running around, but the girls down there are pretty respectful. Who knows, perhaps John will partake of some strange down there. He wanted me to fly him, but I'm too damn busy to help. I did arrange for a charter and asked Beth to take John and family down. She loved the idea of being able to show off the place down there and to show John the yacht club and the boat. A guy by the name of Mike Mahoney showed up to have a long talk with me about some of the activities I might be expected to help with. The biggest deal was his constant questioning of my political beliefs. I kept telling him that yes, I voted, but no, I was not involved in any activity that could remotely be construed as political. This was a time I was glad I had never registered as being a part of a political party. This was a good time to be an independent. Mahoney went over the job Nightfox and I did in Hawaii in more detail than I would have expected. Then he brought out photos of the border thing that John and I did. He had some before pictures of the buildings, a couple of enhanced photos of the helicopter exploding, and then a photo of the wreckage, including the burnt down barn. He kept asking questions about the man we had encountered down there and then went on to talk about the other men that I had a part in terminating. When he was done with our conversation, at least I thought he was, as he was putting things back into his briefcase. That's when he said to me, "I'm the staff psychiatrist and needed to interview you to be sure there were no adverse personality traits that could surface after the activities you've been involved in. You've handled them well and appear to be in control. The service needs men such as you for sensitive activities. Because of the demands they made from you, you probably won't get another job like that soon. There is no guarantee, but in all probability, you'll be used on dangerous activities, but not any direct sanctions such as you've been involved in." He was just about to leave when he said, "I understand you have completed training to operate helicopters. Would you have any problems handling a mission that requires that ability from time to time? You've been on our equipment, would you like to fly them?" I smiled and said, "Sounds like fun. I'm curious about the quiet helicopter we used in the southwest." Mr. Mahoney said, "I think you'll be given the opportunity to check out in one of those soon." He had some instructions about monitoring certain frequencies when I was flying, and if I should receive various text messages, a list of numbers I should call. He told me, "You'll probably be visiting us at one of our facilities soon, so be on the lookout for messages." Then there was Bud Anderson and Jim Blake. They were following up leads in Texas and stepping on toes all over the place down there. They had chased some guy, a suspected escapee, back and forth across the border in El Paso and Juarez while trying to capture him. The problem seems to be that the Mexican police department is shielding the man even on our side of the border. The pair had run into some of the men that John and the Marshal had talked about that needed to be captured, but were heavily guarded by their own, and we now knew, by Mexican officials also. Then this morning, Mercy is bombarding me with some kind of warnings that Steve could be in danger. What is that all about? At the office, Wanda told me, "You're going to have to go to El Paso to help Bud and Jim. Homeland Security is having fits about your two superheroes capturing people on the other side of the border and dragging them back to our side. They've captured the same guy three times, and this last time, they won't even turn him over to the federal lockup because the guy keeps getting away. The local Marshal's office is in some kind of pissing contest with Homeland and the DEA because they think they should all be chasing the same bad guys." I called the airpark to make sure the Phenom was available and ready. It took a few attempts to get hold of one of my girls to let them know I had to go out of town. Frieda said, "Please try to be back for Friday evening. Brandy really has her heart set on showing off the new place." On the way home to get clothes, I was able to get hold of Maria to pack some clothes for me. She was so dependable and so sweet that I was going to miss having her around. You hardly knew she was there, but you saw what she had done. My clothes were always clean and perfectly aligned in the closet and in my drawers. To me, she was really worth a lot to have around. I even loaded up my big gun case, since I had no idea what was really going on. I also packed my vest and some extra Glock magazines to be on the safe side. When I parked my car and was hauling my suitcase and gun case to the plane, I saw a new addition to the exterior. There was a big cartoon character under the cockpit on each side. 'Deputy Dawg' was now painted on each side, but the dog had a Lone Ranger type mask on. Someone couldn't stand for an airplane around here to look like an airplane. When I picked up the logbook from DeDe, she said, "Shawna thought your personal aircraft needed some distinction. You've really got her interest up with your crazy bunch out there, so she has to mark her territory in some way. You've been tagged, Chuck. Are you going to be gone long?" "Don't know, DeDe, a bunch of craziness is going on, so who knows. If I have an idea, I'll let you know." I was soon heading across the gulf at warp three. For me, that's only about 400 miles per hour, but it's faster than walking. I needed something faster, but everything faster, like the Citation X, required that second pilot. If a Citation CJ4 came around, I wanted that because it carried six passengers and could cruise a hundred miles an hour faster than this aircraft. After setting down in El Paso, I rented a car and headed straight to the Marshal's office in the city. When I entered the office, Bud and Jim were sitting at desks, obviously writing some kind of incident report. The Deputy Marshal in charge was sitting on the corner of a desk, lecturing the guys about not being able to just cross the border at will, that they needed diplomatic permission to cross, and definitely could not drag prisoners back across the border. The two men were busy and didn't see me, so I motioned for the Station Chief to come out to the hallway with me so I could talk to him. As soon as we were in the hallway, he began, "Christ, Chuck, those two have broken so many laws, it's just nuts. They've kidnapped two men now, and have them stashed and won't tell me where. They say that they have these escapees, and I even know who they are, but I can't do anything because I don't know where they are. You have to get them to turn over the two men, Chuck." I asked, "Isn't the one man they have the guy who escaped twice after they brought him in?" "He didn't escape, we let him go because he was captured without a warrant and probably captured in a foreign country." Holding up both hands, I said, "You don't need a warrant to apprehend an escaped prisoner. They are fair game. If you suspect they are armed, say goodnight, Gracie, because they can be shot on sight." The man paled and said, "You can't do that. You can't just shoot someone. If you were to do that, the Mexican crazies would be shooting up El Paso in a matter of hours." I said, "It's a good thing I'm not here helping, as I wouldn't hesitate to shoot if someone from across the border shot at me. We are charged to bring in escapees and to protect federal property and federal employees' lives. That's our job, that's what we get paid for." The man said, "Well, I'll tell you what, I'm not bringing in any drug lord or cartel chief who might be threatening federal property. I'll shoot back if they shoot at me, but I'll try to be where they won't shoot. Now get those prisoners for me so I can get them home to their boss." I told him to go back in and I would join him in a few minutes. The regional office was now in Houston so I called to speak to whoever was in charge. Everyone of importance was in DC, so I called the Marshal and advised him of my problem. He promised to get the Deputy Marshal in charge of El Paso to make some quick changes so we would be doing the job we were supposed to be doing. Inside the station, I greeted Bud and Jim and told them to get their stuff together, as we had to be leaving. The Station Chief was getting perturbed, but I told him, "Look, we'll just shoot them and put them into a dumpster some place. Don't worry; it'll just be a couple fewer guys we don't have to chase." The man was on the phone, probably to DC, as we walked out the door. I told Bud, "Let's get your two men and fly them to the secure pen in Colorado. The prosecutors can do anything they want, but we will have brought in a couple of escapees." Jim said, "Can that plane of yours handle one more? There's another guy that we really need to get. With the three of us, we should be able to take him. The guy has a half dozen guards around him all the time, but they're not too swift. Can we? It would be a good thing." We stopped at their hotel, picked up their clothes, and drove down close to the border crossing. Bud said, "We'll park right up here where the car will be safe while we try to pick this guy up. If we have to shoot, use a silencer and be careful of all the people. Most are bad guys but some are just civilians caught up in the problems of these guys." I put my silencer on the Glock and tucked it into my waistband. Bud and Jim had done the same thing and led me through a six foot wide opening in the border fence. There were no guards around, but there were a lot of people going back and forth. The only difference between here and the nearby border crossing was there were fewer questions asked here. When we came to a group of buildings with a tall adobe fence around them, Bud said, "The guy we want is in there right now and should be coming out soon because he goes back across the border to see his girlfriend every day near this time. He'll come down this narrow alley with six bodyguards. Just put those guys down and we'll try to capture the escapee." I asked, "That's it, just shoot them and try to capture the guy?" Jim said, "They will all be carrying guns in their hands, so I don't know what else we're going to do. I don't want to shoot the escapee but it would be easier. Uh oh, here they come, and there's more than six today." I said, "Jim, go ahead to the border and try to capture the guy when he crosses. Bud and I will try to take out the guards from the rear forward. That will keep the escapee in front of us. Hustle so you have time to set up." I said to Bud, "You know the trick, no sound, no gun, just silence the ones from the back to the front. If they see us, start shooting." The escapee and nine men walked past us fairly quickly. The alley was narrow enough that the men were single file. The last one through quietly fell with a broken neck as Bud let him down. The next one up had the same consequence, and Bud stepped up to the third man. As I pulled the fourth man down, the next guy in line was saying something and turned in time to see his compadre fall from my hands. He yelled, but died from Bud's first silenced round. Between the two of us, men five through nine never got off a shot, but the escapee grabbed for one of the fallen men's Mac 10. There was no way out of it, and both Bud and I had to put rounds into the guy. Bud said, "Quick, pick up all the hardware so it doesn't get back into the hands of more dealers and smugglers. I'll go back for the other four." Jim had seen the demise of the escapee and came running to help pick up the hardware strewn around on the ground. While we picked up the guns, I cleaned the escapee's pockets of ID so we could write him off the wanted list. As we crossed back into Texas, people were going through the other bodies to get any money the men may have had. You could bet that their bodies would be stripped bare before the policia were ever called. We dumped all of the guns into the trunk and went across town to a warehouse area. Bud and Jim had rented an air conditioned storage building to stash the two escapees. We brought them to the car and drove straight to the airport. We loaded everything into the plane while I made arrangements for ground services to fuel the plane. While we were waiting for the fuel truck, I called to Steve who said there were possible escapees working in his Las Vegas and Reno stores. I told him I would get Bud and Jim to come up there to help him out. Our first stop was Denver where we were met by a couple of Deputy Marshals who gladly took our two prisoners and took them to the nearby maximum security prison. I refueled again and headed to Las Vegas. We were setting down, when I received a call over the frequency I monitored. "Eyes, this is Mother." I didn't reply quick enough and the call came again, "Eyes, this is Mother." I replied, "Eyes." "Upon landing, call the texted number for instructions, confirm." "Call texted number for instructions, Eyes out." "Mother out." Shit, I needed to help Steve and Mercy, but something must be up. Damn, when it rains, it pours. I had Bud go rent a car real quick so we could dump all of the guns at the local station. We would have to come up with some kind of incident report to account for the guns. Jim just grinned, "We'll be very creative. Those two characters we just dropped off will have some federal gun charges tacked on as well." The two men took their bags and the guns while I explained that I had something else to do first. Hopefully, I would be back later today or tomorrow. I called the texted number and identified myself. I was transferred to Mike Mahoney. He said, "I'll give you to the welcome committee when we're through, but we would like for you to come out today since you are nearby. You're moving around pretty fast, so you might be handy to handle a problem where you will be anyway. I'll transfer you to the welcoming committee." A very husky female voice asked, "Do you have the uniform of the day with you?" I laughed and said, "I've been carrying it since I needed it the last time." "Good. Please turn off your transponder and take off from Las Vegas VFR and radio us five minutes after takeoff. When you land, change clothes so you'll be in uniform before you disembark from your aircraft. You'll be transported for a briefing. You may see an escort. Mother, out." Instead of waiting to change, I changed in the aircraft while waiting for the fuel truck. I turned off the transponder and left Las Vegas, staying at about thirty-five hundred feet. Five minutes out, I did the "Mother, Eyes" and they did the "Eyes, Mother, go to heading such and such and turn to frequency such and such. Maintain four thousand feet until you are notified." An F-16 was out over the left side, but no one was on the other side. I waved, he waved, and I was soon contacted with landing instructions. This time, the fighter landed behind me and followed me into the big hangar. Inside, I shut down and opened the door. A man in fatigues greeted me and asked if it would be all right to inspect the contents of the aircraft. I said, "Sure, but I'm going to be with you." He said, "Wouldn't have it any other way. Can I see your primary sidearm?" I pulled my Glock, dropped the clip and ejected the round. It was then that I remembered I had not reloaded after the skirmish in El Paso, so I reached into my bag and traded magazines. The inspector took the old magazine, pulled the remaining rounds from it, counted them, then put them back in. He said, "That was one of the items I was supposed to check. Here's your sidearm back." While he looked through my clothes and other gear in the rifle case, I reloaded my Glock and chambered a round. I dropped the magazine and filled the round back into the magazine and re-seated it. The inspector watched my every move, probably to see whether or not I was safety conscious. He said, "All done. It's interesting that you had fatigues with you this time. How come?" "Since I don't know when I'll be seeing you guys, I thought carrying them would be smart. See, you called and I'm prepared." "Yes, you are. You don't remember me, do you?" I asked, "Should I?" "Probably not," the inspector said, "I was on the team that was ahead of you when you got caught in that little community in Iraq. We couldn't get back to you right away, and by the time we got there, you had dragged that other man back to the vehicle and were able to get back to base. I'm sorry about your leg, but glad you lived." "That wasn't one of my better days, was it?" The man said, "No, but look at you today. You're not being kept back by what happened. Come on, you are to be transported to briefing room "C." We took a golf cart through some tunnels and came to a set of double doors. Another guy in fatigues took me to a conference room where four men were already seated. They all stood and greeted me. Not by name, but just 'hello, glad to meet you.' The spokesman said, "We don't use names, but when you need to address a specific individual you will have his ID number." The four men bobbed their heads and smiled. I took a big drink from the bottle of ice cold water on the table and waited. The man said, "Today, we want to familiarize you with our quiet helicopter, then brief you on a problem we have in Las Vegas. It is not a termination, but there is an element of danger. There is a man there that has a large quantity of explosives in his possession for no good reason. He needs to give us those explosives, or at least let us dispose of them. It's possible that he and his men may disagree with what we want, so that's where the danger comes in. It is imperative that these explosives be made harmless. If possible, take them into the desert and ignite them. Worst case is that you ignite them where they are stored, since our information is they are destined for large population centers. When you see them, you will know the extent of the problem." Another man said, "We do not expect you to do this alone. Mr. Nightfox will be with you. You already have a working relationship with him. The two of you should be able to do this mission with little collateral damage." The leader continued, "After your familiarization with the chopper, we will give you the files for the mission. Mr. Nightfox should be here by then. You can prepare at that time." The four men stood and one said, "If you are hungry, we can go to the cafeteria, and if you're not, let's proceed to the helicopter." I finished off the bottle of water and followed the men out of the room. We traveled back through tunnels into the big hangar. This time, there was a group of four helicopters setting at one side of the hangar, opposite my aircraft, the F-16, and a small business jet that looked like the Eclipse we had in Tampa. This place was busy. I was introduced to the "Instructor" pilot. No name, no rank. He smiled at me and said, "My call sign is Mouse. I can get anywhere and I am sneaky." My laughter was a great ice breaker. He chuckled and introduced me to the rest of his crew. He said, "Some missions you will fly with another pilot, but there will always be a door crewman who will be manning a door gun. Show me what you know how to do as far as preflight inspection of a Huey and I'll show you what to look for on our bird. This is a specially modified Bell UH-1N. It handles just like your Bell 210 — same rotor system — but you'll see that the tachometer has two engine needles instead of one." I did my usual inspection which was close to a post flight inspection. The tail rotor gear box looked funny, as if it was not properly aligned, and I checked it from a couple of different angles. I asked, "It that mounted correctly? It doesn't look right." The pilot said, "We'll check it later, keep going." I found the collective was loose because of a nut that had worked its way loose. As I checked the upper transmission housing, it was obviously loose too, so I got down and said, "This bird isn't going anywhere, so if you have one that isn't sabotaged, let me inspect that one." I didn't rush through the next one, but the bird was perfect. Everything was as it should be except that it was damn near out of fuel. When I pointed it out Mouse said, "The fuel truck is right over there, go ahead, refuel it." I checked the fuel truck to make sure it had the correct 'Jet A' fuel and that it wasn't a dual fuel truck. You are supposed to ground the truck and the helicopter before fueling and the crewman already had the ground strap ready. I fueled up the aircraft and put the truck back in place. After giving the aircraft a last short check, Mouse explained the unusual rotor blades on the helicopter. These blades kept the noise of the blades within a very narrow area. They didn't silence the rotors but kept the noise within a directional area. Everything else worked the same on the aircraft so I was ready. Mouse had me sit in the right seat and observed everything I did. As the turbines spooled up, the big doors of the hangar slid open. The sensations and sounds of this helicopter were no different than the 210, with the exception that this Huey had twin turbines. I was directed to raise, hover, then slide out the doorway. Once out, I was told to request runway access and takeoff instructions. Everything was fine until I looked for an aircraft designation. Mouse said, "You are who you are; in the air, on land, in the water, I'm Mouse, you're Eyes. Just call Mother and ask." After takeoff, he had me fly from the desert into the low foothills. He wanted to stay low, never getting much over fifty feet. I said I was concerned that I might not see high tension wires or an unlit tower. Mouse said, "This aircraft has a collision avoidance system second to none. It'll see anything out there that might cause us problems." In a few minutes, he said, "See that little depression, set it down on the far left, next to the rock wall. We're going to wait for the other chopper and play tag." Mouse had a small radar unit that he was watching and he pointed it at a bogey that became sharper and was obviously searching a grid. The grid passed over the area we were in, but we were in a big shadow about twenty feet from a sheer rock wall. We watched as the helicopter flew over us and headed for a tree line and bluff to the north. Mouse told me, "See if you can stay in his blind spot, then see how close you can get before they know you're there." I stayed even lower to the ground than I had before, and kept getting closer and closer, until I was almost underneath his tail rotor. Mouse said, "Gain altitude quickly and give access for the gunner to red light him." We ascended quickly, as I pushed on the left pedal to swing the helicopter around and gave the door gunner a straight line of fire. He lit up the door gunner on the other chopper and actually caused the pilot to wobble a little as he was surprised by the laser pulses into his cabin. Mouse and Red Dog had a conversation and we set down on a big rock while Red Dog went to hide. Mouse said, "See if you can spot him without using the infrared sensor. They will hide similar to the way we did, then try to sneak up on us. We'll see how your senses are." I focused on the other bird trying to get a feeling of where it was. I still had Red Dog's voice in my head and used it to think hard to find the man. Amazing, I could actually almost hear him think. He kept saying, these trees are perfect, but I can only come out in one direction. He'll have to pass over in just the right direction or I won't be able to surprise him. It was uncanny; I knew exactly where he was and headed in that direction, looking for a way to get the advantage. There was a small hill just on the other side of where he was sitting. I flew over him relatively fast, but as soon as we were out of visual range, I turned to head around the hill and sat in wait behind it. I said to Mouse, "He was in the trees back there. He'll be coming out of the trees about now and we'll sneak up on him the same way we did before." Mouse said, "I didn't see him, did you?" "Yep, and sensed him too. Watch now, there he goes, in a straight line trying to catch up. We'll sneak up on him while he's trying to catch up." I flew low again and had to rise to get under his tail rotor, then rose quickly to let the door gunner fill the cabin with laser light. All that came over the radio was, "Shit, where the hell did you come from? Christ, did you see me?" Mouse said, "Let's go in. I think this was good enough, do you agree Red Dog?" "No shit, let's go in, you got me twice." As we approached with Red Dog leading, the big hangar doors opened and both helicopters were guided to landing spots. I set the chopper down and shut down. When I began to check the helicopter for the post flight inspection, Mouse said, "The crew chief will get that. You don't have to. Come on, Red Dog owes you a Coke." We were taken back through the tunnels to the cafeteria, where we had a Coke and a sandwich. While we were talking, the man who had spoken for the group of four came in and said, "Are you ready for your other briefing?" I got up, said goodbye to the other two pilots and crewmen, and followed the other man to the briefing room. Son of a gun, Sam Nightfox was sitting at the table. He got up when I came in and offered his hand. He said, "I told you we would work together again. I think this may be a good thing. You're the first partner I've worked with that I wanted to work with again. Wait till you see what they have for us this time. It's going to be fun." Sure it is. There's nothing fun about explosives. Three more men came in with various folders and sat across from Sam and me. The leader handed each of us a file folder and began briefing us about where the explosives were being held, and the physical size of the quantity that was there. This was not to be taken lightly, as this was case after case of some kind of explosive called Iregel 1135P. They didn't tell us how stable or unstable the explosive was, but said it could be safely moved. Considering the quantity of explosives, I was curious as to how two men could move it. We were looking at the overhead photos and then some close up surveillance photos, when Sam asked, "Are any of these tractor trailer rigs empty? Are they there all the time?" One of the men said, "There have been multiple rigs overnight at the warehouse since we began surveillance. These trailers parked by the fence are all empty, and the trailers in the doorways are either being unloaded or loaded. We have confirmed that drivers are not allowed to remain in their trucks overnight. The night guard staff is all that is on duty between ten at night and six in the morning." Knowing where Sam was going, I asked, "Can we get a couple of truck and forklift drivers?" Sam was with me, and added, "We'll neutralize any security, disable their cameras, use forklifts to load the explosives onto trucks parked for the night, then get them out of town. If we need to further neutralize other involved participants, we can come back and do it, individually or collectively, depending on how they get together." The leader of the four-man group said, "Your mission is to secure the explosives. If you can get them out of their possession, that will be all that is needed from you. Another team is being deployed to begin terminating other participants of this group. Because our intelligence is incomplete as to how many other participants there are, we need to move the explosives so others cannot set them off. Considering the quantity of the explosives, the explosion would level about twenty square blocks of industrial manufacturing and warehousing." Sam repeated his request, "Can we get a couple of truck and forklift drivers?" Another of the men asked, "Have either of you driven either a forklift or truck?" I said, "I've done both, but only limited and never a big tractor trailer rig. Considering how critical time is going to be, we need to have two forklift drivers to load the trucks quickly. We also don't know if other merchandise will have to be moved in order to get at the explosives." The four men huddled and then said, "We'll provide you with two men with both forklift and tractor trailer driving experience. They will not be extra offensive men, only workers. Will that work?" Sam and I were both nodding. I said, "That's what we'll need. Sam and I will clear security before calling the drivers in. If we can help, we will, but we should probably be maintaining our own security during the loading. Where do you want the explosives delivered?" One of the men brought out a map and showed us where, then showed an overhead photo of a deep depression with a road leading into it. "This will be where we can set off the explosives without damage or collateral losses. When you have delivered the trucks, helicopters will pick you up and the trucks will be blown up with air strikes." Sam said, "When can we do this? I would think the sooner the better, so no one has the chance to split off any of the explosives and use them in smaller bombings." The men said, "We will have your two men ready in an hour. Are you mentally prepared to do this tonight?" Sam and I looked at each other, and I searched into his thinking. He didn't care and was looking forward to working with me. I smiled and said to the group, "Let's get this show on the road. We'll do it this evening. I'll plan on taking off in an hour." The men said, "We'll leave you alone for a few minutes. If you need supplies, there will be a team assistant outside the door who will take you to supply or to your aircraft." Sam and I discussed what we might need. We both agreed on silenced MP5s, rope, grapple hooks, duct tape, anti-personnel tie-wraps, binoculars, radios, and knives. I suggested some darker apparel and face black. We rode a cart to supply and drew two backpacks with the equipment we wanted. I thought it was neat that they had camouflage duct tape. When we asked about darker clothing, the supply guy said, "One of you go into the shadows over there and tell me you need something else. These fatigues turn dark in the dark." Sam stood in the shadows and the only thing I could see was his eyes. I did the same for Sam and he was in agreement that our apparel would be good. We checked out some armor and combat vests to hold our gear and extra MP5 magazines. The supply guy had us do a fingerprint scan to check out the rifles, and said, "If you have a place to keep these safe, retain them. If you need ammo or magazines, call and we'll ship FedEx." Before we could leave, the supply guy said to me, "Here is your company credit card. Any equipment you need in the field, or expenses incurred while working for us, should be put on this card. There will be no need to fill out an expense report. We'll know what you were doing. Ask Nightfox, he'll tell you we don't bitch about eating well either." Sam said, "Come on, Eyes, let's get out of here. We need to be in place to watch these people shut down this evening." The team assistant took us out to the hangar and dropped us and our equipment at the aircraft. I began doing a preflight, making sure the fuel had been topped off, while Sam went through the interior of the aircraft. As I was finishing, a cart delivered two men with small gym bags. When I approached them, they each opened their gym bags and displayed a shaving kit, a change of clothes, an armor vest, and a Glock 21.45 caliber pistol, with two extra magazines. One of the men said, "We're not complementing your part of the mission, but we do defend our team when we are out." I smiled and shook both of their hands. Sam came out, checked their gym bags, smiled, and repeated my gesture. Before we loaded up, Sam gave out the radios and we checked them to make sure they were working. We each transmitted and made sure we were receiving. I said, "We're ready, let's go." After loading everyone and making sure they had their seatbelts on, I shut the door and slid into the cockpit seat. In a couple of minutes, I was taxiing through the hangar doors on the way to the runway behind a follow me truck. "Eyes, Mother." I said, "Eyes." "Cleared for takeoff on runway 27. Surface temp 84 degrees, clear, unlimited, and calm. Remain under four thousand feet to Las Vegas and remember to turn on your transponder as soon as you set down. Good luck." The heat required a little longer takeoff roll, but we were soon on approach at Las Vegas. As we touched down, I flipped the switch on the transponder and rolled out to taxi to the federal tie down area. I used the ground support frequency to call for our ground transportation. An ugly green Chevrolet Malibu four door was pulled up next to the Phenom. The driver assisted the fuel truck driver, and then they both left. We made sure we each had the equipment we needed and stashed it in the trunk of the car. Using a built in GPS, we drove to the industrial area where we located the warehouse and yard we were interested in. We made a circle of the building that took up the entire block and found a parking spot between some trailers across the street from the loading area. Using binoculars, the two drivers, Sam, and I charted where all of the security cameras were. We found only two blind spots, but both would make access to the back of the building easy. It appeared there would be enough room to squeeze between the end of the trailer and the open doorway to the warehouse. We would need to make sure we were inside the warehouse before they closed all of the doors for the night. Sam and I agreed on our two approaches and as it got dark, we put our face paint and surgical gloves on, and suited up. We double-checked that we didn't jingle, and had the drivers drop us at each end of the building. As Sam stepped out of the car, he nodded to me. I could sense in Sam that he had total trust and faith that the two of us would complete this mission without mishap. Strange how I can sense such things. When we were at the other end of the building, the light over the doorway was out, making my entry so easy that it was almost comical. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 50 Nightfox Character Introduction A young boy was moving gracefully and silently in the forested mountains of northern Montana. He moved over dead limbs and dried leaves without a sound. Instinctively, he would pause to listen, then move again watching, looking, and knowing he was close. Suddenly, he stopped still, frozen in place, not moving for seconds that turned into minutes. A very large dark brown animal was also being still, as both the boy and the animal were stalking the same prey. The boy ever so slowly moved his bow from his shoulder, and equally as slowly, drew an arrow and notched it to the string. He watched as a good sized buck deer picked his way through the brush, looking for the owner of the strong scent of the large brown animal. The deer was to his left and the large brown animal was to his right. The boy surveyed his surroundings to find where he could get to in order to preserve the deer he planned to kill and to get away from the large brown furry animal. He slowly pulled the bow string back feeling the heavy pull of the strong bow exposing his rippling muscles. The big animal was aware of the deer, but didn't see it yet, and he had not yet sensed the boy. He waited to make his kill. The boy loosed the arrow and the deer stood perfectly still for three full seconds. The sound of the arrow hitting the deer drew the attention of the large animal. While the big animal was distracted, the boy pulled another arrow back and sent it into the mass of brown and gray fur. This caused a massive roar to come from the big grizzly bear. The second, third, and fourth arrows he shot all hit in the same area of the chest. The last arrow, the boy's last arrow of defense, went high and penetrated the bear's eye. The bear's howling with anger and pain caused the deer to attempt to flee, but he was dying with every attempted step. The deer lasted about fifty feet before it crumpled. The boy began edging away from the bear and toward his kill. He wanted to find a tree with low branches so he could climb quickly if he needed to. He didn't know the arrow in the eye had finished the bear. When the boy heard the crash of the bear falling, he almost bolted to find higher ground, but there was no additional crashing through the brush that should, or would, occur if the bear was chasing the boy. Instinct said food first, so the boy stepped to the fallen deer, looped a piece of homemade rope around the deer's rear feet, threw the other end of the line over a low branch, and hoisted the deer into the air. Using practiced skills, the boy removed his precious arrow, dressed the deer, and cut the heavy head off. He left the hide intact to be removed when he had transported the deer home. With the deer hanging in the tree, the boy walked to where the bear had fallen. He looked at the bear, trying to decide what to do with it. It was too big to move alone, but he knew the hide would be valuable. The bear meat was good too, but getting it home would be difficult. He had to try to preserve the meat until he could get back for it later, so he did what he knew how to do. After removing each of his arrows, the boy began skinning the huge bear. When he had the hide removed in one continuous piece, he tied it to four trees then began cutting large slabs of the meat from the carcass. He placed the meat onto the raised hide and continued until the good fatty meat was mostly cut. Then for his own satisfaction, the boy cut off all of the claws from the bear, then cut the huge eye teeth from the bear's jaws. He smiled as he placed his treasures in a small bag at his waist. Next, the boy used his store bought, razor sharp, hunting knife to cut two large sapling poles. He used smaller green saplings to weave a basket between the two larger poles. He placed his deer and a large chunk of bear meat on the travois he had created and began dragging the deer meat home at a near jog. Home was on the edge of the small village on reservation land. His mother was a widow with four children. Because of an unfortunate incident, the mother had a large scar across her face from her eye, across her nose, to the base of her neck. It was difficult for most people to look at her for any length of time. She had been beautiful, but now, she was not attractive to any of the bucks in the tribe. Additionally, she had only one son, Sam. He received his name from his father who had been friends with a white man named Sam. With only one misnamed son, and three daughters, she was not a valued woman. To make it worse, one of her daughters was cursed with a cleft palate and a deformed leg. The woman worked hard to support her children. Her garden was her constant source of food, but some who were lazy would steal from the garden when no one was watching. Sam's dog would attempt to scare people off, but he had to be on a chain or he would kill people that stole from the garden, and that was unacceptable. Sam made it to his home in a fast forty minutes. When he arrived, he called for his mother to come quick. He showed her the deer and hoisted it up on the skinning bar near the kitchen. Sam showed his mother the bear claws, teeth and large chunk of meat and said, "I have a bear that I must go get. Please forgive me for not helping with the deer, but there is much meat to be brought." "Did you save the hide, my son?" "Yes, I will bring it when all the meat is here. I must go before animals steal my kill." The mother proudly watched her son trot off with the travois poles to bring the unexpected treat of bear meat. It took most of the night for Sam to bring the bear meat home. His mother was already smoking deer meat, plus she would smoke the bear meat and render the bear fat for its many uses. The fat had medicinal qualities, as well as using it to make soap and candles. She had requested of Sam to try to bring the stomach back, as the intestines made the best bowstrings. Strips of the intestines could be cured and used for sewing moccasins and clothes. In the early dawn, Sam's mother, served him big pieces of roasted bear meat. He was smiling as he ate the delicious meat. He had salvaged all of the claws and all of the teeth. He could trade the teeth for more arrow shafts and hunting points. After both had a short nap, the children were sent to some of the less fortunate people with large chunks of bear meat. They would fill their bellies for a change, and remember that young Sam had brought food in once again. Sam attended the local school and tried hard to learn as much as possible. Because his sister was deformed, she wasn't allowed in school. The village felt it a waste of time to teach a deformed child. Sam and his sisters taught the youngest and she flourished quickly, learning at a fast pace. As fast as Sam and his sisters learned, the youngest would learn. Then the worst winter that had been seen in many years came. With it came a plague that was called flu, and kept people sick and inside. Sam struggled to hunt in the snow and cold to bring rabbits and any other game he could catch. Deer were scarce this year, but he was able to get a small one. The flu took his family. The medicine man didn't have a cure. The white man doctor couldn't get to the village because of the heavy snow. Over seventy people of the hundred in the small village died of the flu. By the time March came, most of the villagers were planning to move to the larger reservation community. The school had closed and the trading post was no longer attended. Sam decided he needed to find a place to go to school and to live. He felt confident that he could support himself with a garden and game, but he needed a place to live. At the large reservation at the base of a mountain, the resettled villagers were outsiders and not immediately welcomed. The government men didn't help much, and told the newcomers that it would take time to research their claim that they were Oglala Sioux that had settled separately from the other bands of Sioux from Canada and the Dakotas. Sam had his family's papers that he kept in a waterproof bear skin satchel his mother had made. He had all of the official birth certificates of his family and his father's registry card that used to be required. Among the papers were his father's service record and ribbons from his days in Viet Nam and his grandfather's service record and the ribbons and medals he had been awarded during the Second World War and the Korean War. There had been many stories that Sam had heard about the wars and how the Native Americans had contributed. Sam used his papers to register for school. He was now in grade eleven and was able to show all of his report cards all the way back to his first grade. No one asked for a specific address for Sam, as he was just an Indian. No one paid attention to his method of dress, as Indians didn't have much, so the fact that they wore anything was a plus. Sam had found a cave only three miles from the reservation. There was a stream nearby and with a lot of game, so he had plenty to eat. He had a stream to bathe in during warmer weather, and he was able to sell animal pelts for enough money to buy used clothing, salt, and shoes for the winter. When Sam graduated from high school, there was no one there to applaud for him or to congratulate him. There had been one person that had influenced him while he was in school though, a Marine recruiter. His father and his grandfather had been Marines. Sam wanted to be a Marine. There were Army, Navy, and Air Force recruiters that were promising the white kids great jobs and lots of rank, but the Marine recruiter recognized that Sam was special. He even found out that Sam didn't have an address, but picked up any mail via general delivery at the reservation post office. The recruiter was going to forget about Sam, as recruits had to have a birth certificate and some form of family history. When he asked Sam if he had a birth certificate, Sam brought his bear skin satchel to the recruiting office, surprising the recruiter with his family history. The day after Sam graduated; he was given a bus ticket to Great Falls, Montana. From there he was given another bus ticket to San Francisco. He found the right person to give him another bus ticket to San Diego. Sam turned eighteen the day he arrived at the Marine Recruit Training Depot. There, because no one had taken the time, Sam was sworn in and to him, he became a Marine. The drill sergeant kept saying that he would be turned into a Marine when he successfully completed his training. Basic training was easy for Sam as he was used to walking and running. He didn't care for the heavy boots, but he got used to them. He had to get used to wearing so many clothes in the heat as well. He was used to the northern climates, not hundred degree days. While others complained, Sam was happy to become a Marine and tried hard everyday to learn and do better at the physical training they gave. Sam initially had trouble learning to shoot. He had never shot a gun because his family didn't have the money for one. He had always hunted with a bow and could throw his hunting knife accurately for up to thirty or forty feet. Guns, however, were new to him. After the first day of learning about his weapon, he sat on the floor and kept taking it apart and putting it back together. He polished each piece until it shined with an ultra-thin glaze of oil. When they went for live fire, he told the range master that he didn't know how to shoot. The sergeant made fun of Sam, but to Sam's credit, he kept his mouth shut and learned. Because of his knowledge of an arrow's flight, Sam was able to learn how to shoot accurately. Because he had no bad habits, he learned the correct way to fire his weapon and was the best of his group. Sam loved the PCP, or Physical Conditioning Platoon. There, he excelled. While others fell behind, Sam was always leading, encouraging, pushing men to complete the training. Sam excelled by immediately learning the eleven General Orders of a sentry. When he had his first barracks guard duty, or firewatch, on the quarterdeck, he was grilled over and over to try to catch him, but Sam had learned the Orders as he wanted to be a Marine. He became notable to his superiors with his knowledge of Marine Corps history and the ease of which he learned and memorized the Code of Conduct. During the infamous Crucible, Sam led his platoon through the two day plus challenge, to finish well ahead of the normal time. Upon completion of his basic training, Sam was interviewed by a career counselor and was told that since he had such a high score of 125 on the Armed Services Aptitude Battery, he was eligible for just about any school he wanted to attend. Sam said proudly, "I wish to be an infantry scout." This was in honor of his father and grandfather. Although he was encouraged to try other career fields, Sam's first step was the Infantry Training Battalion. It took Sam over a year to become a scout, as well as a sniper, but during that period, he had been promoted to Lance Corporal. As luck would have it, Sam's unit was rotated to Iraq. There his unit was mostly assigned to a form of sniper duty guarding an area where infiltrators tried to get to military quarters. It was boring duty. Every time anything came up to go on a mission, Sam was first to volunteer. He led men into the field to find other men, to get men out of situations, and to assist SEALs when they were in trouble. The SEAL units were always pushing hard and not caring whether they had their backsides covered. It was during Sam's second tour in Iraq that he found his niche. SEALs were boxed in within a rocky area. They were not in any immediate danger, but if their supplies became too low, they could be overrun. Sam's unit was sent to evaluate the enemy, but not to make contact unless necessary. They were observing the enemy when it appeared an enemy squad was going to be able to sneak into the area held by the SEALs. Sam tried to radio the unit, but there was no answer. Thinking he had to warn the men below of the enemy, he set up two snipers, and using his target acquisition scope, gave the men accurate ranges. He wanted to down the enemy's lead man because the man would drop into the SEALs area, thus warning them of the attack. Before the shot was fired, Sam set up his squad in a defensive position as he felt they would be attacked as soon as the first shot was fired. As the attacker was ready to go over the side, Sam gave the order to shoot. The sniper made the hit and the attacker fell into the SEAL area. The SEALs fired a barrage back up the rocky area covering the shot that had taken out the lead attacker. Seeing an opportunity, Sam ordered all of his men to acquire targets and to fire a single round while the SEALs were firing. The ten men killed ten enemy soldiers. The SEALs continued to fire, so Sam decided to do it again. Again they killed ten more. When the enemy finally figured out they were being fired on from the rear, they had lost fifty men and didn't have sufficient men to attack what appeared to be a huge squad of men attacking their rear. It was during the enemy's flight, that Sam let his men fire at will and accounted for fourteen more. Also during that time, the SEAL team was able to use their radio, and were advised that they would be able to withdraw from their position. The SEAL team leader put Sam up for recognition, but he declined, recommending his men for the honor. Sam became known as a skilled evaluator of combat situations and was promoted to Staff Sergeant. When Sam's enlistment was nearing its completion, he was at Camp Pendleton training for urban close combat. It was there a man in a black suit came to visit. Sam still calls the man 'his man in black.' Sam was encouraged to leave the Marines and become a part of the Secret Service. He would be doing what he was good at, but it would be in direct defense of his country. Sam thought this was a good opportunity so he took it. This is where Sam's story gets complicated. Sam's first duty was to head back to Iraq, but he was housed with embassy staff. He didn't wear a uniform anymore, but normally dressed in fatigues with no name or insignia other than an American flag with the word "Embassy" beneath. Sam's first tour was only exciting when rounds were fired into the compound area where the staff worked and were housed. Sam did nothing to earn his nice salary, and was miffed he could not do anything. At the end of six months, Sam was rotated to the U.S., but assigned to the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso. It was during his second day that a crazed Mexican ran toward the front door, wildly firing an AK-47. Sam knelt on one knee, aimed his Glock, and fired a single shot. The man died fifteen feet from Sam and twenty feet from the front door, fortunately within the limits of the consulate property so that the shooting technically took place on US soil. A week later, while accompanying some U.S. and Mexican officials to a meeting, shots were fired at the Suburban they were riding in. Sam had the driver park on the sidewalk, under an overhang, then took off to find the shooters. He encountered four men with various rifles working their way closer to the Suburban. Sam shot three before the fourth threw his gun down and raised his hands. The goal of the attackers was kidnapping the officials for ransom. Under the circumstances, since Sam had saved a local Mexican magistrate combined with his diplomatic immunity and the fact that, because of his Native American heritage he looked like a Mexican, Sam had no trouble with the Mexican police. In a short time, Sam became known as a one-man force. He did have his problems. During two incidents, Sam received minor gunshot wounds. His superiors were horrified that Sam had been injured, shot, and was still on duty. Sam was sent on a recovery leave. This was the loneliest time in his life since his family had died of the flu. He didn't know what to do or where to go. With nothing else to do, Sam bought his first car and drove north to Montana to find his roots. Sam visited the original village where he had grown up and what was left of the small hut he had grown up in. The graves of his grandfather, his father, his mother, and his three sisters were all there. Sam spent an entire day sitting among the graves, talking to those that were gone. When Sam went to the large reservation community, he found that not much had changed. Sam even walked back into the hills to the cave he had lived in for the last two years of his schooling. Sam was amazed that some vegetables were still growing where he had his garden years before. With no one to visit, and no where else to go, Sam drove back to El Paso where he wandered back and forth across the border to see if he could find out how so many illegals gained entrance to the U.S. Sam found out that he wasn't challenged coming into the U.S., but was often challenged going into Mexico. He didn't know how to do anything about it, but did stop by the consulate to tell them what he had found. That's when Sam was recognized as a potential problem between agencies. Sam was sent to Washington, DC, to work out of the covert activity pool. Sam was sent out to do in the United States what the CIA did outside the country. In addition, Sam was often sent to South American countries to assist a consulate guard by removing people who were threats to embassies. There were times Sam hesitated doing the nasty jobs he was sent on, but he kept remembering how good the money was and that he was helping his country. Two years later Sam was told to take his optic equipment and meet an airplane at Santa Anna - John Wayne airport. It was there that Sam met Chuck Johnson. Chuck was a Deputy U.S. Marshal, but also a recruit of the Secret Service's special operations unit. The two men did the job they were assigned, but in the process, the two became more than friends. They became combat friends. They trusted each other and relied on each other. They fed from each other to reach a common goal. Sam decided that he would become a close friend and working partner with Chuck Johnson, no matter how difficult it might be. When Sam and Chuck parted in California, Sam had already made plans to be transferred to work closely with Chuck. If he had to, Sam would become a deputy, but he preferred to stay in his present position and work with Chuck. Their story continues. Chuck Sam and I were now penetrating the outer defense of the warehouse complex that contained thousands of pounds of explosives. My area was dark and I was able to slip up to the outside door and gently ease it open. The warehouse was not brightly lit, so with it being dark outside, opening and closing the door didn't disturb the light within. After identifying where all of the security cameras were located, I worked my way toward where men were working. I could see at least two men in an upstairs office and four men on forklifts, moving freight off one truck and putting freight on two others. One man was walking between the trucks and some pallets that were staged, checking something off on a clipboard. I saw Nightfox on the far side of the men on forklifts. Nightfox motioned that he was going to follow one man that was on the forklift into the trailer. I watched as Nightfox slipped into the trailer. The noise of the other forklifts kept anyone from noticing one was missing. A forklift on my side of the building pulled up to the door marked "Men's" and the driver got down. I had him down, gagged, and tie-wrapped quickly. Nightfox had seen me and motioned that he was going to follow another forklift into a trailer that the driver was unloading. As both drivers moved toward trailers, I took the man with the clipboard down, gagging and tie-wrapping him. Just as the last forklift drove up to place his pallet on top of a stack, I pulled the driver from the forklift, chopping him to keep him silent. Since the forklifts had safety switches in the seats, the forklift automatically shut down. Nightfox and I split up and went up two separate stairways heading toward the office. From my view, I could see three office workers, but I also had a view into a lunch room where there were at least six guards having coffee before their shift. I motioned to Nightfox and hand signaled him that there were six enemy out of his sight. He understood and we paused to gather information on the rhythm of what was going on in the office. One of the men from the office, walked out the door into Nightfox's arms. The man was quickly down and tie-wrapped. A minute or so later, I could see the two men talking and another man came out the door on my side. I disabled the man, gagged, and tie-wrapped him too. Nightfox was motioning at me, pointing at the doorway on the first level. A trucker had walked into the door with papers in his hand. He began to look around for people and spotted the forklift by the men's room door. When he went in, I went down to greet him when he came out. I had to gag and tie up a burly trucker, hoping he didn't have a driver's helper. Back upstairs, the third office man peered out the window into the warehouse, then went out the door by Nightfox. The man was immediately taken down and secured. Nightfox motioned that he was going into the office. We both entered and slowly made our way to the lunch room area. When we were at the door, we burst in and leveled our silenced MP5s at the eight men and said, "Be very still and keep your hands on the table. I will search and secure you one at a time. If you make a wrong move, we will not hesitate to shoot. Please do not cause us to kill you." Two of the men acted as if they wanted to be heroes, so I had Sam hold his weapon on the group and tie-wrapped one of them. When I had him secured on the floor in the office, with both hands and feet tie-wrapped, I gagged him with a sleeve of his uniform the same as everyone else so far tonight. Just as I was standing, I heard the "Puft, puft," of the silenced rifle. The other potential hero was lying over on the table, bleeding out. The other men were about to panic, and I calmly said as I picked up the two shell casings, "Please, do not cause us to fire. We will not harm you if you cooperate." The rest of the men were secured without incident. Sam went downstairs using his radio to call the drivers. He went to the door to make sure the last man in didn't have a partner. The truck the man had been driving was still idling and was blocking the entrance gate. While Sam was downstairs, I shut down the video equipment and erased the internal storage drives. When that was done, I checked through the stored items file drawer and hunted under the "Es." Amazing, in a separate folder marked "Confidential" was a folder headed "Eregel." According to the bills in the folder, there was about seventy thousand pounds of the explosive. Marked on the top of the folder was the character and number, C-20. When I got downstairs, the two drivers were moving the tie-wrapped men out of the way. I showed them the folder and they pointed at letters and numbers overhead that marked the staging areas of the warehouse. C-20 was near the middle, but behind several stacks of other pallets. One of the two drivers said, "There are four forklifts. You two begin moving those pallets in front of C-20 and we'll finish unloading these two trucks. If we do this quickly, we can be done in a half-hour." Sam and I were not the world's best forklift drivers, but we got the hang of picking up the top pallet and moving it to a free area and setting it down then getting the next pallet and setting it on top of the first. We were soon back to stacks of large wooden crates with built-in pallets. The drivers said, "You two should go back to security and we'll load this stuff. If one of you knows how to move that big truck, back it up into the corner or pull it forward until the gate is cleared. I told Sam, go up and check on those men, and I'll go outside and move the truck. I checked all around the area to make sure there was nothing else stirring, then climbed up into the big truck. I was able to back it up until the nose of the truck cleared the big gate opening. I shut the truck down, locked it, then checked the two trucks that were being loaded. Both tractors were open and empty. Back inside, the truck driver that had come in was waking up, so I softly said, "Don't make a sound. I'm putting your keys into your pocket. Your truck is shut down and locked so it will be safe. Someone will be here after a while to free you." Nightfox came up to me, "They're done and closing the trucks. We have all of the crates accounted for. We're supposed to shut the bay doors and close the outside gate when they pull out. We'll follow in the car." The trucks pulled out and Nightfox and I closed the doors. We went out the doors and closed the big gates to the yard. Just as we were about to walk across the street, a Ford Expedition came sliding around the corner heading straight for us. Nightfox and I went down to lay still by the side of the fence as the Expedition slid to a stop. Six men with rifles came out of the truck and were running toward the gate. I could see Nightfox switch the firing position on his MP5 and begin to rise. I followed him up as he yelled, "Drop your weapons, you are under arrest." We both knew what was going to happen, and as the men swung their rifles toward us, they all died. They never fired a shot and the loudest noise was the sound of the brass hitting the pavement. Nightfox and I quickly policed our brass and loaded the six bodies into the Expedition. We drove it into the gated yard and closed the gate again. We ran for our car and jumped in. Cautiously, we drove away from the building and followed the two trucks at a long distance. We felt more comfortable once out on the highway, but kept watching behind and overhead, making sure there was nothing tracking us. Our radio came alive, "The turnoff is just ahead. We will be going back about five miles. It's rough so we will be going slowly. Wait until our lights are almost out of sight before you follow." We pulled off the road and hid the car behind some brush. When the lights were almost out of sight, we drove down the same road and caught sight of the last truck as it went over the side of a hill on the way down into the depression. We pulled up to the two parked trucks that were end to end. The two drivers got out and came to the car. One said, "So far, so good. I have a second frequency I have to call. When we get back to the highway, we'll call in again and then watch the fireworks. Come on, let's go, when you get to the top of the hill, no lights until we get out on the highway." He radioed a cryptic message while we were climbing out of the depression. I had to drive slowly as we made our way over the rough road in the dark. When we reached the highway, I parked behind the same brush as before and the driver called in again. Almost as soon as he called in, we saw two aircraft come in very low, racing across the desert. As they neared the depression there were multiple rockets fired from the two jets. The jets pulled straight up and the whole night sky in that direction lit up. When the shock wave hit us, we were astounded that it was so loud and big. One of the drivers said, "If I didn't know better, I would have sworn that was nuclear. We shouldn't have been so damned close. Hope this car starts. They want us to drive back in." The car started and we drove back to Las Vegas. The two drivers were let out at a Motel 6, then Sam and I drove back to the airport. Inside the Phenom, we changed clothes and wiped off the face paint. I asked Sam, "What are your orders from here?" He said calmly, "I'm going wherever you're going. We'll have a debrief for breakfast, then they will probably cut us loose. I'm reassigned to be your shadow. I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do, but whatever it is, I'll be leaving from Tampa from now on. I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to be closer to you. You are the first partner I've had since I've been out of the service that I've felt comfortable with. Is that okay?" I looked at the man and thought I could have worse problems. The man was good and did anticipate what I was going to do. He had the same attitude to get a job done, and was not afraid to act. I guess I had a partner. Now what was I going to do with him? "Let's trade cars and see if we can make contact for our debrief. Is it normal to have a debrief after a mission? The first one I did was totally different, both before and after. I was like a person they didn't want to know. When we were done, all they wanted was for us to be out of there." Sam said, "They do that at first. They don't know how you'll react to action and you may have some residual nerves you might take out on the team. You've been cleared for everything now and are part of the team. We'll get some strange stuff, because you and I are probably a little more daring than some. We don't have a rep for being careless or flashy, so we'll be in demand." We cleaned up our gear and neatly stored it so our aircraft looked like any other business jet. Sam contacted our support group for another car and a nice dark blue Impala showed up. The driver asked for our brass and trash. We had to dig up the paper towels and Kleenex that we used to clean our faces with, along with the brass we had. I suppose it was understood that we would have brass. I drove us to the hotel Sam had in his head. We waited in the restaurant until five, when two of the men from the briefing came in. They sat with us and we all ordered breakfast. They asked for a complete report, listening intently as Sam said, "We almost made it without any terminations. One guard got squirrelly, and a group of six came up as we were leaving. Under the circumstances, it worked out pretty well. We watched the explosion and we should have been farther away. That was an amazing blast. The shock wave rocked the car violently five miles away." When that part of the interview was complete, one of the men reached into his pocket and turned off a recording device. The other man asked me, "Do you have any problem having Nightfox stationed in Tampa? You better watch him though, as you're all he's talked about. If he gets queer on you, you're on your own. We're not responsible for his private time." I laughed and Nightfox blushed under his darker complexion. I told them, "He might be my answer for so many extra women. I'll give him a few, then he'll be lost and busy from this point forward." The first man asked, "You know we can make a lot of wishes come true. Is there's a piece of equipment you want or something we could do to make your life easier, or for you to do a better job for us, as well as the Marshal Service?" With a smile, I said, "You could make me a fast small business jet that will hold eight to ten that I can fly by myself. Something like a Cessna CJ4, with seating like a Lear, but as fast as a Citation X. I need the range, the seating, and the speed. You could fix up a Lear or Citation X and get me some kind of exemption. You could expand a CJ4 a little and speed it up. The easiest would be to exempt a Citation X." The man said, "We'll ask. You didn't ask for anything for yourself, just a way to get around faster. We can probably do that. You might have to go to a special school for the operation of the aircraft, but we should be able to get an aircraft exempted. Do you have a Citation X now?" "No, and I don't know of any in the system that can be bid on. I'm sure there will be one that becomes available." The first man asked, "So what does a Citation X cost new?" "I'm guessing and probably low, but right around twenty million. A new one would have the new winglets that save on fuel, give a longer range, and a few more miles per hour. Hey, if you think I'm worth twenty mil, go for it." The other man said, "You may have just saved the destruction of several hundred billion dollars of property and possibly saved the lives of a half million people. Would that be worth what you want?" I said, "Nightfox did it too, so what does he get? We did what we did because bad guys were going to hurt our country. That's why I'm a deputy, and why I'm willing to work for you guys." Sam said, "I've saved my money and I'm pretty well fixed. I've had a couple of bucks fall my way and I'm getting everything I want. I'm going to be stationed around Chuck, and that's about the best I could ask for." When breakfast was over, the two men shook our hands and the one said, "Mike Mahoney said you were both good men. You are. I think the two of you won't be on call for a while. Enjoy getting used to Florida, Sam. See you soon." As we were drinking coffee, Sam said to me, "Those guys have a budget that must be bottomless. They don't operate under the Justice Department the way other divisions do. We could have White House duty, but it wouldn't be as interesting as what we do. The CIA hears something, and we follow it up. NSA has a snag, and they will ask us to clean it up. Our group does out in the open stuff, like working at embassies and protecting diplomats along with Marines, but many of us work in the dark. Glad to work with you, Chuck." I said, "Let's go over to the hotel my friend and his wife are at. They should be eating breakfast just about now." Nightfox said, "You go. I'm going to sack out for an hour or so. Make sure you call me if you are going to leave. Aren't you tired?" "You know what? I'm going to lie down for a little while too. Mercy's not in my head real big, so they must be all right." We rented a double and both crashed for four hours. I woke with Mercy screaming in my head. Holy shit, what's going on? I listened and she was telling me she had shot someone. Damn, I should have been there. I wasn't, so I had to get going. I showered real quick and put on my clothes. I left a note for Nightfox and drove to the new S&S store. As I walked in, I could see anger in Steve's eyes and the fear of having killed in Mercy's. I tried to make them smile with a "Never fear, Chuck is here." I hugged both, then cornered Bud and Jim to find out what was going on. There were cops, Bureau agents, and deputies everywhere. My guys explained the mess to me and how Mercy ended up having to shoot someone. The plan was simple. Right now, we needed to question anyone alive to get whatever information we could. I told Steve, "We'll see you guys for supper. We'll work on getting some answers and see you later." I followed the pair of deputies to the station where we double and triple teamed the suspects until they broke. They began spewing information, with video recorders getting every word. The fear of murder charges had them wanting to make deals any way possible. Bud and Jim wrote up their reports and told me, "How about feeding us tonight, and buying your star deputies a couple of drinks?" "Come on, if we do this right, we'll meet Steve and Mercy at the bar." On the way to the hotel, I stopped to pick up Nightfox. He said, "How about I stay in tonight. I've been a little nervous lately, and need to settle down. Don't leave without me and call me later." That was unusual for a guy like Nightfox, but oh well, he's the one missing a good meal. When we arrived at the hotel, we did find Steve and Mercy in the bar, with the guy named, Ryan, who had the pregnant wife, Michelle. While we were ordering our drinks, another guy came in who was going to be their new manager in Las Vegas. He came in with three women. Jim did a triple take of a dark girl named Rhonda, and even Ray Charles could see that he was hooked. The evening was pleasant, and I did get to visit with my friends for a while. Steve talked about possibly going home in the morning, and I told him that I needed to get back tomorrow as well, because of the housewarming the girls had planned. The next morning, I met Steve and Mercy for breakfast, along with Bud and Jim. I had to almost force Nightfox to come with me. I told him, "If you are going to hang out with me, you will need to know my friends, and these are my best friends. You'll need to know my work and this is part of it." Steve and Mercy were going up to Reno to pick up Tiny, Ruth, and Abe, so I asked him if he would take Bud up there to tie up any loose ends with the escapees they had up there. Jim admitted he and Rhonda had been up all night talking, and he wanted to find a way to remain in Las Vegas, at least for a little while. I told him to work out tying up all the loose ends with the escapees here and then to let me know what he wanted to do. Nightfox was almost bashful, but I could see Mercy digging into the guy's head. I'm sure he felt it as he kept fidgeting in his chair. I told Steve and Mercy, "I'll see you at the new house tomorrow night. Hopefully, the girls will be calm enough to be good hostesses." The day was spent working with the local Marshal's station interrogating the prisoners from the explosive removal. The scope of the investigation was also exploding as more and more information came out. This was going to require days and weeks of exhaustive inquiries and investigative interviews. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and very ready to get out of Las Vegas. After breakfast the next morning, Sam and I went to the airport and prepared to go home. I planned on stopping around Amarillo for fuel and a potty break, but for nothing else. We were setting down at the airpark right at three thirty. I called home and received lots of squeals of happiness because I had made it in time for the party. Brandy got on the phone and said, "Come home if you can, and you can get a shower and clean up before the wild stuff starts. We're completely moved in, and that even includes everything from we girl's place. Wanda and Ben Phillips handled the sale of your house and some friends of ours are renting our old place. Anyway, come home, we'll talk about everything later." I asked Nightfox about his clothes and personal belongings and he said, "It's in two big boxes that will be sent when I find a place." "Well, right now, and until you get the lay of the land, you'll stay with me. I have a ton of room and you can stay in one of the cottages." Sam looked worried and said, "Can't you just put me in a hotel somewhere? I'm used to hotels and that's where I'm most comfortable. I don't have a lot of stuff, and I've been moving around since I joined the Marines. Actually, I have fewer clothes now than I did as a Marine. I don't need much, especially with the fatigues I wear out at the team's headquarters." I made Sam look me in the eye, "If you are going to be my shadow and my close friend, you will stay with me. You need to learn about me and this will give you a chance. Stay with me for a couple of weeks, then move away or move in, as you like. Now, let me get the aircraft taken care of and let's get our equipment into the trunk of the beige Impala with the dark brown racing stripe." DeDe was all over me about using the airplane so much. I told her, "I'll have to get an aircraft just for me that you won't be able to schedule. Have Jimmy do a thorough inspection on the plane, as I have put some hot miles on it." Sam and I drove home, with me giving him a little tour. I showed him the trailer park, then the business park and ball fields. We stopped at the patio so I could introduce him to everyone, and Kathy came and stopped, staring at Sam. She said, "You're Sam Nightfox, right?" With a smile, Sam said, "Yes and you are Jake's wife. I met you just before he left for Iraq." Kathy hung her head, then looked up, "Jake was killed, Sam. Where have you been?" Sam said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was fresh out of training when I met you. I'm sorry, I don't remember your name." As Bonita came running up to her, she said, "Kathy, Kathy Sharp." Bonita smiled up at Sam and said, "I'm Bonita Sharp, and almost all these kids are my brothers and sisters." Kathy looked around at over twenty kids and said, "Not all of them, but they're like brothers and sisters. Come in, Sam, meet our friends. What are you doing with Chuck? Are you a deputy?" Sam said, "No, not a deputy, at least not yet, but Chuck and I have been working together a little." A big dark lady looking more svelte every time I see her, came to me and wrapped me up in her arms. Peaches said, "I'm so glad you're home. Lisa said when you're gone that we have to worry, but now you're home and you don't look like you have any new holes. Now, who is this young man you brought?" I introduced Sam to Peaches, but didn't try to explain our relationship. He would find out on his own. Juanita was there, along with Glenda and Alice. They were trying to give the kids some snacks so they wouldn't be too crazy at the housewarming. After hugs and introductions, I said, "Come on, Sam, come meet my family. It's a little nutty, but you'll enjoy them. This place, the patio is where we eat most meals and have a drink in the evening. This is where Steve Sharp and his family live. You've met some of them, but you haven't met Sue yet. She is a treat." Before I drove to the house, I used my cell phone to call John. "Hey, how are you doing in my Central American paradise?" "Holy smokes, you did it up good down here. The way everyone talks about you, they might even change the name of the town." I said, "They do go overboard. So what do you think of the yacht club and boat?" "The boat is wonderful. We all went out on it for a few days and enjoyed the attention. Your crew and hostesses are wonderful. They don't let us lift a finger, and constantly want to please us any way they can." "That's great. You can tell them I will visit soon. How long do you plan to be down there?" John said, "The Marshal is coming tonight and we're going to vacation here for the week, then return to the wilds of DC. Is that all right?" "That's great, John. That's what the place is for. I'm only involved down there as a gesture to the man that is helping me straighten out my finances. So far, it's been a win - win situation." "Oh yeah," John said, "Beth is his wife, right? She was down here with us for a couple of days, showing us around. Her husband came down and spent a couple of nights with us on the boat, then went back to Tampa. You know, Chuck, you could want to just stay here and the heck with that rat race back in the states." I said, "It is relaxing down there, isn't it? Well, enjoy. I've been doing some deputy stuff and some work for the other department. I'm back in Tampa now and will probably be a deputy for a while." John said, "Call me Monday to see if there's anything going on. I'm in contact with DC and the all of the Regional Deputy Marshals everyday. The political climate is smoothing out again, but you never know what will happen next. The new regime is pushing and pulling in directions that the law enforcement branches just aren't used to. Keep your head down, Chuck, and call me Monday." "Click." He did it again. He hung up on me. I shrugged my shoulders and put my cell phone away. I told Nightfox, "I have a great boss, but he's caught up in the DC politics. I've been able to stay out of their sight so far and I plan on keeping it that way. Now, let's get home." We drove over to the new house. As I drove to the back of the big new garage, I could see Sam gawk at the size of the complex. When I parked the car, I said, "Leave everything in the car for right now. We'll come get what we need later. We'll need to clean our weapons later too." When we rounded the garage, walking toward the rear entrance where a bunch of golf carts were parked, a stream of women came out of the house. Lisa was first, still in her uniform. Tiani followed her, with Big Tina trailing behind her. Lena came out with Judy, Nancy, Frieda, and Brandy. Brandy's mother came out, following the group, along with Lisa's two dark sisters. Tiani's mother then came out of the house with Nancy's mother, so there was a crowd. Sam stood there with his mouth open, as Lisa hugged me first, then I was lost in hugs and kisses from all the women. Even the mothers gave me hugs and kisses. I held up my hand and said, "Everyone? This gentleman with me is Sam Nightfox, a very good friend of mine. He's moving to Tampa and will be staying with us until he gets settled." En masse, the group gathered around Sam to make him feel welcome. Everyone was in good cheer and pulled Sam and me into the house to see the preparations for tonight's party. The first thing that happened was a tall Beefeaters appeared in my hand. Another appeared in Sam's hand and he sipped it a little. He smiled and said, "Indians and firewater don't mix. Do you have beer, or iced tea is even better?" Brandy had a tall glass of iced tea in his hand before he finished what he had to say. Wanda was there and asked, "Come see our apartment. You're not going to believe how nice it is." I ended up looking at Wanda's place, then Jan's, and Lena's. Lena told me, "I have it both ways. I have my own apartment that I'll share with my sister, Tina, plus I have a little room with the other ladies." She hugged me and was gone. Big Tina smiled at me and gave me a hug then disappeared after Lena. I sat in one of the big chairs in the family room, noticing the TV was playing one of the blues tapes from Atlanta. I relaxed as all the women told me about everything that had been going on. Nightfox was quietly sitting listening to everything, observing, soaking in the feelings and emotions that were so strong in our new home. He had the start of a smile on his face. I was happy to be home. ------- Chapter 51 Steve Ah, Friday morning, the close of a busy, crazy week. As I slipped out of bed, Sue's eyes came open and she smiled at me. I figured she would sleep a few more minutes, so I used the bathroom, put on some shorts and a T-shirt, and went out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. When I went out to the patio to see if the big pot was done, I turned the lights on, which is the signal. I heard Glenda's screen door slam and soon saw her coming across the grass in her morning robe attire. There is something very comforting in having such a good friend as Glenda and to be able to start the day with her. We hugged when she came in, she poured herself a cup of coffee, and I followed by pouring myself one, and sitting with her at one of the small tables. "Glad you're back, Steve," Glenda said, sincerely. "It scared all of us when we heard that you and Mercy were actually involved in a real gunfight. Martin said that it is a wonder you lived through all that stuff when you first moved here, and to now have to go through that stuff again. We're just glad to get you two back home." "It was a fluke, Glenda. Some bad guys out there were using our company to deliver drugs to their dealers. We should be free of that stuff now." Ruth and Tiny came in, poured some coffee, and sat with us. Ruth was wearing a fairly opaque robe, but it didn't hide anything, as it wasn't buttoned or tied, and gaped open showing all of her front. She said, "Nothing like being home. It does take a trip to make you appreciate how much you enjoy being home." A cute little redhead leading some kids came to the patio. She had them all seated with cereal, juice, and milk before grabbing a cup, filling it, then sitting on my lap. Shawna said, "I sure am glad my lap is back. I do like to wiggle my bare butt on that thing every morning." "So where's Charlie this morning?" "Stump left early this morning. He had to go to Atlanta with Del to pick up a bunch of bikes. Sales are down, but Charlie said that with the price Del is buying the bikes for, he should be able to turn them fairly fast." The patio was now rapidly filling with people. Glenda got up and I noticed that my ladies were all in the kitchen with lots of kids. All of my kids were soon eating, and the ladies were fixing something for the rest of us. Kathy came out to supervise kids and came over to me, "Don't get involved in anything this evening. Remember that it's Chuck's big housewarming party. I don't know why Brandy insisted on doing it so fast, but she's ready. They actually finished moving in yesterday and stayed in the house last night." I nodded, thinking that it was nice that Chuck was even closer now. His family and mine seem to have meshed very nicely. It was nice to have him live next door, or at least as next door as he could be. The morning progressed until it was time for me to go into the shop and get caught up on everyday business. At the shop, Debbie had a stack of messages for me that she said were all bullshit stuff and nothing radically important. Before tackling the phone stuff, I made a tour through the shops and buildings. Everyone was busy, with orders on their scheduling boards showing they had plenty of work. Abe was working with his men as they were tackling some state-owned road equipment. The state had asked us if we could rebuild their heavy equipment cheaper than them buying or leasing it new. Abe wanted to give it a shot and was deep into dismantling a large front loader. They had a couple of graders outside with tents over them as they worked on them. This was good as it was another way to keep people working. The big lift group was always busy and had several lifts outside waiting to be worked on. Jeff's group was experimenting with some composite molds that Honeywell had spec'd out. These were pieces for their fighter that had a higher than usual structural failure. Honeywell would test the material to see if it would remain unseen for their stealth aircraft. As I was finishing my calls, Tiny came in and said, "Come have a look at the T-shirt factory. Since they were going to be down while the build out was being done, I had a few changes made to make the place more appealing." We walked down the street to the big concrete building and I could instantly see some major changes. In addition to doubling the size of the original plant, the old plant had wall surgery to install giant windows on both floors around the whole building. Tiny said, "This place always made me feel as if we were hiring people to work in the salt mines, but it's now open, airy, and at least, brighter. With the new ventilation and air conditioning system, it is now actually pleasant to work here." We walked through the building and saw that every square inch of space was being used efficiently, from the weaving machines all the way to the screen-printing rooms. Tiny bragged, "You know this place is now going to produce about two hundred dozen T-shirts a day. I think we'll exceed that in time, but that's pretty good don't you think?" I was amazed. You never really know what to expect from an entity if you're not really involved in the manufacturing process. I looked through some of the race day T-shirts, wondering if the plant could make enough of just those, much less the contract work that was coming in. On the way back, we stopped in at the utility body shop. The shop was building a couple of big trucks that were slated for Nevada. If we were going to provide a welding service out there, we needed to provide our initial crew with a good work truck. The manager at this shop said, "Our sales of fiberglass pickup caps have increased very nicely lately. We have both the regular caps and the bed lids with the easy lift. It was very good of Jeff to come teach my men how to begin laying their mats to build our own caps." Back at the shop, Tiny went over figures for various entities of the company. What was nice was that he had a different man come to show figures for each entity, letting me know that Tiny was delegating, as opposed to trying to do it all himself. As we went over the figures for the factory in Ireland, he said, "Sales are down over there, but the lift plant is rebuilding at a record pace. The new lift sales are down, but not bad, and all that is happening is that we are slowly catching up on a huge backorder condition." Tiny continued, "When you visit those plants you should keep your eyes open for cheap property. This recession won't last, and when it does break, we'll be right back to a large backlog of orders. You could probably nearly double your size and presence over there and remain profitable. Talk to your Irish friends and see if they can help." Tiny said the Italian plants were filling orders, but still had a little backlog. He did say, "I think we can begin shutting down half of the cart plant as employees turn over. If we don't rehire for retirement and people leaving for whatever reason, we can get down to half our existing size. That way the unions won't bitch, and we realistically won't be laying anyone off." Lunch time meant a quick trip home to enjoy lunch with my ladies, kids, and a lot of folks from the business park. All of Chuck's ladies were at lunch, promising a fun time tonight. After lunch, all of my ladies and I went to the gym, then joined Glenda at the pool for some sun. My lunches are the best, as I'm fed, then wonderfully pampered. After my extended lunch break, I went to the airfield to see how Wes was doing. Wes was putting together all of his aircraft to show at Sun and Fun out over at Plant City. We had reserved a large area and some huge tents to show off our aircraft and kits. Wes was going to have his two men put together a biplane kit at Sun and Fun. He hoped to be able to fly it the last Sunday of the air show. Mark was in the hangar working with Wes' men, who were finishing up a camper that was also going out to the show. Wes said, "Mark commissioned that thing just for him right now. He wants to fly around for a month and thought it would be neat to be able to sleep in the aircraft. Wait until you see the tent he had made to attach to the aircraft. He's close to max weight when full of fuel, but he said if he loads it too heavy, he'll just have to stop for fuel more often." The Sun and Fun is going to be our introduction to the industry. There have been industry rumors, but no one from any of the industry magazines have been out to look at our product yet. When people see what they can buy, for the price they can buy it for, we'll have to build new hangars to build airplanes. Wes took me into his office to show me his newest design. It was an aircraft that sort of resembled the Cessna 162 Skycatcher or a Tecnam 92, but looked a little sleeker. He had a second model that was a normal four-place aircraft. He had some figures handwritten in what looked like a wish list. He was planning on a service ceiling of over 15,000 feet so he was going to have to have auxiliary oxygen, but that could be done with bottles. He had a note that said, "Retractable gear for speed." Another note said, "Should be able to get about 180 kts." This was going to be a very fast, very healthy machine. Wes pointed at the drawing and said, "If I do this right and the engine Abe says he has is as good as he says, this can be a reality for around a hundred grand or less. Imagine that, a fully equipped, fast four seater for a hundred grand." He flipped a few sheets of drawings and showed me his four-place, low wing design. With a smile, Wes said, "This one is going to fly at around two hundred ten to two hundred twenty knots. With some winglets, retractable gear, and the right prop, this baby is going to be a winner." I looked at Wes and asked, "How many different aircraft are you going to build?" He looked up at me innocently, and said, "As many as it takes to make S&S aircraft a place in the industry. I haven't even shown you my ideas on twins yet. I've been researching various designs for all types of aircraft to find out what has worked and what hasn't. Everything is very straightforward to make the aircraft airworthy, easy and fun to fly. Want to build a jet? We could do that, you know. A single engine rocket or if you like the safety factor, a twin turbine speedster. I'll bet we could build something faster than most commercial aircraft and as safe, if not safer, than anything out there. With the materials we have available to use, we can damn near build a space shuttle." I laughed at Wes' exuberance. "You're too much, Wes. Let's slow down and smell the daisies as we rush by. Let's start on the high wing next, then you can build your four-place machine as an experimental so we can begin working on approval." Wes said, "I've incorporated all of the paperwork and paid attention to every regulation every step of the way. We have an attorney that knows the FAA rules inside out and he reviews everything for us. He's the one who helped set up all the product liability stuff. Tiny and your father-in-law, Ben Phillips, found him." I guess I didn't have to worry about Wes and his people. I figured that I would hear from him any day, asking for more room to build aircraft commercially. He does have some interesting aircraft planned. I checked in with Jimmy, who had a Tampa Police helicopter torn down. Tank and Jimmy were discussing what to do about some worn parts that the city didn't want to replace. Tank said, "Hey, I'm the certified man on this bird and I say it isn't flying until those parts are replaced. If we let it out of here and it goes down, it's our fault. Let's go back to them and I'll talk to whoever is making these decisions. I'll bet it isn't anyone who flies these birds." Joy was working on one of our 150s, doing an annual. She said 'hi' then added, "You need some more training helicopters. Why don't you and Chuck get some training helicopters with regular piston engines? They are cheaper to operate and you should be able to buy them used at some cheap prices right now. We could use at least two, and perhaps as many as four. That way we can use all the rest for charter jobs." I told her, "You should tell this to Chuck, but I'll mention it when I see him later. He's been busy lately, and I know it's hard to talk to him when he isn't here, but catch him when you can. He acts on things quickly if it is for the benefit of the company." Betty was standing at her schedule board and she smiled when she saw me, "Isn't it great? Every pilot we have is on a charter or giving lessons today. Even with the high price for student time in one of the cheaper helicopters, we are booked solid. Even "Big Bird" is busy almost everyday." "That's really great, Betty. Joy was just lobbying for some more training helicopters. I suppose we should look into it." Betty was grinning and as I left, said, "Get 'em, Steve, we'll rent 'em." DeDe was now fully healed from her mishap and was working the office, giving lessons, and flying charters when needed. She was working at the desk with a young lady when I came in. DeDe looked up and smiled, "Steve, this is Nancy Ferrel, Nancy, Steve Sharp, owner of S&S Enterprises and co-owner of S&S Air Charter Services." I stuck my hand out to shake and Nancy stood up rather unsteadily and shook my hand. DeDe said, "Nancy is like Chuck. She's lost a leg and is still getting used to her prosthesis." Nancy was blushing badly and almost looking ashamed. "Nancy, don't feel bad about your leg. My wife, Sue, and I both walk funny because of past injuries and one of my best friends only has one leg. You'll meet him as he flies in and out of here almost daily." Nancy sat back down and said, "Thanks," quietly. DeDe said, "I'll soon have Nancy up to speed so I can begin giving more lessons. We're beginning to pick up more lessons lately, so I'm out looking for instructors again. Our jet jockeys get to be too important to give lessons. It's funny, I can get any of the helicopter guys to give lessons, and they double with the jet jockeys all the time. Wonder what the difference is?" I said, "They just haven't learned to use all of their talents, DeDe." As I was getting ready to leave, DeDe said, "Don't forget the girls' party tonight at Chuck's new place. Brandy was out here for her helicopter lesson and stopped in to make sure that Nancy, Betty, Wes, and I were coming. She went through all the hangars telling everyone to be there." When I was in my truck, getting ready to go back to the shop, my cell phone rang. It was Ben, my father/uncle-in-law. "Steve, do you have a few minutes to go over some figures? I want your opinion on a couple of things, as well as go over some numbers." "Can we do it later or tomorrow? I don't feel like going downtown on a Friday afternoon." "Oh no, Steve, I'm here at your place? I'm ready to begin the weekend and I get to visit with Beth if I come out. I've already started without you. Beth is coming with some chips right now." "I'll see you in a few, Ben. I'm leaving the airfield now." This was unusual. Ben usually stayed at his office until close to five on Fridays, but he was already at the house. He was beginning to take it easier, or else it was something important. When I walked into the patio, several kids ran up to give me a hug. I listened to what they had been doing today and watched as they ran off to do something else. I gave all of my ladies a hug, then joined Ben at the bar. He was looking through a fat folder. Mercy brought me a tall iced tea as I sat down, and Ben began. "You know we pulled out of the Mexican oil properties and did some investments in some Brazilian oil exploration. Those have been very successful. Your properties in Alaska and Hawaii are doing very well, and as Tiny will tell you, everything is getting fat." "So what's up, Ben?" "You know you have allowed me to speculate with a portion of Sue's and your money. We split off twenty-five percent and I've let it grow when it could, but have never been at a point to come ask you for more. Well, some of it has just made a big hit. A small mining company in Colombia needed some capital and no one wanted to get involved. The unrest has tamed down a lot this last year and people are trying to get back to work. We, and that means you, Sue, Chuck, me, and a small dab of the 401K money, invested in this mining company." Ben took a drink, looked at some papers, then continued. "The small company dug enough gold from the mountains on a continuing basis to make a living for their men and a small profit for their investors. Last month, they began finding some heavy veins that are producing exorbitant amounts of the precious metal. Now everyone wants in on the deal, but we effectively own the company and control a hundred percent of the shares." Ben looked like a greedy villain, rubbing his hands together. "Steve, my boy, you are once again a millionaire. Now just so you don't get crazy, I have to tell you what I've done with a lot of the profits so far. The community did not have a hospital; one is now being built. They didn't have hardly any municipal buildings, and now they have some nice office trailers. We are having the road into the community paved, plus we have dug another deep well for the area that should provide all the water they will ever need." I was smiling, thinking that this was really generous of Ben. He continued, "We are having a new school built and have donated the funds to rebuild the old church in town. In other words, we have rebuilt the community. The people have money for their needs, and we are all profiting because of it. The mine is bringing out a couple of tons of gold a week, to give you an idea. We're probably losing a hundred pounds or so of gold a week from men carrying some off, but it would be a lot more if the men didn't think we cared for them. Do you know how much a ton of gold is worth?" "Not a clue, Ben, how much?" Ben actually giggled, "That's about twenty-six million a ton and we're taking over two tons a week from the dig." "That's really something, Ben. What are you going to do with the money? Don't we both have enough?" Ben didn't frown, but came down to ground level, "Yeah, we do have enough, but it's fun to find a winner. That's why I'm pouring so much money back into the economy down there. I've even found doctors and nurses to begin working in a portable hospital that we had shipped in. Those people are eating good, living well, and their health is being taken care of." I sat back and thought about the find. "So, Ben, what do we do for an encore?" He smiled and said, "Easy, we find some more ventures to get involved in. We ride this until the vein or veins run out and sell out, but by then, the community will be fixed up. We'll leave in good standing with a happy community." "Well," I said, "I guess that calls for a drink. Let me get you another, Ben, and we'll toast your success." I made us each a drink and we toasted, then Ben said, "I want us to go down there to see if we can do anything else for the people. We can take Juanita to help us with the language, but I think it would be good if we went there and said hi to the people, and made sure the working conditions in the mine are safe. I've hired an engineering firm to come inspect the mine for us." "Maybe we can let someone else do that for us, Ben. Colombia still has a lot of people who make their living on the other side of the law. How about we stay here and send some relocated natives to act for us." Ben said, "I'm going and if I ask her, Beth will come with me. Come on Steve, we'll be safe. We're giving back to the people and not taking everything for ourselves." "You know, Ben, for a very intelligent man, you can come up with some hair-brained ideas. Have you checked to see how many kidnappings have occurred during the last twelve months, or even just in the last month? Do that and then tell me you will be safe. The kidnap rate down there about is about as much as we have druggies robbing 7-11s. I don't want you or Beth to go, Ben, and I'm going to be forceful about Beth. She's not going." Ben was frowning, and said, "It would be so good to see people happy with what we have done. I just wanted us to see it and bask in a little glory." "Bask here; bask in Key West; bask in Costa Rica, but don't go down to Colombia." "Okay, okay, I won't go," Ben said, with regret. "I'll make sure the engineering company has some men go with them for security. I'll send a camera crew to photograph and film the area so we can see it up close. At least we can see what's going on there." "Good deal, Ben, now here's to you. Salute! Thanks for making even more money for your daughter and me." Ben said, "It is funny isn't it. We make money, and the money makes money, and that money makes even more money. How much is enough? If we help others with it, is it bad to keep making more money?" "I don't know, Ben. I know that my family, friends, and employees are all well-fed and happy. What more can I ask for?" With a smile, Ben said, "You've always lived a simple life and constantly shared with others. That's been your success. I've enjoyed a life of pampered luxury because of my parents' success and wealth. Until Sue became involved with you, I didn't socialize much and now all these folks out here are our friends, and many are now clients. It's amazing how many people have means, but choose to remain here. I suppose that is happiness." Sue came out and hugged her dad and me, then asked for a drink with Diet Coke. As we spoke, kids began coming out to sit with, and on, us. Pretty soon, all of the young ones were with us, drinking juice, water, or Kool-Aid. Stevie asked, "Dad, we were wondering when we were going on our big sailing adventure? All of us are anxious to go, and we want to see Ireland and Italy. We would like to see more of Europe if we can, but if not, we want to plan a regular trip over there to see more. We guys want to see some of the World War II bunkers and monuments. The girls want to see the Eiffel Tower, and we all want to see the Louvre, or at least as much as possible." Sue said, "Wow, that's a lot to see in one trip. We might have to schedule a couple of trips to see all you want to see. We should divide Europe into sections that can be seen during two weeks and go every couple of months for a couple of weeks. That way we can see Europe in the summer and winter. Why don't you guys do that while you learn geography? Make a list of places in each part of Europe you want to see." You could see the kids looking at each other, figuring out how to get to see what they wanted to see. The ten young ones of mine instantly went to one of the big tables and huddled together, as they began their plans. Sue said, "You know they will do exactly that. Those ten can put together very intricate plans. They want to know exactly where we will sail to so they can see various things while we are there. I'm waiting to see when they will hit us with their plans. If a lot of the other kids come, it will get crazier." Mercy came out and sat on my lap, "Well, are you ready to go see what Chuck has done with his house? Brandy said to come over about five. You know Chuck is on his way with a new person. He won't talk to me, but he has someone with him." I said, "Mercy, you have to quit getting into his head all the time. Between you and our mother, you two don't let the man have any time of his own." Mercy laughed, "He can keep me out even better than my mom. He opens up just a little corner and let's me see there, but nothing else. He should be here any minute." At four, Chuck's car drove up in front and Chuck and another guy got out. Bonita squealed, "Chuck's here," loud enough that her mother heard and came out to the patio. When Chuck came in, he introduced everyone to the guy who had been with him in Hawaii and out in Vegas. As I was introducing him, Kathy came up to him and said, "You're Sam Nightfox aren't you?" When Sam asked about Jake, Kathy told him of Jake's demise. That was a sad moment, but the mood improved when Bonita introduced herself and told Sam that all the kids on the patio, about fifty at that moment, or at least it seemed like fifty, were her brothers and sisters. Kathy said, "Not quite all of them are mine, but several are." Peaches, Lisa's momma, was at our place, as usual. She greeted Sam warmly, and you could see him melt from the friendliness of the folks he was meeting. Chuck said, "Well, let me get to the new place and see my menagerie. I think Sam is going to feel overwhelmed for a while, but he'll adapt." The two took off, after Chuck had to give hugs to a lot of the little girls and handshakes to the guys. You could tell that he was going to be a good dad when the time came. Sam followed Chuck, looking amazed at how Chuck got along with the kids. Kathy came over and tried to curl up on my lap the way Mercy does, but couldn't quite get her whole body on my lap the same way. She enjoyed my hug and said, "It's funny, Sam Nightfox was a loner back then. The man liked Jake and would hang out with him, but wouldn't come for dinner or to spend some time with us. He was a total loner. He's doing that with Chuck now. I wonder how he's going to get along with all those women." Mercy said, "You know Chuck. He makes people feel good around him. This Nightfox man will follow and learn from Chuck. He'll probably come out of his shell and become a better man for it." I told them, "You know, men like that in combat were invaluable as they were totally unflappable. They were able to accompany you into the worst of it and you knew you were with someone that would be a help. He needs the same thing now and found it in Chuck. I'm not sure who Nightfox works for, but you can bet they give the two of them some heavy problems to resolve." Sue got up and grabbed Ben's and my glasses and said, "I'll get you guys another before we have to go over there. Ben, you should go say hi to Beth. I think she's getting ready in the bedroom on the left. No hanky panky, you don't have time." All of us laughed as Ben blushed on his way inside to see Beth. Juanita came out with a sleepy look on her face. Mercy asked, "Have you been asleep all afternoon?" Juanita said, "Si, I have no energy. Perhaps a Cuba Libre will help. Give me one with real Coke and that will get me going." Mercy fixed Juanita a light drink and gave it to her with a lime floating in the glass. Juanita did look a little thinner than usual. I think we need to get her a thorough physical. I leaned over to Kathy and asked, "Have you girls thought of trying to get Nita to go for a physical?" Kathy leaned back and looked at me, "She's worse than you are. If you want her to go to the doc, you take her. She might go if you do it. She's losing weight and is tired all the time. She needs to be looked at." I said, "Go call our doc and make an appointment for Monday morning. Tell the doctor's office to plan on a very thorough exam." Kathy began getting up and said, "How about you getting one too. You know you're not getting any younger, and it's probably time for you too." "Okay, I'm due for my flight physical, so schedule me too, but Juanita is the important one." Sue was smiling, "Thank you, Love. We've begged Nita to go, but she says she's fine, just getting older. She's not that old and I want her around for a long time." I smiled, "Me too. She's part of us, an important part of us." Kathy came out and said, "The doc says to come in early tomorrow morning as he has to give a bunch of athletic physicals after ten. He wants you both there at eight, and says it's about time you came in for a physical, as your annual flight physical has expired." I needed someone to watch those things for me. I always forget. Ben and Beth came out of the house, with both of their hair messy, and Beth walking funny. Sue grabbed her mother and led her back into the house. As they stepped up into the family room, I saw a runner of white gooey stuff running down Beth's leg. Mercy saw it too and giggled. She said, "At least they have the right idea on how to get ready to go out." Kathy said, "Come help me get ready, Mercy, and I'll show you another way." The two girls grinned and ran into the house, leaving me alone with Juanita and Ben, who was sitting in a big stuffed chair with a grin on his face. Juanita sat up close and I hugged her to me. She looked up at me with a sweet smile and said, "My life is so full and good. You, Mercy, and Sue brought me into your lives with so much love. I've been the happiest anyone could be for these many years. I love you, Steve, I love our family so much. Take care of them, take care of us." I don't know what she was alluding to, but I hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Juanita had a contented smile on her face. Hopefully the doc will find no problem tomorrow. It was soon almost five, and all the folks from the patio were ready to invade Chuck's new place. About thirty golf carts took off for Chuck's place and descended on him en masse. More and more people kept coming as we were parking. The street was lined on both sides with carts backed in to save room. At the open door, Chuck's ladies were arranged with Tiani and Nancy first, then Tina and Judy, then Frieda, and finally Brandy and Lisa. Lena and her large sister, Tina, were there too, along with some people I knew to be Brandy's, Nancy's, and Tiani's moms. It was neat the way they introduced everyone then busted us up into groups to give tours of the place. Each of the residents took a group of four to six and started out in different directions so they wouldn't clash. My ladies and I were at a disadvantage, as we needed to divide up the kids and become three separate groups. I was with the group led by Lisa, who began in Chuck's office. The place was grand, very fancy and ornate. Someone had found a very nice scale model sailboat that was strategically placed on the credenza behind his desk. The bookcases had some model airplanes that represented some of the aircraft Chuck had flown. From there, we went down a hall into the main bedroom. Wow! Huge! I thought our bed was big. This one was at least another five or six feet wider. There were some chairs around the big bedroom, but no dressers or anything like that. Off one wall was a future nursery and children's rooms. Off another wall was a huge bathroom, with six sinks in a row, along with two toilets in two little rooms. There was a giant tub, plus a shower with enough heads to make you want to see what really went on when the water was turned on. At the front of the bathroom area was a small walk-in closet with lots of drawers next to hanger space. It was explained that this was Chuck's closet area. That explained the men's clothes hanging there. Down a long hallway, we were shown into the first of what I thought was a closet. On the left were clothes and drawers. On the right were more clothes, plus a nice double bed, with built in bookshelves and lights to read in bed. At the foot of the bed, a flat panel TV hung from the ceiling. Just past a doorway, on one side, was a large stuffed chair with a lamp, more bookshelves, and another TV. On the other wall was a desk with a PC, a phone, and built in drawers and more shelves. Through the next doorway area was the bathroom, with a toilet closet, a single sink, a tub, and a small shower room. To make the place very pleasant, all of the walls in the entire area were cedar. The area smelled great. Lisa explained that each lady had one of these areas to they could have some privacy when they needed it. Next, we looked through the unfurnished kids' rooms then moved through the huge family room and kitchen. Peaches was fixing something in the kitchen, and Glenda was right there with her. The two ladies were joined by Shirley and little Maria from the trailer park. Our group went through the apartments, then outside to view the garage with the unfinished upstairs, a cottage, and the music studio. The studio looked really professional and had a room for sets to film videos. The recording rooms were nice as was the central control room that had windows into six recording rooms. While we toured, there was pleasant jazz being played that Lisa informed us was her and Chuck, with a bunch of her friend's original music. When we came back into the house, we were shown the formal living room, then led into the big dining room. There, the chairs were all against the wall and the table was filled with loads and loads of food. As we began loading plates, two little oriental ladies came to help us, accompanied by another Latin lady who we found out was also named Maria. Maria was Chuck's housekeeper from his other house. Lisa was beaming with happiness at the opportunity to show off the home. She left us to begin a tour with another group of people. My group went out to the patio area where there were lots of table and chair groupings. It was nice out there next to the pool. The grass and pool smelled great, giving the kids the itch to jump in. In a few minutes, we were joined by the other two groups of people made up of my family. Sue commented on how music was playing all over the house. It wasn't the same either, but several different types of music that was all Lisa and Chuck. I wondered when he had time to record all of it. Now he would have a better studio for it. About an hour later, Chuck's boss, John Scott, and the Marshal, with their families showed up. That was an apparent surprise, as Chuck was very happy to show them around. Ben came up to me and said, "When you first come in the front door, you think you should be greeted by a butler. You keep that feeling until you hit the family room and then it's very laid back, very comfortable. How about the Brunswick pool table in there? Nice. I didn't know Chuck played pool." "You know, there's a lot about Chuck that we don't know, but it comes out a little at a time. We'll know him pretty good in another twenty years or so." Another surprise came through the door. Dewey, his two ladies, and his kids all came in, wearing big smiles. Everyone greeted everyone, then Dewey and family were given the tour. Chuck and Nightfox were sitting in the family room talking to John and the Marshal. Chuck was smiling at them, and you could tell the two were a little upset about something. Chuck waved for me to come over to them, and when I got there, he asked, "Steve, you're closer to this than I am. How much did I pay for all of this?" I was surprised at the question, but answered honestly, "I have no idea. Is it important? If you have enough to afford it and not worry how much it cost, is it really important?" "Exactly," Chuck said. Chuck pointed at me and said, "This man has helped me turn a little bit of money into a whole lot of money. The only person that knows how much is that guy over there, Ben. He knows, but won't tell me. He was trying to tell me something on the phone today about some gold mine in Columbia, but I told him it wasn't important. Both of you guys are fixed financially. You both have more than you will ever spend. It isn't important how much you have; it's what you're doing with it that's important. I'll tell you one thing. Every time I give more money to help someone or some cause, I get more coming in. It's uncanny, because I just helped out a small church near here that needed some serious help. It seems that as soon as I helped out there, I received a call that I was lucky somewhere else. So let me tell you, find people that need help and give it to them. You'll get a good feeling and you'll probably end up with more money to help more people." The Marshal said, "That's why you should be in DC. You can't be influenced by money, and you're an honest, hardworking deputy." "Sure," Chuck said, "I'd show up for a party with my seven women, and that would go over well." John sputtered, "Well, you couldn't bring them all, perhaps two, but it's not important to those people." Chuck said, "Enough. I'm enjoying my new home. I want you two to enjoy it too. I think the cottages are ready for visitors, so you two can stay here tonight." John said, "We've already checked in downtown. We love those penthouses. We're going back to Costa Rica tomorrow. We'll be there through next week, then back to the grindstone." When I left, Nightfox followed me outside to my family. There, he sat near Kathy and they had a smiling conversation. As the night got later and everyone had eaten until they were ready to pop, I noticed Nightfox sitting at the counter in the kitchen. He was talking to the tiny little Maria from the trailer park who was making something. She would taste it and keep saying, 'not enough yet, ' and put more of something into the mixture. When she had finished her concoction, she went to find Chuck, Mercy, and Kathy. When she brought them back, she produced a bowl of tortilla chips and gestured toward a large bowl of what looked like salsa. Chuck tried some and smiled. He scooped some on another chip and fed Kathy, then did the same for Mercy. They were both oohing and ahhing over how good it was. Peaches came in and Chuck told her, "Try some, Peaches, Maria really did a good job on it." Peaches tried some and said, "Oowee! That is good. You'll have to show me, Maria." Nightfox leaned over and took a chip and scooped a healthy bunch of salsa on it and shoved it into his mouth. He was chewing when it hit him. His eyes opened the size of half-dollars and his face turned red. He was chewing as fast as he could with sweat rolling from his face. When he had swallowed, Nightfox was motioning that he needed something to drink, fast. Maria realized what the problem was and gave him some water, then came around the counter and pulled Sam's head down and locked her lips on his. Sam was shocked, petrified, and totally startled. Maria kept her lips to Sam's for over a couple of minutes. When she slowly let her lips relax from his, he was almost reluctant to let her go. Maria grinned up at Sam and said, "The best way to get over the heat of spicy food is a good kiss. You kiss good, Gringo, I like the way you kiss. You are a good man, I think." Sam actually blushed. He had hold of Maria's arm until he realized he was holding her, then quickly let her go. Little Maria said, "I like the way you hold me too. We should practice, yes?" The other Maria who had worked at Chuck's home in Carolwood, came up to all of us and said, "This is last call for the food in the dining room. If you want some more, please come. We're getting ready to take it to the Salvation Army for late night snacks. It'll be gone in a few minutes." Little Maria was cleaning up the kitchen where she had made the salsa. As she did that, she kept flashing looks at Nightfox, and he was still gawking at the diminutive little Latin lady. Maria left the kitchen, and Sam went to sit on one of the couches facing the television. A short while later, Maria came back into the family room with her kids. She walked around to Sam and stood in front of him with her little ones. We didn't hear what was said, but in seconds, the little ones were up on the couch with Sam and Maria was snuggled in Sam's lap. Mark, Caroline, Shirley, and Betty were making the rounds saying goodnight to everyone. When Mark encountered Maria sitting on Sam Nightfox's lap, he looked at them, shook Sam's hand, and received a hug from Maria. She pulled Mark's head down and whispered into his ear, then sat back in Sam's lap. Whatever was said made Mark smile as he left. I love the interaction between people. Everyone is so full of love and happiness, but not all can let it out. I think Nightfox was experiencing something for the first time in his life as he sat watching TV with Maria and her kids. Knowing it was getting late, I began gathering my brood. When we had everyone accounted for, we went home to the patio and made more rounds of drinks and discussed the evening while the kids were put to bed. Everyone was equally astounded as to how big, but how comfortable, the big house was and agreed that it was because the central feel of the house was the kitchen/family room, along with the patio and pool area. Ben and Beth were staying overnight, and had joined Tiny, Kevin, Henry, and their wives, for a trip up to the hot tub. Those remaining in the patio said goodnight and headed toward their own places. In bed, the girls were still excited by the big house and felt like playing. We played, and played, and played. When I had discovered wells within each of my ladies, and had them spewing juices, I was finally able to settle them down. All of them, even Juanita, were a total handful tonight. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter/Aviation/Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 52 Chuck This party is an amazing testament to all of the girls' ability to organize, plan, and carry through to their objective. There were many people who showed up that I would not have expected. John, the Marshal, and their families came followed shortly by Dewey and his family. I was honored to have him here, as that man has some "cool." I had to ask John and the Marshal, "I thought you two were staying down in Costa Rica?" John answered, "I wanted to surprise you. You know we had to see your new digs. This is a big step for you. This is permanency or something like that. You're settling down. Not to worry though, we'll either be going back down or back to DC depending on which way duty calls." When Metarie and spouse showed up, I was proud to personally show her through our home. As she heard my observations of the home she asked, "So the size of the place wasn't decided by you? The girls all intimated that you had planned the whole thing." "Metarie," I said with a laugh, "You know better than that. These girls have some distinct ideas about everything. It's not that I'm just along for the ride, but they show and tell me what they want to accomplish and then happily accept my suggestions. So you could say the planning was joint, they had some ideas, and I was able to expand on them." She said, "You know with a place like this, out here among all of their new friends, I'm going to have a difficult time keeping them at work. For some of them, especially the three moms to be, they might have to go part-time for a while. Do you think they would like that?" "I don't know, Metarie, but they are nesting out here. They will love to have you and Reggie visit them often." Throughout the evening, I tried to spend a few minutes with Nightfox every once in a while. He seemed content and joined Steve's family once, and was even sitting among all of my ladies at one time. He did have a thing for the little Latin lady from the trailer park. His eyes never left her when she was in the room where he was. John and the Marshal got in a huff because I didn't know how much the house cost. When I asked, "Does it really matter?" they got their backs up, thinking I was trying to be the big shot. I even got Steve involved in the conversation. Later, little Maria, made some killer salsa. Kathy, Mercy, and I dug into it, enjoying the piercing spicy heat of the tasty dip. Nightfox tried it and almost choked. Little Maria did something that startled everyone. She rushed around the counter, pulled Sam's head down, and locked lips with his. She kept him in a prolonged kiss for several minutes. The funny thing was, I could visually see Nightfox's demeanor change. His body seemed to relax, and when little Maria pulled her lips from his, Sam was nearly catatonic. Maria explained that a kiss was the best way to dissipate the heat of the spices. I think she just used it to kiss the mysterious Nightfox. As the evening settled down, Maria and her kids sat with Nightfox on one of the family room couches. A little later, Sam came to me and asked to get his small bag from the car, as he had been invited to spend the night with Maria. He was blushing a bright red through his darker "redskin" complexion. Sam said, "It isn't bad is it? I've never met a lady like her, and she is so very friendly. I love the way she pulled me into her family as if I belonged with them. It's okay to do something like this, isn't it, even though we've just met?" I said gently, "Sam, follow your instincts. You've done that all your life and have come out a winner. Do it now, enjoy the time with that family, and see if you really fit. I'll see you tomorrow." Sam looked a little sheepish as he walked through the house with his small bag. Maria was waiting with her children. The oldest of the kids and Maria latched onto Sam's hand and arm, and pulled him out the door. Mercy was watching this interaction and came up to me, "Your friend has been captured by little Maria. She is such a predator but this time she's struck at someone who is truly eligible. The last guy she wanted was Mark, the older guy married to Caroline. He's the guy that is sort of working with Wes building a camper LSA for himself." "Yeah, I know Mark. Nice guy. You say Maria went after Mark?" "She sure did. Mark fixed her car for her and she wanted to reward him by providing a warm bed for the rest of his life." Mercy laughed, "Mark gently turned her down and said he could be the kids' grandfather, but not her lover. He was super sweet with her." "Sounds like he was nice about it. I'm not sure Nightfox has any experience at all with women. He's been a soldier for a long time, and before that he was a boy responsible for his family. I suppose we will hear." Mercy giggled, "Of course, we'll hear. Maria will bring her kids to breakfast and tell us women all about it. She'll give her stamp of approval or suggest we throw him back." Mercy was actually laughing now. The place cleared out fairly fast, leaving just my family and some of the extended family. Nancy's mom and dad were getting ready to leave with Brandy's mom and dad. They were trying to get Tiani's parents to come with them, as they were anxious to get home for something that was planned for tomorrow. Peaches and Lisa's sisters gave us all hugs and made their way to their cottage. I watched as they walked behind the pool until they reached their door. The two oriental girls and Maria were helping my ladies finish up cleaning the floors and patio before bed. When everything was done, the three helpers and my family were all in the family room. Don and Jan, Dennis and Marie, John and Wanda, Lena and Big Tina, were all there having a nightcap. I ended up making Mojitos for several, including the oriental girls and Maria. Lena and Tina made some hot chocolate for the pregnant ladies and themselves. When everyone had their drink, I raised my glass and said, "I salute you ladies for having been able to pull off this move in record time, and to be able to have this party as promised. This toast is also to all of you here. It is my prayer that we all enjoy a happy, gentle life with each other for as long as possible. It is a pleasure to live with all of you." There were some, "Here, heres," and a lot of smiles. I think everyone felt the same way. As the people from the apartments began disappearing, Maria gestured that she wanted to speak to me. She asked, "I know I said that I would work for the man who has bought the old house, but I want to work here. Brandy said to ask you if I could work full time here. I can cook, as well as take care of your house. You have always treated me with respect, and have never said or done anything inappropriate with me. The other man made a sexy remark the first time I met him. He would be after me very soon. Please, Mr. Chuck, let me take care of you and your ladies." Brandy said to me, "Sing and Taiying would have been enough, but if you will agree to it, I want Maria too. The three will be able to help when the babies come, and if we do it right, we won't need a nanny." I asked, "Maria, you are a young lady, you won't have much opportunity to meet eligible young men out here. Do you really want to be so far from your other friends or family?" Maria said, "I have no family, I am alone. I don't meet many men who I think would be a good mate. I like what I do to make a living, and I like who I work for. If I work for only you, then I will be even happier, and your women said that you would make me a happy lady too." Wonder what that means? Brandy is suddenly blushing, and Tiani has a shit-eating grin. They are messing with my life again. I looked at Brandy and said, "Do you have to find places for these ladies to reside if they are going to stay with us full time?" Brandy said, "Tonight, because it is so late, Maria will sleep in my private space, and Sing and Taiying have a trailer in the park. I bought them a cart to use so they don't have to walk back and forth. I think that they will probably move into one of the cottages, or perhaps they could use one of the apartments upstairs. We'll work it out." Lisa said, "I don't know about all of you, but I'm beat. I want to go to bed and I want to sleep in our good bed. Is anyone else ready?" We watched as the oriental girls left, and I had to agree that we didn't need them running around late at night. They should probably stay here. After bringing my bags in from the car, I stripped in my closet area, went to the bathroom to use the toilet, and brushed my teeth. I had to look for it, but I found my peg and slipped it on as I prepared for bed. I put on some soft material shorts and a T-shirt, and headed toward the big bed. Displayed across the bed was an array of women that would put Playboy or Maxim to shame. From left to right was Frieda, Nancy, Judy, Tiani, Brandy, Lisa, Tina, Lena, and Big Tina. Instead of diving into the bed, I stood looking at them, marveling that they were waiting for me to join them. They were all nude, all of them had trimmed or nude crotches, and they all had an expectant smile. I said, "You know, looking at all of you makes me wish I had bought some of that "Five Hour Energy" drink. All of you are just so magnificent." I sat next to Frieda, removed my leg, pulled my T-shirt off, then cuddled with Frieda and her round belly. I loved on her until she was panting, then moved to Nancy and repeated the process. After loving on Judy and trying to devour Tiani, I skipped Brandy and Lisa to pause with Tina and gently make love with her. She was purring when I began kissing Lena, and she even smiled when I whispered in her ear, "Aren't you saving this good stuff for Ben?" Next, I began kissing big Tina and I thought she was going to hyperventilate. She hugged so tightly, not knowing her own strength, I had to wiggle to get free. She was smiling brightly, as I grinned at a younger carbon copy of Bobby and her mother. This was going to be one hot little, big girl. I backed up and began kissing Brandy, then Lisa. As I kissed Brandy again, Tiani wanted to help, and Brandy was soon shivering with pleasure. As I kissed Lisa, Tina helped me, and we turned Lisa into a pulsating orgasm. Back with Frieda, I gently made love to her, letting her know how neat it was she was carrying our twins. Then it was Nancy who wrapped me in her dark arms and smothered me with love, as we made love being careful of her round belly. Judy is such a soft, gentle person, and was as usual, lovingly pliable, wanting me to bury myself in her softness. She was smiling brightly when we parted. Tiani was fired up and the only thing to extinguish her fire was a thorough fucking. Judy was on one side and Brandy on the other, and between the three of us, Tiani's fire was put out. Now I had made love to my seven and almost to all nine, but passed on the big girls on the end. Brandy and Lisa moved apart enough for me to lie between them, and I was smothered with kisses and touches until all of us were asleep. I was wide awake and had no idea what time it was. As I rolled to my back, there were numbers on the ceiling. Projected from the clock on the headboard was the time, six eleven. Should I try to go back to sleep or just get up and begin a new day? As I began thinking of everything I needed to do, I decided to get going. I slid from bed, mounted my peg, slipped on my shorts and T-shirt, then made my way to the bathroom. In the kitchen, I figured out where the coffee was and started a pot. It took a second to remember where the gym room was, and I went there and began with the treadmill. I was finishing with it when Lisa came in and began walking on one. I began using the weights, and Tina came in and began using a stationary bike. Big Tina then came in and got on a second treadmill. Lena walked in and got on a bike, then Tiani came in to use the last treadmill. Brandy walked in, still rubbing her eyes, and looked around. She decided on a bike. I thought it was neat to have all these ladies working out with me. Big Tina came to the weights and began doing some squats, followed by crunches. As I finished up, I said, "I'm having some coffee, then we can swim a little." Maria was in the kitchen when I came in and poured myself some coffee. She did something unexpected. She came to me and hugged me saying, "Thank you for keeping me here. This is so much nicer than where I live now. No one to yell at me, no one to threaten me, thank you, Mr. Chuck." "Call me Chuck, Maria," I told her, then added, "Ah, Maria, we don't wear clothes out in the pool. If that offends you, why don't you have some coffee and watch TV for a while." "That is fine with me, Senor. My family often went to the river and swam without clothes." A stream of ladies began coming from the gym room and the bedroom area, all nude, heading for the pool. As I pulled off my clothes, Marie and Dennis passed me, then big tits Wanda and John came by, wagging in the breeze. It was a good thing we had built such a big pool, since it was filling up with swimmers. The entire household was out in the pool doing laps. When I reached the edge and was going to turn for another lap, I looked up at another naked, dark lady with big floppy breasts, who was grinning at me. She caught my hand and slid into the water next to me. As she hugged me, she said, "I've wanted to hug you naked like this since I met you. Yummy. I'll bet you give my Lisa a good time." My little Johnson was acting up and had risen completely between her legs. Peaches grinned at me and wiggled her hips. I was completely sucked into her with her first hip thrust. When I gasped, Peaches said, "Hold that thought right there for just another second. Oh, oh, that is so good, I'm gonna get it, I'm getting it, oh, Chuck, oh." There was something about the unexpected excitement of what was happening and the openness of the whole thing. I squirted; I mean I really unleashed a full load of the good stuff. Peaches grinned and when she felt me stop spasming, she gently pulled free. She said quietly, "Now that will be our little secret. That was something special and will give me some incentive to finish losing this weight." Lisa came up to us and hugged Peaches and me, pulling us together. When we were together, she kissed me then reached down to encircle my still interested little Johnson, "I know what you two were doing and I approve. Momma, you can borrow my man any time you want. I hope you are past the time for babies, because this man can put one in you." Peaches said, "This was supposed to be a secret. When I felt that thing against me, I had to have it." "I know what you mean, Momma. I just love it, and him, so much. It is still your secret. I just know the look on Chuck's face and it said he was enjoying something special. No one else saw, especially my sisters." "That's a good thing, Lisa baby. I promise I won't do that again, at least soon, anyway." Peaches said that with a giggle. As I swam another lap slowly, two little black girls swam up to me and said, "We like to swim without clothes. It's so much nicer." One of them said, "And we get to see so much more of men this way." They giggled and swam away fast. Just as I was heading toward the steps, a smiling brown face swam up to me and pulled me under. The lady molded her body to me in a hug as I found the bottom to stand. Maria was giggling and said, "I knew you would feel good to hug. This is an even better way to do it." Lisa came to the rescue as she came up to me and gave me a hug too. Lisa said to me, "My, my, but you are popular this morning. First momma, and now, the housekeeper? You'll have to quit work to take care of all of us." As we exited the pool, I said, "Come on; let's get over to the patio to see if they have a good breakfast this morning." Everyone put on something simple like just shorts, a top, and sandals. We loaded up in multiple carts and went to Steve's. The girls had included our two oriental girls and Maria to make it unanimous for the whole house. When we walked in, Steve said, "Now this will fill the place. It was sort of empty without you guys here this morning." Everyone had breakfast, while I did my usual and gawked at the ladies wearing the almost nothing gowns and robes. There is such of variety of body sizes, that it is wonderful to look at all the different ones. I had to smile as Peaches was acting like a teenager this morning, excited from the quick coupling we had in the pool. Steve asked, "Are you tied up with the house today or would you be up for some sailing lessons. The small sailboat is in or we can take the big boat out." Steve added, "Juanita and I have a quick doctors appointment in just a few minutes this morning that should only take a half hour to an hour but we would be ready to leave by nine." I said, "I'm up for it, but I don't know if my brood will want to go sailing. I could use a day on the water." Steve said, "How about you and I announce we're going and staying out overnight. Dewey will come with us, and you can call John and the Marshal. They would really relax out there." "Announce, I'll call John real quick, as they were planning on flying back to Costa Rica." I dialed John. "Hey, John, would you like to go out on the big sailboat today, and tonight. We'll be back sometime tomorrow afternoon. Will that screw up your flight reservations?" After he answered and explained their flight plans, I exclaimed, "Oh yeah? Using the same charter service, huh? Well, pack your shorts and deck shoes, and come out to the house. We'll be leaving in about an hour." As I turned, Nightfox, Maria, and her kids were coming in the patio. I motioned him over to me. He was actually blushing. I said, "We're going out on a big sailboat today and tonight. I'll bet Maria wants to come. What do you say?" Nightfox looked panicked but went to Maria. When he told her, she kept shaking her head no. Sam came back to me and said, "Maria is afraid of boats and the water. She told me to go, but to be honest with you, I don't like boats either. We'll stay here. It's a lot safer." My household was instantly ready to roll for a sailing adventure. Lisa had her momma and sisters ready to go, as well. My ladies invited Maria and the two oriental ladies. I think my family is growing without even trying. We were packing Frieda's van and a new Kia van that Lisa said was hers. She said she thought that more of the ladies should have cars that would hold a lot of people. It still was going to require three vehicles to get us to the boat. Brandy said she would go with Lisa and they would stop for food. John and family and the Marshal and his wife showed up in shorts, T-shirts, and deck shoes. They said they would just follow us so we wouldn't have to worry about another vehicle. Mercy was banging in my head, so I called over to Steve's. She answered and said, "Why don't you just talk to me. I'm sure we can talk now. Anyway, we've already stocked booze, including a lot of beer. The girls said they were getting food, so plan on just us, you know, our family and Mickey. No one else wants to go overnight. See you over there and just listen and talk to me next time." As we were finishing loading up, Metarie and Reggie showed up. Brandy went running to meet them and brought them to me. She said, "You promised Metarie a ride on the boat and Reggie agreed to stay out overnight, so here they are. We have enough room, right?" I laughed, "More than enough room. If we fill all the bedrooms, both lounges have all kinds of pullout beds. We could probably sleep a hundred or so." Steve got on the phone and asked, "Do you think we need protection?" I said, "Probably not, but if we do, I have a whole closet full of rifles and shotguns. You can look at it and we can decide what we want in there permanently." We were at the boat by ten and shoving off by eleven. Steve wanted me to pilot the boat through the channels out to the gulf so he and Dewey could observe and instruct as needed. Everything went super smooth all the way through hoisting sail. A couple of off duty crewmen came along with us as they loved the big new boat and really enjoyed sailing on it when they had a chance. It was really neat to have all the kids wanting to polish brass and chrome so our boat was pretty and shiny. The crewmen showed the kids the best way to treat the lines and how to coil the ropes. In a couple of hours, the boat was ship shape with the kids wandering from bow to stern, making sure the boat was neat and clean. I was at the helm and thought I heard music. I looked around the instrument cluster, and in the main deck lounge, Lisa and Bonita were playing their guitars. The two were just picking, enjoying the opportunity to just relax and play. Peaches came out to the helm and asked, "This may sound funny, but Metarie and I want to sunbathe. Is it all right to go up to the top deck and sunbathe up there?" Steve laughed, "If you go up there right now, it's probably crowded with some of my ladies and some of Chuck's. You can bet that there are several up there. Watch it though, as the sun can really cook you fast out here." Peaches said, "I know. I don't need to get any darker, but I love to feel the sun all over me. Let me get Metarie and we'll go up there. I have some sunscreen especially for us." Steve and Dewey were sitting back in a couple of the big built in chairs with big pads they had pulled out of the helm locker. Dewey said, "You know what, this is the life. We're out on the water, a beautiful sunny, windy day, with our family and friends. What more could I ask for? John Scott came up to me and asked, "My wife said she was going to sunbathe with the other ladies. Where did they go? Is it private or?" I pointed to the top of the main lounge, and said, "Go up and see for yourself. If you want to sunbathe too, you're overdressed." "So that's where the Marshal went off to. He's a perv, you know. The man was out on that boat of yours down in Costa Rica, buck ass naked. He and his wife were naked for almost the whole trip. Your lady crew was mostly naked, but a couple wore thong bikini bottoms. As soon as my ladies figured out that it was okay to take off their clothes, they were both running around as free as can be. They are going to corrupt the kids." I said, "Loosen up, John. Go up there and shuck 'em. Get naked and get some sun, you'll love it." John made his way inside the lounge and went up the spiral staircase to the upper deck. Steve reached over and turned on a monitor, pulled the shade over it, then keyed in a couple of strokes. The screen lit up with thirty-two small frames. He touched one of the frames and the upper deck was displayed. Oh my, that was something. All of Steve's women were up there with most of mine. The only one I could see that was missing was Lisa. Even a couple of the kids were up there, and then there was John, with his mouth open, watching Sue massage in some more tanning lotion. Steve chuckled, "She does that just to tease. Of course, you know that. You've been around her enough to have seen that act. No self-respecting guy can keep from getting a hardon when she's playing with her gorgeous tits. Say, are those two little oriental girls working for you now?" "Yep, both Sing and Taiying are working for the girls and the girl that used to be my part-time housekeeper at my old house, Maria, has moved in with us. You met Maria." I pointed at the screen, "There she is. Another lady that looks pretty good with no clothes." Steve said, "She is almost a younger twin of Juanita. Same size, same nice build, and she seems sweet." "She is, and isn't afraid to be around us anymore. She used to be afraid of her shadow, but now is part of the house." "You better watch those Latin women," Steve said, with a smile, "Their blood runs warm. You'll be picking up another lady." "Oh no," I said, "No more women. I thought Nightfox might make off with one of them, but he's gone google-eyed over little Maria from the park. Did you see the way they were making eyes last night? She even invited him over for the night." Steve was smiling, "That's great. She is a sweetheart and is so full of life. I hope the two of them do get together. She really wants a good man." He continued, "You know Juanita gave us a little scare didn't you?" I said, "No, what happened?" Steve said grimly, "She was feeling tired all of the time and was sleeping late and taking long naps. I took her to the doc this morning and he found she has a blood sugar problem. She's mildly diabetic and that can cause a lot of problems. He's going to do a complete workup on her to check her out completely. The doc gave us a some testing equipment plus some pills for her to take every day. He's going to see her regularly to make sure we are keeping her balanced. Between diet and her pills, we should be able to keep her straight." Smiling I said, "I'll bet that's a relief to all of you, especially Juanita." Steve nodded, "Yeah, she's happy it wasn't anything more serious. She's probably been mildly diabetic all her life but the problem can be progressive. We'll watch her more closely now and make sure she takes care of herself." I was also nodding, "Having a bunch of people like our women does make us crazy worrying about them doesn't it? The longer I have this big family the more I realize the responsibility of it." "You're doing fine Chuck," Steve said. "Just keep loving them and providing for them and they will be happy. Just keep doing what you're doing." Frieda and Nancy came to the helm and asked, "You showed us a little about the boat but we want to learn more. We want to be captains too." Steve said to me, "Go in and help Bonita and Lisa prepare some entertainment for us. Dewey and I will give some lessons to these two ladies. Come closer, ladies, and let us show you how we select sail." Inside the lounge, Bonita and Lisa were fooling around with a couple of different songs. Bonita had two big fake books out, leafing through the pages to find something she wanted to play. Fake books are collections of shorthand arrangements of popular tunes used by professional musicians, since buying sheet music for hundreds of different songs would be too expensive for most. Lisa exclaimed, "Oh boy, we have our keyboard now. Come on, Chuck, pull the cover off the Roland I put on this boat. The Yamaha synthesizer keyboard is under the big seat next to you. Pull that out and plug it in. The amp is built into the bar, with speakers all around the lounge. There are microphones in the cabinets with all the cords we could need. I think I'm ready for our big cruise." I uncovered the Roland keyboard and smiled to find that it was a full eighty-eight keys. Attached to the side was one of the new linear wave samplers. I turned on the keyboard, hit a key and heard a very pure tone. Thinking that this was a nice one, I played a few chords to listen and was amazed at the sound quality. Lisa was grinning, "Did I do good?" "You did great. This is nice." The keyboard had a built in amp and with what I thought was a sampler attached, making some simple productions should be easy for us. Lisa came over to the keyboard and pointed at the sampler and said, "This is the new 8800 Production Studio. You'll have to play with it and study the manual. You're really going to like this thing. The Yamaha can be set up to be just like a B-3 if you want, or it can be set up for pure synthesizer sounds. Use the Production Studio to put it all together and you can even burn a CD of the production. This is the same as the new one at the house." "Lisa, this is a lot of money. We shouldn't spend this much to have it on the boat like this." Lisa sat next to me and said, "Ever since we began getting together, we've had a thing for music. We make some awesome music together and we need to preserve it for the future. This equipment will help us do that. It will help us create some good stuff and it will help us keep it." She snuggled close to me and continued, "Um, I know I shouldn't snoop, but you have left some things around to let me know that you probably have enough money to do a lot more than you do. Let's see, you bought into those resorts in Hawaii, you bought airplanes, helicopters, came up with a house on Key West, and then a condo in Costa Rica. Um, you didn't say anything, but I know you donated a big chunk to that church recently." "Chuck, you walk around sometimes with several thousand in hundreds sticking out of your pockets like it's no big thing. I know you have a lot; I don't know how much and I don't care. You've been donating money and doing stuff for other people and I think it's my job to get you stuff that will bring happiness to you. Look what you did for momma and my sisters. I know she's asked you about Pops and Rags, and I also know you have talked to Steve and Ben about it. This stuff is for you when you're on the boat. There's more, but you'll find out in time. This stuff wasn't that expensive compared to what we have in the studio. Just enjoy, Chuck. Forget it cost money. Consider that it is for the enjoyment of your friends." I looked sideways at Lisa, trying to decide whether or not I should be mad at her. She had her shit-eating grin that looked as if she just got away with something, and she did. "Shouldn't you at least ask me about stuff like this? Maybe I would want something different." Lisa smiled, "And you wouldn't go out and buy it for yourself. If you want something different, let's go buy it. When you run out of money, they won't take your card any longer. Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen." Lisa gave me a sweet kiss then stood. "Okay now, let's play a few things and then it should be time to eat." The three of us played a couple of songs we knew, then put our toys away. Lisa was putting her guitar case in a cabinet with Bonita's and I could see four more cases in there. I wonder what else is in there. Today was almost too windy to cook outside, but there was an alcove that allowed the grille to work fine. We had hot dogs and hamburgers, along with the potato salad and baked beans. The girls had cut up some tomatoes and lettuce for sandwiches. At first, I thought I must have been in a foreign country, as all the ladies came from the top deck wearing only bottoms. Some of them were very revealing thong bikini bottoms, and some were shorts, but almost all of the ladies were topless. Lisa said, "Isn't it hot to have all these almost naked women around us? I'm going to have to drag you down to the cabin if I stay this warm. Look at Maria, she's hot looking. She sort of looks like Juanita. The two little oriental girls are just darling. I want to scoop them up and have them both. But you know how it is when you eat oriental; I'd probably be horny again in an hour." I rolled my eyes at her bad joke, and she punched me. "Are you telling me that you aren't affected by all this flesh? Check out Sue and those huge, wobbly toys on her chest. I'll bet they are fun to play with. See Kathy with those big long breasts, kind of like Wanda, but bigger. Imagine those wrapped around your dick while I suck on it." "Lisa, stop. You're really working me up and we'll miss lunch or something." She was giggling while standing in front of me, rubbing her cute butt against my now raging hardon. Mercy strolled by and cupped her nice, cute breasts and said, "If you decide to go below, call me, I want to help." Lisa giggled again and said, "Isn't it wonderful the way the water affects you." The day was very nice, and I did get to go over every inch of the boat, opening every locker, and looking at everything I could. I had the chance to speak to Metarie and Reggie, but it was difficult looking at her face instead of the two very suckable, very delicious looking nipples in front of me. Reggie elbowed me and said, "You have some good looking chests out here too. Perhaps we should swap." Metarie punched Reggie on the shoulder pretty hard, and said, "You wish. You better watch what you wish for or you'll be eating leftovers." She paused, then grinned at Reggie, "Somebody else's leftovers from between my legs." When Reggie rolled his eyes, he got punched again. We went fairly south today as that was how the prevailing winds were pushing us. According to the charts, we were coming to an area that was only about a hundred to a hundred fifty feet deep, and we felt this would be a good place to anchor for the night. There was no reason for us to sail all night and then go back, so we slowed and moved along the underwater ridge until we saw the wreck we were looking for on the monitor. We dropped an anchor and that was the signal for fishing equipment to be brought out. The guys were putting lines down near the wreck, because that's where the grouper were. Everyone was excited when several large grouper were pulled up. I got down on the boarding platform and cleaned the fish, getting them ready for supper. Maria, Peaches, Frieda, Kathy, and Juanita were all in the galley cooking up a great meal. Our evening was very pleasant, as we had all of the windows open in the main deck lounge and all of us had our drink of choice in our hands. Because of the amount of people, we ate in groups of twenty, sixteen at the table, and four to six at the counter. We had everyone fed in two shifts, and after cleaning up, everyone migrated to the big lounge. A lot of the kids stayed in the below deck lounge to watch TV or play some games. Bonita immediately got out her guitar and serenaded us with some gentle jazz that she had learned. We were all joking and laughing until Peaches asked, "My Lisa said that this boat has some good instruments on it. Can we get Lisa and Chuck to play some of them for us?" Lisa opened the suspect cabinet, took out her guitar, then brought out four more cases. One was an Ibanez fretless bass. Two were Fender Stratocasters that didn't look too beat up. The last was another Gibson acoustical. She asked, "What do you want to play first? Want to do some gentle jazz or some unplugged country?" I suggested, "How about some unplugged stuff to let supper settle. We can do some country, then blend in some jazz and blues." We played with those instruments for twenty minutes, until Lisa said, "Play the new keyboard, but let's do the old favorites first. See if you can get us a bass beat for a sample and maybe a drum back up." I pushed some familiar buttons on the Production Studio and heard the various samples, then I put the bass and drum beat down together. I did the lead in with the piano and hit the sampler button. Bonita and Lisa worked right in with some very good electric and rhythm guitar. I was impressed we sounded that good for our first time with the machine. We ended up playing for a couple of hours until poor Bonita was falling asleep on the lounge seat. The people around us had enjoyed our music as they chatted and talked about all the various things going on. Lisa and I put everything away and covered the keyboard. We joined the masses for drinks and conversation. Sue and Brandy began showing everyone where their room was and who would sleep where. When everyone had found their place, a lot of us were back in the lounge enjoying more booze. Dewey was saying, "This is one of the good times of boating. Anchored out in the water with friends, not worried about anything except who was going to have to pour the next drink." Steve brought up the subject, "Chuck knows that he's in for a full third on everything in Hawaii and up in Alaska. I thought it would be a good idea to tell him." Dewey looked at me, "Did it bother you that we made the deal and had Ben do it for you? It was too good to pass up, since our Irishman gave it away for the same as he had invested." I said, "Ben told me about the actual deal later. When Steve first told me about it, I was a little perturbed as I didn't know I had enough to do something like that. It's good that I did, and I'm glad I'm in for a full third in the group. You two are exactly who I want to be partners with." Dewey said, "I thought it was a done deal during the last trip to Hawaii?" Steve said, "Chuck knew he was in the partnership deeper, but didn't know to what extent. He didn't find out he was a full partner there and in Alaska until he grilled Ben back home." Lisa was sitting next to me and softly said, "See, I told you that I listen and I hear things. There was enough to get you some good toys for the boat and I did. There is another keyboard in the lounge below for lessons and practice, so the kids can keep right on learning while they are sailing." We all went below after setting up all of the radar alarms. There was nothing within fifty miles of us right now, so we shouldn't have anything to worry about. In the cabin, I was primed and wanted to enjoy all of my women. When I came from the bathroom, the cabin was really dark. Even with the porthole open, I couldn't tell who was where. Well, when in doubt, start on one side and work your way to the other. As soon as I began kissing each lady, I knew who was who. When I moved past Frieda, Nancy, Judy, and Brandy, the next person was, was, huh? I don't know. She was a good kisser and enfolded me into her arms, hugging me to her nude body. Her kisses were exciting, then it dawned on me. "Maria, what are you doing in my bed?" She giggled, but Brandy said, "Maria has been dying to find out what all of us keep telling her. Please, please make love to her. Make her feel the magic you do with us." Well, I was already in her arms. Our lips were almost touching. My dick was a rock and tucked damn close to the joining orifice. As Maria and I kissed, a small hand fit me into Maria's drooling opening. With several gentle thrusts and withdrawals that caused Maria to moan as she pushed me into her, I finally bottomed out. Maria's bottom was already working with a very nice rotating motion, sucking me into her depths, then letting me slide nearly all the way out. Someone was kissing my neck and back, and when I lifted up on my hands, heads appeared under me as they sucked on Maria's breasts. This was exciting and the sounds from Maria were passionate enough to stimulate the room into near orgasm. In seconds, her pussy was vibrating and milking me at the same time. The kisses on my back and neck, along with wandering hands caressing my butt, had me shooting streams and ropes of wonderful sperm deep into Maria. I had a fleeting thought that I didn't ask about birth control. Maria kept hold of me, hugging me to her body, whispering, "I love to feel your weight on me. Oh, Chuck, that was so good. I loved it." In time, Lisa pulled me from Maria, and Tiani disappeared, burying her face in Maria's swamp. It took a long time to work through my ladies. They all wanted a donation, but only two more got one. I was laying on my back with Tiani sucking on me, keeping me up for one more that I couldn't remember who it might be for, when a pussy began sliding down on my well used dick. The pussy took me in deep then slid me out and kept it up on an increasingly faster pace. I smiled and opened my eyes, knowing who I would see. Big Tina was sliding up and down on my well-fucked dick with her eyes closed. I smiled and rolled her over on her back and began pounding her, wringing the cum from her. The other girls were touching, kissing, and sucking on her, making her shake and quiver from excitement. Lisa was whispering to her, "Let go, let go, let yourself go." Big Tina felt just like Bobby used to, but this girl was pure and free of any pretense or baggage that Bobby had when we were together. When Tina was lying back, totally relaxed, Lisa said to her, "We've given you your wish, now do like your sister and honor what Chuck wants from you two. He wants you to be with kids your own age and to be happy being a young woman." Tina said, "Making love to Chuck is what I thought it would be. I wasn't disappointed at all. I hope it isn't only this one time, but I'll honor what he wants. All of us, all of our family love Chuck and want him to have a great life. I'm yours for life, Chuck. It may not be as a lover, but it will be as your special friend." Tina kissed me with a lot of passion. Thank goodness I didn't have anything left to come again, or I'm sure I would have knocked her up. We all lay back, thinking of our interlude. I was wondering how I was going to keep satisfying all these women. That thought was stuck in my mind as I was face to face with Lisa, with our lips almost touching. A tiny arm was around me, so that meant Tiani was snuggled to my back. I was awake for a few seconds before I realized why. There was splashing outside the porthole. Not boat splashing, fish type splashing. I slipped on my peg, shorts, and T-shirt, and went topside quickly to look over the side. There were about a dozen dolphins playing in large school of bait fish. While I was standing there, Sue came up beside me, then Frieda came up to the other side. We watched the sight long enough that there soon was a decent crowd at the railing watching the fish. As the dolphins followed the school of bait fish away, we went inside the lounge. Sue said, "Well, it's time to get up anyway. How about some coffee?" That's when I realized, Sue, Mercy, Frieda, and Peaches were all nude. Well, I guess that is one way to keep my interest up in the morning. We all had to go back to cabins to use the bathroom and get clothes on. When I got back topside, Steve had the anchor on its way up and was hoisting sail. We slowly began heading northeast in order to make an arc to go back home. Dewey brought out mugs of coffee for Steve and I, and we sat in the big built in lounge seats while Steve manned the helm. Dewey said, "Chuck, you should come out to see me one of these days. Bring your whole family or just a few, but I would love for you to come visit. We could just roam around the islands, fish, or even fly up to Alaska to see how the properties up there are coming." I said, "I've taken a lot of time off lately, but then, I've been pretty busy too. I'm planning on an extended vacation shortly for the trip to Europe. You're coming with us right? You're sailing through the canal and then across the Atlantic." "You bet. My family is really cranked up for the trip. If you want, you could fly up and sail south with us. It would give you a chance to get some experience." With a smile, I said, "Now that's probably a great suggestion. That would be good for me. I'll broach the subject with my ladies and find out who might want to come along. Lisa probably has to work, as do the others, and of course, Tina has school. Darn, that won't work." Steve said, "You better talk to them all and see if one or two might want to come anyway. Frieda and Nancy are the two who are really interested. Lisa has taken a pretty good interest too, but she has a lot more to learn." "I'll talk to all of them and see what they think. I would like the experience and the additional instruction. Sailing a different boat would be good for my experience too. A boat with less computer help might be good to learn sail configurations." We three men sat together until it was time for breakfast. We swapped off, with me eating early, then coming back out to take over. While I was at the helm, Lisa, Nancy, and Frieda came up and were talking about learning more. I made the comment that Dewey wanted me to go up to Seattle to sail back through the canal with him to gain more experience. All three looked at me with the "pick me, pick me" look. I said, "I don't know if any of you can get off, but I wanted to bring it up at home with all of us present." Lisa said, "I can be off anytime. I'm not an employee, more like a subcontractor." Frieda said, "I can speak for Nancy and myself. If we want off, we'll take off. You see, we may not go back to work when the babies come, at least not for a while. We want some time to love and bond with the babies." I asked, "Is all this sailing going to be difficult on you three? There's a lot of climbing up and down ladders for you." Nancy said, "We need the exercise. We're doing our best to keep the weight down now. All three of us have gained less than ten pounds. We want to get our figures back as soon as we can so we can make you want to do us again." She giggled when she finished and added, "You don't need us to be thin anyway, do you? You are so sweet to love us up while we have big bellies." Frieda said, "But we have some bazooms right now. He just likes playing with all the big tits." I was laughing at their banter. Lisa said, "Well darn, I guess I'll have to get pregnant to get big boobs." Frieda said, "You don't have any trouble getting Chuck to play with you and your B's as it is. You seem to have his number, that's for sure." Lisa smiled, "Yeah, he does seem to give me enough lovin, ' but then he gives us all a lot of lovin.'" Nancy came to hug me and said, "Well, I would like to go, but Metarie has a bunch of things happening that might be difficult if I were not there to train the new people. Actually, Frieda has the same problem. None of us would leave Metarie holding the bag because we wanted to gallivant around before our vacation." Lisa offered, "You should still bring it up with everyone together to see if someone wants to go." John and the Marshal came to sit with me for a while. The Marshal said, "This is the absolute most relaxing way to travel there could be. This is better than a cruise, because there aren't so many people and you can go somewhere instead of just doing a tourist thing. I love the intimacy of the boat, although this is pretty darn big." John had a comment, "I can see how a guy could decide to just drop out and live on one of these. I'm sure bad weather could make it hectic, but this boat is so big, I'll bet it would take some real severe weather to cause a lot of problems." I gave my opinion, "I think that a hurricane could be a real problem, as the seas are sometimes up to fifty feet. I've been in thirty foot seas and those were scary, but the boat I was on didn't have a problem. Fifty foot though, that would be hairy. I think you can usually know when weather like that is coming now and get out of the way, or at least prepare for a serious storm." John left to do something with his wife and the Marshal said to me, "You need an explanation of how you have become an agent for the Secret Service. A million years ago, or at least it seems like it, I was an FBI agent, mostly working organized crime family detail in the northeast part of the U.S. A couple of cases took me out of the country where I was involved in some bloody battles. Even back then, if you were involved in many all out confrontations, you lost a lot of your value to the Bureau. They have the mindset that those that have to kill continuously, become killers themselves. I had the opportunity to transfer to the Marshal Service and became a deputy. As luck would have it, a team I was on became involved in capturing some very bad escapees from a maximum security facility. I was able to get by that and worked hard to move up in the service. It was during that time the Secret Service approached me for a mission within the states that was similar to your first mission with them. The result was that they invited me to become an agent within the service while remaining a deputy. The missions I was sent on were not as clandestine as yours have been, but some were very messy. I've remained a part of the Secret Service since. I don't do missions like that any longer but I do act as an undercover front man some time. This is why I've been in the know on your missions and have been so appreciative." "As I became more involved in the politics of the Marshal service, I was offered the opportunity to become a Marshal. I'm sure the Secret Service people had something to do with my appointment and my rapid rise within the service. So now I'm a real genuine Marshal and also still a part of the Secret Service. Granted you and I are part of their hidden operations, but we represent another method of controlling enemies of the country and our government. Don't reveal what I've disclosed to you to anyone, including John, as he is still not an invited agent. It may come, but since it hasn't, don't discuss what you do with him. Because of his position, he will know some operational information, but not all. So now you know how you got involved in all of this." I looked at the Marshal and said, "I'm not sure whether to thank you for selecting me to work with the Secret Service, but I do understand the importance. The Vegas thing might have been handled by the Bureau, but because it would have been a big deal within their organization, it would have leaked and some of those explosives could or would have been used as a way to kill a lot people. A real WMD." The Marshal said, "The Secret Service has undercover agents within many prison facilities and many are within the various mob and gangster groups. We've done well to infiltrate terrorist organizations and militant religious groups. If we can continue to penetrate those groups, we can protect our country." "I have a question about Hawaii," I said, curious about the mission. "Why wasn't that handled by the Bureau? There was enough intelligence to have brought them in to capture the van full of explosives. There were obviously a lot of men involved in the operation to have a working road crew out there." The Marshal smiled, "We could have had the Bureau try to do that, but it would have taken a great deal of effort to organize a force large enough to get the job done in the small time frame that came up. You were in the right place to use with Nightfox. I felt you two would work well together and it would be a great pairing. We shipped the road crew in from our facility out west and used local trucks and equipment before and after your attack. You see, the Secret Service undercover agent found out the information less than forty-eight hours before the planned attack. We had to act fast. For your information, we found out there was also a Bureau undercover agent that had infiltrated the group, but he didn't consider the proposed attack real and he didn't investigate the truck. So you see; intelligence is paramount in continuing to fight these people. We need that and we need people such as yourself for a quick resolution to an imminent problem." He leaned close to me and said, "You haven't asked the thing that most of the men who become a part of the Secret Service operations ask. You didn't ask what was in it for you. You won't see any additional monies in your paycheck, but you will receive monetary and physical things while you perform for them. They feel it's best to keep you working as a deputy than to become an agent of only the secret service, especially in your free wheeling position. You've already received several nice bonuses in addition to what you created for yourself down in Costa Rica. Trust me, Chuck, you will never suffer monetarily and we do look out for our own when you need us. If you were to go into politics and come to DC, you would be successful no matter what party was in power." I was nodding in understanding, when Kathy came to the helm. She asked, "Are you going to hog the helm all day or can some of the rest of us get a chance at the wheel?" "Sure, Kathy, take over. I'd like to roam around the boat to get more of a feel of the boat. There's a lot to learn about it." I checked on my ladies up on the sundeck to see that they wouldn't get too much sun. Actually, I wanted to be a perv and check out all the naked flesh being displayed. John was laying on his front being oiled up by a couple of ladies. I passed on sunbathing and went below to the lower deck to look through the engine room down there. That's where I found Steve and Dewey. They were checking out a manual that was in the engine room. They were comparing the instructions with the actual working parts. Dewey exclaimed to me, "This is an amazing boat. The whole thing was built to someone's specifications, as these engines are much more than would be needed for a boat this size. When we have them running, we would never overwork them, that's for sure." Steve showed me a series of big levers that was on the side of what I figured was manual gears for the props. He said, "You can change the gearing for slower or faster operation of the props. Right now, the gearing is set for the slowest speed so it can be maneuvered in port. If you were to encounter a no wind situation, you can set these gears to turn your propeller fast enough that you would probably do perhaps up to thirty knots. That's really fast for a boat this size. That explains the oversized fuel tank you have. You could darn near circumnavigate the globe without refueling and never stress your engines." Dewey took me to another engine that was running and said, "This is the main generator, and you have two auxiliary generators if any failure should occur. In this way, you could still use all of your electronics and be able to call out a distress situation. This is slick enough that I'm going to upgrade my boat to be more like this." The two men showed me a few more features the boat had for propulsion, stability, and safety, before we went topside for lunch. The mood on board was so laid back that everyone was in the mellowest of moods. While we were on the lower deck, I had Steve check out the closet full of firearms. Steve liked the selection of rifles and a shotguns along with a variety of pistols. He said, "You have enough weapons and ammunition to protect the boat from almost any attack. You'll have to check them all out to make sure they are in good working condition and fire true. I'll introduce you to the owner of the gun store I use so you can use his range. I know you have a range downtown, but you might prefer to test these privately." Steve's kids were having a great day out on the deck, enjoying the sun and wind. The older boys, Greg, Mike, and Stevie had constructed a homemade kite from grocery bags and were flying it from the bow. They were complaining that they only had one old reel of fishing line to let out but it looked to me as if the kite was at least a couple of hundred feet in the air. Mike told me, "We're going to get some good kites for our trip. I'll bet we can get some really high out in the Atlantic." We were nearing land around three and everyone began preparing to close the boat. There was the sadness that our adventure was over for the weekend, but the happiness of looking forward to going home. This had been a very nice sailing adventure, but I would be glad to get home and explore my new home as thoroughly as I had explored the boat. Steve and Dewey had me navigate the channel and to bring the boat about slowly so I could back it into the slip. Dewey kept his advice the same, "Slow is best, just go very slowly." We all had enjoyed the weekend, and were sorry to see Dewey and family go back home. John and family and the Marshal and his wife were going back to Costa Rica to enjoy the life down there for another week. The rest of us were going to hopefully have a normal, uneventful week. Arrangements were made so the travelers could get to the airpark for their flights, while the rest of us finished cleaning up the boat, making it ready for our next trip which could easily be the big one for me. At home, everyone that had been on the adventure, cleaned up and made their way to the kitchen/family room area. I noticed something immediately had changed with the two oriental ladies and Maria. The closeness they had experienced with all of my ladies on the trip made them more relaxed around us. Instead of going off to remain out of sight like they did before, the three of them joined the rest of us while we relaxed. Since all of my ladies were present, I advised them, "Dewey has invited me to sail with him from his home at Friday Harbor down through the canal to get here for our big trip. He has volunteered to give me more instruction so I will be better able to sail our new boat across the Atlantic. I wanted to make this a formal invitation to all of you to come with me." The original five looked back and forth at each other, then included Lisa and Tina. As they continued to think about it, they were including Lena and big Tina. Frieda said, "Chuck already had the opportunity to approach a couple of us, but he told us he wanted to ask us as a group. Nancy, Judy, and I can't go as we have some work we need to do for Metarie that needs to get done before we leave for the long vacation, and probably being on maternity leave shortly after we get back." Brandy said, "Wow! I'd love to go, but I have some things I need to work on as well. That would be fun, but I don't think I can do it and keep a clear conscience." Tiani came and sat on my lap, "You dog, I want to come, but I really can't. The long vacation is hard enough to plan for, much less taking a couple of weeks or so out to sail down through the canal. You'll just have to do without me." Tina said, "That goes double for me. I know I'll miss a lot by not going with you now and on the big trip, but my internship is more important. Sorry, but I can't go with you." Lena and Big Tina looked expectantly at me, but I said, "Definitely not you two. You both have school and you both need to concentrate on that." Lisa said, "I can go, and if we need extra help on board, we could take Maria or even Sing and Taiying." The two oriental girls looked expectantly at me to see if I would want to take them. Maria sat with a smile thinking Lisa and I might choose her to go. I said, "This is going to be a working trip. I want to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible. We won't be going ashore much, if at all. It will be a straight through trip that will take about two weeks to eighteen days, depending on the winds." Lisa said, "That's going to be a longer trip than I thought. I have enough saved to make my car payments and my student loan payment, but I'll have to work non-stop between then and our big trip." I suggested, "Perhaps there will be a charter to San Diego or Los Angeles that we could drop you off and you could fly back to get in some extra work." "No way, Chuck. This will give me a chance to learn how to handle a boat. I want to learn as much as possible so I can be of value on our big trip. I'll be fine, don't worry." "So it's settled, I'll go learn more and Lisa will come with me to bring Dewey through the canal. This is going to be a hell of learning experience for all of us. I hope you big-bellied ladies will be okay for a big trip like the one coming up. We're going to be a long way between hospitals or proper medical care." Judy said, "Women have been sailing across the Atlantic while pregnant for centuries. If we have our kids on the open sea, they will have something to brag about for the rest of their lives." We settled down for the evening and went to bed. There was an air of expectancy that lingered for a while. I gave them all sweet kisses without starting anything, and we drifted off to sleep, dreaming of sailing adventures. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter and FAA legal knowledge by Old Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 53 Steve I woke within a mass of mammary flesh that could only be Sue's. She was hugging me to her breasts, with my head between her two gigantic mounds. As she had aged, and as the result of four kids, her breasts were actually smaller than they had been, and were now considerably softer. She amazed me though, as her breasts really didn't sag much. She couldn't pass the pencil test any longer, but then, with the size of her monsters, you wouldn't expect her to. Sue moaned a little as I attempted to extract myself from her clutch. This was made more difficult since Mercy was behind me, also holding me. Not wanting to upset anyone, I figured the only way to get up was to stimulate my keepers. A ready nipple was near my mouth, so I sucked on it, making it instantly harden and lengthen. I kept sucking until Sue opened her eyes and looked at me lustfully. "You are so bad, I need the bathroom, but I want you so much. Don't move so I can go and come back." I said softly, "I need the bathroom too, so let's go together." "But I want to be in the bed, I don't want to do it in a hurry," Sue said, in a whisper. "Please, can we come back to bed?" She slid from bed, and Mercy said, "Me too. You have double duty this morning, Lover, I'm next." Before Sue finished, I was sliding from the bed with Mercy right behind me. Sue passed me on the way, but stopped to hug Mercy to her. When I was back in bed, hugging Sue, she didn't waste any time stimulating me to a hardon with her soft touches and stroking. I was kissing, sucking, and stroking as well. Sue pulled me on top of her, and directed me into her soft moistness. Morning sex is so good, so exciting, and usually is equally as stimulating to Sue. Within very few strokes, Sue was holding me in her tight orgasm clutch, with both of her hands holding my butt cheeks as she pulled me into her to the maximum depth. Of course, her rapid orgasm had been assisted by Mercy who had been sucking on Sue's big nipples. As Sue lay back with a satisfied smile, Mercy said, "Move over to me, I need you bad this morning." When I tried to make love to her, to give her some preliminary kisses, she said, "Put it in, fuck me now, please. I need it now." While I began sliding in and out of Mercy's wet pussy, Sue began stroking and touching Mercy the same way as had been done to her. This stimulated Mercy into a quick orgasm that had her gasping for air. When she went rigid, I stopped moving so she could relax, fully intending to begin again and finish myself, but Kathy, in a husky voice, said, "Save some for me, you three have made me hungry for our man." Mercy and Kathy kissed as I moved to Kathy's long slim body. She welcomed me inside her easily and used her heels to pull me into her. Kathy has always had a hair trigger, and this morning proved to be normal. In what seemed like seconds, she was groaning while squeezing one of her breasts and nipples, while I sucked on the other. She was panting instantly, and I could feel her pussy gushing more juices. When Kathy was satisfied, Juanita leaned over and kissed me. She asked, "Can mi esposo help me out with my itch this morning too? Now that the doctor has told me I'm a healthy woman, I have no worries and I want to do more of what healthy women enjoy doing." How do you refuse a beautiful voluptuous Latin lady? She wanted to be held and kissed this morning, before reaching between us and fitting me into her. I began slowly, feeling the building tension in my balls. As Juanita rose to her peak, I rose with her until she was moaning and grunting out her pleasure, as I filled her with my essence. This had been a very nice wakeup. There was a lot of laughing and giggling as we all showered in the big stall. It was enough to get my motor running again, but we didn't start anything as the day was beginning and the kids would be getting up. It was only five after six when I started some coffee in the kitchen and went out to the patio to see if the big pot was done. It was, so poured myself a cup and turned on the light. Glenda came in the screen door and gave me a hug before pouring herself some coffee. Tiny and Ruth soon came in, followed by more and more bodies, until six thirty or so, when the patio was full of people laughing and enjoying an exciting Monday morning. Chance Mary joined me at one of the little tables, holding a spiral notebook with a list of numbered items. When he sat down, Abe sat beside him. Chance said, "When we presented our stuff to the military, we didn't give them enough reasons to jump on our product or to consider it as something they had to have. I think I have an idea that will make them want what we have. It's something we'll have to test, and maybe even modify the vehicles, but I think it has some selling points." Abe joined in, "When Chance approached me about it, I didn't think it would have been that big a deal, but the more we talked, the more I thought it might get the ball rolling for our product." Chance took over again, "One of the problems the military has had is the delivery of vehicles and/or weapons into the battlefield on a timely basis. One of the ways it has been done for the last seventy years is by parachute. I want to test our vehicles being dropped from an aircraft in a couple of ways. The first way is to drop them by using parachutes. The landings are a pretty big shock and have disabled many combat vehicles before they were ever used. I'm told there has, in fact, never been a successful operational test of an air-dropped armored fighting vehicle. That's why I want to test ours. I want to make sure they will survive the impact. The army tried. They used a bunch of big parachutes and put the AFVs, you know armored fighting vehicles, on pallets with rockets that fired just before touchdown to cushion the landing, but the suckers always broke. If it wasn't the drive train that broke, it was the weapons systems. The Soviets had the same problems, and their solution was to use parachute infantry in a sacrificial assault to secure an airfield, and then land planes to roll off lightweight AFVs. "Another way I want to test," Chance continued, "is to do a direct drop. That's where a cargo aircraft flies low across the ground and the cargo is pushed out the back without benefit of a parachute. I think we could do it with our wheeled vehicles, but they will have to be tested." Abe said, "That's where you come in, Steve. We need to find a C-130 we can rent or lease for a while. If there is one around, we could have the owner's crew come load up and fly our equipment to the drop site and call it a day. We'll need a loadmaster and crew, along with someone with knowledge of how to build pallets for the trucks. I think that if the vehicles were on a platform pallet, it would be easier for them and would land upright. For the ones that we want to just push off the end of the aircraft, we might have to just push them off and let them free wheel. That will be a learning experience." I asked, "How many vehicles do you have that you can expend while doing these tests?" Abe said, "We have six utility vehicles, three personnel carriers, and two tracked vehicles. We're working on creating our own tracks using composite materials." "Oh yeah," Chance interjected, "We're calling all of these vehicles "CAV" now, for Composite Armored Vehicles. That should get the attention of the older generals and purchasing people since they would relate to the First Cavalry Division and their combat readiness mission. I really think our vehicles would be a good fit for today's military. We just have to get our foot in the door." "Have any of the big military contractors contacted us yet about supplying body parts?" I asked this wondering why they were now being so aggressive about getting the military's attention. Chance answered, "Not a peep. I've talked to three of the men who witnessed our presentation and they have formally proposed our product with its specifications. They haven't heard anything either. Their next step would be to specify the actual product." Abe said, "The Stryker is being used and can withstand most IEDs, but it doesn't handle RPGs well, and has had to have slat armor installed around it to withstand a direct hit. Our material can withstand the hit. If they were to convert to our material, they could lighten the Stryker by at least four to five tons." "Okay," I said. "Let's figure out where to borrow a C-130, and find a retired military loadmaster to help us with the operation. I'll bet you can find someone if you advertise in the military magazines and newspapers." Tiny had joined us and said, "I think DeDe can find you an aircraft and the man you're looking for is Bob Simpson in St. Louis. He's the warehouse manager and in charge of shipping there now. Give him a call to see if he's the right guy. If he is, bring him down on vacation with his wife, if you can, so he can work with you to get ready for another show." Looking at me, Tiny said, "You know we're up to shipping right at a hundred fifty forklifts a month out of the St. Louis facility. That's what we projected would be their maximum production. If the economy picks up, we won't be able to keep up with demand. I doubt that we've hurt any of the other manufacturers, but we are getting a very nice market share." Abe said, "I'll call Bob Simpson this morning to see what his background is. I really want to get this started so we can begin supplying material. We're going to need more jobs for our people since orders in other areas are down." Tiny was smiling, "Don't be a fatalist, Abe. The only area where the racing business is down is that the small privateers are cash poor right now. The big racing teams are all busy, plus we're getting a lot of orders from formula and Indy cars now." Chance and Abe moved off to talk to Dennis, Mark, and Gerry. I was left with Tiny, when Dennis jumped up with his cell phone in his hand, waving his other hand in desperation. He looked around and fixed on me, "Someone broke into the R&D lab last night. The day man just found the night guard tied up and gagged." The entire patio was frozen for a couple of seconds, and then all at once, everyone headed toward a door. Mickey yelled, "Stop, stop, don't mess up the crime scene. Let me get a CSI crew there to gather evidence. Dennis, Mark, Gerry, Hans, you come with me to help identify what might be missing. Everyone else, stay here for right now." Damn, that is my R&D building, and those are my products in my company that may have been compromised. I'm going, regardless. I followed two other carts toward the R&D lab buildings. One had Dennis, Mark, Gerry, and Hans, and the other carrying Mickey and Hap. Who would break into our labs? We don't make anything that is that big of a deal for someone to go to the trouble to break in. It's always something, isn't it? Mickey stood in front of everyone and told them, "Stay out right now. As soon as the CSI unit checks and cleans an area, I'll let you in to see what may have been compromised or taken. You can spend a few minutes thinking of what you were working on that could be of value to someone else." The group huddled together, talking of some of the innovations they had come up with. I asked them, "Think of what you have come up with that could have the most monetary value and that could be modified from the original patent and still give the same benefit." They huddled again talking among themselves. A cart pulled up and Chuck and Jan got out and walked over to me. "What's up, Steve? We heard there was a break in. Have you found what is missing or messed with?" "Don't know yet, Chuck, Jan. We just got here and we can't go in until a county CSI team gets here." Jan said, "Let me get our CSI team out here. You are a military contractor and should be eligible for our help. Even if you only ship uniforms right now, you should be covered for additional investigation services." I looked at Chuck and Jan and thought, 'Holy shit, now the FBI is involved. This is some shit. Talk about making a federal case out of something... ' While Jan was talking on her cell phone, a county CSI truck showed up and was directed by Mickey to begin clearing from the front. Mickey had the security guard separated from everyone and was interviewing him. Hap was like an appendage to Mickey's hip while she was working her way around the scene. There was some guy walking around the perimeter of the area looking at the ground. He circled back and forth then began walking off in a straight line until he was out of sight. Chuck said, "Nightfox is on to something. He is following something out to the highway. Let's go around with the carts to see what he's found. Let's stay on the street with carts so we don't mess with the tracks." I decided to go with Chuck, as he has some sixth sense that helps him do whatever he does. We stopped on the street where Nightfox was squatting out by the highway, looking at something. Nightfox waved at us and pointed for us to come but to take circuitous route to get to him. When we approached him, he held up his hand palm out and said, "Stop. Look, they dropped papers here. There are a couple in the ditch over there and one over on the bank. Here is a key to something that was dropped while they gathered the papers. I'll let the CSI people gather everything so they can get prints if there are any. Go get a couple of investigators so they can gather the evidence." I was the most mobile at the time, and ran back to the cart and drove to the R&D building to get a couple of investigators. I saw Mickey and told her, "We found some papers and a key where the thieves got in their car. I need a couple of people to gather the evidence." Mickey went to the man in charge and had a couple of federal CSI men get in the cart with equipment so I could take them to the scene. They had Nightfox back away from the key and photographed the key and the papers, as well as the footprints and tire tracks around the evidence. The longer I was involved in seeing what had gone on, the more nervous I was becoming. Parking way out here and disabling a guard to enter a secure facility was a professional theft. The CSI team finished after retrieving the papers and the key, so we all went back to the R&D building. Dennis, Mark, Gerry, and Hans were inside the building with the CSI team, checking to see what had been tampered with. Hans came out and told us, "The only test area that was broken into is the diesel engine area. The engine is too big to take, but it looks like they were going to try. Everything is disconnected and unbolted from the mounts. They must have found it too big to move and left it." Dennis came out in a few minutes and said, "They destroyed our file cabinets. Everything is all over the place. It'll take a day or so to figure out what is missing if anything. They ransacked the offices and tried to break into the patent safe. Mark was standing in the doorway with a smirk. He said, "It's not my project, but I know what's missing." Everyone turned toward him, and Dennis asked, "What? What's missing?" "The multiple plates you and Abe used to test what was the most bullet proof. They were all lined up against the wall next to the patent safe and they're gone now." Dennis and Gerry went into the office again and came back out. Gerry asked, "What would they want those pieces of fiberglass for?" Mark smiled and said, "Analysis, reverse engineering. They might think they can come up with the correct resins to make the same fiberglass that you developed." Gerry actually giggled, "The final product wasn't even in that stack. I have it hung in a frame in my trailer, along with the transparent sheet complete with a fifty caliber round in the middle." Dennis said, "You can't reverse engineer the process it takes to make our composite. There are too many processes that we go through to make it hardened." Gerry asked, "You didn't keep the process in the file cabinet did you?" "No," Dennis said, "The process formula and directions are in the patent safe, as each stage is patented separately. We did it that way so no one could steal just one part of the process and have what we've built." Mark was standing next to me and said, "That's what I love about these guys. They are so devious that thieves can't even steal from them. I think I need another cup of coffee. If you need me, call my cell. I'm going back to the patio to tell everyone it was a bad attempt that failed." I hope Mark is right, as we did have a lot invested in our possible military product. Thinking that we may need a little more security, I asked Hap, "How about checking out the main office buildings and how we're secured there? We need to protect the utility vehicles Chance and Abe have built, as well as Jeff's area a little better. If they figure out where we store our vehicles, they could attempt to steal one." Hap grinned, "Now, that I can do. I'll put another man on the video monitors and another man in the yard or building. We already have people around the clothing plant twenty-four hours, so it won't be a big deal to include your yards too." Abe had come over to see what the fuss was about. He had heard what I was saying and said, "The thieves had the right idea to try to steal the motor in there. That is my new diesel that should produce another twenty percent power on thirty percent less fuel. That's the one I think I will be able to use for your new aircraft, Steve. I'm not done with it yet, but I'm close. Wes is building a full size aircraft with Jeff right now to test the motor in later. That motor will have a lot of applications, both military and civilian, if we make it work the way Mark thinks it will work." I asked, "So whose motor is it, yours or Mark's?" Abe laughed, "It's all of ours, including Hans. We were having a couple beers one night when we came up with the idea, and that's the result sitting there all disconnected. We're working on making it lighter right now. We're attempting to use some of new materials Jeff has come up with for an engine block. We doing structural heat testing on it to see if we can run air cooled or do we have to remain with a jacketed block for water cooling. There are several other components we might be able to use our new composites on but like I said, we're testing and still in our infancy of the idea." Damn, sure glad I don't know what's going on around here. We have so many things going on that there is no way for anyone to keep up with them. But then, they're all interrelated. What we make for one project is good for another. Abe was just talking about how our cart engine was powering Wes' airplanes. All these people are amazing. Mickey came out and said, "I think we've dusted every flat surface in the building. Dennis and Mark reminded me that they work on all of the trial products with gloves, so any prints are going to be from the perps. The office has everyone's prints, so that will take longer. The guard said he didn't remember any of the men wearing gloves when they captured him. He did say there were five men, all big, but the one that was directing the others had a disfigured hand." Jan came out and gave just about the same summation as Mickey did. She said, "We'll put all the prints through our computers to see if they match, and we'll work on those first. Dennis needs to come downtown with us to figure out what files the papers that we found out by the highway came from." Mark, Gerry, and Hans went back into the building to begin cleaning up the file cabinets to see if they could find what was missing. Mickey left with the county CSI van, and Chuck and Jan were discussing what their next step was. Chuck came over and said, "Jan is going to open an investigation within the Bureau, so you'll have some good bloodhounds on the track. This is out of my jurisdiction right now, so I'll leave it to her and help if I can. I heard you talk to Hap about beefing up security for the military stuff and that's as good as you can do. I'll talk to you tonight, Steve. I should go to work." As he turned toward his cart, his cell phone rang. "Johnson." He listened for a few seconds and said, "Didn't you have the subject in the hotel, Sarge? Okay, don't panic, just cover the area. You have a description of the vehicle; just don't let it out of the secure area. If you need more help, get the Bureau out there. Call the county, get air support. You know the drill, get it done. I'll be there in a few minutes." Chuck hustled Nightfox into his cart and took off for his house. I guess there was shit happening everywhere. Back at the patio, I explained to Tiny what was happening and he commented, "You know, you've been immune to a lot of things for a long time. Hopefully, you won't have to put up with a bunch of shit while it all catches up with you. We've had a really serene existence for a long time. You don't try to make enemies, but there are those that are jealous of what you have and how you've progressed." "You're probably right, Tiny, but I don't try to mess with anyone, and I don't try to intrude where others are. S&S competes fairly, and we usually give more for a dollar than anyone else. If someone wants our trade secrets, have them come spend some time with us and see how we operate." Tiny said, "Relax, Steve. You've always played fair and always worked with other manufacturers to give them the opportunity to be successful with you. If you are patient, the culprit will be found, and you'll have an idea on how to work with them, or how to get around them." Sue was sitting by me and said, "We've had several companies get mad because we're able to respond to our bids so fast. If someone orders a thousand dozen of a garment, we'll be shipping it while other manufacturers are still trying to figure out how much material to buy. That's why the new material plants are going to be so important. It will be one less step for us to have to work with." We had one last sip of coffee, and then all of us took off for our respective offices. Debbie had some calls for me to return, so I spent a few minutes in her office returning them. Out in the plant, I checked in with the motor group and found Sandy and Mandy back from their work with Gene. Mandy said, "They were doing everything right, but didn't have their setup correct for the track. We really didn't do anything, but we did show them the easiest way to check the setup. They're doing it our way now, and that should help them." Shawna had four bikes in various stages of being built and had a couple of young guys working diligently trying to do exactly as Shawna was directing. They all grinned at me as Shawna held something as they each tried to bolt or screw down what she was holding. She didn't micro-manage, but she was everywhere at once. The sheet metal and frame guys were putting out frames for racing and for Chance. One of the guys said, "We're getting pretty good changing from military vehicle, to airplane, to race car, all in the same day; three different methods, three different types of metal, but all perfect." I laughed with him, happy to hear that special word, "perfect." Abe was in his office area, looking over some documents. He said, "I think we can build about twenty diesel engines a month with just our crew here. If we have to ship more than that, we can set up another group that will do at least that many more. Our challenge will be the blocks and getting them ready to build out. The motor department is best at getting them ready, but we're best at the general build out. After they're built, the motor group needs to work them over again to make sure we're perfect on our side. We need to work on streamlining the procedure so we can turn out a few more a month." I asked, "What do you think can be done Abe?" He smiled and said, "I don't really know, but you need to get the "Andies" together and have them figure it out. Those two are really good at generating a process to get anything done. I'm getting too old to remember my name, much less to figure out how to get something so complex done fast." "Bullshit, Abe. You know how to do it, but you just want the girls to get the credit. Go help them get it together so we have a business plan when we need it." Abe grinned crookedly at me as he left for the motor shop. I went across to the big building to talk to Jeff. He wasn't in the shop or in his office, but I saw his truck in the lot. Back in the main building, I went upstairs to find him in Phil's office where he was gesturing wildly to Phil. "I can produce at least three times the product they're asking for, so what's the problem. I know we're cheaper than our competitors, and our product is better than they can get anywhere else. What's the deal?" Phil said, "They said they can get the same product for less and faster. That's what I know. We're trying to find out who the competition is, but so far, we don't know. I can't believe they've sold as many finished machines as we've supplied product, so I have to find out a little more before I can answer your questions." Jeff was saying, "Damn, without that contract, I will have half dozen men with nothing to do. I'll look through the rest of our contracts to see if we can work on another project. Find out, Phil, as there is no one that can produce what we do for as little as we are able to do it for." I waved Jeff toward my office and had him join me at the little table. "Jeff, can you work with Chance to make up another set of military vehicles? How about working with Abe and Chance to make something like the Stryker so that it looks like one of the behemoths that are being used over in the Mideast? I think our vehicle would be easier to use and to get around in, but let's work on something that is recognizable. Use the nomenclature Chance is using. Call them CAVs. You know Composite Armored Vehicles. You could also consider making the vehicle amphibious. Then you could have a CAAV, a Composite Amphibious Armored Vehicle. There's no reason we couldn't make it waterproof so the lighter weight vehicle could swim too." Jeff smiled, "We'll do that. I think one of the manufacturers we supply is short on orders, and is using the line that we're too high on our price to renege on their contract. We need to go to them and tell them we understand, and if they don't have the orders right now, we won't hold them to contract figures." "Good idea, Jeff. Have Phil or one of his men do that. We need to let our users know we won't make them suffer for not fulfilling their contracts right now. Let's work on helping them get back on their feet too." I was sitting in the office when Ben called. He asked, "Hey, Steve, want to help out some GIs that have come back wounded?" "You know the answer to that, Ben. What's up and what can I do?" Ben said, "There are several men getting out of service that are paralyzed from the waist down and some who are totally paralyzed that need homes and/or jobs. You can help with the homes and possibly help with the retraining. We have about three a month in this area, that you and Chuck could probably help with a home built for them and with retraining. Chuck's already given his go ahead, and I thought you might be interested." "I am, Ben. Include me and make sure that the 401K plan is included. Make it from S&S, S&S employees, and me. You figure it out, but make me the heavy here. The company may be a little cash poor right now, so use me for the most." "Gotcha, Steve. Tiny has you in a pretty good cash position right now, so you're doing something right. He was on me recently about investing the 401K heavier in medium risk securities. I'm still going to go sixty percent fixed and forty percent with the higher risk. I'll do the twenty-five percent at high risk and the fifteen at medium risk. That should satisfy everyone." I asked, "So what's the deal with the offshore stuff you're doing with Chuck?" There was a long pause, then Ben said, "You might want to get Chuck to explain it to you. I probably shouldn't discuss the guy's portfolio right now." I laughed, "Thanks, Ben. That tells me a lot more than you think. I'm glad Chuck is doing well." It was Ben's turn to laugh. "Oh, he's doing well, alright. The man has a "Midas" touch. He's giving back as fast as anyone could ever expect, but it seems he gives a buck and finds two more." I thanked Ben for the info and told him to go ahead and help the medically retiring guys as much as possible. My stomach was growling, so I told Debbie I was going home for lunch and would call later. At home, I was met by all my ladies as we sat to eat. They were all in a good mood today, and suggested we should go somewhere or do something for the weekend, or for a long weekend. I couldn't think of something special to do, but Kathy suggested, "Chuck has a place in Costa Rica now. How about we go down there for the weekend and see what that's all about. Ben and Beth both say it's a great vacation spot." I called Chuck, "Hey, Chuck, what do you think about going to Costa Rica for a long weekend. Say Thursday or Friday through Sunday night?" There was a pause, then he said, "That might be a good idea. Let me talk to my menagerie to see what they say. If they don't want to go, I might go without them. I need to call down there to make sure the place can handle all of us. You have about fifty kids right? That would make you with four women and fifty kids." "Oh you sucker. I don't have fifty. I only have ten or eleven, depending if Kathy's oldest daughter goes. Ben won't go, as he's involved in a couple of hot projects with Mark and Dennis. Barb may or may not go, though." Chuck said, "I'll call you back. I think I'm ready for a couple of days of sun and fun." I commented, "You know we can always go to Key West. That's always a quick option." "Yeah," Chuck said, "I know, but I think you and yours will enjoy Costa Rica. Remember though, you have to have your passports." I said, "That's easy. The girls have everyone up to date because of the trip they're planning to Europe." Chuck said, "That's neat. We could use this as a way to talk about the coming trip. Let me talk to my girls and get back to you." Sue was looking at me with a question. I said, "Chuck is going to find out if the place can handle all of us and if his ladies can go. You want them to come with us, don't you?" Sue and Mercy looked at each other and grinned. Mercy said, "Yes, we do want them to come. I think this is exactly what we need to get better acquainted. The sailing trip didn't give us much chance to mix, but this would be just for fun and should give us a lot of chance to fool around." Sue and Kathy began giggling, and Juanita blushed at the innuendo. Knowing that there was no way to get us down there all together in a G-5, I called John out at the airpark. "Hey, John, if we wanted to fly to Costa Rica and needed a plane to handle my family and Chuck's, what kind of aircraft can we get?" John paused a long time then said, "Let's see, you and yours are five, plus what, ten?" "That's right, ten or eleven, depending on whether Barb comes along." John then said, "Chuck has what seven, eight, nine?" I said, "It's his basic five plus Lisa and Tina. Tina may not be able to come, so it would be eight unless he brings Lena and her sister with us." John said, "Then your group is up to sixteen and Chuck's is eight or nine. That's twenty-five, much too many for the G-5, so what we need is one of those fancy 737-700s with the luxury seating. Let me see what's available and I'll call you back. I assume you're talking about this weekend, right?" "Right," I said, "I'm not sure whether we'll leave Thursday or Friday." "Let me check availability and I'll call you back." John hung up and I sat, wondering at our extravagance. I'll bet the aircraft lease would be a small fortune. What we needed is an aircraft that would seat up to fifty in one configuration, but could also be configured into fancy seating like the luxury planes. That shouldn't be too much to ask for. Chuck called me back while we were at the gym. I answered my cell and asked, "So what's the verdict, Deputy?" "How about us going down Thursday evening after work? If you want to come back Monday morning, that would work too. The girls feel they need to work Thursday though." "Sounds good to me. We'll decide about coming back. I've called John to see if he can find us a 737-700 with luxury seating for the trip. That would give us a nice ride and lots of room for the kids." Chuck said, "I'll have to look for something for us. I'll bet the charter company could rent one big aircraft enough for us to keep one for our own use." I told Chuck, "Dewey has a 737 for when he has to haul some corporate guys around. He says it is really nice, and he loves the luxury of it." "You know," Chuck said, "I've heard of a 737 with some kind of quick change seating arrangements. The aircraft is basically a cargo aircraft with sections of seating being able to be installed in modules. I'll bet the same thing could be done with luxury and standard seating." "Don't know, Chuck," I said, "There are all kinds of configurations for aircraft. A quick change between cargo and passenger seating would be a way to keep an aircraft in the air. You and I can look into it to see if there is a place for us." "Good idea, Steve. I don't want us to try to get bigger than what we should be, but it would be nice to have something big enough for our families to travel when we want." Chuck asked, "Are you going to be alright leaving while we're waiting for the Bureau to give us some indication of who was fooling with your R&D area?" "Sure," I said, "No one is going to keep my family and me from enjoying ourselves when we have the chance. Sometimes having some fun will compensate for the normal problems of the world." We said goodbye and hung up. I sat back with the ladies and asked, "So, do you guys really want to see what Chuck has been up to down there?" Mercy was grinning, "I'll bet we'll be surprised. Chuck hasn't let me know what all was really going on down there, but I do know there are a lot of women all over the place. I wonder what that is all about?" Kathy elbowed Mercy, "You just can't stand not knowing, can you? You can see into everyone, but not Chuck. That must be really frustrating. You said Lisa has an inside track on Chuck, can she read him all the time?" Mercy said, "Not really. She has the same problem I do. Chuck can close off his mind and no one can see in. Mom tries and he closes her out too. If she can't see inside, no one can. Lisa isn't frustrated about it like I am, though. She's funny; she doesn't seem to mind that he has some secrets or does stuff without us knowing what he does. It's like she knows what he's up to and doesn't need to hear him tell it." Kathy was laughing, "You just can't stand not knowing. Perhaps Lisa isn't as curious as you are. She knows that Chuck has to do some things that no one else needs to know about." "Perhaps," Mercy scowled, "but I want to know. If he's in trouble, I want to know. If he gets hurt, we all need to know. He's just too closed sometimes. I've got to get him to let us in." Sue kissed Mercy on the cheek, "You are just too used to being able to know what our Steve is thinking all the time. We're all so open; you just scan us to know what's going on anytime you want. Chuck just isn't that way." Mercy was nodding her head, "Yeah, I know. All of his ladies are wide open and I can read them anytime. Lisa is a little vague a lot of times, but that's because she can read me so well. You know what? Lisa may be able to close me out too. I wonder if she does that on purpose. I'll have to listen to her a little more to find out." The ladies all dispersed, heading toward the kitchen to get snacks ready for the returning kids. They would be running from the rec center any second, to get their snacks and do their homework, before going to the ball fields or other activities. Later, at supper, Chuck and all of his ladies were eating with us, so I had a chance to talk to him about the program Ben was talking about earlier today. Chuck said, "I told Ben to find as many returning vets that needed help that he could and to get them settled. The guys who are hurt or disabled are first, and I promised to take care of them as best as possible. The land Ben bought in back of your property by the high density housing is perfect for the guys who need special housing. We'll mix those with some of the other returnees that need a little help. We'll get them enlisted into the training programs and have them productive in no time at all. The wheelchair guys are another problem, and we need to figure out which way they can best contribute. I was thinking they might be good teachers, or possibly instructors for some crafts. If you don't have a program to get these guys educated, let me start one, and we'll have a bunch of teachers in about four or five years." "Sounds good, Chuck. I'll get the personnel people from Sue's group at the park working on it. They are better prepared than anyone else to get everyone ready to work in the normal world." Bonita came to entice Chuck into the house to play some music with her. Lisa migrated into the living room, and we all heard them playing some fun music together. I had to smile every time I thought of little Bonita hauling Chuck off to play with her all the time. She was definitely Kathy's kid. She doesn't let people get away from her easily. They came out with acoustic guitars and sang a couple of songs for us. Bonita sang "El Paso," with Chuck and Lisa accompanying her. It was amazing that she had learned all of the lyrics. It was a long, long, song made popular by Marty Robbins. Chuck sang "St. James Infirmary," with Lisa and Chuck giving a wailing blues background on acoustic guitars. My youngest was an amazing kid. She really loved her music, but she also loved her motorcycle, and loved to run and play like any other little girl. She was going to enjoy the sailing voyage more than the other kids because she was going to be able to play music everyday. When everyone had gone home for the night, I sat with my four ladies and just smiled at all of them. I told all of them, "You know, we have such a full life; we don't really realize how lucky we are. I'm blessed by having you four with me every day, and waking to your love every morning. I wish I could tell you better, but I'm only human. I love all you ladies, know that, and know that you make me the happiest man alive." That must have been the right thing to say, as all four crowded around me, hugging and kissing me, until I suggested we go to bed. There, we discovered all the little things that set each off the easiest. I was lucky to have three others help with each one I made love to. When sleep came, it was a very satisfying sleep for all of us. ------- Editing: Primary/Initial by Pepere (This guy has the hardest job) Continuity and editing by Sagacious (Good memory) Legal and Helicopter by "Old (very) Rotorhead Last time through by the luscious Deenara20000000 ------- Chapter 54 Chuck What a bunch of bullshit. First thing this morning, there's Steve having to get wound up with someone breaking into his R&D building. They didn't hurt the guard, but tied and gagged him while they ransacked the building. Because Steve, or at least, Sue and S&S, are government and military contractors, I was able to call Jan into the investigation right away. She had their CSI group on site in minutes and was able to glean a lot of evidence to work with quickly. Nightfox had followed some footprints all the way to the highway and found a key and a few pieces of paper that had fallen from what had been taken from the research facility. I suppose having Nightfox around is a good thing. Maybe I should deputize him, so he could be with me and sometimes assist me. Then there was the big catastrophe. A relocation, a person in the witness protection program, had somehow disappeared from the hotel. The individual was being relocated with a new identity because some organized crime figures had been implicated in a military contract problem. The contractor was pimping for extra money because they contend the government was asking for changes. The informer said there really weren't any changes requested, but the military purchasing agent had asked for a confirmation of the specifications. This really wasn't that big a deal, but the changes the vendor claimed were worth fifty million dollars, were not real. The whole thing sounded like it could be handled through channels instead of making it into a federal problem. But the end result was that the squealer was absent, and it was the Marshals Service's fault the guy ducked us. Sarge was trying to tell me on my cell what he knew of the guy's disappearance, so I asked, "Have you reviewed the security video tapes yet? Check them out to see if you can see how he managed to get off the floor." "I'm on it, Chuck, I'll get back with you." I was sitting at the counter in my new house having a cup of coffee, when I looked up. Nightfox was sitting near me on another stool and Lisa was on the other side of the counter, dressed in her flying uniform, having a cup with me. I said to Nightfox, "I may need you to help me with a couple of things, so I'm taking you to the office to get you sworn in. You may not want to be a deputy, but if you want to stay with me, you don't have a choice. I want you sworn in, then we'll get you all of the training videos. You're gonna be busy for a while if you're gonna hang with me." Lisa was smiling at me, so I told her, "You know, I should probably deputize you too, so you could come with me and watch my back. You have a knack for being around when something is going down." Lisa smiled, "I just like to be with you, Chuck. So far, wherever you are, good luck is not far behind." Nightfox said slyly, "You noticed that, huh? He does lead a charmed life, doesn't he?" Lisa said to me, "Well, you're too busy to help the charter service today. I was going to get you to fly right seat with me. We're short people for a G-5 flight up to Minnesota and back. DeDe said that she might have someone who needs hours, so I'll call her. Be careful, Chuck, sounds like you may be dealing with some people that could get desperate." The rest of the women in my menagerie gave me kisses as they whisked by on their way to their cars. They all had something different to do after work today, so they were all driving separately. I looked up at Nightfox and asked, "You ready? We should get into the office so you can get sworn in and get put to work."' "Are you serious, Chuck? Do you really want me to become a deputy?" "You bet, Sam, if you are going to hang around, you need to be helpful. You and Maria will have plenty of time to compare chili recipes later. Right now, there's work to do and I may need your tracking expertise." Instead of going to my office, I went into the station and found Sarah in the ACE's office, doing what she's supposed to. "Sarah, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart." Sarah looked at me funny, "Uh oh, what do you want from me this time?" "Meet Sam Nightfox, a really great guy and a man I've completed a couple of missions with. I need for him to be a deputy. Talk to him for a few minutes and see what you think. I'm going to run see Wanda and be right back. See what you think, Sarah." I left the two of them together and went to my office. Wanda said, "Everything is under control, but you need to help Sarge with his absent relocation. Something's wrong with that whole picture, considering he disappeared from the hotel. That's hard if not impossible to do." "Sarge is looking at the videos now to see where he might have taken off from." I thought for a moment, then said, "Have you run Sam Nightfox for me? I sort of figured you might as soon as you got a line on him." Wanda grinned, "I did. The man has no real history. He's an Indian, grew up on a reservation with his family. They all died in a flu epidemic when he was in high school. He joined the Marines and was selected by the Secret Service straight from there. He has been used for increasingly more dangerous missions, right through the Hawaiian thing you just did. You see what my clearance level can find out?" I paused in front of her desk, "What do you think about me teaming with a guy like that. You know, team up with him as a deputy, as well as team up with him as part of the service?" "Probably a good choice, Chuck. Perhaps he'll keep you from being the bulls-eye for bad guy's target practice. I'd say, bring him on. Where is he now?" I said, "I left him with Sarah to see what she thinks. I want him, so we'll see what she says." Wanda went with me to see what Sarah thought of our Indian. Sarah was smiling up at Nightfox, who was looking at an ID card, along with a badge in a special wallet. Nightfox looked at me and said, "This is pretty special. This lady just made me swear allegiance to the U.S.A. and then, in an aside, she made me promise to watch your ass. She said you had a habit of collecting metal in various parts of your unprotected anatomy." Wanda laughed, "Most of the junk shot at him doesn't stick. It goes on through or just cuts him up. It's your job to pull him out of harm's way." Nightfox said, "Thanks, Chuck, Sarah, ah, Wanda, this is special, isn't it? I'll do my best, I promise. Chuck said I needed to get a bunch of videos to begin my learning. Who gives me those?" Sarah called Marie and said, "Get our new one hundred percent deputy a set of videos so he can learn how to tie his shoes. You might want to issue him a vest, and maybe a sidearm, if he doesn't have one." Nightfox rolled his eyes and pulled his coat back to show his sidearm. He smiled and said, "I like the way there is so much camaraderie among everyone. I'll enjoy meeting all the rest of the men." I grabbed Nightfox, who was now carrying an armload of videos and went downstairs to the range. I introduced him to Cap and said, "Give us five magazines each. We'll use two to warm up with, then we'll both do a combat set." Cap smiled and handed us the magazines. I dropped my personal magazine and ejected the round from the chamber. Nightfox followed what I was doing and loaded up with me. We put on ear protection and stepped into the range positions. I quickly used up my two magazines, and pulled the target up to see that I had done my usual of equal rounds into the paint on top and center. Nightfox was still shooting, slowly, methodically, but when I checked his target he was right on with hits all in the paint. Nightfox said, "I'm not that fast, but I know where my round is going to go. Tell me about the combat course. Is it something I should have been doing?" Cap said, "All of the branches should have their men qualify on it, but as I've found out, few do. Watch Chuck go through the course, then you can try it. You won't win any prizes for speed, but you will for accuracy. Watch." Just before I began, Jan came in and was grinning, "Stop, wait for me to shoot a couple of magazines and we'll compete. I've been waiting for you, Chuck. I'm going to beat you this time." Cap was chuckling, "She's been down here almost everyday. She's so damn fast that no one will compete with her." Jan quickly went through her two magazines, and nodded approval at her target. Cap set up the two combat courses, checked our magazines, and had us put our weapons and magazines on the stand. He yelled, "Ready? Go!" Jan and I slammed our magazines home and chambered a round to fire at the first target. I really pushed to get through the target series quickly. There were a few quick decisions that I had to hesitate for a split second on, and then there was quiet as both Jan and I ejected our last magazine." Cap was checking his computer and the timer. He said, "Damn, you both hit that last target exactly at the same time. Your times are exactly the same. I'm looking at your decisions, and you both are perfect so far. Damn, I can't believe you two did the course perfectly in that short a time. It's just not possible." Jan was grinning, "Change the course, Cap, and let us try again." Cap said, "First, let's give Nightfox a chance to try his hand at the course. Just be accurate, don't rush, make good decisions, and keep looking for the next target." Nightfox was a little nervous and laid his handgun and magazines on the shelf in readiness for the course. When Cap rang the bell, Nightfox loaded his weapon and fired quickly at the first target. He was slow and very methodical. Cap had several no fire targets pop up at him, trying to trick him, but Nightfox kept right on moving from target to target firing and searching, searching and firing, until his slide locked back on the last round. He nodded to himself and dropped his empty magazine. Cap was smiling, "You did great. I didn't give you a beginner's course, but an intermediate. You scored perfectly and actually under the norm for time. You're proof, that slow and methodical is a great way to fire. These two hot shots just do what they do for show." Nightfox said, "I like Chuck's show off shots. They've made a difference for us already." Jan and Cap looked at us and let it go. I told Jan, "We need to clean up and get. We have a few things to work on today, and need to get with them." Jan said, "I do too, actually. I'm on the break-in out at the R&D shop. It looks like this could be bigger than we thought. A couple of prints are from some international weapons spies and/or thieves. I'm surprised they weren't wearing gloves, but we have their prints all over the file cabinets. We have men at the airports all over Florida watching for them, so if they travel, it'll be by car." "Keep me advised, Jan. We're working on a protective custody person that has disappeared while in the hotel." We three cleaned and loaded our weapons with our duty rounds and left together. Sam and I dropped his videos into the car, went across the street to the hotel, and were allowed to go up to the top floor to see what we could see. Sarge was at the video panel, watching the video while there were CSI people going over every square inch of the room. I could see the sliding door to the patio area had dust on it, so I pulled on a set of rubber gloves and opened the door. The first thing I noticed was that there was no dust on the outside of the door. I went back in and asked the duty deputy; "Was the door locked this morning after you discovered your man gone?" "No, it's never locked anymore. Especially since the roof is off limits to everyone except the four units up here. It's got to be safe up here." I called the CSI guys and said, "Go over the patio the same way you have everything else. Do that and I'll be right back." I took Nightfox and went to the duty deputy, "Do you have the pass key so I can look at the suite below?" He said, "I've already checked. There was no one in there last night. Actually, there was no one in any of the rooms on the floor below." "Give me your pass card. I want to look for myself." He gave me the pass card and Nightfox and I went down the stairs and into the room directly below. It had a small balcony, and if you looked up, you could see the outer rail of the balcony above. Looking down was the same. You could see the outer rail. I was looking at the railing when Nightfox pointed to some scratches on the rail. "Look at these; it looks like there was something like a grapple hook that caught here. We need to check the room below." We were quickly out the door and down the steps. I slid the key card into the door and quickly opened it, with Nightfox leading the way into the room with his gun at the ready. We smelled it before we saw it. The body was lying on the floor by the bed. There was blood all over the bed and on the wall next to bed and body. I used my cell phone and called Sarge. I told him, "Get your CSI guys two floors down. I think I've found our man. We're backing out to give your men the chance to collect the evidence." We were standing outside the door when Sarge came running down the stairs and was going to bust the door in. I pointed to my gloves and he stopped to put on his gloves. I took him inside to show him the corpse, then brought him back outside the room about the time the CSI guys got downstairs. Sarge said, "Damn, damn, damn. How did we let this happen? We've been over every bit of this before and no one has come from below. They've tried from above like they did with you, Chuck, and they've tried using a helicopter like they did you, but never from below and from two floors below. Shit, we missed something that we should have been prepared for." "Let's let the forensic guys do their thing, then we'll look over the evidence. Let's get the file out to see who was trying to get this guy and we'll work from there. Come on, this is our baby and we need to investigate it." Sarge was still shaking his head, "Investigate, hell, we have to catch the guy. Let's start with the surveillance camera at the front desk." Sarge, Nightfox, and I went downstairs and began looking through the computer records to find out when the room had been rented. It had been rented about seven PM the night before, by a John Adams, from an address in Philadelphia. The room had been paid for with a credit card, so Sarge called the information in to the duty man at the station to begin checking from there. I already knew about multiple identities and credit cards. If this guy was as clever as the ex-CIA guys, we were going to be in for a long search. We had our internal resources working for us to quickly begin tracking someone down. Nightfox and I went through the desk surveillance videos until we captured the man who had checked in. He had asked for that room specifically, as he said he had stayed there once before and thought it had a great view. We copied the tape onto a DVD a couple of times then took them to the Bureau lab so they could get an enhanced still of the guy's face. One good thing was the man wasn't trying to hide his face. He was bold enough that the Bureau technician kept enhancing and enlarging to make sure the guy didn't have a mask on or was made up. When he had a good face picture, he uploaded it into the homeland security and FBI face recognition program to look him up now, and for future comparisons. The Marshal Service station duty man called back that the car the man had rented was still out, so he had put an APB (All Points Bulletin) out for the car and whoever was driving it. A few minutes later, the deputy called again telling us that the address in Philadelphia was occupied by an older couple that rented through a real estate broker. They were sent the photo from the surveillance tape to show to the renters and to the real estate broker. Our guy in Philly had obtained a court order to search the checking account of our suspect, as well as get his bank records. Within that information we found a payment for a cell phone, so Washington had contacted the cell company to get an up to date log of cell activity. We were back in the station, when DC called telling us they were transmitting a file to us with the current cell activity. They said there was activity on the cell phone today in Tampa, so we had the second confirmation the suspect was still in town. Nightfox said, "This guy isn't covering his tracks very well. If he's a pro, he would have skipped town by now and buried himself so deep, we would never find him." I had to agree, but since this was our only lead, we needed to keep tracking. I called the Bureau lab and gave them the link for the cell phone company so they could hook up to the GPS signal. I told them that we were heading for our vehicle and they were to report where the phone was at that moment. We were getting out on the street when my cell rang. The technician at the lab told me the cell phone was moving north out of downtown on North Florida Avenue. I called for any deputies or Bureau people in the area to begin converging on that area. I used my lights and siren, heading north on I-275, until I reached Bearrs and turned off to get onto Florida. According to the Bureau tech, I was almost on our man, when I saw the car I was looking for turn off into the Holiday Inn next to Steve's business park. With the radio, I directed for all our resources to surround the hotel while we entered from the front and back at the same time. I was walking through the hall toward the front desk, when a guy resembling the photo was walking from the front desk to the elevators carrying a garment bag and a large funny looking briefcase. When my gun was pointing at him along with Nightfox and a deputy that had come in the front, the man looked around, frantically trying to figure out where to go. "Stop where you are. Drop everything from your hands and put your hands on top of your head. Do it now." The deputy that had come in the front door walked up behind him and took the guy down until he was face down on the tile floor with his hands behind his back being cuffed. When we began shaking him down, we found he had a full shoulder holster and two ankle guns. We unloaded all his pockets and removed a handcuff key that was on a necklace around his neck. According to the standard search video, we removed his wristwatch, belt, and shoes, and put a waist chain on him with ankle cuffs. So far, the guy had not said a word, but was constantly looking around for what I figured to be an escape route. Nightfox said, "The guy's looking around for someone to rescue him. We need to look around so someone doesn't shoot him." I turned to a deputy, "Get your spare vest and put it on the guy. Let's get him in a protected vehicle and get him out of sight. One of you other men, check with the front desk to see if another single man has checked in this morning. I want them investigated while we have people here. If you need back up, call it in. Let's move." We discovered my car was the only protected vehicle present, so we took the prisoner outside and stuffed him in the back seat. Once that was done, I told Nightfox to watch the car while I checked on the guys inside. While I was walking to the car, a guy came running out the rear door making for the cars in the back lot. When I yelled for him to halt, he whirled around with a handgun, trying to see where I was. When he began turning quickly, I ducked down behind one of the service's cars that was sitting with the doors open. The guy figured the call to stop came from it and rapidly fired four rounds at the car. All hit the outside and none hit the open doors. I leveled across the trunk and put a round between the guy's shoulder blades. He went down like a rock, but kept rolling until he was behind another car. He rose up trying to see where the shot had come from, and that was when I put a round between his eyes. Damn, I didn't want to kill the guy, I wanted him for questioning. Shit, shit, shit! I sprinted to the guy to see if he could be salvaged, but he was done. The back of his head wasn't there any longer. I pushed his handgun away from the body and checked his ankles to find only one backup. I went through his pockets and noted he had one of the new lightweight body armor vests that we were due to get soon. Two deputies burst out of the rear door and came running toward me saying, "There's another one but we can't find him. He must still be in the hotel or you would have seen him come out." I said, "Scatter, go completely around the hotel and try to keep each other in sight while you to it. I'll go the other way and circle from that point. Tell the guy by my car to get in and lock the doors as you go by." As fast as was prudent, I began circling the hotel, going farther around in the back. There was a bread truck backed up to the kitchen loading dock, so I cautiously went up to it and pulled the keys from the ignition. Being even more careful, I walked to the back and eased the rear truck door open until I could see that the back was full of racks with no place for a man to hide. Looking around, the only thing I saw was a dumpster in a gated enclosure. The odd thing was the enclosure gates were wide open. I grabbed a mop that was leaning against the building and walked up to the dumpster. Kneeling to the side, I used the mop handle to push the lid open. As soon as the lid was just barely open, there was the loud buzz rattle of a mini, full-auto, some kind of gun. It sounded like an Uzi, but who knows when you're scared. I let the lid drop and stepped away, keeping the lids in sight. The three deputies that had been circling the building came running up after hearing the automatic rifle fire. I pointed to the dumpster and said, "He fired when I pushed the lid up, thinking I would be looking in. I'm not sure how to get him out, but if you have any ideas, make a suggestion. I want this guy alive." One of the deputies said, "I was going to suggest a flash bang, but that would probably kill him." Another deputy said, "We could call the trash company and have them dump him into a compacting truck. That might be just as dangerous for us though, as he could keep his footing." One of the cooks came out of the kitchen and asked if he could help. A deputy told him we had a guy cornered in the dumpster and needed a way to make him give up. The cook said, "Easy, see that little hole at the top, use the hose over there that we use to wash out garbage cans, and fill the dumpster up with hot water. That water is scalding hot. I'll bet he tries to get out." A deputy ran for the hose and was ready to stuff it in the hole while another turned on the faucet. I was up close to the dumpster and yelled, "We're going to scald you like a chicken, then pluck your feathers. What's it going to be, die trying to shoot your way out or give up now and not be scalded alive." "Alright, Alright, turn it off, I'll come out." With a smile, I said, "First, push your guns out of the dumpster, all of them. I figure you for the auto rifle and two handguns at least. Do it now, and I'll shut off the water." "Alright, I'm doin' it. Stop that damned hot water. It's burning." When four guns came out of the lid of the dumpster, I signaled the deputy to turn off the water. I used the mop handle and pushed the lid up again, while all of the deputies had their guns trained on the opening lid. The man stuck his head up and looked around quickly. He saw that he had no chance and slumped a little, but was moving his feet around in the garbage slush that was burning his feet and ankles. I waved for two deputies to get him out and stood with my gun trained on the guy to make sure he didn't make a crazy move. As soon as he was out and flat on the ground, the deputies cuffed him while another began fitting a waist and ankle chain on him. We shook him down and found that he too had a vest on along with a handcuff key on a necklace around his neck. When we had taken everything from his pockets, his car keys reminded me that I had the bread truck keys, so I handed them to the chef. He laughed and said, "The bread driver was afraid to go out after that crazy guy ran through the kitchen waving a gun. He'll be glad to get back on his route." Now we had to clean up. First, I went to my car so Nightfox could get out into the cooler air. He didn't have the keys to start the car to cool it down. I handed him the keys and suggested we make the prisoner a little more comfortable. I also said that if he wanted, he could question the guy, but not to kill him. The prisoner looked at us warily and slouched farther down in the back seat. One of the deputies had called our clean up crew so they could take the dead guy away. Another deputy went into the hotel and copied the check in videos of the two other men, as well as the guy we captured by the elevators. A prisoner van came out and we loaded the two prisoners in to be taken downtown. One of the ride-along deputies in the team went with the van to make sure everything went safely. Nightfox joined me and said, "The man said he was just a contractor. He had performed his job and was here to pick up payment and possibly another job. I asked him if he was involved in the break-in and he said no, but the people who had been involved in the break-in were not pros or contract people. They were from some big company trying to get information about a big bid that was coming up. He thinks they are still in town and have a private aircraft at Tampa International." "He didn't know what company they were from?" Nightfox said, "He said he didn't, but it's unusual the guy would know as much as does without knowing more." "I wish I didn't have to shoot that other one. If we had all three, we could work it out better. Come on, let's get over to General Aviation at Tampa International and find out what jets on are the ground." I radioed Sarge, "Call over to TPA General Aviation and have them shut down all departures. Get some guys on the way over there to keep anyone there now on the premises. There are two prisoners coming your way that have to be questioned, so keep them isolated from each other and everyone else. This is getting pretty crazy. The one guy you're getting is probably the shooter for the hotel victim. He seems to be ready to talk, so work him hard." Sarge said he would get on everything and was calling in men to help cover the activity. He also said he was sending some Bureau people to help at the airport. I used lights and the siren all the way down the highway to the airport, then back around to the General Aviation area. There were already some deputies, along with a bunch of Sheriff's cars out front keeping anyone at the terminal there. Inside, one of the deputies and a Bureau agent were checking what corporate aircraft were on the ground. They had narrowed it down to three aircraft that could be who we were looking for. One aircraft had the pilot and co-pilot already prepping the aircraft, but were standing by as had been directed. I said to Nightfox, "Let's call for a search warrant for the aircraft to check on luggage. I'll have some deputies go through briefcases in the lounge where the passengers and corporate personnel are being kept." After giving directions on what to look for, Nightfox and I went out to the aircraft. The co-pilot was helpful and opened the luggage hatch. We went through each bag, not really disturbing anything, but making sure there were no papers or documents in the luggage from the break-in. When we were through, we looked through the very nice 737 to see if there was anywhere to hide anything. The pilot and co-pilot were very friendly. We learned they had both been military before leaving the service to fly commercially. The pilot offered, "You know, I saw one of the department heads that are with us, pack up a large FedEx envelope and check it in at the operations desk. You might want to look at that. These guys are really nervous about something, and were waiting to hear from someone before they left. If you ask me, they are up to something that may not be good for everyone." Nightfox and I went to the operations desk where I asked the clerk for the FedEx envelop that had been checked in by the corporate people. He said, "You can't have that. That's protected. It's like the mail. No one gets it but who it's addressed to." A Bureau guy was standing there and told all of us, "We have a judge standing by. I'll get the search warrant to include the FedEx package and this whole damn building. I think we'll just lock the place down for forty-eight hours while we take it apart." An ashen faced guy came running out of an office and said, "You can't do that. We have several aircraft due in this evening and some departures that are very important. We have to remain open. You can't do that to us." The Bureau guy smiled and said, "Watch me. Now, I want everyone except this counter guy to go to the employee lounge and stay there. I'll have someone watch you and there will be no cell phone calls and no discussion until you are each questioned individually." He called another agent and told him what to do. The agent took an empty FedEx box and directed everyone from the desk and offices to drop their cell phones in the box before going to the lounge. Sarge came running in the door. "Man, you have a bunch of city people up in arms. The governor is supposed to be coming in and his plane was just notified they can land, but not come to the general aviation terminal. I suggested that they have them land over at Clearwater-St. Pete airport. It's closer for the governor anyway. His permanent residence is over that way." Sarge used his cell phone to call someone, then used his handheld radio to call the station. When that was done, he pulled out a paper and said, "Here's your search warrant, what do we need to look at?" I pointed at the clerk and waved the search warrant at him and said, "Get me that package now." The guy reluctantly retrieved the fat FedEx bundle and handed it to me. I put on some rubber gloves and flipped it open up on the counter. As I slid the papers out of the bundle, the first thing we saw was the S&S R&D logo on the top of the pages, with a red stamp across the front, saying 'Confidential.' I looked at Sarge and said, "That clears up part of the S&S break-in." I looked at the clerk and said, "Come with me and identify who gave you that package to ship." He sputtered and said, "I can't do that. I'm sure that's confidential, too." I waved the search warrant at him again and said, "You will identify the correct man before we take you in for questioning. You are withholding evidence and obstructing an investigation. What do you think, Sarge, should we ask for five or ten years?" Sarge chuckled, "I don't think this kid's asshole would last ten years. He's too pretty to not be someone's pet inside the big house." "I'll show you, I'm sorry," the kid said, almost shaking. "I've just always been told that our customers' actions were private and we were to protect their privacy. Come on, I'll show you. I'm not going to jail for some criminal." At the door of the customer/passenger lounge, the kid pointed to a fairly tall guy that looked very fit. He must have come up the ranks within the company fast, as he didn't look thirty years old yet. I asked the clerk, "Who else was with him when he gave you the package?" "Those five men standing with him. I think they are all together, but the tall one was the one that gave me the package." I sent the clerk to the employee lounge then asked a Bureau agent, "I need someone to be pushed into the room so they can be right by the big guy when we come in to arrest him. He may be armed and he is big enough to cause a problem." Nightfox said, "Have them push both of us into the lounge. We'll make it look good and fall. Show off your leg so that will make the big guy feel like he has the upper hand. This way, there will two of us in case something starts." I nodded in agreement, so two Bureau agents took us to the doorway and after opening the door, shoved us into the room hard enough that Nightfox and I fell to the floor. My prosthesis was exposed enough that everyone saw I had a fake leg. When we got up, the other people watched us warily for a couple of minutes, then went back to complaining among themselves. Nightfox and I migrated behind the group of six men. We were able to do that as the coffee pot was near them. We poured coffee, then stood leaning back against the counter, checking out the six men. Nightfox nodded toward a bulky guy standing on the outside of the group. If you looked at him and the way he stood, he had a waist holster that he wasn't used to wearing. His arm kept catching on it. I kept watching and then, when Nightfox looked at me, I patted under my left arm. He had a shoulder holster too. The tall guy was pretty vocal, constantly telling the other four men to relax as he was in charge and would get them out of this soon. He kept saying, "I called and someone will be here for us soon." At that moment, four deputies and three agents entered the room. They began directing people from the room, but held up their hands at the six men. When the room was clear except for the six men, the law enforcement people, Nightfox, and me, the agent said, "You men are all under arrest. I want for you to be very careful what you do with your hands. No funny movements, no reaching for anything. We are going to cuff and search each of you one at a time. While we do that, I want you to know that there are two men behind you that are armed and very dangerous." With that, all six turned to see Nightfox and me holding our Glocks at the ready. You could see blood draining from the men's faces, except for the tall guy and the bulky guy on each side. Nightfox went up to the heavy guy and put his gun to the guy's head, "Careful fella, ' I'm going to relieve you of the gun at your waist and the one under your shoulder. Keep in mind that I'm holding a Glock, and it is ready to fire. Stand very still." Nightfox pulled the waist gun, then the underarm piece, and threw both on a sofa in front of the deputies and agent. He said, "Bring me some cuffs but be careful, this guy's a bull. It might take more than one round in the head to put him down." While the agent advanced, Nightfox pushed on the guy's head so he had to move it forward, keeping him off balance until the cuffs were on him. The tall guy was slowly moving his right arm. It looked from behind like he was reaching for his jacket. I put my Glock to his head and said, "You were told not to move. Put your hands on top of your head now. Do it!" I bonked the end of my barrel into his head to get his attention." I saw his muscles bunch and stepped back quickly. I knew the meaning of his stance. He had been raising his hands as if putting them on his head when he spun to his left kicking, with his left foot at where he thought I would be. He was bringing his right arm and hand around in a slashing movement in order to finish what the kick should have started. As his foot came close to my head, I pushed up on his foot sending the six foot six guy onto his butt. Before he landed on his back, I chopped him on the side of the neck, hoping I didn't break it. The big guy crumpled quickly. The other four men were standing there docile, hanging their head, caught in the act of corporate espionage. The deputies cuffed and chained the out of commission tall guy, and relieved him of a couple of weapons and all his personal possessions. While opening the heavy guy's shirt, Nightfox said, "This guy has armor. Can you believe it? They must be expecting some kind of trouble." Jan came in the door and said, "Hold it. We may have a problem here. Someone from DC has called and said we were to hold these people until they could get here to take custody. What's going on?" I said to Jan, "They're my prisoners right now and I'm holding all six on conspiracy to steal military designs, breaking and entering, assault, conspiracy to commit murder, resisting arrest, and attempted murder on a federal officer. I want them in front of a federal judge within an hour, along with the evidence that we have gathered. I want you to come along, Jan, to make sure we do this by the numbers." The tall guy was sitting up and sneered at me, "You just got lucky, you dumb fuck. I'll be out of here in a few minutes and I'll be back to see you. We'll see how you do face to face." "Jan," I said, "Add threat of violence toward a federal officer. You're a witness." The tall guy wouldn't let up. He kicked at me, but I jumped up as his leg extended, and with accidental exactness, came down with both feet right on his knee. There was a loud pop. I think you could have heard him scream in the next state. "Oh, sorry, man, I didn't mean to hurt you. When you kicked at me I had to jump. You know, there's no telling where you'll land. Better get an ambulance, he's going to need a cast or something." Nightfox turned his head to keep from laughing while everyone else just looked wide-eyed at the strange accident. All I could think of was, "Threaten me, motherfucker, it'll be a while before you come looking for me, if ever." While the six were being ushered out of the room to be taken to the federal courthouse, and to a judge's chambers, I turned to Nightfox, "Call a contact from our other job and find out who is behind trying to take over these guys. Something isn't kosher about this. These guys are all caught red-handed and are involved in something pretty big. I'm betting it's a lot bigger than just here in Tampa." Nightfox walked away and was talking on his cell phone. He was talking for over twenty minutes as deputies were making sure the evidence they had gathered was secure. I called Steve to say we had recovered his papers, but there was more to it than just the papers. He told me thanks and hoped to see me this evening. I told him, "If you want to take a quick trip, say through Sunday evening, have your family pack up for a trip to Costa Rica. If you can, have one of your women call DeDe and Lisa to see if they can get us something to fly us all down there in. I have to leave town for a couple of days, and this would be a fun way to do it. What do you think?" Steve laughed, "Man, you don't give anyone much notice do you. I'm sure my brood will want to go and can be ready in a jiffy. Call me back later, and I'll let you know what we might have to fly down there in." I had the Bureau guys get the General Aviation terminal back in operation, then sent Sarge out to confiscate the aircraft. I told him, "Have the two pilots come see me." Nightfox came to me and said, "Our bosses had to go outside the Service to hunt down who is involved. Someone is sending some kind of security detail from the Pentagon to get these guys. He said to hide them so they can't be gotten to, and to call him back. The DC guys are not even out to Andrews yet, so it'll be a while. The boss says he likes that you're getting them in front of a judge right away. That will solidify the booking and the charges. He'll set bail and the Pentagon can't override it. Hopefully, the judge will remand them to custody. Anyone who lets them go will go to jail for a mandatory five years." "Okay, thanks, Sam. Let's get these guys in front of a judge real quick and see if we can stash them somewhere. I think I have a place, but we'll have to see." While we were on the way downtown, my cell phone rang. "Johnson." John Scott said, "What the hell are you doing? Someone from justice just called and said the Pentagon is upset because you just arrested a bunch of people that were on some kind of special mission for them." "If that is so, John, you better get your butt down here with a special prosecutor to handle this. I have these guys cold for breaking and entering, industrial espionage, possibly murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Further, I think two of them may have some international background as spies. Like I said, John, if you want to let these guys go, you do it along with the Director. This is going to be a mess, John, and I think someone big better be the front man when we let murderers go." "Holy shit, Johnson, if you don't have time to tell me about it yet, I'll get on a plane and get out there. I'm not letting them go, but there's some Justice muscle that might." "Tell you what, John, I'm going to lose these guys and they may never be seen or heard from again. I wonder how much of a splash they would make from ten thousand feet over the gulf." "Christ, Chuck, don't talk like that. Do what's legal and stick to your guns, but don't get crossways with someone from Justice. They are like crusaders lately, real henchmen or hangmen or something. Watch your back." "I'll do that. Let the Marshal know and see if you can get our Marshal from down here out of a bar so he can help out." We hung up. When we arrived downtown, the federal prosecutor was busily filling out paperwork with the six men sitting in the court room. The tall guy was in a wheelchair with his knee wrapped. One of my deputies motioned me out of the courtroom. Outside he said, "I thought we should handle the other two guys separately, as both are on murder charges. I don't think I want them all to see each other yet." "Good idea," I said. "Do you have any idea where we might hide these guys?" He said, "I thought out on the base, but since it's Pentagon people coming, it would be too easy to for them to hear about them and get them. What do you think?" "The base might still be good. We could put them into the stockade section of the hospital for two weeks without anyone finding out. The staff there is about as closed-mouthed as anyone can get. The only people who are even notified are CentCom and SouthCom. We could do that." The deputy said, "That's an idea. I didn't think about that. You know the Sheriff owes you big time. How about we put these guys in the isolated jail ward at Tampa General? We don't have to identify the prisoners. We only have to suggest they have some form of contagious disease. It'll take a couple of weeks before they decide they don't have anything really bad." "Set it up. Make sure they can handle all six. Put some of our men on duty there on every shift to make sure no one can get to them. Someone may even try to get to them like our witness." "I'll go tell Sarge so he can set it up. The guys are dying for the overtime right now." Nightfox said, "You and I need to go over the security at that ward to make sure of what there is. These guys are not amateurs. The two heavies are pros and might even be out of some agency." "Do me a favor, get a listing of all the IDs and get them to your people to check out. If the two heavies from the airport are the ones whose prints were out at S&S, they have Interpol files. Get the stuff from the two guys from the Holiday Inn too. I think we better get our friends to watch our backs on this one too." Back inside the courtroom, Sarge and the Bureau Chief, along with the prosecutor, were outlining what all had happened over the last twenty-four hours. When it was mentioned that the assassinated witness was part of this mess, the judge said, "All here are remanded to isolated custody until further notice. There is not enough money to bail these men out. I'll notify DOJ of the seriousness of the crimes we're facing here. I'll advise their attorneys, when they get one, of our schedule for dealing with them. Now, get them out of my sight." When they were gone, the two assassins were led in. The prosecutor read the charges and the judge asked, "How do you plead? Guilty you say? I think we still have a gallows out back. Get them out of here." The judge was grinning as he said, "They did say guilty, right?" The court clerk just sat there with a red face, and said, "I can read it back to you, Your Honor." As the men were still on their way out of courtroom, the judge said, "I'll set up a date for an additional hearing. You are remanded to custody until that hearing." When the courtroom had cleared except for the prosecutor, Nightfox, me, and the judge, he said, "You be careful on this one, Johnson. I've already gotten a call from Justice. They said the Pentagon has some kind of interest in this one. They also said that you should try to hold these guys if you can. Get lost or they will want to subpoena you for questioning." Nightfox and I walked back to the federal building and we went into the station. I had him sit down with Marie. "Marie, have Sam go through the incidents as he knows them out at the hotel and at the airport. I'll fill in the blanks in a little bit. Do the regular Q&A stuff so he knows how to fill out a report. I need to talk to Sarah and Wanda." I went in to see Sarah. "Sarah, I need you to work with Sarge to make sure our prisoners are isolated from the world and each other. Tell Sarge that if necessary, put a deputy on each prisoner and keep interrogating them to get every last bit of information. Stay in contact with Wanda so she is current. There's a lot of shit about to hit the fan on this one." Sarah smiled, "With you around, there's always a lot of shit hitting the fan." I went to see Wanda, and as soon as she saw me, she said, "What the hell have you done. Half of DC has called wanting to talk to you. Some are saying you have to let your prisoners go, and some are saying that you have overstepped your authority. Even justice has called, but they were kind of funny. They just told me to tell you to keep your powder dry and watch your back. What's going on?" "A lot, Wanda. You heard about the theft out at Steve's R&D shop, then the killing of our witness over at the hotel. We were able to track down the assassin of the witness, and ran into a couple more out at Steve's hotel. One died and we have another in custody." Wanda asked, "What about these people the Pentagon is worried about. Who are they?" "They are some industrial manufacturers that are involved in stealing other company's secrets. They hired some people to break in at Steve's but may be connected to the witness killing. When we captured them, they were trying to make a getaway and had a couple of heavies with them. No one died, but they are all guilty of industrial espionage, and possibly of conspiracy to commit murder." With a sly smile, Wanda asked, "You have been a busy boy, so what are you going to do?" "Run, Wanda. I'm leaving town for a couple of days. Sounds smart to me, right?" Wanda said, "You're caught up. Nothing's pending and your e-mail is caught up. The only thing happening is the Omaha incident where a couple of agents were killed while investigating a break-in at a military supplier. Oh, my, just like Steve's. The Bureau is hot on it and we have a deputy team working with them." "Damn, I wish I could help them. Make sure you have our people question everyone about the Omaha stuff. Be tough with Sarge and tell him it's important. This may be bigger than we think." "I'll take care of it. From what I've heard, you do need to get scarce. Get out of town for a couple of days and let things cool off. There's too many people upset over this for it to be nothing, so let's let it come to a boil." I went back to Nightfox and Marie. After reading the report, I filled in more about the shooting of the one suspect and the capture of the other. I made sure she referenced all of the video evidence we had, along with the lab's findings of credit cards. As Sam and I drove home, I asked, "Want to go out of town with me for a couple of days?" He turned to me and asked, "Do you mind if I stay here and perhaps find out if this thing with Maria is real or not? I've never had anything like this happen to me and I want to know. Is it real, or just a passing fancy? I guess I should sign up for a Spanish class so I can talk to her better." "No," I said, "teach her English. Make her practice, and from what I hear, you need to help her learn what she needs to know for her citizenship. Help her learn English and talk to her kids in English. That will help her more than you learning Spanish. Come on, Sam, do you talk in Sioux? Or English?" He looked at me and said something I didn't understand, then said, "No one understands Sioux, so I do speak English. At one time I spoke my people's language better than English, but now, English is all I speak. You're right. I will work on her English." I told Sam, "One thing you can do while I'm out of town, is work with Sarge to check out the security at the prisoner ward of the hospital. Sarge is a great guy. You can learn a lot from him." I dropped him off at Maria's trailer and he said, "I'll get them up to the patio for supper. I'll see you there." At home, the girls were all running around stuffing things in suitcases. "Hey, what's going on, are you guys going somewhere?" Brandy came up and pressed her chest against mine, "Lisa called and said she has an airplane to take us to Costa Rica. I don't know about you, but we're getting ready." I laughed and said, "How about some supper first? Let's run over to the patio and eat. We should see if Steve and family want to leave right away too." That brought a halt to all of the running around. The five girls came up and Tiani said, "It's too bad Lena can't go." "Yeah, it is," I said. "Isn't this finals week?" They all looked at each other and agreed. "This is too important for her to miss. If she doesn't do well this week, she might as well go to Burger King and look for a job." That got a bunch of looks from each other, then they went about their business. Lisa walked in the door, all smiles. She said, "I have an airplane and pilots for us. We can leave any time. The aircraft is out at the airpark ready." Nancy came up to me and asked, "Can Maria, Sing, and Taiying come with us? They would enjoy coming along." I thought about it for a second and said, "They can if they have passports and can get back into the US. You know we'll have to go through customs coming home." Nancy had a sick look on her face, "I don't know, let me check." She came back with a smile, "Maria was born here and has a passport. Sing and Taiying have permanent visas and have applied for citizenship. They can get back in the states." I looked at Lisa and asked, "What about Peaches and the girls?" Lisa said, "No, they'll want to stay here. I think Pops and Rags are coming this weekend. They are staying in your other cottages and over the garage for right now. Is that okay?" With a laugh I said, "Sure, I wish I could stay so we could have some fun with them." Lisa was smiling and said, "We'll work on some stuff in the studio next week. Pops has a bunch of new stuff for us. Let's go to supper." We took two big carts over to the patio and enjoyed some drinks and supper. Lisa brought a couple of guys to me that I recognized. She said, "I think you know Captain Shaeffer, and his co-pilot Captain Michaels." "So what brings you two out here? I did say I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't expect you here." Captain Shaeffer said, "I'm Doug, and this is Tom. We've worked for the company that flies that jet for a long time. The last few months, we've been doing some strange flying and have wondered what was going on. That's why we weren't surprised when you wanted to search the luggage." I had to ask, "So why does that make you guys so happy to be here tonight?" Tom Michaels said, "Well, someone confiscated the aircraft, and that just breaks the lease the other company had. According to the law, you can't confiscate what isn't owned by the offending company or person. So there is an aircraft to lease with a couple of pilots to fly it. Your DeDe said she can keep us busy, and I have a couple of suggestions to help do that. So, where to, Boss?" Steve was grinning at me and said, "Yeah, Boss, where to?" I asked, "Done any international?" "Lots, been to Europe lots of times, to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and everything in between. Where to, and we'll file?" "When we do go, it will be Limon, Costa Rica. Keep that under your hat, okay?" Doug smiled and said, "Got it, Boss. Thanks for picking up our plane so fast. Say, do you know of a place a couple of vagabond pilots might find to rent? I think we'll be moving from Omaha now that our fare is in Tampa." Ding, Ding, "Did you say Omaha? Is that where your company is from?" Tom said, "Yeah, we have been in Omaha for over two years. There are two big manufacturers there and we've been flying for the one who seems to be the biggest." Doug offered, "We fly as many people from the Pentagon as we do company folks. We are always going after some big shots in DC. We even land at Andrews most of the time." "We'll talk about your past employment soon. Right now, how about some food?" Steve nudged me and said, "So what's up? I saw your look when they said Omaha, did that make sense to you somehow?" "We'll talk later. I think we need to eat and consider getting out of Dodge. How about we eat, pack, and meet at the airpark in about an hour to and hour and a half." Steve looked at me strange, "That fast, huh? I think the girls are packed. They want to take the kids, can we?" "Sure, I planned on them. What fun would it be without them?" Steve said, "Probably a lot sometimes, but I've been busy lately and I'd like them along." "Me too, and the girls need to get used to the confusion the kids cause." Mercy was listening and said, "Somehow, I think your women are going to be more demanding of discipline than we are. I guess that's something we'll have to see." After eating, Steve and I announced we were taking off for a few days to discuss some business. We were taking a bunch of family, so we would probably be back on Sunday night or Monday morning sometime. We avoided the subject of where we were going, just saying we needed to have some serious discussions. I told the two pilots, "Get the plane ready and we will depart in about an hour to an hour and a half, max. Tell DeDe that our destination needs to kept quiet and she'll take care of it. Check on Limon, Costa Rica. With any luck, it should be about three hours." The two men smiled at each other and high fived. They waved at me as they left. Steve said, "So is this a new hire? Did you lease a 737?" "I guess so. Lisa said DeDe was jumping at the chance to charter it. We'll see how it goes. If it works, I'm all for it." Steve said, "I'll meet you at the airport in an hour or so. You might even beat us." I smiled thinking that the household will be crazed about taking a quick trip to Costa Rica. At home, I made sure everyone had their passports, and that they all knew that we were going to be with people who might be a little strange. I figured on discussing all of the females down there while on the plane. When I thought we were all ready, we loaded up into a couple of SUVs and headed to the airpark. I had packed my special briefcase just to be on the safe side. Who knows what's going to happen any more. At the airpark, the ground people took our luggage and put it in the luggage compartment. The girls began going up the stairway. Steve's ladies were in the doorway waving them on. I suppose this was a precursor to our sailing trip coming up soon. Jimmy came up to me and said, "You know if we keep this one, I'll have to go to school, or we'll have to hire someone who's certified on it. This is some aircraft. Have you seen the inside?" I nodded and said, "Yeah, I saw it. It's fancy, but I really didn't look that close." He said, "Well, look. This is some bird. When you get back, I'll have the price of the conversion modules for more seating or for cargo." When I looked at him funny, he said, "This is a specially built aircraft. The interior is designed to be interchangeable from luxury, to high density passenger, to cargo, or a mix of any two or all three. I just have to find the modules for high density." I was ginning at Jimmy as I climbed the stairs. When I entered the cabin, Jimmy hollered and pulled the stairway from the door. I pulled the door around and latched it, sliding the escape slide bar into position. Tom leaned out from the cockpit and said, "You got it the first shot. Find a seat, Boss, so we can get this show on the road. Lisa and Brandy were motioning for me to come sit with them on a couch with seat belts. I looked around and saw that everyone was belted in with all the kids in the rear with Juanita, Tiani, and Judy. It was strange to be a passenger for a change. I had not flown with someone else for a long time. Steve was across from me, with Mercy, Kathy, and Sue. He said, "Strange, huh? I know how you feel. When I'm not flying, I wonder what's going on in the cockpit. I think we need to get checked out in this, what do you think?" We felt the pull of acceleration on takeoff and felt and heard the gear pull up. In a few minutes, Doug came on the intercom and said, "We've reached our assigned altitude. The weather should be clear all the way, so you are free to wander around the cabin and enjoy yourselves. If you decide to nap, I recommend fastening your seatbelts." Mercy and Brandy got up and poured two mugs of coffee and took them to the cockpit. When they came back, Tiani joined them and began serving drinks. Steve grinned at me and said, "I suppose we don't have any obligations, so how about a few?" No sooner was that said, than drinks were in our hands. The two of us walked back in the aircraft to see the rest of the luxury seating. The kids were playing a couple of games with Juanita, Nancy, and Judy. Bonita and Greg were almost arguing about the location of Costa Rica on a map of Central America. Amazingly, Bonita was correct in her location. I told them to look it up on the internet and pointed to the front cabin. They were instantly gone. I was smiling as I sat in the seat, watching the kids. They were amazingly content to play some games, read a couple of books, and two were watching a movie. Just watching Juanita, and now Maria, Nancy, and Judy, playing with the kids, made me think that having a bunch of kids was going to be okay. We could probably handle them. Having watched Steve and his ladies with the kids for so long, I hoped my ladies were able to do as well. I lay my head back on the comfortable chair back, and that was that. ------- Editing: Primary/Initial by Pepere (This guy has the hardest job) Continuity and editing by Sagacious (Good memory) Legal and Helicopter by Rotorhead Last time through by the mischievious Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 55 Steve I went to check on Chuck and found him crashed back by the kids. Bonita had her head in his lap, snoozing too. Trixie and Dixie were sitting with him with their heads on his other thigh, so he was well taken care of for the time being. Back up front, Mercy and Lisa were trying to explain about the women at Chuck's condo and on the new boat down in Costa Rica. I had to ask, "Mercy, how do you know all this. Did Chuck tell you?" Lisa and Mercy looked at each other and said, "Between the two of us, we've figured it all out. Chuck didn't tell us everything, but we know there are four women at the house and five on the boat. He hasn't done anything, you know, had relations with any of them, but they sure have wanted to. He thinks they are all gorgeous. You know that we'll have to check these babes out for ourselves." It looked to me as if both Lisa and Mercy were leering at each other. Sue was almost drooling while listening to the girls. Lisa said, "I'm just learning to listen to Chuck and he doesn't tell us everything, but he does let us see a lot when he wants us to. The Condo is really big and it has two huge suites with giant beds, plus a lot of rooms for other visitors. I think there is enough room for all of us." Mercy said, "Some of us will have an advantage, since the boat girls don't speak English very well, but all of them speak both Spanish and Portuguese. There is something about Chuck being some kind of king or something. From what Lisa and I know, everybody down there loves him and thinks he's wonderful. According to Ben and Beth, Chuck helped the town get rid of a very unsavory man. They think he's some kind of special protector or something." Sue suggested, "Why don't we just go there with an open mind and find out. If something comes up, Chuck will let us know. As for these women, I think we're just going to have to find out. Think about this, girls, there are only two men along with this group. Other than the pilots, there's just Chuck and Steve. Can we have fun with just them? You bet your butt we can. I think the new ladies down here are going to be fun. Perhaps we should get them to a doctor before we do too much." Mercy said, "He's already done that. He wanted to make sure that they knew they were healthy and had them all get checked out. That's another reason they all love the guy. He thinks enough of them to make sure they are healthy. He's also offered to help them all find husbands, but they don't want that yet. They want to serve Chuck." The Captain came on the intercom and said, "We're beginning our descent into Limon, Costa Rica. If you would, get everyone seated and buckled up. Please pickup all loose items and put the trash into the containers in the galley. We're going to be busy up here for a few minutes, so please get everyone seated." The girls made sure all the kids were seated and buckled up. They led a groggy Chuck up front and sat him down with Mercy on one side of him and Lisa on the other. Chuck looked at both of them with a funny smile and said, "Have you two enjoyed roaming around in my head while I a sleep? I can tell you've been there. You've left your footprints." Mercy and Lisa gasped and Lisa said, "Footprints, really, in your head?" Chuck laughed and said, "I can tell you've been there as you leave all the doors open. Hope you didn't find anything that upset you." Lisa grabbed Chuck's head and kissed him, and said, "Every time you let me in to see more of you, I love you that much more. All of us love to see inside you." Chuck rolled his eyes and was smiling at me. He looked around to check on Frieda, who seemed to be getting pretty big, pretty fast. Judy and Nancy were bulging, but not as much as Frieda. She did have twins though, so that could account for her size. She looked back at Chuck with a loving smile, and sent him an air kiss while rubbing her belly. We heard the gear come down and lock, then shortly after, felt the wheels touch down. The thrust reversers made their heavy noise as we slowed and began taxiing back toward the operations building. We watched out of the window as two men wheeled a stairway up to the side of the aircraft. There was an official standing at the doorway of the operations building, waiting for our door to open. Chuck jumped up and opened the cabin door. One of the ground men, in decent English, said, "Please wait for our Customs man to come aboard to check your passports. He will have to check your luggage as well. The man pressed a wad of Colons into Chuck's hand and said, "Give him this for helping you so much, and your inspection will be faster." As soon as the Customs man came on board, he recognized Chuck and actually hugged him. When Chuck tried to give him the Costa Rican money, the man refused and said, "We owe you far too much. Please enjoy your stay and thank you for bringing so many with you. Let me help you and your people get down, then I'll help you with your luggage." The two pilots were in shock at the welcome Chuck received. Doug, the Captain said, "I'm sticking with that guy. He's got it together with these folks." When we were all on the ground, I asked the Customs man if he could help me call for some taxis to get us to our Condo. He was on his cell phone in an instant, and when Chuck asked, "Where can my pilots stay while we are here?" The Customs man said, "You are a favored member of the yacht club. Have them stay at the inn out there. They will be treated as royalty. If they need to do anything with the aircraft, I will be glad to escort them out here for you. I will join them for supper and a sip of something." Chuck said, "Thank you, you are a real credit to your country. Please come enjoy supper with us, and also bring your wife along to enjoy it too." The man lit up with a beaming smile and was eager to help. Two big taxis came, and we all crammed into them for the short ride into the city of Limon. When we were let out at the condo, the front door burst open and eight women ran down the stairs. They surrounded Chuck, hugging and kissing him until they all backed up, some blushing, and one asked, "Please introduce us to your wives. We have been waiting to meet them." Chuck's women lined up and he began with Frieda, Judy, Nancy, Brandy, Tiani, then there was Maria, but he didn't hesitate and followed with Sing and Taiying. He was shaking his head as he took Lisa's hand and said, "And this is Lisa." Maria, the lead house girl, began introducing all of the girls. She went through each one and proudly said, "Even our boat girls can speak pretty good English now. They are working very hard. Centelli is on the boat. One of us should be there all the time to watch it. She will enjoy meeting you later. Come, let us show you Master Johnson's home." Chuck rolled his eyes at the Master Johnson bit, but we all followed the girls into the house. The girls gave us a tour and as they showed us around, they were assigning rooms and areas to everyone. It was still early, since we had left Tampa at six thirty, and it was only an hour later as there was two hours of time difference. Costa Rica doesn't have daylight savings time, so it was two hours earlier. The house's Maria suggested, "The yacht club is prepared to serve you a nice late supper. Please, can we all go to the yacht club for a few minutes? We want to show off your boat too." Chuck looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. Why not, we can sleep late in the morning. Chuck said, "We'll need some cars to take us to the club. Did you plan for that?" Maria said, "We have a bus. It should be at the stairs right now." We looked outside and saw a big yellow school bus. The name of the former school district had been painted out, but it obviously came from the States. We loaded onto the bus and rode the couple of miles to the club. As we went into the door of the club, a man greeted each of us with a warm smile, but everyone inside was craning their necks trying to look past everyone. When Chuck came into sight, the yelling and applause began. People started crowding around him, nearly smothering him with handshakes and backslaps. Chuck held up his hands and announced, "Please, meet my special friends and my ladies. Everyone have a drink on me tonight to celebrate my return to this wonderful community." The guy who greeted us said something that sounded like a translation of what Chuck had said. While everyone was rushing to get a drink, Chuck said to me, "Come with me, I want to show you this boat. You'll get a kick out of it." As we tried to sneak out of the hall, Chuck's four boat ladies followed. They were right in step with us and followed us right on board where we met another beautiful young lady. She curtsied to Chuck and said, "Welcome home, Master Chuck." Chuck hugged the girl and said, "Thank you, Centelli, this is my friend Steve. He and his family have come to visit with me." Chuck led me around the boat then up to the main cabin at the rear of the main deck. He said, "I haven't seen what they have done yet, so let's take a look." When Chuck opened the two big double doors, we were both awed by the lavishness of the cabin. The bed was as huge, as big as Chuck's bed at home. The cabin was quite large, with seating and storage on both bulkheads. Chuck applauded the girls and told them it was beautiful. They understood enough to smile and be pleased that Chuck was happy with it. We went below and viewed a large salon or lounge, and the galley. Down the gangway from there was another huge cabin similar to the one above. In the other direction from the galley, were several good sized cabins for other folks. We went down another deck to find the crew's quarters, a couple of more guest cabins, and the engine room. Everything was perfectly clean and shiny. This was a very nice boat. We went up to the bridge where Chuck showed me the controls and the nice little cabin behind the wheel house. The boat was very nice. It could use a few more instruments and some modern radar, but it wasn't bad. We went back to the yacht club hall, followed by the boat ladies. We all ate some of the fancy seafood that had been fixed for us. The Customs officer and his wife came up to us so he could introduce her. She was very gushing toward Chuck because of what he had done for the community. I noticed some of the kids yawning, so I suggested we go home and get a good night's sleep. As we loaded up into the bus, the four boat ladies stayed back and insisted on a hug and kiss from Chuck before they walked back toward the big boat. I notice that there were a few men in uniform scattered around the docks. They must be security, making sure everything is safe for the people there. Back at the big condo, Chuck made sure everyone was in an appropriate room before stretching and saying, "I'm really tired. I might sleep a little later than usual, but then the time change will help." I watched as the four house girls followed Chuck and his ladies. I wondered how that was going to work. As we all relaxed in our big comfortable bed, Sue said, "Too bad we aren't closer to Chuck and those delicious looking little girls he has here. I think Steve could use a little strange. I think we would all enjoy them." Mercy said, "I can go get them for you if you want. I can even tell Chuck to send them to us. Do you want them?" Mercy was grinning, "He just told me to hold my horses. He says that we'll talk about how the house girls entertain tomorrow." Kathy insisted on some loving, which meant Juanita wanted some too. Mercy and Sue were busy with each other until Juanita cried uncle, then it was my turn to take care of them. Because the windows were open, we heard some nice moans and near screams coming from the window over us. We all fell asleep listening to the lovemaking sounds of our friends. ------- I woke up surprised. This was not home, but the same lovelies surrounded me as usual. After laying there for a minute, I needed the bathroom and slid from bed to go to the bathroom. There wasn't a clock in the room, and I couldn't see my wristwatch, so I found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and walked out of the room. I heard kid noises downstairs, so I went down and found all of the kids, Chuck's housekeepers, Maria, Sing, and Taiying, plus Chuck's three pregnant women, all sitting around a very large table full of glasses of milk and several types of fruit. The four house girls looked at me with smiles, and the one who seemed to be the leader asked, "May we get you coffee? Would you like some breakfast?" The kids all crowded around me for a few seconds, telling me what they had been up to. Since they all spoke at once, I had no idea what they were talking about. Frieda offered, "So far, they have all had a form of pancake, but I think it was made from a corn flour. The girls showed them how to eat the pancakes with fruit and honey on them. They're very good. You should try some." Bonita seemed to be talking to one of the girls in Spanish, so I got closer and was surprised to find out my youngest did indeed speak Spanish. After starting to sip my coffee, I realized all of the kids were talking to the house girls in Spanish. Holy smokes, where have I been? Nancy said, "Your kids are all so smart. All of them speak Spanish like natives. Our Maria thinks they are all wonderful and has been telling them what to do in Spanish all morning. What's really neat is that they switch back and forth between English and Spanish so fast that you can hardly notice. They speak to Nancy, Judy, and me in English, then turn and speak to Maria and the house girls in Spanish as if nothing was different." Sing was sitting next to me and said, "They want me to teach them Chinese. Do you think that is a good idea? Taiying and I are proud to speak American, and want to forget our home country." I said, "I've heard you two speak to each other in Mandarin, so you might teach the kids some as well. They are young and learn quickly. Maybe you can teach them some of your characters, those are really fascinating." Sing said, "Taiying went to the University to be a teacher. She speaks several languages. Why don't we have her teach the children Korean? There are only twenty-four characters to learn that are almost international now. Korean is an important language as they contribute a lot to world technology." "Sing," I smiled, "You speak such good English, did you go to the university too?" She gave me a big smile and said, "Yes, Mr. Sharp. My skill is languages. I was to be an interpreter, but our husbands' politics came between my sister's and my opportunities to work for the state." Taiying smiled and said, "That is how we came to defect to America. When our husbands were taken to jail and later reported to have had accidents that killed them, we snuck onto an airplane that was on its way to Hawaii. There, we defected and had the opportunity to come to America, or rather the United States mainland. We are now happily employed as housekeepers, and maybe nannies and teachers for the children that are coming." Frieda said, "You ladies need to be teaching in the school they have in the trailer park. You can help teach languages there. Can you speak any Middle Eastern languages?" Sing said, "We both speak most Israeli and Arabic dialects. Since they are so interrelated, you have to speak many dialects to converse in those countries. There is no specific language most of the time, just the local dialect." Nancy said, "You two could help us at the employment office. We often get people who do not speak English. We need interpreters all the time. Perhaps you two can be contractors for us." Taiying was very happy about what Nancy said, "We would enjoy helping you in your work. We love your big family so much and want to be a part of it. You have a good man and we would be good sisters and fellow wives with you." I saw Frieda roll her eyes as she said, "Don't say anything like that in front of Chuck, or he'll have a stroke. He's already rebelling at having so many of us. Um, perhaps we can work you in before he knows what's hit him." Frieda looked at me and said, "You keep quiet too, Steve. Chuck is our man and we're willing to share him, but he's not into all this sharing stuff." I had to ask, "So tell me why would you three want to share Chuck? Let's see, he has you five, Tina, Lisa, and does he have Lena, too?" Judy said, "Not Lena. She really likes Ben and the two are becoming good friends. Her sister Tina may be something else, though. Our Tina is very intense about her commitment to Chuck, but she's so busy right now becoming a doctor, that she doesn't have time to show her love very often. We watch and make sure she has opportunity whenever she's home. You see, Steve, we all love Chuck very much. For some reason, we feel Chuck should have many wives to take care of. He is very kind and loves to love us all. Maria wants him very badly, as do Sing and Taiying. I thing he can take care of us, so why shouldn't he have all of us?" "You didn't say anything about Lisa. What about her?" Frieda took that one, "Lisa is special. Chuck and Lisa share more than their bodies. They also share more of their minds than we do. The two of them are soul mates in music, and I think soul mates in other areas." "If that is so," I asked. "Then how can he be so important to so many more ladies?" Judy spoke, "Tell me, Steve. Do Sue and Mercy often bring you ladies? Is Mickey only a part time person, or does she share a place with your ladies? How about Mandy and Sandy? They both look at you with longing and want to be yours, instead of who they share their lives with now. You could have more than four or five right now. You used to have Samantha too, didn't you? How about Kate? Isn't her youngest yours? You see, Steve, you're no different, except you have Sue and Mercy sorting them out." I had to laugh. These ladies were sharp and had nailed it all. They were never part of the gossip circles, but they were observant. "So you have me and my family all figured out? You girls should probably get some clues from Sue and Mercy on how to handle these new ladies." Nancy said, "No, I think we've come up with a way to get Chuck to accept Maria, Sing, and Taiying. We might want him to keep these ladies down here too, but we have to get to know them first. We will, trust us, and then we will help Chuck learn to love all of them." "You know, girls," I said, seriously, "Chuck is a very conservative guy. He values his relationship with all of you and only wants you guys." Frieda said, "You see, Steve? He's accepted the five of us as a group, then added Tina and Lisa, so why not Maria, Sing, and Taiying? Those three are delicious to look at and so very interesting. Why not the boat girls? They are beautiful, and just look at the four here in the house. They are gorgeous and oh so sexy. Your ladies were all over them yesterday when they met them. Tell me, Steve, would you pass up the opportunity of you and your ladies enjoying those four?" I blushed, thinking the male thought of how much fun that would be. Nancy said, "Please be careful, Steve, these girls are primed and want Chuck to give them babies to show off to the community. We five haven't yet decided whether or not that is a good thing. Let your ladies enjoy them, but refrain from getting involved right now. The ladies may need some retraining." While looking at Taiying and Sing, I asked, "When I talked to you the first time, one of you, and I'm sorry I can't tell you which one, but when I asked you where Mercy was, you answered me in some very broken English. Something like, Missee Mercy is upstairs. What's with speaking like that when I now hear you speak perfect English?" Taiying blushed and said, "That was me. When we first meet people, we often act like we don't speak or understand English well since they don't expect that we do. I'm sorry I tried to deceive you. It was out of habit as we had just begun working with Chuck's ladies. We didn't know how they would react if they knew we could speak fluently." "Okay," I said. "I guess I understand. You two are a lot more than you try to appear. Let yourself be who you want to be and rise to your potential." Sing said, "Oh, Mr. Sharp, please know this is exactly what we want. We love the idea of being a part of a happy houseful of beautiful women with many children coming soon. We get to live and enjoy all of the people, as well as a beautiful mansion. We will participate more within the community, but for now, we are learning how to live among everyone." Chuck came down the stairs with Lisa by his side. Chuck was in just shorts, showing his prosthesis and bare chest. Lisa was just in panties and topless, showing her puffy "Bs." The two were totally comfortable with their partial nudity. Lisa gave Frieda, Judy, and Nancy kisses, before sitting with the kids. She reached for a piece of fruit and said, "Good morning, everyone, I hope you slept as well as I did. Chuck got up and woke me, so I came down with him. He said no one here really cared whether we wore a lot, so I didn't bother." Sue, Juanita, Kathy, and Mercy came down the stairs in shorts and T-shirts. Sue took one look at Lisa and whipped her T-shirt off. She said, "Damn, Lisa, I love you for being so open. I hate to wear clothes and this is just the excuse I need. My puppies need to breathe." Lisa laughed, "You have big puppies, Sue. They really need to breathe a lot." As she pulled her T-shirt off, Kathy said, "Mine are just saggy. I'm going to get that Doc in town to make them stand up again the way they used to." She held them up in her hands, offering them to me, "Want a taste, Honey?" That got a lot of laughs around the table. Kids were no longer around the table, just adults. Maria asked, "Should I go get the other ladies up now?" Frieda said, "Wake them up special, Maria. You know how I like to do it. You've watched often enough." Maria blushed and said, "I will wake them up now." Soon Brandy and Tiani came down the stairs. As soon as Tiani looked around at the topless ladies, she whipped off her T-shirt and said, "Let these beautiful little nipples stand up and breathe. Anyone want a taste?" Brandy thought for a second before she joined the growing crowd of topless girls. The difference was that they were not wearing panties, so they now were totally nude. Tiani sat on Chuck's lap and said, "Can I interest you in something to eat?" She was laughing as she reached for a piece of pineapple and stuffed it into his mouth. The house girls announced, "We will bring you your breakfast now. We have scrambled eggs, with fried potatoes, steak, and toast this morning. Please, sit and eat." I was surprised that the girl announcing breakfast was naked. The three carrying in plates of food were also naked. Chuck rolled his eyes and asked, "So what's the deal, girls? How come you're naked?" The leader said, "Your women were going naked, so we felt you would be more comfortable with us being naked too. Is that all right?" Brandy said, "That's great. Please, don't change a thing. What do you think, Tiani, should they dress?" Tiani had a wild look in her eye. "No way, Brandy, I think we need to get to know these girls a lot more." Lisa was between Chuck and me, and said, "See, all of us enjoy the visual stimulation of your lovely housekeepers. You did good, Chuck. You have provided us with great entertainment." Chuck was shaking his head while trying to only look at his plate. While we all ate, Sue asked, "So, what are we going to do today, anything special?" Chuck looked around and said, "Why don't we go out on the boat and fish a little. You ladies should spend at least one morning or afternoon in the shops in town to see what they have. You might find some unusual garments that will be nice to have at home. I also want all of you to interact with the ladies here and the ladies on the boat. You need to teach them that I am exclusive to you." Mercy and Sue looked at each other, and Sue said, "You mean to us too?" Chuck blushed and said, "No, no, not to you, to my ladies. You're Steve's." Lisa nudged Chuck in the ribs, "They're teasing you, Chuck. They want to jump your bones, but they know you're pretty straight, at least as straight as a guy with seven women can be." Chuck was just shaking his head while staring at his plate. Two of the house girls came to Chuck and put their arms around him. One said, "You tease our Master a lot. Can't you see what a good person he is? He wants to be true to his ladies. We respect that, you should too." I thought I was going to roll on the floor. Sue and Mercy burst out laughing. Sue said, "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to make Chuck look like a person who would be unfaithful. None of us would want to do that. You see, we all love Chuck, and when we have opportunity, we enjoy showing Chuck how much we love him too. It is perhaps something that only we do, but it is a good thing." Chuck sputtered, "Come on, guys, how can I tell them there's no touching if you're going to tell them I play with all of you?" Frieda said, "But it's okay, Chuck. These are your women too. You should show them how much you appreciate them by making love to them and giving them the pleasure you give all of us." Chuck slumped in his chair, groaning. Lisa held him in her arms and said, "Chuck, Honey, you see, we all love you and want you to love all of us. These ladies are yours too, so we want them to know your love as well." Chuck looked around for help. I said, "Don't look at me; I have my own cross to bear." Mercy was laughing and said, "You could help Chuck out, you know. The man does have quite a few more than you." Sue said, "That's only because he's so adamant about no more women. Just think of how many we could have if he wasn't so stingy." Kathy was almost rolling on the floor. "Damn, I wish Jake were around. He would have had them all lined up and fucked them by now. Jesus, Chuck, you are a sweetheart, but you are dense. All of these women think you should be the man of the house to all of the women here. So line us up, Stud, and have at it." Two of the house girls were looking at Chuck expectantly, when he said, "Please, let us enjoy our stay here. Let's finish breakfast and go out in the boat." I helped him out by saying, "How about all of us, including the girls from here go out? We can do some fishing and sunbathing. I'll bet the kids will love it." That got the interest of everyone and they helped with the dishes then prepared for day on the water. My ladies were used to going out in the sun, and it looked like Chuck's were too. The four beauties of the house were dressed in very nice shorts and tops, each carrying a bag with what they would need for the day. I saw Chuck making some calls and hoped things were not getting out of hand back home. I had heard that a person in the witness protection program had been killed, so I knew there were other problems that Chuck wasn't talking about. He was looking at his cell phone funny when he closed it and put it in his pocket. When we were all ready, the house girls said the bus was ready for us again. We went down to the yacht club and were surrounded by locals wishing us a happy day on the water. As we neared the boat, a topless older lady came strolling from a boat across from Chuck's to welcome us to Costa Rica. She said, "I'm Sheila Knowles. I'm happy to meet Chuck's stateside friends. My husband is napping right now, but feel free to visit. I'm very friendly, if you know what I mean." Sheila couldn't resist cupping her saggy tits to offer them to everyone. None of us laughed, which tells you the composure of my people. I saw Chuck roll his eyes, and that was the most anyone did. I suppose if I were Sheila Knowles and saw the crowd of good looking women with only two guys, I might make a play for the women too. But she was not that attractive to me, so I knew she wasn't attractive to Chuck or most of the women around us. When we were on the boat, his boat ladies were all around us trying to make us comfortable and making sure we were happy to be there. Chuck announced, "All of you little guys need to have life jackets on when you are on the main deck. I know you are all good swimmers, but if you were to be knocked off the boat, you may be unconscious and would need to be held above water." The kids were looking at Chuck with disdain, "Ah come on, guys, you know the rules. If you were on the Mercy, Mercy, you would have to wear jackets on deck. Just do it and we'll have a good time. If we stop out in the water, you don't have to wear them, put them on only when we're moving. Now put them on." The kids listened to Chuck and did what they were told. They were used to water rules and knew what to do when out at sea. I was proud of all of my kids. Chuck's boat had the very thin life jackets, even for the kids. They were not encumbered by them at all as we made ready to leave the dock. Chuck asked the lead lady on the boat, "So where's the Captain and crew you were going to hire?" The lady said, "We have learned how to handle the boat and three of us are now rated as Captain. Please, test us. We want to be independent of everyone for you. We can take the boat out by ourselves now and take visitors out as well. Please, Master Johnson, let us show you." Chuck stood back and said, "Show me, show me that you can handle the boat. Let's get out to sea." The girls went into action. Some disconnected the shore connections, while two were at the bow and stern to release the lines. When the engines were started, the girl in the wheelhouse hollered for the lines to be released and began motoring out of the lagoon. In short order, we were out into the Caribbean. We slowly motored out about an hour until we were near some islands. When the anchor went down, some of the girls began getting fishing gear out. They were smart, as they first gave gear to the kids, helping them get their lines into the water. When the kids were busy, they turned to us, and most of us just wanted to watch the kids. The Condo girls joined the kids fishing, as did Maria, Sing, and her sister. Fish were soon being pulled from the sea. The girls threw the undesirable fish and the fish that were too small back, but in short order, we had caught a large amount of fish to clean and eat. I was paying so much attention to the kids fishing, that I didn't notice that there was a large group of naked women on the poop deck. Most of the house girls, a couple of the boat girls, and all of the women from Chuck's and my houses were laying out getting sun. It was funny as Chuck and I were the only adult males on the boat. Too bad someone like Charlie, Tiny, and Henry weren't there to help take care of all the extra women. I'm sure they would hear of the disparity in numbers later. We stayed out most of the day. As the day progressed, less and less clothing was worn until all of the boat ladies and all of the house ladies were bare, along with Chuck's and my women. Talk about an instant erection producer, this was it. None of them felt conspicuous, and I had to admit that the pregnant ladies were beautiful in their swollen glory. Sue and Mercy were licking their lips most of the day, trying to decide who to taste first. They were good though, and didn't act aggressively toward any of the women. We finally began motoring toward land. The boat ladies were happily working the deck naked and didn't even think of putting on clothing until we were almost into the harbor area. Chuck swung the boat around and slowly backed it into his dedicated slip. Several locals who had come down to the yacht club to see Chuck greeted us. He was gracious and spoke with each of them. I thought it was funny that he had Bonita next to him, translating when someone couldn't understand English. All of us migrated into the club dining room, where a feast had been prepared. Considering that we were all fresh off the boat, and that most of us were still covered with sunscreen, we didn't feel all that comfortable at the club. Chuck announced, "Let us go and clean up and then join you in a celebration. I want all of you to have a few beverages on me while we wash and come back to join you. Please, wait for us as we'll only be a little while." The bus took us to the condo where everyone quickly showered and dressed in nice clothes, nothing fancy, just stylish and fashionable, to fit in with the people at the club. Back at the club, we celebrated together with the kids having a great time talking to local kids that had come with their parents. After we had been eating the great seafood that had been prepared, we began to hear some piano playing from the big grand piano in the ballroom. We also heard a guitar playing, so a lot of people began moving toward the ballroom. Bonita was playing the piano while directing a young boy to play harmony chords on the guitar. She was doing very well, beamed a smile when she saw Chuck, and said, "Please play for us, Chuck. I'll do chords, or you can get Lisa to do it with you. Please, Chuck, sing for us." The ladies began urging Chuck and Lisa toward the piano, so they sat at the piano while Bonita told them what she wanted. Without preparation and with only a cheap acoustic guitar and the piano, Chuck and Lisa began playing and singing for us. They sang country, popular ballads, and some old time mountain songs for over two hours. Chuck finally held up his hands and said, "It's time for us to leave. Come here, Bonita, we have to play a couple more with you. Lisa's going to play the piano and I'm going to back her on the guitar. You sing for us, Bonita." They sang "Somewhere over the rainbow" so beautifully that all the mothers had tears in their eyes. Chuck was able to make the cheap acoustic sing with her, and with Lisa on the piano, create a background that was beautiful. Then the three sang "Summertime" together while playing the piano and guitar. A perfect way to say goodnight. There were muted hugs and kisses as the boat ladies went to their boat and the rest of us got on the bus to go to the Condo. Actually, I couldn't wait to sail one of our big boats down here to show off. All of the people in the community were so nice, so congenial to us, that I felt we should rejoice with them. Back at the Condo, after the ladies put the kids to sleep, the lead house lady suggested, "Why don't you enjoy the large hot tub? Anyone needing a massage can get one from any of us. We're all experienced at giving great massages." It was then the boat ladies showed up to join us. In minutes, we were all enjoying the huge hot tub outside the master bedroom. The tub had to be thirty feet around. All of Chuck's family, all mine, plus Chuck's Florida housekeepers, and the local housekeepers were all in the tub. Chuck was sitting next to Frieda with the local Maria on the other side of him. His other local ladies, Minell, Flori, and Mertine were relaxing next to Maria. Maria said, "It is special for us to be with the man of the house. Please know that we respect all of your claims on him. Know that we love him too and want to be a part of him as well." The little girl called Flori said, "I've watched you closely." She smiled and said, "I want to be as close to you as you have wanted to be close to me. Please, let us mingle, let us show you how much we want Chuck, our man, to be as pleased with us as he is with you." Minell said to Chuck, "Your ladies look at me wistfully. I look at them the same way. All of your ladies enjoy the way we look and I know they want to know us better." Minell looked around at everyone and said, "Please, let yourselves go and enjoy us. We want to enjoy you as much as we want to enjoy Chuck." The only person not to address us or Chuck came floating across the hot tub. Mertine straddled Chuck and pressed her chest against his. With her lips touching his, she smiled. Mertine leaned back and said, "I'm the first, I have our man deep inside me and am enjoying him more than any of my sisters. He is so deep and I'm enjoying him so much. Please, can we all enjoy each other?" I was watching Chuck's face go from surprise, to having his eyes close, as Mertine did whatever she was doing to him while sitting on him. She kept up the constant lip to lip touching, gently kissing Chuck as she shivered in orgasm. She finally leaned back, smiling, gave Chuck an air kiss, and rested her head on his chest. Chuck held her to him snuggly. I could see his watery eyes as he realized the intense pleasure the young girl received from the coupling. Sue and Lisa lifted Mertine from Chuck then both kissed him gently, letting him know he had done the right thing. His Florida Maria swooped onto him and sat in his lap. "Senor, you are the man. You are the man for all of us. Do me, Chuck, do me, Master, I am yours, please make me special." Chuck's eyes got big as Maria wiggled on him. She was constantly moving, and you could see her eyes roll back into her head as she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She grinned up at Chuck and kissed him. With much conviction, Maria said, "I am carrying you now. I'm yours now, Chuck. I've wanted you since that first time I was in your house and you were surprised. You are mine now, and I am yours." His girls were hugging Maria and were kissing Chuck. Lisa kissed Maria, then Chuck, and told him, "I love you, Chuck. All of us need you. Keep us, Baby, keep us and make us yours." Taiying was next to Lisa and whispered into her ear. Lisa laughed and said, "Perhaps we should help Chuck get ready to take care of whoever is next. Do you want to make him ready?" Taiying's eyes widened, "How, Lisa, how can I do that? Teach me, please." Sing was next to Taiying as Lisa moved, then leaned down to Chuck's center and sucked him into her mouth. Taiying, seeing what was being done, pushed Lisa away and took Chuck into her mouth. That didn't last, as Sing pushed Taiying away and took her place. Chuck was leaning back and was laughing, "Girls, girls, you'll have to share. Where are my ladies? Why aren't you protecting me? Help, I'm being attacked." Brandy was smirking and said, "You are being attacked. If you had given them some loving before, you wouldn't be attacked so seriously now. The girls asked us for you, and we said we would help. Please, Chuck, all of us need you and want you. Love us all, Chuck." Lisa kissed Chuck so sweetly, then assisted a small Chinese girl onto Chuck's lap. You knew what was happening by the expression of the girl facing Chuck. Her eyes became big and round and her mouth opened in an "O," until she groaned from pleasure. This continued until both of the Chinese girls and all of the local house girls had a turn. Throughout this time, all my women were loving each other, the other ladies, and me. By the time the last of Chuck's women had enjoyed an interlude with him, I was sagging. That was as much sex as any one man could have wanted. As I was almost asleep, Mercy whispered to me, "You know you're going to have to satisfy some of Chuck's ladies, don't you?" When I woke up this time, I knew where I was. I was in Chuck's bedroom in Chuck's bed. The bed was filled with people. I figured that some had to be on the floor, since there was no way all of us fit in the bed. When I raised my head to look around, I saw one of the Chinese girls raising and lowering herself on someone. It must have been Chuck, as who else could have been doing that. I watched as she began to shake and the body under her raised their hips, lifting the small girl into the air. That was a definite breeding movement if I've ever seen one. The girl on Chuck's hips moved around and then lifted from him. Before he could move, the other little Chinese girl was kissing Chuck and touching him, making him interested in more of what had been going on. I watched as the small lady rose before slowly lowering herself while encompassing all of Chuck. When she was totally seated, she leaned back with her eyes closed, and wiggled her hips, seating Chuck as deep as possible. With slow sensual movements, the small Chinese girl began her slow up and down movement to draw the essence of life out from Chuck. As her movements increased in speed, Chuck's movements became more erratic, until he groaned while holding the small girl high by arching his back. I watched as a smile spread across her face as Chuck slowly relaxed and the small girl lay on his chest, hugging him, and staying connected to him as they drifted back to sleep. Behind me, Sue said, "That was wildly erotic, wasn't it?" I turned to her and she spread her legs, welcoming my rampant erection into her. We fucked, that's all you can say. We fucked hard and fast, until we both came hard, enjoying the release of a great orgasm. She kissed me until we both drifted back to sleep. When I woke again, the bed was almost empty. Only Sue and I were still in bed. I could smell our sexy interlude, and knew we were in a wet spot. I kissed Sue until she opened her eyes and smiled at me. She said, "Wow! That was something to watch last night. That was better than a porn movie. Sure glad you were there with me so we could enjoy each other at the same time." I smiled at Sue and held her while kissing her lips and eyes until she pulled back, "You better let me up or I'm going to pee all over both of us." With a laugh, we were both up and into the bathroom quickly. While Sue sat on the pot, I turned the shower on to begin washing. In seconds, Sue joined me but held my wiener against her and said, "Pee on me, Steve, wash my pussy with your hot juice." I let go and peed all over her pussy and legs. Sue squirmed around and said, "Hurry, get hard, I need you in me." Sue turned her back to me and leaned against the wall as my dick sprang to attention. With practiced ease, we connected and completed the act in record time. Sue kissed me while drools of cum ran down her leg. We giggled and began washing each other. Downstairs, the house was more raucous than normal. None of the ladies were dressed. Even the little girls were naked. The little boys couldn't have cared less, but the two men in the house sure had a problem with it. There were five more women than normal. The boat ladies were with us this morning. They told Chuck that one of the club's personnel was watching the boat for them last night and this morning. I wondered why they had lost their clothes, along with the ladies who lived and visited here. There was another lady among the group. She was being pretty aggressive. Her name was Carlotta. She was Ben's and Beth's housekeeper. From what I heard while trying to eat breakfast, she was especially horny this morning and needed someone to either fuck her or eat her to orgasm. After a while, I didn't notice her anymore, but I later saw that Frieda and Carlotta were sitting together smiling. I think Carlotta found someone to share her horniness with. The kids wanted to go back out on the boat, but most of the women wanted to go shopping in the local town. Chuck and I said we would go fishing with the kids while the women went shopping. As we got ready to go to the boat, I was surprised to have Sing and Taiying, as well as both Chuck's Florida Maria and the local Maria, waiting to go with us. Lisa was standing next to Chuck and said, "I've just about learned what's necessary to get my license, so I want to go and get more experience." We left for the boat and began getting it ready to go out. While we were disconnecting the shore services, Jack Knowles hollered, "Can Sheila and I go with you? We'd love to fish a little too." The couple joined us as we motored from the yacht lagoon. When we were out at sea, we watched the bottom using the sonar until it rose to about a hundred feet. We gently motored along until we found an irregular area that was either a wreck or a reef. It took a while to get the kids' lines in the water. The Knowles knew how to take care of themselves while Chuck and I marveled at the kids, who were having a great time fishing. The kids began catching a lot of small grouper that we put back in the water, but the activity drew some sharks. I had the kids pull their lines from the water, and threw a heavy line and hook out with a piece of bloody bait fish. A large hammer head grabbed the line and really shook it hard trying to get the bait from the hook. The result was a well hooked hammerhead. I fought the six-footer for over an hour until it finally was too tired to fight any longer. I asked Chuck, "Do we want shark steak for everyone tonight or should I cut him loose? Bonita looked at me and said, "If we were hungry, would you keep him?" "Of course, Bonita, but we can find other food." She said, "You two caught him, let's eat him. That's what they are there for. I want to eat him." Chuck scratched his head, and putting heavy gloves on, began pulling the big hammerhead from the water. We gaffed him and brought him up so he could be bled before we butchered him. The kids all watched, fascinated at how you cleaned a big shark. They wanted to save the strange head, but I told them that it was supposed to be thrown back so other fish could feed on it. They watched as the carcass was thrown back. A swirl of smaller sharks made fast work of what we considered the non eatable portion of the shark. We did save all of the teeth so all the kids would have several to show off to their friends. Back at the dock, we hauled all the meat to the club so the cooks could prepare it. Another fisherman had also brought in a good sized hammerhead, so we were going to have some broiled shark steaks tonight. At the condo, the ladies had returned with lots of purchases. Both Chuck's and my ladies had bought the other ladies lots of new clothes. Everyone was happy with the day, so we prepared for another evening at the club. News travels fast in a small community. The club was packed with locals getting in on the big shark feast. There was more than enough for everyone. Most of the men had seconds, and everyone, including all of the club employees, had full bellies by the time supper was done. The club manager wanted to party, so he began playing music from his stereo system. We all danced and drank until it was near ten. The kids were worn out and most were falling asleep in their chairs. Back at the Condo, after the kids were put to bed, the house went native with women shedding clothes on the way to the hot tub. Everyone, including the boat ladies, was out in the hot tub. It became obvious that Chuck was going to have to satisfy all of the boat ladies, in addition to his condo ladies, before the night was done. Sue and Mercy were pretty aggressive with Sing and Taiying. While Chuck was being intimately introduced to each of the condo and boat lady, Sue and Mercy were enjoying the sweet Chinese girls, then had them spread themselves over me. I can tell you the theory that oriental girls have one that's sideways is wrong. It's exactly as it should be, and feels great, as all pussy does. I watched Chuck, as Lisa and Brandy had him love all of the boat girls one at a time. The condo girls had been loved the night before and wanted more tonight. Poor Chuck. He did seem to get a second wind later on and finished with the condo ladies before crashing. Brandy and Lisa were kissing him all over, while a blonde boat lady had her mouth affixed on Chuck's middle. This was the second night in a row that all of us fell asleep in Chuck's room. I wonder how we all fit on the bed. It was pretty friendly and it did smell great. Lot's of funky, sexy, pussy scents. I woke to hear someone in the hallway talking. After listening a minute, I knew it was Chuck. I walked out into the hallway and was confronted by Chuck and all of the Condo and boat ladies. Not a big deal, but they were all naked. I was too, so there was no reason for me to be embarrassed, except that the array of sexy females had me pointing the way as I visually partook of the feast before my eyes. Chuck closed his phone and said, "We're going to have to get home. The shit's hit the fan. I need to either shoot all of the assholes we caught or shoot whoever is trying to get them out." The boat girls closed on Chuck to hug him and he closed his eyes as he felt all of the naked flesh against him. Chuck looked at me and said, "Why would someone want to leave this? Can you believe that I'm in a hurry to get away from the sensuousness of these ladies?" He grabbed the nearest lady, then hugged and kissed her. She squealed and hugged his head into her breasts. The others followed and wanted to encompass him with hugs and squeezes. You had to smile at the enthusiasm of the women. Chuck said to them all, "Let me get everyone up. We have to get going this morning and get out of here. I have to get back to the States." They let him go and some went downstairs and some went into the kids' rooms to begin getting them up. The house came alive with the anticipation of having to leave. Chuck promised everyone that we would return soon. When we were ready to get on the big yellow school bus, Chuck hugged and kissed all of the ladies. He said, "All of you are special to me. All of you showed me how special you are to me. We'll be back soon, but we have to go to back for my work." The flight back was sort of busy. Chuck was on the PC all the way back, and was on the sat phone a great deal of the time. By the time we were getting ready to set down, you could tell he was winning whatever battle he was fighting. Inflight, Chuck changed into slacks, shirt, and a nice sport coat. He looked like he was as ready to go to work as he did most mornings. He continued to type on the computer and talk on the sat phone until it was time to buckle up for landing. When we landed, Chuck was met by Sam Nightfox. Chuck waved at all of us and took off. Lisa came up to me and said, "Chuck's going to need some help with this. Can you call whoever you know with federal pull and get them at his side?" I looked at Lisa and frowned, "Lisa, I haven't ever been political. I don't like politics and I don't want to be involved. I'm not sure how to help." She said, "Don't you know anyone on the federal level? You deal with the military, how about someone there?" I shrugged and said, "The only guy I know is General Shimo. I don't know that he's that important. I'll call him, but what do I ask of him?" Lisa thought for a moment then said, "Ask him to find out why it's so important to free people who are responsible for a murder. That's a reasonable request. If he asks the right people, others may become apprehensive and become reluctant to sponsor the release of the murderers." I nodded and used my cell phone to call John Shimo. General Shimo had been my commanding officer when I was hurt those many years ago. He was a colonel then, but now had two stars. "Hey, General, Steve Sharp." "General, I have a favor to ask."... "You're kind, but someone would have saved your butt if I hadn't have been right there."... "I need to find out why it is so important to free some murderers down here in Tampa. The men in question were caught red-handed, right in the cookie jar, but someone in DC wants them let loose. I want to know why. Since I'm involved, I think I should be informed of the reason." There was a long pause, then I said, "Thank you, Sir. Find out for me and I'll tell you what, I'll get you a vacation in Florida, complete with a lot of fishing. Bring your wife and my ladies will take her shopping till she drops." When I hung up, I said to Lisa, "I've just spoken to one of the most honest men I know. He'll not only find out what the deal is, but he'll attempt to put a stop to anything that is out of the ordinary." Lisa hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. Sue was watching and came up to me, "That must have been something special. I've never seen Lisa give a kiss to any man except Chuck." "Ah, what about that time when we were all together that time?" Sue looked at me slyly and asked, "Did she kiss you?" I couldn't remember. ------- Editing: Primary Pepere' Continuity Sagacious Helicopter and Legal "Rotorhead" Special last time through: Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 56 Chuck When we landed in Tampa, I was ready to bite nails and punch bricks. Too many people with titles were making asses of themselves. I really didn't care how many toes I was going to step on, but I knew one thing for certain; if someone freed these guys, the world would find out about it. I would make sure every major news organization knew every name and every detail. Nightfox was at the airpark when we landed. I said goodbye to Steve and his family, then to all of my ladies. Maria, Sing, and Taiying were almost too clutching when I told them I would see them later. As we drove from the airpark, Sam told me, "The hotshots from DC don't know where the prisoners are yet, but they will find them pretty soon. We need to move them quickly. Do you have an idea where to take them?" I shook my head, "Not really, I figured we were good for a couple of weeks where they are, but with this kind of intensity, they will be found soon." I asked Sam, "What do you think about taking them out in the Gulf. They can't be found out there, and if someone tells them where they are, they'll have a hell of a time getting them." Nightfox looked at me funny, "That's pretty sneaky. If we were back home, I would say hide them out in a cave, but out in the Gulf might be just as good." "Let's go get them. We'll stop by the garage and pick up an SUV big enough to haul them and us out to the yacht club. Let me call Tiny to see if we can use one of the motor launches." I dialed S&S and asked for Tiny. "Hey, Tiny, Chuck. I need to hide out in the Gulf for a few days. Can I use a motor launch or should I take a sailboat?" There was a pause, then Tiny said, "Take the motor yacht we bought over in Orlando. You can pilot it so you don't need a crew. Um, ah, check the fuel and the water before you leave and make sure the desalination equipment is working. There should be about two weeks of food in canned goods on board, but if you want anything fresh, get it before you board. I'll call out to the club to get the boat ready. Do you have time for me to send someone out for fresh produce and meat?" I said, "It's probably going to take me about two to three hours to get there, Tiny, so if that's enough time, fill it up with food for let's say, ten people, for at least a week." "That's enough time, Chuck. I'll get right on it. Enjoy, there is fishing equipment on board and if you need some numbers for some decent grouper, call me on the sat phone. I'll direct you. Oh Yeah, Chuck, the boat has some camouflage netting stowed in one of the big rear lockers. I bet it was for the drug runners that used it before. The netting might come in handy for you." I asked Sam, "Ready for some time on a boat?" He didn't look too happy, but said, "Sure, but it would be a lot nicer if Maria and her kids could come along." Sam looked at with a crooked grin, "You know I'm scared shitless of being out on the water. I'll do this because I trust you, but I'd really rather not be out in a boat." "Not this time, Champ. If you need to stay ashore, stay. I'll get someone else to go with me." "Not a chance, Chuck. I wanted to work and hang with you and if this is what you do, I'm with you all the way. Besides, I might be able to feed some sharks." We went straight to the garage where I talked Hank out of a grubby Suburban. I liked the fact that it was so beat up and dirty. That should hide us out that much longer. Next stop was Tampa General out on Davis Island. It took me about thirty minutes of badge flashing and bullying to get the prisoners out of there. We linked them together, right down to the idiot in the wheelchair, and led them out a rear door to the SUV. They kept up a constant barrage of questions as we left the building. I had asked the two men on duty if they had families they had to go home to, and neither did. I asked if they wanted to go on a cruise and do some fishing, and they gladly accepted the offer. After a quick stop at a Wal-Mart for a pile of clothes for everyone, because of lunchtime traffic, we were out to the yacht club in about an hour and a half. A club attendant had just finished loading up the food lockers with fresh veggies and meats. He smiled at me and said, "Tiny said to fix you up with the best, so I did. I also filled up the beer supply. There's plenty of booze so you shouldn't need anything there. I filled the ice machine with ours so yours can catch up while you're out. Have a good time. I let the guy get out of sight before I hauled the prisoners out to the boat. We were able to wheel the big guy straight onto the deck and inside the first gangway, so he was out of sight. I told the two deputies, "Keep them together for right now and watch them. Same orders, if they try to escape, shoot them. They are terrorists of sorts and enemies of the U.S." After pulling the shore utilities, I had Nightfox loosen the front and rear lines while I started the engines. This was one hell of a boat to be hauling a bunch of criminals on. When we were warmed up and ready, he pulled the lines free and I began idling out of the slip. An hour later, we were at about eighty percent power running south-southwest out into the gulf at a little over twenty knots. After checking the radar, I set up the autopilot then went to check on berthing the prisoners. I told the two deputies, "Put these guys two to a cabin, and be sure you can lock them down at night or during the day when you need a break. Make sure they are locked down tight so we can have some fun and enjoy the trip. Put the cripple with one of the weak links so they can hear him complain all the time. Let's bed them down and see what's for lunch or supper." We had to let each man use the head, but that was easy with chains as they could reach their zippers and hold their own dick. When we got them in the cabins, we found some great bolted down steel rails. We put a set of cuffs between their waist chain and the rail and they were locked down until we let them up. When I went into the cabin with the big guy, he began cussing me and swearing. I pulled my Glock and put it to his head and said, "I don't like you. If you continue to aggravate me, I'm going to toss you over the side and you can swim back to the States. I'll probably chum the area before I toss you overboard and I'll definitely slice you up so you'll bleed real well. Just so you know, I love to shark fish and you would be good bait." The guy sharing the room was almost whimpering. The tall guy was still sneering at me when I left. Knowing we had installed a total security system on the boat, I went to the wheel house and turned on the monitors. I pushed a few buttons and the cabin came into focus. The guy was tossing around, trying to bust the chains he was locked in. I could see his mouth move and reached down to turn up the volume of the video system. "Break loose, you wimp. Get loose and get me free. I'm going to kill that motherfucker. If you don't get me free, I'll kill you and butt fuck your corpse." I almost began laughing, but watched as the guy in the top bunk kept scraping his cuffs against the wall until he got a couple of splinters loose. He immediately began working on his cuffs. He was able to unlock them and then began on his ankle chains. Without waiting for him to get completely free, I went to the cabin calling for Nightfox to come with me. I opened the door as the man swung his feet over the side of the bunk. With my Glock pointed at him I said, "Good job, you did that in record time. I think we'll have to put you somewhere special. Somewhere like over the side." Nightfox locked him back up, but put him on the floor face down. We used another set of chains to hold him in place so he couldn't move in any direction. I told the guy with the bad knee, "You intimidated this man into making what is possibly the biggest mistake of his life, perhaps the biggest mistake of his very short life. Now, I want you to think about it and perhaps apologize to him. By the time he's been on the floor for a week, he'll hate you. Enjoy." Nightfox asked me, "Should we let these two talk to each other?" "Probably not. Gag them. We'll let them piss and shit on themselves a few days before we clean them up. I think they'll smell better to the sharks if we do it that way." We went through each of the cabins with prisoners and found that none of the others had thought of trying to escape the same way. The heavyset guy that was obviously hired help, was sullen, but asked how his partner was. I told him, "As of this minute, he is being considered for shark bait. He and his roommate were trying to escape. That does not make me happy, so we may have some extra food for you." The big man wrinkled his forehead as he looked at me trying to figure out whether I was pulling his chain or not. I told the two deputies, "One of you can watch the prisoners on the closed circuit TV and one of you can visit each room at least every fifteen minutes. Nightfox and I will relieve you so we can all get some sleep a couple of hours at a time." I said to Sam, "Find a place and bed down for a couple of hours. Someone will wake you and we'll rotate from that point on. We should have picked up a couple of more deputies." Nightfox said, "Call Sarge and get a couple more. Have them sent out on one of those helicopters you guys have. They should be able to keep that quiet enough." "Good idea. I'll call to see if we can get away with that." Sarge thought the idea was a good one and hunted up a couple of single guys to join us. I idled down and basically washed around in the swells waiting for the other two men. It took about an hour before the helicopter came overhead and both deputies tossed down a duffel bag then rappelled down a rope to the deck. Radio transmissions were kept to a minimum so no one would pick up on what was happening. It actually sounded like a couple of boats getting together to exchange bait. We briefed the new guys and showed them the problem children. It was time for food, so I fixed us some steak, but I cut the prisoners meat up in little bites and mixed it with the vegetables. It was probably better than what they were used to, so I didn't feel bad. We had to let the guy face down on the floor up to pee and eat, but then put him back on the floor with a gag again. The tall guy kept bitching and not eating, so we gave up trying to feed him. I think he got the message when we gagged him again and also put another set of chains on him and his roommate. No one gets out of three sets of chains with your arms behind your back. We traveled continuously until we were off the coast of Mexico. I wanted to stay near a group of uninhabited islands off northern Mexico in the event that I needed to put these guys off the boat. If we stayed in the shadow of the islands, no one should be able to see us, even via satellite. I was able to get within about fifty feet of a rock wall and dropped two anchors fore and aft to hold us in place. We were hidden from any gulf traffic and hidden from the shore area that was twenty miles south of us. To make us more invisible, I found the camo netting from one of the lockers and spread it over us. Now surveillance aircraft wouldn't be able to see us either. If they were using infrared searches they would see us, but the Coast Guard didn't use that on their fixed wing aircraft. We sat there for three days. Being nice guys, we exercised the prisoners three times a day. Every other day, we stripped them down and washed them on deck so they could be watched by multiple people. They all needed a shave, but I didn't worry about that. I did let them brush their teeth daily, but that is just about the limit of the amenities. If one of them had to take a shit, we un-cuffed one hand from their waist and sat outside the john watching them. They could do their job and wipe themselves, but other than that, they were locked up. The deputies kept up the constant barrage of questioning. They kept notebooks on each prisoner in order to keep digging deeper and deeper. By the third day, the heavy set guy was spilling his guts. We found out which company was trying to take over the other, and why they wanted S&S' secrets. He said that they had paid him and the tall guy to hire a contractor to get rid of the squealer in the hotel. They were going to eliminate the contractor when he came for his money, but we had upset that plan. He had left the other two men at the hotel to join the tall guy, since he was supposed to be the primary contact for all subcontractors. He said so far, the guy had been a bust. A couple of the corporate men admitted they were trying to put the other military contractor out of business and were concerned that S&S had come up with a product that could hurt their bid status. They felt they needed to know more about the product, and instead of asking about it, they figured on stealing the data. We recorded everything the prisoners admitted and transmitted it back to Steve, Wanda, and the Bureau via satellite, totally untraceable. Just for fun, I sent copies of the interviews to John and the DOJ special prosecutor that had been appointed. Day five, I called John. "Hey, John, what's the landscape looking like?" "Christ, Chuck, the shit is still flowing through the fan. Wherever you are, they can't find you. They think you may be on a boat somewhere and they've searched every inch of the gulf. The closest they figure you are is in the Caribbean, hiding out on an island somewhere." "Damn, John, they're close. Is there any movement to get to the bottom of this shit, or is the Pentagon still huffing and puffing?" John said, "You've made a bunch of them nervous enough that a bunch of rank has retired and a couple of civilian big shots have resigned. Justice and the special prosecutor are trying to get inside, but those guys are walled in right now. Even with your interviews, Justice is slow investigating. They haven't assigned the Bureau to the case and they made the Tampa Bureau stop working the case." "Tell you what, John, I'll call in a couple of days. I should get off the horn so they don't pinpoint me. Adios." I hung up and shut the phone down. No sense in giving them an easy method to track me. Just for fun, I turned on my cell to see if I had a signal. Son of a gun, four bars. I shut it off real quick and went looking for the other men. I asked, "Do you have a cell phone and is it on?" All of them produced a cell phone and all were turned off. I told them that we were within cell range, so it was good they were off as we could be traced that way. Just to be safe, I turned off all of the electronics in the wheel house. The only thing I left on was the ten mile radar with an alert for movement within the target range. I checked the fuel and we had only used about fifteen percent. If we didn't travel anywhere, we could stay here for a month or more before having to look for fuel. We only had the small generator on, and we could even shut that down if need be. Our fresh food was lasting a lot longer than planned, plus we had nearly a month of canned goods. As a week became two weeks, the confessions became more detailed with the corporate plans of nefarious operations becoming larger and larger. The corporate people we had caught, found out the other company was doing the same thing by trying to get hold of S&S data so they could scuttle anyone else's opportunity to get an additional foothold with the military. When I called John near midnight, he answered and talked very guardedly. I told him I had to go and hung up. That wasn't like him, so I waited until about two AM and turned on the only cell phone that didn't have GPS built in. John groggily answered, I asked, "Are they camping out in your living room?" He answered, "No, they've left, but they were there with equipment when you called. They've lived with me since you called before. Listen, let's make this quick. Justice is on your side, but the Pentagon is still trying to make like they're clean and it's just the contractors. Find out more from your prisoners and let me know using the same way as you have been sending. See ya." He hung up. Probably prudent, as we didn't need a big signature of where we were. I was sitting up on deck when a couple of jets streaked across the horizon just off the deck. They were between Mexico and me so they wouldn't see me that way. I figured them for infrared, so I shut down the generator and made sure no one else was on deck. I went into the wheelhouse so I could watch. The jets scorched the surface for about a half-hour going back and forth. They never did get close to us and never passed directly over us. Their infrared pictures wouldn't show us as a signature, so we should be fine. I let the rest of the crew sleep while I checked on the prisoners continuously throughout the night. About five in the morning, I heard motor noise that wasn't in the air. It was some kind of boat. The boat passed us on the other side of the island and in a little while it came back and passed us going the other way. I figured they would make another pass on our side of the island pretty soon, but hoped it would be closer to shore. About nine, we watched a fifty foot Coast Guard Cutter power by about ten miles out. I was on top of the wheelhouse to see them and we should be below the horizon to them. If they did see something, our camouflage netting should make us fairly undetectable. I kept putting ice into the refrigerator so what fresh stuff we had wouldn't spoil before I could turn the generator back on. We watched as a C-130 passed directly overhead, probably with infrared search turned on. No one was on deck and we were all under cover, so we should be fine. The C-130 was searching a grid and continued to search until it probably had to go for fuel. It came back pretty quick, so it must have had an inflight refueling meet. It searched continuously until about six, then headed in. The airplane had flown directly over us twice in its search for us. I figured we probably looked like a rock beside the rock island we were next to. I turned on the generator and listened to the radio receiver without turning on the transmitter. We heard the cutter reporting in, but they were next to the Mexican coast heading east. We fed everyone and washed them down on deck. The escape artist said he would be good if we let him sit up for a while. I sat him on deck facing the stern and had a deputy sitting behind him to watch him. When it was time for bed, I did put a mattress down for him to lie face down on instead of being on the hard floor. I still gagged both of them, as I didn't need them conspiring. That night, I transmitted a bunch of interviews to everyone concerned. These were very damning and named corporate executives, as well as Pentagon officials. If anyone wanted proof, they wouldn't have to look far. Knowing that the satellite tracking would have been on, we had everything shut down and were under cover when the jets came flashing over us. An hour later, the C-130 searched the grid again. An hour after that, we heard the cutter moving slowly on the other side of the island. I wondered why they didn't come on this side. When the cutter came back this way, it was only about five miles away. I had put another set of netting over the boat so it was even more hidden. It did give us a little more shade as the cabin air was off with the generators turned off. At the two week mark, we were out of fresh food and had begun to use canned goods. I fished everyday, but the fishing sucked where we were. That was before I found some Spam. I opened the can and used a small piece for bait. No sooner than the hook and bait were about twenty feet down, I caught a very nice sea trout. I pulled it up and pretty soon, I caught another. We had fresh fish that night. I cooked everything on the alcohol stove with port holes open. I couldn't bring myself to turn on the generators and possibly get caught. At twenty days, I decided it was time to go in. We had multiple written and signed confessions, plus video and sound confessions from everyone except the tall guy. I really wanted to toss him overboard, but that would be too obvious. I told my people what we were going to do and we took down and stored the netting. When I fired up the generator, it took an hour for the cabins to cool down and a lot longer before the refrigerator became cool. We had been cautious with water and still had half a tank. When I pulled up anchor, I felt a little giddy that we had been able to hide from the Coast Guard and probably the Navy for the length of time we did. Instead of going directly northeast to home, I motored north about a hundred miles then turned east as if I were coming from south Texas. A C-130 passed over us, but didn't circle for another pass. One of the targets on my fifty mile radar closed for a while then turned back south after the C-130 went over. About twenty miles out, I called Steve's cell to get him to have the Marshal's Service bring a few vehicles out to the docks. Before I was ten miles out, Jan called to tell me we didn't have a welcoming committee. She said all of the Pentagon investigators had left the area, but the Bureau was still restricted from investigating the case. When we docked, Steve, Tiny, Sarge, and Jan were there along with a half dozen deputies to take charge of our prisoners. Our objective was to take them to the jail in the Federal building and keep them there until someone found them. Jan said they were still being held without bail, so Sarge just said the prisoners were being held incognito to keep them safe. I told Sam, "Go visit with Maria and don't stick your head out until I call you. I'm not sure how worked up some of these people may be, so we need to keep you out of sight, and I'll keep my head down for a bit. I'll keep in touch to let you know what's going on." The first thing I did was to duplicate all of our original recordings and video confessions. I shipped a set off to John, the Pentagon investigators, the special prosecutor for the DOJ, and one to my friends within the Secret Service. The originals were locked in the safe within my office at work. Since no one would expect me to have a safe there, I figured it would be a safe place. I walked into my home about eight in the evening. The entire group was sitting at the big table, talking about the upcoming European trip. The chatter stopped as they looked at my unkempt, unshaven appearance. There was a moment or two of hesitations before all of them converged on me at once. There were many questions and requests for me to clean up and shave. After hugs and kisses from my ladies, I spent a half-hour in the bathroom showering and shaving. It felt good to have hot water for a change. When I returned to the kitchen area, a meal had been prepared, along with a big salad. Momma and the two girls were now there to welcome me home, along with Steve, Sue, Mercy, Kathy, and Juanita. Steve had a drink poured for me and said that I would have to come over for a beer later. I ate while giving everyone some minor details of our trip. Steve enjoyed the idea that we were able to hide from the intense search that had been conducted. He found it truly amazing that we were able to come back without being discovered. When my cell rang, everyone quieted and frowned. I saw it was John and answered, "Johnson." John said, "Hey, Chuck, I'm glad you're back from that mission you were on for the Service. Perhaps you can help with something." "I'll try, John, what's up?" "Do you know where a bunch of men might be being held? They are military contractors that a Pentagon investigation staff and a DOJ special prosecutor are trying to find. I think they want to charge them with some form of bid rigging." "I'm not sure, John, but I'd probably look for a federal prisoner in the lockup downtown in the federal building. That would be the place to look. Are these men eligible for bail?" John was keeping a straight face/voice, but I could tell he was close to laughing, "They're all being held without bail. I think the Pentagon wanted the judge to change that, but he hasn't budged so far. From what I've heard, several civilians in the Pentagon who resigned are being held, and a couple of just retired military stars have been picked up as well. Anyway, Chuck, thanks for the info. I'll call the lockup in Tampa to see if those men are there." Steve was grinning and said, "We've had inquiries from two major equipment suppliers to make body shells for them. One wants to join us in a project to supply our vehicles. He says the contract talks and testing could take a year or so, but he says they have the inside track right now and should be able to bring about some change orders fairly fast. Jeff has talked with their folks and is forming some sample bodies for them right now." "That's really great, Steve. I think I'm going to pass on going to your place for a beer tonight. After not getting much sleep for the last few weeks, I think I might go to bed early. I'm really bushed." When all the extra folks were gone, Momma and the girls gave me a hug and went home. Maria, Sing, and Taiying left for their quarters, as did Jan and Don, Marie and Dennis, and John and Wanda. There was now just my five and Lisa, because Lena was out somewhere with Ben, and Tina was at work, school, or wherever her internship was. We did go to bed early where I had the opportunity to enjoy being in the arms of each of the ladies. Lisa held back until I had enjoyed the last of the fab five, but she then became molded to me in a long smoldering kiss that let me know I had been missed. Our lovemaking was slow and gentle, and ended with us wrapped around each other, sliding off into a sound sleep. I woke with a start as I was not used to sleeping so long at a time. With the realization that it wasn't a problem, I lay back and a small person crawled on top me. Tiani, the little pixie, gave me lots of kisses, and when she felt me rising beneath her, she put me into her special place and gave herself some nice orgasms. As she slid back to sleep, I realized that it was after six, so I got up, put on my peg, used the bathroom, then went out to the grassy area next to the pool to form for a few minutes. A few minutes later, Lisa came out and began to form with me. In just a few more minutes, most of the household was either forming with me or floating gently in the pool. When I closed my form, Lisa followed and we ended up swimming laps in the pool. Our pace gathered speed until we had to quit to catch our breath. That's when I noticed Peaches was also swimming laps, but at a slow pace. When she began walking up the steps of the pool, I was shocked to see how much weight she had lost. Lisa nudged me and said, "She's looking better every day, isn't she? You should see her, she's turning heads now and enjoying flirting too." I smiled, "That's great, Lisa. I'm sure she'll have suitors around soon." Lisa hugged me to her and said, "She might, but I think she's going to stick around home for the girls. Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. The doc has given her a clean bill of health. He says she's in great shape with nothing wrong, and that exercise and a healthy diet will have her in perfect condition. I bought her a bicycle and she rides it over to the patio a couple of times a day. She has ridden up to Publix a couple of times too. Just look at her, she's really getting a nice shape. It will take a while for her skin to tighten up, and we may need to have some help from one of those plastic surgeons." I watched all of the nude girls shower off under the outdoor shower. There is such a variety that all of the guys get pretty firm watching the parade. From two tiny Orientals, to the tall willowy Wanda, who would set off male ego growth by herself, there was lot of wonderful female flesh. Wanda said I should probably come into the office for a while, as there should be a parade of DC types coming and going now that the prisoners were in plain sight. I agreed and said that I wanted to get caught up on all of the pending investigations anyway. After breakfast at the patio, we all left for our respective places of business. Lisa and Steve wouldn't let me leave with everyone else, so I poured another cup of coffee and let the place clear out. Steve said, "One of your employers delivered an unusual aircraft to us. They also said we have to give you some specialized instruction and have you checked out by the FAA examiner. You will have to come out to the airpark to see this." Lisa was grinning, "And you know what else? Someone has made it possible for us to fly your newest Lear with a single pilot. Steve, John, and I had to be checked out, but we now have a Lear that is rated for a single pilot. Isn't that great? Are you going to hog it now, or are you going to let us get some use out of it?" "So what's this unusual aircraft that's waiting for me?" Steve said, "Oh no, you have to come see it and then we'll schedule you some instruction and get you checked out. Jimmy's off to a school on the aircraft as we speak. He had to do a refresher for this model." Shaking my head, "Damn, I want to see what's out there, but I have to go in for a while. What are you doing today, Lisa? Anything hot?" She smiled again and said, "Lessons in the Skycrane. I want to be able to fly all of the helicopters, and I've been blowing your money getting some hours on it. The big Sikorsky has a little job later this morning, but I'll be back by lunch time. See if you can meet me here for lunch and we'll go out and play with your new toy." I took off for work and went directly to my office. After hugs from the girls, Wanda sat with me and went over every outstanding case that had been active while I was out on the gulf. There were a few captures and several relocations within the system, but nothing major. Wanda showed me all of the memos being generated by Pentagon staff. She said most of the directives were being rescinded about as fast as they were being published. We went over the DOJ memos, and then Wanda got up and closed the door into the office. She had me sit with her at the little table and said, "To let you know, I've been contacted by the Secret Service to be a go-between for you. They will contact me when you are needed and I will make your other work go away or be taken care of. They flew me to a place out west where I dressed in fatigues while they interviewed me, then went over their standing orders. I'm not sure how I will benefit them, but they were insistent that I become a part of their operation. I was to tell you as soon as you and I had a quiet moment. If we need to discuss this more later, we can. Now, from what I've heard, you have a toy out at the airpark. You should finish going through your inbox and e-mails, then go have lunch with Steve and go to the airpark." It did take the rest of the morning to take care of a large backlog of detail stuff. When everything was finished, I cleaned up my desk and waved bye to the girls. The patio was just filling for lunch. I had just had a sip of iced tea when Lisa came in. She was wearing a flight suit with an S&S logo on the front and back. She said, "This is for us working pilots doing utility duty. If you do any of the hauling or spray work, they'll get you a couple of sets of coveralls too." After lunch, Steve said, "Come on, we have to go to the gym, then get some sun. Lisa, you have Mercy's stuff to wear, come on, Chuck, I have stuff for you." Peaches said, "I'm coming with you, Chuck. I go to the gym everyday now, and I also go up to get a little sun. Just look at my tan. It's getting deeper every day." I gave Peaches a hug and was surprised to feel how solid she was becoming. It was enjoyable to workout with someone different for a change and we then went up to the pool where Steve and I were massaged by some of the women. Of course, we had the opportunity to put lotion on them too. Sue did her usual teasing, but Lisa did her better by demonstrating how to apply lotion to Steve's back by using her smaller breasts to rub it in." Sue said, "Not fair, I can't get away with that, you little twerp, flirting with my husband like that. Now you probably have him all worked up and he'll suffer." Sue went over to Steve and rolled him over, to show his big boner pushing out his swimsuit. Sue pulled her top aside and shoved a large nipple into his mouth, "I'll take care of you, Honey. You don't have to be turned on and left to suffer by that little tease." Steve and I swam some fast laps before we all went back to the patio to get dressed. While Lisa and I were showering and dressing, we did have to take a few minutes to enjoy our mutual lust for each other. I think Steve and Sue were doing the same thing in another bathroom, but they had Mercy in there to help. Out at the airpark, Steve walked me to the jet area next to the charter office. When we walked in, there was a shiny Cessna Citation that looked big. Lisa said, "Let me introduce you to a special Citation X. This aircraft will go faster, and go farther without refueling, than any other Citation X. This is a specially built aircraft for Deputy Dawg." There was a small Deputy Dawg logo under the left cockpit window. On the nose of the aircraft, just below the windscreen, were two eyes. They were not that big, but were squinting. You could tell they were eyes, but not why they were there. Lisa said, "We painted the Deputy Dawg, but the aircraft came with those two eyes on the nose." Steve said, "Come inside and look at this thing. It has a special interior." The inside looked a lot like the interiors we had in the special Lears. The difference was that the seating was arranged for a very comfortable eight passengers. Lisa pointed out that there was a set of jump seats in the rear that could be put down for two more passengers or for flight attendants. The cockpit looked like something out of the space age. It was nothing like the little CJ4 we already had. Steve pointed out a set of controls that were in the center of the console and said, "Those are normally accessible by only the co-pilot, but this is a special aircraft that can be flown by a single pilot. So when do you want to begin your lessons?" I said, "Wow! Call whoever you have to call so I can fly this thing. Just think, almost the speed of sound. You said it was faster than a normal Citation X, how much faster?" Steve said, "I don't know. When the Cessna instructor gets here, you can tell us. They have already checked me, John, and Lisa out but they haven't divulged any of the specs on the aircraft yet. I'm sure they'll tell you." I was anxious, "Let's call 'em right away." DeDe made the call and it was arranged for me to be checked out by the Cessna instructors and the FAA examiner beginning tomorrow. Steve asked me, "So who owns this aircraft? Is it yours, the other group's you do work for, or what?" "I don't know, Steve. That may be important for insurance purposes. I'll ask as I would hate to really fall in love with this toy and then have someone take it away." Steve said, "That's what I was thinking too. If it isn't yours, personally or the company's, no one but you can really fly the thing. Lisa, John, and I got off on being trained and tested, but if it isn't the company's or yours, we should probably forget about using it." "I'll check on it right away. That does make a difference, doesn't it?" We walked over to the helicopter charter office to talk to Betty. She was in a good mood and said, "You know, I think we should combine the two charter offices into one. I can probably take a big load off DeDe and she can even fly more if I take over a lot of the office duties. There's enough room for another desk in the office over there, and this area can be used for a bigger ready room and locker area for pilots and mechanics." I said, "We'll have a chat with DeDe to see what she thinks about something like that, and let you know." Betty was grinning, "DeDe and I figured this out a couple of weeks ago and even had Terrell come up with a design and cost for ready and locker rooms. DeDe and I are ready to merge; all we need is your approval and we'll get it done. Tiny says it would make sense to keep both charters under the same P&L center." I looked at Steve and he just shrugged his shoulders. He said, "I guess our people have figured out a better way to run the place. Let's let them do it and see how it goes. It would allow better coverage on days and during off hours. The office is open twenty-four seven now, so why not offer the same for rotary wing charters. I'm sure we have pilots for the helicopters that want weekend and night work too. We do the mosquito spraying at night or early evening, so we'll now have office coverage for that." Betty offered, "Since we are handling a lot of the airfield operations now, it will be easier if DeDe and I worked out of the same office. I think it will be good for the company." Steve and I made another pass through the hangar with the Citation X. We went inside it again and looked through the cockpit one last time. This was a really nice aircraft that I looked forward to flying. I sure hope it flew as nice as it looked, something like the Learjets. Steve and I went to the patio and began discussing the coming European trip. Steve said, "We need to firm up dates so Dewey can make plans. You'll need to let your bosses know what your schedule is going to be, as well. What do you think, Chuck, how about you going out to sail with Dewey in two weeks and then we plan on sailing for Europe in three weeks? With the crew we'll have, we could even leave on a Saturday or Sunday evening. We'll have enough people to sail all night. Dewey may be short some people, but we can work something out with him." I said, "We do have to make some solid plans. Let's call Dewey and see what he says. Two weeks should be enough time for everyone I deal with to cover me. And you know what, Steve? If anyone has too many objections, I might want to retire or take a leave of absence. This adventure should be something for both of our families to remember forever." While we were talking, Lisa came to join us and while looking at me, she said, "You know, our family is really excited about the sailing trip. I'm glad you and Steve are making some firm dates. I know Sue and the girls are just as excited as our family is. I can't wait to have so much time to really get to know everyone that will be with us." Steve said, "You know, it isn't fair to Dewey. We have a huge group of people to man the helm, but he doesn't. Perhaps he needs a crew. I think I'll give him a call to find out what he thinks." Steve got up and went inside while Lisa sat to talk with me. Mercy came and sat on the other side of me on the couch and asked, "Chuck, are you going to have a problem with us girls getting to know each other a little better on our trip? You know it's the perfect opportunity for Sue and me to have some private time with them." Lisa interjected, "It isn't because the fab five haven't wanted to mingle with you guys. Sometimes that's all they talk about. They're worse than a bunch of guys over Sue's chest. You would think they had never played with some big tits." Mercy giggled, "They probably haven't played with anything that big before. I just love to wake up with them wrapped around my head or one of her big nipples in my mouth." I shifted around on the couch, "Ladies, ladies, take it easy. This conversation is becoming pretty risqué. I probably shouldn't be a part of it." Lisa smoothed my pants over my growing interest, "You mean you wouldn't want to help me play with those giant breasts? We could suck them, roll them around, and she could even wrap them around your big beautiful cock so you could squirt her in the face." I slapped both Mercy's and Lisa's hands as they were alternately smoothing the zipper area of my slacks. "Stop that. Lisa, you know I have all that I can handle at home. Why would you want to include someone else into our fun?" "Because I would get to play with you and her at the same time," Lisa said, as she continued to now just lay her hand over my excitement. "You know Mercy and I have gotten to know each other very well. Sue sometimes joins us, and Juanita and Kathy have even spent some time helping Mercy turn me into a quivering mass of orgasms. We all talk about you being there so we can make you feel the same ecstasy we do." Mercy said, "We talk about you and Steve being there with the other girls so we can have you two watch us and then we would swarm the both of you until you couldn't get it up any longer. That would be nice wouldn't it?" "You two are too erotic. I'm ready to drag you both off to a bedroom right now." Mercy looked at me with a lustful look, "Come on, I'll get the others and we'll play a little before supper." Lisa gripped me at that moment, making me crazier in lust, as Mercy got up and extended a hand to pull me up. She said, "Take him into the big guest room next to the big bedroom. I'll check on you two in a few minutes." Thinking it was going to be just Lisa and me, we went to the big guestroom and were almost instantly nude, kissing and touching while becoming more lustful by the second. We were locked in a burning kiss, wrapped in each other's arms, when I felt breasts, big breasts, against my back. I detected woman smells that told me more than just Lisa was hot and ready. When Lisa and I pulled apart from the kiss, Mercy leaned over Lisa and kissed me, then pulled Lisa to her back. At the same time, the person behind me pulled me to my back and a large nipple was stuffed into my mouth. I raised my hands to grasp the huge breast and knead Sue's massive flesh. She wasn't still, but rose to straddle my hips where a hand centered me as she began sitting on me. With an extended "oh," Sue descended on my cock until we were mashed together. "Oh yeah, Chuck, you're like Charlie, so big, but long too. You're almost as long as Steve and you feel really good inside." My head was spinning as another large, softer, breast dangled in my face. I sucked the large nipple into my mouth as the owner of the breast groaned. Kathy said, "Yeah, Chuck, suck it. Suck my breast. Nita, get your nipples over here so Chuck can taste you too. He does suck a mean boob." As people were shifting around, legs straddled my head and a very wet pussy settled on my mouth. The taste was unmistakably Lisa. She ground her pussy on my face and came, loosing juices into my mouth and covering my face. Meanwhile Sue was still sliding up and down on me, bringing me closer and closer to letting go. Sue finally pulled off me and that allowed Lisa to knee walk down my body to capture me. As she slid onto me, Nita gave me a hot Latin kiss and caressed my face. Steve's four ladies were all looking at me expectantly as Lisa's body went into overdrive as she milked a huge orgasm from me. When Lisa collapsed on me, she began kissing me so gently that I didn't want to go soft so we could keep our loving connection. She whispered to me, "I love to have someone get you ready for me. One of these days, what you just did is going to get you a little Chuckie. Somehow, I know we are going to have a lot of little Chuckies running around." Lisa rolled off, but held her legs apart as Kathy went down on her to kiss away the juices I had left. Sue grinned at me, then took my still firm cock into her mouth. She had a look of lust on her face that I didn't understand, until she let out an "Uh" as Steve thrust firmly into her from behind. I wondered at the shared lust these women had and the acceptance that Steve had while sharing his ladies. It was Sue that I had almost come in just a few minutes before, and who had my dick in her mouth as Steve was plowing her, filling her with his seed. I could see the ecstasy of his release in his face as he filled Sue. Sue rolled from Steve, as Juanita latched onto his shrinking dick, and Lisa dove for Sue's center. Steve said, "If you want to stop, you have to get up or this can go on forever. Come on, let's get a beer." Steve and I dressed as the five women continued to kiss and caress each other. I noticed Shawna head down the hall toward the guest bedroom a little later, and a little after that, Tina wandered down the hall. That was one busy bedroom today. After supper, both families discussed the dates and time lines for the trip. You could feel the excitement growing as we anticipated the adventure. I attributed the instant lust with the excitement over the trip, and surprisingly, I didn't feel guilty for having participated in what I thought to be an all out orgy. Lisa must have told the five housemates of our get together, as they were exceptionally horny later. It took a long time to calm the three pregnant ladies, along with Tiani and Brandy. As Brandy sat astride my hips, gently posting for her pleasure, she asked, "Do you think this trip is going to be a non-stop orgy?" Lisa answered for me, "Not a chance. With all those kids around, how could it be? I can tell you this though; Steve's ladies are dying to get their hands on all five of you. They are really a lustful bunch." Tina giggled, "Yes they are. When I showed them I wanted to be a part of their play time, they devoured me and soon had Steve making love to me regularly. Even if he is my uncle, he is one sexy man. I love women's bodies more than men's, but getting some loving from Chuck or Steve is special." Sleep began taking over my body as I thought of the lustful afternoon and the exciting time my family had just experienced. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through — Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 57 Steve Now that Chuck was back from hiding out in the Gulf, life around home seemed to be getting back to normal. He was busy with a bunch of federal people and his prisoners were all transported to DC where they would be held or given an option to be bailed out. I told Chuck that I didn't care what happened, as long as they left me and my company alone. Tiny told me that a major military supplier was negotiating to have us produce bodies for their equipment. That is what we wanted in the first place. We didn't necessarily want to be a sole supplier, only to augment what other vendors were supplying. If we did this right, we not only could use our entire existing workforce, but possibly expand it by hundreds. When I had the chance, I spoke with Ben to see if he wanted to begin a search for an existing local structure that could house a very large fiberglass forming factory. Ben said he would initiate the search and have one of his young lawyers work up a presentation on it. While I was in my office, Ruth came in and gave me the latest personnel results in Nevada. Our staff in Las Vegas and Reno had increased by almost a third with the additional customer service people, outside sales and tech support people, and the additional delivery people the additional sales required. She also reported that we had made progress in correcting the illegal alien problems in both locations. Chance came in with his new brochures for local and state governments. The brochures displayed the vehicle we had considered as similar to a wheeled armored personnel carrier but was now displayed as a SWAT support vehicle. He said, "Abe and a couple of the mechanics have made the inside into a very comfortable transport, complete with air conditioning, and with plenty of our special transparent shields so the people riding inside are aware of what is going on outside." I asked, "Is it cost effective for cities and states? With all of their budget problems, a vehicle like that could now be well out of reach for most communities." Chance answered, "We're about twenty-five percent of what most vehicle manufacturers list theirs for. I'm putting together a rolling display of a couple of vehicles to take on a traveling tour of all state purchasing groups. We should be able to get the states, counties, and cities considering vehicles to see our products as well. We have a two man sales group; we have a new truck the men can stay in if necessary, and we have a new trailer that our vehicles can ride in. We may not get the military business of the vehicles, but I think we can get a major portion of the civilian demand." I looked at Chance and asked, "Sounds like we're heavily invested in this. Who made up your budget?" With a smile, Chance said, "Tiny and Henry figured it out with the help of the new guy, Moleson, who works with the clothing company military garment sales. Phil thinks we need to market the product person to person, and that's why he's convinced Tiny to budget as heavily as he has." "Looks good, Chance. We're forging ahead while others are contracting. Good job on the vehicles, Chance. You have created an entire new division within the company. Good job on the brochures too." As the morning wound down, I spent some time with Tiny, as he wanted to go over all of our various divisions' P&Ls. When he had finished showing me numbers that he was happy with, I asked, "You didn't show me anything having to do with the airpark, the charter services, or our LSA company?" Tiny pulled a file and said, "The LSA group is actually showing a profit, but I want to wait until all of our costs are in. All of the insurance and special bonding isn't complete yet. Ben's group is working on it right now. I also don't want to try to display numbers when we have so many orders on hand but only a few deliveries. In another month, we may be in the black for the year or since start up. Let's wait and see." I said, "Good. What about the airpark and the charter services?" Tiny smiled, "I'll go over those with both you and Chuck. Since he's the majority owner now, he should be around to go over them with you, don't you think?" "How did he become majority owner?" I asked, trying to remember what had transpired to make him an owner anyway. Pulling some papers from another file, Tiny showed me, "See, when you said to make him a half-owner, you didn't consider that the S&S 401K plan was also an owner at the time. So S&S and the S&S 401K each now own 25% and Chuck became the majority owner with 50%. Did you want to buy out part of his share? I'm sure he wouldn't care. Either way, he doesn't need the money at this point." I thought of the problem, or what I considered to be a problem, for a few moments. "You know what? This may be good for Chuck. I'm sure he doesn't realize what's happened, but I will let him know in time. Since the management structure out there is good, and the place is running smoothly, there is no reason to upset the apple cart right now. How is that group as far as cash reserve?" Tiny dug out some more papers and said, "Their revenues are great, they have no real debt right now, and the charter companies lease costs are covered. If you had a problem out there it would be with maintenance. You only have eight mechanics out there now and could use at least four more. You are receiving a lot of helicopter maintenance work since you've taken on the Bell training school. Since Jimmy has finished the advanced Cessna Citation school, you have a waiting list for maintenance. Right now, leasing companies are getting aircraft back and want them brought up to date before selling or re-leasing them." Tiny continued, "We need to send another man to the Citation school, and we really need a second man certified with Bombardier. Now that we have the 737, we need to consider hiring an experienced certified man or men for it. And, of course, you know we need to have at least one more person go through the Bell school and that takes a long time. We might get lucky and find someone out of work since the economy is down." "Jimmy and Tank think we need our own coachman shop for interiors, but I think we can use our people from the RV and truck shops to do the work. The charter service can sub the coachman and both companies can make out." With a smile, I said, "Nice to have these problems, Tiny. I guess we'll have to get Chuck in on some of these decisions. I'll find out when he has time and you can prepare." "Good idea, Steve," Tiny said. "I do think Chuck will make a good partner out there as he has such an avid interest in flying. We'll have to see whether it is a bigger interest than his deputy's duties." "Thanks, Tiny, I'm going to lunch. If I get a chance, I'll talk to Chuck about a time to present all this to him." While driving home, I thought of how I might have deceived Chuck about the airpark and the charter services. I couldn't make up my mind whether it was the right thing to have done, or whether I should correct the inequity. If Chuck wanted, he could have a full time job just trying to run the airpark and charter companies. But then, why mess with something that was working. DeDe and Betty were working well together and had added another girl to work exclusively with Jimmy and Tank to keep track of maintenance records. All of the billing was going back through our central billing for S&S, and I'd bet Tiny was charging the charter and maintenance division for the service. Well, Chuck needs to be made aware of his position and he does need to be involved in decisions. At the patio, I ate with all of the regulars then went to the gym with my ladies. Even Juanita joined us, as her energy level seems to have increased now that her newly discovered diabetes problem is under control. When we returned from the gym, I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the sun but wanted to visit with the R&D people for a while. When I entered the R&D shop, I was surprised at the remodeling. There was an entrance area with a reception desk. I recognized a young lady from the park who had recently finished high school. She said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Sharp. Who do you want to see today?" "Cindy, how about I see Dennis to find out what he's working on lately?" Cindy got up from her desk and opened the door leading into the main open area of benches where projects were put together before testing. Dennis and Mark were working on something large and bulky when Cindy hollered that they had a guest. Mark raised his head and smiled, "Hey, Steve. Come look at this a minute. You might see something we're not." At the bench, Mark showed me what looked like the internal windings of a generator. He said, "We've re-laid the windings so they are in groups instead of a single strand at a time. I know in my heart the generator can develop more current this way, but we've fallen off a full third. What do you see?" It looked like a generator to me. What do I know? "Mark, I wouldn't know what to look for. I understand what generators do and how they work, but I don't know the exact manner of how windings can affect the generator." As I was looking at the pieces, I asked, "If you have a broader field of windings to produce current wouldn't you need a broader or wider magnetic field to pick up the current?" Mark and Dennis looked at each other. Dennis closed his eyes and smacked himself on the forehead, "Dummy, we make something fancy and don't think it through. Let's widen the pickup and see what happens." Mark looked at me and said, "Hang around, Steve. We have a few more glitches for you to solve." Abe walked in the door and saw me, "Hey, Steve, come look at the new diesel engine we're testing. This thing is really special. It's a design with combustion chambers that should produce more power with smaller combustion areas. It's like the domed pistons or the ported heads, just a minor tweak that could save a lot of fuel and create more power." Abe showed me a window to a test room where an engine was running. It showed a digital clock that read three, thirty-four, twenty-three. Abe said, "That's the equivalent of operating about seventy thousand miles non-stop. We have the motor under a fifty- percent load to simulate what a farm tractor or highway tractor would work at. All of the gauges and measuring equipment says the motor is running just like new. I want to run it at least a thousand hours non-stop, then tear it down. The other unit, next door, has run about the same amount of time, but we're going to keep it running at sixty to seventy percent power with a heavier load rating until it quits, or runs for ten thousand hours, whichever comes first. That's over a year. I doubt it will last that long under the load, but we'll see." When we came back to the central room, Mark and Dennis were high fiving each other. Dennis said, "Thanks, Uncle Steve, that was the answer. Sometimes we miss the obvious when we're too close to something." I asked, "Where's Hans? He's usually good at common sense stuff." Dennis frowned, "He decided he needed a long vacation and has been in Austria and northern Italy for a couple of months. He's bought one of our biplane kits and is putting it together over there so he can fly around the countryside and see it from the air. The man is nuts, as usual." I suggested, "Perhaps you need more help. Another research assistant." It was Mark that said, "Gerry comes in at least three days a week and helps with PMs on the test machines, and Ben comes in every afternoon after classes if he doesn't have to do too much studying. I suppose we could use some more help to work on some of our projects. We're really working extensively on wind generators. You know what I'm saying, how to make them smaller, but to be able to generate more power. The new batteries we're using seem to help with storage, but we still need to generate more power from small inexpensive units." While we were on the subject, I asked Mark, "How are you coming on your green car? Made it perpetual motion yet?" "You'll never have true perpetual motion, but we can do some wind generation for charging batteries while in motion. If done right, we should be able to extend the range by at least half. That would be a great improvement. We're not there yet, but it's coming." When I said I was leaving, Dennis said, "Come back in a couple of days. We have a couple of items we're working on that should be of value for Star. She's brought us some of the tools to make to be sure they are cost effective to manufacture. We should have them ready by next week." At home, I found Sue and asked her if she had anything she might want me to do. She didn't, so I decided to just bum around a little. I put on jeans and a T-shirt, got out the bike, and took off for Jonah's. As is typical in the late afternoon, a lot of the early workers stop in for a beer and to ogle Double D. There were a lot of the guys that I knew, so I did enjoy chatting with them. Jonah came out from the back and glad-handed me, then went back and brought Millie out. The monster woman gave me a big hug and asked about Chuck. We chatted for a long while, until I decided it was time to wander some more. I rode out to the airpark to see what Wes was up to, as Tiny had said he wanted to wait to see how the new orders would shake out. There was a big surprise. In the primary hangar that Wes was using, were six of our aircoupe LSAs under construction. Wes wasn't there, so I was surprised again when I asked for him. He was across the tarmac in the one of the two new hangars that had just been built. When I walked into the hangar on the right, there were ten high wing LSAs in various stages of being built, but still no Wes. There were two men on each aircraft, the same as in the other hangar. When I asked, one of the men said I would probably find Wes next door. In the hangar on the left, I found Wes among four larger aircoupes that were under construction. He was measuring where fittings were supposed to go on the tail section with a micrometer. He looked up and smiled, "What do you think, Steve? This is going to be our first four and six place aircoupe. I'm getting it certified as a six place so it can hold the average family with two point three kids." Wes grabbed my arm and dragged me toward a pile of parts. He took me to a large table with a blueprint on it, and I could instantly see what he was going to tell me. "This is a twin I'm going to experiment with. I think Abe's engines will be perfect, but I'm engineering the mounts to hold both conventional, and if need be, turbines. I want to stay with the conventional engines right now until we can get this put together and tested. It's going to be a little raw at first, but this is a learning experience. I'm going to try a few ideas I have along with some newer technology that's available. First things first, though. I'm going to make it fly with retractable gear just like the single engine aircoupes we're making. Hopefully, Tiny's cost estimates are good so we can build really nice aircraft at ridiculous prices." I waved my hand at the hangar and asked, "Do you have enough room? Did you need more hangar and manufacturing space?" Wes blushed and said, "I guess we did spread out fast. I didn't think it would hurt to use the available space, as long as it was empty. By this time next month, we will have most of the LSAs in progress delivered and we should also have several of the biplane kits delivered, as well. We sold our camper, so Jeff's people are molding another one for us. Tiny has been very generous as far as people have been concerned. Some of these folks are from the RV store, some are from the cart plant, a few from the truck body plant, and a couple are from the main shop. The few that I've hired from outside are quality people that were available. All of them know that everything must fit perfect. We're building quality here." "This is amazing, Wes. I had no idea you were building so much right now. Don't try to build more than can be built with the quality and safety we want and have to have. Let's keep that foremost in our minds. I want us to build aircraft, not experimentals." Wes laughed and said, "I agree. I want our safety record to be perfect. So far, our little experimental trainers have logged a ton of training hours without any mechanical or structural incidents. We go over the aircraft constantly to make sure they aren't developing any stress fractures and are operating at the same efficiency. So far so good, Steve, I have to brag a little. Our aircraft are really good so far." I shook Wes' hand and made my way out of there to go back to the charter office. DeDe and Betty were discussing the coming weekend, as there were a lot of charters for Friday through Sunday. Betty said, "All of the small choppers are going to busy with lessons and two bigger Bells have charters. I'm not booked solid, but it wouldn't take much to make us that way." DeDe smiled, "We've booked all of the small aircraft for lessons. Even the biplanes are booked for people wanting to fly them for fun. We even have the 737 booked, using the luxury seating, through Sunday, so that aircraft is already paying its lease costs. We're going to have to get another crew, as those two guys are going to need a day off soon. Hey, Steve, want to fly a charter in a King Air or small jet this weekend? We have plenty of work if you want to." I shook my head and said, "I think I'll stick around home this weekend. Somehow I think it is going to be busy there too. I'll talk to Sue and Mercy to see if they might want to do something. If they do, I'll go. How about Chuck or Brandy. Brandy is rated through the little Citation now, isn't she?" DeDe said, "She's flying right seat on a G5 with Tiani working as flight attendant. Brandy's really trying to get in hours to get her transport license. I even have Wes flying a King Air up to Atlanta this weekend. I'm going with him, so it isn't all lost. We're staying overnight Friday and coming back Saturday evening." Betty said, "I'm glad I don't know how to fly or they would have me out there. Cindy, our new office helper, wants to begin lessons, so another pilot is born out here. It's fun here, Steve, always something happening." I was about to leave when DeDe said, "If you see Chuck, he has to be out here at eight Monday morning for his indoctrination and check out on the Citation X. I'm sure he'll be here early. They just called and said it was arranged." "Oh yeah, DeDe," I remembered, "Did you ask John about registration and ownership of the new Citation?" "Funny you should ask. See this," DeDe said as she pulled a piece a paper from a file, "This is the title and ownership papers for the Citation from the former owners. The receipt says paid in full by a company out west that I've never heard of. I checked the corporate registry and they are a real company, but it doesn't show assets or anything. It's just a privately held company. Chuck sure has some strange dealings. Good dealings, but strange." I nodded in agreement thinking that it would be nice if someone gave me a twenty million dollar aircraft. When I thought, 'Wonder who he had to kill to get that, ' I shuddered and put it out of my mind, not wanting an answer to that question. When I pulled into the yard at home, Sue came out in her jeans and said, "Give me a ride. Take me to Jonah's and buy me a beer before supper. I need some wind in my face." When we pulled out onto the highway, traffic was picking up so we couldn't let it out very much and remain safe. We wandered through traffic and parked amid a lot of bikes of people that had just gotten off work. Inside, Sue and Double D squealed and hugged each other. A lot of guys just groaned seeing the two massive chests smashing together. The girls talked while I shot a game of pool until Sue came to me and said, "Well, it's time to go back home. This was a great idea. Let's go." I had just parked the bike inside my workshop/storage shed when Chuck and some of his ladies showed up. Tiny dragged Chuck and me off to the back of the bar and said, "Get something to drink and let me show you guys some numbers." Chuck groaned, "More business shit. I'm a lowly Deputy Marshal that you guys are trying to make into a businessman. I can tell, you're doing it again." I laughed and said, "I didn't have a thing to do with anything." After a healthy drink of his beer from a frosty mug, Tiny said, "I just needed for Chuck to check out the P&L from the charter service and the airpark. Chuck, I told Steve that I needed to show you both at the same time because of the dual ownership, but it's actually a tri-ownership with the 401K plan." Tiny handed Chuck and me sheets of paper and began by pointing at the airfield section. "This is how the airfield is doing. Fees, fuel, and hangar rentals are paying for the field, upkeep, and general maintenance. The new little snack bar is making a profit for S&S cafeterias, and is paying a percentage to the airpark." Tiny moved his pencil down, "As you can see, the charter business for fixed wing has been ridiculously good. The rotary wing charters have been as good, but the profit per hour chartered isn't as high because of the higher costs of maintenance or operation. If we use our outside maintenance profits to offset our personal aircraft costs, it makes it look a lot better and it still is very good within the industry. Helicopters are expensive to operate, so the profit isn't as high." "That brings us back to maintenance. We're really going gangbusters here. Both fixed and rotary wing profits are way up. Now that Jimmy has finished the Citation school, we can send another mechanic for that, plus we need another mechanic to go to the Bell school. Chuck, you need to spend some time with the men and women out there to see who you should send." Tiny moved his pencil again, "I separated out the flight training. It is a separate profit and loss center. If you look at the bottom line, it is a pure profit center right now. The helicopter training is expensive, but our birds are booked continuously. I'd say buy some more trainers, but we should hold off right now to see if the trend holds." Chuck said, "It's good that we are training so many new pilots. The more we train, the more we have a chance of selling one of the new LSAs you're building, Steve. I've even heard you're building a conventional four to six place machine." I said, "I saw it today and it looks like they will be ready to test fly one soon. I'm looking forward to it." Tiny wanted to continue, "Now look at this net profit down here. Pretty impressive, isn't it? These numbers here are the breakout by the division of ownership." Chuck said, "How come I get twice as much as Steve or the S&S 401K plan?" Tiny didn't look up, but just said, "Easy, you own half of everything out there. Since Steve sold half of what he owns to the plan, he only owns twenty-five percent, and you own fifty." Chuck looked at me with a squint then looked at Tiny. "What're you two trying to get over on me. Did I really pay you for half of everything out there, not half of what Steve owned?" Tiny said, "I was told to sell you half, so I sold you half of everything S&S owned out there. I took it to mean all of S&S, including the 401K plan, so that's how I had Ben process it. You own half of the whole thing." Chuck sat back mumbling to himself. He closed his eyes and then opened them. "Christ, how do you two keep doing this stuff to me. I can't operate that place. I don't know enough about that business to keep it profitable. Man, that takes someone with knowledge, someone with experience, not a Deputy Marshal trying to do it part time." I told Chuck, "Don't worry, Chuck. You have good management out there and we have Tiny and his group as watchdogs. They guard the till and know our position every day. They are double-checked by each other and then triple checked by our accounting firm. Tiny used to have them audit him constantly to make sure he was doing everything right. I'm sure he still does, just not as flagrantly as he used to." Chuck protested, "You can't make employees make decisions out there for everything. They need someone to go to when they have problems or when there's a special decision to be made." I said, "Not to worry. I'm still a part of it and I'll help you with the decisions. You have DeDe, Star, Betty, John, Jimmy, and Tank to give you advice, and they probably already have the answer. They just need the confirmation. Ask all of them when something comes up, and I'm sure you'll get the right answer from them. That's what I've always done. Trust your people to know what to do, and ask them for their advice often when you have a question." Chuck was shaking his head, "I'm getting deeper and deeper in this. I'm starting to have too much property, in too many locations, with too many people depending on me. Stick with me, Steve, Tiny, I need your help and advice more than ever. One of these days I'm going to have to consider what my day job is." I thought I could make Chuck happy by relating, "As a bit of good news, you are scheduled for your training and checkout on the new Citation Monday morning." "Out of sight. I'm dying to fly that bird." I said, "Another bit of good news is that you received a paid in full receipt for the Citation X, along with the registration papers in your name personally. You now own a remarkable aircraft." Chuck looked shocked as he looked up at me without raising his head. He did the eyes closed thing again, then raised his head while looking at me, "I didn't think they would just give it to me. I really thought they would make me a special lease or something. That is something, isn't it?" Tiny looked back and forth between us, but I warned him off about saying anything. DeDe came into the patio and came back to us. "Steve, Chuck, guess what?" Chuck and I looked at her. "We just received waivers for all of our Learjets for single pilot operation when carrying less than seventy-five percent of capacity. Isn't that great? We can legally fly most of our Learjet charters with just one pilot. That's a great cost savings." Chuck said, "When we have people who need hours or new jockeys trying to get hours, be sure to offer them rides. It's good that we can fly with a single pilot, but let's use the flights for our benefit as well. We need to get a lot of people certified transport and there's only one way to do it." DeDe said, "I know. I'll do it that way, but that we can do it for quick charters that pop up at the last minute is great. A lot of people ask for a Lear so we can give it to them now if one is available." Chuck had gotten down from his stool, pulled a beer for DeDe, then filled all of our mugs. When he sat back down, he looked up at DeDe and asked, "What's this about being booked solid this weekend and having to take a charter yourself?" DeDe actually blushed, "Actually, I'm just going as right seat on an overnight to Atlanta in a King Air with Wes. It's kind of a freebie getaway for me, not really work." Chuck said, "Make sure you're on payroll, the same with Wes. It's neat you can have a night in Atlanta, but you're still earning for the company." DeDe said, "I know, Chuck. You've told me before, no working off the clock. You're a good boss." Chuck rolled his eyes, "I'm not a boss. Just someone that can tell you to do the right thing." DeDe grinned, "Same thing, same as Steve and Tiny. You guys know the right way to do stuff and keep us straight. That's what you're for. Thanks." Charlie saw us huddled up at the far side of the bar and came up, "Hey, what's this I hear? The boss is out running around, hauling ass on his bike, during the day. Going to Jonah's twice and once with his ole' lady?" "Needed some air, Charlie, and when I came back, Sue wanted some too." Charlie said, "Good thing Kathy didn't see that or you would have had to drag out the garbage truck and haul her too." Kathy had come up, "I knew Sue wanted to ride. Mercy and I were doing some stuff with the kids, so it was fine that she went. The old man will just have to give us a ride later. How about we take a ride after supper? I think the St. Pete clubhouse needs a visit. How about it, Chuck, want to go for a ride?" Chuck said, "I'll have to check to see how many want to ride and how many empty back seats there will be. I'll have to get a trike with one of those barrel seats that hold about five. That should just about do it." Charlie said, "You know what? I just saw one of those barrel seat setups at a swap meet. I'll bet it's still for sale. I'll ask around to see what they want for it. You can see what you think and how many it might hold. We can build a trike without much effort." "Okay, check on it, but no promises. Just what I need, more toys for all of the ladies." Charlie laughed, "You'll learn. With more than one, you'll be busy anyway. You might as well try to make more than one happy at a time." Our group had migrated to the front of the bar where others were joining us. It was soon agreed that we were riding after supper. Mickey, Sandy, and Mandy were going to ride Tina, Big Tina, and Brandy, while Chuck took Lisa. I was riding Kathy and Mercy as Sue wanted to stay home. Mark was coming, and Caroline was riding with him. Of course, Hap was coming, as were Jim and Hank with their women. Supper became loud and happy with the anticipation of a group ride. As soon as supper was over, we all disappeared to get changed and to bring our bikes out. To give us some practice riding as a group, we rode to Jonah's for a quick beer and to glad hand everyone. After disrupting that place, we headed across the Howard Franklin Bridge on the way to St. Petersburg. When we pulled in, several prospects ran out to tell us, "Do you guys mind waiting a few minutes? There's a meeting going on, but it should be over in a few minutes. Stay here and we'll have some beer brought out. Please stay, as you guys are always welcome." We stayed and parked out from the bar in the middle of the parking lot. They did bring a lot of beer that we had just finished when a bunch of patch holders came out to welcome us all into their bar. It wasn't long before "Shorty," the VP, got me off to the side. "Steve, you've always been a friend, a true brother. I just wanted to let you know, if you hear any bullshit that any of our guys are dealing, it isn't so. We just advised all of our brothers that dealing was a sure way to find them on the outside looking up, if you know what I mean. We've been working hard to keep this bunch clean and don't need any bullshit. I'm telling you this, since if any of your folks are holding, they need to leave or ditch it. The law is watching and we are going to be a hundred percent clean, period." "Good deal, Shorty. I don't think anyone is holding, but I'll pass the word. You might want to clue Hap, he's still a brother, you know." "Done did it, Steve. It was my job to let him know earlier today. He knows. I wanted to tell you cause you're kinda like the leader of your bunch. Have a good time, enjoy us." Shorty gave me a slap on the back then went back into the bar. The bar can only hold about a hundred, so there is always a large spill over outside. They had begun serving some of the food that used to be served at the Crab Shack that had recently closed, so a lot of independents were now coming here for a snack and beer. While standing with Kathy and Mercy, observing the gathering, a smiling creature came up grabbed me in a hug. It was Stormy, the mute biker that had been part of Hap's group. He began signing rapidly, making me feel pretty stupid. Mercy said, "He's saying he's missed you, Steve. He wants to live where Hap does. He's not sure how to do it." I was confused and asked, "What do you mean he wants to live where Hap does?" Sandy and Mandy, two girls who used signing daily, walked over and began signing with Stormy. While they carried on their hand conversation, Sandy gave a running commentary of what was being talked about. "Stormy says he wants to live with other people like Hap does, but doesn't know how to earn a living. He's always been a wrench (mechanic) for the club, but he doesn't have a lot of formal training. He says he has money saved up to go to a school, but he can't find one that can teach with signing. He says other groups that can sign know that he isn't stupid or retarded, he just can't speak." Mercy had disappeared and came back with Shawna. She told Shawna, "Stormy wants a regular job. You know what he can do, so do you have enough work to keep him busy?" Shawna said, "Hey, Stormy, come work with me and see if you like it. Charlie might even be able to use you out at Jan's and Del's. I'll bet we can find a place for you. You do know you can't wear your colors at work, don't you?" Stormy was nodding his head vigorously, since Shawna was an old friend and understood that Stormy could hear well and understood, but just couldn't speak. Charlie had wandered up to the group and said, "Stormy, if you want to move out to the park with Hap, Steve's old trailer is available right now. The guy who had been renting it bought a trailer that had come available closer to where his girlfriend lives." Stormy grinned and signed to all of us. Sandy interpreted, "He's asking if he can move tonight or should he wait until tomorrow." Stormy's eagerness got a laugh from all of us. I leaned toward Stormy and asked softly in his ear, "Are you having trouble here? Are you in trouble?" He stood back and smiled shaking his head to indicate no. He signed and Sandy said, "He just wants the same happiness that Hap has and he thinks he can have it if he lives and works with us." Mercy said, "If he wants to come home with us, he can stay with us until he has the chance to get the little trailer from Abe. If Abe's already rented his, Star and DeDe may have their little one available. There's always one of the small trailers available." Mark and Caroline had joined our group and Mark said, "Betty's little trailer where I used to live is available. That has a hell of a workshop with it, too. It might be something for him. His problem will be Betty and Shirley mothering him to death." I said, "Perhaps Stormy needs some mothering to get back involved with regular society." Stormy was grinning and signed to Sandy. She interpreted, "He says he's going to get his bedroll. It's probably all of his clothes and the few personal possessions he has." Stormy had left on his bike and was back within ten minutes with the front and back of his bike loaded like a packhorse. He obviously had a lot more than a simple bedroll. We had planned on taking a longer ride, but considering we were going to bring Stormy home with us, we decided that a ride back home would be the right thing to do. Stormy spent a few minutes going around to some of his fellow bikers. He came back to me with Shorty. Shorty said, "So you're gonna take Stormy in, huh? He's wanted to go live with Hap, but didn't know how to ask. We're going to miss him. Besides his ability to fix bikes, the man is solid, always doing the right thing and always trying to keep the guys in line. Enjoy, Stormy, come see us soon. Remember, you're forever a brother." Stormy was just grinning and nodding his head in agreement. We loaded up and headed back to Tampa, but not running more than sixty in deference to Stormy hauling all of his stuff. When we got to the house, Mercy showed him a room to take his stuff into and told him to come out to have a beer with everyone. A few minutes later, Stormy came out without his vest/colors, wearing an S&S T-shirt. He had a big grin on his face and began shaking hands with everyone. Sandy sort of hung with him to translate for a while. Bob came to the patio and had a hand conversation with Stormy. Sandy said that Bob was surprised that Stormy could hear but not talk. The two men seemed to hit it off and Stormy sat next to Bob for the rest of the evening. Sue asked me, "So I'm not the only person that brings strays home, huh?" I told her how Stormy came to come home with us. She just smiled and hugged me to her side. She said, "I hope we never change. Helping people progress in life is really a good thing." As it got late, everyone began leaving for their homes. Sue, Mercy, Kathy, Juanita, and I began picking up and straightening up the patio for the next morning. Stormy was right there with us washing the tables and straightening chairs. He even took the broom from Juanita and quickly finished the floors. I had Stormy put his bike in my big shed. He was very pleased to have it secure. When the big coffeepot was ready for tomorrow, we went inside and headed for bed. Stormy took a magazine from a living room coffee table and headed to his room. When we were all in bed, Mercy said, "That was nice of you to let him come home with us. He really seemed eager to begin living here. Hap was happy to have him as well." Sue said, "Did you see how Bob and Stormy got along? They seemed to enjoy each other." It was Kathy that probably made the most sense, "Stormy has had to be a loner with his only friends, fellow bikers. In all the years I've known him, he's never had a steady girlfriend, or even any really close friends. He's always just done what anyone told him to do. This is a breakaway moment for him. This is his way of really declaring his independence." There was some gentle kissing and hugging, but we quickly fell asleep, enjoying our closeness. ------- Editing: Primary Pepere' Continuity Sagacious Helicopter and Legal "Rotorhead" Special last time through: Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 58 Chuck Life was settling down all around. I was just doing the usual office work with no flying everywhere on an almost daily basis for a change. John Scott seemed to have settled down in DC and was enjoying his job again. I had the flying lessons and was checked out in the new Citation X but had no reason to go anywhere. The charter company used it once for a quick trip to San Diego and back, but Lisa took that one. She said it was great to have an aircraft that could fly that far, that fast, and that high, as she was able to get over the tops of some tall cumulus clouds that would normally cause a bumpy ride or cause her to go around them. While sitting back in my downtown office, John called to ask me if I would be interested in a trip to Omaha. He said he had a task force there, working along with Bureau task force, trying to get all of the information necessary for the prosecution of the men still in federal holding cells in DC. "What do you want me to do there, John?" John said, "I thought you could help the men there stimulate some of the witnesses we've uncovered. I think we need to define whether they are whistleblowers or guilty associates trying to cover their tracks. You've always done well with interrogations, so go up there and work them over. Take your new man Nightfox with you for a good guy/bad guy routine. Your man, Bud Anderson and your old sidekick, Blake, are up there too, so it will be like old home week. You'll be there in support of Bureau people, so help them out all you can." "I'll go up in the morning, John. There is also some unfinished business in Salt Lake City that needs attending to. The station chief up there did a hell of a job when we were hiding those escapees. I need to go by there and buy him a nice meal and say thanks. I'll work with Omaha a day or two then go up to Salt Lake." "I'm glad you take care of the guys you work with, Chuck," John said. "That means a lot to them. We can send out commendations and letters all day long, but nothing says thanks more than a personal pat on the back and a good free meal." John gave me a word of caution, "The Pentagon has a group of investigators out there that are more in the way than a help. It's been reported that every time the interrogations get close to some solid information, the Pentagon boys screw up the witness. They're either stupid investigators or are sly about concealing what they want to conceal. We also have some intelligence concerning the company that hired the imported muscle in the first place. It seems they are importing some more muscle, even with all of the federal men around there. Just a heads up, Chuck, but watch your back." "Sounds like there's more to be found under some rocks, John," I said, while thinking through what he had been telling me. "I'll give you a call if we come up with anything. Make sure the Director knows I'm going to be out there." John chuckled, "That's who asked for you to go there. He'd steal you in a heartbeat if he could. Thanks for helping all of us out, Chuck. Be careful." After talking to John, I called DeDe to make sure the Citation would be ready in the morning, then called Nightfox to advise him we were going to Omaha and out to Salt Lake. Sam asked me, "You're going to make me do something I've put off doing for years. Can you take me to wherever it is you buy your clothes? I need dress clothes if I'm going to hang around with you. I can't hang around in jeans while you're in one of your expensive suits or sport coats. Hell, even your sport coats put most other men to shame." I thought for a second and said, "How about I swing by where you are and pick you up. I'll call my special fashion assistant and have her meet us. She'll help out and we'll get you fixed up. I've trashed a couple of suits, several pairs of slacks, and my favorite sport coat once again, so I need to do some shopping as well. Where are you?" "Home, your house. Maria is working, so I usually stay here or the patio during the day and watch training videos. I've been doing the online testing after each video and I think I've done well so far. I'll be ready to go when you get here." I called my fashion consultant, Metarie, "Hey, Metarie, want to go shopping? I have a friend that needs a whole wardrobe like you did for me. I need some stuff too, but you are the one to give a guy a good look. Do you have time to do that this afternoon?" Metarie laughed her beautiful laugh and said, "I'd love to. I'm bored to death at work today. You know who would be a help if you would let her?" "Who's that Metarie?" "Brandy. Between her and Tiani, they are the best-dressed girls at the office. Your other three are good dressers, but Brandy and Tiani are really fashion conscious." "Well, if you can let them off, bring them along. Tell them they will be shopping for Sam. Sam is a new cohort of mine, Metarie. You probably met him at the open house. He's also a new deputy that I drag around the country." "Well, Chuck," Metarie said, "Meet us at the warehouse in forty-five minutes to an hour. We'll fix up your new guy." I picked up Sam at home, making sure he was ready to try on clothes. He had on a pair of Dockers and dress shoes, so he was ready to do some serious shopping. "Sam, do you usually use a belt or shoulder holster? Whichever it is, you need to have it with you to try on clothes. Just pull your shirt out if you wear a belt holster or put on a light jacket if you wear a shoulder rig. You need to make sure the clothes don't bulge where your piece is." Sam put on a bigger shirt with the tail out of his pants. He said, "You're right about making sure of the fit. I've always used the telltale bulge as a way to know who was packing and who wasn't. This is the smart way to do it." When we pulled up to the warehouse, I saw both Metarie's Mercedes and Brandy's new Cadillac Escalade. It seems everyone in the house has been buying cars that will haul more people at a time. Brandy usually drove her little Saturn, but when she took everyone to work, she drove the Escalade. Inside the warehouse, I re-introduced Sam to Metarie. Tiani was bouncing around, wanting to get to some serious shopping. In just a few minutes, the three women, along with a saleswoman from the store, had a huge cart loaded down with suits, sport coats, and slacks. The ladies were pulling various shirts out to wear with suits and sport coats and were pushing Sam toward the fitting rooms so he could get his clothes sized up. The poor guy must have tried on over a dozen pair of pants, from at least six suits, and over a half dozen pair of slacks. The tailor marked up the parts and jackets, making note of where Nightfox wore his gun. He only had to exchange a few items to get the right fit. While he was busy, I pulled a few pair of slacks, a couple of suits, and a couple of sport coats for myself. I took Sam away from the shopping frenzy and had him try on a couple of pairs of shoes. He said to me, "I saw the prices of the stuff here. I'm going to make a pretty big dent in my savings account." I told Sam, "Those are the manufacturer's recommended prices, Sam. The prices they charge are less than half of what those tags say. Just wait, you'll be pleased." When we were at the register to pay for our clothes, after the tailor had marked up our jackets and slacks, Sam was astounded that he was paying a third of what he had thought it would cost him. The warehouse owner, who now knew me, said to Sam, "You've come with one of my good customers. Thank you for shopping with us and please recommend us to others." The owner handed Sam a large selection of ties and a dozen pair of socks to go with the suits and shoes he had purchased. Sam tried to pay for them, but the shop owner refused saying, "Everyone gets a gift from my store. You bought a large amount of clothing; you get a large gift." Sam saw the suitcases that were displayed on top of the racks and asked, "I need a nice suitcase to hold these clothes when I travel. Can you pick out one for me to buy? I need something that will hold three or four days of clothes." The owner pulled down a leather fold up garment bag that would easily hold a couple of suits and a sport coat. That would be perfect for three days to a week on the road. I told Sam, "When you get stuck out too long, you can always have your clothes cleaned at the hotel at night. It's a great way to get along with a smaller bag." The owner had been taking his time with us and not leaving us as he usually did. He told us to step back to the fitting room area and two of his tailors began bringing clothes out for Sam and I to try on. The tailors had altered all of our purchases while we had been paying and talking ... How can you not love a place like that? Metarie, Brandy, and Tiani were all smiles at having helped us get new clothes. They had each picked out at least one nice business suit for themselves. Metarie bought a couple pair of nice heels too, so her day was complete. Sam and I went home and the three ladies left to go back to work. At home, the housekeeper, Maria, took our new shirts to wash and iron and went to hang up our new clothes. Sam was staying in one of the apartments on the second floor when he wasn't at Maria's trailer park home. Sam asked me, "When we travel, do you always take your personal weapon? How about your tactical weapons?" "Always have your personal weapon with a couple of spare magazines. As far as the tactical weapons, you and I need to keep them at hand, as we never know when we will need them. The service doesn't give us much notice most times. They have people watching us that know where we are all the time. I don't know who watches us around here, but I can assure you they do. They are here to make sure we're alright, so I'm not concerned about it." Sam said, "I'll bet whoever they report to are surprised I've actually hooked up with a woman, Maria. She'll be unhappy that I'm going out of town, but we've talked about it and she knows that it's my job. She says that she'll support me at whatever job I have. And you know what? I believe her. She is really a genuine and sincere lady. Her kids are great too." "Sounds serious, Sam?" Nightfox said, "I am, but she said we have to wait before we make a public commitment to each other. She says she wants me to be sure she is the one I want and she wants to make sure I am the one for her. I think she's the one, Chuck, but I'll be patient and see how it works out." We spent a little while cleaning our tactical weapons. I had a larger suitcase than Sam did since I have the 308, the collapsible MP5, plus the .50 caliber. We checked our ammo supply and put our cases away for the trip tomorrow. Sam took off to meet Maria when she came home from work. I decided to go to the patio to see Steve and family. The first person I saw when I entered the patio was Bonita. She grabbed me and pulled me into the living room, where she was using the back half of the room as her personal music studio. She picked up her acoustic guitar to show me some of the techniques that I had taught her. The little girl was playing some very decent blues with her tiny fingers. She was really proud, saying, "It took me a week to finally be able to get that neat sound when you pull the string down with your left hand. I'm going to learn to play like you and Lisa so we can all play lead." I commented, "You know, I think I need to have you playing an electric a little more. You're really showing a lot of aptitude for the guitar." Bonita looked at me funny, "Is aptitude a good thing?" With a laugh I said, "It means you are showing the ability to learn." "Okay then, I have an aptitude. The mommas will all say I have an aptitude for an attitude." Bonita was laughing as I left her with her guitar and went back to the patio. Mercy came out and sat with me, "You're going somewhere tomorrow and I want you to use your gift while you are there working. You know you can find out a lot more from someone if you use what's in his mind to ask him more questions. Work smarter, Chuck, use your gift." "You're right, Mercy, I do need to use whatever means I have on this one. Something's wrong with this case. I'm really not comfortable with it and I am very apprehensive for some reason." Mercy was nodding her head, "I know, I can feel it in you and I feel your uncertainty. There's danger, but there's mostly deception. Look into everyone you meet to find out if they are really who they appear to be. You're more like my mother than I am and can listen to someone easier than I can. Use your gift Chuck, look into people, look beyond where you are, anticipate what you feel." This time it was me nodding, "This gift is a wonderful thing, but it is so strange. Every time I use it, it seems to get bigger, more intuitive. Lately, I'm hearing things from people I talk to without even trying to listen. Normal stuff usually goes unheard, but anything extreme is amplified and I hear really good stuff or really bad stuff. When we were holding those men on the boat, I could hear the two professionals trying to think up ways to get loose. I could hear their plans to escape even when they go to court. I can feel their murderous attitude and to what extremes they will go. It was very disconcerting in the beginning, but as time went by, I used it against them and was able to anticipate each of their futile attempts to try to escape." "That's what I mean, Chuck," Mercy said. "Listen to them, feel them and the situation so you have a warning." Steve came in the door of the patio and gave Mercy a hug and kiss. As he went through to the kitchen, Juanita and Kathy met him with more hugs and kisses. There soon was a stampede of young feet that crowded around their dad, as they all spoke at once to tell him what they had done today. As the kids began to go in different directions, Sue came from her office and gave Steve a loving hug and kiss. We were sitting with a beer when Tiny and John Truant came into the patio. John said, "We just received two high density seating modules for the 737. One module is a group of eighteen seats, three rows of six seats with an aisle in the middle. The other module is similar to standard first class and has eight seats, two rows of two seats on each side of an aisle. We'll see how that works out and if we need more of either module, we'll order them." Steve said, "With this increased flexibility, we should have the 737 in the air daily. Phil put together a sales presentation for local businesses. His men are going to spread the word." It was Tiny's turn, "I talked to the leasing company and they are not in a good cash flow position. They offered us the aircraft at very good price. I think we might buy it, but I'll let them give us a better price before we commit. If they can unload this one aircraft, they will be out of hot water, so we may be able to make a very good deal." I mentioned to Tiny, "You better check with Ben to make sure I can spend that much. Half a 737 is a lot of money." Tiny said, "Actually, we'll do this a little different. We'll put this on a lease purchase with our bank so we can write off all of the cost as we go. The only increase in cost is the sales tax on the lease. That's a lot of money, but it will be worth it so we don't use up our cash reserves." "I don't understand all of that, Tiny," so I asked him. "Who's going to lend us the money for the lease?" "One of the investment portfolios Ben has. It's a great low risk investment, so it fits right in with the fund's strategy. If you guys begin to look shaky, the fund can always force you to buy the aircraft or find a new lessor." Steve said to me, "Don't try to understand what they do with money, Chuck. Just let them do what they do and forget about it. Tiny's a master at manipulating dollars for us. When he gets his head together with Ben, I'm sure the treasury department sends out investigators just to follow them around. They do make them nervous, that's for sure." Tiny said, "The IRS is auditing S&S Truck Bodies right now. They've spent two weeks looking for something that isn't there. The bad part is that I have had to have one of my better men, plus a representative from the accounting firm, with them the whole time. I invited them to put an office at the shop so they could audit the books when the accounting firm is doing it. That way they could both do it at the same time. Their problem is that we pay our taxes on time every quarter, but we also re-file for changes and refunds if any numbers change. They have actually found that we've overpaid again." Steve looked at me and said, "That's why you have Ben. He's responsible for keeping you straight on taxes. He now has a whole group of attorneys and accountants to handle the offshore accounts as well as the 401K plans he's managing. Between S&S and Quality clothing, that's a lot of money to manage. He's doing a good job, because he's making the money grow even in this economy." Sam, Maria, and her kids all came into the patio at that moment. The kids took off to be with the other children, Maria headed toward the kitchen and the other women, and Sam walked over to us. Tiny was behind the bar and put some ice in a tall glass and poured Sam some iced tea. He said, "Nice that you don't drink up our beer, Sam, it leaves more for us." Sam asked me, "What time are we leaving in the morning? If we leave too early, I'll stay at the house instead of at Maria's." "Just get your stuff together and I'll bring it with me when I pick you up in the morning. It's always good to spend your time with a special person." Steve jumped in, "Or persons." Sam said, "One's enough. I don't know how you and Chuck do it, Steve. I'm surprised he can even remember all their names; I have a hard time remembering them all." Over the next half-hour, the patio filled with people and my ladies showed up. The five were chattering about Sam's and my shopping expedition. Sue kept saying that she needed me to take Steve to the warehouse so he could get some nice clothes. Just before the food was brought to the tables, Lisa came in and greeted everyone before giving me a special hug and kiss. Lisa told me, "There's a front moving into the plains tonight and tomorrow. You're going to have some bad weather when you get to Omaha. If you were to leave tonight, you could beat that front. You might get into a little rain, but nothing like what the maps show is coming." I thought about it and motioned to Sam. When he came over, I said, "What do you think, Sam, want to leave tonight and beat some bad weather or would you rather wait and get beat up trying to fly through the soup?" Sam's eyes got big and he said, "Man, I hate it when airplanes act like they're on a trampoline. Ah," Sam looked toward Maria and the kids, "I'd really like to stay tonight, but maybe we should get an early start." I nodded, "Let's eat. You and I can say our goodbyes and head out to the airpark." My ladies and I were seated across from some of the others from the trailer park. The older gentleman who worked out at the R&D department, Mark Robbins, and his wife, Caroline, were seated across from me. He sort of had a harem, as his wife was on one side of him, and two other ladies were on the other. They obviously had a close relationship, but probably not like Steve's or mine. Mark said to me, "So you're off to Omaha?" I nodded and said, "We're going tonight to beat some weather." Mark said, "Yeah, I was thinking of flying up that way too, but I'll put it off a week or so to wait out the weather. The little things I fly are more like kites than big aircraft." I said, "I've seen you flying a lot of the light sports out at the airpark. Don't you fly any of the conventional aircraft?" "Can't," Mark answered. "I can't really pass a physical to fly more than a light sport. That's fine though, when Caroline and I fly up to Cheyenne, we're not in a big hurry anyway. It gives us a chance to do some sightseeing." I said, "You know you're always welcome to fly with me when I'm going most places. Keep in touch with DeDe or Lisa. They know where I'm at most of the time." Caroline nudged Mark and said, "Go ahead, ask him. You're not going to get there for the kids' birthday if you don't go commercial or ask for a ride." She looked at me and said, "Both his grandkids, Suzy and Dan, have their birthday next week. Mark was planning on spending their birthdays with them." With a smile I asked, "Can you two get ready real quick? We'll be leaving from the airpark in about an hour or so." Mark had a big grin on his face, "We sure can. We're already packed. I'll give my kid, Gene, a call to let him and his wife, Sandy, know we're on the way. How long do you think it will take to get there?" "I think that even with a little headwind, it should take about two hours to get to Omaha," I said trying to remember distances. Mark dropped his fork and with wide eyes he asked, "Holy smokes, what are you flying?" Lisa laughed, "He's flying a really hot Citation X. That thing will do over six hundred miles an hour. Darn near the speed of sound. That reminds me, I better call out to the airpark so the plane is ready for you now instead of in the morning." Caroline said, "You better call Gene and ask him if he can come and get you. He might be able to borrow that twin that his friend has. If he left now, he would just about meet us. What is it, about four hundred fifty miles from Cheyenne?" Mark nodded and said, "You could just about over fly the runway in Omaha and let us out in Cheyenne. I don't think that runway there would be long enough for your Citation though." I said, "Find out, Mark. It wouldn't be that big a deal to drop you off then fly into Omaha. We're going early to beat the weather." Mark used his cell phone and called his son. He asked the question about the length of runway and repeated what the answer was, "Right at twelve thousand feet huh? I don't remember it being that long. They did? Why?" There was a pause, then Mark was nodding his head, "I guess that's a good reason. How do they maintain the security they need when they're testing? They shut the whole field down? That kind of cramps the other pilots out there, doesn't it? They do, that's nice of that company to do that. Okay, we'll be there in about three and half hours. Should be about nine your time. See you then, Son." Mark looked up and said, "The company my son works for and the Air Force lengthened the runway so they could test their new aircraft on another runway. They needed an alternate for security purposes. He says the contractor even hires some of the local pilots and mechanics as security people so they will maintain secrecy. Pretty smart to make them all part of it." We finished eating and I gave my family kisses before heading to the house to get my bags. Our Maria wanted to go with me to help me pack. Taiying and Sing wanted to help and then the Fab Five all thought they should be along to direct. Lisa said she would ride with me out to the airpark. Sam said his goodbyes to Maria and the kids and drove his cart back to the house, following the ladies in two other carts. The entire group didn't take long to pick out clothes and fill my travel bag. I told them I was going to Salt Lake City for a day so they made sure I had two nice suits along with slacks and sport coats. I made sure my vest and extra magazines were in my tall, thin, toy suitcase, along with my travel case for the big fifty. After lots of hugs and kisses, the eight women I was leaving behind stood at the door and waved as Lisa and I left with Sam. At the airpark, the Citation was sitting out in front of the hangar, with a night mechanic doing a preflight inspection. While I went to help him, Lisa filed a flight plan for me inside the charter office. When she came back out, she said, "I filed straight through to Cheyenne with a return to Omaha for you. According to the stats, the little airport in Cheyenne now has all the modern instrumentation. It looks like the contractor out there has put a lot of money into it, either that or the Air Force has. I had to give your fed ID number to get permission to land out there. They are under some kind of security watch." Mark and Caroline pulled up and carried their two small bags toward the aircraft. I grabbed the two bags and brought them and the couple on board. I told them they had their pick of seats and stowed their bags with Sam's and mine in the rear of the compartment. Back outside, I had Sam go ahead and board, then I held Lisa for a kiss. She said, "You be careful. I'm hearing a lot of apprehension and that's not like you. If you need me, talk to me. I'm always aware of you and listen for you. Use your gift, Chuck, make it work for you." With a final kiss, I boarded the Citation and pulled the door closed and locked it. When I turned around, I saw Sam and Caroline seated together, and when I looked into the cockpit, Mark was strapped into the right seat looking over the startup checklist. "Gonna get some right seat time?" I asked Mark, as I sat down in the seat and buckled up. I said, "Okay, you might as well earn your seat, begin at the top." We went through the startup procedures, spooling up the two engines. When we were finished checking gauges, I released the brake, applied some power to get moving, while I called ground control. In a couple of minutes, we were hurtling down the runway and climbing out at a steep angle heading for forty-two thousand feet on a heading of roughly three hundred degrees. I punched in all the data, and checked the instruments and cabin indicators. With everything in the green, we were on our way. I flipped on the cabin intercom and said, "How about some coffee, Sam. Make it just like on the other aircraft." In a few minutes, Sam and Caroline brought a couple cups of coffee to the cockpit. Sam said, "This is one nice aircraft, Chuck. You should feel how comfortable those seats are. Those folks really took care of you on this one." Mark asked, "Who took care of you, Chuck? The Marshal's Service?" "Something like that, Mark. This is kind of a reward for doing my job. Some reward, huh? I needed something a little faster than what I was flying, and we didn't have the waiver for single pilots on the Lears yet. This is a real treat for me and those that will need to use it." We touched down in Cheyenne a little over three hours later. There was absolutely no headwind where we were flying, so we made even better time than I had anticipated. When we parked in front of the operations building in Cheyenne, a taller model of Mark, a pretty lady, and two kids came running up to the aircraft. As soon as I opened the door and let down the stairs, the two kids rushed onto the aircraft and embraced Mark and Caroline. They were excitedly calling them grandma and grandpa. When I followed them off the plane, Mark introduced Sam and me to his family. His son, Gene, was all smiles and wanted to check out the cockpit of the plane. I said, "Go ahead, check it out. From what I hear, you might play with toys a lot more advanced than this one." Gene and Sandy both climbed into the cockpit and were sitting in the seats, looking over the array of instruments, gauges, and switches. I had left the electronics on so the cockpit area was lit up by the displays. When they climbed down, Gene said, "That is one nice aircraft. Everything looks brand new." "It is," I said. "The aircraft was just delivered a couple of weeks ago. It's part of one of my jobs, so I get to use it whenever I travel now." "Wow," Sandy said, "That makes life easier, doesn't it? So you're going to Omaha now. You don't have time to come home for a snack?" Gene said, "The company I work for has its headquarters over there. They are involved in several different kinds of projects for the military. This division is just for aircraft, but over there, they make several types of vehicles and some armament." I told Mark, "I'm going to Salt Lake City in a couple of days. Do you want me to call you when I leave there? You could ride back to Tampa with me." Mark said, "Call me. We'll see if everyone has had their fill of Caroline and me. We might stay a couple of weeks though, as I haven't visited much lately. Besides, Caroline needs to practice being a grandma, she really enjoys it." Sam climbed back inside while I did a quick outside check of the aircraft. I was soon rocketing down the runway for the short flight to Omaha. As soon as we landed, I could tell we had been expected. A couple of Deputy Marshals met us when I parked. One said, "We'll tow your aircraft into the federal hangar where we can watch it. John Scott told us to put a guard on it. Do you want us to refuel it for you?" "If John is so concerned about the aircraft, I'll refuel it. Have the fuel truck pull over so we can get that done now." The big truck pulled up to the aircraft, and between the driver and I, we fueled the aircraft and prepared it to be towed. I cleaned up the inside so it would be ready when we needed it, then shut and locked the aircraft. Sam and I decided to leave our tactical cases on board the aircraft so we didn't have to worry about their security in a hotel. If things were that strange, a locked aircraft was best. Sam and I were taken to a nearby hotel as all of the various companies' headquarters were near the airport. We checked in at the hotel, but were asked to put our bags in our rooms and come back down to speak with the Bureau and Deputy Marshal teams. When Sam and I sat down at a big table in the bar, the first person I noticed was a familiar face. He was sitting with the Bureau agents, but the last time I had seen him was out west at the Secret Service operations base. He noticed my recognition and nodded at Sam and me. The team leader for the Bureau said, "We're making decent progress so far, but the only way we seem to get ahead is to restrict access of the witnesses from the Pentagon team. I won't say they are sabotaging our investigation, but they seem to scare off the witnesses before they reveal everything they know. Johnson, we need you to keep those guys away from us until we're done with them. Do anything you can to divert them. I want to go back over a couple of witnesses that I think know a lot more than what they were giving us." I asked, "So what exact information are you looking for?" The leader said, "That's easy. We've found e-mails and correspondence where they are illegally trying to acquire technology owned by other companies. We've found a trail of various break-ins at companies throughout the U.S. that hold technologies that could primarily enhance the products manufactured by Martinson Industries. Martinson hired the men you captured in Tampa. The other investigation is to find out what kinds of deals have been made with Pentagon contracting people. It's starting to appear that Martinson has bribed several of the purchasing staff, and has even some military procurement people in hand. It's our job to identify all involved and to what extent they have accepted incentives. I'll give you the file to read in the morning. We're keeping our findings under lock and key at the Bureau right now." I asked, "What have you done with the depositions and recorded confessions I took while I interrogated the prisoners from Tampa?" "What depositions, what confessions?" The leader asked. I flipped open my phone and called John. "John, the Bureau team leader and our team leader have not seen any of the depositions and recorded confessions I sent to you and Justice. How come?" There was a long pause, "I don't know, Chuck. Justice said they had distributed them. I know I personally sent copies to our team leader out there. He should have them." Bud Anderson was the Marshal Service team leader and was sitting with us, "Bud, John said he sent you a big package with all of the information I'm talking about." Bud said, "I haven't seen it. When did he send it?" "John, something is really rotten here. Bud said he hasn't received it. When did you send it and where did you send it to?" John said, "I sent it through courier direct to the office. It was marked only "Secret," but it should be easy to track. Let me begin tracking it from here right now. I'll call you back." I looked at the Bureau team leader, then at Bud, "You two need to tighten up big time. Everything you do should be under guard 24/7 from now on. Everything should be reclassified to at least secret and if necessary we'll upgrade it to top secret. That way only eyes of those assigned will have access." Turning to Bud, "Who is the special prosecutor on the case. Are they here?" Bud pointed across the room to a table with two guys and two women. Bud said, "The guy with the bald head is the lead prosecutor and the other four are additional attorneys from Justice. They were all hand picked by the AG. They seem to be good people, sincere, and they really make sure we dot all the "Is" and cross all the "Ts." They don't want any of the evidence withheld because of the manner we obtained it." I said, "I'm going to go meet them. I'll be right back." When I went up to the table, the bald guy rose and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Johnson. I'm Brad Henry. This is Connie Mechum, Dorothy Tagert, and Robert Kemp. We all work in Justice and have been working on nothing but boring Supreme Court interrogatories. This is kind of a bonus for us." "You know me?" I asked. "Sure do," Brad Henry said. "The first time I made up a file on you was a while back when you were involved in a raid in El Paso, the one with the four buildings and the death of an ACLU watchdog attorney and that little girl. You were hurt pretty bad on that one. When that one was investigated, it was my job to put together a dossier on you to evaluate whether you used tactics that were too strong. I determined that you could have even used more heavy-handed tactics than you did at the time, but you were under a time constraint. Several others in Justice had you pegged as a maverick, a wild man, killing people when they didn't need to be killed. I investigated your captures for an entire year and found you to be good at your job and that you didn't go beyond what was necessary to get the job done." "You recognized me though, so you must have had a lot of pictures of me." "The most memorable picture was of you standing in front of the blown-up car in Oklahoma. You had just saved several people and had been shot in a short gun battle." "I didn't know anyone had taken a picture of me. Okay, so what I need to know is whether you four are keeping an eye on your materials. It seems we need to keep any materials and evidence under lock and key." Brad said, "We leave our briefcases in the vault at the Bureau every night. Since so much of this is sensitive, I thought that would be best. So why are you here? Are we in any danger?" I told them, "You folks should be fine. Just stay away from dark alleys, if you know what I mean. If you need to go anywhere or do anything, use a deputy to go with you. That's what they're for. There are several around, so always get one to accompany you." Robert Kemp said, "I know a little of you, Mr. Johnson. You were with a Special Ops team when I was assigned near you. My company had to go out to try to find you and clean out the group that attacked you. By the time my team reached the community you were attacked at, the attackers were gone. We never did have any more trouble in that area again. It must have been a one time thing." He smiled and said, "Semper Fi." "Ooorah! Glad to know another who went to help us out over there. Anyway, just be watchful and pay attention to your surroundings." The whole time I was talking to the group, I was trying to listen to what they were thinking. Brad was sincere and too much in awe of what he thought I might represent. Robert knew me, or at least my type, and respected me enough to listen to my caution. The two girls were quiet, but I could feel their apprehension, and with one, fear of me as she thought of the violence I represented. All in all, they were being straight up with me. I rejoined my group and offered, "I think they are trying to do a good job with us. They trust the Bureau enough to leave their work there in the vault at night." While we sat having some late night iced tea and coffee, I tried to get a handle on the men sitting at the big table. Only a couple of men had a beer in front of them. None had any liquor so I guessed they all felt as if they were on duty. This job had them scared for some reason. Listening to them, I could tell they were all waiting for something. They all were anticipating something they feared was going to happen. They didn't know what it was, but felt it should be feared. A little later, I suggested, "Let's get to bed. I want to get to the offices and get a thorough briefing with everyone present. Let's see if we can set it up with the Pentagon people as well? I'll go tell the Special Prosecutors from Justice so we can all participate." Sam and I went to our rooms for the night. When I walked into my room, I had the feeling I wasn't alone. Editing: Primary Pepere' Continuity Sagacious Helicopter and Legal "Rotorhead" Special last time through: Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 59 Chuck Sam and I had just come up to our rooms and I had just entered mine. Something was spooking me and somehow, I felt as if I was not alone. Standing motionless, I listened and looked around. This was the third floor, so the small balcony outside the window was not an exit. I concentrated on what I felt and quietly pulled my Glock, not making any fast movements. The only area of the room I couldn't see from where I stood was just on the other side of the bathroom, where the bed was, and inside the bathroom, where the stool was. Using the room mirror across from the bed, I could not see anything there. I leaned into the bathroom and saw that the shower curtain was pulled across the tub. Not wanting to deal with the possibility of someone hiding behind the curtain yet, I quietly shut the bathroom door. Taking a couple steps across the room, I slowly pulled the curtain back to look out on the balcony. I tested the door and it was locked from the inside. I checked to see how much room there was under the bed and found it too small for anyone to hide there. Going back to the bathroom, I slowly opened the door, and using a hanger from the closet area, I pushed the curtain back while pointing my Glock. No one was there. Strange, I still felt like someone was there. Sam and I had gotten connecting rooms, so I knocked on the door on my side and opened it. Sam opened his side and said, "Man, it's weird, I felt like someone was in my room. I looked everywhere. Even the door to the balcony is locked from the inside." I said, "How about us going back downstairs for a drink. We'll have a nightcap and come back to bed." Sam caught on to what I wanted and we left the room. Outside in the hallway, we kept quiet until we were in the lobby. I said, "I'm calling the Bureau for a tracking team. There has to be something in the room to give us both the heebie jeebies. That's really strange, I would have sworn there was someone there. It was almost like I could smell him." Sam and I looked at each other and we took off through the stairway door, running up the stairs. Sam was faster than I was, and was through the third floor door, heading toward our rooms with his Glock drawn, before I exited the staircase. Just as we near our rooms, my door opened and a guy peeked out the door. Sam hollered and the door slammed shut. Sam used his card on his door and I tried to open my door. As Sam rushed into his room, I heard a door slam shut then a loud crash as Sam obviously smashed the door down. My door opened again and two guys tried to run out. I was standing there with my Glock locked onto them. They looked around quickly trying to find a way out but Sam was behind them. I said, "Both of you, put your hands straight up over your head. Hold them high. If you know me, you know I'll shoot. Sam, get the set of shackles from the front pocket of my bag." I kept my Glock on the two as they stood in the hallway. I moved from between them and the elevator and staircase, to the other side of them to give me a better view. "Sam, watch them. I'll cuff them and shake them down. Watch close to make sure they don't try anything." I chained up both men then pushed them into my room. I told Sam, "They may have someone watching for them, so chain up the two doors right now and let me get some Bureau people up here." When I emptied the pockets of the first guy, I knew I was dealing with professionals. He didn't have anything but a driver's license and credit card. No other identifying cards. He didn't have a gun, but he did have a pocket full of bugs and cameras. His small tool kit contained the minimum of tools and several small pieces of double sided tape, along with a tube of Super Glue. The second guy didn't have any bugs and cameras, but did have a toolkit and two guns, one on his ankle and one at his waist. I wonder why he didn't have one out when they were trying to get away. He also only had a driver's license and a credit card. I asked Sam, "How about we take them out the back door and just dump them in the dumpster. If we don't do the whole thing right now, we won't get much sleep." Sam nodded, "I'm with you, Boss, should we question them a little first?" "Why bother, Sam, they're not gonna tell us anything. No one will really miss them and if we do it now, maybe their boss will come looking for them. If we have to miss some sleep, we should get something out of it." The guy that didn't have a gun was acting nervous. I said to him, "If you have something you want to contribute to this conversation, speak up." The other guy said, "Keep your mouth shut, don't say anything. It'll be a lot worse if you say something. You'll be next if you say anything." "Next what?" I asked. "Next to go into the dumpster? "Sam, get some of those rubber gloves from my suitcase. The same pocket the chains were in." When he was digging in the pocket, I said, "Bring that big Kbar with you. We'll need to cut them up a little for the rats to get at them." Sam came back with the rubber gloves and the Kbar. This had both of the men staring with big eyes. The guy who had the guns tried to kick at Sam, but had forgotten he was shackled and fell on his face. This totally unhinged the other guy. He started sobbing, "I'm not a killer like he is, I'm not like that. They only hired me to bug the rooms, that's all." I asked, "How do you know he's a killer?" "I saw him do a guy that was one of the whistleblowers. The others think he was guilty of something and ran. I know where he's buried." "Shut the fuck up, you dumb wimp. If I don't kill you, someone else will, now shut up." Sam put his foot on the guy's back and asked him, "And how are you planning on killing this guy." Sam looked down at the guy and said, "You are dead meat, Buddy. I'd say your own will do you in anyway, so we could be doing you and them a favor." Using my cell, I called the local Bureau office. I told them that I had one prisoner and one dead guy. They needed to send a cleanup crew to my room. The guy on the floor squirmed under the weight Sam was applying to his back, "You can't just kill me. Henry will tell them you did me." Sam asked, "Who's Henry. This other guy could expire waiting for the cleanup crew." The other chained man said, "Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you what you need to know. I know all of the people that are involved in this. Please don't kill me." Every time the guy on the floor began to say something, Sam pushed hard on his back to keep him quiet. When there was a knock on the door, Sam and I both stiffened. I motioned for him to stand behind the wall of the bathroom and watch the door through the mirror. I moved to the side of the door and yelled, "Who is it?" Thump, thump, thump, thump. Four silenced rounds came through the door with one of them catching the still standing electronics tech in the arm. He yelled and fell to the floor. The door then burst open, and two men holding short combat rifles with noise suppressors on them, began coming in. I didn't hesitate and began firing at the two men's heads. Sam came around the wall, but the two men were already falling by then. I motioned Sam back and peeked around the doorway from a low angle looking in both directions. No one else was there. At that moment, the door to the stairwell burst open and two deputies came through with their guns drawn. When they saw me holding my Glock on them, they stopped and put their hands up yelling, "We're Deputy Marshals, don't shoot." Four more men came through the stairwell door with guns drawn and stopped when they saw the first two with their hands up. The first through the door this time yelled, "FBI, put your weapon down." I ducked back into the door and yelled back, "Prove it, all of you haul your badges and ID out and stand where I can see you." The man said, "Who the fuck are you? I told you we're the FBI and you better throw your weapon out and or you'll find out who we are." Bud Anderson came running from down the hall where another stairway was. He yelled, "Stop, don't start shooting. That's Chuck Johnson's room. He'll take you all on if try something." I could hear the noise of Bud's running stop and he said as if he were breathing hard, "Chuck, hold your fire, I think I know all these guys. Okay, all of you pull your IDs for me to check. You two deputies, help me out. Check these guys for me." That's when things went sour. There was the sound of a handgun going off, then several more shots. I looked around and saw Bud on the floor firing from on his back. Both of the other two deputies were down, but all but one of the supposed FBI men were down. Just as the man was bringing his pistol to bear on Bud, I shot him twice in the body, then remembering, put one in the head as he was slammed into the wall from the first two rounds. Bud rolled off the floor, clutching his chest, and crawled to one of the deputies. I ran out into the hall and kicked the guns away from the downed supposed FBI men, seeing that all had head wounds, then knelt beside the other deputy. He was groaning, but alive. He had taken a round in his thigh that was bleeding pretty well. I ripped open his pants to see a long rip across the outer skin. I finished ripping his pants up and used it to wrap the wound until he could get medical treatment. I asked Bud, "You okay? Where's Jim?" Bud looked at me and said, "I'm okay. Being hit in the chest at that range hurts like hell. This guy is just knocked out. He'll be okay. It doesn't look like he has any more wounds." I asked again, "Where's Jim?" "Oh yeah, he's downstairs holding a couple of guys that said they were FBI, but no one knew them, so we got the drop on them and he's holding them, along with a couple of real agents. This place is crawling with all kinds of law, along with some that are trying to act like they are too." Bud produced a tactical radio and called, "Jim, when the cleanup crew gets here, have them come to the third floor. You might want to turn those guys over to whoever you have there and come up. Chuck has a mess up here." I heard the radio crackle, "I'll be right up. We have a dozen agents and deputies here right now." Nightfox stuck his head out of the door and said, "I got a guy with an arm wound in here. Make sure someone calls for a medic." Bud used his radio and contacted someone downstairs and asked them to call for paramedics and to have them come to the third floor. While he was doing that, the deputy that had been knocked unconscious was waking up. He looked around and said, "Who do I have to thank for keeping me alive?" Bud and I pointed at each other, making the guy smile. "Who cares, thank you both? I thought those guys were the real deal when they followed us up from the lobby. What the fuck is going on here anyway? What's the big deal about a couple of companies fighting over a government bid?" Bud said, "The bids in question are probably worth several billion dollars. There are people who will kill for a lot less than that." When the bell from the elevator dinged, I was kneeling, pointing my Glock at the opening door. Two paramedics, four guys in white coveralls with FBI CSI logos, and two guys in suits, came out of the doors but stopped as they saw me holding my weapon on them. One guy in a suit said while pulling his badge case, "FBI, CSI guys, and a couple of paramedics you ordered." I waved them to come and said, "Two wounded, one here and the other in my room. You CSI guys need to call for help. I need an electronics guy to checkout every room we're occupying right now. That needs to be done right now. You agents, get help and close this hotel down. No one leaves, no one else comes in unless they are already registered. You can make a decision on every person that comes in that says they have reservations. Any you let in need to be told that once inside, no one leaves until we're done clearing this place." Jim Blake came through the stairwell door. He looked around and pointed to the front of Bud's sport coat, "Hey Dude, you have moths working on your jacket." "Forty-five caliber moths," Bud answered. "Had to use some heavy duty bug spray to get rid of them too." "You alright, Bro?" Jim asked looking concerned. "I'll have to see if I have any cracked ribs, but I'm okay." I looked into the room to see that Sam had the electronics guy sitting on the bed and the guy who had the guns was sitting in a chair. I said to the electronics guy, "Henry, a paramedic will look at your arm in a couple of minutes. There will be an FBI agent here soon to take you to a lock up. I suggest you make a statement about everything you know as soon as you're downtown. That means everything, Henry. The agents will mark your statements that you were trying to help the investigation. It should go easier on you." The other guy was slumped in the seat. I said, "You were right. Someone was going to take care of you. They almost made it too. Want to tell me how many guys there are for us to catch or kill? You might live a few minutes longer that way." The man looked up at me and just shook his head. I could see he was ready to crack. If we were to get him in an interrogation room quick, he would be telling a good story. I stepped out the door and motioned to Jim. When he came to me, I asked, "Do you know these guys well enough to get this guy into an interrogation room real quick? He's ready to talk and I think a new face asking him will push him over." "No problem, Boss. We're down with the Bureau and the Marshal Service here. They don't have a huge office, but they do have some decent facilities. I'll get it started and be right back." I had to ask to find out, so I asked Henry, the electronics tech, "Where were you hiding when I came in before? I felt you in here, but didn't see you. Where were you?" The man looked up at me, then back at the chair the other man was sitting in. The chair was sitting in the corner of the room with very little space behind it. He said, "I used that, and he probably used the same place in the other room." I would never let a chair hide a space in a hotel room again. Thinking I could make some of our work easier, "How many bugs and cameras did you put in here?" The man looked up at me and said, "There are four bugs and three cameras in each room." "Where do you receive the transmission?" The man colored, not blushing, but you could tell he was really uncomfortable. He was looking away from me so I grabbed his face, "Where, where do you send the transmissions?" In a voice that I almost missed, he said, "Four twenty-two." I said to Nightfox, "Stay here and watch them." Moving out of the room, I saw that two deputies were helping the CSI men and said, "Come with me, hurry." I went through the stairwell door and quickly went up the two short flights of stairs. Thinking of where room four twenty-two would be, I knew to turn right out of the door as it would be one door farther down the hall than my door had been. As we came out of the stairwell door, the door to room four twenty-two was opening. I had my Glock out and was plastered against the wall. The two deputies saw me, pulled their weapons, and snuggled against the other wall. A head poked out and looked around but didn't see us against the wall. Two guys came out of the room, each carrying a couple of cases. I yelled, "Stop right where you are. You are under arrest." The two men stopped, but didn't drop the cases. One of the deputies asked, "Can I shoot them now?" The cases dropped and both men put their hands up. One yelled, "Don't shoot, we're not armed. Stop, don't shoot." One of the deputies was clearing the room while the other one put the two men against the wall and began shaking them down. The two deputies cuffed the two before having them sit down with their backs against the wall. I asked the two, "When you saw everything happening in my room, why didn't you leave then? Why did you wait?" One of the men said, "We called in and they said to stay as we wouldn't get caught. When we thought Henry told you, we decided to leave anyway." "How many rooms are you monitoring?" I asked this, thinking they wouldn't tell me. The other guy said, "Every room the law is staying in." One of my deputies asked, "How did you know who was law enforcement?" The two men looked at each other and the one shrugged his shoulders. The other said, "There are a couple of desk guys that are in on it. They are paid to tell us. When we have out of town visitors, people from other companies, or from DC and the Pentagon, we do their rooms too. It's our job." I asked, "What do you do with the video and voice recordings?" "We give them to our boss. He's in charge of security for Martinson. The other guy who used to be in charge is in trouble down in Tampa right now. They hired a couple of toughs to do some work down there and all of them got caught." "How many people are in the security department for Martinson?" One of the deputies asked. "A couple of hundred. The division we call "close security" is only about fifty. We do the secret stuff." The man's partner elbowed the other. The man who had been speaking said, "What's the diff. They got us cold, Man. I'm not taking any heat for those idiots; you know how I feel about some of the shit they do." The other man just looked at him then us and hung his head. One of the deputies said, "You'll both get a chance to talk all you want in just a few minutes. What's the name of your current boss out at Martinson?" The talkative man said, "Kurt North. His telephone number is on my cell if you need it." I asked, "Where would this Kurt North be right now?" "He might be home, but he's probably in the office as we have so many men out here tonight. He's probably waiting by his phone for an update." I asked the deputies, "Use your radio and get either Bureau people or deputies out to Martinson to arrest Kurt North. Don't let him get away and don't let him destroy any evidence in his office." "Watch these guys and I'll have a couple of men come up to help you get these guys downstairs. Keep a lookout; I don't know how many more bad guys are around right now. Stay in the hall though, so you're not surprised." I used the stairs to go to the third floor. An older, heavier set man was directing traffic while another guy who looked to also be in charge was by the elevator. As soon as I stepped out of the stairwell, the older, heavier set guy said, "Chuck Johnson. I should have known you were involved with bodies all over the place." "Hey, Ned, how are you. I didn't know you were in Omaha." The big man said, "The Bureau got tired of me under the Director's foot and gave me this place to retire. The Director didn't tell me you were coming, but I should have figured on it." He turned toward the elevators and hollered, "Hey, Frank, come here and meet your boss, or at least one of them." Ned turned back to me and said, "This is Frank Sterling, the Marshal Service Station Chief." Frank said, "We know each other. We met in Salt Lake City when he was working on a case up there. How're you doing, Chuck?" I said, "We have a couple of electronics guys upstairs with a couple of deputies. I had them call into the station to have some of Ned's guys go out to Martinson and apprehend a guy called Kurt North, the current head of security." Ned said, "Yeah, North is the new guy out there. The other guy got into some kind of problem down south. I don't know exactly what, but it was in Tampa. You know anything about that, Chuck?" "We have a lot to discuss, Ned. Looks like none of us are going to get a lot of sleep tonight so we'll probably have time to tell it. Ned, check on your men to make sure they are on their way to Martinson." Ned used his cell phone and was talking into it as he was using his Blackberry, writing a note to someone. Frank talked to a couple of deputies and told them to go help the deputies on the fourth floor to get the prisoners down town to be interrogated. It was after one in the morning before most of mess was cleaned up. Deputies and agents had gone from the top floor working their way down to clear floors of anyone not in a room. The orders were to check and search everyone before they left the hotel in the morning. The local and state police had been called to help secure the hotel. I had alerted the special prosecutor's staff about what had happened and what was being done to keep the investigation secure. Brad Henry, their leader, woke up his people and had them go to the federal building to witness interrogations. The man was doing a good job of keeping everything right. Nightfox came up to me and said, "You know, this has been a long day already. Why do I have the feeling it's going to be a lot longer?" I said, "Crash if you want, but I should go downtown for the questioning. We'll both have a shitload of reports to file. Did you even fire your weapon?" "No need, you cleaned up the doorway, and you were the only one able to help with the hall stuff. I'm just along to watch your back and duck. I'll stay with you, though. That way I can sleep when you do." We had a deputy take us to the combined federal offices downtown. The building housed all of the branches, including the federal courts. Inside the FBI offices, we were shown where the interrogation rooms were. The electronics tech was in one, the armed guy was in another, and the two electronic techs that had come from the fourth floor room were together in a third. While we were listening to the two guys talking rapidly of what they knew, a man was brought into the fourth interrogation room and shackled to the table. An FBI agent came up to us and said, "That's Kurt North. We caught him as he was getting into his car out at Martinson. We have a whole box of CDs the guy was trying to take from there." I smiled and said, "Let me speak to the guy for a few minutes. He may talk real fast if I do. I'll Mirandize him again before I start, that way it will be on tape." Sam came with me when we went into the room. I pulled my card from my badge wallet and told Mr. North that he was under arrest then read him his rights. After asking him and him confirming he understood his rights, I said, "I was the man who captured your former boss and the two goons down in Tampa. I have hours and hours of video confessions from them including some that included your name. Would you like to start at the beginning and tell me your side of this? They seem to think a lot of the activities are your idea." "No way, I'm not the one who set all this up. I'm not the one who's hired all these guys and dressed them up like FBI. No way. I'm not going down for that. I'll tell you. Get someone to record this and I'll tell you." I smiled and stepped out of the room and asked if they had a portable recording unit. They did and handed me a large briefcase. Back in the room I opened the briefcase and assembled the camera and plugged in the recording unit. When the setup was complete, I said, "I've read you your rights and you understand that what you will tell me can and will be used against you?" "I understand my rights. I'm not the person that set all this up. Carter Martinson, the grandson of the company's founder, started all this stuff. He wasn't content to get his share of business. He wanted it all and wanted to buy out our competitors. He figured he could steal technology from whomever he wanted. When he couldn't get any of us regular guys to do it, he began hiring some rough guys to do the dirty work. I think he even hired a guy to off the man who tried to tell the FBI what was going on. Get me some paper and I'll list the names of all the out of town men Carter calls his specialists." The man talked constantly for nearly two hours while filling out page after page of names of men and what they were hired to do. He finished up saying, "I didn't authorize one person being hurt or tell anyone to steal anything from anyone. I was running with those video and voice recordings because they were in my office. I think those will even tell you I'm not guilty of anything." I told Kurt, "For right now, you will be held in the federal lockup. You should be in court tomorrow and the judge may allow you out on bail. Do yourself a favor and keep a low profile. I'm not saying to quit your job at Martinson, but don't let this Carter guy know where you are." I was listening to what Kurt had been thinking and knew he was telling the truth. The man was terrified and ashamed to have been involved in the recent dealings. Ned came into the room with an agent. The agent led Kurt out and Ned said, "Good job, Chuck. That is enough information for me to have agents out at Carter Martinson's place to arrest him right now. I'm sure he won't be as cooperative, but we have him named by every one of the men we've captured. The man won't see freedom ever again unless he skips bail or escapes." I said, "Make sure the prosecutors ask to keep the guy in jail as he definitely would be a flight risk. His company does export to a lot of foreign governments." "That's being done. Brad has his people making out briefs right now to get ready for court. He's got a good crew for this. I'm surprised Justice has sent us four competent people at the same time. They are all pretty good people." I looked at my watch and said, "Nightfox and I are going back to the hotel for a couple of hours sleep. You should do the same. Tell your people to call me if something comes up that I need to know about." Sam and I were taken back to the hotel. The CSI team leader said our rooms had been cleared, so we wouldn't be bothered. He said, "These guys had a couple million in gadgets installed. Some of the units installed out here are foreign. We'll have to take them apart to see if we can find out where they're from." Another CSI agent said, "The recording equipment is all German and Russian. The stuff has been modified to receive from the bugs. The unique part is that each recording device can receive from sixty-four devices at once. Very unique equipment." I told Sam, "It's four thirty right now. Let's sleep till seven then go back downtown to do our reports. We can use their equipment to get it done right away. We'll also be able to use some of the other reports for reference." I dropped my pants and took off my shirt and lay on the bed. ------- Editing: Primary Pepere' Continuity Sagacious Helicopter and Legal "Rotorhead" Special last time through: Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 60 Chuck A ringing phone brought me out of a deep sleep. When I picked it up, a recording told me that I had left a wakeup call for this time. Looking at my special black Rolex, I saw that it was seven. The Rolex always brought a smile to my face while I was still in the special dreamy state between slumber and being fully awake. The watch held some special memories for me, as the Hawaiian trip had solidified my thoughts of Lisa, and given me opportunity to become more entwined with Steve and his family. The watch was also special because it had been a gift from some special Irish friends. Friends I hoped to see again soon. No sooner had I hung up than phone rang again. It was Nightfox, and he said: "Just making sure you got a wakeup call. I'll see you downstairs in twenty." I did the triple S morning routine, and was waiting for the elevator, when Sam walked out of his room and came toward me. We went to the area where a free breakfast was being served and had some bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy. The food wasn't as good as on the patio, but it was good. While we were eating, my cell phone went off. "Johnson." John was on the other end and said, "You now have some DC elite dancing around this morning. Someone arrested the grandson of the Martinson Corporation, Carter Martinson. Do you know anything about that?" "John, the man will be in court this morning on charges of murder, espionage, theft, and criminal conspiracy. I didn't direct him to be arrested, but would have if I hadn't been beaten to it. Ask anyone that inquires why they are concerned and get a statement." "I can't do that with the politicos here. That isn't healthy, and I would prefer to keep my job." "Why do you want the hassle, you don't need that job, and I know you like living the good life on the beaches and on the water." "Johnson, don't tempt me, although I do like living here where I am. My family is happy here, and I do a service for my country in the job I'm doing. Just be careful out there and don't step on the wrong toes. Martinson has always been known for having tight security, so don't be surprised to find someone on your back." "No sweat, John, that's why I have a new man watching my back for me. Should I shoot them or warn them first." "Damn, don't be shooting anyone from Martinson. That would be a sure way to get us all in trouble." "John, we did that last night inside the hotel when we were in a firefight with some hired shooters. There's a total of six dead and all had Martinson employee cards." "Oh shit, this is not going well, is it? Does the Director know?" I said, "If he doesn't, he will as soon as he's in his office. Are you in your office yet or still at home?" "It's after eight here. Of course, I'm in my office. I don't lollygag around like you do." "Go get the reports from his office so you can catch up on the evidence. There are probably several hundred pages of interrogations and evidence there by now." "Were you up all night getting this evidence?" John asked this accusingly. "Yep, went to bed near five for a couple of hours. I'll sleep more later, but it's mop up time now. Listen, my breakfast is getting cold. I'll call you later." This time I hung up on him. After eating, I said, "Let's go into the station and see if we can file our reports, then we'll go see the Bureau boys to see what the deal is with them. Come on, we'll see if we can either get a car or catch a ride." The front of the hotel had people being searched as they left. The people who objected were taken back inside and held until Bureau people could talk with them before forcing them to be searched. A deputy came up to us and said, "I'm here to be your taxi driver. The Chief has me on nanny duty for you." As soon as we entered the station, Frank Sterling came up to us. He said, "You probably only got a couple of hours sleep last night too, huh? If you need to use a desk to write your reports, use any of them." He waved his hand at multiple open desks with PC monitors on them. Sam and I sat at computers and went through the incidents we were involved in, as well as the interrogations. It took well over an hour before we were done and handed in the printed reports. The station clerk asked if I saved the file. I told her I had, and she found that Sam had saved his as well. I said, "I've already transmitted mine to Tampa, so if you would, send Sam's too." She said, "Oh yeah, you're the Charles Johnson who reviews these, aren't you?" Nodding, I said, "That's Chuck to you, Ma'am. Charles is kind of formal for a guy like me." She smiled and went to work on the reports. Frank Sterling, the Station Chief took us to the break room and poured us some coffee and offered us some law enforcement donuts. Sam and I each had a special donut with our coffee while listening to Frank's summary of what all had transpired since the major incidents last night. I said, "You know those techs that were recording had to be the ones that alerted someone that the other two men were caught. They haven't mentioned that yet, so we need to get that out of them so we have the right order of what happened and who was notified by whom." Frank said, "We'll get them all back into the interrogation rooms and work on them. I'll get a good time line on all of the activities. The fake agents that followed everyone upstairs fooled our guys last night. If they were fooled, a lot of others may be fooled as well. Both the Bureau and my station have been warned to ask for ID every time they meet someone they don't know. Hope you don't get mad at being stopped." "No problem, Frank. That way I'll know we're all being careful." After pausing, I asked, "What can I do for you? Sam and I are good for leg duty if you need something done." "Got it all covered, Chuck. Ned and I have over a hundred visiting agents and deputies helping on this now. We both have mixed the teams to help us coordinate our activities. The place that's going to need help is DC. A lot of shit is rolling downhill toward them. Hope they can handle it." I had to nod in agreement to that statement. "How about I talk to the prosecutors for a few minutes before court this morning? Do you know where they might be?" Frank smiled, "They are all lying down on cots in the ready room. You probably should wake them up so they can clean up for court. The two women will probably want to brush their hair." Sam and I went into the ready room and woke the four prosecutors. As they sat up and stretched, the lead man said, "This is some kind of case. I'll bet the boss is going to have a shit fit over all the high profile people we're messing with." The two girls excused themselves and headed for the bathroom. The two guys were given razors and toothbrushes and told there was shaving cream and toothpaste in the locker room. They headed that way. I sent the clerk into the women's locker room with toothbrushes and asked the clerk to give them whatever supplies they might need. A half-hour later, the four looked presentable and began gathering all their documents to go before a federal judge. The prosecutors played a game for the arraignments. They had only one prisoner in the courtroom at a time. The judge asked the prosecutors for every man accused, "Are you sure you have evidence to convict this person without wasting the government's money?" Each time one of the prosecutors would say, "Yes, Your Honor, we have sufficient evidence to present and convict today if you want to convene a trial." A single law firm had been hired for all of the prisoners, including the Martinson kid. The prosecutors were grinning, as it became even more evident there was a conspiracy of some sort. All of the prisoners were remanded to custody since they were all considered flight risks. The judge specified that the prisoners were not to be removed from this building unless he personally authorized the transfer. After court, the prosecutors, the Marshal Station Chief, and the Bureau Special Agent got together to discuss what needed to be accomplished during the interrogations. They did say the law firm was leaving an attorney at the building to attempt to be present for all questioning. Ned said, "Hell, we have four interrogation rooms and there's only one legal eagle. We'll bring Martinson and three others up, so we should be able to get information from at least one of them. The lawyer will stick with the money, so we should be able to question the others freely unless they specifically ask for an attorney." The prosecutors all looked at each other and said, "One of us will try to be in each of the interrogation rooms so there is no coercing the prisoners." I told the group, "Sam and I are going to take a short nap, then head up to Salt Lake City. We'll give you a call to see if you need us back here. I think you have all of the big loose ends tied up right now. Keep me posted through my Tampa office." Before we left, I asked Ned if he had heard how Bud and Jim were. Ned said, "Bud's a tough one. He's going to have sore ribs, but nothing's broken. No cuts or tears on him either. Jim's solid, no problem there. He says he needs to get this done and back to Las Vegas for some important business of some kind." I laughed and said, "He met his match. The girl of his dreams walked into his world a couple of weeks ago and he is lovestruck. Now that he knows what a little heaven is, he wants more." Sam, Ned, and I laughed at that, then shook hands all around and headed back to hotel for a nap. Sam and I agreed to meet at noon to head out to the airport. Our nanny deputy said he would be in the lobby waiting for us. Two hours later, Sam and I were refreshed and heading out to the airport. When we entered the hangar where my Citation was parked, we were challenged by the deputies guarding the place. We had to show our IDs and badges and have them confirmed before they let us proceed to the bird. While we waited for confirmation, I called Wanda. She said she had received all of the reports and asked about Bud. I assured her he was all right, then she said, "You may get a call. I was notified to advise you to keep an open channel." There was a pause, then she added, "Mark, from out at the trailer park, asked for your cell number. He said he had forgotten to record it on his phone. Should I give it to him?" "Sure, Wanda, he rode out here with us. I have his personal cell number. I can give him a call. He's in Cheyenne visiting with his son and his family." Wanda said, "I heard you gave him and Caroline a ride. That was nice of you." "Easy to do, Wanda." She said, "Remember to keep a channel open on the required frequency. Call me if you need anything." I did a very thorough preflight of the aircraft to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. The plane had been fueled, so I had the aircraft towed outside then began the startup. While waiting for the gauges to get stabilize, I filed a flight plan for Salt Lake City, set my radio receivers for the frequencies I wanted, punched up the information on the instrumentation, and waited for clearance for taxi and takeoff. While we were cueing up to takeoff, three successive airplanes landed that were all government owned, including an Air Force air transport. I suppose some big shots were coming to town to muddy the waters. Glad we were getting out of there. The Salt Lake City visit was pleasant. The Station Chief was very happy to have special congratulations. He asked that all of his off-duty men join us for dinner and set up a reservation to handle everyone. During the dinner, I made a special announcement and congratulated the Chief and all of the men who had helped during a key period of the investigation of escapees that were moving back into the U.S. from Canada. Their ability to keep the prisoners out of sight may have saved many lives, as they could have been involved in any number of other terrorist activities. Sam and I stayed overnight and slept soundly as we were both worn out. In the morning, I checked in with the Omaha operation and found that they were in good shape since the federal judge had issued a directive all the way to DC Justice regarding his order to remand all of the prisoners. All out of town non-Bureau or Marshal Service personnel were forbidden contact with the prisoners. The only people who could interview them were law enforcement, prosecutors, and their own legal counsel. We sat back at the breakfast table, sipping our coffee and talking about what was next. I called Mark to see what his schedule would be. Mark said, "Caroline and I don't want to go home yet, but could you stop by here for a while. You can enjoy a meal and I'm sure my son has room for you to stay the night if you want. He wants to talk to you about something you may want to hear. Would you mind stopping in?" "Not at all, Mark. We'll be in about eleven this morning. Will that be all right with your son?" "Sure, my kid is on a sort of forced vacation right now, so he has plenty of time." "See you soon, Mark." When I filed for Cheyenne, I was redirected to call it in personally. I had to give my agency security number for permission to land. I gave my U.S. Marshal security travel number and was granted permission to land. They must be doing something special in Cheyenne to have security that tight. As soon as we set down in Cheyenne, a follow-me truck pulled in front of us and led us to the operations building. There, a handful of Air Force Air Police came out to the aircraft to greet me. A young lieutenant asked for our IDs, then took them to his vehicle to call us in. When he came back he said, "Why did you use a different number to land this time? The number you gave us before wasn't from the Marshal Service, it was a Secret Service number." I looked at the man hard trying to remember the sequence of events that happened when we left Tampa and filed to come in here. "Let me see that number to see if it matches what I have." The man produced a pad of paper with a number written on it. I compared it to my Secret Service agent number and they matched. I told the officer, "Must have just forgotten which branch I was traveling for. I often have to mix travel for both agencies." He nodded and told me, "You have people waiting for you in operations. If you prefer, I can detail someone to watch your aircraft." "Thanks, Lieutenant, I appreciate the courtesy." As Nightfox and I walked to the operations building, I said, "I think I know who our watchdog is at home. Pretty sneaky. I wonder how long they were watching me before they approached me for that first mission." Sam said, "They watched me for three years in the Corps before they offered me the position. They had someone on my own team that I didn't know was observing me. They were smart too, since they waited until it was time for me to re-up before they approached me. They did tell me later who had been watching me. The Service is pretty thorough, you know." Inside operations, Mark's whole family was there to greet us. Mark, Caroline, Gene, his wife Sandy, and their two kids were all happy to see us. Sandy said, "Come on, we'll get back to the house and have a tall cold glass of iced tea so you men can talk." At the house, Gene got right down to business. "My job with Martinson is in question because of some kind espionage the company was involved in. They must have been trying to get information from other companies and now my division is locked up tight. As you saw, even our little airport is locked up tight with security. So far, the company is paying me, but I can't take a chance they will continue. I have a family." Mark said, "I know you're involved out at the airpark, Chuck. You may even be one of the owners the way DeDe talks about you. Gene needs a job that he can depend on. He's an aeronautical engineer with emphasis on electronics. If you could let him submit an application to S&S, he could be of value with R&D or at the airpark. The man is rated to fly almost anything and is a great instructor. Sandy here is also an instructor, so you would be getting two for one. Do you think you could help get him an application?" "This is easy," I smiled. "Let me call Ruth at S&S to see what we need to do. You know Steve, Mark; he always wants a shot at talent." I called Ruth and she asked for Gene's personal e-mail address. She said, "I'll send him our forms and he can fill them out and e-mail them back. As soon as we have them, I'll run him by Steve." Gene gave Ruth his e-mail address, then he was transferred to someone else who was obviously knowledgeable about the equipment Gene had been working with. He then talked to another person who he answered with some technical questions. He paused, listened then said, "Thank you, I hope to meet you soon. Here's Chuck." When I took the phone, John Truant said, "If this man checks out, he's hired. Steve and Wes are looking for someone with his qualifications for here and in the R&D center. Steve is going to go nuts until he has him locked up. Tell him to just sit tight and begin thinking about working in warmer weather." Sandy had gone to their PC and was printing out the forms that had been sent. She handed them to Gene who began filling them out by hand while Sandy was doing something with the forms on the PC. Her fingers were flying on the keyboard then she printed out the forms and circled some boxes. She came over to the table where Gene was working and said, "I've filled in all the areas they asked for except the few that are circled. You may not be able to give them straight answers because it's going to be classified. Write what you want. I'll check what I filled in with what you've written to make sure it's correct." Gene rolled his eyes and began scribbling on the forms. Sandy went back to the PC and compared what she had typed to what Gene had handwritten. Gene brought the forms back to Sandy and she entered the last of the data. She made up an e-mail that contained Gene's school transcripts, his work resume, his security clearance information, and his pilot information. She included her own information, with a short note, and sent it all. The whole time we were having the conversation and the frantic filling out of the application, Sam and Caroline were playing with the kids. Sam had gone outside to play catch with Gene's son, while Caroline was doing something creative with Gene's daughter. After lunch, we were talking about the various areas of the airpark and how busy the place was when my cell phone rang. About the same time, Gene's home phone rang. I answered, "Johnson." It was Steve. "Chuck, what do you think of Mark's son? What do you feel? I'd really like to hire him." I paused and searched Gene's and Sandy's consciousness and found nothing but purity and happiness mostly. There was a cloud over their lives at this minute, but nothing serious. "Good, Steve. I'd say you should do something if you've checked out everything." Steve said, "Pure as the wind driven snow. Are you still at his house with Mark and Caroline?" "I am." Steve said hurriedly, "Can you bring him here so I can do a sales job on him?" "Sure Steve, why don't you ask him to come yourself?" He said, "I think Ruth is on another line doing that right now. If he isn't still on the phone, I'll talk to him though." Gene was sitting, looking a little dazed, when I said, "Steve Sharp of S&S Industries wants to talk to you. Can you talk to him?" Gene smiled and reached for my cell. They talked for a few minutes, then he handed the phone back to me. Steve asked me again, "You don't mind bringing him back here do you?" "Not at all, Steve. It may take them some time to put some clothes together, but I'll let you know when we'll be there." Sandy had left the room and was calling Caroline to come help. Gene grinned at me and his dad, saying, "I guess you and I might be working with each other, Dad. Steve Sharp just said he wants me to work with the R&D group as well as with Wes out at the airpark." Mark was smiling and said, "That's really good. I'll be proud to work under you, Son. I'm not doing that much out there anyway. Most of what I do is to suggest stuff and help try to put it together." "Sure, Dad," Gene said. "Like those wind generators you've been playing with for the last twenty years. You've already told me you have reduced the size of them by over sixty percent." Gene stood, "I better help Sandy get us ready. Chuck, tell Sam to get my kid in so he can get a bath to go flying. All you have to say is we're taking your jet and he'll be flying in here." In just a half-hour, luggage began appearing at the rear door. Caroline and Mark had changed and were ready to go and the two kids were finishing getting dressed. Gene came in and said, "A neighbor is coming to get a key to watch the house for us. She should be here any second. If you need fuel, you'll have to call out to the airfield. Those guys don't offer anymore. Since the Air Force took over, the place is very cold and not near as fun as it used to be. That will probably change with the problems that are going on, but it sure isn't fun while it's happening." Gene helped me call out to the airfield to order a fuel truck with Jet A. They said it would be standing by the aircraft when I arrived. After the neighbor came by, we loaded up and drove across a field to the airfield. A security truck intercepted us and accompanied us to the Citation. I loaded the people and began fueling the aircraft. Gene had taken his car to a secure area and walked back. I radioed a flight plan and was given quick access to the runway. In minutes, we were racing down the runway on the way to Tampa. Gene had sat up front with me at Mark's suggestion. Gene had experience in a smaller Citations and a Learjet, so he was excited to see a Citation X in operation. With a strong tailwind, we were traveling over the ground near the speed of sound if you believed the GPS. (The ground speed of the airplane was the total of the air speed, about 600 miles per hour, plus the tailwind of about 75 miles per hour, adding up to pretty close to 700 miles per hour, which was the speed of sound through air at our altitude.) After being in the air a while, I had Sam use the Sat phone and call the airfield to let them know we were a little over an hour out. I asked him to have DeDe or whoever was on the desk to call Steve and tell him. We were on glidepath to land when my cell phone announced I had a text message. I couldn't look at it then, so I ignored it and proceeded to land. When we parked in front of the hangar the aircraft was assigned to, Steve, Ruth, Tiny, and Wes were there to meet us. My goodness, Gene's kid must be a good catch to warrant the welcoming committee. As soon as we were out of the aircraft, Mark introduced everyone and the group, except for Nightfox, went into the charter office. I looked at my text message and it said, "Call local contact for instructions." I guess that was Wanda, so I called her. When I called and asked her what was up, she said, "You have a job but nothing to do right this minute. I'll brief you and Sam at home about five, be there." It was only four, so I made sure the aircraft was taken care of and Sam and I took our bags from the plane. The house was quiet when we got home, so we put our stuff away. I did tell Sam that we might have somewhere to go when Wanda got home. At five minutes to five, Wanda came in and sat at the counter. She said, "Look over this file while I tell you what's up. The service wants you to pick up a package in Maine and take it to Colorado. Check out the size and weight of the package, and you'll get the drift. This shouldn't be a big deal, but they specifically wanted you to handle this." The package was seventy inches, by forty inches, by twenty-inches. The weight was a hundred eighty pounds. I looked up and said, "I wonder if this is live or dead weight?" Wanda said, "I don't know. All I know is that you are needed to pick it up and take it to Colorado. There is no specific time but you need to call up there to let them know when you will be there. You should use your Secret Service flight number when you file so you will be escorted on the ground." Wanda slipped a note across the counter that said, "There may be changes as to the quantity of packages when you arrive." I looked up at her and she said, "I have a package in my car for you. Let's get it and put it in your car now." We went to Wanda's Chrysler where she had a dozen sets of cuffs and a dozen sets of chains. She also had a cooler that described, "If you need to tranquilize the package or packages, use this. It's non-lethal and will make handling easier." I said quietly, "What the fuck, Wanda? What's this about?" "Don't know, Chuck, and I don't want to know. I'm just doing what I'm asked. When are you going?" I said, "No time like the present. I could use another pilot to spell me though. What do you think if I were to take Lisa?" Wanda did a double take at me and said, "Why her?" "She's a good pilot and it would give us some time to talk." Wanda looked down then back up at me. "Sure, I'll see if I can find her. She isn't flying today and is probably over on the patio." I told Sam what we were going to do and suggested we wear fatigues. He agreed, and we both changed. Lisa came bursting in the kitchen door and said, "Sure, I want to go flying. I'll put on my flight suit." Motioning Lisa to me, I softly said, "Why don't you put on fatigues like Sam and me." Lisa's head jerked up and there was a glimmer of fear, then recognition. She smiled and said, "It'll take but a minute to change and get a bag ready." That was the answer. Lisa was my local watchdog. They must have shit when we got together. This was uncanny though, as she was living at the nudie camp before she came to live with us. I would have to really think through that period of time to see how that all worked. I wonder if we were still an item. Did we both go beyond the planned observation to become interested in each other? But her relationship with Peaches is real, but then how did she get from Atlanta to Tampa. What brought her here? The three of us looked strange in our fatigues. Sam was taken back by Lisa's dress, but I said to him, "She's one of us, Sam. Since I know who she is, we'll use her." We were on our way to Maine in less than an hour. Sam was sitting in the jump seat behind the cockpit so I could explain what we were doing. I said, "If there are more than ten, we'll have to make two trips. We have chains for twelve, but I also brought a couple of rolls of duct tape to tape their mouths shut if we have to. We have some shots to give them if they give us trouble. These packages must be especially bad or we wouldn't be given the assignment." When we landed in Maine, we were escorted to an area at the end of the airfield. There was a small hangar there that we parked in front of with the aircraft door facing the hangar. With Lisa helping to refuel and Sam, armed with his small assault rifle, watching from inside, I went into the hangar to get my package or packages. A guy in fatigues greeted me warmly and showed me four men shackled to chairs in the middle of the hangar. Four men were watching them with rifles. The guy said, "These four are not nice people. We really want them alive for a while in order to interrogate them. Cuba is out right now, so we have to use our covert cells in Colorado. If you want, take one or all of the guards with you. Dump them there with the people who meet you and you're done. Be careful. These men were captured coming into the U.S. with over a thousand pounds of explosives. The CIA has been tracking them for a month and we picked them up at the border before immigration could get at them." "I'll take your guards with me and bring them back if you want. The extra eyes to watch these guys would be good." The guy said, "Tell you what. You'll be close, so just drop them at the base out there. I'll call and let them know your flight plan. Let's get them loaded and out of here." We took the men to the aircraft and seated them before the four men ran for their gear to ride with us. Nightfox said, "I hope these guys don't do anything. I can't shoot them in the air, so it'll get bloody real quick." One of the guards who had returned handed Nightfox a magazine for his assault rifle, "Here, rubber bullets. They hurt like hell, but generally don't draw blood and they won't penetrate the aircraft." The guy handed him a Glock magazine and said, "Same with these. But to be on the safe side, do you have that cooler of injectables?" The guards quickly injected the four prisoners and watched them get sleepy. Lisa and I filed our flight plan and went through spooling up and taking off. We were at about forty-thousand feet when the standby channel sounded off, "Eyes, Mouse." "Eyes," I answered. "Look to your left. Remember me? This is a different bird this time." I looked to see an F-18 off my left wing. The pilot gave me a salute and I keyed, "Looking good, Mouse. You need to get me a ride in one of those." He returned, "Ask, they might even have one of these for a one-legged dude like you. I'm going to ride with you along with the bird on the other side of you. We'll have to refuel in a bit, then we're going straight to the base when you reach your primary destination. We'll see you later for an early breakfast." Nightfox went to stay with the four guards watching the sleeping prisoners. I took the opportunity to say to Lisa, "You made a mistake. You used the Secret Service number for me to get into Cheyenne. When I landed using the Marshal Service number, they were all over me. You filed the flight plan, so you must be my local protector. Are we more than watcher and subject?" Lisa reached across to me and touched my arm, "A lot more than that. At first, I was just an observer. It was my job to watch your back when you were around here. I watched to make sure none of the unsavory types that the Service gets involved with came around. I'm supposed to get to know the subject. Well, Chuck, I got to know you too well. Now I want to just be close to you and not just your observer. I've already filed with the service to be released." I said, "We'll have to discuss that a little more later. I have a thousand questions to ask, but you may not be allowed to answer some. Have you known what kind of missions I've been sent on?" "Only when you were going to have a mission, so I could elevate my security observations. They don't divulge what missions another agent goes on. This branch of the service handles a lot of stuff the CIA hands off. Some of our jobs are not very pretty. I do know about your job out in Las Vegas. That was so big that it quickly spread through the service. You and Sam did a good job out there and probably saved several thousand people." We were quiet for a few minutes before Lisa said, "How about we get the shrink to talk to us for a few minutes. I've already talked to him about us, and he knows we're tight. I'm sure he's let our bosses know about us as well. They must not mind because no one has said anything." "Damn, Lisa. You've really become to mean a lot to me. You know, the love thing. I've even been fantasizing about us living our lives out together." Lisa turned to me, "We will, Buster. We will live our lives out together. Chuck, I love you like you'll never know, and want us to be a part of each other forever. Please, Chuck, this may have started out to be business, but it's become personal, very personal." I smiled at Lisa and said, "I know, I feel the same way. We'll do some more talking soon." About that time, we were descending to land in Colorado. I was busy for a few minutes and landed smoothly. We were directed to a special parking area and were met by a large van. Our guards checked out the people accepting the prisoners and helped the groggy men from our aircraft to the van. When the van was leaving, I called a fuel truck. When that was taken care of, I called over our secure radio, "Mother, Eyes." "Eyes, this is Mother, go ahead." "Instructions from our location." "Stay black, under five thousand feet or at tree top level. No need to radio for landing instructions. You are expected and will be tracked. Mother out." All I did was key the microphone twice. I shut down the transponder and filled an IFR plan out of there. It took a little over an hour to get to the remote field where we landed and were escorted to the usual hangar. Two carts met us this time. One had the same guy who usually talked to me. He said, "I want to look at this new bird you got. You're the talk of the Service. Now everyone wants their own Citation. You've started something." The guards that had accompanied us said goodbye and rode off in a cart. After the local contact had checked out the Citation, Sam, Lisa, and I rode back to the administration area with our man. Once inside the offices, Sam was ushered away, and Lisa and I were shown into a conference room. The man that entered the conference room was special somehow. He was dressed the same as everyone else in fatigues, but held himself a little differently than the others. He smiled at Lisa and me, then said, "You two have come a long way. Chuck, you have been a good addition to our group, and you, Lisa, have been a rock in the service since we solicited you. Now that you two have, and I don't have a better term for it, hooked up, I think we need to make you partners in some of the tasks you are assigned to do." Lisa and I looked at each other, wondering what the guy was talking about. "Both of you are important to our mission. That mission is to take care of special events that occur here in the U.S. that can't be handled by the CIA. You two will be assigned events that require your special abilities. Chuck, your new friend, Nightfox, will still be a part of your operation, but will now be an alternate backup to Lisa. There may even be times when you will need both of their expertise to accomplish the mission assigned." Lisa said, "I've applied to be released from the service. I think that Chuck and I have become more than just acquaintances and roommates, and now need to concentrate on where we will go from here." The man said, "I understand, Lisa, but I want you to stay within the service for a while to help Chuck and Sam. They are going to have some very unusual assignments coming up during the next few weeks that will require someone with your knowledge and ability. Please, consider it as helping Chuck. He is going to need you." Lisa looked at him then me, "Of course, if Chuck needs me, I'll be right there for him. I do want to separate from the service though, as we are planning to start a family. I don't need to be doing anything dangerous while I'm trying to make little Chuckies." With that, she giggled and looked at me. I could feel her love for me and hear her telling me, 'I love you, Chuck, please, let's just enjoy our lives together forever after.' The man said, "I respect that. Both of you are needed for this next one, so just relax and wait for the briefing. We'll get with you and give you the plan when it's time. Between now and then, enjoy life, enjoy the aircraft the service bought for you. Actually, they stole it from the manufacturer at a ridiculous sum, as a bribe for several military versions they put on order. You were worth it, Chuck, that Las Vegas job was worth ten times what that Citation is worth. You'll never know how much your country appreciates what you have done. You too, Lisa. Your observations of Chuck have helped us gain one of the best agents we've ever had. Now, both of you, go home and wait for your orders. The time is coming for some heavy action." The man shook our hands warmly and led us out to the cafeteria where Sam was waiting for us. We had a good meal and decided to head home, even though it was very late. Sam said, "I want to get home to my Maria. I'll make some strong coffee just for the two of you." In the big hangar, Lisa and I did a preflight inspection and had the bird spooled up and moving out of the hangar. A few hours later, we were descending through a lot of heavy weather. We landed in heavy showers and were waved directly into our normal hangar. There, we unloaded our luggage into an airport van and headed home. We let Sam out at Maria's trailer. He had called her and the door was open with a robed Maria, smiling, waiting for him. Lisa and I drove home and went inside. The bed was crammed with women. They were all sleeping, waiting for us. Lisa and I slid into the mix and were soon sound asleep. ------- ------- Chapter 61 Steve Life around the park and S&S is going very well. The family was busy getting the kids through their current school year so they could be free of most classes while on the coming sailing adventure. Chuck is busy with some kind of intense investigation out in Omaha that has him tied up for a while. Mercy is acting worried, so whatever Chuck is doing has her concerned. Lisa and Mercy have been seen huddled together, obviously discussing what they know Chuck is involved in. The newest member of our now big extended family has settled into Mark's old trailer. As was predicted by Sue and Kathy, Betty and Shirley are mothering Stormy, our silent friend. The ladies are dragging him to the patio for breakfast in the morning, as well as helping him keep the little trailer perfectly clean. Both Shirley and Betty are working with Sandy, Mandy, and Sue to learn to sign. Shawna convinced Stormy to come work with her, Sandy, and Mandy at the shop. He has taken to Shawna's custom bike building instantly and is a big help. When Shawna sent him to Ruth to sign up as an employee, she told me later that Stormy was so happy, he was almost in tears. Apparently, the one thing that Shawna has trouble with Stormy is getting him to leave at quitting time. He kept signing that he should work longer to earn all the money he is being paid. It took Sandy, Mandy, Shawna, and Ruth to finally convince him that he isn't expected to work longer than any of the others unless something needed to be done. Today I had taken care of all of my messages and mini-conferences and was enjoying lunch with Sue. She asked me, "How about running over to Chuck's boat to look at something? Mercy and I need to decide on a couple of things and we could use your opinion." "Sure," I said, "I need to look at a few things anyway. I think we're pretty much ready to make the trip, don't you think?" Sue smiled, "Yes, we are ready, but there is just one more thing." Because there was an overcast sky with the threat of rain, we skipped the gym and pool and went straight to the boats. Once on the big Magellan, Sue led me to the galley where the boat's first below deck floor plan was laid out on the big table. She took another thin sheet of the same physical size paper and laid it over the printed plan. I was trying to make out what she was showing me, when Mercy spoke up, "Sue's been talking to Sheila about the trip. Dewey may have to drop out once or twice to take care of business, and of course, we know how Chuck seems to be called away all of the time. The boat is plenty big enough for our three big families, especially if we use some of the crew's quarters for the kids." Sue spoke up then, "With very little modification, we can have three large master staterooms aft of the galley, dining area, and lounge, with the guest cabins forward. There's probably still enough room for the kids bunk rooms if we want. Dewey's kids will probably want to be with our kids anyway, so that will be easy. We've already planned on bunks for them." I asked the only question that could make a difference, "What does Chuck think about this?" Mercy said, "Lisa doesn't think he will care, as long as everyone has enough room. She said that Brandy and the girls all think it would be great to have us all together." "With the trip coming up so soon, how are you going to get this all done so fast?" I was scratching my head wondering about that one. Sue said, "I talked to the Magellan people and they can send a crew up to start on the project the next day. All we have to do is to give them the go ahead." I said, "I still think you need to ask Chuck and get his opinion. The other thing is; have you talked to Dewey about this?" Mercy said, "You should talk to Dewey and I will call Chuck. If he needs more information, he can come see it when he gets home again. He and Lisa had to go somewhere to deliver something." We then went up to the main salon to look around out on deck. I used my cell phone to call Dewey. "Hey, Dewey, how're you doin'?" "Great, Steve, getting excited about the trip?" Dewey asked. "That's what I called about, Dewey. I'm told you might have some business to take care of while we're gone, is that right?" "Yeah," Dewey said, gloomily. "Several things are coming to a head during the next couple of months that may require my personal attention. I thought if I did have to attend something, I could leave the family on the boat, go take care of business, and we could catch up to wherever you might be at the time." With a smile, I said, "I think our wives have discussed the problem and come up with an alternative. What would you think of all of us being on the same boat? There is plenty of room on the big Magellan, with some minor modifications. Sue has a plan for three large staterooms aft of the galley and lounge. From the looks of the plan she has, it looks possible. What do you think?" Dewey said, "That is a big boat and should be big enough for all of us. I know the kids would like it and the women would love to spend time with the other women. As far as that's concerned, I'd rather spend the time with you and Chuck anyway. We could split up the captain duties and this would give Chuck some more supervised training as well as his women that want to learn." I confirmed with Dewey, "So if we can get this done, you would rather us all sail in just one boat?" "I'd love to sail my boat through the canal then over to Europe, but business may not allow me to have that opportunity this year. Sue's idea is a good one. How does Chuck feel about it?" I told Dewey, "Mercy is checking with him now, but says that she knows he will like the idea." Dewey said, "Good; that will cut two weeks off going and coming because we won't have to do the canal thing. I was looking forward to working with Chuck during that time, but this is better, a lot better." "Okay, Dewey, I'll tell the ladies. I'll send you a floor plan so you have an idea of what we're doing. I'll talk to you soon about a new time line too." Dewey was smiling when he said, "Thanks, Steve, you've taken that worry away. Talk to you soon." When I turned to Sue, she was smiling and said, "Mercy just spoke to Chuck and he's all for it. He said it was silly for us to travel in separate boats when part of reason for the vacation was for all of us to be together. Let me call Magellan to get their crew up here or for them to come get the boat." Sue called and was told that a large crew with materials would be gathered today and will arrive tomorrow. The work shouldn't take more than seven days. Mercy and Sue were smiling at each other conspiratorially. I asked them, "Why did you need me to do this? You two knew what the answers were before the questions were asked." Sue said, "It's better if you men make these decisions. We women are here to please you, not to boss you." I laughed loudly as we locked up the boat. "You mean you let us think we're the boss, that's all. Anyway, it's a good idea. When you got Chuck to agree that we join him on his boat, I thought that was a good plan, and with all of us now together, it's an even better way to go." Back at home, Kathy and Juanita huddled with Sue and Mercy to discuss the new plans. I was kicked back with a cup of coffee when John Truant came in. He said, "We hired another retired military aviator today. He comes with thousands of hours of military transport time and was looking for similar work and some instructor time. He has a couple of buddies that are getting out soon that will also need some work. That should just about immediately take care of our pilot crew needs. The new men have 737 experience, so they can help rest our main crew." "That's great, John. I just talked with my friend, Dewey, who is going with us on the trip and he's going to leave his boat at home and be on the boat with us. Our boat's big enough to handle even more, so it'll be a party every day." John said, "Wanda and I are looking forward to the trip. I haven't had a real vacation for a long time, and this will be a great adventure. Wanda is really excited about it too, as she's never been to Europe." I said, "This is going to be a good trip. There are a lot of people that will be going along, so it will be a lot of fun." John asked, "So who all will be along besides Dewey, you, Chuck, and all of your families?" It took me a second, "Well, there is you and Wanda, Martin and Glenda, Beth, Missy, Barb, Maggie, Dennis and Marie, and maybe Don and Jan." John exclaimed, "Wow, that's a lot of people. Is there really that much room?" I mused over the arrangements then said, "The kids will bunk together in separate boys and girls bunk rooms because they will be on deck or in the lounge and salon almost all the time anyway. All of the couples will have private double cabins, Beth and Missy will share a room, and Barb and Maggie can share a room. The kids will all be bunked in the crew area so the rest is actually easy. There are the two big cabins in the lower third deck where the office, gym, storage, laundry room, and crew quarters are. Then forward of the galley, dining area, and lounge are five double cabins. I think we'll even have a vacant cabin. There will be a lot of people, but that boat is really big." John asked, "What are the drawbacks of so many people?" "The worst thing will be our holding tank. We may have people shower up on deck so we don't fill the holding tank from showers. There is an open shower area aft by the dinghy storage locker. Our fresh water tank and desalination unit should keep up with the demand. If not, we'll use salt water for showers. The two longest periods between dump stations will be going across and coming back across the Atlantic." "I think this is going to be one hell of an adventure, Steve," John said, sitting back with a beer and a smile. Mercy came out and said, "You guys are talking about the sailing trip, aren't you?" John and I nodded and I said, "John and I were trying to count up all the people and he asked if there was enough room." Mercy said, "There should be at least one spare room. Jan said that Don and she may not be able to go. Don may not have anyone to leave in charge of his Dojo while he would be gone. His manager has moved out to the west coast to be in movies." Dennis and Marie may or may not go because Dennis is concerned that there may be too many projects that need his attention in R&D. Glenda and Martin are definitely going and so are my mom and Beth. You and Wanda aren't backing out are you?" John said, "Oh no, not a chance. Wanda wouldn't miss going with you guys for anything. She said she has enough vacation saved up to be gone three months if necessary. As for me, I'm free to travel as long as I'm with the boss." Mark came into the patio at that moment and said, "Gene and Sandy have found a double wide over on the other side of the park that's for sale. Gene said that would be fine until they could find or build a place. Sandy is happy to be near all of the people here and has already made a lot of friends. She's become best friends with DeDe and Star out at the airpark, and wants to be included in the instructor ranks as soon as they move." "That's great, Mark," I said, then asked, "Where are they now?" With a smile, Mark said, "The kids are playing with your kids at the ballpark and Mark and Sandy are out at the airpark flying all of the aircraft out there. I think Sandy is going to steal one of those biplanes. She's been up three times in one already. She says that flying around in one is like being in a World War One movie. Gene and Wes have become fast friends and are busily working out some advanced electronics that Gene said will help Wes' aircraft. The last I saw the two of them were putting a twin engine aircraft together. I didn't know Wes had one of those designed yet." I laughed, "He doesn't. That's something he said he was going to work on in his spare time. I know he's already had Jeff re-mold the wings for a different type of engine support and for a new type of retractable gear. This is going to be quite an aircraft." "Say, Mark," I said, and asked, "When are they planning on moving down here?" Mark smiled, "I think the kids have already moved, but Gene and Sandy are planning on going home tomorrow and begin packing." I said, "You know we'll pay all the moving expenses, right? Do they know that?" "They know," Mark said. "They think you are being very generous to handle the sale of their home the way you are. Both of them feel as if they are having a hell of an opportunity, considering that as of a few days ago, Gene probably didn't have a job. He just had not been told yet." Caroline came in to join Mark and sat with him. The two looked so comfortable together it was as if they had been a couple for years and years. Mercy grabbed Caroline and took her inside for woman talk or whatever women do when they are out of sight. The folks from the work centers soon began coming in. The business park folks arrived first, then folks from the main S&S plant began showing up a few minutes later. Shawna came in and sat on my lap, "Thanks for the new helper Boss man. Stormy is going to be a great help in building custom choppers. I think I've found that missing link that I needed. The man knows how to wire a bike like you wouldn't believe. He had the bike we were working on wired and tested so fast, we weren't ready to finish and fire it up yet. We have to be at least a full day ahead of schedule." "That's great, Shawna. Where's Stormy now?" Shawna smiled, "He told me he was going to take a shower and come with his other two ladies. He is really becoming part of that group over there." Mark spoke up, "Stormy saw I was messing with my bike yesterday morning and came over to see if he could do anything to help. We ended up working on his bike, putting one of my power management gadgets on it. He can't make a sound, but he sure can talk a lot when he wants too. Caroline thinks it's funny the way we look, signing to each other while we're working on the bikes." Tiny came in, drew a beer into a frosty mug, and sat with the ensemble of people gathered. He announced, "Another great day at S&S. I think all of the personnel shifting has been successful enough to make us profitable again this past month and quarter. There may be a recession and our revenues may be off by nearly a third, but we're still making a profit and we still haven't laid anyone off. The surprising company is Quality Wear. They are actually still hiring now that the fabric plant is trying to get up and running. I've even heard Sue say she was going to look at some of the closed plants near Raleigh." Sue was within earshot and had heard what Tiny was saying, so she came over to add to the story. "We're really heavy into military apparel right now. We have standing orders for fatigues, T-shirts, boxers, women's panties and bras, and we just received an inquiry about socks. If we can find one of the closed facilities that have the proper knitting equipment, we may go into the sock business. Do you know that our illustrious government is buying socks from China? Can you imagine? I'm sure we can better the quality, but beating their prices may be difficult. So far, we've been able to sub to some of our competitors in order to share the wealth of orders. Some of them have had a difficult time coming up to our standards, but they are improving. It does cost us extra since we inspect everything made by another company before we ship." Tiny said, "See, that's why Quality Wear is so strong. Your guy, Moleson, has been winning bids at every turn. He says that it's because his bids specify exactly what will be delivered, and when, while others leave some areas ambiguous." Sue said, "There shouldn't be anything ambiguous about it. If we are going to meet manufacturing dates, it has to be exact so we have time to make a perfect garment." I asked, "With all the military business, you haven't quit producing goods for other retail outlets, have you?" Sue laughed, "Hell no. We're still shipping our basic blouses as strong as ever. Actually, those orders are a little off, but our other stock of casual wear items is in more demand lately, and our special extra sized garments are still selling like crazy. Big Girls Clothes dot com is still growing. I think the increase in breast augmentations has increased that business." Charlie, who had come in and drawn a beer for himself, said, "Yeah boy, I love all those new big ones on all those little girls." Shawna was standing by him and elbowed Charlie in the gut, "Do you want me to fill these up? How about some double Ds or Es just for you?" Backpedaling quickly, Charlie protested, "No way. Don't mess with my delicate treasures on your chest. They're just right for me to play with. You were huge when you were pregnant, but now they're back to the normal playground size. I love 'em just the way they are." With that, Charlie wrapped his huge arm around the diminutive Shawna and squeezed one of her small breasts. Shawna elbowed Charlie again, but pulled his head down and gave him a kiss for the public expression of his appreciation. Wes, DeDe, Gene, and Sandy came into the patio. Sandy told Sue, "Let's go get the kids so they can clean up for supper." Sue looked at her watch and said, "The older ones should be bringing them back any second. They should be running this way right now." Seconds later, a herd of kids came running around the end of the big trailer toward the patio. The doors were swung open and kids kept it open as they all rushed in. All of them sought out a parent or parents for a quick hug and welcome home, then vanished into the house to use the bathrooms to clean up a little. Barb and Bonita came in the door with a smile on Barb's face. She went up to Kathy with Bonita and said, "You need to teach our little Bonita that it's not nice to beat up on boys. A couple of the older boys were teasing her and accidentally knocked her down, so she got up and punched both of them. When they were about to retaliate, she hit them several more times before I could get there. The boys know not to hit girls, but they were just defending themselves." Kathy looked at Bonita and asked, "Why did you get so mad, Bonita?" The little girl said, "I didn't want to get dirty. I just took a bath and put on clean clothes and just wanted to play ball. The boys are always knocking us girls down and I asked them not to do that to me today. They didn't listen, so I punched them." Barb said, "Tell Mom who you punched." Bonita had a determined look on her face when she said, "Stevie, Greg, and CJ, and I'm not sorry either. All three of them knocked me down one after the other. Just look at my knees and shorts. I'm all dirty again." Kathy rolled her eyes and looked at me before saying to Bonita, "If you don't want to get dirty, perhaps you shouldn't go to the ball fields. Next time just stay home and play music." Bonita protested, "But you said I have to go outside in the afternoon. You don't want me to play music all day." Kathy looked up in the air then back down at Bonita. She picked her up and was holding her so she could look her in the face, "Bonita, Honey, you do need to play outside with the other kids, but if you've been out and gotten dirty, and then cleaned up, it's okay to stay in and play music. Come ask me and I'll give you permission." Bonita was looking down, "Okay, Momma. But I'm not sorry I hit them. They deserved it." "Well remember, Honey, they hit back, even if you are a girl." With a determined look, Bonita said, "I'll be good, I promise. I won't hit the boys." As soon as Kathy put Bonita down, the little girl ran into the house. The three boys were sitting at one of the big tables watching what was going on. Kathy wiggled her finger at them and they slowly got up and came to her with their heads down. "Okay, Guys, you did good not to hit Bonita, even though she hit you. You know why she hit you don't you?" Greg said, "Yes, Ma'am. We all run around and sometimes we knock the kids, or rather the girls, down. We do it because it's fun and we like them, but not to hurt them. Bonita usually doesn't get mad at us doing that to her, but today she got up and bopped me in the nose, punched Stevie in the stomach, and really hit CJ hard in the chest. All of us were surprised. She hit really hard." Stevie said, "She did hit hard, but we shouldn't have pushed her down. She said she didn't want to get dirty and we thought it would be funny to get her dirty again. It wasn't funny, was it?" Kathy said, "Well, all three of you know why she hit you, so I'm sure that won't happen again, will it?" The three boys all said, "No, Ma'am" at the same time. Kathy waved her hand, dismissing them and they vanished in a clatter of running feet. All of us were smiling as the kids left. Kathy looked at Shawna and Charlie and asked, "Well, you two could have helped out a little." Charlie said, "Hey, you were doing a great job. There's no sense in me sticking my foot in my mouth." Shawna had her impish grin, "That little girl is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Kathy Dear, you have a real handful there." Kathy pointed at me and said, "It's his fault, him and Chuck. Between the two of them, the kid doesn't think like normal kids. She's always way ahead of the other kids. She spends more time teaching them guitar and piano than our teachers do. She wants to be like her dad, mothers, Chuck, and Lisa. You can't get her to read a kid's book. She reads Harry Potter, but those were finished too quickly. She reads the newspaper and magazines, and plays music. At least she likes to motocross and the martial arts classes. She is a kid, though, as she likes to play ball with the other kids. She just has more interests than most kids." Mercy was smiling and said, "She's younger than the twins but Trixie and Dixie think she walks on water. They follow her around all the time. I'll bet the three of them are in the living room playing their guitars right now. Hear them? I'll bet that's who it is." I smiled, thinking of how my kids were all so close. The boys were all boy and the girls were sort of tomboys but they were still little girls. The mothers kept them in dresses just enough to let them know they were little girls. They didn't like the dresses, but they wore them fairly often. After supper, Gene and Sandy said goodbye to everyone as they were heading back to Cheyenne early in the morning. They left, along with Mark and Caroline, and were followed by Shirley, Betty, and Stormy. The group from that corner of the park had left us and you could feel that a part of our group was missing. They would all be back soon though. Dennis came over to plop down next to me. "Uncle Steve, I think I'm going to pass on the sailing vacation. Just the thought of leaving the R&D center for six weeks or more has my stomach in knots. A couple of weeks would be okay, but a month or more would be too long. You don't mind that Marie and I don't go do you?" "It's your time, Dennis. I was hoping your mom and dad would go, but both want to stay here and maybe just do some day cruises on the fishing yachts. Henry won't go either, because he thinks Tiny will need him too much. Nancy is happy wherever Henry is, so she can't or won't sway him." Dennis said, "Marie thinks her job would suffer if she were to be gone too long as well. If we could like meet you guys over there somewhere and sail a little, go to a couple places then come home, that would be great, but I just can't justify being gone for that long." I thought of what he was saying and waved at Sue and Mercy to come over. "What do you two think if Dennis and Marie, and possibly Jan and Don came over and met us at one of our stops, then accompanied us to another before returning home? That way they could enjoy sailing with us a little, and get the feeling of being a part of all of us together for a little while." Sue was nodding her head, "If they can't come for the whole trip, that might be a way to do it. I was thinking they could go over with us then fly home, but they wouldn't be able to do any sightseeing over there that way. What do you think, Mercy?" Mercy smiled, "Great idea. Perhaps I can get dad to come over that way. He could meet us, say in Italy, and sail with us to the Riviera and then go home from there. That way they could see some of Italy, sail a little, and go see where the world's high and mighty go to party." Mercy looked around the patio and left to come back dragging Jan and Don. She told them, "How about you two fly over to Europe and meet us there. You would sail with us to wherever our next port is, then after some sightseeing at both locations, you two could fly back home. What do you think?" Jan and Don looked at each other and began smiling. Don said, "That would be perfect. I could probably trust the Dojo to run smoothly for ten days to two weeks, but not for six weeks." Jan commented, "That was my problem. I have the time off coming, but I'd hate to use it all up just sailing back and forth across the Atlantic. Your idea sounds great. I would love to see some of Italy or even better, some of Ireland and England." Mercy and Sue smiled and said, "Let's go look at our schedule and see how we can work this out. What do you think, Dennis? Do you think you might join us for a week or so?" Dennis grinned, "Marie will love it. This is the perfect way for us to go with you guys for a little while and party with you. I really want to go to the Riviera." Kathy and Juanita had come out and were sitting with me on a couch. Juanita said, "That's nice that you've found ways for some of the others to join us. We'll have a great time and I'm sure the kids are going to have a ball." "Juanita," I asked, "What do you want to see while we are on vacation this time?" With a smile, she said, "If we can go to the Vatican again, I would like that. I liked seeing all of the great sights of ancient Rome too. I think I liked the Riviera the most, though. I liked the beaches and I just loved the big casinos. I don't like to gamble, but I do enjoy seeing all of the people dressed up fancy and the rich decorations of the individual gaming rooms." Kathy teased, "You just liked the nude beaches over there, that's all." Juanita smiled, "They are different than the nude park here, but similar to the nude beach in Hawaii. The people over there are so casual about being nude that you feel comfortable. You'll love it, Kathy, and wait until you see all those rich people in the casinos. At least, they act like they're rich. It is something." Kathy snuggled into my side and said to me, "I wish I hadn't been so set on not telling you about Greg. I could have gone with you the first time you went over there. That's okay though, I'll have a great time this trip." The evening was getting late and people began leaving to go home. Soon, Juanita, Glenda, and I were cleaning the patio, getting ready for the morning while the moms were inside getting kids into bed. I made a pass through the bedrooms, giving out hugs, kisses, and I love yous to the kids, then finished up by getting the coffee ready for the morning. I gave Glenda a hug, walked her across the yard, then came in, shut off the lights, and locked up. In bed, Mercy said, "I'm getting excited about the trip. Now that some of the family will join us once we get over there, our group will be even larger." Sue offered, "This will also be a great trip because all three families will be together. It will be nice to have Dewey and family, along with Chuck and his family, with us." "It's going to be fun to see how everyone gets along," Kathy said. "Chuck's ladies are all so intense about things, I wonder if they will be able to relax while we're out on the boat." Juanita said, "They seemed to relax when we picked up the boat from Miami. They seemed to really enjoy themselves and were involved with the kids, as well as us, the whole time." Sue said, "We just don't know them all that well yet. This will be good though, as we'll get to know them and to understand their relationship with Chuck better." "Chuck has something happening with him and Lisa that I'm not able to see, but he's looking forward to the trip too," Mercy said. "Lisa has become a real disciple of being able to sense what people are thinking and doing. She is more like my mom than I am. There's more to her than meets the eye, though. Perhaps we'll find out." There was some kissing and hugging goodnight just before my lights went out. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 62 Steve Morning, time to get up, time's a wasting. Those thoughts were running through my mind as I sat up in bed. Sue pulled me back down and wanted to snuggle by pushing a fat titty into my face. "Suck this for a while and maybe you won't want to get up." "I'm already up with that thing in my face. Now I need to get it down." Mercy said, "I'll take care of that problem." "Not if I get there first," Kathy said, sliding down under the covers. "Eek! That's not Steve, but I guess you know that, don't you," Mercy said, with a giggle. "Come on, let's get going. A new day is starting," I said, discouraging the play. I slid from bed and used the bathroom before stepping into the shower. The large shower was soon filled with four lovely ladies as they crowded around me groping and hugging while the water warmed up. A good shower in our house is not complete without a thorough cleansing of female parts, with a special male part as the scrubber. I dutifully scrubbed the internal workings of the four women, leaving two large messes behind. My efforts received a lot of kisses and hugs, along with some begging for additional cleaning. As soon as I turned on the lights on the patio, I heard doors slam and saw Glenda making her way across the yard, and the back door to the patio opened for Ruth and Tiny, along with Sandy, Mandy, and Mickey. Shawna and Charlie came with their two kids, who would soon run into the house and wake up my kids. The day had begun. Abe and Phil came soon, with Alice and Judy arriving about the same time as the bellhop from the hotel arrived bringing the huge box of breakfast sandwiches and the box of donuts. It's fun to watch the people gather in the morning. They all seem to come awake together. Some are ready to go to work; some are in robes or almost in sleep clothes. Stormy was leading the way this morning, accompanying Betty and Shirley, with Mark and Caroline following. Mark said to me, "I'm leaving Caroline with you today while I ride back to Cheyenne with the kids. I just love to ride in the right seat of those jets. It makes me feel like I'm flying again." "What are you taking?" I asked. "The little Citation, the CJ4. DeDe is flying us," Mark answered. "Grab some of those sandwiches and donuts to take with you. DeDe will be happy you remembered her. Have a good trip, Mark." Mark left with a big bag of food, heading back to his area of the park. I'm sure Gene and Sandy were having a mini-war with the kids about going back to Cheyenne when they had so many new friends right here now. About ten minutes later, Mark's Escape pulled up outside the patio and the five people got out. Mark came in and talked to Caroline while Gene and Sandy came over to me. Gene said, "The kids want to stay here while we pack up. I would have thought they would like to say goodbye to their friends at home, but I guess not. We're going to let them stay with Grandma and Grandpa while we pack up. Thanks again for the opportunity, Steve. You've really been special to us." Sandy gave me a hug while Gene shook my hand. The three hugged the two kids and left. The kids mixed in with the rest of the kids instantly. Caroline had a very satisfied look to her as she kept an eye on the kids. My mind had that song, "The beat goes on," going though it, but I was sort of mentally thinking, "Our lives go on" to the same tune. The day went by pretty fast, with the usual questions that needed to be answered and the usual comments to folks as I looked in at what they were doing. I did discover something I didn't know had happened. Gerry (Geraldine) had an office in the cubicles near where Deana was. The reason I discovered it was that Gerry and Jeff were standing at the community conference table between the rows of cubicles with blueprints scattered over the table. Being my usual curious self, I wandered over to see what they were gesturing at. Jeff saw me and said, "Just the man we need to see." Gerry said, "Does he know about this stuff? I thought we were the only ones who understood composites." Jeff smiled, "No, don't you see, you help create the composites because of your knowledge of metallurgy. If you want someone who knows metal, ask a welder. Steve is definitely a welder. Come here, Steve, and look at what we're doing and you tell us whether it's going to work." They sorted through the prints of various objects looking for a specific one. I made the observation, "What are all of these? You have airplanes, boats, cars, military looking trucks, and some kind of scaffolding platform." Jeff said, "These are just some of the projects we've been working on to see what we could sell to other manufacturers. With our new composite, we can make anything that's out there only better, stronger, and safer. We just have to figure on how to put it together. Here, look at this." Jeff was spreading out a design that looked like an engine block. Gerry said, "I don't think our composite will withstand the hammering that an engine block will have. We will still have to have sleeves for the pistons and the push rods will still have to be made of some form of alloy for strength. Keeping the engine cool can be done similar to other water or air cooled engines, but I just don't think a composite will last." Jeff countered, "I say let Abe make that determination. Let the guys over in R&D try to burn the thing up. Let them run a couple of experimental gas engines similar to the diesel Abe is experimenting with. If we can build it to last, we'll have an instant winner for automobiles as well as airplanes. We can shave two to three hundred pounds off the total weight. That's more fuel, more luggage, more everything." Gerry softly said, so it wouldn't carry, "I sure as hell don't know how Abe has a composite diesel engine running over there. How did you make the water jackets and how are you keeping the heads from flying off that thing." Jeff waved his arms, "See, Steve, she doesn't even want to accept the success Abe is already having. She has made an alloy based composite that's stronger than anything on the market, and she doesn't want to use it." In defense, Gerry said, "Yeah, but it's still new and I don't know how some weather and environments will affect it." "Gerry, Gerry, Abe is putting the engines through salt water, intense moisture, very heavy sand conditions, and very dirty dust storm conditions. Every day those engines exist in a chamber is like a month in a normal storm. Let's give it a chance and design a ported head that we can insert valve seats into. The blocks are strong enough to handle a crankshaft, so why can't we build a head that will handle a cam?" "Nuts, we're trying to make a bunch of plastic do the job of cast steel and in some cases, aluminum. Okay, make one. Make small motors first then we'll make a larger motor the size of the diesel or perhaps a little smaller." Gerry was still shaking her head when she went to her chair in a neighboring cubicle and sat down while she keyed in some information on her keyboard." She turned around in her chair to face us and said, "I just told Wes we were trying to cut the engine weight by a third. That should get his attention." As he handed me a small sheet of composite, Jeff said, "I'm trying to figure out how thin I can make the walls of the engine block. The thinner I can make them, the smaller they will be and we can have water jackets that are really close to the cylinder walls. If we could come up with a composite that would be slick enough for a piston to run up and down within, that would be even better. Then we could start trying to make pistons from composite. I wonder if the bearings would hold up." I said to both of them, "Why not go ahead and build an entire engine mostly out of composites. Use all of your knowledge and just build it. As soon as you begin testing, you'll find out what components won't work. Just replace failed components with lightweight metal alloy and go from there." Gerry said, "We have a composite that acts like a bearing that is self lubricating. We can try that for the pistons and cylinder sleeves. Okay, Jeff, let's build it and watch it disintegrate." Jeff was smiling, and when Gerry wasn't watching, he winked at me. He said, "This won't be a couple of hour project, it will take several days to form and cure. There is the ceramic quality of the block similar to what we used for Abe's diesel. We'll fire the finished block the same as before. We may have to experiment and do it in layers, but we'll figure out the most stable method. That's how we've come up with what we have now." As I walked out of the area, I could still hear Gerry muttering, "It ain't gonna work, no way, no how, not an engine block." Phil and Tiny were in my office drinking coffee when I walked in. Tiny said, "Phil and I have some thoughts about expansion that we haven't approached you with before." I sat at the table with them and was happily surprised to have Ruth walk in with a cup of coffee for me and the pot to warm up the cups of the other two. "So what kind of expansion are you talking about?" Phil said, "We've always had very positive acceptance in Canada. We have a modified cart with tracks for snow and rough terrain, plus the regular carts have sold well there. With that knowledge, I want to open a dealership up in Alaska. We haven't done that before because of the cost of shipping. There is a trucking company that specializes in hauling to various places up there. I think we could use them and still keep our cost competitive with the market." I asked, "Besides carts, what are you planning on selling?" Phil excitedly began his sales pitch on me, "We can sell our full line of generators, compressors, welding equipment, and possibly our utility trucks and bodies. If we go after construction and highway departments the way we do in the lower forty-eight, we should be able to do some good business. We could set up a customer service group to canvas the entire state, and if we find it profitable, expand our dealerships to other major cities." Nodding, I asked, "Where would you put your first dealership to experiment with?" Without hesitation, Tiny answered, "Anchorage. We could do well in Juneau, too, as that is the capital, but Anchorage has the larger commercial possibilities." I suggested, "If we're going to experiment up there, why not open dealerships in both Juneau and Anchorage. That would give a cross inventory that you could draw on and also show our intention of becoming fully established up there." Tiny and Phil looked at each and grinned. They high-fived each other and Tiny said, "I knew if you had anything to do with it, you would tell us to open two dealerships and not just one." "So now we need to look for property and people to staff these locations. We'll need to use local people with knowledge of the construction industry as well as the local governments. You'll need to have trained techs to work in the field the same as down here, but they will need some extra equipment to do the job because of the environment up there." Phil said, "Abe's been working with us to find men in our lower forty-eight and Canadian dealerships that have experience up there. We should just about be able to have the key people from our existing employee base. There will have to be a lot of training up there, but we should be able to put the project together pretty quick." "What are you doing about facilities?" This would be important, I thought. Tiny said, "Dewey put us in touch with some commercial realtors and property managers up there and we're compiling a list to look at. We should be able to go up to begin checking out properties any day." With a happy smile, I said, "Sounds like you guys have it together for trying our hand in Alaska. Let's do it. We need to get it all done while there isn't that much snow on the ground this summer. Now it's cold and snowbound up there, so we might have trouble converting property for our use. Let's get prepared early and see what we can do." Phil said, "We need to be open when any major highway construction begins up there for the summer. We can set up a lease program that should be beneficial to the companies working on projects. I've contacted the heavy equipment vendors up there and they would welcome a good program for generators and compressors. One of the companies up there bought one of our big trucks with a boom that they use for signing and maintenance. I think if we have one or two more trucks available up there, we could have some sales." Phil and Tiny got up, thanking me for agreeing to their new project. Phil left, but Tiny hung back. He said, "We've sort of stagnated a little and this will give some new life to revenues. With this recession, a shot in the arm would be good. The increased revenues and profit will offset our costs. I've looked at this several ways to see where the pitfalls are and I feel comfortable with the project. We can also shift people from slow dealerships up there. I'm sure that given a choice of working up there and no work down here we'll have plenty of people willing to open stores." "That's good, Tiny. I've seen the numbers where several of the dealerships are having problems. Now that spring construction is beginning, orders and maintenance have picked up, but we're still way behind last year and two years ago." "Everyone is working on it, Steve. The company or companies are really doing well to keep up. The sales staffs are working hard to find all the business they can. We're doing alright, actually better than alright, a hell of a lot better than a lot of other businesses. Just keep coming up with ideas, Steve." I asked, "What do you think, Tiny? Is this trip I'm planning something that should be put off until business picks up?" Tiny shook his head, "No way. You're planning on seeing the Italian group, as well as the Ireland facilities. If you can get a chance, you can go peek in on the Germans. If there is a boondoggle out there, that is it. They are making a profit, but for the size they are, and the cost of startup over there, it is a marginal profit at best." "Well, you know why we did what we did. That plant gave us the in to sell Germany a lot of equipment, and we've set up a major maintenance facility that is very profitable. Our cart manufacturing is almost a loss leader for everything else. But you're right; I should take a side trip and check out our facility in Germany." When Tiny left, I began listing some of the business goals I had for the trip. I needed to make sure I talked to Sue about these too, as she probably has several independent goals to accomplish while we are in Europe. My stomach was telling me to check the time and what do you know, it was time to head out for lunch. When I walked down the stairs, I looked through the big windows of the showroom and saw Sue's car across the street. I walked over there and met her as she was coming out the door. She said, "I was just coming to get you to have lunch in your cafeteria. The rush has already begun, but the lines are fast. Let's get something and take it up to your office." That's what we did. Sue's people from across the street ate in the cafeteria in shifts, along with groups of folks from the S&S side. Today's special was a choice of stuffed peppers, baked chicken, or pot roast. Sue and I both chose the stuffed peppers and loaded our trays with bread and drinks before heading up to my office. While we ate, I told Sue about the Alaskan expansion and the conversation I had with Tiny. She said, "If you get too tight over on this side of the street, we can always begin cross-training your folks into seamstresses." She laughed a little at that. I said, "Tiny says we're good, but the Alaskan expansion could help with some redistribution of employees." "It's amazing," Sue said, "that you have been able to keep people working throughout this crazy downturn. My group would be toast if we didn't have all of the military business. We're getting more and more foreign orders because our fabric is of better quality than the other manufacturers. We'll both have to just keep our hands on the pulse to make sure we don't miss any signals." "That's what Tiny and Henry are for. They keep track of the dollars and cents while we keep production and quality where it needs to be," I said, as I had another mouthful of the delicious spicy stuffed pepper. Sue said, "We missed going to the gym yesterday. We need to go, but I'm going to pass on the pool today. Come on, let's run to the gym and get back to work." Mercy, Juanita, Kathy, Beth, Nancy, and Kate met us at the gym. Sue and I did our high intensity workout, then showered and dressed, ready to go back to work. The others were working out more leisurely, enjoying the companionship while they used the various machines. Sue went back to her side of the street and I was going to make a pass through the shops, when my cell rang. It was Wes, "Come out to the airpark real quick. I want you to see something that's pretty exciting." "What is it, Wes?" I asked. Wes answered, "Just come and see for yourself. Jimmy is beside himself, so you know it must be good." I told Debbie where I was headed and took off for the airpark. I parked at the charter office and walked through the hangars to Wes' hangars. The doors were all open so it was easy to spot Wes and a group of people. You couldn't help but see six air coupes and four high wing LSAs lined up on the tarmac between the hangars, but something was causing a commotion in the far hangar. As I crossed the open tarmac between the hangars, the group began pushing an aircraft out of the building. It was the bigger model air coupe that would hold six people. As I approached the group pushing the aircraft, I could see the two FAA guys that we used to certify our test flights. One of the men ran to a fuel truck and brought it up to the airplane where Wes supervised the fueling of the aircraft. Jimmy was going through everything in the engine compartment and the two FAA guys were inspecting everything on the aircraft. Wes looked and saw me and said, "This isn't even the big surprise. Let's get this in the air and I'll show you something special." The FAA guys and Wes exchanged some forms, then Jimmy climbed into the cockpit and buckled up. He went through a printed form checklist while Wes double checked the cowling to make sure it was buttoned up properly. The engine started easily and smoothed out quickly. Wes had his head in the cockpit checking gauges, then stepped back to the tarmac and walked away to join the other onlookers. Wes said, "This first takeoff will be just up, circle, and down. We'll check the plane, then it will go up and circle for five minutes but this time we'll raise and lower the gear several times. If we have time after inspection, we'll go up the third time and put some stress on the airframe." Wes waved at the bunch of LSAs parked on the rear tarmac and said, "We have to give all of those aircraft their certification flight too. This is going to take a couple of days. I wish Gene was already moved. I could use his eyes on these projects. That man is sharp and doesn't let much get by him." I said, "He'll be here soon. He's going to be busy with R&D too, you know." "I know," said Wes, "But if he's around, he can double check my work for me. I enjoy having guys like that along with Jimmy and Tank to watch what I do." Jimmy was back for the first post flight inspection. All of Wes's people and all of Jimmy's men were crowded around the aircraft, checking each part for wear or stress. The FAA guys were almost amused at how intense the group was. They checked a few areas they felt needed to be double-checked then had Jimmy top off fuel to go up the second time. We watched as Jimmy circled the airfield at five thousand feet raising and lowering his gear. After about fifteen minutes, Jimmy landed and taxied back to the group. Once again the aircraft was surrounded by people checking on everything. The FAA people waded in and were looking for specific problems and came away marking up their forms. One of them came over to me and said, "Looks like you're going to be offering a real aircraft soon. This looks to be one hell of a good aircraft too. Wes is really proud of all of his creations, isn't he?" "He sure is. I'm proud of him as well. This is a really big accomplishment to have built the four types of LSAs and now this aircraft. He says he has a surprise for me. I can't wait to see that." The man laughed, "I think I know what the surprise is, but I'm not telling so it doesn't ruin Wes's big moment." Jimmy was soon taking off again, but this time to really fly the aircraft. He was up for a little over thirty minutes. We watched as Jimmy climbed high then dropped over in a shallow dive. He did it again, but increased the distance of the dive, therefore straining the aircraft with the pull out Gs. The aircraft seemed to be performing very well. When he landed this time, there were not as many people inspecting the aircraft as they were talking about the teardown that would follow later today. Wes was lining up people to get some hours on the aircraft to get it through the next part of certification. Wes came to get me and said, "Come help me push something out of the hangar." As soon as we approached the hangar, I saw what was happening. There was the twin engine aircraft that had just been in pieces not that many days before. The plane wasn't painted real pretty, just gray primed, but it looked like an aircraft. The FAA guys began going over the aircraft very carefully. Wes opened the door to the aircraft and let down a little three step stairway. He motioned me toward the door. "Steve, we had the truck body coachmen fix this up. Come look what we've done." Inside the cabin smelled luxurious. The leather smell was really something. There were six seats in the cabin with a skinny aisle down the middle of them. Wes showed me how the front and middle seats could be spun to allow passengers to face each other across a fold down table. When I looked at the cockpit, I was surprised it was so complete for a first certification. Wes said, "Gene helped me get this ready. Too bad he isn't here to watch it go up the first time. We have cameras so we'll get plenty of original footage to share with everyone." Jimmy came over with his mechanics and began going over the aircraft. Jimmy looked at me and said, "Wes has been going nuts over this bird. He's had us checking and rechecking his fittings and work. This is going to be a nice aircraft." Wes said, "The two engines are Abe's new aluminum block engines that he's been testing. They have turbo boost fuel injection that should make them very powerful and if the test engines are any indication, they are very dependable." Wes, Jimmy, and the FAA guys went over some forms, and then Jimmy fueled the aircraft. Once it was fueled, he climbed into the cockpit and went over several items, and started the engines. Both caught quickly and warmed up, with Wes inside the cockpit, checking gauges. Wes got out and shut the door before walking away. He had both hands held to his side with fingers crossed in each hand. The engines revved and the aircraft began to move toward the runway. We could hear Jimmy requesting permission for takeoff clearance over the portable radios that were out on a table with all of the forms. Jimmy took off in the twin, not using a great deal of runway. He circled for five minutes and landed. The steps of checking everything were repeated, then Jimmy took off again this time to circle the field while raising and lowering the gear. The third flight of the day for the twin lasted almost forty-five minutes, and Jimmy scared us a little as he went pretty deep into his dives. When he landed and shut down, Wes immediately had the door open and reprimanded Jimmy about his test flying. Jimmy came out of aircraft and said, "Man, that bird is something. It handles perfectly and is really powerful. I wasn't past sixty percent power during the entire climb up through ten thousand feet. I'll bet this is going to be really fast for a conventional aircraft. Four more FAA inspectors showed up, along with two more people Wes had contracted as test pilots. They were going to begin testing the aircraft that were on the tarmac waiting to be delivered. Wes asked me, "Well, are you going to help me get some hours on these two new birds when we get the teardown complete?" "Sure, Wes, I'll try to get a few hours in every week for you. I know you need a hundred hours as fast as possible, but you can't fly at night, can you?" He said, "We can, but we'll do it during daylight hours, at least at first. I want to do some night testing, but we'll do daylight first. So, Boss, are you ready to be an aircraft manufacturer?" I laughed, "With this economy, it's a hell of a time to do the startup of an aircraft company. We'll do a lot of business with the LSAs because it's an aircraft for retired guys, or for people that don't have the time to go through extensive flight training. It's a way for a lot of people to realize the dream of flying while not having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to own an aircraft." Wes said, "If Tiny is correct, the six-place air coupe is going to come in around a hundred thousand. The twin is supposed to be about a hundred seventy-five tops, probably closer to a hundred fifty. We can ask for more if we want, but we know how to build an aircraft for less. Abe's engines may become more expensive, but we're using his and Tiny's figures right now." The place was a beehive of activity. The LSAs were taking off and landing, then quickly being checked out. I abandoned the crowd and walked back to the charter office. Star was at the front desk and looked up. She smiled sweetly and asked, "Could you do a parts run up to Myrtle Beach? I don't have anyone else available, and I can't leave because we have a bunch of reservations for aircraft and lessons later." I looked at my watch and said, "Sure, what do you have?" Star said with a smile, "We have a 172 engine in the back of a 206 for you. That's the only small aircraft we have that we could take seats out and get the crate into. I really appreciate this, Steve. Lisa's doing something with Chuck, so we've had to do without her, and all the charter guys are out. I could get Jimmy or Tank, but they are busy with the testing that's going on." "No sweat, Star. I'll take off right away. It isn't that long of a flight. I better call home though since I won't be back early enough for supper." At that moment, Mercy walked in the door and said, "I'll fly with you, Steve. I haven't ever been to Myrtle Beach." "How did you know I was going, Mercy?" Mercy grinned, "Star called to see if I would go and I told her to ask you. Debbie said Wes had called you to come out here, so I knew you were here. I just thought you might enjoy the company." Mercy held up a thermos and a paper bag that probably had snacks in it. "Let's get in the air, Mr. Pilot. I need the right seat time anyway." We took off in the 206 and headed north-north-east at eight thousand feet. There wasn't a lot of air traffic today but you still have to be watchful for those that may be flying VFR without a flight plan. The weather was fairly clear, but there were a lot of cumulus clouds in small puffs that could expand as the day continued. Mercy and I discussed home, kids, the coming trip, business, flying, and she finally got down to what she wanted to talk about. "Steve, do you think it's wrong the way Sue and I go after other women?" I answered, "You two are a little predatory sometimes, but I don't think it's wrong if the other women want the same thing." "How about Chuck's women?" Mercy asked. "They're all into each other and other girls. Sue and I both want to get into them, but there just hasn't been the right time or opportunity. We were thinking the trip was going to be a perfect time to really enjoy them." I asked, "You guys have always been pretty aggressive with what you want or who you want. Why are you asking me?" Mercy thought for a second and answered, "You know Chuck. He's kind of closed; or rather he's kind of conservative about some stuff. He's loosened up some, and we've enjoyed being together, but he generally avoids getting intimate with anyone except his girls. I don't want him to be upset with us and I don't want him to feel obligated to join in if we were to play. Would you be upset if we girls played together and you didn't get a chance to join in?" "That would be fine, Mercy. You girls are more than enough for me. You've been bringing Mickey to bed a lot lately, and she is a lot of woman for me to handle in addition to you guys. I don't think I need any more women than that." Mercy giggled, "Yeah, but I'd love to get all of us together, Chuck and his women, and all of us, would really have a wild time. His women have proven to be very passionate when they're with other ladies. The couple of times Chuck has joined us have been really special. I really enjoy him, but now that he has all those women, he's become more closed. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." I said, "You and Sue will have to just be patient and see how it works out. I'm sure you'll have a lot of opportunities to enjoy his ladies." "Not just Sue and me," Mercy protested, "Kathy is nuts over Lisa, Judy, and Frieda. Juanita is fascinated over little Tiani and Nancy. She is very interested in getting to know all of them a lot better, if you know what I mean." "I know what you mean. Chuck's ladies are fascinating. But like I said, we'll soon have a lot of time with them. Just relax and let nature take its course." With a smile, Mercy said, "We will. We're all just a bunch of oversexed women who have become that way because of our sexy husband." This last conversation was during our flight back home and concluded about the time we were descending to the airfield. When we landed and parked back by the hangar, the night mechanics came out to fuel the aircraft and push it back into the hangar. We took the logbook back to the charter office and headed home. I noticed Chuck's new Citation was in the hangar on the other side of the charter office, so Chuck and Lisa were home. I wondered what they had been up to. Everyone on the patio was finished with supper and enjoying a beer while playing cards, games, watching television, or just shooting the bull. I could hear music coming from the house, so I assumed Chuck and Lisa were inside playing with Bonita, and possibly others. The ladies had a couple of plates of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and rolls saved for Mercy and me. It seems there is always one or more of the patio regulars that have to be fed late because of work or a trip. While we were eating, I noticed Wanda get a call on her cell. She got up and went outside, talked for a while, then came in and headed inside. A few minutes later, Chuck and Lisa came out. Chuck asked if Nightfox had gone to Maria's. The two gathered their ladies and told them something, then the two left in a hurry. Wanda spoke to John and left right behind them. Chuck didn't even wave at me, but then he probably didn't see Mercy and me sitting and eating where we were. Bonita came to the big sliding door and looked out forlornly, wishing her music buddies had not left. She shrugged her shoulders and I soon heard the keyboard playing some kind of blues song. The evening went by fast, everyone was soon gone and I was in bed, enjoying my women. Mercy was hot and bothered tonight, probably caused by thinking of corralling Chuck's women. I couldn't complain though, as I was a very satisfied man by the time I went to sleep Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 63 Chuck Just about the time I'm enjoying myself, something comes up again. Wanda says it's important so we have to go. Lisa and I were practicing a couple of tunes with Bonita when Wanda came to get us. On the way back out of the patio she got Sam while Lisa and I told the girls we may have to go somewhere for an emergency. They took it well as usual and we left for the house. In the kitchen Wanda explained that the Secret Service had called and wanted us to get ready and be on standby. She was to call back in an hour so it would give us a chance to consider what we would need take with us. Lisa was looking a little antagonistic when she asked, "Need for what Wanda, what do they want us to do?" Wanda had a blank look on her face and said, "They didn't say. This was just an alert to standby. I thought we should come back here to make the call back so you would be ready." We waited a few minutes more then Wanda called. She spoke cryptically into the phone for a few minutes and looked almost exasperated when she hung up. She looked at us and said, "They told me you guys can stand down but they may call later or tomorrow for this same problem. They didn't say what the problem was but you can almost bet, they'll call when you don't expect it." I told everyone, "Okay guys, let's head back to patio and have some supper while there's still some left." On the way back Sam said, "I was really looking forward to another great night with Maria. Hope I get it." We did get back in time to eat and had a good time visiting with the folks. I decided that if we were called out, I would probably have to fly and didn't have anything else to drink. I noticed that Lisa didn't have her usual evening beer. When it was time to get home, we left as a group instead of a few at a time. That night in bed, all of the ladies wanted cuddles and kisses. No heavy fooling around although I was up for it. (pun intended) We were all tired enough that we fell asleep easily. I slowly awoke, becoming uncomfortable and needing to go pee. I slid from the side of the bed and groped for my peg. I was flooding the toilet with a huge stream when a warm body snuggled to my side and kissed my shoulder. "Did you sleep well?" Lisa asked. "I was worried you would be mulling over my deception at being your observer. I somehow knew you would see into me and hear my mind thinking about it." "Not to worry this morning, Lisa. I slept like a baby and could use a little more sleep, but it's time to get moving. Let's get our menagerie up and get going." "You better not," Lisa said, "It's Saturday and they will kill you for waking them up too early. Come on, let's work out or go outside and form for a few minutes, then swim." We walked outside onto the grassy area next to the pool and began the slow dance to our internal music. We went through our forms, stretching and balancing through each set. Somehow, our activities were synchronized to the point where we pulled our legs together and bowed simultaneously without watching each other. As we began walking to the pool, the household staff of Maria and the two little Chinese ladies ran from the house and dove into the water. As Lisa and I reached the door of the screened pool, Peaches joined us and walked with us to the pool. While I dropped my peg, the two ladies paused on the steps and assisted me into the water, where I began my fast laps. Lisa was right next to me, but Peaches was doing her laps at a much slower speed. When Lisa and I were winded, we were surrounded by the house girls for a few seconds as they all wanted hugs. Peaches came to us and hugged both Lisa and me before moving toward the stairs. Taiying and Sing turned toward us and said, "We will have a nice breakfast for you in a few minutes if you want, or you can go to the patio for the Saturday morning gathering. I think others are awakening as we heard Wanda talking on the phone earlier." Lisa and I took a shower and were scolded by the ladies attempting to sleep because we were making too much noise. I told them that I was going to have some breakfast and they were welcome to join me. Brandy sat up and said, "We probably should get up. We're going over to the boat today to see how the modifications are coming." I was about to ask what modifications, and remembered that the boat was being remodeled to accommodate Dewey in another big suite. I wonder if the boat is really big enough for all the people that are going to be on it. It probably is, but it almost seems as if it was going to be crowded. When Lisa and I went out to the kitchen, Taiying said, "You need to go eat with the families at the patio this morning. I think they all missed you lately. Maria reminded me that they have special breakfasts on weekends." "Well then, put some clothes on of some kind and we'll all go over there." The three house girls ran off and almost collided with the Fab Five as they came into the kitchen. I was given hugs and good morning kisses by all this morning. Frieda had me rub her bulging belly, saying, "I think there are more than two in there. They were having a wrestling match or something this morning." Nancy and Judy got on each side of me and rubbed their bellies into my side. Nancy said, "You're going to love our little girls. I'll bet you'll spoil them terribly." Wanda and John came into the kitchen, with Wanda wearing a flowing see-through robe. Jan and Don came in right afterward, and Jan was wearing almost nothing. She smiled and said, "I'm going to be more revealing than Ruth this morning." Outside, I discovered there were not many carts, but most of them were eight-passenger carts. There were two smaller carts, but people began piling into the big carts when Tina came running from the house in a cute shortie gown. She said, "I love Saturday and Sunday mornings around here. I can be as crazy as I want. She sat on my lap and kissed me before saying, "Amazing, isn't it? You and I are in the same place, at the same time, for once. I'm going to hug you so you can't get away this morning. I actually have off until this evening, then its nights, six to six at the hospital for seven nights straight." I said, "You're amazing, Tina, how do you handle that and classes too?" "The hospital shift is class," Tina said. "We have short conferences throughout a shift to go over class and applications. Right now, we're learning trauma diagnostics. It's actually very interesting, but it is gory." The loaded down cart didn't groan at all going to the patio. Even with nine people riding in it, the long cart had plenty of power. At the patio, we were all warmly welcomed by everyone there. Mercy, Sue, and Kathy took me to where Steve was, and Sue said to him, "Now that you two are face to face, let's go over what we're doing to his boat again." Steve smiled at me and shook my hand, "Welcome back to the happy place, Chuck. Mercy has been a little nuts over the last week. You must have been up to no good somewhere." I said, "It was all about Martinson and their greed, at least the grandson's greed. He may have pulled some others into his pit with him though, and that's a shame. So what's up with the boat? I was asked if it was okay to remodel the two big cabins into three big cabins because Dewey is coming with us?" Steve said, "Yeah, Dewey is going to have to run off once or twice in order to take care of some business, so it only makes sense that he and his family stay with us on the same boat. That way he won't have to be playing catch up and sailing alone trying to find us." I nodded and said, "Sounds good to me. That boat is really big anyway. I think there should be plenty of room for everyone, don't you agree? This could be a lot of fun." Martin was listening to our conversation and commented, "I was watching The History Channel the other night about the Battle of Trafalgar, and learned that Admiral Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, was just 11 feet longer than Chuck's boat on the waterline and had a crew of 850. We won't have a tenth of that many people on board." Jan and Don had come over near the bar to get a Saturday morning Bloody Mary. Jan said, "This is really a lot better because Don and I can fly over and meet you guys either in Italy or Ireland, depending on where you go first, and then travel with you through the Mediterranean and on to the Riviera with you. We'll fly home and I won't be gone for more than a few weeks. Don was concerned about leaving his Dojo for so long since his manager went to California, so this works out great." Lisa brought me a cup of coffee and sat with me. She was being pretty quiet until Maria's little ones came crawling up into her lap. Maria was going to say something to them, but Lisa said, "That's alright. We're great buddies now that I watched them for you the other evening." The little ones jabbered to Lisa for a bit, then got down and ran into the house to join the other kids. Lisa and I went to the big table to have some of the food being brought out. We ate some fried potatoes, chunks of ham, biscuits and gravy, along with some scrambled eggs. The whole time we were eating, I was checking out the gowns and robes of all the ladies. I was very surprised to see Mark and Caroline, with her wearing a very opaque sexy robe. Gene and Sandy were back from Cheyenne already and Sandy had a robe similar to Caroline's on. Gene seemed to be proud that his wife was showing off. She was very attractive. I felt a presence behind me, and turned to look up at Wanda's long breasts that were hanging over my head. She looked down at me and smiled, then said, "When you two get done eating, get Nightfox so we can chat for a few minutes." Lisa glanced at me with a concerned look that Wanda caught. Wanda said, "You too, Lisa. You're a part of this one." Lisa's concern didn't go away, but we did go back to eating. After we finished eating, I found Sam inside, watching the kids with Maria, and asked him to step outside with me for a few minutes. Lisa and I, with Sam following, waved at Wanda and we met outside at one of the picnic tables out on the lawn. Wanda said, "I hate to cut your weekend short, but I had a call earlier this morning for you three to be in Seattle this evening. The rest of the team you will be a part of will meet you there. I don't know anything else, or what the mission is about, only to tell you to take your toys with you." Wanda looked at me and said, "Chuck, I was told to ask you to refuel in Salt Lake City. They know you can go non-stop out to Seattle, but they want you to refuel there. You guys know how long it will take to get where you're going, so as long as you're in Seattle by six, enjoy your morning." I asked, "Who is my contact in Seattle?" "Don't know, I'm sure you'll be told before you get there." As she got up, Wanda told me to make sure I monitored the proper frequencies. Sam looked down, then back up, and said, "Man, I hate stuff that goes on up there. Every time there is something to take care of up there, it's a big problem and messy." Lisa said, "I don't have a good feeling about this one at all. I think we should relax a few minutes and head up there early. We might need to have a longer talk than just a quickie briefing." Sam was nodding, "You can say that again. Let's leave no later than ten. That still won't give us a lot of extra time to quiz whoever is briefing us, or to get acquainted with the other team members." I said, "Then come on, let's finish up inside and go home to pack. I'd feel better if we were more prepared. You know, I'm beginning to really look forward to this European trip. How about you, Nightfox, want to come with us? There's room for Maria and her kids too." "No, I'm not a sailor and I would prefer to stay here. Perhaps Maria and I can go down to the house you have in Key West. That might be fun for a weekend." "I'll give you the telephone number and directions. Just call and let Rosie know when you're coming and the place will be ready for you. I'll contact her to let her know you may be calling." "Thanks, Chuck," Sam said. "You're really good to let me use your place like that." I smiled, "No sweat, the place will go to waste if you don't use it. Enjoy, my friend." We went inside and I gathered my ladies around to advise them I had to leave. All of them began complaining and telling me that I wasn't spending any time at home or with them. I just shrugged my shoulders and told them it was my job, at least one of my jobs. As the three of us were riding back to the house, my cell phone went off. It was John Scott, "Hey you straggler, I understand you're off doing something and won't be available to the Marshal's Service for a bit. Do you know how long? All I was told was that you were going to be unavailable." I told John, "Nope, they didn't say how long. I'm sure if you get hold of the Director he might be able to brief you. If he doesn't know, then you need to call me back so I can be scared." "Yeah, right," John scoffed, "Like you're going to be scared real soon." "Of the unknown, John, of the unknown; that always makes me apprehensive." "You're right," John said. "What we don't know will hurt us, that's for sure." He then said, "So take care of yourself and be careful. Let me know when you're back in Tampa." The three of us decided to wear normal civilian clothes and take our fatigues with us. When we were putting our gear out to take with us, Lisa had a small case similar to Sam's and my larger cases that held our weapons. She had it open on the table and was cleaning one of the fold up MP5s similar to what Sam and I had. She also had two Glocks, a model 22, and a 27 in her case, with a handful of magazines. "Where have you been hiding that?" I asked Lisa, as Sam and I went over our weapons. "They've always been with me. You probably saw the case, but didn't pay any attention to it." I said, "You and I have to have a discussion on the way out west. We'll have the time and I think we need to talk." Lisa smiled and told me, "I won't hide a thing, Chuck. No sense in hiding anything from you. You can see inside me anyway, anytime you want. I'm always surprised you don't crawl around in my head all the time. I try to do that to you, but you just close Mercy and me out." We finished up our prep and agreed that we were ready. I called the airpark to ask that the Citation be pulled out of the hangar and fueled. It probably was already fueled, but I wanted to confirm it. We got to the airpark in record time, before nine. We put our equipment out by the aircraft so I could take the car to the enclosed parking area for long term parking. After walking back to the aircraft, I began the preflight with the help of one of the maintenance techs that was on duty. Once we were loaded up and buckled up, Lisa helped me with the checklist and we were soon ready for our flight. I asked Lisa, "What number did you use for our flight plan?" She said, "You're Secret Service today, so we're using a priority number straight through. You're direct through to Salt Lake City, then direct to Seattle. The confirmation number that came back when I filed kind of tells me we're being met in Salt Lake. You probably expected that, right?" "Sure did," I said, as we pulled onto the runway, preparing to takeoff. Once we were in the air and at altitude, Nightfox got busy making coffee, then brought coffee and some pastries to the cockpit for Lisa and me. He said, "I'm going to stretch out back there and get some more sleep. Maria didn't let me go to sleep last night. It was a very nice welcome home." Lisa looked at me as I checked all of the equipment to be sure we were flying toward where we were supposed to, and that all of the gauges were where they should be. She said, "How about I give you some information about me that you wouldn't know? You've never asked about my time between Atlanta and when I showed up in Tampa. I was a little surprised about that, and maybe even a little disappointed, but you just considered that I had spent all of my free time learning to fly, then flying." "Actually, Lisa, that's exactly what I thought. I know there's more time involved than what that would cover, but I just didn't think it would make any difference if you did anything else but that." "Let me tell you, Chuck, I've done a lot more than that." Lisa scooted around in her seat so she was sort of facing me. She smiled at me and said, "You know, you're not the only Marine around here." That got my attention and I'm sure she saw the startled look on my face. She said, "When I was taken from momma and put into a group home, I had nothing to do except my music and school. They wouldn't let me play my guitar that much, so I studied. I was already two years ahead in school, so I didn't have a lot of friends. Everyone else was older than I was and didn't want to hang around with a kid. In high school, I took all of the college level classes I could and was able to pass them easily. So, I was sixteen when I started college at Georgia State and still under control of the state until I was eighteen." Lisa got us another cup of coffee, and continued. "Because I was still a minor and under the control of the state, I wasn't allowed to take part in a lot of extra-curricular activities, but I could join ROTC, so I did. They didn't have Marines, but they did have Navy. The reason I mention my disappointment about not being in Marine ROTC was that my dad was a Marine and I wanted to be like him. During the summer breaks I attended what was called the Platoon Leaders Class and that is pure Marine. When I graduated a year and a half later, I was qualified to receive a commission in the Navy but I wanted to be a Marine. I requested, and was given the chance to go through a commissioning program." "I don't know how your training was out in California, but I can tell you that Quantico is not a resort. I wasn't in good physical condition when I first went in and suffered for it. I learned to work for the muscles I needed and was able to move along with my group." "When my training was finished and I completed the last of my officer's training, I received my gold bars. My next goal was to become an aviator and I was able to complete the required physical and knowledge testing before being sent to Pensacola. I learned to fly there and was sent to New Orleans to learn to fly the Osprey. Iraq was heating up and they needed pilots for the 3rd Marine Aircraft wing so I went to Yuma to train in a Harrier, the AV-8B. That's where I learned how to really be a pilot. I was just sent to Miramar when our group was deployed. Instead of a carrier, we were sent to Kuwait. That's where I was when some kind of air defense rockets knocked two of us out of the sky on our first mission." "The other pilot didn't make it, and I had a broken leg and dislocated shoulder. Luckily enough, I was able to get the aircraft down on the ground without going in nose first. In less than ten minutes, a helicopter was landing next to my junk and picked me up." "You know the drill from there. I was treated in Kuwait, went to Germany briefly, then taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital before being sent back to Pensacola. It was there, while pulling some desk duty, that the Secret Service approached me. They offered me a neat position as a flight officer on Air Force One. Not pilot or co-pilot, but an alternate flight officer. How do you pass up an opportunity like that?" "Like magic, I was out of the Marines and assigned to a barracks in Washington, DC. Life was good, but boring. I didn't do anything and I didn't fly anywhere. After almost a year of only going out to Andrews to stay proficient by flying once a week for two hours, I asked for another job, any job, just to be able to do something rather than sit on my butt waiting. I had used my time taking martial arts classes, and I did have my guitars that I played until my fingers were raw, but doing nothing to keep me mentally alert was terrible." "They sent me to a base out west that you've probably been to. They put me through some very sophisticated weapons training and taught me to use explosives. I wanted to fly, but they kept telling me that I was needed to do these other things. I guess I bitched enough that I finally was sent to a school to observe another agent and to back him up if he should need it. That was you. You were a marked man as soon as you were under attack by those gangsters when you first got out of the service. The Secret Service heard about you from some U.S. Marshal and the Director of the FBI. "I found a neat place to watch you a little by working as a waitress in the bar near your office. That gave me the opportunity to live out at the nudist park where I was living before I moved into your house. I had responded to an ad for pilots and instructor pilots out at the airpark and was soon flying out there and giving lessons. I was finally flying again. Then what do you know, you began flying too? That was another bonus. You sort of know the rest, as we began getting together as a result of my interest in your ladies and their interest in me. You became a surprise in my life and without going into a lot of dull detail, I became infatuated with you. When I learned you were into music, it was all over for me and I wanted to be near you all the time." Lisa got up and got us another cup of coffee and when she was sitting again, said, "So you see, we were destined. As far as I was concerned, you were mine from that time on." I asked Lisa, "So what did you do for the Secret Service while observing me? What, or how, did you report?" Lisa said, "I watched you, became a friend of Wanda's and Brandy's who told me where you were and what you were doing. I watched you from a distance and was almost involved in one of the shootings out at your house. You were still with Bobby when I started, but I watched a couple of incidents that let me know that Bobby wasn't going to be around long. I followed her before she left and discovered she was seeing that wrestler. She wasn't very discreet and was easy to follow. I did some investigation of the wrestler and figured she wouldn't be in the picture much longer, and she wasn't." I nodded at Lisa and said, "So you've been within sight all the time and I didn't notice you or realize you were watching." Lisa smiled, "That was my job. I watched, called in every day to report, and was sometimes given instructions to keep close watch on you. You were not hard to keep track of, except when you were in the federal building. I was told I could use the facilities there, but thought I would blow my cover if I did." "Amazing," I said. "All this time you were watching out for me, but I was never under attack." "That's not true, Chuck. You were under attack out at the airpark when Steve became the target by the group who wanted his air business. That was a tough time, as I felt I should be out there. I was and was watching from the road, but staying out of the way. That was some scary shit." Lisa squirmed in her seat again and said, "I was glad when you got Jim, but you ended up giving him away. Then I was told Nightfox was partnering up with you and would be coming down to be around you. That's when I put in for my release." She got up and said, "I need to go to the bathroom, too much coffee. I'll be right back." While she was gone, I realized I could use a potty break soon too, but we were close to time to descend for Salt Lake City, so I decided to wait. We didn't talk anymore about all of that right then, as I began getting busy descending to land and refuel. When we were on the ground, a follow me truck led us from the taxiway to a remote hangar. When I parked, a golf cart came out and the driver said, "Lock up your aircraft and come with me. They have some sandwiches inside for you." The three of us rode into the big hangar and noticed a helicopter and two of the fighter planes that I had seen in the air before. We pulled up next to a door that led into some offices. The driver took us into a conference room that had a table against the wall, with a stack of sandwiches and bucket of ice with bottled water and soft drinks in it. Sam took a sandwich, tasted it, and said, "Good stuff. Better eat because when they offer food like this, it's sometimes a long time before we get to eat again." Lisa and I began eating just before the door opened and two men came in carrying some file folders, and one had a gym bag. The two were wearing fatigues and introduced themselves as our mission planners. One said, "Another man will be here in just a minute. He also just arrived and is changing clothes. Did you bring your utility clothes?" All three of us said, "Yes Sir," at the same time. It brought a grin to the one man's face. He said, "You ex-jarheads are all alike. Everything is yes sir, no sir, and Semper Fi. You guys must go through some kind of mind conditioning somewhere." Sam laughed and said, "Go through Pendleton or Parris Island and you'll know the secret." The other guy said, "We know, he's just being a smartass." The conference room door opened and John Scott, dressed in fatigues, came through the door. He looked at me and said, "Imagine meeting you here." I asked the guys in fatigues, "So, now we have the infamous John Scott involved in your activities. It's either going to be a very tough assignment, or a real screw up. Are you going to tell us now?" I asked John, "What was that bullshit you were telling me when you called this morning?" John answered defensively, "I didn't know I was coming until about five minutes after I talked to you. You can blame the Marshal, not me." The man who was obviously in charge said, "Sit, let me show you what's up." We sat at the table and the second guy opened a folder and passed out some printed maps and sheets of mug shots of people. The leader said, "The map is the area where the people on those sheets are right now. They are already in the U.S. and are hiding out between the border and Seattle. We have a fix on the area, but it's not precise. The surrounding area is forested with lots of lumber roads and probably abandoned buildings and cabins." I said, "If all of these people are there, it's going to have to be a large cabin. What is there, I mean how many, about thirty people?" "At least thirty. We are estimating the group that has gathered is around fifty." I looked at Sam, John, and Lisa, and said, "You want us four to take on fifty men? Fifty terrorists that you're not sure of where they are? Can't you get satellite photos?" The man said, "The CIA tracked them from several directions into the same area. We've taken enough satellite photos to begin naming trees. We know they're still in there as we've used several teams to be sure no one gets out. Our objective is to go in with a large task force and search them out. You'll need to be real careful as these guys are supposed to have a big supply of explosives." "Where are they trying to get to?" John asked. The leader said, "San Francisco. They're planning on blowing the Golden Gate Bridge and a baseball stadium at the same time. They have some secondary buildings they're planning on blowing too, but the big casualties will be the bridge and stadium." I sat back in my chair and marveled that something like this would have been allowed to develop. "Why didn't you stop them before they buried themselves?" The man said, "We couldn't do them in Canada or we would miss too many. We had to let them get into the states with their explosives so we would have them all together." Sam asked, "What other kind of armament do they have?" The leader responded, "We know they have rifles and sidearms, but not if they have any rockets. Like I said, if you hit the wrong thing when shooting at them, you'll get blown up with them. There's that much explosive." I asked, "First, how do you expect us to find them, and second, what do you need Lisa for?" The second man said, "Lisa knows explosives, how to handle them, how to set them off, and will be carrying some of your own in case you need them. The answer to your first question is you're going to go in on foot and track them down. We know where they entered, but not where they are right now. Their schedule is for them to be in San Francisco in ten days, so they don't have to move yet. They will be moving in the next couple of days though, so you need to get up there and penetrate that area. Nightfox should be able to track them and the rest of you and your team should be able to cover him while he's doing it." Sam said, "Chuck only has one leg, how's he going to keep up?" John said, "You've never been in the field with him yet, have you?" "Yeah, but not for miles and miles, only a few hundred yards," Nightfox said, being concerned. "He can handle it. I've gone about ten miles with him and he didn't have a hard time keeping up." John looked at me and nodded, while I was thinking, let's get out of here. The second guy opened a gym bag he had with him and handed each of us a small GPS, a pair of binoculars, and small radios with wireless ear buds. He said, "The ear pieces are wireless. You'll hear all transmissions on the net. There will be no speakers broadcasting; only the ear buds." Sam asked, "We could probably use some night vision equipment for this." "When you meet up with your team, they will have additional equipment. We want Chuck to carry his two rifles in with him, along with his personal rifle. If you need some long range shooting, Chuck's the man. John, you're his spotter. Sam, you're the tracker, and Lisa, you'll be handling explosives. This is a very dangerous situation and it must be neutralized. That's why you are here. The others chosen for this mission are equally trained and capable. John will assume overall command, but then he knows to listen to his men for direction. Any more questions?" We all sat there, silently contemplating what might be ahead. "Good," the man said. "Change into your field clothes so as soon as you land you can be airlifted by helicopter to the staging area. You'll be a few miles from the last point we know they were at." The three of us went out to the aircraft and instead of going back inside the building, we changed right there. I watched as Lisa put her boots on, then strapped a Glock 27 to her ankle. When we were suited up, including our vests, we went back to the conference room and I told John, "If you're ready, let's get up there and get this started." I asked the other man, "Do you have packs up there for overnight? You know some blankets, tents, ground cloths, food, and canteens." "Everything a man or woman needs is waiting for you. You are going to need help carrying your weapons, Chuck, so make sure you assign people to do that so you won't be weighed down. Good luck, we'll be in touch through your radios. Be careful and stay safe." John picked up his bag and went out to the aircraft with us. When he got into the Citation, he said, "Now this is a nice aircraft. I can't believe they just gave it to you. But then, that Las Vegas deal was probably worth it. This mission will be too, if we're successful." Lisa said, "Not if, John, when." John said, "I heard all about you, Lisa. I would never have guessed you were Chuck's observer. I kind of thought it was Wanda, but now they have hired her too to be your local contact." I got them buckled up and Lisa and I began spooling up the aircraft. I re-opened our flight plan and got permission to taxi and queue up for takeoff. It didn't take long to get to Seattle, where we were again led to a hangar with the doors open. We were waved into the hangar where we shut down. I told the others, "Okay, get your weapons out and load up your field vests. I'll put my rifles in field sleeves so they won't be bulky. I'll take what rounds I have for the fifty, and plenty for the 308. Let's get." John said, "I thought I was in command. Shouldn't I be the one to say all that stuff?" "Yak it up, John. Time's a wastin'." He laughed as he got off the aircraft, followed by Lisa, Sam, and myself. We got onto the helicopter as it was starting and sat in the seats. A crewman lifted his twin door guns onto the mount, attached the ammo canister, put a round into the breech and chambered it. I watched as he pushed the safety forward to lock and then attached himself to the straps tied to the aircraft so he couldn't fall out. We took off and lifted out of the airport area, heading north. I noticed five more helicopters begin joining us as we flew in formation for about forty-five minutes. We circled an area and landed in the remote parking lot of a national park. No cars were in the lot, so this must be a park that was closed part of the year. I watched as about eight men got out of each of the helicopters with their packs and weapons. We gathered near one end of the parking lot as the helicopters were shutting down. I had expected them to takeoff, but they were going to stay for support. John called everyone together and we introduced ourselves to each other. He had them divide into their assigned teams. We had an eight man team that was going with us, so he showed each of the teams the areas he wanted them to search in. He said, "Be watchful. I'm sure they will have guards out so you have to spot them before they spot you. As soon as you see a guard, radio your nearest group and have them come from a different angle to look for other guards. We want to find where they are housed and surround them. There may be more than one hideout, so let's be very quiet and very careful. As a precaution, everyone mount your noise suppression unit, your silencer, on your field weapon. That way if you have to shoot before we make our presence known, we might not tip off everyone at once." John looked around and said, "I'll give a call when we need to shutdown tonight. Oh yeah, who has the night vision equipment?" Four men came and gave us each a headset. He said, "Glad to unload another pound or so." John continued, "If we can, we might send a patrol out tonight as we should be able to detect movement easily at night. Then again, animals move around at night too, so don't shoot the wildlife and be sure of your target. Make sure you know where your nearest teams are." John looked around at all of the teams then said emphatically, "Let's go find them." ------- Chapter 64 Chuck The area we were searching was a dense northwest forest. That meant primarily pine, with a few deciduous trees and a lot of underbrush. When the teams left the staging area and began fanning out, it seemed we were making a horrendous amount of noise. Within seconds, but almost instantly, everyone found their stealth mode and the forest was quiet except for the rustle of some brush as the many men walked deeper into the wooded area. Our team was walking toward the last GPS coordinates where the intruders had been seen in order to pick up their trail. Before we had gone a mile, we found evidence of a large contingent of people moving through the woods without making any effort to conceal their travel. The terrain became rockier, with deep gorges that the trail followed around until they could be crossed. We were very aware of our surroundings, constantly looking for any peripheral signs of guards or movement. We saw a couple of deer and I think we saw a large black bear, but the animals ignored us as we were not making noise. At the location of the last sighting, we radioed that we had the trail and the direction it was taking. The going was slow and our movement was made more difficult as we were remaining quiet and not disturbing our surroundings. Night was closing in on us and we had traveled less than ten miles. John radioed the other team leaders to see whether they wanted to continue for another hour, and the consensus was to continue. As night comes to heavily wooded areas, different sounds come alive. You hear the singing of bat wings, the hooting of owls, and the rapid movement of night mammals. Each of the scurrying critters caused us to pause to identify the noise before taking the next step. Finally, when it was almost totally dark and without the benefit of a bright moon, John called a halt to the teams. He directed that each team put out two guards and to relieve them every two hours. That would give everyone an equal amount of sleep. We were sitting in some light brush next to a stream. We scooped some water to make some coffee in our instant heat bottles. Lisa was leaning over the stream getting water when she reached out and scooped something from the water that had been floating downstream. Lisa brought what she found up to hold in her light and looked at it. She turned to John, "They are close. This isn't wet on both sides." John took a paper matchbook from Lisa and looked at it while turning it over in his hands. He said, "They have to be really close. We need to put out more guards and perhaps consider an upstream night search." John radioed the other teams restating our GPS position telling the teams that our object would be upstream from where we were. I know every man on our team was looking at his map, trying to see what terrain was upstream from us. Nightfox said, "I want to take a look farther upstream. The next team is about three miles northwest of us, and that's the way the stream travels. If the matchbook had been in the water for those three miles, it would, in all likelihood, have bounced against obstructions and become wet. Our object has to be close, very dangerously close." John said, "Okay, but you have to take a partner. Pick one or take Chuck, he should be good for your backside." Sam smiled at me, "He moves out here a lot better than I would have expected. Okay, we'll search upstream, but we're going to move off the stream a little in case the objective is right next to it." John said, "Eat something before you go. Chuck, you won't need any of your weapons except your personal rifle. We'll watch your special stuff." Lisa leaned over to me and said, "Hold that matchbook and see if you can feel their presence. They have to be close and you should be able to feel them. You have even more ability than Mercy, try to feel them." While I ate a cold MRE and had a small cup of coffee, I thought hard about our adversary while holding the matchbook. I did feel something, but it was cold and hateful. The feelings I was getting made me shiver from the intensity of the anger and bitterness within the feelings. Funny though, as I was feeling those feelings, it was almost like a compass magnet. I turned to the direction the waves of raw emotions were coming from. I looked at Lisa and said, "They are close, in that direction. I do feel them and they are not nice people." Nightfox had been observing me and said, "Let's go find them. We'll move off the stream about a hundred meters and see where they are." John was getting the other men to settle down and rest while Sam and I left to search in the dark. We quietly moved through the heavy brush. When we were adjusted to the night, we put our night vision headsets on and waited until we adjusted to them. When we proceeded, it was slow and deliberate. We constantly were watching for any foreign light and listening for human sounds. There it was; a flare of light, bright enough that it temporarily blinded Nightfox and me. The two of us were on the ground peering through the brush, watching to identify who and how many. We watched and counted three red dots about three hundred meters from us. This was close, really close to our camp. I was surprised they didn't know we were here. Nightfox leaned close and said, "I want to get right up on them so I can hear what they say. I need to see if the whole contingent is in the same place or whether this is just a remote group." I nodded and said, "I'll be right behind you. I'll remain to your left at all times so you know where not to fire." He nodded as he began to stealthily move in the direction of the red dots of burning cigarette ends. About the time we had moved to within fifty meters of the men, they had extinguished their cigarettes and were sitting on some logs in front of a large opening in the mountain. They were talking normally, loud enough for their voices to carry to us. We heard, "What do you think all of those helicopters were about that we heard earlier?" "Probably just the National Guard or a bunch of Reserves out on maneuvers. They kept heading farther east, it's nothing to worry about." Another voice said, "We're leaving tomorrow night, anyway. We'll meet up with the buses the next morning and be in our target areas by that night." "I'm glad we are done doing all that hiking. Carrying all those backpacks is hard work. We'll soon be in Mexico enjoying the beaches and reading about our work." "Ha, ha, ha, no one suspects anything, and this will surprise all of the assholes that disrespect us. While the infidels watch for us in New York City, we will be giving them a show of our disgust on the other coast. It will take them days to even begin to track us. By then, we will be gone while they are still weeping over their losses. Praise Allah." "We still have to get between here and San Francisco." "No one will suspect a couple of tour buses of old folks." "I'm going to get another bucket of water. I want some more coffee." "Don't drink too much. You'll be trying to sleep in a few minutes. It's almost midnight, time to change the guard. I'll go wake the next four." We watched as one of the guards walked into the huge opening and disappeared. There was a flash of light as if he had opened a door or curtain when he entered. The other guard who had gotten the water went through the curtain with the bucket of water, probably to put it on a fire. Nightfox motioned for us to move back and turned to move in the direction we had come. We knew that we had flattened out a lot of brush and attempted to lift it so our presence wouldn't be so obvious. When we were a couple of hundred meters away, Nightfox said, "We can't be sure, but it's probable that the entire group is in that cave. Did you see how the flash of light displayed? I think they have a tarp over the opening." I said, "Yeah, I saw that. We need to tell John so we can gather our troops to this location. Tell you what; I will set up an observation point about a hundred fifty meters out and watch. You go back to John and tell him. You bring relief back. I think we should have two men on observation at all times. We need to know if they go out from their camp to look around." Nightfox said, "You're right. I'll be back in an hour. Don't get too close. I'll advise you by radio when I'm right here. You can come get your relief and show them your observation point." Nightfox left, going back toward our camp, and I moved up the hill to get a view of the front of the cave. Once I was in place, I could see they had trampled down all the vegetation around the cave entrance and for about a hundred feet out. The area had a lot of trees so it wouldn't be visible from the air or satellite. It's amazing these men had walked about seventy miles through the terrain they did. They were very determined. I watched as four new guards came out, and in the beginning, they stood at the periphery of the trampled down area, then they slowly migrated back to the logs that had been sat on by the other men. I was too far away to hear them clearly, but I could hear them say some louder words and their sinister laughs. I focused on the men sitting together to see if I could listen in to their thoughts. My head was flooded with grisly thoughts and scenes in the men's heads. I kept seeing the huge Bay Bridge going to Oakland falling into the bay. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge collapsing along with another bridge to the north that must be the John T. Knox Freeway. This would paralyze traffic in and around San Franciso. Then I saw an enormous explosion at a ball park near the water close to downtown San Francisco. That must be AT&T park where the San Francisco Giants play. The men were laughing and joking with each other, each wanting to be the one who pushed the button. They kept saying "Praise Allah," but I didn't think Allah was listening. When Sam's voice came through my ear bud, I almost jumped enough to make noise but I caught myself and moved back to our meeting spot. I brought the three to my spot and they agreed this should be a good place, as there was good cover and wasn't in any direction of travel the men we were observing would go. I said, "I think they have a latrine out to the right of the cave mouth. Each of the guys has gone that way and they were adjusting their clothes when they came back." The two men nodded and assumed their positions. Nightfox and I left, quietly moving through the darkness as we made our way back to camp. John met us as we stepped within the area of resting men. John said, "I've notified all of the teams and they will be moving into the area in the morning. I'm going to rest awhile, until the morning shift for the observers then go reconnoiter the area so we can make a plan. You two lie down a while as I'm going to want you with me." When I lay down, Lisa reached over and patted my hand. My head was filled with her soft voice telling me to relax to rest. I mentally said to her, "I love you." For that I received a hand squeeze. Laying in the dark, trying to rest, my mind was filled with the thoughts of those men I had been watching. I must have linked with them some way as their thoughts were still with me. Soon, they were changing guards and the noise of their thinking quieted as they lay down. I did get a glimpse of the inside of the cave though. It was huge. One side had all of the back packs stacked up together while the rest of the men were in rows on the other wall. I could see a large fire box that must have had an overhead vent somewhere. Seeing through someone else's eyes was weirding me out. Lisa leaned over and said, "Close your mind. You are wide open. You don't need to let Mercy see what you are seeing right now. Rest! Sleep!" I did drift off to sleep, but it seemed that John was shaking me to get up only seconds later. John told Lisa, "You are on guard here. I have to take Nightfox and Chuck with me while we change guards. Listen for me as I should be able to begin directing our teams into place." Nightfox and I stuffed another MRE and drank enough water to hold us. We both went off into the brush to do our morning business, covering our leavings so no one would ever know we were there. Five of us went through the woods, trying to take a little different route so we wouldn't trample the brush and show a trail. We relieved the two guards and they returned to the base camp while John looked over the entrance to the cave. The two observers reported the only thing that had happened through the night was guards changing every two hours, and someone sometimes would come out of the cave and go into the brush then come back, probably to go the latrine. John said, "We need to circle this hill and see if we can spot the vent they must have for the smoke from an inside fire. Since no other guards were changed overnight, they must not have any peripheral guards out. We should be able to move all of our manpower up near them before we take them down." We moved back toward our camp, but John had Nightfox and me scout the area over the cave and farther up the mountainside. Sam and I moved about four hundred meters out and climbed the hill. When we were up to where we had a view down to where the mouth of the cave was, the forest was so dense that we couldn't see the edge of the cliff where the cave was. We cautiously moved down the hill until we smelled wood smoke. We moved slower until we saw pale smoke rising from the vent. By the time the smoke from dried wood made it to through the canopy, it had dissipated and couldn't be seen from a distance. We went to the other side of the curvature of the cave opening to see if we could see anything. We did see an area that was dug up that they were using for a latrine. We quietly moved back the way we came to keep from being observed until we were able to move back toward our camp. While we were scouting, our ear buds were busy with the radio traffic of John directing teams toward the objective. Some were coming from the opposite side of the stream and some were descending on the cave opening from the opposite direction from where we were. I was drinking a cup of coffee when my mind was flooded with a lot of excited chatter from someone I had listened to the night before. He was telling someone he thought he saw movement in the woods out from the side of the cave. A voice was saying, "You six, get your rifles and search in that direction. Look for signs of anyone being around. The rest of you arm yourselves and get your backpacks on so we can move out early if we have to." I went to John and said, "Radio our men and tell them to move back. I think someone has been spotted." John looked at me warily but radioed the observers to move back a couple of hundred meters, but to leave their area pristine. That would be more difficult as our men had been there for several hours. They would use leaves and pine needles to cover the area. That's why a good observation point is usually rock or a tree, where you don't wear down an area. John asked me, "And how do you know this. Are you clairvoyant?" "You know me, John. If I get a feeling, I act on it. This is just a feeling." He said, "It's time for us to move up anyway. We'll take our positions and get ready for the take down. You need to carry your fifty and have someone carry your 308 for you. If we get to that point, I'll observe for you." Lisa said, "Give me your scope, John. I've trained as a spotter. I can do it for Chuck. I'll carry the scope and the 308. I'll be his jeep." John chuckled, but handed her the small field spotting scope. She attached it to her vest belt and shook to make sure it didn't make noise. That was the first time I really looked at Lisa dressed in her field gear. She looked like any soldier, except we weren't wearing helmets. Everyone was wearing either ball caps or slouch hats. She had a ball cap on and you noticed how short her hair really was because it didn't stick out on the sides. Lisa wasn't that big, but she looked a little bulky with her protective vest under her fatigue blouse and field vest. Seeing her shoulder her pack and sling the 308 case over her shoulder made me think that she had learned her training well, as she looked fairly balanced. When her hands dropped to her side, her right hand was even with the Kbar strapped to her leg. Yep, she was a soldier, or at least was dressed and acting like one. Somehow, I felt comfortable with her in that getup. Who would have thought I would be traveling with the person I felt intended to, dressed the way we were. Lisa draped her personal collapsible MP5 over her head so the rifle was at the ready in front of her and looked up at me. I was ready too, with the fifty on one shoulder. The team moved out, leaving where we had camped undisturbed. The grasses we had lay on were brushed up so they would spring upright in the morning dew and sun. I was listening to the voices of the men I had listened to the night before and they were not nearly as excited as they were before. Another voice said that the perimeter had been thoroughly checked and no one was around. Another voice said, "Perhaps we should prepare and leave early. We can sleep a night in the forest before the buses pick us up. Let us prepare to leave." Going up to John, I said, "I have a feeling the group is about to leave early from their position. If we are going to capture them in the mountains, we have to do it now or we'll be trying to contain them in the heavy brush." John looked at me warily again, but began directing teams to begin closing into toward the mouth of the cave. John said, "I think we need to set off those explosives inside that cave. The mountain can contain the blast, but if it happens outside, who knows what the force of the blast will be like." I said, "You know there won't be anyone left to question don't you?" "Oh yeah, there will be," John said, with an evil grin. "You and Nightfox are going to get me a couple. Take two other men and get me a couple of guards. Do it quickly so they won't be noticed. If you're right and they are getting ready to move, they will busy inside for a little while." Nightfox had heard John and picked two men to come with us. We stripped our extra weapons and field vests to lighten our movements. We didn't even take our rifles. This was a sneak and grab. We decided to close on the guards from three directions so we could down them quickly before they could alert anyone. Hopefully, no one would come out of the cave while we were taking them down. Each of us pulled off a piece of duct tape, putting it on our pant leg and put some personnel tie-wraps in our belts. At Sam's signal, we spread out and approached the guards as they huddled, sitting facing away from the forest toward the cave mouth. The last ten feet were the worst. It was wide open and I was sure that the men would see us. The four of us lunged from the brush and were on the guards before they could even stand. All of us used the handle of our Kbar to knock the startled guards out. I taped the mouth of the guard I had knocked out and tie-wrapped his hands behind his back. I pulled him around, stood him up and draped him over my shoulders, carrying the heavy man away from the mouth of the cave. The other three men with me were doing the same. I now knew why Nightfox picked some bigger men. He and I were the smallest of the group and staggered under the weight. We dumped the prisoners at John's feet, and he asked, "Did you kill them?" I said, "No, just knocked them out. They'll be awake soon. We didn't hit them that hard, just enough to make them passive for a few minutes." John radioed for all teams to close up to within a hundred meters and to find good cover. We watched as all the teams found positions and were concealing themselves behind trees and boulders, using the brush for additional cover. Everyone was getting a good firing position. John broadcast, "Do not fire unless I give the order. Stay down, conceal yourselves, and wait for directions." He said to me, "Use the fifty and fire an explosive round at the top of the cave. Don't shoot into the cave just fire a round to alert them." While I pulled the fifty into position and chambered an explosive round, John broadcast that a single round would be fired to announce our presence. I looked at John and he nodded. I squeezed off the round and it exploded at the roof line of the cave. The noise was loud as we were close and the mouth of the cave acted like a speaker and reflected the sound outward. Two men ran out of the cave, pulling the tarp curtain down as they did. They looked around trying to see us or their guards and just looked confused. John yelled, "We have you surrounded and need for all of you to come out of the cave with your hands over your head. Our force is sufficient to kill all of you if you resist. Leave everything in the cave, and all of you come out now with your hands in the air." There was a lot of yelling between the men outside and the men in the cave. While the two men that had come out were running for the mouth of the cave, several rifle rounds came from inside the cave. None of the men in our force fired back, as they had been directed. John waited until the rifle fire quieted and announced again, "Put down your weapons. Leave everything in the cave and come out with your hands up. Save yourselves and come out." "All we could hear was men yelling "Praise Allah" and "Be a Martyr." There was obviously mass confusion inside the cave. John yelled again, "You have one minute to live. In one minute we will attack your position. You can't live through our attack. This is your last warning. Now it's thirty seconds. Come out right now and live. Come out with your hands in the air. No weapons, leave everything inside the cave." John leaned down to me and said, "Put as many explosive rounds as you can into that cave. You have to hit something that's going to make that place go boom." He broadcast, "Everyone, get your heads down and cover your eyes. There is going to probably be one hell of a blast." I fired the first magazine into the cave and none of the five rounds hit any explosives, but they were obviously hitting flesh as there was a lot of screaming. When I chambered the first round of the new magazine, a man appeared within the mouth of the cave with a backpack worn in front of him, and began firing a rifle wildly into the woods at us. I fired the big fifty at the lone person five feet inside the cave. There was a whoosh as air was pulled into the cave then a phenomenal explosion that seemed to lift all of us off the ground from the blast. Rock and trash was shot from the mouth of the cave showering us with sharp stones and splinters. I was looking through the scope and saw several bodies hurled from the cave as if from catapults. The whole mountain side seemed to rise then all of it began settling in until there was no longer a cave, only a collapsed side of the cliff. John broadcast, "Injuries, report." No response was heard, until one voice said, "A couple of splinters and a cut from a rock." Slowly, each team leader reported into to John, telling him his men were without injury. John turned to me and said, "Get those four guards to come around and question them as to where they were to meet the buses they were talking about. Make it fast, Chuck. Do what you have to do, but get it out of them." Lisa, Nightfox, and I pulled the men into sitting positions and pulled the tape from their mouths. One of the men said, "What did you do with our leaders? What have you done?" I said, "We gave them the chance to give up, but they refused and were firing at us. We fired back and must have hit the explosives you were going to use on us." You could see the fear and panic on their faces. I began questioning them, "You can live if you will tell me where you were going to meet the buses. Talk to me and we keep you alive. Lie to me or remain quiet, and you will remain quiet for the rest of your short lives." I could mentally hear the hostility and fear in their heads. All four didn't know which way to lean, what to do. I began probing and mentally suggesting that they wanted to live, that they wanted to tell the truth, and they wanted to live to see another day. I did my best to think them into talking. One of the men finally said, "We are to meet the buses at the park's south parking area tomorrow morning." The other captives were about to glare at the talker, but resisted when Lisa held her Kbar at one of their throats and asked, "Since they didn't talk, can I do them now?" I thought John was going to laugh out loud as Lisa's Kbar began drawing blood. John said, "Wait, let the others talk too. They might know more. If they don't talk, then you can do with them what you want." Lisa harrumphed and slid her Kbar back into its sheath, smiling while turning away from the captives. Two other men began questioning the captives as I took a minute to enjoy a drink of water. John came over to me and said, "I'm calling the choppers in to pick up most of us and to set up a capture for the buses. That blast has cleared a big enough area to put a chopper down, so get your stuff together. I want you on the first group out of here. Go see what you have to work with and set up an ambush. The rest of the men will be there shortly. I'm leaving one team here to try to identify any bodies that were blown out of the cave and to wait for the recovery crew that will come and excavate the site. We need to gather whatever information we can. I'll be down there with you tonight unless we find out the buses are coming early." We heard a chopper lowering in the blast-cleared area and walked toward it. There were body parts and debris scattered everywhere as we made our way to the chopper. Nightfox, Lisa, and I loaded into the chopper with eight other men and were lifted up. Another chopper lowered into the clearing and loaded while more helicopters were poised, waiting to load. When all the choppers were loaded, it only took twenty minutes to fly the distance to the south parking lot. They dropped us and left, going back to the original parking lot to wait for us. We had heard from the door crewman that the blast was not only heard, but felt back at the north parking lot where they had been. I told the men to set up positions around the parking lot and to eat and relax. There was a pavilion with rest rooms and running water, so we were going to be resting in comfort while waiting for the buses to arrive. Over my radio, I heard John say, "The choppers just advised me that they observed buses at the gates of the park. Someone was unlocking the gates or possibly cutting the lock. You have about thirty minutes until the buses arrive. Get into position." I announced, "That was your long rest. Everyone use the restroom, get a drink, then get into position. Don't let them see you. When they are all parked and engines off, the drivers will probably congregate into one bus. As soon as that happens, I'll give the go ahead and we'll take them. Be careful, as the drivers have to be in on it. They are breaking into a national park to pick these guys up. Be careful." The men all scattered to use the restrooms, then to get into their assigned positions for the take down. Lisa, Nightfox, and I went back into the heavy brush several meters and found some cover to hide behind near the pavilion. I was thinking the buses would probably park up near the restroom pavilion to take advantage of the cover and picnic tables. I reported back to John that we were ready for the buses when they arrived, and the only people we should encounter would be the drivers and possibly one or two others. John said, "When I was advised of the buses at the gate, there was mention of another vehicle or vehicles. Be ready, you never know with these guys." I hastily went to a few of the nearby positions to make sure they heard the transmission from John. When I was satisfied everyone would be mentally prepared, I went back to our position within the brush. We heard the buses approaching about thirty minutes later. They did what I expected and drove up and parked in front of the pavilion. What I wasn't prepared for were three Suburbans following them. What would they need three vehicles for? We watched as the three buses opened their doors and the drivers all got out, stretching before heading to the rest rooms. The doors of the Suburbans began opening and bearded guys in robes, blousy pants, and turbans began getting out of the trucks. What got my attention was they each appeared to have a folding stock AK-47. The bearded men formed together in front of the lead Suburban and one of the men stood in front of them. He spoke loudly, but I couldn't understand what he was saying from this distance as the buses were still running. I focused on the man, trying to get into his thinking. His head was full of hate and anger. He wasn't thinking in English though, he was thinking in some form of Arabic. That's when I began hearing him in English. He was first telling some of the people something in Arabic, then repeating it in English. That told me the people there were a mixed bag of U.S. people and imports. He told the men, "We know that one of our groups may have had an accident as there was a large explosion heard near where they would have been. This probably means we will have only half of the men we expected. You men will have to take the place of those that may not be with us any longer. Both groups should begin coming in this afternoon. Our job is to protect them by securing this area so we may continue with our destiny." The guy then began pointing to areas where he wanted the men to be in defensive positions. He told them to first use the facilities, eat their lunch under the pavilion, then go to their positions. I broadcast, "The armed men are going to have lunch under the pavilion. We'll wait until they are eating and attack. They should put their weapons down while they eat, so we should be at an advantage. All teams begin moving toward the pavilion. Stay within deep cover and come up to gather on both sides of the pavilion. Teams 1 and 2, and teams 6 and 7 on the two ends. If you can use the vehicles for protection, move toward them and use them as cover for the attack. They are expecting another group of men to arrive, but do not expect the group we neutralized as a blast was reported. When I give the word, this take down needs to be done fast and clean. The less blood the better, since we don't know what will happen when the other group gets here. Everyone begin moving." Lisa was watching as the men were coming from the restrooms and sitting at picnic tables under the pavilion canopy. They did as I expected and stood their rifles up against the posts on the outer area of the pavilion. They didn't expect any resistance here, so were going to be unprepared to resist. Or, at least, I hoped so. As soon as we could account for all of the drivers and all of the men that had been in the Suburbans, I gave the order, "Move in, now." My entire group got up and began running at the pavilion. The 3, 4, and 5 teams got up with me and were running toward the pavilion at the same time. I hollered, "Put your hands up now. Resist and you will die, put your hands up." Every one of the men at the tables froze for that split second that enabled us to be almost on top of them. With thirty armed soldiers running at them, you could see the instant fear in their eyes. One man stood and was pulling a sidearm. There were at least four "puffs" as silenced MP5s cut him down. That encouraged more to make the same mistake. More hushed shots were fired, with at least five of the robed and turbaned men were now down. The others were standing and now had their hands held high above their head. The men from behind the buses came forward and began searching and tie-wrapping the hands of the men still alive. I told my men, "Get those men that are down off the concrete. See if you can clean up the blood real quick. We need to make this place look as if it is what the others are going to expect." I reported to John what our situation was and that I had heard another group was coming our way. He said, "From what we have been able to get out of the guards we captured, there is another group of equal size, about fifty men that are a parallel group to this one. They have their own explosives with them so you're going to have to handle them carefully. What do you have in mind?" I asked him, "What do you think of us using the drivers and terrorists clothes and looking like we are who they expect? We don't have to have that many guards out, but we do need to look like we are expecting them." John said, "That might work but be sure to have your men aware of the explosives. If you have expended brass around there, pick it up so it doesn't give you away. Don't have your guards that will be visible use their MP's. Use the captured weapons. Make a plan, Chuck, so that you can take the group without them setting off their explosives. If they have as much explosives as the first group had, there will be nothing but a large crater where you are now." He added, "Just to let everyone know what these dirtbags were up to, we've found out they were planning on blowing the Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time. That would virtually separate San Francisco. They were also going to blow up a baseball stadium when it was full. I don't think we should worry about a few of them not getting a trial." I motioned for all the team leaders to join me so we could work out a plan. We agreed that we should use the terrorists' and bus drivers' clothes to make it look like everything was normal. We decided to put the stripped, captured men into the buses. They had their hands and feet tie-wrapped, plus we put duct tape over their mouths to keep them quiet. We put a couple of our men on the bus to watch them. We ended up with eight men dressed as terrorist guards in blousy pants, robes, and turbans. They all had the AK-47s the terrorists had been carrying and had found some extra magazines in the Suburbans. The men dressed as bus drivers were stationed under the pavilion canopy with the AKs from the deceased terrorists lying on the table in front of them. That should give them some defense in addition to their sidearms. My concern was about not knowing what direction the other group would be coming from. I knew how the group we had destroyed would have come, but didn't know where the other group was. I had two of the teams come up and said to them, "I need some advance observers. I need you to go out in two-man recon teams and set up about a mile out, about two to three Clicks. As soon as you see the group coming, radio us so we'll know what direction they are coming from. When all of you hear the alert, come in and I'll be giving you your positions as you come in. Move, they could be getting close." As soon as the eight two-man teams were gone, I got with the other team leaders and we decided that we would set up a wedge to receive the group coming in. I said, "There are just too many for us to try to head shoot all of them before one or all can set off their explosives. I don't even know whether they have detonators with each man, but we can't take that chance. If one backpack full of explosives goes off, all of them will probably blow." "Advise your men that we will confront the leaders at the pavilion with the men acting like bus drivers. All of our men will close the wedge at the ready. If any of the men look as if they are trying to get at their backpacks, shoot them quickly in the head, not the backpack. I'll be yelling for them to give up and put their hands up and all that, but you men have to be ready and don't hesitate. If they make a strange move, shoot. Tell everyone to be sure to be firing up and not level as there will be other men forming the wedge in the cross fire. Let's tell the men and get ready to form our wedge." Lisa had been by my side the entire time and said, "That should be a good plan. I will set up so I have a clear shot at the leaders if they should make a move. There should be at least one more with me in case they are stretched out wide in front." Nightfox said, "I'll do it. Between the two of us, we should be able to cover at least a thirty foot firing area. That should be as wide as the leaders could be spread out. I don't expect them to be that uniform or well-disciplined. They won't be marching and won't be holding together in a formation. The worry will be the stragglers, but your wedge idea should handle that." I began assigning teams as to where they would be on the wedge. I reminded the wide end of the wedge to close in as soon as the last of the stragglers were passing by. The first of the incoming group should have already arrived and could possibly be under attack by that time. Turning to Lisa I said, "Make sure of your shots and remember we will have troops out there behind these guys. Try to position yourself so you will be firing at an upward angle. Head shots, make each one count." Man, my stomach was in knots. Adrenaline was pumping at the highest it had been since way back in Iraq. There were too many ifs and maybes, too many unknowns. Now, we were waiting for contact. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000i ------- Chapter 65 Chuck One of the teams broadcast, "Got em, they are in a mass group moving through the brush. It looks like fifty to sixty of them. Not all have rifles, but the lead men do. Oh yeah, some of the people on drag have rifles too. We're coming back. They are moving toward you at your two o'clock. You won't have to worry; they don't have any perimeter guards or scouts. I'm out." I broadcast, "Set up the wedge now at the north end of the pavilion. Find cover. See if you can find a big tree or rock or anything in case there is a blast. Remember, fire at any probable movement. Take no chances. You men in turbans come up and be a part of the welcoming committee. That should put them at ease for a few seconds. You acting as bus drivers, get your weapons in a position to get at them. Let's get set." I watched as Lisa and Nightfox found cover and a good firing position at the corner of the pavilion. They should be able to cover their area without any problem. With them and the guys dressed up, we should be able to control anyone with rifles in the front. Having everyone hear what everyone else was saying was a good thing. All of the men would know why I was doing something and would know how imminent contact was. It was bad though, as they all had the chance to get as scared as I was. There was a large boulder about twenty feet out from the pavilion that I got behind. I think an entire team could have hidden behind it. Over the broadcast channel, I said, "Lisa, Nightfox, when the leaders get even with my position, tell me." From the farthest out man in our wedge, I heard, "The leaders just passed my point. They're not paying any attention to their surroundings and just moving into the area. No one is looking to the side at all, just straight ahead. Even the men with rifles at the rear are on a Sunday stroll with their rifles slung over their shoulder." Maybe, just maybe, we can get lucky. I looked down at my rifle and checked the position of the safety then began bunching up my muscles to stand and confront the leaders. Lisa said, "The front is passing you now." I stood and said, "Put down your weapons and put your hands up. Any strange movement will get you killed." One of the men in front went nuts yelling and pulling his rifle from his shoulder. He fell backward with an unrecognizable face. I kept yelling for everyone to put their hands into the air, but more and more rounds were being fired and more and more of the group were falling. A few men had their hands straight up with their eyes closed; probably in prayer that they wouldn't be shot. With my rifle to my shoulder, I scanned the group still standing, watching to make sure no one moved. I broadcast, "You men at the rear begin shaking down the men still standing and tie-wrap their hands. As those guys begin taking care of that group, the next people on both sides do the same. Leave two men to provide cover and watch for movement." I told the men still standing at the front of the group, "You three, take ten steps forward and stand." I waved at the men dressed as terrorists and said, "Shake em down and put tie-wraps on them. Be careful with the backpacks." I broadcast, "Put all backpacks in a row out in the parking lot. Don't attempt to open them, just carry them out there and put them down." I told the guys dressed as bus drivers, "Begin picking up the backpacks of the men who are down. You don't have to be too careful of the men; they're dead and you won't hurt them. Be careful of the packs though and look for anything hanging out." I was still holding my rifle at the ready when a guy on the far side reached over his shoulder for his pack. I squeezed off a round that did an eye exam, but it was one of three or four rounds that nearly took the guys head off. The man next to him yelled and began crying, begging us not to shoot him. He wet his pants. I was with that guy. I almost wet mine. As the men worked their way up from the back of the group, the guys dressed like terrorists were working their way back from the front. All the rest of the men were at the ready with their rifles pointed at the group, making sure no sudden movement occurred without immediate counteraction. In my peripheral vision, I saw that Nightfox and Lisa were out of their positions, facing the other side of the group holding their rifles at the ready. What a way to have your intended help you with your job. But then, it's her job too. I'll bet she never figured on anything like this when she agreed to become an alternate pilot for number one. When the last man was searched and his backpack was placed on the ground, I radioed John to tell him we were in control of the second group. John said, "Clean up your area as best as possible. If you have three buses, put all the dead in one bus. Also, police all of your brass so there is no evidence of anything happening there. We need to keep this from the general public. They don't need to know over a hundred terrorists were planning on killing a hundred thousand or so citizens." All the men heard the broadcast and were doing a basic training ground search for any brass. They were stretched out in a line, picking up anything that was not native to the ground. The men raked branches over the ground with blood stains while trying to clean up the mess the group had made walking into the parking area. All of the men had now changed back into their regular clothes and were attempting to get the bus drivers and terrorists off the bus one at a time to put on their own clothes. One of the team leaders hollered at me to come to the storage area of one of the buses. He pointed at two stacks of something folded up and said, "Body bags, they expected to have bodies out here. Wonder what that's about? We'll use the bags for the dead. That way we won't smell the blood and dead people." Another guy was equally as excited when he came to me and said, "That end bus has an entire side of the storage compartment packed with explosives. Hell, it might be the entire compartment. I can't see the other side. Let me go look." I radioed John, "We need headquarters to send a very large containment vehicle. I probably have two to three thousand pounds of high explosives on one of the buses. See what you can do. How about getting one of the helicopters over here to use for communications to headquarters?" John said, "Now you're thinking. I'll have one on the way over there. We have an AWACS in the air checking to make sure there isn't anything flying around that could be looking at us. It's quiet so far. They are tracking any vehicles that get near the park area as well." I gathered the team leaders and told them, "Let's unload that bus with the explosives and put it out on the far edge of the parking lot. We'll space the back packs out and look for anything that may look like a detonator." As soon as they were beginning to move the explosives, one of the team leaders called a halt. He came to me and said, "All of them are wired together with detonators on each case. I've got men cutting wires and looking for a receiver. I think that bus was what they were going to use to destroy the bridge." I said, "If that's true, the trigger should be up near the driver or a passenger seat behind or next to the driver, let's look. Ah, let's get everyone away from around the bus and let's move it to the other side of the parking area. I think I can drive it. Wait for me to get it moved." As soon as I sat in the driver's seat, I found the trigger. It was a plain box that had wires that went through the floor, and also to a box with two large gel cell batteries on the floor. The wires had spade ends on them but were not connected. I used my Kbar and cut the wires going through the floor then picked up the batteries and put them outside the bus along with the control box. Back on the bus, I looked around for another control point while walking up and down the aisles of the bus. I didn't see anything, so I went back up to the driver's seat to move the bus. Once the bus was moved to the other side of the parking area, I saw a large stack of boulders that I thought would be good to put the bus behind. If it went off, at least the boulders should shield us from most of the blast and shrapnel. Helicopters began arriving. When one set down, a group of men got off, wearing white jumpsuits, and carrying big square briefcases. They were greeted by the team leaders and were led to the backpacks. All of the eight men began delicately opening the backpacks and inventorying the contents. Another helicopter had more men in white coveralls and they headed my way toward the bus with the explosives. I told them about the detonators in each case of explosives and the control box and batteries that I had already removed. They just nodded and went to the bus to begin working with those explosives. John and some more men got off some other helicopters and I went up to meet them at the pavilion. John counted our prisoners to discover we had forty-two men captured even though we had been forced to kill twenty-six. John said, "All of these men are going to be a problem. Where can we put them?" I said, "Use the buses and drive straight to Colorado. If you can get them into the maximum security prison there, that would be as good as Cuba." John said, "Damn, couldn't you have just shot them?" "I was trying to be a good guy, John. I think the men would have gladly taken care of it, but we're not trained that way. We should have put them on their bus and pushed the button. That would do it. I'll bet they were planning on doing that with a busload of them anyway." My stomach was growling, so I asked, "Do you have any food yet? I'm starved and I don't really want another MRE." John looked at me as if aggravated, "That's all you'll get until we get this cleaned up. We have some Deputy Marshals on their way to take control of the prisoners, but you're going to have to delegate some of the teams to accompany them. I think you have the right idea of going straight to Colorado, so let's use the buses and the Suburbans and haul the prisoners straight there. I'll have our electronics tech go over the vehicles to make sure they don't have any GPS locators on them. If they do we'll just dump them along the road somewhere. Can you assemble your men for me to talk to them?" I used the radio and broadcast, "All personnel fall in behind the pavilion. The leader wants to talk to all of usnow." Knowing that everyone in these teams came from some form of military background, I got what I expected. Everyone, except the men guarding the prisoners, were standing at ease in three rows. John looked around to see the guards with the prisoners so he keyed his radio and said, "I'll just broadcast this so everyone can hear this together." He took a deep breath and said, "You men have neutralized a threat to our country that is even bigger than nine eleven. It's just like the massive cache of explosives we found in Las Vegas recently. The result of the terrorists' activities would have killed thousands and would have interrupted commerce in the San Francisco and Oakland area for years. You are to be congratulated. All of you will receive commendations in your file and I'm sure that will mean something extra for you in your pay sometime soon." John moved around a little, then addressed the men again, "I need some volunteers to ride with the buses to Colorado. About twenty men should do the trick, so any of you who want to make the trip, see Agent Peters over by the prisoner bus." He looked at all of us standing in front of him and said, "You, we, did good on this. Good job and thanks." John motioned for me to join him, "Chuck, you should probably write a report describing how you took the buses and terrorists' guards and then how you took down the group that came in. Don't do it on Marshal's paperwork and don't talk about it to anyone, absolutely no one. Make sure Lisa and Nightfox know that too." John was uncomfortable about something, and he said, "They had me join up for this one mission and I don't think they plan on keeping me as part of their network. I think I'm even going to ask to not be invited on future missions. This was as close as I want to get to being blown to smithereens. Damn, that had to be the scariest thing I've ever seen. Weren't you scared?" I smiled, "Sure, John. Just like any other time I've been shot at or been under attack back when in the military. At the time, it's so scary you shake, but it passes. As soon as it's over, it's over. Life goes on, John, you made it and are able to do it again another day." "I think I'm done, Chuck. I don't want any more of this and I need to be a dad and husband. I'll do what's necessary for the Marshal's Service, but even there, I don't want any more hairy stuff. Christ, just think if that bus over there goes off. There won't be enough of me or anyone else to ship back in a body bag. I just want to get the hell out of here." "Relax, John, go sit in the shade over there behind that boulder. Nothing is going to get around all those boulders next to the bus and that big one over there. Have some coffee, I smell it. Someone is making us a snack." I had never seen John in this condition, but I guess this had been a real awakening to him. These few days had put that final fear into him. It had taken away his military daring and was telling him he had no more second chances. I kind of knew the feeling, but had regained my confidence each time it had happened. In his condition, John wouldn't be a good partner on something really dangerous. He might fold at the wrong time. Lisa was waving at me and yelling, "Come on over, there's coffee and sandwiches over here. They brought us something to eat." Nightfox was sitting with a big cup of coffee and four sandwiches in front of him. I took a couple, along with a cup of the fresh coffee, and sat with Lisa and Sam. Lisa touched my hand and said, "You know what? We do make a good team. Sam and I were your backups all the way. Between the two of us, I wasn't concerned at all. All those explosives were a worry, but you can't do anything about them if they go off, so we were just ready to keep that from happening if we could." Sam said, "Little Lisa is a real torch. She was picking off those guys faster than I could spot them. They were all clean shots as others fired at the same time. We had a good team, Chuck. Everyone was on top of the situation and worked to make it happen." Lisa grinned, "That's the first time I've had to use a weapon in combat. When I got shot down, I was picked up before anyone could come try to capture me. Doing this stuff is scary, but not really that bad when you have others you can depend on. We do make a good team." We ate, or rather stuffed ourselves on some real food and had some coffee. While we were at the picnic tables, a couple of bomb container trucks arrived at the parking lot. The guys in the white coveralls began putting explosives in each of the big armored trucks. They had emptied all of the backpacks of explosives and detonators and had consolidated them into boxes to stack easily. The three of us walked over to watch and observe, then were asked to move the bus back to the pavilion area so it could be loaded with prisoners. Two buses were going to be used for prisoners, along with the three Suburbans. Each bus was going to have eight guards and each Suburban would have four men. It was going to be a long drive, so the Secret Service had sent some professional bus drivers to take the wheel. All of the prisoners were given a chance to go to the restroom and were now chained with waist and ankle restraints. After a small snack and a cup of water, the prisoners were chained into their seats and secured. The guards got on the buses and the other men got into the Suburbans. The bus carrying the dead brought up the tail, as it was going into Seattle to get rid of its grisly load. John came over to us and said, "Come on, we can take a helicopter back to Seattle. The rest of this cleanup is being handled, so we're out of here. Come on, I want to go home." Our helicopter was loading when I noticed someone I knew in the cockpit. I banged on the window and waved. Mouse grinned and waved back. He opened the door and asked, "Want to fly this thing back to Seattle?" "Naw, you do a good job. I'm going to relax for a few minutes." I remembered something and asked John, "Where are my rifles?" John nodded and pointed at another helicopter that he had come in on. I ran over to it and found my two field cases with the rifles in them. I pulled them out and went back to our helicopter and climbed on. Lisa smiled at me and asked, "Didn't want to forget your toys, did you?" We flew back to Seattle fairly fast, landing at the airport in front of the hangar where the Citation was parked. I waved at Mouse as he took off again, to go back to the busy parking lot out at the park. We walked back to the Citation and had to display our IDs to the guards there. We stashed our packs and weapons before I asked everyone. "We can find a clean bed and get some sleep or maybe grab a shower and head back now. What does everyone want to do? I'm in favor of getting cleaned up and sleeping a few hours, then flying back. We'll fly through to Andrews so John can get home, so it will be a long flight." Even John was nodding in agreement. He said, "No sense in killing ourselves by being too tired. Let's relax, clean up, have a nice dinner, and fly home early in the morning. I'm sure our bodies are still on east coast time, so we can leave here at three or four local time. It was six PM now, so if we showered and ate, we should be able to be asleep by eight at the latest. That would give us six solid hours of sleep before we had to get up. We all grabbed our duffel bags and walked out to hunt up transportation to the nearest hotel with a restaurant. As soon as I turned my cell phone on, I saw that I had a dozen messages. I would listen to them when we got to a room. A Secret Service agent found us and took us to a nearby hotel. He gave us a number to call to get back to the plane in the morning. He said for us to register by using our service numbers so our bills would be taken care of. I let John and Nightfox register first, then registered for Lisa and me. No way was I passing up the opportunity to snuggle with my soul-mate. We went up to our rooms with the intention of meeting to eat in a half-hour. Lisa and I were immediately in a clutch, kissing each other, thinking we might have time for a quickie. I suggested, "Let's clean up, eat, and get back up here, then we can enjoy each other for a while. If we wanted rest we should probably have gotten separate rooms." Lisa said, "Don't even think about it. I haven't been able to hardly touch you for a couple of days and I'm not passing up this opportunity to have you alone." We did take a quick shower and dressed in civilian type clothing. We met John and Sam downstairs and enjoyed the biggest steaks they had. John had several drinks, but Nightfox and I didn't. Sam doesn't really drink, and I shouldn't if I was going to fly. Lisa doesn't drink much and didn't get a drink either. When we finished eating, I said, "I want to meet you guys down here at three local time. If we leave here at four local or seven eastern, we can get back home before real late in the afternoon. Sleep well, Guys." The last of this was said as we got off the elevator. Lisa's and my room was between John's and Sam's rooms. They didn't even blink as the two of us went into the same door. They both knew our situation. Lisa and I had some serious loving for well over an hour. Both of us had multiple peaks that left few, if any dry spots, on the bedclothes. It didn't make any difference as we both fell into an exhausted sleep. The phone woke me and I picked it up and heard the recorded wakeup message. The clock said, two forty-five. Lisa sat up on the other side of the bed and headed to the bathroom. I hopped into the bathroom and as she got up from the toilet, I peed then joined her for a quick shower. We were downstairs at a minute or so before three and greeted John and Sam as they exited the elevator. John said, "How about we pick up a sandwich on the way to the airport operations building and get going." We all agreed and the Secret Service driver I had called was parking at the door. He drove us by an all-night Burger King where we bought a bunch of breakfast sandwiches, then out to the plane where we went through the ID thing with the guards. The others boarded the plane while I did my preflight inspection. I was happy to board and pull up the stairs, shutting and locking the door. In a few minutes, I was spooling up the engines, watching gauges and noting the big hangar doors opening to let me out. When all the gauges said go, I called in a flight plan then called for taxi and takeoff information. At that hour of the morning you would have thought the place would be dead, but there was a line of aircraft waiting to take off. I guess they were all heading east and to get there to do anything of value, they had to takeoff early. As we were climbing to our assigned altitude, I could see I was following a 747 that was on the exact same path I was on. When he didn't climb out of our assigned altitude I called control to ask about a change of altitude and the situation. They informed me there was no 747 in the area I was flying. I asked them to hold and nudged up closer to read the numbers. I gave air traffic control the numbers and they said it was impossible. I asked if they could see my squawk and they replied yes. I asked if they could see another aircraft near me and they said no. I dropped back and identified myself with my security number so a supervisor would get on the radio. Meanwhile, the 747 was slowing and was now down to about four hundred knots. I advised control what was happening and the supervisor said they could not raise the aircraft with the numbers I had given. A few seconds later, two Air National Guard F-16s were on each side of me. Over my secure channel, one of them said, "I'm going to take a look into the cockpit. Stay back here and drop down a couple hundred feet or so to stay out of the wash." The fighter flew up parallel to the 747 cockpit and held at that location. He was trying to communicate with the aircraft, but there was no response. The second fighter went to the other side of the 747 and was flying with the aircraft when the big aircraft began lowering. It wasn't a dive but was heading down at about ten degrees. One of the fighters said, "There're several people in the cockpit. It looks like a fight is going on in there. Oh man, someone just fired a shot and it opened a hole in the side window of the cockpit." All of a sudden a voice came over the radio, "This is Northwest 6477 declaring an emergency. At least two of my crew are dead and two or three hijackers have perished as well. We have a hole in our right cockpit window, but it appears to be holding. Request permission to descend to ten thousand feet and I will be traveling at about two hundred knots." The big aircraft began descending and I followed it down. Air traffic control (ATC) confirmed what the 747 had requested and acknowledged the emergency. The 747 then requested the nearest field that could handle the aircraft. They were given Salt Lake City and were given a heading with a straight in clearance. I called ATC and asked if they need me to follow the aircraft in and they advised, "There will be a welcoming committee on the ground for the aircraft. You shouldn't be needed. Thank you for advising us. Citation X-ray 4440, are you going to resume your flight plan?" "This is Citation X-ray 4440, we will resume our flight plan at flight level 440. We are climbing now." I punched up the flight management computer again to make sure of the altitude and direction, then sat back. Sam came forward and said, "Don't you get enough excitement on the ground? Do you have to find shit when you're flying too?" "Hey, I didn't do anything but report a problem. You saw and heard what was going on. We were perfectly safe. I just wanted to help if we were needed." Sam said, "I'll get you some coffee. It's been done, but I didn't want to bother you. I'll bring you two a couple of sandwiches too." There wasn't much of a tailwind, but there was some. The fast little plane got us all the way to Andrews in record time. As soon as we landed, a fuel truck and a big Buick met us in front of the Secret Service operations building. As John got off the plane, the Marshal got out of the Buick and came to shake our hands. The man said, "Heard you all did a good job out there. Sure glad to have the A team on this one. I don't think the Director knows much about it yet, so you guys keep this under your hats for right now. None of you need to write any reports. There will be enough reports written to take care of anything you would have to say. Anyway, good job." John was pulling the Marshal toward the Buick and bending his ear the whole way. The Marshal waved at us and pulled away. Sam said, "I think John is not going to go with us any longer. I think he's reached the end of his time in the field." I nodded in agreement, and Lisa looked at me sternly. I thought to myself 'What did I do?' When the aircraft was fueled, I updated my flight plan to head for home then was directed to the runway. We were soon at our altitude, cruising toward home. Lisa said, "Why didn't you talk to him? You know, get into his head. I did and told him to settle down. I kept telling him to relax, but he kept repeating that he didn't want to be that afraid like that ever again. I didn't think it was that bad, did you?" "That blast was scary, Lisa. The force of it was over the top as far as I was concerned. All of us were lucky we weren't hurt or killed. The whole group of us was lucky. Our advantage was we knew they had explosives and we knew what could happen when I was firing. It happened and you experienced one hell of a blast. If that bus had gone off on us today, we wouldn't need the Citation to fly. We would have our own wings if we were lucky." Lisa said, "Yeah, I know it was dangerous, but I can tell you it isn't as scary as having your aircraft shot out from under you. That's scary. I was in control though, and did everything I had been trained to do. Just like this gig, we did everything we were trained to do." I grinned at Lisa and said, "Speaking of gigs, what's going on with Pops and Rags?" Lisa smacked her forehead and said, "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to tell you. Steve's guy that manages the restaurant and dinner theater had enough space next to him to create "Peachtree Blues and Jazz." The place just opened without advertising so the guys can get used to it. They decorated it similar to what their old bars used to look like. Pops even found an old upright grand that's in great condition. Rags is promoting an open house for musicians on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and is having a jam session for all musicians interested in blues and jazz. On Friday and Saturday, he's hiring groups for entertainment and then on Sunday afternoons there is another open jam session for any kind of music. Small groups can come in and get some exposure. Single musicians can do something solo if they want." "Wow, that sounds like fun. Have you sat in yet?" Lisa grinned, "Sure did and even took Bonita with me one night. Kathy came along to watch and we had a great time. We only played a set, but Bonita was thrilled. The audience thought it was a hoot to have that little girl playing so well. Pops is in love with her and wants to teach her to play only blues and jazz. Rags is equally as infatuated, and says the kid is going to be just like me. You can imagine that Bonita is really happy." "I'll have to make sure I get a chance to go there. What day is it anyway?" Lisa said, "Let's see we left on Sunday, got into the field immediately then and wound up doing everything Monday. Today should be Tuesday, unless I'm way off. It seems as if too much happened to only be Tuesday." I said, "I know. Hopefully, I don't have anything else. My phone has a bunch of messages, but I didn't take time to get them off. I could use a day or two off anyway. This bird is about to need some maintenance too." When we taxied to the hangar where the Citation is housed, I noticed a lot of cars out in front of the charter office. After shutting down and opening the door, we were rushed by Mercy, Kathy, Sue, Brandy, and Tiani. They all grabbed us and were hugging us as if we hadn't been home in years. Steve, Mark, Gene, and Wes walked out and they all stuck their hands out to us. Steve said, "You two are heroes again. It's all over the news. You interrupted an airplane hijacking and the passengers over-powered the hijackers. The hijackers got so nervous while you were trailing them the passengers were able to take them. Some crew were killed and a couple of hijackers were killed too. They all credit you for saving them." Lisa and I looked at each other thinking, "Whew," glad they don't know what we really did the last couple of days. I said, "We actually didn't do anything except report an aircraft in our airspace. When we asked about it, some interceptor aircraft came up and that's probably who distracted the hijackers." Gene said, "It doesn't make any difference. You were the ones to alert the authorities. You thought enough to call Air Traffic Control to find out what was going on. You did the smart thing to make sure the computers weren't screwed up again. Good job, Chuck." Jimmy came strolling up and I told him, "I don't have any write-ups but you might want to consider the hundred hour stuff. I've been pushing this baby pretty hard." Jimmy said, "Was going to suggest that. How about taking it offline for a couple of days and we'll do a thorough job on it? Besides, I need to test drive this thing a little. My dad wants to help me too while he's here visiting." We all laughed at how obvious it was that Jimmy wanted the opportunity to fly the neat Citation. I walked over to get my car and began loading the trunk. There were a lot of raised eyebrows and concerned looks as I pulled the two rifles in their field sleeves from the aircraft. We put all of our weapons into the trunk and I said, "I want to go put our stuff away, then I'll be over to the patio for a beer or drink or something. I think Lisa and I might go to the Jazz and Blues club tonight to play with whoever might be there. I'm getting rusty and we need the release." There were nods of understanding all around and the three of us took off for the house. As soon as we had unloaded our duffels and equipment into the house, we worked fast at the kitchen table to clean our weapons and put them all into our cases. While we were doing this, Nightfox was looking at Lisa and said, "Haven't seen a chick cleaning a weapon for a long time. We didn't have too many around with the group I was in. You handled yourself well yesterday and were very accurate. You must be getting some practice the way you were shooting." Lisa smiled, "I go to a gun store the girls told me about. The guy has a unique firing range where I can use the rifle. I like to fire my handgun, which is a lot of fun. I've even gone to the range at the federal building with Jan. They have one hell of a range there." Sam said, "Yeah, they sure do. I've been there and used the range. Chuck and Jan set records there for speed and accuracy." "I heard about that from Cap, the range guy," Lisa said, while finishing up her rifle. "He wanted Jan and me to compete, but I'm no match for her. I learned to use a handgun slow and deliberate. My instructor had me counting in a rhythm all the time. Cap said that Chuck teaches a little like that."' I said, "It's whatever works for you. The most important thing to remember when shooting is be accurate, make every round count." Both Lisa and Sam nodded in agreement as they finished the weapons cleaning. Nightfox left to wash up and Lisa and I went to the bedroom to use the big bathroom there. As I was entering the bathroom area, Lisa was coming from her room and closet area. It's always fun to hug a naked lady. We hugged with the usual results, but wanted to get over to the patio quickly for the camaraderie that was waiting for us. We took a small cart to the patio and joined a growing group that was arriving. It almost seemed like a welcome home party. Nightfox was walking in the door with Maria and her kids. The ladies of our house again swarmed Lisa and me. We were able to hug all our lovers and pet the growing bellies of the three pregnant ones. When that settled down, we got a lot of hugs from all the kids, especially Bonita, then Steve's ladies gave us a welcome home hug. As Lisa and I were trying to move toward the bar to get a drink, I made the comment, "Man, everyone is really huggy tonight. You would think we had been gone for weeks." Mercy was still with us and said, "You two were sending out a lot of fear these last couple of days. I could feel both of you were anxious about doing whatever you were doing. Both of you were even startled at the same time by something. I don't know what you were doing, but I could tell it wasn't fun." I looked at Lisa and said, "We're going to have to learn how to cloak our brains a little better. This babe is too perceptive." Mercy said, "Not just me, mom called me, telling me she was feeling you constantly. She said you wouldn't let her in, but she felt your emotions." I was fixing Lisa a Cuba Libre and myself a Beefeaters when Sue and Kathy brought a couple of trays of snacks out to the bar. Lisa and I reached for chunks of cheese at the same time. Steve was watching us and said, "Mercy has been a wreck while you were gone this time. She was concerned over what was happening with you and Lisa. Does this mean I've lost one more of my important pilots and instructors?" Lisa said, "No way, Steve. I'm doing what I enjoy by flying and teaching. This other thing is just a part time thing that I do. My duties with that have sort of changed and I may now have to go out in the field sometimes." I looked at Steve and made a head shake motion to give him a hint that the subject was not a good one. He nodded and smiled at me in understanding. I was raising my glass to have my first taste of Beefeaters when my cell phone rang. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 66 Chuck I was on the patio with all of my family, and Steve and his family, about to relax after getting back from a really strenuous mission. I was just about to have my first sip of a drink when my cell phone began ringing. "Johnson," Wanda's voice came through the phone, "You need to listen to your voice mail messages. You're needed as soon as you can get there." "Who needs me and where Wanda?" I asked this as I moved out the door of the patio. There was concern in her voice when she said, "The Secret Service needs you in Detroit as soon as you can get there. Not only that, the Marshal Service is trying to get you to go to the same location too. You need to grab Nightfox and head out. Oh yeah, you should probably take Lisa with you too, as this is supposed to be as serious as what you just did. I have to call everyone back as soon as I've contacted you. How soon can you leave?" "Oh shit, Wanda, I'm tired and need a break. Nightfox and Lisa are going to be tired too. But if we're really needed, I guess we can leave in an hour. Considering everything, have someone meet us up there in three hours." I took a deep breath and asked, "Can't this wait until the morning?" Wanda said, "I don't know all the details, but the Secret Service has already formed a team of near a hundred men. They have a leader, but they need you because you've done this before and you know what to expect and what to look for. They are already near engagement now and need you as soon as possible." "Okay, okay, we'll be there between two and half and three hours, max. It's right at five now, so say about eight at the latest." "I'll monitor your progress with your GPS on your phone," Wanda said softly, "I'm sure everyone else will be doing that too." I hung up and was turning around to go get Lisa and Nightfox. They were both standing there. I said, "Detroit, same problem. We are to meet a team of a hundred for this one; it must be really big or more difficult. Sorry, Sam, but we need to roll. Lisa, you can dodge this one if you want." Lisa said, "No, I heard what Wanda was saying. I'm supposed to go." The three of us went inside to advise everyone we had to go again. There was the usual "Do you have to?" and "Can't someone else do it?" I just said, "This is our job. When they need us, they need us. Lisa's going to come to help me with the flying." As we gave more hugs and kisses to family, I saw a look of fear on Mercy's face. When I hugged her, I said, "Don't worry, we'll be fine." Mercy said, "I have a bad feeling about this. Be careful, Chuck. Take care of Lisa too." On the way back to the house, I handed my cell to Lisa, "Call the airpark and have the Citation fueled and ready." I said to Nightfox, "Dress in fatigues, I get the feeling we'll be in the thick of things as soon as we land." Lisa was holding my cell phone to her ear and said to me, "Jimmy already has the Citation torn down for the inspection it needed. They are suggesting a Lear, is that okay?" "It'll have to be, tell them to have it fueled and ready. We need to burn." At the house, the three of us went to our dressing areas and soon re-appeared in fatigues, with our armor already on. We checked our duffel bags to make sure we had some clean clothes and our field vests. I dug out the box of explosive rounds, refilled the magazines, and also filled the magazine for my collapsible MP5. While I was doing that, Lisa was doing the same with her equipment. I hollered to Nightfox to make sure he had extra rounds. He came in with two magazines in hand and said, "I need some rounds for these. Do you have enough?" In less than twenty minutes after I got off the phone with Wanda, we were loading our equipment into my car. A big cart came into the driveway and my ladies, along with Mercy and Kathy, got out carrying some big bags. Kathy said, "We women won't let you guys leave without something to eat. We made a bunch of sandwiches and small bowl type plates so you can have something to eat. There are some bottles of iced tea too." We got more hugs and kisses. Nightfox got a hug from his little Maria and even Kathy, then we got into my car and left, waving at those we were leaving. At the airpark, the Lear was out on the tarmac in front of the hangar with the engines running. As we began loading our equipment, Jimmy came out and said, "I did a good preflight for you and made sure everything is ready, including the coffee. DeDe said this was some kind of emergency, so I stayed to get you ready." "Thanks, Jimmy; it is some kind of an emergency. Tell DeDe I'm not sure when I can get this aircraft back. Hope it doesn't screw up our charters." Jimmy laughed, "It's yours anyway. This is the first Lear you got. Remember the rat aircraft you brought back, or rather that I flew back? This is it. See you when you get back, Chuck, you too, Lisa." No one seemed to think our wearing fatigues was unusual. I guess I did enough weird stuff that fatigues just added to the mystical nature of my life. In a couple of minutes, we were blasting down the runway, rotating into a steep climb, heading almost due north. Lisa was busy calling in a flight plan, and I could see Nightfox on the CCTV monitor in the cabin on the satellite phone. All three of us finished our duties at about the same time. Nightfox had already pushed the button on the coffee maker, poured some coffee, and handed it to us. He sat in the little jump seat next to the cockpit door and said, "I talked to central briefing and they said a convoy of trucks have been tracked from a northern Canadian mosque. Intelligence has it that the trucks were going to cross into Detroit to get to the planned objective. Briefing says this is part of the same major multiple strike plan as the group in Seattle." Mentally, I said, "Fuck, more fucking explosives to deal with." My head was flooded with multiple voices, "Watch your mouth or your mind, Chuck." I looked across at Lisa and she was smiling at me. She said, "That was Mercy, and I think that other voice must be her mother." I shook my head and forced myself to close off my mind so I wasn't a broadcast center for all the telepaths of the world. I said to Lisa, "Are you ready for more of the same? This is beginning to get old. Somehow our government has got to become more proactive with these guys. We can't let them continue to penetrate our borders before we try to capture them. We need to get rid of them before they get here." Lisa said, "I know what you mean, but how are they going to do that? The only way would be to close the borders. Our trade and traffic with Canada is too heavy to shut down the borders for total or complete searches for everything that comes across. The same with Mexico, we have to come up with a better way." When we landed in Detroit two hours later, two cars moved toward the aircraft as we were being waved into a parking position. Ground personnel chocked the wheels for me as I shut down. When I opened the door two men were holding up Secret Service IDs, and two were holding up Deputy Marshal badges and IDs. I almost laughed. I announced to both sets of men, "I think this one will begin as a Secret Service mission and end as a Deputy Marshal event. You two Deputies, give me a minute with these guys and I'll brief you." I waved the two non-deputies to me and asked, "How much of this is out to the Bureau and Marshal Service?" One of the Secret Service men said, "It's all over the feds here in Detroit. Hopefully, it doesn't leak all the way to the people trying to blow us up. We need to capture them and their explosives. The Marshal Service was brought in because they aren't big on leaks like the Bureau. They will hold it down. So far, the Bureau doesn't seem interested and think we're chasing our tails." I waved the deputies over to us and said, "Since you guys are in on this, I need to reiterate, whatever you see, hear, and do having to do with this case will be totally erased from your memory when it's over. If you have a problem with that, you need to resign ASAP. This operation does not need to be publicized. You'll know why as more of it comes down. If we're still alive then, you'll understand." The four men all looked at each other with a variety of emotions running across their faces. I think most of what I was seeing was disbelief. We unloaded our gear into a Marshal Service Suburban and rode to the same warehouse district I had been to when I was involved with the previous gangland style intrusion with the escapees. We parked near a pure white motor home, with a guy in a dark suit standing by the door holding an MP5. I approached the guard and showed him my ID. After he inspected it, he spoke into his wrist, then held his hand up by his ear. He looked at me and said, "Go on in." Lisa and Nightfox were going to follow me but he held his rifle up barring the way. I was quick to touch the man's arm, and said, "They are part of my team." I turned to Sam and Lisa and said, "Show your IDs." The guard repeated the process, including having a conversation with his watch. He just nodded at us and stood aside as I pushed the button that opened the door. Inside, the motor home was an electronic operations center. The front of the big bus was like a conference room without a table. There were seats in a circle with an opening in the front and the rear for traffic. There were two men sitting there, and both stood as I came in. The older of the two asked, "Chuck Johnson, right?" I nodded, then pointing to Lisa and Sam, and said, "This is my travel team. What's up and what's your plan?" The guy waved for us to sit and handed me an eight by ten photo of three large semis, with an SUV in front, and another following. The man said, "This first photo is of the group as they left the original mosque compound." He handed me a second eight by ten that showed five semis with the same two SUVs. He said, "This is how they are now after another two trucks joined them. They are about a hundred fifty miles out, moving along at about a hundred kilometers per hour, you know, about sixty miles an hour. They'll be ready to cross the border in about an hour and a half to two hours unless they stop. They should be about ready to get fuel as they have been traveling nonstop for almost four hours." I asked again, "So, what's your plan? Are you going to let them get into the city? You should be detonating those trucks out in the country and never let them near heavy population." The guy said, "CIA didn't want to set the trucks off in Canada, and it's now to the point that we are going to have to try to capture the trucks and hope they don't set them off. We have a little information about them, though. When they were refueling the last time, each of the trucks loaded with about two hundred gallons of fuel in their tanks, then pumped another four hundred gallons of fuel into a special fuel receptacle on the trailer. When our man was up near the trailer, he said there was a heavy smell of nitrogen fertilizer." While we were talking, someone from one of the positions back in the motor home came forward with a piece of paper. He handed it to the man talking to us and returned to his seat. The guy said, "This confirms what we have been thinking. One of trucks just pulled away and is now parking at the loading docks at the baseball stadium in Toronto. That means the trucks have to be about two hundred miles away or at least three hours. We need to do something about the truck up there. Let me call our Canadian counterparts to see if there are any functions up there tonight." The man got up and went to one of the communication positions behind the seating area, put on a headset, and started talking. We could see him talking and nodding while writing down information. When he finished, he put the headset on the table and came back to the seating area. He said, "There isn't anything tonight, but there is supposed to be something tomorrow evening. We may have to wait to take that truck, but we need to find out if the detonator is a cell phone or on a timing device. We're watching the truck right now and should have more information soon." I asked, "What is your intelligence on this so far? What are the targets?" He said, "The way we have it now, is that all the targets are baseball stadiums. Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Toronto. What do you think; about thirty thousand or so per ballpark, so about a hundred fifty-thousand people in total?" The number of potential deaths stunned me, and I could tell it was as surprising to Lisa and Sam. I said, "We have to take these trucks before they can be set off. We have to get at the truck up in Toronto to see how it's put together so we can disable all of them." The man said, "If all else fails, we'll shut down all cell phone traffic until we get them disarmed, but I don't want to try that in case they have a martyr on board to set the whole thing off. That would be the easiest way. Just check your watch and set if off when the time comes." I suggested, "Okay, let's watch and take the truck in Toronto, then the one in Detroit while there is no one at the stadiums. We'll stop the other three on highways away from heavier populations. If they blow out there, there will be a lot less collateral damage." The man asked, "Are you willing to risk getting caught by the authorities up in Canada trying to do this? The CIA isn't worth a hoot up there lately and won't do anything risky." "Yeah," I said. "I'll run up and take care of that one, but you'll need to take the one here in Detroit and then capture the three other trucks out in the countryside." Sam and Lisa looked at me, "You guys will come with me. It'll take the three of us to do something like this anyway." I looked at Lisa and Nightfox, "Do you have your passports?" She smiled and said, "It's in my gun case." Nightfox nodded to me and I knew mine, or at least a copy of mine, was in my gun case. I said to the lead guy, "This is my cell phone number. We're on our way to take out that truck up there, or at least disable it. If you hear anything at all about the truck up there, call me. Ah, can you get me a helicopter to get us up there fast? We need to make tracks real quick if we're going to get back here to help." The man nodded, pointed to a location on his big map, and said, "Get to here, at this park on the other side of the border. A chopper will pick you up and drop you near where the truck is. It will wait for you. Stay in touch with them." I asked as we stood, "Do you have any handheld radios we can use? That would make everything faster. We'll use ear buds so the speakers won't give us away." The man had one of his men bring three radios with fresh batteries. They showed us the frequencies we needed to use and we left. Outside I told the two Secret Service men, "We need your car unless you want to drive us into Windsor. We're on our way to Toronto." Both of the men said, "I'll check with the boss. We should go with you since we're CIA liaison agents for up there. If something happens we can get us out quick. Did you order a chopper?" When I nodded, the man spoke to his watch then listened. He got a smile on his face then said to us, "Let's go. Now we can do this. Brief us on the way." The three of us broke out our collapsible rifles and put them at our feet. When we crossed the border, the Canadian guards looked at the IDs and passports of five people wearing fatigues very warily and waved us through. We arrived at a small park at the same time a helicopter was landing. We only took what we would need, our recently acquired night vision equipment, our rifles, some extra ammo, and our Kbars. What else would we need?" While in the helicopter, we all put our ear buds into our ears and arranged our handheld radios so we could get at them easily. While we were in the air, one of our Secret Servicemen held his radio up and pointed to a frequency position. We all turned our radios on and turned to the frequency. We heard, "The truck driver has gone around his trailer and appears to have locked it up and is moving away from the rig. We got up close enough to hear him tell the dock people that he would be back tomorrow evening to unload before he moved on. They gave him permission to leave his truck. We'll pick him up as he moves through the city. We want to make sure he's not being watched and someone isn't waiting to pick him up." Our helicopter set down in a parking lot on the other side of the stadium. We quickly moved around the stadium until we got to the shipping and receiving area. There were three trailers there, but only one trailer with a tractor attached. That was our target. We split up, one of the Secret Service men and Nightfox moved out to keep watch and to make sure there was no one watching the truck. This area was hidden from the public, so it was easy to make sure no one was watching. One of the Secret Service men brought out a field strength meter as we approached the truck. We walked around the truck and trailer very slowly watching for movement on the meter dial telling us if there was anything broadcasting from within the truck. While we walked around the truck I saw a bunch of duct tape on side of the trailer with some wires coming out from under the tape going into the trailer. I slowly peeled off the tape and found a cell phone. I used my Kbar to cut the wires from the phone then began looking for anything else. Lisa tugged at my shirt sleeve and pointed high on the side of the trailer. There was another mass of duct tape with wires coming out of it. I climbed up on top of the trailer and lay down on the roof so I could lean over and pull the tape off. I cut those wires and dropped the cell phone down to Lisa. While I was up there, I went completely around the truck to make sure there wasn't anything else that was obvious. Back down on the ground, the agent was messing with the lock on the back doors of the trailer attempting to pick it. Lisa said, "Let me" and pulled what looked like a pocket knife, but this one had several small tools. With a flick of her wrist, the lock popped open. The inside of the trailer was full of barrels that were filled with diesel fuel soaked nitrogen crystal fertilizer. Each barrel had a detonator taped to the top inside of the barrel. Lisa and I quickly began cutting the wires to the detonators while the agents were pulling the tape loose and putting the detonators into a plastic garbage bag they had with them. There were eighty barrels lined up in four rows of twenty. This would be enough to totally destroy the stadium and everyone inside. These people were monsters. I suggested to the agents, "Let's make it look like the cell phones are still in place and lock this thing up. Lisa, find something to jam the lock so it can't be opened with a key or by picking it. That should discourage anyone trying to get into the truck." We found some trash that we rolled up and put under the two sets of duct tape. I had to climb to the top of the trailer again to do the high one. We pushed the wires under the tape and it looked as it did when we came up to it. I said, "Come on, let's get back to Detroit. If the terrorists do the same thing there, we'll know what to do and how to handle it. Let's move it." We made our way back to the helicopter and were soon on our way back to Detroit. While we were flying back, over our ear buds we heard, "The driver of the Toronto truck had an accident. He was accidentally run over as he was crossing the road to get to a service station. Two men ran out from the service station to help him, but the man is dead. The two men left after emergency vehicles arrived on the scene, but we have them under surveillance. We will keep you posted." All five of us nodded to each other. One of the agents talked into his watch, then listened. He said to us, "The Detroit truck is moving toward the baseball stadium right now. There was an afternoon game, so no one is there tonight. I'm going to redirect the helicopter to cross the border and land at the stadium so we can watch and disable the truck." We landed on the opposite side of the stadium from where the shipping and receiving dock was. Just like in Toronto, we made our way around the stadium and looked over a wall to see the driver checking the two cell phones on the trailer. We watched him pull a gym bag from the truck cab before locking it. He moved toward the gate and had a few words with a guard there, then walked down the street. I said to the two agents, "See if this guy is being tailed. Call in, or do what you have to do, so he is followed. Lisa and I will drop into the lot and work on the truck. Advise us of what you find out. If you find out he's being watched, come help, but don't go through the gate. The guard can't see back to the truck, so we can stay undetected." Lisa and I scanned the fences and didn't see any security cameras aimed at the truck. We both dropped over the ten foot fence and went to the truck. We found the two cell phones in the exact same positions on the trailer as in Toronto. I replaced the cell phones with trash and quickly stuck the wires under the tape. Lisa opened the trailer and the three of us were cutting the wires to the detonators when the two agents showed up. The one said, "One of our teams is following the guy. He's heading up the street toward where a truck stop is right now." The agents took another plastic bag and began pulling the detonators and putting them into the bag. When we finished, Lisa disabled the lock on the trailer and we left. The five of us did a man over man exit over the fence and walked around the stadium to the helicopter. From there, we went back to the headquarters motor home that we had been in before. Inside, we found out that the trucks had split up and were heading in three different directions. The plan was to cause each of them to have breakdowns out in the country, capture the driver, and disable the bombs. We would drive empty trucks to the stadiums and walk away, similar to the other locations, so no one would suspect before all five trucks were accounted for. We also wanted to capture whoever was picking up the drivers. The man who had briefed us before, said, "There's one more thing for you to do while you're here. Our men have a place that we need some help penetrating. It is in the warehouse area we're in now, but is very heavily guarded. We don't know how many people are guarding it, but there are a lot. The reason this is important to us is that it is a money factory. They are producing counterfeit fives, tens, twenties, and hundreds. Their bills are near perfect, even the ink. They haven't shipped any yet, but a couple of bills have shown up from their workers. They are paying their printers with counterfeits. I need you to evaluate how to get in and take it down." I asked, "Why don't you just use the National Guard and take the building." "We want to make sure we get the plates, paper, and ink. If we get all of the materials, they can't just move next door and start over. The other thing is this operation may be run by the same people that want to blow things up. A lot of guys with turbans and beards are coming and going from the building. You've had direct experience with these people, not many others have." I could see Sam wince at being told we had more terrorists to deal with. "Okay, let's go look at this place. I'm sure you have it under surveillance, why not just show us the tapes?" The guy said, "You need to see it first hand. You might get a better idea." We walked outside and one of the agents we had just been with took us for a walk. The building in question was just two blocks away. What we saw was a building that took up an entire block, similar to the other buildings in the area. An agent handed me a pair of field glasses and I looked at the side of the building we were on. I could see a guard house at the outer fence, and another guard shack outside the building, next to a door and near the loading docks. There was nothing else to see. We walked completely around the building and found nothing unusual. What appeared to be a large office area was in the front of the building. We walked up to the dark windows to see if we could see anything. When you looked through the tinted windows, you could see the office area was empty, no furniture, nor anything else. We could see light coming through some small windows in doors leading to the back, the factory area. You could also hear the hum and rhythmic machine noise of printing presses. Nightfox said, "Let's get some cameras and come back. We can easily get through these doors and put some cameras through the walls to show us the factory area. If we had four cameras with wide angle lenses, we should be able to cover all of it. That will give us what we need to know." Lisa agreed and said the doors would be no problem unless there was an alarm. We walked back to the headquarters bus and told the leader there what we wanted to do. He had a tech bring us four cameras with small wide-angle lenses. The tech said, "Take some duct tape so you can mount the camera remote from the lens. There is a ten-inch wire that goes between the lens and camera. Make sure it is plugged in properly before you leave. Here's a small kit that should help you mount the lenses anywhere." We had our assigned agents drive us to the building and had them watch for us. One agent in with us, and one agent outside as a lookout. Lisa was through the outer door in seconds. The girl has a knack for locks. We did a good recon through the door windows and discovered steps leading to a second floor. Upstairs was perfect. We were able to use light switch boxes to push the small lenses through the warehouse/factory drywall to mount them. We taped the cameras inside the wall and screwed the light switches back in place. I called in with my radio and asked if there were visuals on the cameras. It took a few seconds and there was an "Okay, got them all. Good work." We left with Lisa re-locking the front door. When we got back to the headquarters bus, the lead guy said, "Go get some rest. We'll take you to a hotel and you can review what we have seen in the morning. I'm going to sack out too." Nightfox, Lisa, and I were taken to a decent hotel where we could get something to eat. I told the two, "Even though it's after midnight, I'm going to the bar and have a beer. If you want to join me, do so, but I'm going regardless." Both of them looked at me strangely and accompanied me. Lisa had a beer, while Sam had a glass of iced tea. When we were finished, I said, "Now for a decent meal and some sleep. I think we've been burning ourselves out a little lately." The hotel had a twenty-four restaurant. Lisa said, "We have been busy, but I've never been in the field like this. Are you guys always this busy?" Nightfox said, "I usually only had one mission a month, but since I met this guy, I've been busy constantly. I think the Marshal Service he works for is a bunch of slave drivers. They are constantly on his back to do something." "Oh, Nightfox, it isn't that bad. Between the two services, we have been busy, but one by itself hasn't been too bad. We've just pulled some strange duty, that's all." After we ate, we went to our rooms. Lisa and I took off our clothes and barely kissed before we were both asleep. I had requested a five thirty wakeup call and was startled by the phone when it rang, seemingly only seconds after we went to sleep. I looked at my watch and saw it was only three AM. I answered it, "Johnson." The man from the headquarters bus was on the phone, "A truck just arrived at the factory and we can see them using forklifts to load counterfeit bills. There must be billions of dollars in bills there." "Okay, I'll be right there. Ah, get some more men there. You can use the Bureau and Marshal Service for this too. Surround the building, and if the truck leaves, take it down as soon as it gets a couple of blocks away. Send your drivers for us." I called Nightfox's room and he groggily answered. After explaining to him what was happening, he said he would meet us in ten and hung up. Lisa was already putting her clothes on. We both regretted not showering before going to bed, but we did wash our faces and brushed our teeth. Nightfox met us in the hall and we went downstairs where we were met by our agents. They drove us back to the headquarters bus, where the lead man said, "Okay, we have a dozen Deputy Marshals and a dozen special agents surrounding the building. Check out the cameras. They show the truck almost full now. That's a lot of bills. Look at the equipment. They have eighteen big presses working twenty-four seven. It looks like they inspect every sheet of bills that comes off the press. That is some operation." I said, "If you take the truck, we have to take the building at the same time. I think we should take the truck, then the same men can push through the back gate, while a group goes through the front office and surprises them." Lisa said, "The inside of the front doors have push to open bars. We can disable those so no one can run out that way. There are four doors from the office to the factory area. We will need four units to go through there." "Good thinking, Lisa. How many people do you have from the Service?" The guy said, "Nineteen field men, plus the two who have been with you. So twenty one and with you three that is twenty-four." I said, "Okay, that is four groups of six. We'll go through the factory doors as soon as the outside guards alert the inside that men are coming through the gates. That should catch them trying to remove the plates or whatever they are using for printing. Do your men know what to look for?" "Yeah, they've all been trained to know about printing presses. They will be able to salvage everything we need. Are you going in there yourself?" "Sure, that's our job. We'll go in with the central team. I'll make sure everyone knows to use their weapons if anything at all confronts them. We can't take a chance of them getting guns and reducing our ranks." The leader grimaced and said, "We don't usually do that, but then we don't run into this type of thing too often. The men are trained and they will abide by what you say. Let's brief them." We went outside and all of the men we were going to use were there, ready. I explained that if someone made a threatening gesture, or looked to be pulling a weapon, to shoot immediately. "Don't wait to be a statistic. Shoot quickly and accurately. Normally, I would suggest head shots, but I doubt these people will have protective vests. If you shoot someone and they fall and get back up, shoot for the head. Do it quickly and don't miss." A head came out of the door of the bus and a man said, "They're closing the door of the trailer. Our man outside said the truck is started and has the lights on. We have an ambush set up." I said to the men, "Let's get over to the building and get inside quickly. We need to be there when the ambush men come back through the gate." We drove to the front of the building and didn't try to hide the vehicles. Lisa had the doors unlocked and we were divided into four teams in less than two minutes. I heard through my earpiece that the ambush teams were approaching the rear gates. An alarm bell went off inside the factory, and it looked like everyone there went into action. I radioed for us to get into the factory. I was yelling as we entered, "Everyone put your hands up. Don't move, get away from the machinery. Don't do anything that will make us shoot. Put your hands into the air." A rifle next to me fired, then I heard more rifle fire from the two entrance teams on the ends. My rifle was at my shoulder when I saw a guy bringing his hand up with an automatic in it. I shot him in the head before the pistol was level. I heard both Lisa and Nightfox shoot, then they had to shoot again. That's when I saw several robed men in turbans running from a rear room. All of them had AKs and were firing in our direction. I hit four of them myself, and I know Nightfox was taking target practice too. It seemed as if, as soon as we had downed all of them that had come out, another group came from the back. I was nailing one after the other, when the back doors burst open and Deputy Marshals and Special Agents came running in. Four of them were hit immediately, and I hoped they were only knocked down from the force of a round. Lisa was saying, "I think that's all of the guys from the back." Nightfox said, "Damn, I sure hope so." I was scanning the room, looking for movement, when my lights went out. It was quiet, very quiet, but I felt movement around me and I felt someone holding something to the side of my head. There was movement around me, but it wasn't hurried or frantic. That's when I heard Nightfox say, "It looks like he's coming around. The medics should get to him soon. Christ, we have too damn many men hit on this one. This mission was crazy." I could hear the anguish in Lisa's voice, "God help them if Chuck dies. I swear I'll personally kill every one of the fucking heathens." I turned my head and opened my eyes. Lisa was looking down at me with tears in her eyes. I said, "I'm not dead, and you don't have to kill anyone. Someone rung my bell is all." Lisa said, "They sure as hell did, you have a new part in your hair. It's only an inch or so long, but it's going to be there from now on. You may have to grow longer hair." That's when I noticed Lisa's arm wrapped up. "What's with your arm, Babe?" "Stupid bullet got me in the left arm in the soft flesh, no big deal, probably just some stitches. Sam's hit in the leg. He's hurt pretty bad. I got him trussed up and he's being still. The ambulances should have been here already. I don't know what's taking them so long." My head was lying on Lisa's lap as she still held something to my head. I said, "Let me up. See if anyone has a first aid kit and let me help." "No way, Buster, you probably have a concussion and would probably fall down again and bust the other side of your head. Let me see if your radio works, mine took a round." Lisa lifted the radio and keyed the mike, "Headquarters, where are the medics. We have multiple gunshot wounds. Headquarters, come in." Nothing. I said to Lisa, "Find someone from the Bureau or a Deputy. Their radios will get their operations center." Lisa put my head down on the concrete and said, "Stay there, don't more. Sam, make him stay still, you too, stay quiet." Lisa got up and I could hear her calling for a Deputy. I heard her have a conversation, then heard the Deputy calling in. At least I heard the confirmation from his radio. There would be action now. Actually, I could hear sirens already coming this way. Lisa came and sat back down, placing my head on her lap again. We were still there when a paramedic came to us and said, "Who's first?" Lisa pointed to Sam and said, "His leg is bad. Not an artery, but the muscle is torn up pretty bad. Do him, then look at this head wound, then me." The guy didn't take but a few minutes before he was radioing for a stretcher for Sam. He said to Sam, "We'll get you patched up. You'll be fine, but you may have some trouble with that leg until you learn how to use it again. You're done playing cowboys and Indians though." Sam burst out laughing and said, "That's really funny, considering I'm an Indian." The medic said, "Yeah? What kind?" Sam said, "Lakota from Montana." "No shit," the medic said. "I am too. What tribe?" The two had a conversation before the stretcher arrived and Sam was hauled away. Sam was feeling better. Lisa had the medic look at me and he said, "I can't sew him up here. He'll have to go into the hospital. We'll need to watch him for a concussion too. You, young lady, will also need some stitches. Let's get you both up and out for transportation to the hospital." I was dizzy when I stood, but not bad. I made sure to clear my rifle and to pick up Sam's. Lisa picked up her weapon and cleared it as we were being walked out the back of the building. Both of our agents were there and both were without injury. They said they would take the two of us to the hospital so the medic gave them a note and went back to help more people. As the two Secret Service agents drove us to the hospital, the one not driving said, "Our headquarters bus was blown up. Everyone on board was killed. These people must have known we were watching and planned to do us. I don't think any of our people will ever again have trouble using their weapons. That was the best station chief we could ever have. He really did a good job watching out for us." I was stunned. The man who had requested my help and sent us into a bad situation was not with us any longer. That was a real loss. I wondered how many men were on that bus and how many men were lost on that raid. That should have been done by the army or people like that. Even then, they would have had casualties. This was not a good line of work. I could feel Lisa relaxing as we got away from the warehouse district. She said, "I was scared this time. You went down, then Nightfox went down. All I could do was keep firing. I went through all three of my magazines until I had to reach down and get one of your spares. Where did they all come from? There had to be way over a hundred of those soldiers in robes and turbans. That was really scary." "Lisa, Baby," I said, as I looked up at her as she still cradled my head in her lap. "Relax, it's done, it's over. We're alive and kicking. Sam is going to be okay, and you and I are going to be fine." "I know," Lisa said. "It's just so stark, so intense, the way that shit happens. It's like we are playing our guitars, playing the most intense blues piece there is, and it's real, so very real. You and me, we are part of the piece. I guess my dad set me up for all of this, and Pops and Rags did it too. When all that shit was happening, I was hearing something in my head, blues, mind bending, and hand-warping blues. I kept firing to the rhythm of a down blues tune. I could hear your bass line as my rifle kept spitting rounds at everything that moved. Even when I was hit, it was only a crescendo of what I was playing. Is that sick? Or what?" "That's the way it is, Lisa. You're more than just you. You're an outlet of real blues expression. I can't wait until you and I can do some private wailing. Just you and I playing to each other, feeding off each other, playing the intensity of what we've been through. We'll have to make sure we record it, it'll never be the same." "Damn, Chuck, the way you describe what we'll produce, I want to go home and grab my guitar and play the way I've never played before. It's gotta be electric though, this has got to be metal. I'll get out the Gibson or the Strat, whatever, but it's got to be amped up high. This is going to be serious shit." "Hold that thought, Lisa. We'll be home soon and we'll do that. Just the two of us and we'll really tell the story. We'll know, but the rest of the world will hear the fear, the intensity, the victory, and the relief. It'll be all us." Lisa petted my head and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "I love you, Chuck. We are meant to be, aren't we?" I smiled, knowing she saw and felt my love for her. A couple of minutes later, amid the mass confusion of an emergency room, I was being wheeled into an emergency area curtained off between another area. Hopefully, Lisa was being taken care of. My head was clearing and I was able to focus. Whatever concussion I had must not be that bad. A young doc came in and looked at my head. He said, "You probably need stitches, but I don't know how to close a scalp wound like that. I'll do the girl with the gunshot wound, and have the regular trauma doc work on you." I kept thinking that I hoped the regular trauma doc finished with Lisa before he came in. A beautiful lady came into my curtained area and sat next to me, on the side of the bed where the wound was. She said, "Yep, just like Lisa said, you need some stitches. I'll close you up, but we need an X-ray first to make sure you don't have a cracked skull. You could have some bone fragments in there that will make you a loosey goosey. Let's get an X-ray, then fix you up." The very nice looking lady leaned over me and gave me a shot of some very attractive cleavage. As she caught me gawking, she said, "Lisa said that if you looked longer than a second, you were fine. Thank you for staring. I'll give you a real good look when I stitch you up." I almost laughed at the silliness of the situation. A couple of Neanderthal orderlies came in and lifted me onto a traveling bed to take me to X-ray. They wheeled me to a cold room where they positioned my head so the neutrons could penetrate my head. After a lot of roaring and clicking, the two guys hauled me back to the emergency area. Lisa was waiting. The attractive doc came back in and looked at Lisa, "Are you sure you want me to do this? I've never been asked to flash a patient while I sewed him up." Lisa said, "Do it, he needs the rush. I'm broke right now, and you look like you're something special. Give him a thrill." The doc wiped my head down then arranged some materials on the bed tray. Before she put on her rubber gloves on, she leaned over and petted my head. With her other hand she unbuttoned her uniform until it was below her bra. With dexterity of youth, she reached behind her, unclasped her bra, and two very nice melons spilled out. She pulled it from her uniform and spread her scrub top to show me. "Like these?" She asked. All I could say was, "Beautiful." Lisa grinned and whispered, "I concur, very beautiful." The doc smiled and threaded a needle, then called for assistance. A cute young black nurse came in to help. She looked at the Doctor, her eyes opened wide, and her mouth fell open. Lisa said, "She's giving my man some anesthetic, you could help, you know." The nurse rolled her eyes and looked at the doc. The doc said, "You mean you wouldn't want this good looking guy to get a gander at your lovely top? He does seem to be appreciative. Look at his indicator." There again, I almost laughed. I was rock hard, stretching my fatigue pants straight up. The nurse said, "That does indicate he's worthy, doesn't it?" "Very," said the doc. The nurse unbuttoned her top and showed she didn't have a bra on. Her very cute small breasts looked very suckable and very desirable to play with. I said, "My, oh my, I need to come back and investigate all of this beauty. What do you think, Lisa, should we check these beauties out later?" Lisa moaned, "Oh yeah, that we must." The nurse giggled as she kept the trailing thread away from where the doc was stitching. I was apparently licking my lips, when the nurse said, "Don't you dare raise up and suck on one of my nipples. That could cause me to get excited. Just lie there and be nice and quiet." The tease of a nurse patted me on my hardon while she helped the doc. Lisa was also giggling as I was being treated. When the doc finished, she said, "You probably have a mild concussion and should not overdo anything for a couple of days to a week. No workouts, no hard swimming, and very casual workouts in bed. If you two need instructions, Lucy and I will be around to instruct. What do you think, Lucy, want to instruct this couple how to do it without straining themselves?" Lucy groaned and said, "I'd strain myself, that's for sure. Doc Cindy, you are such a tease. Lean over and give this cute white boy a suck on one of those nipples." As Doc Cindy leaned over me, pushing a nipple into my mouth, Nurse Lucy did the same, and I sucked and nibbled on one of her cute nipples too. They both groaned and stood up fastening their uniforms back together. The doc addressed Lisa, "Watch him to make sure he doesn't get dizzy. If he gets nauseous, bring him back in; he's fine otherwise. Take it easy on him and don't overdo it. He needs some rest. He needs some of what you can give him, but some rest would be good too. The doc and nurse gave Lisa a hug. The Doc winked at Lisa and gave her a lip kiss that said, "Come see me some time." When they left, Lisa leaned over me and kissed me, "You are the sexiest man. Women just can't help showing themselves to you and teasing you. I love it. I think we need to visit here one of these days." I just smiled. Another nurse came in and said, "The doctor is releasing you both, so you can check out and leave. An administrator will be in to take your information in a minute. Please wait until she has been in." Five minutes later, a frumpy woman with a scowl came into the curtained area. She laid her clipboard on the top of my chest and said, "I suppose you don't have any health insurance, either one of you?" Lisa stood and looked at her with a ferocity the administrator wasn't used to. She grabbed her clipboard and said, "I'll just mark you down as charity cases." She stood and began to leave. I said, "Stop, stop right there. Turn around and sit in that chair by the bed." She sat and I said, "When you address a patient in your hospital, you will address him or her by their name, with a Sir or a Ma'am, as appropriate. You will be courteous and you will be patient. If I hear otherwise, I will have this hospital shutdown or sold to someone who knows how to treat patients." The lady thought about what I said for a second, then stood, "Who the hell are you to tell me how to treat anyone? You're the deadbeat who can't afford to get treated." I simply asked, "Did you ask? Did you ask if I might have had health insurance? Did you ask, that since my wound came as a result of a police type action, if I was covered by a law enforcement agency?" The lady looked at me closely, "You, a cop. Not a chance. If you are, show me." I closed my eyes and told her, "Write this number down on the payee's line. 399471222, that will get you paid." She said, "That's a federal number, one of the agencies. You can't use that." "You didn't ask, and yes, you can use that. Now, put that number on my ticket, Lisa's, and a guy that's here named Nightfox. I'm sure you'll have several using that same number tonight. Now get out of here before I arrest you for being a bitch." Lisa was giggling again when the frumpy lady left. The doc stuck her head in the curtain and said, "I heard that and I agree. She is a bitch. Thanks for straightening her out, and thanks for doing whatever you did to get wounded the way you did. Come see us when you can handle the nurse and me." Lisa giggled again and was nodding her head. I said, "Let's get out of here before they sic a candy striper on us to wheel us out of here." We were trying to walk out when a little girl in a candy striper uniform came running with a wheelchair. She said, "Oh no, you can't just walk out. You have to be wheeled out the door. Hospital orders." As she sat in the wheelchair, Lisa said, "Okay, you can wheel me out. Come on, let's go, let's get out of here." "But, but, you're not the one. He's supposed to be in the chair." "I'm the one with the shot up arm. He's just got a scratch on the side of his head. Come on, Honey, wheel me out. What do you think, Chuck, could she be a treat for us later?" Going along with Lisa, I said, "I don't know, Honey. She may not be experienced enough for us to really enjoy her. She might not get off on what we do with her." You could see her exposed flesh color turning red. She cocked her head and while leaning down at Lisa's ear, quietly said, "I may be more than you can handle, Lady. I think I could turn you inside out before your friend here could get it up." Lisa grinned, "Now that's a bet. Come with us, Honey, and we'll turn you every which way but loose." From then until we were able to get a taxi, Lisa and the candy striper exchanged all kinds of horny challenges. When we did get a taxi, the candy striper leaned over and kissed Lisa on the lips. I heard her say to Lisa, "I would really enjoy playing with your pussy." Lisa was in nirvana all the way to the hotel. It was already almost nine in morning. Not knowing what else to do at the moment, I called Wanda, my contact. When she answered, I said, "All three of your people are wounded. I think I can fly tomorrow, but I need to know what else I might need to do to wrap up what we've been doing. Can you find out and call me back? This one got out of hand." Wanda asked, "All three of you are wounded? What kind of wounds?" "Nightfox has a serious leg wound, Lisa got one of my signature wounds in the fleshy part of her left arm, and I was grazed on the side of my head. Nothing serious for Lisa and me, but we are broke for a while." Wanda said, "How come no one called me?" "Probably because all of the key people from the station here were killed in a terrorist explosion." "No one is left, Chuck? Did that really happen?" I could hear Wanda gasp. "It did, Wanda. The Secret Service station Chief and all of his key people were in a portable field office. The terrorists blew it up and they all died. We've actually completed two assignments, but you'll only hear about one. Anyway, Wanda, call in for us and let me know what to do. I'm not sure when Nightfox is going to be released." Wanda said, "I'll call you right back." Wanda called back a couple of minutes later. "You can come home when you can. If you need someone to come up and fly you and your airplane back, we can do that too. Should I or can I advise your other important others of your condition?" "Don't do that yet, Wanda. We'll tell them, but we don't want little Maria to know Sam is hurt. Let me get him up and on the way home, then we'll tell her and my ladies." "Well, you're not dead, so that's something," Wanda sighed. "Base said that Detroit was a mess, and that they had sent a couple of more teams up there to clean up. I suppose you three led everyone into whatever it was you were doing. Jesus, Chuck, you need to be careful." "Hey, I'm breathing and looking down at the roots instead of looking up at them. We're both fine. We'll probably see you tomorrow or the next day." I hung up on her as she was not a good person to try to reason with. Lisa said, "Come on, let's change into regular clothes and have something to eat. We both need steak and eggs, and a glass of red wine to build up our blood. I think I'm going to have you munch on me an hour or so to relax me too." We did eat and had quite a bit of rich red wine, but I didn't get to do any carpet munching. We fell asleep in each other's arms with our clothes still on. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through – Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 67 Steve We had eaten a great supper and were all relaxing on the patio when Wanda came to get me. She asked if we could go somewhere to talk. Not knowing what was up, I took her to Sue's offices in the other end of the trailer from the bedrooms. Wanda and I sat down and she said, "Steve, I don't know what to do. I talked to Chuck this morning and he's been shot. Lisa, Nightfox, and him, were all shot. He says they're not too serious, but I'm not sure about that. When I called our base to see what he should do, I found out the entire unit, including the Station Chief, was killed in an explosion last night. I should tell Chuck's ladies, and I probably should tell Maria that Sam is hurt." I looked at the shaken Wanda a second, and said, "If Chuck doesn't want to tell anyone, he has a reason. Don't alarm his women, and definitely don't alarm Maria. Nightfox will tell her the way he wants to. Let him do it. If they are all alive, be thankful. Go get John and have him comfort you. You could probably use a drink too, but don't betray a confidence. You know how to keep quiet." Wanda nodded her head up and down and said, "Yeah, I do need a drink. Come on and pour me some good scotch, that'll help. I think John is still coming back on a charter. You know, I am looking forward to that sailing trip coming up, even if we don't sail the whole way with you." We went out to the bar and I poured her some Johnny Walker Black. That should make her feel better. It does that for me, so I poured myself some. Mercy came up to me and said, "Make me one of those. I need it after what Chuck and Lisa have been through. I don't know what they've been doing, but it's been serious. Those two are into something that's really scary lately. I really don't need this. Mom's even coming early because she thinks Chuck's getting in too deep. She doesn't know what he's into, but she's determined to get him out." I said, "Both of you need to let Chuck do what he feels he should do. Chuck is a tough guy, and does some dangerous stuff. Nightfox and Lisa are apparently part of it, so let them be." "It's hard to do, Steve," Mercy groaned. "Just look at little Maria. She's so lonely when Sam isn't around. The lady idolizes him. He does her, too, but he needs to be here. Man, Steve, the way I've felt lately, those three have been in some shit." I hugged Mercy about the time Sue came up and said, "Settle her down, Steve. The lady has been bonkers these last few days. I sure hope Chuck and Lisa get back so she'll relax." Mercy said, "And Sam Nightfox too. Just look how sad Maria looks. She really misses her man." "That she does," Sue said, as she poured herself some Diet Coke with some rum to go with it. Sue and Mercy were sitting next to me, when Juanita came up in front of me with her hands on her hips, "Will you look at this. You two are hogging him again." With that, she sat on my lap and gave me a kiss as she sat crossways with her legs out over Mercy's lap. Mercy laughed, "We hog him so you just lay all over all of us? We'll get you later for this, Nita Dear." "Oh, I hope so. We need some excitement around here." Glenda hollered from the kitchen and family room sliding doorway, "Everyone get washed up. Supper is going to be on the table." There wasn't a mad rush, but there was a general movement of women going in to help haul food to the tables and others to round up kids. There was the stampeding noise of little feet running through the house to get to the tables. It's really special to watch about fifty people gather for a meal like this. People are hauling food, others pouring milk and tea, still others assisting little ones in taller chairs so they can be level with the table. When we were sitting, Phil stood and said, "Tonight, I think we need to give thanks for what we have. We should probably do this for every meal, but today is special. All of us are healthy, well-fed, clothed, and with the prospect that all of this will continue for the foreseeable future. Everyone we come into contact with seems to be able to make it and they seem to improve from where they were. I want to thank our maker for that gift. If you'll bow your heads, "Thank you, Father, for your generous gifts, and teach us to share with all others. Bless this meal, and give us the strength to do good and to help others. Amen." Phil said, "Go ahead and eat." He paused, then continued, "A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with some people who said they were just about out of business. They were going to lay off the last of what had been nearly fifty employees. I had gone to see them as they weren't our customer and I wanted them to become one. The man and his wife poured their hearts out to me, telling me of how they had struggled to keep their business going but were just not making it. The man told me, 'Your lines have always looked good, but in good conscience I can't order anything now because there would no way I would be able to pay you.' I told him that we would give him a supply of our equipment for him to market on credit. We would consider it as being on consignment until he could get on his feet. We set him up with our way of doing business and gave him pointers as to how to market our goods." Phil was grinning, "Well today, the man and his wife traveled from Jacksonville to Tampa to deliver a check to pay for most of the goods we consigned to him. He had an order with him for almost twice as much equipment to resupply. He told me that he had hired back six of his most recently laid off employees, and his company's future was once again looking up. The reason is not just our equipment being that much better, but there is a reason for him to be successful. It's S&S. That's us. Just having a relationship with S&S is a road to success. This company has something special to share. We have that proverbial four leaf clover to share. I'm thankful that we can help so many succeed." Phil was almost in tears as he sat down next to Judy. She patted him on the arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek. There was silence for a few seconds, then everyone began applauding. We were applauding Phil and we were applauding each other and the significance of what Phil had said. S&S was a company that was a positive influence on those who did business with us. Tiny and Ruth were grinning, as was Henry. I couldn't see everyone from where I was, but I'd bet even Abe was smiling at what Phil had said. The company did have a positive effect on our customers. Sue said to me, "You know, one of my bigger customers just said the same thing. The buyer said that she hardly ever has to mark down any of our products because they didn't sell. She told me the only markdowns are one or two of an item in an odd size. She said they have consistently sold our basic blouses for several years now, and they are still selling well. We added what we call our business separates, which are suit separates, in four basic colors. These are skirts, pants, vests, and jackets that look very smart. We have made them to be very economical for our customers and have kept all but two colors the same, year around. We change the two colors for two seasons and that's it. We keep black, navy, and brown in stock all the time. The brown sells the least, but it is nice looking. The navy and black are always in demand. The buyer told me that her department was consistently one of the most successful departments in the chain." "Your people do a good job, Sue. Your success is the quality. All of our success is our attitude. We all try to give our customers the best every day. That is our success." Wes was near me and he said, "You know, I'm beginning to get that feeling out at the airpark. The guys building the LSAs are mostly retreads from other areas. They are so meticulous that I was a little impatient with them at first, but when they told me S&S only builds something that is perfect and when I talked to Jeff and Abe, I realized it was not only a motto, but a way of life. I think our attitude toward perfection spreads to our customers." All this talk about our success had me smiling while enjoying a good meal. I thought to myself, 'Look around, look at these people. They came together one and two at a time, and now look at them. They are close friends, close business associates, working together, and living together. We need to see how we can help more people.' After supper Tiny, Abe, Phil, and I were sipping some beer, when Tiny said, "Phil, you've got Steve all wound up now trying to figure out how to employ another million or so people. Your little speech was a good one and very moving. Henry and I may only be numbers people, but we've seen that same result with those we deal with. Look at the airpark and the boat charter business. Those are totally off the wall businesses that should be going belly up right now, and they are both healthy. We're not getting as many fishing charters, but enough to keep all the boats and captains fairly busy. The sailboats are all busy to the point I'm thinking of adding another small forty to fifty footer to rent out to execs that can sail. I think if we have one or two extra of those around with a price tag on them, we could probably sell a few each year." I looked over at Tiny and said, "Well, what do you know? Now even Tiny is starting up new businesses in an economy that has the world by the balls." Tiny said, "There is money out there, but not as much and not with the general public. If we had something for a guy to buy after he's fallen in love with it, why not make a buck on it. I think we can do it." With smile, I slapped Tiny on the back, congratulating him again. He said, "You know one of the things we are trying to do may not work out so well." "What's that, Tiny?" I asked. "Trying to open up business up in Alaska is not going to be that easy. Everyone up there seems to have their hand out. It's like Chicago, but without the unions. The Chicago method is to milk you a little at a time, kind of like an ongoing tax, but up in Alaska we're dealing with people that want a big kickback to do any kind of business." Tiny got himself another beer and sat back down. "For instance, we found a great location in Anchorage that I thought might work, but we needed to do some heavy remodeling. When I got a couple of contractors to bid on the work, they both kept listing a big chunk of money as bear grease. When I asked what that was, I was told that you have to grease the palms of the city officials to get any kind of building permits. Without a little here and a little there, it won't get approved. We found out that in order to get a fire hydrant, you have to pay off the permitting people, the fire marshal, and the local city commissioner. Without the fire hydrant, you have to tear down the building. Parking lots are the same way, but that is a real scam. We have had to sign a year contract for snow removal for the parking lot. They don't push the snow aside, you have to have it picked up and hauled out of town. It just so happens that the commissioner has a snow removal company." Henry said, "The reason everything up there costs so much isn't because of the cost of shipping it up there. It's because it costs so much to do business up there and to sell it." I asked, "Maybe we shouldn't be up there. Perhaps opening dealerships up there isn't a good idea." Tiny offered, "Oh, it's a good idea and it will be profitable, especially selling to the oil companies. The more we get our feet in the door with the oil companies, the more they will come to us in the lower forty-eight and to export to their out of country rigs." "Well," I said, thinking about it, "I suppose that just about keeps us from building a factory up there. We might have to increase the size of the reservation plant up in Montana. We should check to see how much more manpower there is available up there." Sue was with us now and said, "We ship a lot of basics up there and we ship a lot of some of the camouflage stuff to Wal-Mart for up there. Our insulated coveralls are very popular too. Since we don't have any outlets up there, we don't get involved in the politics. I'm sure glad of that." Tiny said, "Why don't you get Dewey and go up there to get a feel of how business is done up there. That'll give you an idea of how aggressive you might want to be up there. If you decide to pull out, so be it." I said, "Darn, I would hate to be one of the employment problems up there. I'd rather be one of the solutions. But, yeah, I should go up there. I'll call Dewey and see if he wants to make a trip. I should probably get Chuck to come with me so we can check out the holdings we have up there now. I wonder why we haven't heard about this wheeling and dealing before. With the hotels we have up there and the construction of hotels, I'll bet we're being hit up constantly. Brandy came over to us and said, "I just heard from Chuck and Lisa. They said they will be home tomorrow. They said they are finished with what they had to do. I wonder if they know anything about that motor home full of federal agents that were blown up by terrorists up there. Sure hope they weren't anywhere near when that happened." Abe said, "Yeah, I saw that on the news. That thing was totally blown apart. They only showed it that one time and haven't shown the mess it was again on television. I guess it was too gross for people to see." Mercy quietly said, "I'll bet Chuck knows a lot more about it than he'll ever say. I'd bet on that." I frowned at Mercy so she wouldn't expound. Little Maria was gathering her kids. She came over and said, "Sam is coming home tomorrow. He says he's going to be home for a long time now. Isn't that great? I get to keep my man around now." Wanda looked at me rolling her eyes. No one else saw her, so no harm, no foul. As the evening progressed, everyone was pretty content and happy that everything would be back to normal soon. Chuck's collection of women headed home, chattering excitedly about him and Lisa returning. When it was time for bed, I joined my ladies, plus Mickey, in the bedroom after using the bathroom. The ladies were in a mood tonight and were ganging up on Mickey. Mercy pulled away and smiled at me, holding up her arms, "Come here, Husband. Come join me or us. We all need you, but I think you should make Mickey feel good first." That was the beginning of a lot of play with all of them. I lasted a long time, but not nearly long enough. Thank goodness they enjoyed carrying on with me as an audience of one. The next day was busy from the beginning. It seemed that Crystal was on the phone from the moment she woke up in Hawaii. Bear and her had made some deals with local hotels similar to our prior suggestions, and were scheduling golf extravaganzas. They combined these with trips for island people to the mainland, so the airplane was paid for both ways. As soon as they started a couple of trips, more and more hotels wanted in on the deal, and they were flying back and forth daily in chartered aircraft. Crystal wanted Tiny's man to work up numbers for them to lease more aircraft instead of paying high charter rates. They also wanted higher density aircraft so more people could come at once. I gave Tiny what information I had and told him to work on it. If he had to go to Hawaii to go, but to work it out because if we can make money during this recession, we needed to take every advantage of it. Tiny reported back that he felt he needed a lot more information and needed to make sure that this wasn't just a bubble. He had Phil convinced that they both needed to go in order to make sure of the traffic. This required both Ruth's and Judy's attention so the four were making plans for a business (yeah, right!) trip to Hawaii to get the facts straight. I thought it would be good for them to do it now before the upcoming sailing adventure. Abe came to see me, and said he thought he should look into how the local shop's maintenance departments were doing over there. He said that the rebuilding was down and he might be able to stimulate some business. He thought he and Alice would make a good addition to the expedition. I wondered how many more would figure out what was happening and decide to go as well. DeDe called me in the afternoon and asked, "What do you think, Steve. Should we send these folks over in a Lear or send them commercial. Chuck still has a Lear out, but his other one, the long range 55C isn't chartered. He's supposed to be back today, so we would have that bird back. If he's going to be in town, his Citation would be available. Jimmy has it back on line." I laughed, "Send them in the 55C, DeDe. Let them have a taste of luxury for the trip. With six of them, it won't be crowded." DeDe said, "Six? How about ten? Jeff and his wife, plus Jimmy and Angie. That's going to just about max out the Lear." I said, "The Lear can't make it that far with a full load like that. When Chuck gets back, see if you can use his Citation. They won't be gone longer than a week, and you can use Jimmy for one of the pilots. You will need two for that long of a flight. If the Citation isn't available, use the 737 with the luxury seating. Shoot, why not. These guys are our executives." DeDe was laughing, "I'll look at both ways and ask Chuck. The Citation would be faster, so it would be a good choice. I'll let you know, Steve." About four, Chuck called, "Hey, Steve, we're back and I guess I'll see you at the patio. I just wanted to warn you, ah, Lisa, Sam, and I were hurt up in Detroit. Not bad, but we were damaged a little. Sam's the worst, and will be on crutches for a couple of months. I'm going to have to wear my hair like you do. Perhaps Glenda will help me with it." "So what happened up there, Buddy? Can you talk about it?" "The public version is that we were involved in a small skirmish with some terrorists and some of the collateral damage was to a mobile office motor home that was blown up, killing about twenty feds. The three of us were damaged in the other part of the skirmish." I said, "I can tell there was more than that. A lot more, but you can't talk about it. I'm glad you survived and are okay. Have you told your menagerie yet?" "They all know, and as usual, are not happy about both Lisa and I getting hurt. They are talking to Lisa right now about getting out of whatever she's involved in that would get her hurt like this. They will only glare at me in passing." Chuck was chuckling, "They'll get over it. It's nothing we haven't dealt with before." "Thanks for the warning, Chuck. Have you talked to Mercy? She's been going nuts. Her mom is even coming in from California, if she isn't already here." "Not yet, Steve," Chuck said. "I'll go over there and see her in a little bit. I have some drinking to catch up on. I think I'm due." "Get over there then, and I'll leave right now and meet you. We'll celebrate another battle won. Bring Lisa, she probably needs a stiff one, in more than one way, too." Chuck Author's note: (short POV change) We both laughed at his joke and hung up. Peaches came in the door and gave me a hug. She put her hand on my head where the bandage was and said, "You are so bad, Chuck. Someone said my Lisa is hurt too. Did you allow that to happen?" "Sort of, Peaches, she's okay and I can assure you it won't happen again. That's the end of her being around stuff like that." "Good," Peaches said, gruffly, "It better be." She went off to find Lisa. Tina came into the kitchen, wearing her doctor stuff with her stethoscope around her neck. She gave me a hug and kiss before saying, "I have to go to work, but I'll be home in the morning. Stick around a little so you can put me to bed. You and Lisa can do that for me. I've really missed you guys, and this six to six shift is killing me. It's hard to sleep during the day and I have no time to study. I'm learning a lot, but this is still a killer shift." We kissed again and she went looking for Lisa. In seconds, she was back and looking at my head. She said, "I should look at that. Lisa said it was deep enough that they X-rayed you to make sure there were no bone fragments in there. How about I check it and re-apply a new bandage?" "Do it tomorrow morning, Tina. I'm fine and it'll give it a little longer to heal or to get worse, so you'll have a reason to mess with it." Tina smiled, "Okay, I'm sure the cute doc that showed you her tits while she sewed you up did a good job." She shook her head and said, "How do you do that? You get shot and a doctor and nurse are both showing their titties to you. Amazing." I said, "It was Lisa's fault. She told them to do it. I had nothing to do with it, except to enjoy it. Who would expect a doctor to do that? And the little nurse, the doc shamed her into joining her. Like I said, I had nothing to do with it." Tina, grabbed her backpack, gave me another hug and kiss, and left. It was early, but she may be heading to the patio to get something to eat before going to work. Taiying was at the sink and looked over at me. She said, "Sing and I have missed you and Lisa. We understand about the dangers some have to be subjected to, but please be careful. These women depend on you. You will be a father soon and you will be needed. Sing and I, as well as Maria, depend on you too. Be careful, okay?" I smiled at her and nodded. She went back to doing whatever she was doing. Frieda came in and sat on my lap. "Okay, Daddy, you're grounded. No more mixing it up with bad guys for a while. I think it's what, six weeks healing time for a concussion?" "I'm sure it's not that long, but we'll see," I said, trying to brush off the admonition. "When I'm needed, I'm needed." Frieda came back with, "Well, father of my twins, we need you more right now. Do you know, I'm nearly down to the last trimester. So are Nancy and Judy, but I think I'll hatch first. Don't you think you could put off some of the hairy stuff for three or four months while we get these kids on the ground?" "I think I can do that. I don't like that stuff either. I'm ready for a vacation." One by one, the ladies came in to see me, making up with me about getting hurt, and making me promise to stay out of danger. They all wanted me to quit doing whatever it was that I was doing, but I didn't commit to any of that. I just kept them happy by saying I wouldn't be traveling into any danger for a while. Lisa had a long sleeve blouse on that covered up her bandage. It didn't look out of place on her, as she often had her long sleeve flight uniform on. We loaded up, and all of us went to the patio. Maria, Sing, and Taiying had made up several trays of nachos. There were four trays of mild, two trays of hot or sort of hot, and one tray that said 'Danger.' I couldn't wait to try some. I'm sure I was going to have to beat Kathy and Mercy off to get any. When we walked in, Mercy, Kathy, Juanita, and Glenda all gathered around Lisa and me. They were all giving us hugs and kisses. I was surprised that Glenda was so friendly. She said, "You're just like Steve, always into something, always staying just barely out of danger. You have to learn to duck, though." I was at the bar making Mojitos for Mercy, Kathy, Juanita, Brandy, and Tiani, when Steve came in. He said, "You look good back there making drinks. You're hired. Stick around and you might make some tips." Tiani said, "If he sticks around, he might get a little of my prime..." From the door, a redheaded Shawna hollered, "I have dibs on that moniker. I've got the prime pussy around here and can prove it. Just line 'em up, and I'll knock 'em off." Steve whispered, "It must be Friday. The zoo is getting rowdy early." I smiled as I poured myself a tall Beefeaters and reached for a piece of celery that was in a dish on the bar. Steve was taking a drink from his Beefeaters, and snaking too, when Sue came in. She made over Lisa for a few minutes, then came to me for a hug. She pushed her trip Zs into my chest, which made me look down into the Grand Canyon of cleavage. You just can't help but gawk at the amount of mammary flesh the woman has. She gave me a kiss then went to Steve and repeated the process. Steve was as bad as I was, and took a long look at the display offered. He got his hug and Sue was gone. He looked at me and said, "I see them everyday, and I still marvel at them. God, they are wonderful." We both laughed at our perversion. Lisa said, "I love those things, too. I could spend hours playing with them. I suppose I'm as perverted as you two." We laughed harder. Mercy came around the outside of the group, with Kathy following her. Mercy was carrying the tray of nachos that had the 'Danger' sign. She put it on the bar and told Kathy, "Pour three mugs of beer and let's sample these. Maria said they were hotter than little Maria makes them. I want to test them." The three of us dug in, pulling out a crunchy nacho chip then scooping up a mixture of cheese, special sauce, with habañeros and jalopeños. They were perfect. The spicy heat snuck up on you and consumed your mouth and tongue. The three of us were stuffing them into our mouths as the tears were running down our faces. These were delicious. Taiying came over to us and marveled, "I love hot spicy food, but I can't even begin to eat that. Maria said that if she made it so hot she can't eat it, that they would be perfect for you. Look at all of you; it's so spicy that you're crying." Mercy coughed and said, "Oh, they are so good. These are perfect." We three had to have another icy beer while eating the nachos. We had our fill for a while and went back to having our regular drinks. Sam and little Maria came in with her kids. Sam was on crutches and was being smothered by his Maria. He made his way to the bar and Maria saw the nachos and dipped a chip into the gooey mixture. She ate one and closed her eyes because it was so hot. She said, "Oh my, your Maria made them better than me." Sam didn't realize what was happening, and before Maria could stop him, he dunked a chip and shoved it into his mouth. Seconds later, he let out an "Ahhhh, that is hot. Holy smokes, what is that made of?" Maria told Sam, kiss me quick, that will help. They kissed for a couple of minutes, until Kathy commented, "Get a room." Mercy got Sam a glass of iced tea and handed it to him. Sam drained the glass and had a glazed look in his eyes. "Man, that is some potent stuff. Is anyone really eating that stuff?" Mercy said, "Kathy, Chuck, and I already ate over half of it. A few others will like it too, so we're saving it for them. There's some of the wimpier sauce on the tables." Little Maria grinned at Sam and said, "It is hot. I'm sorry I didn't warn you. I liked the cure though." The little Mexican girl grinned real big while hanging onto Sam on his crutches. Steve Author's note: (POV change, back to Steve) While we were at the bar, I asked Chuck, "Some folks need to make a trip to Hawaii. What do you say about letting them use the Citation? It has the range, but it will be gone for at least a week." Chuck said, "That shouldn't be a problem. I can't fly for at least a week. My partner here flew me back. I'll get checked out in a week to make sure I don't have any lingering effects from getting hit on the head." Sue said, "Chuck, you should go with them. You need to check on your investments over there anyway." "That's okay, I think I'll hang around home and rest for a few days. I'll do some desk flying for a while. I think I can handle that and stay out of trouble." An older version of Mercy came up to Chuck at the bar. I know Missy well, and I could see she had an anxious look. She gave Chuck a hug and said softly, "When you get a chance, I want to talk to you a little, maybe you too, Lisa." Chuck said, "How about we get together tomorrow? If you haven't had the tour of our house, you should come over and we'll give you the guided tour of the place." Missy smiled, "That would be great. I really do want to talk to you privately for a few minutes, please." The place was soon packed with the usual Friday evening revelry. There wasn't a bunch of announcements to make, but there were some new faces there. Chuck asked about a few, and I didn't even know one couple. Phil brought them to me and introduced them, "Steve, this is Mr. And Mrs. Dormfelter, Jason and Rebecca. These are the folks I was talking about last night at supper. I brought them tonight, since they were still in town, to see how we live." Rebecca was a lady in her forties that still looked good. She had a big smile on a face that showed some stress lines. Jason was also in his forties and was losing his hair. Judy and Ruth took Rebecca off to the house while Jason joined us at the bar. Henry made Jason a drink and we were all soon in a good conversation. When Jason asked about the 'Danger' sign over the nacho dip, he was warned that it was extremely potent. When Jason dunked a chip and put into his mouth, he slowly crunched up the spicy chip. You could see a smile form on his lips, and he said, "For this, I need a beer. Hang on a sec, I have to get Becky." Jason came back, dragging Rebecca, and said, "You're not going to believe how good these are. I'll get you a beer, but you have to have some." Jason came from the tap while Rebecca was crunching up a chip dunked into the goo. Her eyes flashed open to big round saucers and she exclaimed, "Wow! That is really good stuff. I have to have that recipe." Both Jason and Rebecca were scooping liberal amounts of the fire sauce onto chips and stuffing them into their mouths. They had the same problem that Mercy, Kathy and Chuck had. The sauce is so hot their tears were mixing with the chip. Mercy commented, "Look at another couple who like that stuff. We have another hot wing taster. You two will have to come for some weekend wings one time soon." Supper tonight was prime rib. The kids were served first, then the adults began being served. The meal was something special, asparagus with a sauce, along with some kind of mildly spicy rice. This was a great night to entertain a dealer. Some of our newer pilots were here with their wives and families, so we did have a nice collection of people. After supper, Abe and Alice, along with Glenda and Martin, were in the gliders at one end of the patio while there was a large gathering around the bar. I noticed Bonita spirit Lisa and Chuck away and soon the three of them appeared at the family room's open sliding doorway with the piano and a couple of guitars. Chuck had a microphone connected to a guitar speaker, and announced, "Bonita has been practicing a couple of pieces and wants to perform for you. Lisa and I are going to give her some accompaniment to enhance what she's playing. Some of you may not recognize some of what you will hear, but those at least fifty and older will enjoy this." Bonita spoke into the microphone near her mouth, "This is the more traditional version of the song I'm going to do. It's not the Boz Scaggs version." I wondered how she would have ever heard of Boz Scaggs. The girl is amazing. Bonita began singing, "I saw the harbor lights, they only told me we were parting. Those same old harbor lights that brought you to me." My goodness, is that my little girl. Bonita was playing chords on her guitar while singing. She had her eyes closed as she sang beautifully, with a voice much older than her years. Chuck was playing the keyboard softly and Lisa was grinning at Bonita as she picked out the melody. There was a hush over the patio as my little girl sang. She went through the lyrics, then they did some gentle instrumentals, then did the lyrics all the way through again. When she finished, everyone applauded loud and long. Kathy was next to me and was holding my arm. "Can you believe we made something like that? She's our own little "Who's got talent?" I could only nod because of the lump in my throat. They played and Bonita sang, "Close your eyes and slip away," then the three of them did a very steamy version of "Smoke gets in your eyes." They were really good. When that was over, Chuck said, "Our protégé has been practicing these songs for you and waited for Lisa and me to come home. I'm sure glad we did, so she could get them out of her system. Isn't it great for her to choose these old gentle songs? You gotta love it, I know I do." Chuck grinned and looked at Lisa, "The last thing we're going to do is really out of the past. Bonita heard this while listening to a CD of oldies and has been bugging Lisa and me do it together. We're going to add some background, but the group originally recorded this without anything. We've practiced this a little, but not nearly enough. Hopefully, we'll do this piece justice." The three got there heads together by the microphone and I saw them count off, "Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, be, doobe, dum. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, be, doobe, dum. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, be, doobe, dum. Wah, wah, wah, wah, ah." Beth was near me and said, "That's "Come go with me." That was by the Del Vikings. Bonita was listening to my CD's at the house on Bayshore. She asked to take it home and I let her. Oh my goodness, they are really good." They really did the song well. I had heard it a lot when I was little, so I was familiar with the song. They did a good job with it. When they were done, everyone applauded loud and long again. Little Bonita stood and bowed at Chuck's and Lisa's urging. Once again, they had surprised us with something special. Chuck and Lisa should get away from all that stuff that was dangerous and just do music. I sat back smiling, holding an emotional Kathy, peacefully basking in our little girl's accomplishments. When Chuck and crew were about to leave, Chuck told me, "I'll see you in the morning. Let's go see the boat and talk about our schedule." "Sounds like a plan," I told Chuck, while patting him on the back. "We'll all go over with the girls and they can tell us about how we're prepared. I'll get one of those party buses so we can go together." I watched as they climbed into two big carts and headed to their house. In a little while, only Beth and I were at the bar on the patio. The place was cleaned up, the big coffee pot ready, the lights were down low, with the only the overhead fans slowly turning. Beth said, "This has been a nice night. Ben had a great time and I think he is even looking forward to meeting us in Italy. I'm not going to miss a minute of the entire adventure, if you don't mind. This is going to be a lot of fun with everyone along. It's going to be chilly out in the Atlantic, but if the sun is out, it shouldn't be too bad. We need to do something like this before the water heats up and storms begin." "Yeah," I said, "It should be good sailing weather too. We should still have the good winds all the way over, and we'll get the beginning of tropical winds on the way back. As for seeing everyone, we will try to get it all done, but it's going to be busy. We'll probably be working on the final schedule tomorrow evening. Make sure you take notes so you'll know when to have Ben come join us." "I'll tell him and he'll join us. He's getting mellower in his old age. He isn't old, but he acts like it sometimes. He's made enough money that it isn't as important to him any longer. He now knows he has more than enough and has enough to share a lot with those that need it. You've been a good example for him, Steve. Between you and Chuck, he's been doing a lot more charity stuff than ever before, and he's happier too." I got up and stretched, "Let's go to bed before one of them comes to get me." "Is that an offer, young man? We'll need to use a different room than mine. Ben is in there, probably asleep." "Oh Beth, don't tease. You go in there and wake him up while I go see if I can excite your daughter." Beth hugged me and gave me a soft kiss. We shut everything down and went inside, locking the doors. Beth went to her room and I went to the big bedroom in the rear. Five women were sitting cross-legged on the bed. They were surrounding a little girl in the middle. Bonita was telling them, "Chuck told me to practice it and I did. I wrote down all the words to that song of Gramma's because I really liked the way it sounded. Lisa and Chuck practiced with me tonight and we got it down really fast. That's how we did it." Kathy said, "Well, you really did well. Now you need to get to bed, you little imp. No more staying up late. Daddy will put you to bed." I leaned over, scooped Bonita up, and walked down the hall to her room. I put her in her bed, pulled up the covers, and kissed her forehead. When I left, I think she was already sleeping. In the room the five were still sitting in their powwow. I brushed my teeth, used the john, and washed a little. When I re-entered the room, Sue and Juanita had a space between them, so I knew where to begin. We had a good time enjoying each other until I had kisses and hugs, as well as some other activities with all five women. Mickey was still very demanding. The lights were out, and we made love softly and gently, until I don't even remember falling asleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 68 Steve Someone was doing something to me under the covers. I opened my eyes then reached down to caress the head that was giving me pleasure. Short hair meant it was Mickey. She didn't usually do this, but enjoyed more traditional lovemaking. She continued until I was getting the feeling preceding my giving her a taste treat. I tried to pull her up, to pull her away, but she resisted, hanging on until, 'Oh yeah, that is so good.' "Oh, Mickey, that feels so good." The dark-headed Mickey rose and gave me a very gooey kiss. She didn't have anything left in her mouth, but still had a lot of residual taste in it and spillage on her lips as she gave me a lot of tongue. She told me, "I really enjoy doing that to you, Steve. I love to make you feel good and it makes me feel in total control. You know, you are the only man I've ever done that with? If I have anything to do with it, you will be the only man I'll ever do that to." We gently kissed as she snuggled into my shoulder. Sue came up behind Mickey and hugged her. She pulled Mickey around for a deep kiss that caused the two of them to continue kissing until they were swapping ends to give each other pleasure. Kathy rose and looked at the two enjoying each other. "Come on, let's take a shower and get ready for a great Saturday." Mercy said, "I'm with you on that." She leaned over to suck one of Juanita's nipples into her mouth and Juanita hugged Mercy's face to her breast, saying, "Oh you terrible, wonderful, little minx. You know how to instantly get me running." Mercy and Juanita became lost with each other while Kathy and I got up to shower. As soon as we were in the shower, Kathy was aggressively trying to get me up. "Come on, Stud. I need some of this stretcher this morning. Last night was just an appetizer. Besides I had all that hot sauce and you know what that stuff does to me." In seconds, Kathy had my interest up and I was curing her itch. What a way to start the day. I was going to be worn out before six thirty. When we exited the shower, the four girls were now switched around enjoying each other. The room smelled like hungry pussy. If you could only bottle that, it would be the perfect pheromone for men. Out on the patio, I turned the lights on and poured Kathy and me a cup of the freshly brewed coffee. Tiny and Ruth came in the back door as Abe and Alice came in the front. I looked up and Glenda was making her way across the lawn with Martin. Our daily gathering always puts a smile on my face. Kathy and I poured some coffee for Glenda and Martin, and after getting some for Abe and Alice, we got another cup for each other. The eight of us sat at one of the larger round tables, talking about what we all wanted to do today, Saturday. Glenda said, "If the ladies are going over to the boat today, I want to go. Martin and I bought some travel clothes I want to put on board. Martin bought another razor so he would have one for the boat." Martin said, "I like that sailing stuff. I think I'd like to go out with you guys more often if we get the chance." I said, "Well, Martin, you know you're always welcome and I'm sure Chuck feels the same way. Even if I don't go, you know you two can always go with Chuck and his family." Glenda commented, "Chuck does have a bunch that follows him around. He has those five girls, along with Tina, and Lisa is really special to him. Now I see wherever they go, those two Chinese ladies and the Mexican housekeeper are with them all the time." Glenda looked at me funny and asked, "You don't think Chuck is messing with all of them, do you?" Kathy scoffed, "Oh, Glenda, probably not, but would it make a difference if he was?" Martin elbowed Glenda and said, "Maybe he'll share a couple of them with us?" Glenda reached over and pinched some loose skin on Martin's arm and said, "There isn't anything left of you to go around after I'm done with you as it is. Where're you going to get the energy to handle one of those young things?" A not so heavy black lady with a southern accent said, "Y'all worry about that Chuck to much. I used to be the same way, but I see how he treats my little Lisa and knows that he's a good man. If he's man enough to handle all them women, I say more power to him. Wish I were younger so he could handle me too." Kathy laughed and said, "Peaches, you need to take one those men who are trying to court you up on their offers. I'll bet any one of them would be a pleasure to you." Peaches said, "I know, but they are a lot older than me. Now that I lost all that weight and use the exercise equipment and swim, I want to be more active. Lisa was even telling me that Rags was eyeing me. Now that would be something." Chuck and all of his people came into the patio at the same time. When you included Jan and Don, Wanda and John, Dennis and Marie, along with Lena, he was bringing about eighteen people over at a time. The women moved into the kitchen to begin breakfast and to dole out food to the kids as they all began showing up. Weekend breakfasts began with the kids eating first while some of the adults had Bloody Marys or vodka-laced fruit juice. Some were drinking Irish coffees, complete with whipped cream. Most, though, stayed with coffee while there were some who had Coke or Diet Coke. Kevin and Dennis were dressed for the motocross lessons this morning. Tina couldn't help as she was still at work and would be bone tired when she finally finished her shift. Dennis was talking to the kids about what he wanted to teach today and was asking them, "Well, guys and girls, you're beginning to be pretty good. Those who think they might want to compete at one of the racing tracks around here should tell me, so Dad and I can begin showing you how to ride a little more aggressively and a little differently." Susan heard that and said, "Now you're all in trouble. As soon as some of the kids begin racing, that's when the broken bones start. Dennis and Tina are lucky to have all their teeth and use of their hands. It really gets crazy. You women better not watch them as you'll go nuts wanting to grab your kid and hide from the insanity." I said, "Oh, it's not that bad. Sure, both of your kids broke some bones, but that's nothing new with kids anyway. Dennis and Kevin are doing a hell of a job teaching them to ride safely. Racing has a tendency to make kids forget the safety stuff, but they'll be fine." Mercy, Sue, Shawna, and Debbie were looking at each other, shaking their heads, wondering what they were in store for. Kathy had Bonita on her lap, talking to her, with Greg standing in front of them. I could hear her say, "Bonita, Honey, you know if you race you could hurt your hands and not be able to play the piano or the guitar. Do you really want to race?" Greg said, "If she doesn't race, does that mean I can't?" Kathy said, "No, you can race with your brothers if you want. I'm just trying to keep Nita from doing something that could keep her from doing other stuff, you know, like playing her music." Bonita got down from Kathy's lap and came over to me. She climbed up on my lap and asked, "Daddy, do you think I'll hurt myself and not be able to play music?" "I don't know, Bonita. I can't see into the future. Why don't you ask Lisa and Chuck what they think? They would miss having you to help them play for us." The little girl looked at me to make sure I was being sincere before giving me a hug and said, "Thanks, Dad, I will ask them. I really want to keep riding, I can ride as good as the big boys, and I want to do it if I won't get hurt. I just have to learn to be that much better than they are." Chuck was standing near me and Bonita asked him, "You heard all of that, what do you think? Do you think it's bad if I race?" Chuck smiled and said, "No, it isn't bad and I understand how you want to compete and win against your brothers and sisters. If you hurt yourself, you just wouldn't be able to play music until you're healed, that's all. You would have to practice a lot when you healed because you would probably forget how to do a lot of things. Playing well comes with practice. You already know that." Bonita said, "I'll do motocross this morning, then the group lessons, and then make up my mind. I think I'll race, though." Bonita didn't run off with her usual exuberance, but walked away contemplating what she really wanted most. Kathy said to Chuck, "You could have just told her no, but then, you're walking around with a bandage on your head and Lisa has one on her arm. You two aren't much of an advertisement for how to stay safe." After breakfast, the kids left for the motocross barn and track. Tiny and some of the guys were going fishing, while I think most of the people going on the sailing adventure packed up to go over to the boat. Brandy had chartered a big bus so we could all ride together. Even Ben decided to come along to get a feel for the boat. He was still planning on flying over to meet us at one of our stops in Europe to enjoy the sightseeing. At the boat, we uncovered the top deck salon and did a quick job dusting and polishing. The men from our crews had been keeping the boat spotless, just like all the other boats. Each of us had an area of interest and we were spread out over the boat. I was in the engine room on the lower deck when Chuck came out of the office and walked into the engine room. He said, "When you see how perfect everything is on this boat, so neat and clean, you almost don't want to take it out and get it dirty." I told Chuck, "That's what a boat is for. We just have to keep it clean ourselves, that's all. We'll have enough crew on board to keep it up, I'm sure. The kids even know how to maintain the deck and its fittings." Chuck asked, "You know, the only people not on board right now are Dewey and his family, and it isn't crowded at all. We don't have the kids with us, but they will be busy doing stuff with each other." We walked up the ladder into the galley on the middle deck. Several ladies were making something in the galley that I would suppose was for lunch or a snack. Chuck and I looked at the nearly finished remodeling of the big cabins. He said, "Any one of these three cabins could be busted into more still very big cabins. We're taking up a lot of space for ourselves." I said, "Don't forget, you and I have big families. You have a lot of women that will be coming along. Are your two Chinese ladies and Maria, the housekeeper, coming?" He said, "They want to, and Brandy and Lisa think it would be great to bring them along. I really don't want them to think they are being welcomed into the intimate group. I'm a little uptight about that." "Sue and Mercy are like that," I said, as we went up to the salon on the main deck. "We've had Mickey staying with us now since Samantha moved to New York. She's almost completely moved in, and Sue is now talking about her coming along with us on the trip. We've made her a part of our group, but I'm not sure whether that's a good idea. It's been just the four of us for a long while, I don't know if a fifth will upset the balance." Chuck opened the fridge behind the bar in the main salon and pulled out a couple bottles of beer. He opened both and handed me one. He said, "I'm still not sure what to do with Tina. She gives every indication she is going to remain a part of this group, but she doesn't have much chance for any togetherness with me or us. Then there are the girls. Every one of them is so totally into other girls that I'm kind of like a treat to them. I feel their love for me, but they are like a self-contained unit. They open up and pull Lisa into their intimacy, and do that with Tina too. The way Taiying, Sing, and Maria are acting, I think the girls have found three more girl loving women. I can't believe the way they attract other women. What I really can't believe is the way they encourage them to share me. I think I'd rather it be a little more closed." I laughed, "Can you imagine, complaining because your women keep bringing you strange? You do a pretty good job collecting women by yourself. You don't need any help. Look what you have down in Costa Rica. What is there, eight or nine more down there?" Chuck grinned and said, "That is really strange, isn't it? Fun, but strange. There will only be eight now. One of the boat girls has found a man who wants to marry her. I'm going to fly down this coming Friday to go to the wedding. I guess I better reserve the big plane for that. All of my family may or may not go, but I doubt they will let me go by myself." We walked out on deck and opened the helm area. We turned on the equipment and tested all the instruments. Everything seemed to be working the way it was intended. After checking everything at the helm, we checked all of the lockers on deck to make sure the extra inflatable lifeboats and the Zodiac were properly stored. We checked all of the rigging and uncovered the sails in preparation of checking the raising and lowering. We walked back to the helm and raised and lowered one sail at a time, making sure the sail unfurled properly and when it was pulled down the auto winder brought the sail down evenly so it could be stored properly. We covered the sail and closed up the helm. I told Chuck, "You know we're ready to go right now. We can sail as soon as the remodeling is complete." Chuck said, "I'm ready too. This is going to be a great trip. I'm looking forward to you and Dewey teaching me how to be a good captain." "You'll do fine, Chuck. You know one thing a good captain does is to check on women who disappear. Let's go up on top of the salon roof to see if that's where they are disappearing to." We went up the ladder to the roof and found most of the women that were going on the trip up there rubbing lotion on each other. Chuck's eyes were bulging while checking out all the flesh being displayed. He elbowed me and said, "Look at that, even Glenda is sunbathing with these women." I smiled, "All women love to get naked on a boat. This is a good place because it is high enough that no one can see down into it and there is the high closed railing all around. This is where the women will be whenever you can't find them. At least, I think this is where we will find them." Chuck said, "Knowing my women, I hope yours are safe. I'll bet all of mine will be after yours as soon as we get out to sea. Brandy, Tiani, and Frieda are very predatory. I've heard them all talk about checking out your ladies." "You have to worry about your ladies? Mine are just laying in wait to pounce on yours as soon as they get a chance. You and I may have trouble finding a bedmate while this bunch of women loving women get this sorted out." Chuck was shaking his head, "I guess we do have something in common with all of them. We do enjoy loving on them ourselves though." "That we do, Chuck, that we do." The view was too good, and we were both becoming uncomfortable in the britches, so we went back down to the salon. Chuck's Maria came up from the galley with two trays of sandwiches. She said, "Take a few and I'll take the rest of these up top." This would have been easier on Chuck if Maria had any clothes on, but she was stark naked. We watched the darker-skinned girl go up the ladder (stairs) with two big trays as easy as can be. Chuck said, "Now that is going to take some getting used to." We both laughed. We ate, then Chuck checked the musical instruments that were on board. There were extra guitars, a bass, and a really good keyboard in the main salon cabinets, plus another keyboard in the lounge next to the galley. Chuck said, "Lisa has enough equipment on board for us to create and record very professionally if we want. I think she's planning on doing a lot of that on the trip. It will be a good time for us to play a lot together. We'll have a bunch of fun teaching the kids while playing together too." Ladies soon began coming down from the roof, heading below deck to put clothes on. Everyone was then assembling in the main salon, so I said, "We need to decide if we're going to Ireland or to Italy first. While we're at the Riviera, I want to run up to Germany to see the operation there. I'll need to spend a couple of days in Ireland, and a couple of days in Italy, that are not sightseeing days. In other words, I'll need to do some work while we're on this trip. While I do that, the rest of you can play and sightsee all you want. We can probably get that same guy in Italy as our guide. He's going to have to get a bigger bus because we have a lot of people this time. So, where should we go first?" There was a lot of discussion before Sue suggested, "Why don't we go to Ireland first. That way, if our Irish friends want to sail with us, they can. We can either go to the Riviera on the way to Italy or on the way back from there." I think everyone was nodding in agreement. That's when I said, "Now some of you want to go Ireland and some want to go to Italy, but don't want to sail over and back with us. If you think about it, we'll be spending about a week in Ireland, a week in Italy, and I know you guys want to spend close to that in the Riviera." After pausing to let them think about what I was saying, "Those that want to come over should probably figure on being there for three weeks. Don, you could come to Ireland, on say the middle of our stay there, sail to Italy with us, then back to the Riviera. You could leave during the middle of our stay there so you could come home and only be gone a little over two weeks." Dennis said, "Yeah, that's a great idea. I'll do that too." Mercy stood up and said, "You guys that want to wander around in the rich casinos on the Riviera will need a tux. Go to the thrift shops and see if you can find one there. You can always get some shirts, buttons, and cuff links to go with it. You'll need some nice shoes to go with the outfit. If our Irish friends join us, we'll eat on their boat at least once, and they will get a kick out of you guys showing up in your tuxes." Missy was with us and said, "I'll have to remind Merlin to bring one of his. He has so many he wears performing." I said then, "So, what do you think of this plan? We go to Ireland first, and those who want to meet us early can, so they can visit London or anywhere else there. If any of you want to hop over to Paris for a day or two for some sightseeing, you can do that too. We'll sail through to Italy and stay there five days to a week. From there we'll go to the Riviera, and I think Sue has rented a huge villa on the water for all of us to stay at. The place is like a castle with fifty rooms or something like that." Sue said, "It was a good deal. The owner said we could use it any time while we are over there. They may even come join us." Glenda asked Sue, "Who is the owner?" Sue grinned and said, "We'll talk about it later. We should probably keep it under our hats for now." I said, "Okay, the itinerary is going to be Ireland, Italy, then the Riviera. Those that are with us for the entire trip will be gone a little over two months. I know my family and I are ready for a good vacation, and I think Chuck and his are too." "Now one last thing that is all on Chuck's shoulders; this big sailing tub needs a name. We can't just say we're sailing the "blank" out of Florida. So, Chuck, what's it going to be?" He looked at me and shook his head, "I have no idea. I'll figure it out and surprise everyone." Brandy told Chuck, "It's getting close, Chuck, we'll all help if you want." Chuck just said, "It'll come to me. I know it's there and is trying to come out, but hasn't yet. I'll get it." I said, "Let's finish cleaning up and lock the boat down for the night. We should probably be home when the kids get through with their music lessons." The big bus Brandy had chartered was the perfect way for all of us to get back and forth to the yacht club. We didn't have to drive a dozen cars and fill up the parking lot over there. This was a good experiment, as we did have everyone except the kids and Dewey, there on the boat. It really didn't seem as if there were that many people. This was going to work. We were going to have a great time. At home, Sue decided we needed to have a big barbecue. Some of the women went off to the grocery store to buy ribs, chicken, and a huge box of chicken wings. Other women were preparing various snacks and side dishes for later. There was an explosion, an explosion of kids. All of them, every kid in our extended family, came blasting into the patio carrying their guitars, talking about the lessons they had been to, as well as the motocross practice this morning. Moms and dads were directing kids to take their guitars home and put them in their cases. The kids were good about doing what they were told, but it was at a much slower pace than their earlier exuberance. As soon as they had completed their task, they would be back to their high octane style. Bonita came to me and asked, "Can I go over to Lisa's and Chuck's house. They are going to do something in their music studio." "Did you ask them first?" I asked, looking around for Chuck and Lisa. Bonita was bobbing her head up and down, "Yes Sir. They asked me if I wanted to go with them." Lisa came over to me and said, "Chuck and I are going to mess around for a while in the studio. I thought Bonita might have fun going with us. She can play the keyboard over there or one of our guitars. She doesn't need to bring hers." I gave Bonita a hug and said, "Tell momma Kathy where you're going, and tell her we've talked." Lisa followed Bonita to find Kathy so there wasn't any mistake. Chuck walked over to me and said, "We'll be back by five or so. I really haven't had time to play in the studio yet and thought this would be a fun time to do it with Bonita too." "Make sure she doesn't get under foot, Chuck," I said, trying to gesture like I was holding something with my two hands together. "She can be a handful, actually a hell of lot more than a handful." Chuck's other women were still on the patio, but I didn't see the little Chinese girls or Maria, the housekeeper. They must have gone back to their house already. Charley roared up on his bike and walked into the patio. "Is it too early for a beer? Jan and Del gave me off early, so I'm ready to party. Where's my critters, especially the redheaded one with the attitude?" Shawna came to the sliding glass door area and leaped at Charlie as he was walking by. "Oof, damn girl, you almost knocked me down," Charlie said, as he was holding the small redhead in his arms as he kept right on walking toward the refrigerator tapper. Shawna said, "Well, when I'm off work and you're not around, I get lonely. I've watched our kids try to damage themselves riding the motocross bikes, then watched and listened to them taking their guitar lessons. Some clothes got washed in there too, along with running the vacuum around our place. It's just time for me to get some attention from my man." Charlie poured a couple mugs of beer for Shawna and himself, then the two of them sat on one of couches just as their kids came out of the house because they had heard their dad's voice. It didn't take long for the kids to bring dad up to date on their accomplishments, but the big distraction was a bunch of kids with ball gloves and bats standing outside the patio wanting the others to go to the park. There was a mass exodus of kids as they left the house with their equipment or headed to their homes to grab their gloves and balls to go. A mother was yelling, "Remember, we're having barbecue, be here between five and six." I stood and said, "I'll go over and watch them. It's been a while since I've watched them play ball." Martin and Abe got up and said, "We'll go with you if you'll take a cart. Let's go watch them play." The three of us rode over to the park and were in the shade of some trees near the ball field the kids were playing on. There were several games of catch going on and a couple of the kids were batting balls to the outfield for other kids to catch. Martin said, "This reminds me of when I was a kid. Every spare moment we had in the summer, we were playing ball. I guess kids do that everywhere." "I was the same," Abe commented. "We would keep playing until it was so dark that we couldn't see any longer. I used to get scolded all the time for not coming to supper with everyone else." A park security guard had come up to us and was listening. He said, "The kids out here are lucky. The other county parks don't allow kids to play in the fields like they get to out here. It's good that you have security out here for the kids too. That way you don't have to worry about them. You know that there are people, adults, who try to come back here all the time. There's no problem if they are part of the coaching staff of the little league teams or parents, but if they are just gawkers, they can go gawk somewhere else." I said, "That's good. We try to always have a parent over here when the kids are playing, but I know that doesn't always happen. I'm glad Hap has someone watching." The security man said, "There are two of us in the late afternoon like this but during the day, Hap has four men here at the park to make sure everything stays safe. This is a big complex, even for four men. Look over there, there must be fifty kids on the soccer fields with another twenty to thirty coaches and parents. That's a lot of strangers in one area. The parents watch too, so I think the kids are safe." The man pointed toward the far side of the tennis courts and said, "Now there's someone I need to go see. See how he's sort of hidden on the side of the court, behind the pad on the fence. I'll just wander over and check him out. It could be very innocent, but I like to make sure." The security guard walked to the end of the tennis courts away from the man and then walked up to him from his blind side. We watched as they had a discussion then saw the security man use his radio. In seconds, a cart came across a field and stopped at the guard and the person he was talking to. They talked for a bit, then the visitor and the guard from the cart got in the cart and rode off toward the hotel. Must not have been a problem. The security guard came back over to us and said, "The guy was in running clothes and said he had been jogging when he turned his ankle. He's really swollen up bad. I called one of the hotel guys to come give him a ride back to the hotel. He said he was just trying to rest his ankle in an out of the way spot before he was going to try to get back to his room. See, that worked out well and we were able to help someone." I said, "Good job. You know your park and know where to look. Thanks for watching the kids." The security guy walked off, making his rounds to check on other ball and soccer fields. Greg came running over to us and asked, "Is it getting close to supper yet? I'm getting hungry." Looking at my watch I said, "Actually, I'll bet they have snacks out on the tables by now. I'll bet they have vegetables and fruit to dunk. Do you think the others are hungry too?" Greg said, "Probably, but they won't quit unless I say something. They will usually listen to Stevie, CJ, and me if say we're hungry. They don't have a game going, so I think they just wanted to play a little before supper." "Go tell them you're hungry and want to go back to the patio to wash up. I'll bet your moms will get you all something to drink." Greg ran off. I watched as he ran by CJ, then Stevie. The three of them began rounding up all the kids, making sure everyone had the equipment they had brought with them. A couple of minutes later, the kids were moving rapidly toward the patio with visions of cool snacks in their heads. Abe, Martin, and I followed them in the cart, moving slowly so we didn't intrude into their chatter as they moved toward home pretty quickly. The patio was filling up. Tiny and Henry had the big cookers at the bar full of ribs, chicken, and wings. They even had what looked like a huge pork roast that must have been cooking most of the day. Tiny was cutting it up for some pulled pork. There were trays of veggies with dip scattered around the patio, along with bowls of hot peppers inviting anyone that dared to pop one into their mouth to do so. People came to the smell of barbecue, going by the bar to check on the cooking food, getting something to drink, before gathering into groups to talk and chat. The kids were now congregating at the little tables in front of the big TV to watch something on it. Chuck and Lisa were at the pool table with Ben and Beth, shooting a partners game of pool. They were having fun. Now this is what the good life is all about. If you watch closely, you can see how the women almost sneakily begin getting the tables set with plates, flatware, and glasses. Then big bowls of food begin coming from the kitchen and are set on the tables. I watched as Glenda waved at Tiny, and as he held up his hand in an OK sign, five women came from the kitchen with big trays to put the meat on. I heard Mercy begin directing kids to wash up for supper, which resulted in a thundering stampede for the wash room out on the patio and the bathrooms inside. Adults began sitting at the tables, gathering into the same groups, or forming new groups for the meal. Tiny put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Pretty neat, isn't it? All these people getting together every day, a couple of times a day to enjoy each other and food together is always a special time for me too. Remember when it was just a couple of us? Did you ever think there would be this many and this nice?" "It's great, Tiny, this is special. I'm very proud of all of us for making something like this possible and for it continuing to be special for so long. You, Martin, Charlie, and Abe are the core. It's because of all of you that this is what it is. Let's get a beer and eat." I sat with Sue on one side and a Chinese girl, Taiying, on the other. Mercy was sitting between Taiying and Sing, while Juanita was on the other side of Sue, sitting with Chuck's housekeeper, Maria, who was sitting next to Sam's Maria and Sam. Across from us were Mark and Caroline, along with Stormy, our mute biker friend, sitting with Betty and Shirley. Yep, something like this chokes me up a little. I really feel good about the people surrounding us. We are something special to keep this going. After supper was over and the tables were cleaned and the kitchen tidied up, games began to be played. A couple of good card games were happening, as well as several pairs of people playing chess. The kids were being a little more passive now and were inside the house watching a movie on the big TV in the living room. I could hear music coming from that direction too, so I knew Bonita, and maybe Lisa, was playing something inside. Chuck wasn't, as he was enjoying a beer at the bar with the rest of us. Chuck asked, "Did you call Dewey to give him our itinerary?" "Did that earlier, his only question is when are we going to sail?" Chuck asked, "Okay, when are we going to sail?" I said, "The remodeling is going to take at least the rest of this week. I think we should figure on leaving a week from Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday." Chuck said, "That would be good. I have to go to Costa Rica for the wedding of one of the boat girls. I promised I would be there to give her away. The wedding is Friday night and all day Saturday. I'm not sure how a two day wedding works, but I guess I'll learn. I'm not sure how many people will come with me, but you're welcome if you want to come." "No, you go," I said, waving my hand as if shooing him out. "They are your people. Go down and have a good time. At least it's not that far away and you can fly there pretty fast." "That is good, isn't it?" Chuck asked, taking a big drink of beer. Tiani and Brandy were at a table near Chuck and said, "We have an office thing happening next Saturday night. It's for the whole agency, sort of like a welcoming party for the new director. I was hoping you could go but I know you promised to be down in Costa Rica for the wedding. I don't think we can go with you. This thing is important to Metarie." "That's too bad it's the same weekend, but good that it isn't later since we're going to be sailing soon. Are you girls ready for a two to three month trip? Remember, it's going to be cooler over there in Ireland and it could still be a little chilly in Italy. Hopefully, the Riviera will be warm enough to get out on the beaches." Tiani said, "I'm really excited about seeing Ireland and Italy. The Riviera will be fun, but Nancy and I may not fit in there." I told Tiani, "If you mean because you are black or of African descent, you will be among many other darker skinned people from Africa, India, and the other Middle Eastern countries. Trust me, you'll feel right at home and be very comfortable. I'm sure the place Sue has reserved for us will pamper you girls just as much as they pamper the rest of us." Chuck asked Tiani, "What made you think that? You girls are part of me and you go wherever I go. We're a family, you know. I'll bet there will be sultans and sheiks there with some of their many wives. They like to show off, the same as I do." Tiani said, "So, you really do you like to show us off?" Chuck said, "Very definitely. I'm always proud when I have all of you around me. You make me feel very important, like the head of the household." Brandy went over and hugged Chuck. "You are important to us and you are the head of the household. Do you feel that way about Taiying and Sing.? How about Maria?" Chuck narrowed his eyes and said, "They are not my wives, or whatever you guys are to me, are they?" Tiani said, "No," then she softly said, "But we want them to be." Chuck just shook his head and told them, "They can be your wives, your harem. I think I have more than enough." Sue came, hugged me, and said, "Sort of like you, Honey. See, it was time you took on another lady, Mickey. You know she's yours, don't you? She's all of ours already. The only thing she hasn't done yet is to move all her clothes into the house. You need to have her do that before she starts getting big." I did a double take at Sue when she said that, and I asked, "What do you mean, starts getting big?" Mercy slid from the arm of the couch onto my lap, put her arms around me, and said, "Mickey wants a baby, and she said she thinks she's got one coming." Oh shit, another kid, more of all that went on having kids. "And when were you planning on discussing this with me? Don't you think all of you should have asked me whether I wanted to father another baby?" Mercy said, "Don't worry; you know how we are with babies. Mickey wants at least two, so just open your arms and welcome a new lady into our hearts and home." Sue giggled, "Not to mention our bed." Sue continued, "You know she was part of us even before Kathy and Juanita. If we had let her, she would have moved in then. We would probably have gotten Samantha too, but you kept them at a distance. Now you can't run her off; we girls want her." Chuck was looking at me with an amused look. He said, "So you have the same problem. There must be something in the water with these women. Who would believe that they keep bringing women home, they want to share them with us, and they want to keep them. I suppose we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, or whatever that saying is." We all began laughing at the silliness of the situation. All I could think of though, was that another kid was coming into the world, and I was responsible for it. I asked Sue, "If Mickey is going to be a part of our household, then how come she's not coming on the trip with us?" Mercy said, "Who says she's not coming with us. Didn't you see her there with us today? She's coming; she's already made arrangements for a leave of absence." "Oh my," I was chuckling, "I suppose I'm just blind to some things. It would be nice if you guys would just tell me." Sue said, "We just wanted you to get used to having Mickey around first. If there was a problem, it would have come up by now. She's been with us for almost three months." I tried to think about that and really pinpoint when she began staying with us every night. I guess it had been since Samantha left, and that was around three months. I got up to get another beer and ended up filling several other mugs. We were all still snacking on cheese, veggies, and peppers, so I popped a cherry jalapeño into my mouth and chewed it up, enjoying the fire on my tongue and lips for a few minutes. Mercy got up and ate one too, then put a lip lock on me as our mouths mixed our saliva, easing the burn. Chuck stretched and said, "I think I'm ready for bed. Let's get the card shark mommies and take them all home. I suppose if they want to stay and play cards, they can, but I'm ready for bed. That began the exodus. People were straightening up and picking up the dishes from the patio. In a matter of only a few minutes, the tables were clean, the floor was clean, and the bar in order. Glenda made up the big coffee pot and that is usually the signal for bed time. The rush of people leaving was over, with only a couple quietly getting ready to leave, wishing us a good night. Stormy came, patted me on my back, and waved, smiling as he walked Betty and Shirley back toward their places. I think he's found a home with us. The kids were in bed, so I checked on them, giving and getting some sleepy kisses. They had stayed up later than normal tonight as it was the weekend, so they would try to sleep in tomorrow morning. When we were in bed, I pulled Mickey to me and kissed her. "Mickey, you didn't tell me you wanted a baby. You know you can talk to me anytime. If you are going to be a part of this family, you have to talk to me and tell things like that." Mickey said, "You said if I'm going to be a part of the family. Am I?" "Let me do it this way, Mickey, will you be a part of my family? Will you be a woman among women that I love and will take care of? And most of all, do you really want to be a mother of our children?" Mickey climbed onto me and began kissing me furiously. The other girls were all trying to hug her at once, while Mickey sobbed her happiness. She said, "I wanted to get pregnant so bad, then when I missed my period, I got worried that you would be mad. The other girls kept telling me they wanted me to be with you all. Yes, yes, yes, Steve Sharp, I want to be a part of your family, and please love me like you do these ladies. And yes, I want you to be the father of my babies." I had five weepy women all hugging and kissing me and each other. I wondered how she was going to break this to her dad, but then, she had told him she was a lesbian. I suppose this was better than that, at least he would have grandkids. It took a long time to show each other our love, a long time to welcome our newest family member into our bedroom more permanently. Maybe I will catch up with Chuck. That put a smile on my face as it was ridiculous to have so many women. About the time I was thinking about this, after being so thoroughly loved and hearing the "I love yous," I fell asleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 69 Chuck Monday began beautifully. I was still groggy and dizzy when I first sat up after being in bed, but that was already getting better. After a shower and shave, I was feeling pretty good. I looked into the mirror and thought about using my clippers on my head real quick. I have kept the top and back of my head in a real short buzz cut and whitewalls on the sides and neck. A real jarhead haircut. It was easy and made me look like me, or at least that's what I thought I should look like. This time, even though my hair was getting long and had grown out on the sides and neck, I thought I might wait to see what the scar on the side of my head was going to look like. I might let my hair grow. That would be a first as I have had really short hair all my life. I thought of Steve and his longer hair that always looked good. He kept his hairline on his neck clean and straight all the time and I could do that too. John Scott had a little longer hair, but had whitewalls from years and years as a Marine. I'll just change my style and still be me; I don't have to look like anyone else, just me. When I walked out into the kitchen, Taiying came to me and hugged me, "I'm glad you are alright. When I saw how close we were to losing you, I was very sad. Please be careful." The little girl hugged me again and looked up at me. "Kiss me please; I want to feel you are with me, ah us." I kissed her on the forehead. I think she wanted the lips but she got a kiss my way. She went to the counter and poured me a mug of coffee as Sing and Maria came into the kitchen and family room area. Both came to me and hugged me tightly. Maria looked up at me and said, "You have lost a leg already, please don't let us lose you. We all worry about you. You even have Lisa hurt, too. You must learn to stay away from trouble." Lisa came out of the bedroom in a long T-shirt and said, "How about forming a few minutes this morning to keep your strength up. Stretching will help your muscles stay in shape. It's not strenuous, so it should be the perfect exercise to help you get over a concussion by helping you focus." I followed Lisa out to the grassy area on the side of the pool cage. We went through our forms as I focused on each stance to stretch a muscle group. As I was finishing, I felt my head flooding with visions of Lisa smiling at me. When I bowed and raised my head, Lisa was standing in front of me smiling. She held out her hand and said, "Come, let's get dressed and have some breakfast. The girls should be about dressed and should eat too." Our kitchen was getting busy with people having a cup of coffee before leaving for the patio. When Lisa and I came back from the busy bedroom area, Tina was just coming in the door after her twelve hour shift. She came to me for a hug and said, "I know you are going to Costa Rica this weekend, can I go with you and whoever else is going?" I held her to me and said, "I would love that, Tina. It's been a while since we had any time together." Lisa came and hugged Tina. She said, "That will really be nice, Tina. You and I can have Chuck all to ourselves if we can fight off the condo and boat girls. We might have to share him a little, but we will have a great time." I said, "Sure wish you could come on our sailing trip or at least come over for some of the sightseeing." Tina said, "Me too, but I'm learning so much right now. Every day that I learn more, I know it will make me a better doctor when the time comes. One of these days, I'll have time to luxuriate in all of your arms. But right now, I'm fulfilling a dream that I've had since I was a little girl. But this weekend, I'm going to fulfill some dreams I've had lately." Taiying asked, "Do you want to eat here before you go to bed or will you go to the patio with the others?" Tina said, "I'll go over to visit a little with everyone. I've missed everyone over there, and want to see mom and dad and all the rest of the people." That meant the rest of my household was leaving at the same time to join the patio crowd for breakfast. We loaded up into multiple big carts and arrived at the patio amidst the rest of the folks coming for the breakfast fellowship. While eating a breakfast sandwich, Steve asked me, "So what are you up to this week. Are you going to get ready to go sailing or are you ready now." I said, "I think I'm ready, Steve. I need to go down to the warehouse and get a tux, but other than that, I'm ready." Steve said, "I tried the tux on that Sue and Mercy had made for me over there the last time, and it still fits great. I'm ready too. What else are you going to do this week?" Looking at Steve I said, "Just some office work, but do I hear a question as in 'do I want to do something else'?" Steve grinned, "Yeah, I would like you to go up to Anchorage with me real quick to see the property that Dewey found for us. Tiny and Abe need to come along and we'll stop by Friday Harbor to pick up Dewey. We'll run up there, check out the property, sign a contractor and head back the next morning. Just two days, think you're up for it?" Thinking I had heard of some other plans, I asked, "I thought Tiny and Abe were going to Hawaii to handle a problem over there?" Steve answered, "They're not going until next week. They have too much going on this week. They'll take off after we sail. What do you say, will you go up with me?" I said, "I'll just take my personal pilot along to make sure my head's screwed on right. I'm still having a little dizziness in the morning. When do you want to go?" Steve said, "How about this morning. If you want to wait and go earlier tomorrow, we can do that, but if we do it today, we can get it done today and tomorrow. If we have to stay over a day, it won't put you late for your weekend trip." I looked at Lisa and she just shrugged her shoulders. She said, "Sure, why not. I will enjoy seeing Alaska." Steve said, "Get your warm clothes together as there is still snow on the ground up there. It's been pretty cold up there this winter and that place doesn't warm up yet this time of year." I took a few minutes to advise my family that I was going up to Alaska overnight and would be back tomorrow night. They were so used to me leaving constantly they all just gave me hugs and kisses. Taiying, Sing, and Maria said they would help Lisa and me get a bag together and went home with us to get ready. Knowing how Steve dressed, I pulled out some jeans and a couple heavy flannel shirts that were hanging in the closet. Along with a set of longjohns, a couple of sweaters, and my heavy coat and boots, that should be all that I would need to look at property up there. Taiying and Maria were fussing over me like I was going to be gone for a week. I thought about grabbing my special equipment case, but I wasn't going to be doing anything for anyone this trip. No fooling around with bad guys, no danger, no way. From force of habit, I did throw a couple of extra Glock magazines into my duffel bag pocket along with my vest, but that is from habit, nothing else. As I wheeled my duffel out to the kitchen, Lisa was coming out of her personal closet/room. She had the same type of small duffel, smiling that we were equipped the same. I called out to the airpark and asked them to get the Citation ready as Steve, Tiny, Abe, Lisa, and I were going to Alaska. We went by the patio to find that Steve, Tiny, and Abe had already left for the airpark. Lisa and I drove out to the airpark and parked by the charter office. The other three men had already put their bags into the luggage compartment and were standing by the stairs, watching Jimmy go over the aircraft. Jimmy said, "Everything looks good. Make sure you pay attention to your time on fuel. I'm told there is one hell of a headwind going west. See you tomorrow or Wednesday." I put Lisa in the left seat, and using the checklist, talked her through the preflight and spool up. While we were coming up to power, Lisa called in a flight plan using just our aircraft number with no federal security number. How nice, a regular flight with no overtones or being anxious of what may await us. The trip out west was without incident. I spent some time talking with Steve, Tiny, and Abe in the back, but made sure Lisa had coffee and was comfortable flying the neat Citation. It was a little bumpy sometimes because of the heavy headwind, but we were able to get above the jetstream in order to save some fuel. We got bumped around quite a bit on our descent into Friday Harbor, but we were fine once we got down to five thousand feet. It was drizzling with an overcast, but the ceiling was above five thousand feet, making it easy to get in. Dewey was waiting for us, and we quickly loaded him and his bag while I watched the refueling. Lisa filed to Anchorage and we were off. This time I took the bird up to give Lisa a break and to see how it was to fly the Citation from the right seat. This trip was longer than I thought. We left before nine this morning, and didn't get to Friday Harbor until almost two. By the time we were parked near the private aircraft operations building in Anchorage, it was already after five, east coast time. It was only one in the afternoon in Alaska, so we did have time to conduct some business. Dewey had a big chauffeur driven SUV waiting for us that drove us across the city to an industrial area. There, we met a group of people that represented a realtor and a couple of building contractors. We walked over the property and I made the comment, "Aren't there any buildings that you might assume, Steve? If you were to find a decent building for this project, you could save a lot of time by just refitting an existing structure." Steve said, "That's what I would like to do, but these folks are pushing to build out here." Steve turned to the realtor and said, "Do you mean that in this economy that there are no buildings that can be bought or leased cheap?" The guy looked nervous and said, "There really isn't a good selection to choose from right now. We haven't been hit hard by the recession like you have in the lower forty eight." Tiny looked at the guy like he had two heads, "What do you mean? I talked to our accounting firm and they told me there has been a mass of bigger businesses go under up here. According to your state report, there is as much unemployment here as anywhere. Let us make the decision of what we do. Can you show us some other properties?" The realtor was really getting anxious, and one of the men I assumed was a contractor, pushed the guy forward, toward us, so the realtor said, "I'm sorry, I don't have any listings for you anywhere else." Tiny said, "We'll just have to get someone else to show us some property." As one of the big guys behind the realtor was moving up to us, Dewey said, "George, you and I have done business for a lot of years. When do you not have a half dozen pieces of property for me to look at?" The big guy behind George pushed the realtor aside and confronted Dewey face to face. "I'm going to let you in on a secret. If you want to do business up here, you'll do it the way I want you to. If you want to get a building permit, you have to go through me or my people. You will do as I say, and as the other men of my group up here say." With that, the large man reached out with his big fist, grabbed Dewey by his coat, and almost lifted him off the ground, "Now you will do business the way I tell you, understood?" I was moving toward the big man and Dewey as he put Dewey down. The other guy I thought was another contractor was unzipping his coat. When the big guy that had hold of Dewey took his hand away and began stepping back, I pushed him at the other guy and watched as they both fell to the ground. "Gentlemen, you need to learn to have better manners when you deal with other businessmen," I said, as I too had unzipped my coat, ready if something stupid happened. "How in the world do you get investors up here if you act like that?" The big guy rolled onto his knees in preparation to standing up, but I put my prosthesis foot on his back and pushed down. He sprawled with his face in the snow. The other guy was reaching into his coat when Lisa put her magically appearing Glock to his head, and said, "I think you should probably take your hand away from your coat. This is not the time or place to have to get rid of a body. The ground is too hard to dig and we're not far enough out for the scavengers to take care of you quickly." I told the man under my foot, "I'm going to let you up. I expect you to get up slowly and be nice when you get to your feet." Lisa said to the two men, "You know there's nothing meaner than a woman on the rag. I'd just love to shoot someone today." You could see both of the men wrinkle their brow as they began standing. Lisa stripped both of the men of sidearms, then pulled the biggest guy's wallet. She said to me, "Do you remember your station's telephone number? Why don't you call them to come get these guys and take them out a ways and just shoot them? I've always heard Alaska is sort of like the old wild west. No one should miss a couple of nasty guys like this." I was almost laughing at Lisa. She had always been so laid back and quiet, but now she was being a pushy, nasty, female that was acting like a pissed off black widow. I did get hold of the station and gave them the big guy's name. The Deputy told me to hold on and then came back on and said, "Where are you? There's a federal warrant on that guy. I'm not sure why he's still free, but we'll be glad to come pick him up." I punched up my GPS on my phone and gave him the numbers. I told him, "I have another guy that is with him, so you need to find a warrant on him too. If you can't, you know how far out of town you have to take him. I'm just up here visiting." The big guy began to plead, "You don't want to turn me in. I've been influential in these parts for years and years. I'm sorry to be so pushy, but we do business like that up here. If you don't push, you get pushed. I push and get paid for it. Come on, we'll get out of your hair and leave you alone. I promise." I pulled my Deputy Marshal badge from my pocket and flipped the case open. I tucked the open badge case into my breast pocket and said, "I'm a law officer and this is what I do for a living. You Sir, will remain in custody until you resolve the warrant or you obtain bail. That's the law, and that's the way it will be." The two men were shaking their head as I watched another SUV come up to us. I put the two men between the SUV and myself with Lisa behind me and watched as three men got out of the car. I recognized the Anchorage Station Chief and said, "Hey, Don, glad to see you." He came up to me with his hand out and asked, "Hey, how come they're not cuffed?" "I'm on recovery leave. See this bandage? I was in that Detroit mess." The other two deputies cuffed the two men and began shaking them down. The other big guy that was with the mouthy one gave the Deputies a surprise. He had a pretty good sized baggy of what looked like rock cocaine in his pocket. I gave the deputies the two guns we had taken from them and one of the deputies said, "That's nice. Both of these guys are convicted felons. These firearms will mean at least ten years, and since they were threatening a federal officer, that should be worth a few more." The big guy was trying to negotiate, "Come on, guys, you know I'll take care of you. What'll it take; a couple of hundred grand for each of you? Come on, how about it? Don't hold me up, but my group can go as high as a mil each. Come on, how about it? How about a mil just to forget this ever happened?" Don said, "Boys, you might want to gag them if you're tempted. Just remember that they would probably just turn around and kill you to get their million back." Don turned to me, "Glad you weren't hurt bad in Detroit. We haven't had anymore trouble from any terrorists since you helped us out up here. I think the problem is cured for a while. Thanks for these two, it'll make our pick up sheet look good. Get out of the cold, Man, this is no place to stand around shooting the shit." As they left, I noticed that Steve, Tiny, and Abe were talking to the realtor. When Lisa and I went over to them, the realtor said, "I hope you don't get any reprisals for what you did. Those guys are just part of the political bad guys up here that run the area. I'll show you a couple of great buildings that you should be able to buy cheap. Have your driver follow me and we'll go just a little ways to where they are." We all got in the car to follow the realtor. Dewey said to me, "Thanks for watching out for me, Chuck. You surprised the hell of me and that guy with the way you just pushed him over. How did you do that?" "He was off balance when he was stepping back from you, Dewey. All I did was push him back into his buddy and watch them both go down. Thank Lisa, she was the one who saw the guy reaching for something and stopped him." Steve said, "I've never heard you talk rough to anyone before, Lisa. What's with that?" Lisa smiled, "Well, let's see, Steve, in the last week, I've been in multiple bad situations and have even been shot for my trouble. I've met people that are now dead by bad guys, and I am just not going to take that shit from anyone anymore." Tiny laughed, "And I thought you were tough, Steve. We'll have to tell Shawna to look out, that she has competition in being the toughest babe on the block." Abe laughed, but didn't say anything. Tiny said to Lisa, "A long time ago, Steve and Shawna were in a couple of gunfights out at the trailer park. There wasn't any security back then, and it got a little hairy a couple of times. Get Shawna a little tipsy sometime and she'll tell you all about it." We went to a big building and entered through a door near a loading dock. A guard was inside and the realtor talked to him a minute before showing us through the building. The main, wide-open, manufacturing floor was huge. This building could house more than just a showroom and sales area. The place could house a major factory. Tiny was talking rapidly to the realtor and the realtor went off to the side using his cell phone. Tiny came back to us and said, "I just offered him what I think is about twenty-five percent of what I think this building is worth. Let's see what the counteroffer is. If we get this building, we can divide it up and lease out some of the space. If we can't find anyone to lease some space, we'll just close off some of it until we want to do more up here. I really like the building." Abe said, "Yeah, this place would be great for rebuilding and maintenance. There's plenty of room up front for a showroom and lots of office space. For the right price, this place would work out nicely." Dewey wasn't very optimistic, but said, "There are probably offers on this building. Tiny's lowball might make the owners jump at a higher offer." Tiny said, "If someone else gets the building, it wasn't meant to be and we'll go look at another one. Upkeep on a building this size is going to have an impact too. Let's see what George comes back with." The realtor had been on the phone for an extended period of time, finally folded his phone, and looked at the five of us. He walked over to us and acted as if he was bewildered. "They said that if you can come up with a cash payment, the building is yours. They are strapped for cash and this will not only help with their cash situation, it will rid them of the upkeep." I watched as Tiny, Abe, and Steve high-fived each other, and then Steve and Dewey gave each other the same salute. Steve turned to me and said, "That's why you're along for the ride. You bring me luck every time we do business. Damn, this is a great building and Tiny has stolen it. Can you get them the cash, Tiny?" Tiny smiled, "We can handle it. Come on, George, let's go to your office, or Dewey's lawyer's office, and get some money in escrow." And just like that Lisa and I were witnesses of Steve and company getting started up in Alaska. After all of the business had been transacted, Dewey had our driver take us to one of the hotels we three men had invested in. Dewey said, "Now that the remodeling is complete here, this place rivals any hotel in Anchorage. It's close to the airport and convenient to all major roads and is doing a very decent business. Come on, let's get our rooms and have supper. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm ready for a drink." Once all of us had dropped off our bags in our rooms, we went to the bar and restaurant. I didn't think a drink would be the best for me until I was sure my head was right, but I did enjoy a beer with the others. We had a good meal and agreed to meet at five, local time, so we could get an early start for home. As we were walking back to the elevator, a couple of very big guys, in what looked like lumberjack clothing, joined us. When we entered the elevator, the two followed us in and stood at the door facing out. When the elevator began moving up one of the men reached over and pushed the emergency stop button. This caused bells to go off, but my interest was in one of the guys turning toward us while flicking out a long blade on a knife. As the guy was raising the knife, I speared him in the Adam's apple, while my other hand slashed the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife. I was aware of Lisa doing something next to me, but was focused on disabling the man with the knife. The blow to his wrist and neck had him gasping and he dropped the knife. When his hands went to his neck, I hit him on the side of the head as hard as I could with side of my fist. As he crumpled, I turned to see what Lisa was doing and saw her fist slam into the other man's face as he lay curled in a ball at her feet. As soon as Lisa hit the man, his nose began spurting blood. Lisa grabbed the guy's shirt and pulled it up over his face saying, "Damn, don't get your slimy blood all over the new carpet." I pointed at the stop button and said, "Push that button and let's get back to the lobby. I want to know what's going on with these two." When the doors finally opened in the lobby, a front desk clerk and a hotel security man were there to meet us. They were shocked to see Lisa and me holding the two men at gunpoint while I was holding the two knives we had taken away from the men in my free hand. I said, "Can you guys call the police? These two men attacked us in the elevator with these knives. I'm not sure why, but it may have to do with an earlier incident." The security man said, "You know you can't just flash guns around, even in Alaska." I said, "I'm a U.S. Deputy Marshal. That should account for my weapon." The guy asked, "What about her?" pointing at Lisa who was holding her Glock on the two guys. "Meet a genuine special operations Secret Service agent. She's meaner than a wet cat, so be nice when you address her." Lisa laughed and said, "If you keep telling me that, I'm going to become what you're describing." She looked at the security guy and asked, "Are you going to call the cops, or what?" The security guy was startled out of his fog and said, "We called the cops as soon as the elevator indicator told us someone had pulled the emergency stop button. I suppose we should call 911 back to have them send a paramedic along with the law." Lisa said, "I didn't hit him hard enough to kill him, but I guess it was hard enough to cause some damage." I said, "What happened, I was busy and didn't see what was going on?" Steve said, "When you were taking care of the one guy, the other one was trying to bring a knife from his back pocket. Lisa kneed the guy so hard in the balls, the three of us guys cringed into the corner. As soon as the guy crumpled to the floor, she kicked him in the head, then you saw her get him square in the nose with her fist. That was a perfectly executed jab too." I smiled at Lisa and said, "We're good together, aren't we?" "You bet we are, Chuck. But this is getting to be old. What the hell is going on here?" Pushing the guy around so I could look him in the eyes, I asked, "What were you doing or going to do in there. Who sent you, because I sure as hell don't know you?" The guy wouldn't look at me, and the other man was still nursing his nose. I said, "You should probably start talking or you're going to go to jail for a long time for assaulting a federal officer." That brought the guys head up, but he still didn't say anything. The cops and paramedic showed up, so we were busy with statements from each of us and watched as the two toughs were babied by being put on stretchers and wheeled out of the hotel lobby. They were in cuffs, but both should have just been shipped off to jail. The one paramedic said, "I think you damaged that guy's larynx when you hit him. You might have given him a concussion too. I know you were defending yourself, but you could have been a little less damaging." Lisa spoke up, "The next time someone's trying to kill you, remember to not hurt him so bad. Both of them are lucky we let them live. What's the matter with people? Don't they know you can't go around picking on other people? Just because we're not from Alaska, does that mean we're fair game?" One of the cops said, "Some of the toughs around here think so. A lot of the pseudo politicos think they can rule what's going on. They like to collect from any newcomer trying to do business. If you resist, they try to play tough. In your case, you must have pissed them off to come after you like that. Until you get out of here, you had best watch your back. As you can see, some of these guys don't play nice." I said to the cop, "Perhaps this is a case for the local office of the FBI. I think I can convince them to look into this. It's going to be either that, or I'll have to go looking for whoever is making these bad decisions myself." The cop said, "Hey, you can't just come up here and start pushing your weight around either. You can't just start breaking heads or shooting whomever you want. There are laws you know." With a smile I said, "Trust me, anything I do will be in self-defense and well within the law. It's just going to be inconvenient to the bad guys that I'm a cop too." The other policeman looked at me funny, then said, "You are, aren't you? You are a cop, a lawman. Let me know, I'll help you. Those guys can't just go around trying to hurt lawmen." Steve was near laughing at the turnaround the cop had upon his realization that he and I were in the same boat. When we were finally finished with the investigation, I said to Steve, Dewey, Tiny, and Abe, "I guess we'll have to sleep in a little in the morning. We have to go to the police station, and I want to stop by the Bureau office. This was stupid and all of us could have been hurt. Dewey, can we get hotel security to watch our rooms tonight so we can get some sleep?" Dewey said, "I've already told the manager to have a private security company supply some guards on our floor. I'm with you, Chuck, I want to get a good night's sleep." It was then that I said to Lisa, "How about we go to the bar and have a drink. We're not flying anywhere early and I would like something." Lisa said, "If you don't think that will hurt your possible concussion, that would be good. Come on, Dewey, buy us a drink." The five of us went to the bar and we all had some good scotch. When we finished the drink, we went to the elevators again but were very aware of our surroundings. We rode up to our floor and were greeted by three armed security people. They made us show them our hotel room cards and watched as we went into our rooms. Lisa and I stripped, but she left her panties on. She said, "I wasn't kidding, I am having my period. All the excitement up in Detroit brought it on early. I don't usually get flustered like that, but that was one scary situation. This was too, but it was something we've both been taught how to handle. I'm sure glad I spent all that time in those martial arts classes in DC. It's coming in handy." As we lay in bed cuddling, I said, "Thank you for being by my side today. We handled ourselves very well together, twice. I'll get the Bureau to work on the corruption that's going on here and that should take some of the pressure off Steve and his people trying to open up shop up here." Lisa said, "I hope so. Sometimes the rottenness of people goes deep and you can't cut it out. Eliminating only a few of them doesn't keep the rest from coming after you." "Well," I said, "Let them come. I haven't shot anyone for a few days, so if it comes to that, so be it. I'm damned tired of terrorists, corrupt government people, and crooks, and I'm willing to take them on if they threaten me and mine." Lisa just hugged me and pulled my face to hers for a nice kiss. We fell asleep with our lips touching. Lisa and I were up, showered, and dressed by four, local time. That would be eight, eastern time, so were actually sleeping late. I told Lisa, "You call the others in their rooms at five to get them going. I'm going to take a walk around the outside of the hotel to see if there is anything I need to be aware of. Make sure your cell phone is on in case I need to call you." "Be careful out there, Chuck," Lisa said, as she gave me a hug. "I know you are good at recon, but you don't know these people and what they are capable of." "I'll be careful and stay out of sight. That's why I want you to keep your cell phone on." The guards were still on the floor when I came from the room. I was wearing jeans, a heavy shirt, boots, and my heavy jacket. I rode down in the elevator, and stayed back in the shadows to check out the lobby area. There didn't appear to be anyone around that didn't belong, so I walked to the gift shop and bought a ball cap. They only had one type of black or brown cap. It had an embroidered moose on the front. With the cap on, I walked out the back of the hotel, through a courtyard, through a parking lot, and across a street. When I was out of sight of the hotel at the corner of a building across the street, I paused and began looking back and all around, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't see anything from this angle, so I walked around the block and came to the other corner of that building. Staying back in the shadows, I could see two cars that were idling at the two corners of the hotel front parking lot. The cold helped mark them, as the steam from the cars' exhaust let me know to look closer. Keeping other cars between me and the cars I wanted to check out, I was able to get within about twenty feet of the car nearest me. There were two men in that car who were just watching the front of the hotel. I copied the license plate number, then slid down to hide and called the Deputy Marshal Station. When the night man answered, I identified myself and told him I was following up on the case that I had initiated yesterday with the apprehension of the guy who had a warrant on him. I asked if he could run the tag on a suspect car and he worked on it immediately. He said, "The car is owned by the Larson Construction company. That won't mean anything to you, but the company has some well known underworld ties. They can be a mean bunch and have been implicated in a number of killings. What do you have going?" I explained what had happened last night and that I had decided to do a little recon this morning. What I had asked him was the result of the recon. He said, "Let me get Don, the Station Chief up and let him talk to you. The guy should be up already anyway. Sounds like you need a couple of teams to come out and check out some visitors." "That would be good," I said. "But apologize to Don if we get him up." The deputy said, "He'll be fine with it. Is the number on my caller ID your cell?" "It is," I answered. "I'll have Don give you a call." When that guy hung up, I called Lisa. "Lisa, I think we have visitors out in front of the hotel on each side of the parking lot. I called for assistance from the Marshal Station and should hear from Don, the Station Chief, right away. Stay in the hotel and don't let any of the others out yet. If they want to go to breakfast, you go with them and keep your eyes open. You know the drill; you trained for number one duty." "Got ya, be careful out there, Chuck. You're not a hundred percent and I need you. Don't get messed up." Almost as soon as I pushed "End" to the call, my phone buzzed. It was Don, "Hey, Chuck, out early this morning, huh?" "Not early if you're from the east coast," I said. Don told me, "I've already dispatched three teams to your hotel. We heard about your incident last night but haven't been involved in any of it. Just stay where you are and I'll have two of my teams take the two vehicles and have the third team stay back to watch to see if someone else is watching out there. If there is another person or duo watching the other two, they will probably leave as soon as we take down the two in the parking lot. What's the make, model, and color of the two vehicles?" "Both are dark blue Mercury four doors. You'll be able to see them as they are parked at the curb in the roadway on each end of the parking lot." "Got it." Don said. I heard him using his radio, telling the advancing teams what to look for. Don said, "Don't show yourself. Go back into the hotel for now and let my guys do their thing. I'll give you a call when they have the job done. I'm going to call the Bureau and ask if they will open an investigation on this bullshit. I'm sure that's what you're thinking." "Exactly, Don. The Bureau may be slow right now and this will give them something to do." "Hardly, Chuck. They've been really busy lately checking out oil companies for the DC administration. The pols in DC have a real hardon over the oil companies making money up here. They've had Bureau agents checking out every flinch any of the companies go through, trying to make a corruption charge against them. The companies are keeping their noses clean and that's putting more pressure on the Bureau since they can't come up with anything. DC has even sent a few special investigators up here to try to dig something out. Those guys ignore the real bad guys and only focus on someone hiring people and making money." I said, "This might give the Bureau something to really work on. They can find out who the politicians are who are on the take and clean the gangsters out of local business." "That's wishful thinking, Chuck. As soon as we run one bunch out, another surfaces. If we keep the old ones in, at least we know who and what we are dealing with." Don laughed, "I really don't mean that, but it seems as if that would almost be the smart way to go." We hung up and I began making my way to the back of the hotel with a swivel head, looking for anything, and anyone, else that would or should be checked out. Inside the hotel, I went to the restaurant where I found the four I was with. I told them, "If Lisa didn't tell you, we have a couple of guys watching the hotel. I've got the Marshals' Service coming to check them out and watch to see what else may be going on. The Bureau has also been notified to begin an investigation on local corruption. That should keep these guys busy while you guys get started doing business." Steve said, "Maybe we shouldn't do business up here. This might not be the smartest thing we've done if we're going to be running into problems from the start." "I would almost agree," Dewey said, "But I've done well up here with my hotels. Chuck, you and Steve are both co-owners in this place, as well as a couple more, and you know what your returns have been." I said, "Actually, I don't. I let Ben handle everything. Tiny has kind of acted as my go between for stuff with you and Steve, so I have to depend on all you guys and I just forget about it." Dewey laughed, "You are too much. You are a major owner in our holding company and you don't have a clue as to what's going on. Steve is going to have to have some meetings with you." Steve said, "Shoot, I'm the same way for most of this out of town non-S&S stuff. I can't tell you from month to month what's going on unless Tiny or Ben brings it to my attention. Chuck's not the only one." Dewey just shook his head. "I guess I am the only one who only has this type of business as my major holdings. The airport in Hawaii was far out to me, so I guess the hospitality industry is far out to you guys." Don and another distinguished looking man came into the restaurant. I stood as he approached me and said, "This is Dan Berkshire, the Bureau Station Chief. I brought him along so you can brief him as to what's happened so far. He's excited to have something real to work on for a change." We all shook hands then I told Don and Dan what had happened the day before and last night. While we were talking, Don's cell phone went off, he had a few words, then hung up. Dan said, "This is a good start. With a couple of ex-cons with guns in the slammer and with pending warrants, that will give us a place to start." Don said, "Not to interrupt, but my men have taken both of the cars with two men each into custody. All are ex-cons and all were armed. They found a big bag of pot in one of the cars too. While they were being taken into custody, another car tried to leave the back of the parking lot but was stopped by my other team. Again, the same MO, two ex-cons with guns. Since all six were in Larson Construction vehicles and all six have Larson Construction Company IDs, we have a case. Dan here has six men to interrogate and I think you guys can exit here safely." Dan said, "That's great news. We should be able to turn this city upside down for a while with these guys in custody. Ex-cons up here think it's okay to carry, but if they get a few years in the pen when they get caught they might realize they are ex-cons and don't have any rights. I will have some men watch out here until you leave. Did you fly up here in a private aircraft or regular commercial transportation?" Steve said, "Private jet. We'll do a thorough preflight before we leave. It's parked right in front of the operations building out at the airport, so it shouldn't have been messed with." Don said, "The way these guys work, don't bet on it. Make sure you do a thorough check." Steve said, "Let's get out of here and out to the airport and get that plane checked out. Come on, since it snowed last night, we'll have to sweep the snow off it anyway." I asked Don, "Talk to the local police and have them use the statements we made at the scene yesterday. Those should be enough for right now. If I have to, I'll come up to testify. I doubt either of those guys will pass up a plea bargain." We paid our bill, gathered our baggage, and headed to airport in our chartered SUV. I had the SUV driver drive up toward the aircraft, but to not get too close. I wanted to see if there were tracks around the plane before I approached it. The snow was undisturbed, no footprints anywhere near the aircraft. I got out and unlocked the main door and stairway then opened the ground electrical connection panel. After getting the external power plugged in, I had Lisa turn on the ground heater and fans so the interior would warm up. I then began a meticulous examination of the engines, gear, wings, and every exposed component. A deicing truck came out and used their blower to dust the plane off then sprayed some deicer on the wings. I felt confident enough of my inspection and after disconnecting my ground connections, we spooled up, getting ready for takeoff. We had refueled when we arrived yesterday, so I knew the fuel was good and topped off so we were ready. Lisa was going through the instrument and radio checks, then filed a flight plan for Seattle as that was where Dewey wanted to be dropped off. Surprise, everything worked, no problems, all the way to Seattle, and all the way home. The tailwind on the way back was welcome, as we picked up a few miles an hour, but it was still a long day in the air. We didn't get home until very late Tuesday night. None of us felt much like partying and said we would see each other in the morning. Lisa and I crawled into bed with our sleeping family and snuggled ourselves to sleep. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 70 Steve As I opened my eyes, I realized it was Wednesday and we would be sailing in a week. That almost scared me, thinking there were suddenly too many loose ends for me to be taking off like that. As I thought about it a little more, I realized that it will always be that way, and that's why we have good people working for us. I sat up and made a decision, the guys needed to get on their horses, or airplane in this case, and get over to Hawaii as they needed to be back at home while I'm gone. A couple of them could be gone, but not all of them. Sue kissed me and said, "What are you worried about, Hun? Did you have a bad time up in Alaska?" I kissed Sue back and said, "It was a bad time, but most of all, I just made up my mind about something else. I need to get up and get ready to have some people act now instead of putting something off." Sue pushed me toward the side of the bed, "Well then, let's get going." Mercy raised her head and smiled at me. She said, "Oh Master, you're home. You men were busy up in Alaska, but I knew you were safe with Chuck and Lisa. She's already told me all about it." Mercy looked at me hard and added, "Good decision. Get those guys on the road to Hawaii and back so they can take care of business here while you're gone." That lady will never cease to amaze me. She listens to me more than I listen to myself. I thought to myself, "I sure do love that critter." My mind was immediately flooded by Mercy telling me, "I love you too, Steve." Even though it wasn't six yet, all six of us were up and on the patio, having coffee before the light came on. As soon as I turned the light on, we heard Glenda's screen door slam, then Tiny's and Ruth's door bang. As soon as Tiny walked in the back door of the patio, he came to me and said, "I think we should head to Hawaii today and get our business taken care of before you sail. I'll bet Abe's thought about it and feels the same." Mercy smiled at me as I said to Tiny, "That's good news, Tiny. You guys can use Chuck's Citation or the 737, whichever you would prefer." Tiny said, "That 737 sure is a nice ride. It's probably almost as fast as Chuck's Citation and it would help if we are all rested by the time we get there." "The 737 it is, then. I'll get you two crews so you'll have fresh people the whole route. I'm sure they will enjoy the trip as much as you guys." Ruth said, "I figured on something like this and have already packed. We can be ready in less than an hour, but I doubt everyone else can." While all the rest of the folks began coming for morning coffee and breakfast, Abe came in and was talking to Tiny. They were smiling when they came to me and Abe said, "It's working out. I was going to tell Tiny we needed to go now and be back before you guys sail. He says he's already talked to you. There's Jimmy, let me talk to him." Jimmy and Abe came over and he said, "I was just about to back out of going, even though I really would enjoy seeing my folks. Next week, Wes has some test flights he'll need done Thursday and Friday. This will be great. I'll go tell Angie, so she can tell Wanda." Tiny said, "I'll round everyone up and they can meet us out at the airpark as soon as they can get there. I'll call Crystal and Bear to tell them we're on our way." The folks were already saying goodbye to the others, and telling whoever their working partners were that they were going. At least, that is happening for the best. Now, I have to make up my mind on the move to open up in Alaska. The building was a great deal, but if we have to put up with continued bullshit from the locals, it may not be such a good deal. What I need up there is a local who can cut through all that bull and get something done. I'll call Dewey and ask about his brother. That guy has to know someone who can ramrod our deal for us. Chuck and all of his family came into the patio for breakfast. Everyone was smiling and looked as if they were ready for work. That's when I noticed the bandage was gone from Chuck's head and only a scar remained, along with a spot where the hair was cut off to do the stitching. I noticed that Chuck's whitewalls had just about disappeared. Perhaps he was going to grow longer hair to cover the scar. That will be interesting, as Chuck has such a military bearing. I wonder if this will relax his manner a little. My head was filled by Missy telling me, "Now don't go pushing Chuck into being someone he isn't." I looked around, trying to find Missy, before realizing that she and her daughter just stayed tuned to me twenty-four seven so they can mess with me when they can. Mercy came over to me and kissed me on the cheek. "I don't listen in to you unless you're concerned about something. You have some kind of strange signal that goes out when you're troubled or something is happening. That's why it seems mom and I are always in your head. Chuck came to get coffee and sat in a chair at a little round table near where I was. Chuck said, "So Lisa tells me Tiny, Abe, and the others are heading to Hawaii early. She says that DeDe sent out a request to all the pilots to ask for volunteers. She says you need two sets of crew for the 737 too. I'm glad that leaves me out. I'm sure those new retired Air Force guys and the regular crew should be enough, don't you think?" I agreed, "They should be. I wonder if DeDe did that just to make sure no one felt they were being bypassed for the trip." Chuck smiled, "She is pretty smart that way. She does great coordinating Betty's charters with her own. She has learned to pick up some extra bucks by adding the helicopter taxi service when a charter comes in. The limo guy probably doesn't like it, but I'm sure he gets his share." "So you've been paying attention to what goes on out there. How are you doing that with all of the travel you've been doing?" When I asked this, I had just reached for a breakfast sandwich. "You taught me to rely on the people," Chuck said, pointing at me. "I spend a few minutes with everyone out there and let them tell me everything that's going on. DeDe gives me a general report that's easier to read than Tiny's accounting breakdown, and son-of-a-gun, I know what's going on." With a big smile, I told Chuck, "You're learning, my friend. That's the way to make your life easier." Chuck's ladies who work at the employment office came to him and gave him kisses and hugs, saying they would see him this evening. They all warned him to stay out of trouble and to continue to rest. They told Lisa the same thing, but I could see Lisa had other thoughts. When the patio had pretty much cleared, Chuck got up and asked Lisa, "Want to go down to the warehouse and help me get a tux? I don't think I need anything, but if you need some clothes, it's a great place to get some." Lisa said, "Yes, I want to go with you. I want some suits and dressier clothes, because when I get back, I may want to see if Sarah will help me become a deputy. If you and Nightfox are deputies, I want to be one too. I know how to study and will do all those tests that Nightfox has been doing, I can back you up better if I'm a deputy too." Wanda was still sitting with us, when she said, "That's a good idea, Lisa. I should have already thought of that. When you get done down at the warehouse, come to the office and I'll have already talked to Sarah about you. Your Secret Service clearance will be good for us too, so you won't have to wait for an investigation. You'll be just like Nightfox." Chuck looked at Lisa and said, "You know I was even thinking I might be through with this shit, and you want to join me instead of me getting out?" Lisa said, "I've thought about it a lot. I'm not pregnant, and I can still contribute in both of these jobs. The way we've worked together has been special, so I think we should continue, at least for a while. This vacation coming up will give us time to recharge, get our act together again, and be ready to handle just about anything that needs handling. What do you think, Chuck, want to have me as your deputy in training?" Chuck looked at me and said, "I'll bet that's how you and Sue got together, isn't it?" I nodded and said, "Something like that. Maybe you can hear all the stories while we're sailing. They are some good ones." Looking at Lisa, I said, "I hope we don't lose our most frequently used pilot out at the charter service. You will be hard to replace." Lisa thought a second, then said to me, "Steve, flying is, or was, my first love. This crazy guy here is now my first love, but flying is still important to me. I won't be going with Chuck everywhere he goes, just to some of the intricate happenings he may be chosen for. Don't worry; I'll be flying a lot of your charters for a long time." Chuck and Lisa got up to leave, along with their three house girls. The two little Chinese girls and Maria were like hip attachments to that whole family over there. I stretched and decided to head to the shop to see what was happening. Debbie wasn't there when I stopped in to see her, but I could hear her and Gerry giving someone a lot of their mind. I walked that way and saw Jeff sitting in Gerry's cubicle chair, with his legs stretched out and his arms folded. Debbie was saying, "You can't just decide to begin making stuff that isn't ordered or spec'd out. How can you make anything without the engineering plans? At least, wait until we give you some size specifications." Gerry was red in the face, waving some papers at Jeff, "These aren't specs for the thing you're building; these are specs for the air-cooled engine Abe created for the LSAs. You can't make a composite re-creation of a cast engine. You just can't do that." Jeff saw me approaching and sat up straight, then stood. Defensively, he said, "We talked about building an engine out of composite, then replacing failed parts with metal or other types of lightweight parts. Now you have three composite engines to begin testing. All I did was use those specs to have something to go by. My people created the engine, all you have to do is to give it to the motor shop, let them make it into a running engine, then we'll begin testing. We'll replace or remake everything that doesn't work with a different type of material. Sure, it's trial and error, but that's how a lot of great ideas come to fruition." Gerry had her hands on her hips, still unaware that I was listening. "How much did it cost to make those engine blocks? I'll bet it was thousands. How about the materials? That in itself is a lot of cost." Debbie said, "No, it was cheap. He ground up the composites he created before and used a lot of that material for some of the components. Since he has that new grinder, he's reusing all of his mistakes." Gerry said, "That's even worse, now you won't have a controlled content on the composite. You won't know what's really in it." "Come on, Gerry, you know better than that. I don't have to add anything to ground up material except bonding material, and that won't make any difference. We'll know exactly what the content is." Jeff nodded his head for Gerry to turn and look at me. When Gerry turned, she said, "Whoops! I'm sorry Mr. Sharp; I didn't mean to be yelling. I'm just too much of a perfectionist sometimes, and I don't think we are being as exact as we can be on this project." I said, "You're both right. Jeff is correct that a lot of great ideas and inventions have come from junk. You're right, because engineering an engine has to be an exact science. Let's get the motor shop working on one of these engines so we can begin to see what the results are. Then you two can go back to your engineering plans and make any necessary modifications." Gerry and Jeff looked at each other and grinned. Gerry stuck her hand out and Jeff shook it. Jeff asked, "Deal?" Gerry emphatically said, "Deal." Debbie moved me back toward her office and said, "Those two are both so bullheaded about their work, you would think they were competing instead of working together. Oh well, but, Boss, there is something else we need to talk about." Debbie rifled through some papers on her desk and found what she was looking for, "This is nuts, but I have six orders here, from six different locations, for our signature truck. All have buckets and all have already been through finance. Do you think the utility body shop can get these done? They are pretty shorthanded over there since we've been sending their people to other jobs." I made the suggestion, "Split off a couple of welders and a couple of sheet metal guys to help. If you need more, then try to borrow one of the mechanics on the rebuild line. That should give you the manpower to complete the order. Hell, for damn near a million dollar order, we can afford some overtime on the project too." Debbie was nodding and taking notes, "I'll do that and get it started right away. I'll let the guys down the street know about the order and see how they will schedule the project. Thanks, Steve, you always know what to do." I smiled, as what I suggested wasn't that intelligent, but the only way to handle the problem other than hiring people, and I didn't want to do that if I didn't have a permanent job for them. Out in the shop, life was the usual in the frame area. There weren't a bunch of people working, but there were three different types of frames being worked on at the same time. At least, there is diversity for the guys. The sheet metal guys were busy, and the motor shop was full. None of the teams were working for any racing crews this week, so all of them were busy building or rebuilding an engine. Shawna was fitting the front disk brake calipers on one of her custom creations, while her mute assistant was sitting cross-legged, fitting the pieces together for the stator. They looked up and smiled, but kept right on working. I walked over to the rebuilding area, noting that every work area was still full. I suppose we were doing better than I thought to have that group still intact. Outside the shop was a line of equipment waiting to be rebuilt, so they were not going to run out of work real fast. Over at the big lift rebuild shop, all of the work stations were also full and there were several big lifts waiting in the yard. There was even a flat bed trailer with two lifts at the drive down dock. Jeff's group was busy forming contract pieces of fiberglass. Phil's men are doing a great job getting orders from other manufacturers. Jeff's people were not only busy; he was constantly training more people. He was going to need more space for some of his creations, maybe a special shop where he and Gerry could work together. That should produce some unusual products, if not enough sparks to light some fires. Back up in my office, I returned calls and answered messages before Henry knocked on my door. I waved him in, saying, "You never have to knock, big brother. Come on in, what's on your mind?" Henry said, "Since Tiny took off for Hawaii, he asked me to check on his men. I was doing that and noticed you in your office. I have an idea that I wanted to run by you." "What is it? I'm always open for ideas." Henry said, "Come down to the lunch room and get a cup of coffee. We can talk in there." We walk across the open balcony to the original little lunch room and poured some coffee. When we were seated at the big table in the room, Henry said, "You have been active in helping injured vets get back on their feet. You've even been building special housing for them on the land behind the villages. You're trying to find various jobs for the guys and creating training programs for them. How about we begin testing the guys as they get settled, and see if we can find some that may be able to learn to become accountants? The job is all head and no brawn. Even if they have lost their hands, the computer systems available today would enable them to do the job. We could use the guys and women who are paraplegics to do audits and do a lot of the grunt work that's done in accounting. It might be expensive as a startup, but the results would be a group of men and women loyal to who helped them get back into the mainstream of life." "Wow, Henry, you've thought a lot about this. I can see how using these folks for that kind of work would be good for both of us. What will we do with all of these accountants though? Start our own accounting firm?" Henry smiled, "That is going to be easier than you think. I've talked to our accounting firm about the idea and they are interested, for many reasons. The partners have agreed to join with S&S as a marketing partner with their firm. We would work with them to expand their company to even more locations than they are now. We could just about expand to every location we have company dealerships and they don't have offices now. Each office would have some of the special accountants to do some of the grunt work in the beginning, but you and I know these men will grow to become really good accountants and be a part of the company. I think we could do this without a huge investment into the accounting firm, but it will be expensive to get men through school and to pass their CPA exams in the beginning. What do you think?" I was nodding my head in agreement and asked, "What does Tiny think of this?" "Tiny is the one who negotiated what our part of the business would be with the accounting firm. He has put together a partnership agreement that lets both companies share costs, and most of all, share profits. The accounting firm is profitable now and should remain that way for a long time. I think the idea is doable and the local VA advisors are enthusiastic about it. They will help with the financial part of schooling, and you already are getting some help for the housing. This is the next step." "When can you start getting men into the program, Henry?" "I can be ready to start some in the summer semester, and have a bigger group begin this fall. USF has some federal grant money that will help, University of Tampa has some grant money, and a couple of the independent universities are interested in the program. If we do this right, we can train CPAs for most of the accounting firms in the area. The men don't all have to be handicapped, just vets who may have been wounded and are recovering. I think we can begin testing immediately, using VA facilities, if we are going to do it." "Well, Henry, I'm all for it. Since I'm sure Sue will go for it, call whoever you have to call and get started. Have some of the other accounting men take some of your responsibilities and make this happen." "Thanks, Steve; I knew you would go for the idea. It's a great way to do some more for the vets. Now I need to work on Ben to get him to sponsor some vets through law school. That will be fun, so I'll call for some help as I get the details worked out." I was smiling as Henry went off to work on the project. That was pretty smart. The project would have a direct cost to us, but if done right, the expansion of the accounting firm should realize us a return in the future for our philanthropy. Henry thought this one through. Sue was in my office when I got back. She asked, "How about taking me to our favorite Greek restaurant for lunch. I haven't been there for a while, and miss the owner checking out my cleavage." I laughed as I called Debbie to let her know I was leaving. Sue and I had a good lunch with the restaurant owner hovering over Sue the entire meal. The man was such a letch, but I couldn't blame him. Sue does show a lot of valley between those big globes. Back at the shop, Sue said, "I have appointments all afternoon, so I can't work out. You've skipped a few days, so you need to go." She kissed me and headed into her office. At home, I changed clothes and went to the gym that was now next door, in the little shopping center, to work out with Kathy, Mercy, Juanita, and a now becoming slim, Peaches. When we finished, we talked about heading up to the pool for some sun, but some dark clouds that began spilling moisture on us convinced us that we wouldn't get any sun today. Since this was a good time to check out the airpark, I went over to see what all Wes was up to. I always had the feeling he would be doing something even more far out than the last time. I actually expected him to be building an F-86 replica any day. I had best not mention it or he would be. Actually, each of the shops were building LSAs. One of the groups was preparing kits. They had a biplane kit just about complete and a high wing kit started. The other kit they were working on was another camper. Each part was checked for quality and fitted to the structure to make sure everything was made perfect. They actually put the aircraft together then took it back apart with each nut and bolt labeled and numbered. The new owner would do the rest of the building and then we would inspect the aircraft for them before a test flight. The final inspection by one of our mechanics was part of the purchase price. It was also a way to keep our insurance liability down. Wes was working on his twin, with it appearing to be almost complete. He waved at me and said, "I've had to work on weight balancing on this one more than the others. I hope this works out, but I may have the center of the wings too far to the front. I need to shift everything about an inch and I haven't figured out how to do it yet. I'm thinking we need to go back to the original engines and not use these heavier units even if they would be more powerful. If Gerry and Jeff had those new engines working, that would take care of the problem but probably be too light. I'm going to work on this a little more, then I may just go back to the original engines and be done with it. We already have a buyer for the aircraft and it really isn't for sale commercially yet. We'll work on it." As I was looking at the other activity where Wes was, he walked over to me and said, "Do you have a few minutes? How about us going to the charter office for some coffee? I want to talk to you about something." Oh boy, another idea for Mr. Make Anything. After we poured some fresh coffee in the pilots' ready room, Wes said, "Since we've put out the four types of LSAs, the big air coupe, and the twin has gotten a lot of exposure, I've been approached by several people to make various replicas." Here it comes, the F-86 is coming; I just know it. Wes said, "Several want a P-51, a couple of men who have seen the twin want a B-25. There are more, a lot more, but they all want scaled down replicas. They want the look, not necessarily a full scale flying machine. One guy says he wants a three quarter replica of the P-51 to put in his restaurant lobby. Not even a working aircraft. These guys know it wouldn't be cheap, and from what I know of them, they can afford it. What I'm saying is that, if the LSA business falls off or we don't pursue the regular size aircraft, how about building some of these replicas on a cost plus basis? We can use either commercially available engines or engines we design. I can use some of the original designs and scale them down. I would still have to balance the aircraft and make sure of design integrity, but we could do this and make money at it." I asked, "What would be the startup costs on a project like that?" Wes said, "I really haven't thought it through completely, but we would need the space required for a project like that, and two to four men depending on the type of reproduction we were doing. A lot of parts could be purchased off the market and some might even be remanufactured used parts such as gear and some hydraulics. The biggest cost would be manpower, then the cost of the composite aircraft. Jeff and Gerry would have a blast designing a B-25, and I would get a kick out of flying one. I don't know how detailed we would have to make the interior, but that would depend on the buyers pocketbook. We could make it exact, but that would be expensive. But then we both know, some people with money will spend it on anything." I thought to myself, thank goodness, no F-86. Wes said, "The next thing you know, we'll be building jet replicas." I groaned. "Wes, when Tiny has some time, work with him to see if you can come up with some guidelines for building custom aircraft. Then see if you can come to an agreement with one of these potential replica buyers. We'll have to figure out what our insurance costs will be, along with all the other costs. Tiny can do that." Wes said, "I'll do that, but I'm going to make sure we are putting out the LSAs ordered along with the kit planes. We just got another order for a biplane and another high wing. Our year is looking good." Wes went back to his hangar and I walked over to the maintenance hangar. Tank saw me coming and walked out to meet me. He said, "Ah, Steve, just the man I need. Right now, we are about the only Citation repair center in operation around here. Jimmy and I have a guy off to an Embraer school, one off to a Bombardier school, another for the 737, and of course, another man in Texas at the Bell school. We hired one mechanic from an airline, but he's got a ways to go to come up to our standards. We all have to double and triple check his work. He's a little sloppy. He'll come around or I'll let him go and find someone else. With Jimmy gone for a couple of days, it's like two men are gone, but we'll take care of things until he gets back. What I'm asking is, can we hire at least one more mechanic, a good one. I know a guy that's retiring from the Air Force and is a very good tech. He's got both jet and conventional aircraft experience and has a great work ethic. He's contracted out here with us when we've been busy, and I want to get him before someone else snatches him up." "Sure, call him up and tell him he's got a job. How are you doing with rotary wing techs?" Tank smiled, "With the last two we hired, I think we're perfect right now. We're covering our own plus all the county's equipment. We've just signed another TV station, so we're going to have all of the TV stations and the county. Phil's guys are working on Polk County, and I'm told they may have a deal for the local FDLE choppers. We're making money and that's the name of the game." I said, "Make sure you tell Chuck this. He sometimes forgets to ask." Tank said, "I know, the man needs to fly more too. He spent all that time learning rotary wing and is hardly ever around to run charters. He needs the time, so bug him for me." "I'll do that, Tank. Go call your man so he feels good about retiring." Tank waved and walked toward the hangar office. It looked like he had men working in both the main maintenance and helicopter hangars. The place was busy. When I stopped at the charter desk, DeDe said, "Don't stand in one spot very long or you'll have a charter. I do have a couple of parts runs. One is with a tail rotor blade needed over in Melbourne, and the other for a blower that's needed up in Jacksonville. Want to get a couple of hours?" "Sure, what am I flying? The rotor blade probably needs at least the 206." "How about a King Air today? I was going to do the run and needed to get it done quickly. The equipment is already on board. Here, have each of the people sign for the equipment. The frequencies for each of the shops are on the paperwork. Call them before you land, and they'll meet you so you don't even have to shut down. You'll have plenty of fuel to make the trip, and you'll be back in an hour and a half to two hours, maybe faster." I was happy to do something besides ride a desk. Grabbing the paperwork and the logbooks I went to the aircraft and began the preflight. I did check the fuel by sticking my finger into the tank to see if it got wet, because on this aircraft you have to spool up before the gauges work and then if you're low on fuel, you have to completely shutdown to fuel up. In a few minutes, I was on my way across the state to Melbourne. There wasn't much traffic and I didn't get over ten thousand feet. I was able to get a straight in approach there and had the shop needing the rotor blade meet me on the tarmac. They signed and I was immediately in line for take off. On the way to Jacksonville, I saw a lot of small aircraft traffic at lower levels. I guess this must be lesson day for a lot of people. Jacksonville is not that busy, but for some reason it's always stacked up getting in or out. It took twenty minutes in the pattern before I could begin a long final. I could just about have begun a final taking off from Melbourne. That's an exaggeration, but it seemed that way. My time unloading was very short. The guy signed for the equipment and was gone so fast, there was just a cloud of dust. Now to get out of here. I called for taxiing instructions and was told to hold my position. Fifteen minutes later, I called again and was told to hold again. I could see people moving toward the runway from various hangar areas so what was my problem. Finally a harried voice told me to use taxiway 25 Alpha and go to the rear of the takeoff line. Damn, there were six aircraft, all of decent size, waiting to take off. Between each takeoff there were at least two light aircraft landing. It took me forty minutes in the run-up area to get on the runway to takeoff. I was calling for clearance to land almost as soon as I was in the air. I was directed to the pattern and told to make one lap in the holding pattern and proceed to the long final approach. Oh yeah, lots of lessons today and they are all doing long approaches. I slowed to my slowest approach speed and kept a lookout for any aircraft in front of me. I could see six other aircraft in the pattern waiting to land, so I didn't feel too bad. After refueling and parking the King Air, I turned my paperwork in and told DeDe, "I know why you didn't want to do that run." She looked up at me and asked, "Was Jacksonville a pain in the butt? We're heavy on lessons today too. Those Jacksonville people must have a dozen companies giving lessons over there, and all use the main airport. It can be tiresome to wait for so long." As I left the office, Gene and Sandy were coming from the small aircraft hangar. Both had people with them with new looking log books. Sandy smiled and said, "Isn't it great, both of us have lessons today, all day. Gene has a charter tomorrow and I have more lessons. I can't wait to begin rotary wing training." Their enthusiasm had me smiling and I was glad they were enjoying themselves. I guess Wes didn't need him very much yet. I'm sure they will get together soon. I had just entered the patio when Chuck and Lisa came riding up in a cart. Chuck waved at me as they got out and came into the huge screened area. The air conditioning felt good today, and I headed toward the beer tap to get a mug. Lisa came up next to me and said, "I guess it's almost beer time. After having gone shopping, both of us could use some refreshment." While we were sitting at the bar, Missy came out of the house and sat with us. I could see her thinking really hard, when Lisa said, "Just talk to me. You don't have to think stuff at me." Missy said, "I was trying to get Chuck to talk to me. He keeps himself so closed to everyone that I can hardly ever reach him. When I do, he feels me and kicks me out immediately. I want you two to cultivate your abilities so you use them without thinking. The two of you working together without words would be awesome." Lisa said, "We'll work on it but it's going to have to be us doing it. Both of us are still a little shy about using that ability so freely. I'm getting better about it and communicate with Mercy, all the time. Like right now, she's telling me to listen to you." Lisa grinned and continued, "The two of us have been able to enjoy each other. Chuck will do that, but he has things he doesn't want to, or can't, share." Missy looked at me, "Why can't Chuck be like you, Steve. You're wide open and that's how I knew you were perfect for my Mercy way back when you first met. Sue was the one who really went after Mercy and whose mind Mercy fell in love with first, but she was your woman from the beginning." Missy looked at Chuck and blushed, "I guess I'm divulging family secrets. I shouldn't be doing that." Lisa commented, "He's used to women being predators. He lives with a whole house full. I don't think there is a woman he lives with that wanted a man before they wanted a woman. That's why he's so well taken care of. All of us, including those two cute little Chinese girls want him to love us. But we usually want him after having each other. Chuck is patient and waits his turn, but there is always one or two of us that want him at the same time. I don't think the man is neglected." Chuck and I were both rolling our eyes and motioning as if to get away from the women talk. Mercy came out of the house and beckoned to her mom and Lisa, leaving Chuck and me alone. Chuck said, "Whew! Glad that's over. Those women can embarrass you to death with their constant talking about personal stuff. And just for your own information, I do not sleep with those Chinese girls and Maria. I was sort of tricked into it once, but haven't since. I have more than enough to keep up with the ones I have." I just nodded, thinking that I was lucky to only have half the trouble or half the women Chuck had. I used to think that Brandy was the leader, like Sue, but now it's becoming more evident that Lisa is the leader and that Brandy and the other four in that group were more interested in each other, and in Lisa and the other women, than in Chuck. Five o'clock came and people began filling the patio. We had withstood the stampede of kids as they came from classes at the rec center to grab baseball equipment and head for the fields. This was a nice evening; I was able to sit with my good friend, Chuck, and visit for a change and watch all the others. I did miss Tiny, Ruth, Phil, Judy, Abe, and Alice, but there were a lot of others to take up the slack. The evening was nearly perfect as later, Bonita, Lisa, and Chuck played and sang a couple of tunes. Because of what they played and sang, it became a sing-a-long. They did an old Tennessee Ernie Ford song, "Sixteen Tons" that had everyone singing. When it was time for bed, my ladies were all waiting for me and seemingly attacked me, wanting some intimate contact. Sue said, "Chuck's women got us so worked up tonight, talking about some nonstop girl loving on our trip, that we need some nonstop guy loving to get us over the hump. Come on, Stud, do us." I did them. I did them all but I didn't make a deposit in each of them. Mickey was funny, as when I pounding away at her urging, she kept saying, "Put another one in there. I'll bet there's another egg you can get. Make another one." We fell asleep exhausted, as the girls were very good at taking care of each other while I was attending to them one at a time. I didn't need to be rocked to sleep. (Author's note: Please note that Mercy's mom's name is Missy short for "Mission" and is often mistakenly called Misty. She lets it pass as she is a very understanding person.) Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 71 Chuck Man, o man, what a night that was. The women were very aggressive last night and were all over me. I think our bed was overly full and I know there were more bodies than the Fab Five, Lisa, Tina, and Lena. A couple of times, some very small bodies were in the mix, and once, I could tell it was Maria's cute little puffy nipples I was sucking. It's hard (no pun intended) to believe a guy can make all those women happy, but I think I did. With the help of the women helping each other and me not letting myself go, I think I did the unthinkable and plowed all of them at least once, and I know Brandy, Lisa, and Tiani had seconds. Lisa was constantly in my ear and in my mind, as she kept urging me on to do one more and then to do her really good. When I was in Lena's long arms and legs, Lisa was telling me, make her yours, she doesn't know what she has at home, make her yours. I would personally prefer she hook up with Ben, but they didn't seem to be as tight as they were. They were still great friends, but weren't sneaking off together lately. Tina was the needy one. I know I did her a couple of times and she was the recipient of one of my orgasms. She was purring with loving sounds as I shrunk from her and I was attacked by someone's loving mouth. The two little Chinese girls were very interesting and really enjoyed being under me. I would have thought they would like being in the superior position, but they wanted me to be on top and wanted to be pounded too. Maria is so loving, warm, and sweet, with kisses that are oh so special. The Fab Five are always a treat. Brandy and Tiani are a real duo. I wish I had two dicks so I could do them both at the same time. As it is, it's like I do that, as I'm doing one, the other is right there helping the one I'm doing get off. Frieda has become a very gentle, loving, pregnant lady that really enjoys getting on her knees and having me get to her that way. Nancy and Judy both like being loved conventionally, and want to be kissed and have their nipples sucked. There is always someone beating me to their nipples. Then there is Lisa. We made love. The two of us connected mentally, as well as physically. We coupled together until I unloaded my biggest and last load of the night. It was special, and all the rest of the ladies recognized that what we had was special. They kissed and touched us lovingly until we all fell asleep. This morning, I woke amidst a pile of women, some sleeping toes to nose, and others head to head. A small dark head was on my thigh, while another was on my stomach. One of the small heads was doing something with my ego and was going to be rewarded very soon. I looked to see who it could be and noticed the head on my stomach was connected to a darker body than the head on my thigh. The darker body was squirming and when I looked, there was another small dark head, with a bronze body, that was doing something to the one teasing me. Man, these girls were going to drive me nuts. Just the visual of all the flesh, plus the head between Tiani's legs had me ready to squirt. Someone began squeezing my balls and that was all she wrote. I let loose a gallon or so into Tiani's mouth. She swallowed quickly and was groaning from her own release. Tiani turned her head up to me and grinned as she crawled up to get a kiss. "I just love to have you that way. It makes me feel so good to drain you of everything you have. I know you'll just make more, but that one was just for me, and I loved it." That little girl is so loving most of the time. The others began waking and coming up for a kiss. Taiying, Sing, and Maria held back this morning in the light coming through the windows. When I held my arms out to them to come to me, all three lunged to get into my arms. I kissed each of them and thanked them for such a wonderful night before. They giggled with the compliment, then got up to start the day. Lisa and Tina lay in my arms on each side of me. I asked Lisa, "So what was the deal to have them all join in last night? You know I haven't been receptive to having all of the women of the house intimate with us." Tina answered for her, "It's all of our fault. We girls, and that means all the rest of us, really have fallen for our little Chinese girlfriends and the delicious Maria. Doesn't she look like a younger Juanita? She's so loving and so sweet. I definitely want to keep those three around. Do you know they put me to sleep every morning when I've worked those horrible long nightshifts? They give me a massage and do other nice things to put me to sleep. That is so sweet." Lisa said, "You know Lena has been lonely and we haven't been able to help her. She's told all of us that she really wants to be closer to you and asks for us to help her convince you she is worthy. The girl is sweet and you have to love how sexy she's become. She's so big, you know, tall and just big. She's still slim, but my goodness, there is a lot of her." "So what's the deal, I said that you seven were enough, is it ten or eleven now?" Tina said, "You'll only have nine on the trip. Lena and I have school, so you won't have us. We'll have a chance to get closer while you're gone and that's a good thing. I think you should treat Taiying, Sing, and Maria the same as you treat the others. You know, it doesn't hurt to give them pleasure too. I can't believe a guy doesn't like the variety you have. I also think you should be taking care of those women you have in Costa Rica. Brandy said they are all waiting for you. I know you've told them to find other men, but they would follow you back here if you let them. Brandy says they are all lookers, so you need to take care of them too." Lisa said, "You'll see for yourself, Tina. You won't believe that this guy turns them down so easily." "Yeah, I would. I've seen the way he's put Lena and her sister off. I sure wouldn't do that if I were a guy. Hell, I don't do that and I'm a girl." I told the two, "You guys are all girl oriented. All of you enjoy another girl as much as me, if not more. You can mix and match without feeling that you are breaking a commitment, but I feel guilty having more than one of you." Tina said, "That's silly. Guys are supposed to be pussy hounds. You're supposed to be feathering your cap, carving notches in your bed posts, or whatever you do. We girls aren't supposed to enjoy multiple males, but no one says we shouldn't enjoy multiple girls, so we do. If we enjoyed multiple guys, we would be sluts, we're still sluts for enjoying lots and lots of girls, but no one cares. So you see, Chuck, we have it made. We enjoy each other, and get to enjoy you too. I wish we could clone you so we could all have one of you, but we can't, so you have to take up the slack. Come on, let's get going. We're flying to Costa Rica today and I'm going with you." We were up, showered, and dressed quickly. We all went to the patio for breakfast and said goodbye to the girls before they left for work. Lena went to school, and then the house ladies, along with Tina, Lisa, and I went home to get our clothes together and leave. I called out to the airpark to see if the Citation would be available. It was, so I asked that it be fueled and prepped for a trip to Costa Rica. Lisa wanted to know if we should take our equipment cases, but I told her, "We'll take our sidearms, but that's all. I'm not interested in getting involved in anything while we are there. We shouldn't have to, as the town is very friendly." Lisa asked, "Are you going to take your new tux?" "No way. If I'm supposed to wear a tux, they will have it for me and I don't want to take away from the pleasure their plans give them. For you, take a lightweight dress, anything but white. Take that powder blue one that is so sexy on you." Lisa grinned and said, "I'll have to have Sue make me some more of that one. The way that you attack me when I wear it, I should get it in a dozen colors and just wear those." "I could handle that," I said, adjusting my crotch. Lisa smacked me on the shoulder as we got ready. Tina had her clothes together and said, "I have my dark blue dress that's similar to Lisa's. Is that why you give me so much attention when I wear it?" When we were ready, the house girls all wanted to go with us, but I told them, "You girls are going with us on the boat. One of these days, I'll take you back to Costa Rica, but right now, this trip is for one of the girls down there." From Tampa to Limon, Costa Rica is only a little over twelve hundred miles so we were landing in less than two and a half hours. We parked where directed and were greeted by the customs man who was always there. I passed him a couple of bills and he smiled broadly. The man asked, "You are so good to come for the wedding of one of your women. Most men would be jealous and angry. You are a wonderful man to be so loving to your women. They all care for you very much." That was more than I needed to know, but nice to hear anyway. The guy didn't even look at our luggage and got a taxi for us right away. He told me, "I will have your nice aircraft watched for you. The payment you gave me is for that. I thank you for using my services." Ah, so that's how he justified his taking the token of my gratitude. I would make it more next time. When we arrived at the condo, the house girls were out of the condo and down the stairs to the taxi before we opened the taxi door. They were all dressed in their tiniest t-back bikinis. They were almost completely bare, which was normal for them, but had Tina drooling before she stepped from the cab. Lisa said, "Down girl. Patience, they are all just as friendly as you are hoping they will be. All are as clean as a pin because Chuck had them all checked. Isn't this going to be a nice weekend?" Tina moaned, "Do I have to go back to school? I need a week with each of them just to get to know them. Wow! And you say Chuck resists them? How?" We went inside where the house girls began talking in very proper English. One of the girls smiled broadly and said, "We are going to school to speak perfect English. We will learn not only English, but we will become college girls and be even more appealing to Chuck." She smiled at me and said, "You haven't kissed us yet, we are all waiting." I held out my arms, and four fine looking, barely dressed, ladies hugged me. I kissed each one with kisses that turned to flames as they lingered with their tongues in my mouth. By the time I was done, my pants were too tight. The girls told Tina and Lisa, "Come with us and we will show you where you will stay with Chuck. Then we should go to the boat. Those girls will want to see him right away." I walked into the kitchen and found the booze. I put some ice in a glass and poured myself a tall drink. The girls took a long time, a very, very, long time to get their clothes put away upstairs. When they returned, all six of them were in shorts, tank tops and deck shoes. Lisa came up and gave me a kiss with pussy flavored lips. She asked, "Do you like my new lip gloss?" Tina heard her and blushed. She said, "Yes, your housekeepers here are very friendly." The two girls wanted a drink, so I made up a bunch of mojitos for all of them. The four house girls squealed with happiness that I was making drinks for them too. When we finished our drinks, the house girls said, "Let's take the car to the yacht club. It will fit us all now." I wondered how an old 450 SL was going to carry seven people, until we went down to the garage. Next to the 450 was an old Lincoln convertible complete with suicide doors. The house girls crowded around me and asked, "Do you like it? We bought it just for you so we could all go together. An old man at the yacht club asked us if we wanted to buy it for you, so we did. Isn't it beautiful?" This car was like the presidents used to ride in. It was huge and beautifully kept, with perfect black paint. We drove to the yacht club and the smiling gate man waved us through. After parking, we walked down to the boat and were greeted halfway there by the five boat ladies. All of them were surrounding us, hugging each other, and kissing my two ladies, as well as me. They hurried us on board to go into the main salon. They had snacks and glasses ready to make drinks. They made us all drinks and surprised me when they all began speaking in English. They gave me the same story as the condo girls. They were learning English and would be going to college soon as well. One of the boat girls came to me and gave me a sweltering kiss. I was surprised because this was the one I thought was getting married. She said to me, "Would you give me a wedding present?" In front of all the women, she asked, "Please, take me to the master room and make love to me. Give me one time with you to know that I've made love with you at least once. Please?" I was shocked, "What about your intended? Shouldn't he be the one for that?" "Oh no, he knows I'm not pure and was used by that horrible man, but he has to wait until tomorrow night. Until then I am not his. I want to be yours for one time. Please make love to me?" Lisa and Tina took me by the arms and said to the girl, "We'll drag him kicking and screaming to this master room. Show us the way, and get ready, you're going to be made love to the way it was intended." Lisa and Tina took me downstairs with the beautiful girl that was soon to be a bride, as all eight of the other girls came with us. When we were in the beautiful master cabin below deck, Tina and Lisa began undressing me. The other eight girls soon had the lovely girl bare as well and laid out on the big bed. The girls laid me next to the beauty and all stood back watching. Lisa said, "Okay, she's all yours. You can kiss her now." I turned to the beautiful girl and she looked into my eyes with her beautiful brown, watery, eyes. As she hugged herself to me and kissed me, I couldn't help but to respond. We kissed for long minutes then I began caressing her. What seemed like hours later, we were laying back after two very satisfying couplings. The girl, Penie', said to me, "That was so beautiful. I would marry you in a second, but I know you have many women already. All of us want to be your wives and will be if you want." Since this lady would soon be married to another, I said, "Please be the best wife you can be and always be faithful to your man. I hope you have a wonderful life and raise lots of babies." The girl hugged me tightly and said, "That is what I wanted to hear more than anything. You loved me, and you're now giving me away to my husband to be. My parents are gone and you are the giver of me to my intended. You have given me the love that I have wanted, but I hope it will be surpassed by the love I will receive from my new husband." We kissed some more and almost began fooling around again. She sucked on me a few minutes, then she said. "Let's take a shower and go see our friends again. They will know we have enjoyed each other and will be happy for me. You should make them happy too, you know. They all want to have you. Think about it as they are all good women." Back in the main salon, Lisa and Tina hugged me tightly, and Lisa said, "We didn't stay watching you very long, but long enough to know you were going to make her a happy woman. You did good, Chuck. All we've heard since we left you down there was that they all want you too. What do you have, some kind of magic pheromone that attracts good looking women?" We had another couple of drinks before Penie' said, "Tonight is the special before wedding dinner. We will all eat special dark green treats with clams, oysters, lobsters, and other food from the sea. All these will make my new husband and me fertile to have many children." She giggled and almost whispered, "Perhaps I carry a gift to the altar with me." Oh man, I hope not. This girls needs to pop a little one that looks like daddy, not me. Several people came to the boat while we were visiting in the salon. The very forward lady from the boat across the dock, along with several of the people from the club came to visit. We finally directed everyone to head to the club for the beginning of the festivities. Penie' said that tonight she was not allowed to dance with her intended, but would be dancing with all of his friends, as well as with me. She said, "I am lucky as I have a dowry, when so many of the girls of the town do not. You will be the one to give it to my intended's father tonight and that will be the bond that cannot be broken. Only if we can't have children can the bond be broken. I think we will have a long and happy life." At the club, we had more booze but there was now food everywhere. Somewhere around eight in the evening, I was brought to the center of the dance floor with Penie' and the other boat girls. The other girls gave me a large envelope that appeared to be stuffed with money. An older man came to the middle of the dance floor, joining me along with a nice looking young man. We shook hands and the young man asked in decent English, "Please, Sir, I ask you for Penie's hand in marriage. I promise to keep her in comfort, to feed and clothe her, and have many babies to bless you with grandchildren. Please, grant me her hand in marriage." The older man asked, "I wish my boy to marry. Will you agree to their desire?" I handed the man the large envelope and said, "It will be my pleasure to have your son as mine. I give you this as a token that I take your son for my Penie'." I must have done it right, as everyone began clapping and cheering. Penie' and the boy were looking sheepishly at each other. The father said, "Now, let us rejoice that I am getting rid of a dead beat son and gaining a beautiful daughter." With that he ruffled his son's hair and hugged both Penie' and his son to him warmly." Live music from a local band began and waitresses went among the guests, handing out drinks. I was surrounded by my ladies enjoying the happy occasion. Not much later, I had enough to drink and I noticed that all the rest of the girls had quit drinking liquor as well. I asked if someone was watching the boat and was told there was a crewman on board that would be watching it all night as they intended to come to the condo with me later. Some time around ten, the condo girls and the yacht club manager convinced Lisa and me to play and sing. A man from the band handed his old Strat to Lisa and I sat at the piano. Not knowing what to play, I began a George Shearing, "Lullabye of Birdland" with Lisa playing a backup rhythm guitar. What do you play in Costa Rica? When we were done, Lisa pulled a microphone over to us and winked at me. She began, "Dum dum dum" and I followed with her. The people there had heard "Come go with me" and it was even on the juke box in their bar. Before the song was over, everyone was singing. I begged off saying that I was not prepared to do anything else. Lisa handed me the guitar and said in the mike, "I'm going to make him do one last piece, but I'm not going to ask him to sing it. I'm pushing the effects pedals for the setup for this great guitar and want you all to listen to its purity. Come on, Chuck, you have a choice, "Summertime" or "Somewhere over the Rainbow." I've heard you do both in mind chilling, spine tingling, intensity, just do one. I'll play along on the piano for back up." I checked the tuning of the guitar and ran the strings from low to high until the high notes almost hurt the ears. Then I began, it was going to be Summertime. I was standing looking at my fingers as I sustained, drawing out those first very high, very long notes. Then I was into it and just closed my eyes. Lisa was playing some full chords on the piano, filling in between notes and giving the tune an even more soulful sound. We did the song through three times, changing the approach each time and ended with the notes becoming quieter with each one. As everyone applauded, Lisa and I bowed and were saying thank you to the band and then to the people. We said goodnight to all of the guests and quietly left the club with all of the ladies. We somehow all fit into the big Lincoln and drove home. I didn't try to back the car up the steep grade into the garage and just drove straight in. In minutes, we were all upstairs, devoid of our clothing and lying in the big bed. Very shortly we were all hands and mouths, touching, kissing, feeling, and loving. We were having a great time and I was king of the hill. I'm not sure why I was so free or willing to breed with all of the ladies, but I didn't care tonight and wanted to love all of them. The only one I didn't love on was Penie'. She sat on a corner of the bed with a big smile on her face. One of the girls would join with her for a few minutes, but she never initiated anything with me. I'm glad I had quit drinking earlier as I now needed all of the energy I could get from all of the clams and oysters I had eaten. I was able to seemingly give all of the ladies enough loving to make them happy, along with Tina. She was ravenous and demanding, wanting more and more, along with lots of juices deposited deep within her. The juices didn't stay long as the ladies were all over her getting it back out. It wasn't long until we wore ourselves out. The girls had enough of each other and I definitely had enough of them. My ego was still twitching, but it was not going to raise its head anymore tonight. As soon as I lay back, smothered with beautiful body parts, I was asleep. When I woke up Friday morning, I could tell I had been rode hard and put away wet. I wasn't achy, but I did have a hardon that actually hurt, it was so hard. The nice thing though, is that it was buried in Tina, who had her head back and eyes closed as she rode up and down on it. She went through multiple climaxes before she looked down at me, and asked, "Aren't you going to come?" I smiled and said, "What if I'm expected to treat the others to the same thing? If I get off now, there won't be any for anyone else for a while." Lisa reached up and tweaked one of Tina's nipples, "You're just a hoggy slut trying to get it all." Tina fell from me and pinned Lisa down and was soon kissing her, as a beautiful young condo girl fit me into her and began slowly riding me. She smiled down at me and said, "You are so very deep. If I make you cum in me, it will squirt from my nose." We both laughed at that as she shivered through an orgasm. She moved from me and another climbed on. This continued until only Lisa had not had a turn. She climbed up, and when seated, I turned her over and gave it to her long and hard until she was squealing. I dumped that huge saved up load into her and I swear it came out her nose. Lisa was well attended to as I got up and was helped to the bathroom. I showered and shaved, then dressed in casual clothes for the day. I know the first half of the wedding was this evening, but didn't know what was going on before then. I was enjoying a huge glass of fruit juice in the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. The girls opened the door for Ben and Beth. They came in with their housekeeper, Carlotta. The three looked cheerful this morning, so I guessed that Carlotta had probably been taken care of. Beth gave me a kiss and got hugs from all of the girls there. Ben said, "Beth wouldn't let me get out of the wedding down here, so we made connections and got here this morning. We should have left with you, but I wanted to get in another day at the office." The girls and Carlotta were all talking until Carlotta came to where I was sitting with Beth and Ben. She said, "You do all the ladies last night, then again this morning. Why you no let me know so I can do too? I need that more than they do, you stingy man." Beth was laughing and said to Carlotta, "Be patient, we'll take you home right away. You have all those toys we bought you, so you should be okay until we are here." "But he your friend and can give me that good stuff, the juice. He must be good man if he do all these ladies. He not do Penie' because it her wedding, but he do the others. I want some." Ben said, "You know, I don't think that I've ever met a nympho before, but this girl is probably as close as I'll ever get." Beth was grinning, "You just like the way she sucks dick, that's all. She does me real good too. Take her home and bone her good, Ben. I'll be over to have the snack that you leave in a few minutes." Carlotta pulled Ben up by the hand and led him toward the door. Tina was giggling at the show. She said to Beth, "I can't believe it. That man is always so reserved, such a stuffed shirt, and he's being dragged off by your nympho housekeeper to do what, bone her?" Tina laughed loud and long. Beth didn't blush, but said haughtily, "And I'm going over there and suck all his juice from her pussy in just a minute. How do you like them apples, Honey?" Tina really cracked up. She said, "I promise to leave what happens in Costa Rica, in Costa Rica." Beth grinned and said, "The old man is probably going to be quick, so I better get over there to put Carlotta's fire out." As she left, Tina and Lisa were hugging each other, almost in tears. Tina said, "Can you believe that? Those two are a riot." Tina looked at me and asked, "Did you know they were like that?" I just grinned as it was their business, not anyone else's. After breakfast, the boat girls wanted us to go out on the boat for a while. We all dressed in shorts, T-shirts, and deck shoes, then went to the yacht club in the big Lincoln. Ben and Beth came roaring up in the 450SL with Carlotta sitting on Ben's lap. They were coming with us. The two crewmen on the boat disconnected all of the shore couplings and stood by the lines. After getting the boat warmed up and untied, I slowly backed the boat out into the small harbor. We slowly spun around then began motoring out into the Caribbean, on our way to wherever it was the girls wanted to go. We motored for about an hour in the beautiful morning sun. The girls from the condo and boat were being very attentive to Tina and Lisa while I was enjoying handling the boat with one of the crewmen talking to me about what he had heard of our big sailboat. As we were approaching a group of islands, one of the boat girls had us slow and go to the northernmost outer island. There was small bay with a large boat dock jutting out into the harbor. There was about a thirty-five foot motor launch tied to one side, and I was directed to dock on the other side. The tide was low, so if the big boat could dock at the island, the channel would be plenty deep enough for even my big sailboat. Once we were tied up to the dock, I noticed a jeep coming from a forested hill on the island. When it got to the end of the dock where we now were standing, an older woman, in tan shorts and shirt, got out and strode up to us. She smiled sweetly and asked, "Is this the famous 'Chuck' you girls keep telling me about?" I smiled and stuck out my hand, "Charles or Chuck Johnson, Ma'am." "Julie Montgomery here," she said in English that had the lilt of another language in her history. "Can you stay a while and could you have tea with me?" Okay, I thought, British possibly, or at least has taken to some of their terminology. "Sure, but we are a big group. Will we be too much for you? How about you joining us on board?" "Nonsense, you have to see the big house anyway." She looked around and said, "How about you and I ride up to the house and I'll send Miguel back with the bus to carry everyone else. Come, you must see the house." I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I should be okay with this lady. We rode up the hill where I noticed a lot of pine on each side of the rock and shell road. We came to a clearing near the top of the hill and a beautiful, large, frame home surprised me. It was typical of the islands with a porch surrounding the entire outside of the house with deck chairs, loungers, and tables scattered in groupings everywhere. Julie said to me, "My husband, John, bless his soul, built this in 1970 for his retirement. I'm not sure of all of the details, but he supposedly won title to the island by winning at cards. The man was uncannily lucky when he gambled. We moved here permanently in '78 and have enjoyed this wonderful place every since." "When John passed in '97, I still felt I would live here forever, but these last few years, I've wanted to travel back to London to see my children and grandchildren more often. I think it's time for me to move back to England and be with my family." Julie was walking me completely around the house. She had paused to holler at a man working near one of gardens and had him go for the others. She hollered again, calling a lady's name and a woman came to the porch. She said, "Mina, please prepare for a large group, more than twelve. We will have tea on the back porch." There were some buildings in two groups on one side down the hill. Julie gestured toward them and said, "The group of buildings on the right house the generator and electrical room, one of them is the desalination plant, and the third is our tool shed. We have a tractor, as well as a great array of tools. "The buildings on the left are the homes of the people who live here and help me keep the island special. A couple of them were born here and have lived here all their lives. I think a couple may be close to needing to retire and just enjoy their lives. I'm planning on providing for them during that time." Julie walked me toward the house and said, "The house is really too big for most families, but it was what my John had wanted so that is what he built. We have the protected dock you came to and another dock at the base of this hill where the fuel barge comes to unload fuel and where heavy supplies are unloaded. There are three medium sized boats down there for the people here to use as well." We walked into the house. The hardwood floors with scattered hand woven rugs were beautifully polished. Leading from the main entrance was a curving stairway that led to the upstairs. I could see hallways going in either direction from the balcony area at the top of the stairs. We walked past a huge dining room, into a very comfortable living room filled with wicker furniture, and a few heavy pieces such as a couch and a big chair. Julie said, "John designed the house to take advantage of the ocean breezes so we wouldn't miss air conditioning. Even the kitchen is airy and cool on the hottest days. John was a genius at design." We walked into the large kitchen, where the lady, Julie had talked to, was happily preparing food. The lady looked up at me and smiled. She looked at Julie questioningly and Julie nodded, "Mr. Johnson, all of Limon think you must be an angel to have saved them from that terrible person who was there. It is good that you decided to remain in the area, or to at least be a part of the town. We are going to the wedding tonight and tomorrow. It is so exciting." Julie smiled, "You are a famous person in these parts. Even the island people know of your adventures. That brings me to what you and I can do for each other." Julie poured two glasses of what appeared to be iced tea and handed me one, then walked out to the porch near the kitchen. There were several tables with chairs in this area, so it must be where a lot of meals were eaten. She indicated for me to take a chair and she sat with me. She smiled and said, "Chuck Johnson, I want to give you this island and all that is here." My chin must have bounced off the table, as she grinned even bigger. "There are some strings attached, but I think you can handle them." As I caught my breath, I sat up straight and listened. After we both had a sip of our tea, Julie continued, "I am financially very well off and could never spend the money I have now. John provided very well for our two children, so I don't need money for them. Like I said, I want to go back to London and spend time with my children. That's the easy part." Julie moved around in her chair, "The more difficult part is how to take care of the island, the house, and those that live and work here. They are my family too, and I feel obligated to continue their maintenance. If you were to accept my offer, you would sign a contract to care for the island, the buildings, and most importantly, the people here, forever. Forever is a long time, but I'm sure there will be a time when you may do as I'm doing right now." "Another stipulation would be to offer your hospitality to me and my children and grandchildren when they want to visit. I will come often, especially in the cold British winter, but the kids may only come for short vacations once a year. The house is big enough you will hardly know they are here. They are all a lot of fun and I'm sure you will enjoy them when you do get to meet them." I had to know, "Why are you offering this to me?" "That is easier than you think, Chuck. Since you saved the yacht club, which by the way was started and built by my husband, and you also saved all of Limon, I've spent a lot of time finding out about you. You are a very wealthy man, but you don't act it. You are so much like my husband, except that you have chosen law enforcement as your line of work. You surround yourself with wonderful people and treat those around you very well. The way you treat the ladies of the boat and those lovelies that live in the condo you purchased, makes me know you are the one to maintain this place." Julie smiled, "Tell me, Chuck, do you think you might even consider moving down here and living?" "I don't know, Julie, this is very sudden, and what you are offering for the little you expect of me is astonishing. I am going to be starting a family as you will know when you meet my family from the states. This would be a wonderful place to raise kids, but where I live now is also a wonderful place to raise children. I have to be honest and tell you, that at first I will only use this wonderful retreat as a place to visit and to recharge my batteries. I somehow know that will work very well." After taking a big gulp of my tea, "As for making sure your island and home are kept up properly, that is easy. I don't think I can take your place as the person in charge of the island, but I think you have good people who are self-sufficient already. It would be my pleasure to sustain them and their families as long as they desire." We heard people coming up the stairs and paused our conversation for them to come to us. When all of the contingent were standing in front of us, I stood and introduced the local girls first, then Tina and Lisa, and finally Ben and Beth. The girls took chairs, but some went into the kitchen and began bringing glasses of tea and juice out to the others. Miguel came to the table where Julie and I were and stood behind her with his hat in his hands. Julie said, "Miguel, meet Chuck Johnson. You know of him from the conversations you and I have had." I stuck out my hand and Miguel smiled broadly and shook my hand. He asked, "Will you be taking care of us now, Mr. Johnson?" "The name is Chuck, and if Julie feels good about us, yes. I'm looking forward to living and working with you for a long time." That must have been the right thing to say, as he became excited. He excused himself and rushed into the kitchen. You could hear him calling, "Mina, Mina," then excitedly talking to her in Spanish." Tina looked at me and raised an eyebrow, while Lisa's mouth dropped open. They both understood Spanish very well. The ladies from the condo and boat jumped from their seats and surrounded me at the table. They were all trying to hug me at once. One of the condo ladies asked, "Will it be alright if we all spend time here? This will be a wonderful place to come to be away from the city." I looked at Julie and told her, "I think you and I need to formalize whatever agreement you might want. And Julie, if there is an amount that would be fair, I'm sure I can give that to you as well." I indicated Ben and said, "I even have the man who handles most of my finances with me." Julie cocked her head and said, "Not money, but you might be able to give me more. We'll see." I excused myself and went in hunt of a restroom. When I returned, Julie had Ben, Beth, Lisa, and Tina in a trance as she explained what was happening. All were sitting there in disbelief, as I had been earlier. Tina sat up and said, "You know what? I could become the island doctor for this area. I'll bet they don't have a doctor for island house calls down here. I'll be ready in about four years." Lisa said, "You could have a huge nursing staff with the girls from the condo and boat. They are planning on going to college, might as well be nursing." Tina was nodding her head in agreement, as the girls at the other table were nodding, also in agreement. Julie said to me, "See, you may want to come here sooner than you thought." Lisa said, "He has other problems before he comes here. Actually five special problems, and one or two others." "What could they be?" asked Julie. "Chuck has five women that have been with him for a long time now. Three are going to bear him his first four children. Then he has two sisters that want to be his women as well. You see, Chuck comes with a lot of baggage." Julie laughed and said, "My John would have loved having a harem the way you do. I used to find him a toy every once in a while, but I didn't keep them for fear I would lose my man. I probably shouldn't have worried as my John loved me to the day he passed." Julie was morose for a second, and then smiled brightly. "This is a wonderful day. So tell me, what are your plans after the wedding?" "Julie, we are going to fly back to Florida Sunday night and on Wednesday morning, almost all of my entire family are sailing to Europe. We are going to Ireland first, visiting London, and possibly Paris. After that we aren't sure, but I think we're sailing to Italy to sightsee for a week then back to the Riviera for a week of fun there. If we're ready, we'll sail back home." Tina said, "Tell her how many are going." "We are going to sail with my good friend, Steve Sharp, and his ladies and children, as well as our friend Dewey from Seattle and his family. There will be some moms and dads, as well as friends, who will sail with us and some will join us in Ireland and return from the Riviera." Julie exclaimed, "Oh my, that must be a very large sailing vessel. Is it really a true sailboat?" I told her, "It's a hundred and seventy-five feet and is plenty big enough to handle all the people that are coming." "You were lucky to have been able to hire a boat that large," Julie said, with a dreamy look in her eyes. Lisa said to Julie, "He didn't hire it, the boat is Chuck's. He also is the captain. We'll have several captains among the crew, but Chuck is the captain of his boat." Julie asked, almost quietly, "Do you have enough room for a stowaway?" I said to her, "We do, Julie, but remember that the trip will be over two weeks and will be cooler as we go north." "That would be fine. I would really enjoy going with you, can I really?" "Oh course, you can spend a little time packing for the trip, keeping in mind we'll spend a week in the UK, then a week in Italy, before playing a week in the Riviera. Get your clothes together and we'll come out on our boat to get you Sunday afternoon. You can fly back to Tampa with us and stay at my home until we sail Wednesday." Julie acted as if she were out of breath, "Oh my goodness, this is so exciting. I love to sail. John used to have a sailboat when we lived in London. It wasn't very large, but we loved to stay on it over weekends and once we sailed to the Mediterranean, all up and down the northern coast. I do want to go with you. Thank you for considering it." Tina asked Julie, "Would you mind if Lisa and I took a lot of pictures of the island, the house, the buildings, and the people who live and work here?" Julie smiled and said, "That would be great. The people will love that you are interested in them. They all speak English and will be happy to show you around. Find Miguel, he's probably still helping Mina, he will show you around." The two girls got up to find Miguel. The other nine women followed them to also see the property. Julie reached across the table and held my hand. With watery eyes, she said, "You are giving me back my youth. I was so much younger than John, but he was a very virile man that enjoyed me to his fullest. We were a very complete couple. He sired our two children early in our marriage and we raised them easily with John's ability to make money. You and John would have been great friends. I'm so happy I met your ladies and found out so much about you. I didn't know what to do, and selling the island is such a cold thing to do. This is perfect. You and I will take care of those that need to be taken care of and keep this wonderful place as beautiful as it is." "How about hurricanes in this area?" "For some reason, we don't get a lot of storms through here. Because of our proximity to the Equator, we seem to be bypassed. Some storms hit the Pacific side and some of the residual come through here, but the Atlantic storms seem to stay north of us." Julie smiled, "But don't fear, John constructed this home with storm shutters and a roof that will never blow off. The metal roof sheds water into several cisterns. We have a supply of rain water most of the year, plus we have two deep wells that give us irrigation water. The well water is a little salty, but perfect for our gardens. Do you know we grow all of our own vegetables and that we even have a few animals for our meat? We have some beef stock, a couple of sheep, several hogs, a few goats, and lots of chickens. We can't grow enough grain and hay for the stock, so we do ship that in, but we are very self-sufficient otherwise." I smiled and said, "Now all we need is a long flat area where I could land an airplane." "John wanted to do that," Julie said, "He said that the relatively flat area from end to end on the south side of the island would be perfect for a runway. It is a little over two miles long. You'll have to get Miguel to show you." This was a real red letter day in my life. After the harrowing weeks I had just been through, and the tap on the head, I might be very willing to leave all that mess and spend some time on an island. Julie said, "One last thing. I will be coming here as I've said and I would enjoy staying in the rooms I have lived in for so many years. Could you allow me that?" "Of course, and if another larger room is needed, I'm sure I can have it constructed. We will keep your area intact for you and make sure Mina keeps it clean and ready for your arrival." Julie exclaimed, "This is a wonderful day. I've met a new friend, actually a lot of new friends and have resolved the island better than I would have ever imagined." As she said this she came around the table and I stood as she had gotten up. Julie wrapped her arms around me and hugged me, laying her head on my chest. I automatically wrapped my arms around her, holding her snuggly. Julie raised her head with a smile and kissed me gently on the lips. Grinning, she said, "I could get used to that." ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 72 Chuck This was becoming one of the more bizarre days in my life. Julie had just told me she was giving me her island and home, if I would only take care of the island and the people who had tended it for so long. We had just embraced before she went into the kitchen for whatever she was doing. Ben and Beth quickly moved to the table I was at and Ben leaned over to me, "You have got to be the luckiest man alive. She's sincere; she's going to give you this island and this home. I can't begin to estimate what this is worth." I said to Ben, "There is an obligation on my part, as this place probably requires a lot of attention and there are several people here who I'm committing to take care of. You heard her, to take care of them forever." Ben leaned back in his chair and said, "I'll just separate some of the money you have on deposit down here and put it into a trust that will ensure the welfare of the people who live here. You know I haven't transferred that much money back to the states from what you brought down here. And, my wealthy young friend, you have a very large sum of gold in the bank down here. What you will put in trust with the proper management should be sufficient to keep this place and even make improvements for a lifetime." When Julie came back out she said, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard what Ben said about a trust. That is a wonderful idea; I'm surprised I didn't think of it. Chuck, you are the perfect person to become the baron of this island." I laughed, "Now I'm a baron? I found out last night that I would be a grandfather when Penie' and her man have children, and now I'm a baron." Julie addressed Beth, "Are you the mother of his friend's wife? That would be Sue Sharp?" Beth smiled proudly, "Yes, I am. How did you know that?" "I investigated Mr. Johnson thoroughly, and that required me to investigate Steve Sharp as well," Julie said, as she spoke to Beth. "His wife, or at least one of them, had a maiden name of Phillips. How unique that your husband and brother have the same name, Beth. There's no getting away from a Ben, is there. My husband's name was Jonathan Benjamin." I thought Ben was going to choke on his iced tea, but Beth answered Julie honestly, "Oh, Ben is not my husband; he is my brother and has been my lover all my life. We are definitely mated and meant for each other. I hope that doesn't offend you?" Julie smiled, "Not in the least. I can tell the two of you are close by the way you interact with each other. So Sue is the product of your union?" Beth reminisced, "Ah yes, a mistake that I wish could have repeated many times more, but we were very careful after Sue came along." "Well, you certainly raised a wonderful daughter. She is one of your country's great success stories. She started a company that is now one of the larger clothing manufacturers there. Did you and Ben help her get started?" Ben answered, shaking his head, "No, we didn't. Sue began the business as an internet catalog for large women after she had been in a horrible accident. She started the project while she was having a lot of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. During that period of time, she lost a lot of weight and is now a very trim size, except for her top that is." "Yes," Julie said, "I've visited her website many times. Now she has a variety of clothing of all sizes for sale. The ladies of the island often order apparel from the web catalogue." Julie turned to Ben, "Since you are a legal professional, could you meet with my attorney down here and take care of the property transaction for me? Chuck and I couldn't possibly complete this on our own, and if we are both represented, both of us will be happy." Ben said, "If you will give me your legal counsel's name and location, I will contact him and we'll get this handled." "Wonderful," Julie exclaimed, "I think we've handled all the nasty business stuff, and we will now have a nice lunch. I've sent someone to bring everyone to the tables. Come, Beth, let's get the food." When they were gone, Ben asked, "Are you really going to take her on the trip with you? You don't know her. She could be a whack job and cause you a lot of problems." "Oh Ben, she seems perfectly normal and out in the ocean, I would think a person would remain hospitable. The consequences are rather final, don't you think?" Ben just nodded, wondering at the enormity of what had already happened here. Soon, everyone was back on the porch enjoying a great lunch. Mina and Miguel, along with many of the other people who live on the island, were eating with us. Julie took time to introduce me to all of them, who all seemed amazingly accepting of me becoming the new owner and resident of the island. When I asked them as a group who they looked to for decisions when Julie was unavailable, they all pointed at Miguel, and one even said, "Miguel is our boss. He knows farming and he knows how to keep the equipment running. We listen to Miguel to learn and to work." That settled that, Miguel would be the contact. I asked Julie, "How do you communicate with the mainland? I wouldn't think a cell phone would carry out here." Julie said, "The island to the south and west has a cell tower that we all use. I used to have to connect to an antenna, but the new phones and the new equipment on the tower make it easy. We also have internet and television communication via satellite. So you see, we are modern out here. I've always felt it is very important to have emergency communications, so we also have very good FM and shortwave radio gear. We monitor a common island frequency that sort of keeps us up with the news of our area. That's how we learned that Limon had been freed of that terrible man. No one has ever told the true story of what happened to him. Perhaps you can tell me one day soon." After lunch, the girls suggested we head back to the mainland to get prepared for the wedding. Penie' was becoming increasingly nervous and needed to get back to the yacht club to get ready for her big night. As she drove me back to the boat, Julie said, "I will be coming in a couple of hours with all the folks from the island. This is a big celebration that is made bigger because you, Chuck Johnson, are giving the girl away. If this was any other wedding, it wouldn't hold the same significance. You are looked upon very favorably by all of the residents of the community. I will be there to help you celebrate." Julie gave me a lingering hug and another tender kiss after I had gotten out of the jeep. She held me and looked up at me, "You are a temptation, young man. I'm glad I don't repel you. Thank you for resolving the island's future for me, and thank you so much for inviting me to sail with you. I may only go with you as far as Ireland, but perhaps by the time we get there, I'll be happy to accompany you to Italy and the Riviera." She gave me another soft kiss, then brushed her hips against me as she moved away. The woman could have been old enough to be my mother, but she was such a vibrant, exciting woman, that she was attractive to me. Maybe I was becoming a letch, a perv, the way I was responding to other women lately. We motored back to the yacht club and left the girls to get Penie' ready for her big night. The rest of us went back to the condo to relax for a few minutes before the wedding. Ben was immediately on the phone to the local lawyer that Julie had referred him to, while he was texting his office with instructions to set up a trust in Costa Rica at the same time. After talking to the attorney for ten minutes, Ben announced, "I have to run to this man's office real quick. Come with me, Chuck, there are some documents for you to sign." Ben had called a taxi and we were soon in the attorney's office. The man had an array of papers that Ben went through quickly, then they each had me sign a ton of documents as they described each one to me. When we were done, the attorney asked me for a bill, a piece of paper money. I looked at him questioningly. Ben said, "A bill, you know paper money. Give him a Colon note." I didn't have any money with me, so Ben handed me a hundred Colon note and I passed it on to the attorney. The man paper-clipped it to the documents and wrote a receipt. We finished in under thirty minutes and the attorney announced, "When Julie signs these later today, you will be the owner of the island and all its contents. She is very pleased that she can pass this on to you. I can tell you, she has had you very thoroughly investigated. I've had some misgivings as you have had some very close encounters being a Deputy Marshal. Stay safe, young man, and consider becoming a more permanent resident on your island." Ben and I left the attorney's office, and with a satisfied look on his face, Ben said, "Isn't it awesome that she had her attorney prepared to act immediately. That woman had her mind made up and you were selected to become her new land baron or island owner, whatever. Like I said before, you are one lucky person." I told Ben, "Do me a favor, don't brag about this. Please, keep this under your hat for a while. I think I need to ease my way into letting people know of my good fortune. Even I will have to take time to accept what has happened." Ben said, "It's going to be hard to keep back, but Beth and I will. This event is so wonderful that I want to yell it from the roof tops. I promise, I'll keep my mouth shut, just as I have all that money you came up with that you have down here." At the condo, the girls were in the getting ready to go out mode. All were fixing hair, doing nails, and primping in front of mirrors. Ben went home to get dressed with Beth and Carlotta, while I wanted to take a shower and get dressed in the white tux that had been rented for me. I put the white shoe on my prosthesis, then attended to my shower and shave. I was downstairs in my shirt and pants, complete with braces enjoying the girls running around in their fancy bustiers and underwear. This was better than Playboy, sort of like having my own secret Sears women's lingerie catalogue. One of the girls fixed me a light drink and asked if I would make mojitos for everyone again. Each of the girls sat around with me, watching the time, sipping their drinks, reassuring each other that their hair was perfect. As the time approached, they all dressed and presented themselves to me for inspection. The array of beauty was heart stopping. The women were gorgeous, dressed like dolls. The condo girls all had long flowing hair, while Tina and Lisa had very short hair. They were all gorgeous. I kissed each on the forehead, not wanting to mess up their lipstick. After kissing and telling each one they were beautiful, we were ready to leave. Ben, Beth, and Carlotta came over, dressed equally as nice for the event. Ben drove the 450 and I drove the big Lincoln convertible. I drove very slowly to keep from blowing the girls hair out of place. Once at the yacht club, we went into the main ballroom, which was now decorated in white crepe paper, with an altar in the front of the bandstand. A priest was greeting people and I was ushered up to him. After the introduction he said, "I am very happy to finally meet the man who freed our community. You have made a great impression on everyone who lives in this area, and have been an example for local men to follow. Please, come to Mass Sunday morning to give the men an even better example to follow." I looked at the man sheepishly, "But Father, I am not Catholic." "That is okay, my son. If you love God, you are welcome in our church. You are an honorable man and will enjoy the warmth of our fellowship." I promised to attend either Sunday or as soon as possible. We were beginning to gather into two groups, the groom's family and friends, and the bride's friends, since she really didn't have any family. That's when I heard that was how Penie' came to become the property of that terrible person, Martinelli. He had killed her parents to gain possession of her. There were no other relatives that would protest or try to protect her from her fate. How lucky it had been that I had intervened before the man had become tired of Penie' or her fate would have been the same as that of so many before her. Julie came into the hall with all of her island people. She came to me, dressed elegantly, and gave me a quick hug and cheek to cheek air kiss. She said, "Some of my people are distant relatives of the groom. They will be with the groom's people, but I will be with you and your people. I definitely want to be a part of your family. Lisa and Tina gathered Julie to them and were soon in deep conversation together. The priest came to me and said, "It is time to come to the rear so you will be ready to escort the bride. Please come with me and I will explain how this will happen." I went to another room, where Penie' and the other boat ladies were. They were all dressed as bridesmaids in beautiful blue gowns. There was an equal number of young men, dressed in white tuxes as groomsmen, waiting to be the escorts of the lovely ladies. The priest gathered everyone and instructed them one last time. He had all bow their heads and said a prayer for all of us. We could hear the scraping and clamor as folding chairs were being quickly set up for the audience. This was happening right on schedule. The girls all lined up with their escorts, then the father and mother of the groom walked down the white carpeted aisle. Next went the girls, until the maid of honor walked down the aisle with the best man. Once they were at the altar and facing toward the rear, the wedding march began. I slowly walked down the aisle with Penie' while the congregation gawked at her beauty. I helped her step up onto the altar platform, presented her to the groom, then went to the side, at the end of the bridesmaids. The actual ceremony was reasonably fast as this was not a Mass, but only a simple marriage ceremony. When the priest announced in Spanish and also in English to kiss the bride, the place erupted in cheers and applause. I was a little choked up. This was a special moment for a girl I really didn't know, but I dearly hoped she would live happily ever after. The hall became what can only be described as bedlam. Yacht club workers were hurriedly trying to roll up the white strip of carpet and clear the large ballroom floor of chairs, leaving as many as possible around the perimeter for people to sit if there were not enough chairs at the tables. Everyone in the wedding party had to stand in a reception line, as what seemed to be thousands of people, but was only hundreds, shook our hands, hugged us, kissed us sometimes, and congratulated everyone for the success of the marriage. What I couldn't understand was if this was the wedding and celebration, what was going to happen tomorrow, Saturday. What more could be done? Beth cornered me and slipped a large bundle of bills into my jacket pocket. She said, "These are all the largest Colon notes I could find. Use them to buy dances and to reward the best dancers. All of the bills will go to the couple. Don't drink too much, I can tell by the way the local women are eyeing you up, you're going to be dancing all night. Make sure you stay in sight as some of the husbands could get jealous. These women can be very aggressive. Remember my Carlotta and dance with her, but don't let her show you the stars, if you know what I mean." I was laughing as Tina, Lisa, and Julie all approached me. Lisa said, "I've never been a dancer, but I think you and I have to dance a few times. How about you, Tina?" "I know how to dance, but have only gone to a couple of proms, nothing else." Julie said, "I would love to have some dances with the handsome Mr. Johnson." Then she asked, "Is it difficult for you to dance, having only one leg? You don't seem to be hindered by it at all." The altar was dismantled, a huge buffet set up, and another band made up of some of the musicians from the previous night were beginning to play some gentle, soft dinner and mood music. This party was underway. When the priest came to visit with me a few minutes later, Beth was behind me, and brought my hand behind my back and placed what felt like an envelope in it. Realizing what it was, I handed it to the priest, "Thank you, Father, for performing a lovely ceremony. Please accept this in appreciation for marrying Penie'." The man was all smiles as he slipped the envelope into his breast pocket. He made me promise that I would come to a service Sunday morning before we left for home. Beth captured the priest's attention by mentioning that we would soon be touring the Vatican again. They wandered off as I watched all of the people enjoying themselves. Julie had joined me as the dance music had begun. The bride and groom had danced the first dance and now the other people were getting onto the dance floor. Julie took my hand and smiled at me as she got into the classic dancing position. I'm not a real good dancer, but I keep my feet on the floor and move around without raising my feet and stepping on my partner's toes. There are times as you whirl your partner that you raise a foot, but I made sure that I felt that side of her firmly on the floor before putting my foot away from where hers would be. As we danced closer to the bride who was dancing with the groom's father, Julie said, "When we get close, tap him on the shoulder and we'll change partners. Make sure you tuck a bill into her hand, or top, if she wishes. When you dance with the bridesmaids, you must give them a donation as well. It all goes to the couple." As I danced with Penie', she excitedly told me of all the plans the couple had. When I was going to hand her the bill, she took my hand and pushed the bill into her cleavage, grinning at me for her devilment. "What of your new husband?"' "Oh, Chuck," the beautiful Penie' said, "He thinks so much of you, I think he would share. He knows you would never harm or take advantage of me. He wishes to be more like you." The evening went well and everyone enjoyed the food, the ever flowing drinks, and the dancing. Around nine, the newly married couple was in front of the revelers and announced their intention to go to a secret place to enjoy each other for the first time. There were a lot hoots, applause, and hollering by the groom's family and buddies, while the women were all excitedly yelling their approval. When the couple left, I took the opportunity to ask Julie, "If this was the wedding and the reception, what is tomorrow?" Julie said, "It is their tradition the bride and groom come to another reception in the afternoon of their first day of marriage to proclaim the consummation of their marriage. The couple will act suggestively to each other, and to those that may dance with them, as they are now more worldly and now understand the pleasures of coupling. You'll love the fun and teasing that will go on tomorrow. The party won't start until around four so we will have time to visit the island so I can show you around more thoroughly. Oh, and tomorrow, the dress will be from casual to scantily attired, as the mood will be quite risqué." Around ten o'clock, the girls and I decided it was time to go to the condo. I noted that Lisa and Julie were talking to Julie's people, then the two came to me with Julie carrying a small piece of luggage. Lisa said, "I've talked Julie into staying with us tonight. She might as well get used to us if we're going to sail the Atlantic with her. Let's go home." Again, the four remaining boat girls, the condo girls, and now Lisa, Tina, and Julie came home with us. Since I had very little to drink, I felt up to whatever fun may progress tonight. I almost looked forward to enjoying the collection of women that was there. I didn't expect to find Julie under the covers when I came from the bathroom. She was nearly buried among the other girls. I didn't have a chance to find out what was happening before Tina had my leg off and Lisa had stripped me of my shorts. I was inundated with lovely derrieres, breasts, and lips, as we all tried to enjoy all of each other at once. I was only a little surprised to be in a full embrace, having a sensuous kiss with Julie, as we were both being petted and caressed. Julie rapidly became excited and was soon impaled. She was very wet and very responsive as we generated an excellent coupling. I didn't get a chance to slowly love the lady, as the others were doing all of the preliminary things that I enjoyed doing so much. Once again, all of the women had been penetrated, and hopefully gained release with me, before my ego wore out. When it wouldn't get up again, Lisa was resting on one of my shoulders and Julie on the other, while the condo's Maria was between my legs, gently mouthing the little Johnson. After Lisa kissed me, mentally telling me she loved me, Julie reached up and kissed me, before saying, "I don't know how much more of this I might be eligible for, but I really enjoy all of the attention. It has been years since I've enjoyed love from another woman, as it has been years since I've had a man. This was very, very nice." Tina raised her head from me while still holding me, and said, "I don't get much chance to be with them or Chuck, but I can tell you that when I do, it is always this exciting. Maybe you need to become part of our family, the matron, so to speak." Julie said, "No, I will soon be the smiling grandmother spoiling my grandchildren and getting in the way of my children. I want that. I'll try to find opportunities to visit with all of you, as you do seem to invigorate me. I hope your other ladies are as welcoming as you are." Lisa said, "Oh, they are, Julie. You'll love them. As soon as they find out that you enjoy our man and the love of another woman, you will be well welcomed, that's for sure." We went to sleep, holding each other. Saturday morning didn't begin as volatile as Friday, but in no time at all, we became a mass of body parts as all of the girls wanted to enjoy a few moments of me thrusting into them again. Julie joined in to assist whoever was receiving the benefit of my loving, until I once again had her beneath me as she gasped through an exciting orgasm. By the time I got to her, she was more than primed for release. Tina, Lisa, and I made love gently, and when I knew I couldn't hold it any longer, Lisa filled my head with erotic visions, causing me to explode into Tina. We languidly showered and dressed with the intention of going out to the island. Down at the yacht club, everyone boarded the boat as a man came up to me and asked me to step into the yacht club with him. As soon as I was inside, another man stuck an automatic into my belly while a very heavy man came in front of me and with an open hand, slapped me hard. My mind instantly reached out to Lisa, hoping she would be receptive to me. I tried to fill her mind with danger images of the man holding the gun on me and the man slapping me. The round man looked at me disdainfully and said, "I am Soltair Martinelli. Cousin of Dominique that it is said you have done away with. Is that so?" I looked at the man and said, "The last I saw of Dominique and his men were out at sea. That he left was to his benefit." "Ha," Soltair scoffed, "Somehow I don't believe that. This is what will happen. I am going to take you out on the boat and we will negotiate for your life. I know you are worth a lot more alive than dead, but I will kill you if you give me a problem. I will kill all on board if they give me a problem. I am taking over this town and I will be the patron of this sleazy little place. That boat, is now mine, those women, they are now mine. You live at my pleasure, Johnson." The big man checked to see two of his men had their guns out and said, "We will walk to the boat and you will tell the people on board that I am now the patron and you are nothing. Tell the women they are now mine and will do what I tell them. Now walk, be smart, or my men will kill you right here and now." The men were laughing as we exited the door. I could see Tina at the bow of the boat with a couple of the condo girls but I didn't see Lisa, Julie, or the boat girls. Thank goodness Ben and Beth decided to stay home. As I passed the two men with old 1911 45s, I noted that neither had the hammer back. They probably didn't even have a round in the chamber. Once again, I tried to communicate with Lisa and felt in return, "Keep me aware of where you are, keep coming. The girls from the boat and I will find a chance to jump the men." Two more men joined us as we walked toward the boat, but they didn't draw a weapon. At the boat, the new Martinelli said, "Have the crew do what is necessary to get the boat into the sea. I think I will choose one of these ladies to entertain me until it is time to negotiate with you." I said, "They are used to me captaining the boat. I will be in the wheelhouse. There is enough room for at least two or three of your men in there with me. Have them come along to watch me. I think we will be able to work something out." The evil man laughed and said, "Oh yes, we will work something out that is very satisfactory and very enriching to me. Ha, ha, ha, ha." I headed for the wheelhouse as Lisa came up to the heavy set guy and told him, "Come with me, big boy, and I'll show you how much fun you can have on this boat." One of the other men went with Lisa and Martinelli as I hollered to heave the lines and disconnect the shore connections. With the blowers on for a couple of minutes, I fired the diesel engines and let them warm for a few seconds before putting the boat into gear and backing out from the slip. After turning around, I accelerated the boat and began heading out to sea. The two guards with me were beginning to relax. One still had his weapon out, while the other man with a gun had put his away and was out on the bow, trying to make time with Tina. I punched up some numbers on the limited autopilot so I could concentrate on the two men with me. The only thing I could see to use as a weapon was small fire extinguisher on the side of the windscreen of the wheelhouse. That was an easy flip of the band holding the extinguisher and pulling it free. I think the gun in the hand of the man next to me will be a better weapon, but I didn't want to have to shoot him and draw the attention of the man on deck. I felt I could handle the two inside because the one not holding a gun was small and sickly looking. If he wasn't a martial arts expert, I should be able to handle them. I said, "We could use a beer or some iced tea. Holler for one of the women to bring us some." The man with the gun did the unthinkable. He slid the wheelhouse door open and with his hands on the sides of the door leaned out to holler. Before he said his first word, my prosthesis was pushing him with all my might. The man flew from the catwalk over the side, hitting his head on the lower deck railing, as he plunged toward the water. The gun that had been held up on the side of the door fell to the floor. The small man with me fell to his knees to get the gun and I reached down to get him with an arm around the neck twisting his head quickly feeling the neck snap. I grabbed the 45 and pulled the slide back, chambering a round I hope, and cautiously looked out the window to the front. The girls had seen what was happening and were occupying the man, keeping him facing forward. I stepped from the wheelhouse out onto the deck and held the gun to the man's head. I told him, "Don't move, don't even think about moving, or you will die. Tina, take the gun from his holster and pat him down, especially around the ankles." I must have moved the gun off his head for a second as he whirled to try to hit me. I blocked his swinging arm and pushed him back. The man was up against the railing and was raising his leg to get at something on his ankle. As soon as I saw he had a backup, I put three rounds into his chest and one between his eyes. The old 45 was pretty accurate, but at that distance, who could miss? The man looked stunned, surprised while falling backward over the railing. I immediately headed toward the salon and ladder leading to the master cabin. I was met there by Lisa and Julie with two of the men. Lisa was holding her Glock, and Julie was holding a 45 similar to one in my hand. Lisa smiled and said, "These two were almost too easy. I had Julie wait for me in the master cabin to jump them when we entered. I was going to take care of the big guy, but he must have had a heart attack or something." Julie said grinning, "Yeah, the or something was some kind of headlock you put on him that had him go limp in just a couple of seconds. Damn, you are fast girl, and that guy is big too." Lisa said, "I think if we all try, we can haul him up from down there so we can throw him overboard. According to the blonde, that's where the other Martinelli is." I said, "We have some slave labor, if you have patted these two down, we'll have them carry him up. Come on," as I waved the cocked 45 at them, "Come carry your dead boss from downstairs. Then you can give us some information." We watched as the two men struggled to get the huge man from below decks up to the fantail by the lifeboat davits. I asked if anyone had gone through his pockets and the blonde, worldly, girl smiled. I said, "Lisa, hold these guys for me so I can shut down the boat. It's on autopilot right now and I don't know exactly where we are." When I shut the boat down and came back, Julie said, "You can dump these guys here. The current will take the bodies south out to sea toward the Antarctic. The sharks will get them long before that, though. The farther out you get, the heavier the shark population is." I held up my hand to have her pause and went to the wheelhouse. There I picked up the puny guy and tossed him over the side. Tina said, "Three down, three to go." I almost laughed, but this was serious stuff. Tina came up and said, "You know I was with you when those guys tried to kill us those times on the boat. I'm fine with whatever happens." Lisa rolled her eyes and said, "And she's going to devote her life to saving people?" I asked the two men, "We have a dilemma. If I let you live, you could be a problem in the future. I don't know where you came from and really don't care, but I would much prefer letting you live. Where are you from?" One of the men with a gravelly voice said, "New York." "I see, and is Martinelli from New York too?" "Yeah, he came over from the old country to help his grandfather. When he heard his brother had been ousted down here, he thought he could get in on the deal that was down here." I said, "As you can see, that didn't work out. Ah, how many more cousins and close relatives does this guy have?" "None, I don't think. The grandfather has lost his position with the family. If he wasn't so old and sick, they would do him. We were told to come with the kid, and if the deal was a good one, to off him and someone from up there would come down to take over." "I don't think that's going to happen," Julie said, as she pushed a revolver into the man's stomach. "Can you swim?" The man was looking panicked and said, "You can't make me swim back there. I'll never make it. Please, I'll get my boss to buy me back." The other man said, "Don't worry, these clowns don't have the guts to shoot someone. Bang, bang! Julie and the blonde shot the mouthy guy at the same time and were pushing him toward the railing, before he fell from being shot. They continued pushing until he fell overboard. The other guy suddenly had a wet spot on his pants. Julie looked at him and said, "And you were saying? Oh yeah, that was the other guy." I scratched my head and said, "Let me roll the fat boy off the back and we'll talk about what to do with this one." Lisa had been sending all of the other girls, including Tina, down to the master cabin to clean it up, although she knew there was nothing to clean up. I was rolling the big guy off the rear of the boat when there was a "bang" and a splash. I think both men hit the water at the same time. I turned to see Julie and Lisa looking out at the water. When I got up to them, Julie said, "The man took a swipe at Lisa, so I shot him. He just happened to be close to the rail and fell in." Lisa was trying to hold back a smile, but Julie said, "I may be older, but I've had to defend my island from pirates in the past, and I'm sure Miguel and the others will do it in the future. Out here, you don't put up with people that threaten you. Thank goodness the man didn't shoot you right away. Come on, let's get this tub headed toward the island and have a drink." She said, "I'll get the crewmen out of the engine room and you, Lisa, get the ladies from below deck. Chuck, you have a very nice boat." Amazingly, if you want a deadly group of people, get an all woman force and teach them how to fight. Women are much fiercer than men. They don't just kill, they want to maim first, then kill. When we had the boat heading toward the island with a crewman at the wheel, I had a very welcome drink with the all of the ladies. They didn't seem to be upset over what had happened, and were talking and laughing as if they had completely forgotten about it. Lisa said to me, "I didn't shoot that last guy. That really was Julie. She kicked the guy in the ass and told him to jump. When he got up on the rail, she plugged him, and laughed as he was falling. That woman can be hard. But then, she's lived out here a long time and I guess you need to be tough." We were soon at the island and were quickly picked up by Miguel with the bus. We spent the day walking around the island and driving the jeep to the remote spots. When it was time to leave for the evening party, we had seen the entire house and all of the island possible. Lisa and Tina had enough pictures to show people for a week. Julie said, "I will go in with Miguel and the families here and come home with them for my last night here. I'll talk to them in the morning and join you all tomorrow afternoon. You won't leave me, will you?" "No, no," I said, "We'll leave about five or six. That will get us home about seven-thirty to eight. We'll have to have a customs inspection and you'll need your passport, Julie. We'll see you at the party." Julie handed me a stack of papers, "These are the completed documents you signed yesterday. I signed them all last night, so our deal is done. My attorney is registering the transfer. This is your island, Chuck." We went back to the mainland and prepared for the evening. We were at the yacht club early and enjoyed visiting with everyone there. This night's party was like a big backyard barbecue. We did have fish on the barbecue cooker as well as various hot dog looking things, chicken, and some sliced beef that was very tasty. Everyone teased the couple and Penie' was equally as teasing in a very low cut halter that her nipples almost popped out of with the sides of her breasts showing. The other women were equally as ribald, and wore some very skimpy tops. I think there may have been enough teasing that some hanky panky was happening out of sight. When all the guests were almost drunk, and almost too ribald, the party ended, sending everyone home to enjoy themselves. I spent a few minutes with the manager of the yacht club to ask him if I needed to donate for all of the services that had been provided. He said, "You already have. Ben said that you two would stand for everything and what he gave me has covered everything, with some left over." "That's good, glad it's taken care of. I'll be leaving tomorrow evening but I will be back." The man said, "I should hope so. Now that you own an island, you better come back often. All of us would be very upset. You have become very important to us, and we love to have you, your friends, and family with us when you can be here." News travels fast down here, but then it doesn't make a difference if people in the area know. They already know everyone living on the island. Saturday night was fun, but not as sexually athletic as the previous two nights. There was some loving, but it was more languid, more relaxed. I think everyone was satisfied without any strain. Tina was very loving again and kept telling Lisa and me how much she was going to miss us while we were gone. Sunday breakfast was fun, then we attended Mass, followed by a tour of Limon, the interior of Limon, instead of just the waterfront. The girls bought some trinkets, but the mood was fairly somber. The condo girls and the boat girls were very loving and clutching all day. When Julie showed up about three, everyone knew it was getting close to time. Instead of prolonging the inevitable, we said our goodbyes and took a taxi to the airport. There, I made sure the Citation had been refueled and did the inspection. The customs man checked our passports and told Julie he would miss her. Even he knew she was leaving for a while. When we were at altitude, Julie sat in the jump seat behind the cockpit and told me, "I've had Miguel and Mina pack up most of my clothes. They will be sending them to my son's home in London. They should be there by the time I'm finished being foolish on the Riviera if I go with you for that part of the trip. I'm moved out and you can move in. Enjoy the island, Chuck and Lisa, you will have many happy times there." We ended up landing at Tampa International at six twenty. We had a customs man check us out and do the passport stuff with Julie. She was given a thirty-day visitor's visa using my address, so everything flew through. It took an hour to do that, takeoff, and land over at the airpark. I fueled the plane and turned in the logbook, while the girls were unloading our luggage into my car. Instead of going home, we stopped by the patio to say hi and see if there was any pizza left. Son of a gun, a second order had been made and had just arrived. After introducing Julie to everyone, she savored the pizza and enjoyed an ice cold beer from a frosty stein. She said, "This is going to spoil me from the near tepid beer usually served back home. It's been a long time since I've had pizza, and this is delicious." Over the next few hours, until about ten, what had happened in Costa Rica began leaking out, especially from Ben and Beth. Julie only confirmed everything, telling everyone that I had a lot of responsibilities as the new master of the island. Steve was smiling at me and said, "So, you've had another adventure and once again you come home with more than you left with. Yep, you are my lucky charm." The excitement of leaving in a couple of days was heavy. Steve said that Dewey was coming tomorrow to help finish getting the boat ready and we would sail Wednesday. "Tomorrow morning, we have to go over and accept all the work the Magellan crew has done. I think it is a hundred percent done now, and is just waiting for our inspection. Mercy and Sue went to look at it and they said the three suites are perfect for us." Knowing I would be going on the coming adventure had my stomach doing flip flops. It was that exciting to me this time, as I was leaving because I want to go, and would be going with a large contingent of people that I really enjoyed. When we got to the house, Lisa and Brandy immediately took Julie on a tour of the house. When they were through, Julie said, "This is an amazing place. I see those cottages out back, how many people do you have living here?" I said, "I have no idea. It fluctuates. We'll count them up in the morning and tell you." Julie laughed and was whisked away by Tina and Lisa. Frieda was being cuddly and told me the mommies needed some loving, and that we needed to get to bed. We moved toward the bedroom where I found three heads together sticking from the blanket on the huge bed, Lisa, Tina, and Julie. All three had silly grins, and only Lisa spoke, "Will all of you hurry? We need to cuddle to get to sleep." The housekeepers were missing tonight, as was Lena, but I suppose there was a reason. I did work my way through the ladies but didn't do all of them. Brandy and Tiani were both having their monthlies, and Tina informed me that hers had arrived as well. That only left more for the mommies, Lisa, and Julie. I fell asleep with Judy on one shoulder and Nancy on the other. Tiani was between my legs with her head on my stomach and Frieda was on the other side of Nancy reaching across holding my limp ego. Wonderful sleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 73 Steve I feel as if everything is going faster. Time was rushing by the closer it comes to the time for us to sail. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt a sense of urgency to get up, do something, prepare for something, to take care of last minute anything. Mercy hugged me and whispered, "Relax, everything is taken care of. You have wonderful people who will take care of everything while you're gone. They can call you anytime, and can even e-mail you with pictures or other information, if you need it. Just relax, Honey, everything will be fine." I felt a little better, but I still had that sense of urgency. After a quick shower, I was out on the patio with a cup of coffee when Glenda walked in. She said, "When Tiny and Ruth are gone, it's really different around here. I know he'll be back Tuesday night, but he sure is missed. I kind of miss that nutty Chuck, too. He's some kind of troubleshooter for government law enforcement, isn't he? He's gone a lot, but when he's here with all of his women, life seems better. I'm going to enjoy being with him on our trip." The patio soon filled with the other people of our extended family, as we all prepared for the day. When people left for work, I used one of the computers in Sue's office to check my e-mail and to answer some. While I was finishing, Debbie IMd me with a note to call her ASAP. "Hey, Deb, what's going on?" She said, "I just wanted to tell you that you need to remember to check and answer your e-mail at least once a day while you're gone. I'm glad to see you doing it at home before you go so you will feel comfortable doing it when you're sailing." "I'm not totally lost when I'm out of the office," I said, with a chuckle. "I'll be sure to keep up, but remember, you can call me right away if something comes up that you need an immediate answer for." "Steve," Debbie said, with exasperation in her voice, "Tiny, Phil, and Abe will all be here, so don't worry, everything will be fine. Let us worry about you guys, and you forget about worrying about us." Chuck had been at breakfast, and was still at a table when I came back out. He waved me over to him and said, "I've made up my mind what to name the boat. I need someone to paint it on the sides and stern." I asked, "So what are going to name it?" Chuck said, "I know it'll sound kind of lame, but I want to call it "Lucky Lady." "That's not bad, but why the 'Lucky Lady'?" He said with a smile, "That boat has always felt like an elegant lady to me and the way things have gone for me, I need to tell the world how lucky I've been. Now, every one of my women can think that the boat is named after her." I laughed, "Yes, Chuck, they are all lucky ladies. I like it, nice, simple, and easy to remember." Mercy and Missy came out of the house, looking at Chuck and each said, "I like it, Chuck. The Lucky Lady is perfect for your boat." I'm always amazed how they do that. Chuck looked at them with a raised eyebrow and said, "Wandering around in my head again, huh?" Missy blushed, but Mercy said, "Well, you're usually all closed up. You lock everyone out and we can't see you at all. When you're open, we run around in there like little kids getting away with something." Chuck said, "Careful in there, you may find things you don't want to know about." Missy said, "You have some dark doors that don't want to open, so I know there is a lot inside of you that you won't or can't get rid of. Lisa is the same way. You two have a dark side." I told the two, "You two are infringing on Chuck's good humor. Let him be." I turned to Chuck and said, "Let's get Sue and go over to the boat so we can accept the work. We need to be back a little after noon to pick Dewey up out at the airpark. He'll want to go over to the boat later, but you don't have to go then." Chuck was nodding, "This is the girls' last day at the employment office. They are busy saying their goodbyes and making sure everything is covered during their leave of absence. Tomorrow, we'll get everything on board for the trip and leave on Wednesday. I'm getting really excited too. I could barely sleep last night thinking about it." I nodded, "I'm the same way, Chuck. I keep feeling I'm forgetting something, and that there is more to do. I'm sure you're the same way." Chuck said, "Actually, I'm totally free. The Marshal Service has me on recovery leave for ninety days, so I'm really well taken care of. Wanda is taking vacation that she's saved up for over ten years, so she has all the time she needs too. She's staying here and will meet us in Ireland with John." Steve cocked his head and said, "The next time you remodel the boat, you need to build a heliport on the deck. You could have one of the little helicopters on board to get you around when you are in port. It could be an advantage for emergencies too." Chuck thought about it a minute, then said, "Yeah, we could do that but if something happened out at sea, a helicopter wouldn't help much. Besides, there isn't any room for a helicopter with all the lines running fore and aft. I really don't think we need one." "OK," I said, "Let's get going and out to the boat." I found Sue in the office and told her we needed to go over and accept the work on the boat. She said, "Get Mercy and Kathy. They had as much to do with the design as everyone else. They'll go with you and have Chuck sign for everything. I thought we should pay for the mods as they are for us and Dewey. Chuck really didn't need to do anything to the boat to make it habitable for him and his family." "Did you hear what Chuck is naming the boat?" Sue looked up at me questioningly. "Lucky Lady," I said. Sue giggled, "That fits him. He has so many ladies and the man is lucky, isn't he?" I told her, "He says he's always thought of the boat as an elegant lady and he thinks he has been lucky to have a boat like that, as well as all of his other luck." "That fits alright," Sue said. "When you get over to the yacht club, have John, the charter captain, call the painter so it gets done today. The paint should be dry by tomorrow so it can be sealed." I went to find Kathy and Mercy. They were busy stacking up kids' clothes to take to the boat. I announced, "I'm going to the boat to accept the work. Sue asked me to take you two along to make sure everything is as you ordered. We need to go now so we can get back early." Kathy pointed at a stack of boxes and said, "Put these in one of those cardboard boxes and we'll take them over now. This should be the last of the kids' clothes. I think we're ready." I put the clothes in the box and put the box in the truck. Chuck was waiting for us on the patio with Lisa. We were off to the yacht club and were there in just over a half-hour. I found John, the charter captain, and asked him to have the name painted on the boat. He said he would do that and register the name with the Coast Guard. Before John could leave, I saw Chuck talking to John, telling him something. John just nodded and smiled before he left. Inside the boat, the girls checked all of the modifications and were gushing over the excellence of the work the Magellan crew had done. Chuck signed off the work and handed the men a check, plus a hundred-dollar bill to each of the crew. He said, "Thank you, gentlemen. Your boss gave me a deal on the work and said if I paid on delivery, he would cut me a ten percent break. I think this covers it. If not, have your boss send me a corrected invoice. He finished with, "Thank you," as he handed the crew members their tip. I told Chuck, "Sue said we were supposed to pay for the modifications." Chuck asked, "Why, it's my boat? I wanted the mods done too so my friends could accompany me. If this works out, I have some more trips I want to make. Come on, let's get back home so you can wait for Dewey. I have to run by the office for a few minutes before long, then Lisa and I are going to play in the studio for a few minutes." Back at the house, we all scattered to do those things that needed to be done. Inside the living room was a stack of guitar cases ready to take to the boat. Too bad I didn't know they were going or I could have taken them this morning. At least the kids were planning on continuing their lessons and practicing while they were gone. I'll bet we'll have some nice concerts while we're out. Noting the time, I took a cart to the beauty shop next door to have my hair cut one last time for a while. I was wearing my hair long enough that if I did miss a haircut or two, no one would notice. But it always feels good to be trimmed up nice. Back at the house, I looked for Sue in her office and asked her, "Did we get the kids all of their international immunizations? Do we need to get any too?" Sue said, "They're all done. I had the doc check our stuff and we're fine. Everyone is taken care of. I made sure Chuck's ladies all had their shots too. You might call over there to see if Julie needs to see a doc or needs any immunizations." I called Chuck's house and one of Chinese girls answered. I told her what I wanted to know and she said she would find Julie and ask her. She would call me back with the answer. The little girls were amazing. They spoke such proper English and seemed to be very knowledgeable. I am a little surprised that Chuck is bringing them with him, but then it probably was his women that were bringing them. After lunch, I called out to the airpark to see if they had heard from Dewey. Star said, "He'll be here right at two. If you want, I can call you when he's on final approach." "No, Star, I'll be there at two, so no need to call. I'll come out early to say hi to everyone. We're leaving Wednesday, you know." "How could I not know, Steve," Star said, sarcastically. "It seems like everyone is going on that trip, you and Chuck and all of your women and all of Chuck's women. The place will be lonely while you-all are gone. I'm glad you're getting to go though, as you probably need the break." I took off for the airpark shortly after the call and used the time before Dewey was to arrive to say hi to Wes, Gene, and Jimmy in the hangars. I was speaking to Star, who was on duty, when we heard Dewey's G5 call for landing instructions. I watched the aircraft set down and come to a stop before pulling onto the taxiway and coming toward the charter office. When the aircraft stopped, the ground techs slid chocks under the wheels and began opening the fueling door and the luggage compartment. The door to the plane opened and the stairway let down. First out were Sheila and Sheena, then the three kids, Shirley and Sharon, and finally, Dewey. I got hugs from everyone, including Dewey, and we all put the luggage into the truck. Sheila said, "We shipped all our clothes for the trip earlier and Sue said it was already on board. I can't wait to see the newly remodeled boat; I'll bet it's a beauty." Dewey asked, "Is it still just "Boat" or did Chuck name it?" I told Dewey, "It's appropriately named, "Lucky Lady." Dewey just nodded, "That's appropriate. The man is lucky, but lady as in singular, doesn't work out." I told him, "Chuck thinks of the boat as an elegant lady and says it has been a lucky happening every day since." Dewey said, "Sure, I can see that. It's Chuck's Lucky Lady. A good name." We went to the house first, where all of the women were fawning over each other. Dewey's kids wanted to know where our kids were and were instructed to relax until the others got out of class in a few minutes. I told Dewey, "If you want to go to the boat, let's do it now. I'll load these guitars so we get them over there and we'll go. How about you ladies; who's going with us?" Mercy, Kathy, Sheila, and Sheena all wanted to go and were out the door and quickly into my pickup. We made a fast trip to the yacht club and while Dewey and I carried guitars to the storage locker below deck, the girls began their tour. When we finished being pack mules, Dewey and I checked out the modifications. He was very pleased and said, "The cabin is as big as ours on my boat. This is going to work out great. I like the way the area off the galley and dining area is arranged. It looks like a giant family room with two TV areas and the area in the back where the keyboard is for the kids to play music. You all put a lot of thought into this. You did a great job putting the room dividers so that you don't even realize where the masts are." I said, "Your clothes are all in the closets and the kids clothes are all in the kids' bunkrooms. Come on, let's check those out." We walked down to the crew area and went into the bunkrooms that had been specially modified for the kids. The boys' room was neat and orderly, as was the girls'. There would be plenty of room and they would also have an almost private area in the crew's lounge with a big TV and a table to play games on. I showed Dewey the group of games that were in the locker there, so he would know the kids had plenty to do when the weather was bad. Back up in the main salon on the main deck, I showed Dewey the inside helm area and how nice it was. He was impressed with the array of video screens stretched out in front of the wheel. He said, "This boat is really computerized, isn't it? What happens if the computer crashes?" I said, "This thing has three redundancies. The first redundancy is on all the time and if the first goes bad, the second takes the place of the first and third starts up to assume the place of the second. The redundant computers will analyze the computer that is down and instruct us what to do to repair it. We have a full set of parts to repair the equipment as necessary. The same goes for all of the communications equipment, as well as the radar and collision avoidance systems. The computer system monitors everything and reports by constant update. I think we'll be taken care of." Dewey said, "And if all else fails, then we'll sail the boat the way we used to, by compass and handheld GPS. We're hardly roughing it, are we?" We traveled back to the house to begin an afternoon of visiting and drinking. Dewey and I were having a great time when Charlie arrived and helped us drink some beer. Chuck and family showed up and were very loud and rowdy with the excitement of leaving soon. My sister and brother were probably feeling a little left out, so I told them, "How about you two taking a week each and using Chuck's Key West house? The number is by the phone in the kitchen, so give his lady down there a call and go down for a week. You guys will enjoy it. Go together or one couple at a time, but take a break." Chuck said, "You know what we'll do when we get back. I want to take the boat down to Costa Rica to show off. When we get back, whoever wants to go can sail down there with me and I'll show you the island that will soon be our new vacation destination." I said, "Oh boy, we get to go to the island too? That will really get my juices roaring. If you have enough land on that island, perhaps we can build another house for my family." Chuck spoke up, "The big house is big enough for all of us. If you want your own private area, we can build you a house too. You have to see it first, then you can make up your mind. The place is really nice." The lady who gave Chuck the island, Julie, was sitting with Chuck and she said, "The place has never been full, so you people could do something that has never been done. The people on the island will have a great time if you all fill up the house. I think Miguel would really love to build more homes on the island. He always wants us to have more workers there. He thinks we need more people so we can farm and garden more. As it is, we barely eat up what we can grow. The garden grows vegetables and fruit all year round." I asked, "How's the wind out on your island? Do you get a constant breeze?" "Sure," Julie said. "You know how the ocean is. There is always a constant breeze blowing, why do you ask?" "One of the things we are building and experimenting with is power generating wind turbines," I said. "I don't know what your power demand is, but if you have enough of the turbines, you can supply a lot of power to a lot of people." Julie said, "Oh my, that would save a lot of money on fuel for the generators. We have the big generator and two small backups for when storms knock out our mains. Wind generators would be great to take up for the diesel generators." I told Chuck, "You need to take Dennis or Hans down to your island and let them estimate what it would take to supply all of your power by wind. Just another way to help you out." Chuck said, "I think I need to haul about a dozen or so carts down there too. They have manual hand trucks and use tractor and wagons even for small trips. They have a jeep and a pickup truck but no other small transportation. I'll buy a bunch of carts and take them down. I'll bet Miguel and the other folks on the island will love them." Julie said, "We don't have paths and roads everywhere like you do here. You'll need the carts to be rugged and almost be an off-road type." I said, "We have carts with bigger tires for sandy areas and we even have carts with tracks on them to go over rocks and bad terrain. I'll bet we have something that will work." Julie commented, "You folks have a wealth of things to help us out on the island. I'll bet if we fix it up the way you're talking, you can sell a lot of the other island people the same set up. The other islands have always followed our lead and I'm sure they will again." Dewey chimed in, "I installed four of the big wind turbines at my place out in the San Juan islands. I have enough power to run my entire household, plus sell quite a bit of power back to the local grid." Chuck told Dewey, "They have several households, plus the animal barns, and most important is their water desalination plant. They use some brackish water from deep wells for irrigation and could probably use it for showers, but the water plant keeps them taken care of. They also have a system of cisterns that store a lot of water." Dewey said, "Sounds like someone with some engineering know how created everything down there." Julie smiled, "My late husband was quite the engineer and builder. He loved to create things and made a lot of improvements over the years." We had a very nice supper, then Chuck and his family left for home, probably to get the last of everything ready to take to the boat. Before Chuck and his entourage left, Julie and Sue huddled up for a bit and Sue told her she would come for her in the morning and they would shop for everything she would need. I found out later that Julie needed some more deck shoes and wanted to buy some more clothes to wear on the boat, along with a couple of nice dresses for the Riviera. It was early, only about eight, when a big black Suburban pulled up on the street and four guys in black suits got out. I almost laughed as the four men had Oakley sunglasses on even though it was getting dark. The men in black have struck. I went out to intercept them and find out what they wanted as they all took their sunglasses off. The one man showed me some identification and said, "United States of America, Secret Service." It had his picture on the card with a telephone number at the bottom of the card. The man asked, "Is this the place where we can find Charles Johnson?" Without thinking I said, "We don't have a Charles Johnson around here." He looked at me antagonistically, and said, "This isn't anything bad but I have to talk to him. You might know him as Chuck Johnson." "Oh, yeah, I know Chuck Johnson. What do you want him for?" "We have to meet with him for a few minutes is all. Can you get him or direct us to where he would be?" I said, "Hang on, let me call him for you." As soon as I called Chuck's cell number, he answered, "Johnson." "Chuck, you have visitors over here at the patio. Four guys with Secret Service IDs, all dressed in black." "Great, just what I need. I'll come find out what they want, tell them to wait for me there. You don't have to be nice to them." I smiled and thought I was probably better than that and said, "Would you men like to come inside and have some iced tea or coffee while you wait?" The guy said, "Thank you" and waved for the others to follow him. They came in single file, doing a swivel head routine, checking the place out. I gestured toward an empty table with four chairs and when the man nodded to his men and they all sat. "Iced tea or coffee," I asked. The man said, "Iced tea would be good." My ladies had observed and heard and instantly made up glasses of iced tea. They served the men then went back to the kitchen. Chuck came roaring up in a cart and was inside before the dust settled. He came to the table and looked at the four men. "You guys clean up nice. You must be over the night in the woods?" The lead guy said, "I need to talk to you a few minutes, but do you mind if we finish this tea first?" Chuck pulled up a chair and sat with the men. They talked about nothing important except one part when they said the load on two buses had been delivered to Colorado as planned. Chuck just nodded. When the men were done with the tea, the five of them walked outside the patio toward their car. The man was talking in low tones when Chuck began, "Christ, can't you guys even let someone that is banged up heal before you want me to go somewhere else? Look at my head, the stitches aren't even out yet. Both of my partners are injured and one is probably going to be out of the service. What the hell can you want now?" There was a long conversation then Chuck used his cell phone and made a call. I heard him ask, "Do you still have that spotter scope that you got from John?" There was a pause, then he said, "I'll be home in a minute. I need to talk to you." Chuck took off with the Suburban following him. Oh well, I suppose I'll find out what's going on. The rest of the evening was spent chatting with the other folks and listening to Henry and Susan talk about using the Key West house. At bed time, Mercy was antsy and said, "Chuck and Lisa are all closed up again. Even Mom felt something was going on and it isn't pretty again. What has Chuck got himself into?" "Don't worry, Mercy. The man can take care of himself. Let us relax you, and let you think about the great trip we'll have." Mickey, Sue, and Kathy were all over Mercy, while Juanita gave me all of her wonderful warm voluptuous attention. I can tell you we were all very relaxed and fell asleep in each other's arms. Tuesday morning began in a very loving manner. Mickey was sitting on my chest, looking down at me. She said, "Look here, Buster, you're slacking. When we finished with Mercy, you were supposed to be poised waiting to pounce. But no," she dragged the no out to a long nooooo. "You were already asleep. Well, you need to make amends right now. I need you, Steve, I need you real bad." I lifted Mickey up and let her fit herself on my morning wood. She gently eased herself up and down until she was completely consuming me. Mickey was easy, because she was coming by the time I was fully seated. The girl has a hair trigger. This, of course, caused the others to want some attention and soon, I had loved the other four and was nothing but a body sack full of Jell-O. I was worn out, but I was very happy and very satisfied." By the time I got out to the patio, Glenda and Martin were two of many who had beaten me there this morning. Glenda asked, "Were the natives restless this morning? There was some good groaning going on from your area." Mercy was with me and said, "He did have to perform his husbandly duties this morning. Of course, he has to do that times five now so it takes a while." Glenda laughed and Shawna said, "Sounds like I should send Charlie over to relieve the man. He only has me to put up with in the morning, and I can suck a load out of him before he opens his eyes. Good ole' Stump usually enjoys waking up and grabbing me, before asking, "Was it good for you?" Glenda scoffed, "Typical man. Do them real good in the morning and they think they deserve it." Shawna said, "Oh he does, Glenda, Stump just about pounds me through the mattress, that's why I always have a tough time walking straight in the morning. That, and all the slime running down my leg." "Shawna, clean up that potty mouth." Charlie said, acting like he was disgusted. Dewey asked, "Where's Chuck, even his women aren't here?" I nodded and heard carts. It was Chuck's household. As they came into the patio, it was evident Chuck and Lisa weren't there. Brandy announced, "They come and get him now, they don't just call. They took Chuck and Lisa with them last night. Chuck said he'd be back tonight and not to worry. I guess I won't worry." We had a lot of last minute stuff to do today, and those leaving tomorrow began doing what was needed to be done. I made two more trips to the boat during the day and then went with Sue, Sheila, Brandy, and Glenda for a huge truckload of meat and fresh vegetables. We put most of the meat into the freezer and the fresh veggies into the fridge. This was like the omen, the last stuff to load. I checked to make sure there was plenty of booze and beer. We were loaded for a three-month binge. I walked the outside deck, checked all the lockers, and then toured the bottom deck, the engine room, the desalination room, and even turned on the computers in the office to make sure the satcom system was working. We were ready. Dewey had followed me around and had double-checked everything with me. He said, "You know we're over-checking everything. When we usually sail, we make up our minds in the morning and are sailing by the afternoon. We're worrying too much. Come up to the salon and enjoy a beer with me." We did that and were sitting there when the girls came up and sat with us. Sue said, "All we have to do is to come over in the morning and cast off. We're as ready as we'll ever be. I think we're going over everything so much because of the three families going together. Let's get out of here. I still have to take Julie shopping." We were back home early enough that I convinced Dewey to go to the gym and work out with me. A couple of the women went with us and did their routines too. Back on the patio, Dewey said, "I guess there's only one more night to party on land. Let's act like real sailors and have some fun." We didn't have many drinking buddies in the afternoon, but by five, we had a turnout. Henry was having a good time, as was Nancy. Between the two of them, I hope they can find their way home. Susan and Kevin were having too many also, which meant they were getting lovey dovey and were soon gone to take care of their itch. When the crowd began dissipating, Sue asked the few who remained, "How about the hot tub tonight. What do you say, Charlie, want to have a bubble bath?" Glenda stayed at our place to watch all the kids of the people still here who left for the hot tub. Hank and Debbie, Charlie and Shawna, Jim and Sandy, Dewey with Sheila and Sheena, along with me and my ladies, were all eager to enjoy some playtime in the tub. We were having a great time when Henry and Nancy, along with Susan and Kevin showed up. They didn't even hesitate and joined right in. Once I was just about to plug someone from the rear, when I realized it was Susan. She just smiled at me as I passed her by to try another entrance. Dewey was going nuts with Shawna as she had him munching on her ever-flowing pussy. We had a great time and ended up going back to the patio for some more drinks. This was a good bon voyage party. Too bad Chuck wasn't with us. Hope he was back in time tomorrow morning. I guess we can't leave without the owner of the boat. But then, he knows how to catch up to us. The group finally went home about eleven and my family found ourselves relaxing in each other's arms. Mickey was being playful and wanted to keep sampling the other ladies. Sue was all for it, and was soon swapped around sharing pleasure with them. The rest of us slipped off to dreamland, excited about sailing tomorrow. ------- Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 74 Chuck When Steve called to tell me that men in black were at the patio to see me, I was almost apoplectic. I was really mad that they would come for me, especially knowing I was about to leave on an extended leave of absence. When I found them in the patio having some iced tea and acting like gentlemen, I felt a little better. They did need to get a new wardrobe designer, though, as the black suits and black ties were a little much. When they finished their iced tea, we went outside where they explained the problem. It was a big bad problem and I had already witnessed and been a part of something similar in the past. Before it was in Mobile, Alabama, but this time it was on some riverboats and barges in New Orleans. Just what we needed, another very nasty group of people. I asked, "So isn't this a Bureau problem?" Gus, the Secret Service leader, said, "It sure is, and it is also going to partly be Homeland Security's, and the U.S. Marshal Service's problem, along with the DEA and an ATF. We were asked to take the lead on it and when we looked up to see who had worked that deal in Mobile, low and behold, your name was right there." I told the guy, "Look, if we can do this right now. I mean, I go there, we do what we have to do, and you get me back here. That's the only way I'll do it, otherwise, you guys can figure it out on your own. I'm totally done, and getting more done by the second. What's it going to be?" Gus used his cell phone and talked for a long time. He handed me the phone and a voice said, "You know we can just put a hold on you, don't you?" I laughed, "Sure go ahead. I can be a civilian too, and you can go pound sand. Whoever you are, I said I would help if we would do this right now, and I thought that's why I was talking to you." The guy said, "We may not be ready. I want at least a hundred men to do this." "If you have a hundred men, what in the hell do you need me for?" "You're the only one who knows these people, and you have experience with what they will do and how hard they will resist." I said, "Look, do yourself a favor, just blow everything and everyone on or around those boats up and let them sink. Let them stay down for a week, then salvage everything and life will go on. If these are the same immigrants of dubious status that we had in Mobile, you are probably in trouble. Like I said, just blow the place and contain the area so no one gets off the boat or the barge." I could hear the guy take a deep breath, "We can't do that. We have to take the place in a conventional manner. There will be too many witnesses, and too much collateral damage, if we just blow it. As it is, we're going to have to have men on other boats with tourists and customers on them while we take down the one we want. It's going to be messy; there is no way out of it." "Well then," I repeated, "Can you do it right now or what?" "Okay, we'll do it now. How many people do you want and what kind of equipment do you need?" "All hundred you said you had. I want the local guard troops, with live ammunition and full field gear, to contain the boat and maybe help inside if need be. I want the boats to be blasted with microwave so their cell phones don't work when we begin to close in. I want an active military or naval EOD team on hand, even if you have to get the faculty from the EOD school at Eglin AFB. Get me there and back by early AM Wednesday at the latest." The guy on the other end said, "Give the phone to Gus." I handed Gus the phone and he spoke a couple of minutes then hung up. He said, "Dress in your field gear and grab your arms. We will be flying out of Tampa as soon as we can get there." I pulled out my cell and gave a call to Lisa, "I'll be home in a minute, I need to talk to you." I hung up without letting her talk. When I went inside the house to change clothes, Lisa followed me into the bedroom and when she saw I was changing into fatigues, she said, " You said you wanted to talk to me. What's going on? You're not going anywhere without me. I'll get dressed and I'll go with you." "You may not be able to be involved in part of this. It's going to be really messy if it's like the last time. You can come, but you may only be an observer or sniper." "Fine, I'll do whatever you say, but I'm going," Lisa said, as she was stripping right then. We quickly dressed, put our armor on under our shirts, and donned our field vests, as well. I grabbed my weapons case, as did Lisa, and we went out of the bedroom, said bye to the ladies, and were out the door. When the Secret Service men saw Lisa, they were about to object, until I said, "She goes, I make that decision." Gus drove to the airport like a crazy man, and we pulled up to another Citation X. We got on the aircraft while someone came to drive the car away. The jet was already spooled up and ready to leave. Like magic, I heard the pilot say he was ready to depart, and suddenly all other aircraft on the taxiways were told to hold their positions while the Citation made its way to the active runway. We were off the ground and almost as soon, back on the ground. While we were in the air, the four men in black suits changed into fatigues with armor. They suited up the same as Lisa and I had, and began loading their pouches with ammo. Lisa and I pulled out extra MP5 ammo from our cases and filled our vests. I also made sure I had four extra magazines for my Glock. I asked Gus, "Do you have any hand grenades?" Gus reached over to what looked like a catalogue case, pulled out four M67 grenades, and handed them to me. Lisa looked at me with her hand out, and I just shook my head. "Naah. You throw like a girl," I said with a wink and a smirk. The expression on her face said she wasn't happy, but that was my decision. A small bus took us from the airport to the riverfront area where casino barges and boats were moored. We met at a big black motor home parked close to the docks next to some tractor trailers waiting to load or unload. Inside the motor home a man I had met before while out west began briefing the various agency team leaders. It was really close to what had been set up in Mobile, but this time, there were two craft, a large replica paddle wheeler that traveled out of the moorings up and down the river, and a large barge that had been converted into a luxury casino. The arrangements were that the barge had space below decks for the working girls barracks. It was estimated there were at least a hundred girls working from there. At least another thirty or forty girls were on the boat, supposedly working the gaming crowds and not in the forced pseudo whorehouse the casino barge had. The Secret Service man said, "Now the fun part, there are probably a hundred plus workers in the casino, and nearly that many security people. Since the casino barge brings in such a great amount of cash, they have more security. Of course, that security also watches their investment in forced prostitution. We came on to this when a young girl of only sixteen showed up at a police station and began telling her story. She had been smuggled out of Russia into the United States, and brought directly here, along with a dozen other young girls." He continued, "She said that there were at least a hundred enslaved girls working as prostitutes on the barge, and she knew that the girls who became easy to deal with, and wanted to stay, were given the opportunity for higher stakes prostitution on the riverboat." "Now the nasty part," the man said. "The working people on the barge all appear to be imports that look to be in good physical condition, almost as if they are some form of military group that have been trained as card dealers, bartenders, chefs, and other service workers on the barge and boat. The security people are about the same, but they are obviously security. They are plainclothes inside the casinos, but some that patrol either on the outside deck or inside on the perimeter of the casino floor, wear security guard uniforms." "We have just about been able to pin down the number of security people at about a hundred and thirty between the barge and boat. The problem with the internal workers is that only a very few go off the boat or barge. The rest stay in some kind of barracks on board the barge." The man was pacing back and forth in front of us and when he came to me, he pulled me forward and said "This is Chuck Johnson of the U.S. Marshal Service. He also works with the Secret Service and has previously been involved in a situation like this. I want him to tell you what to expect." I looked the men who would lead their people into a very messy situation over and said, "If these are all from the same mold as the Russians and Czechs we were involved with before, I can tell you they won't give up easily. They fought as if their lives depended on it. What we need is some kind of diversion and some way to force them into the open or we're going to suffer a lot of casualties. If we consider the enslaved women on board as collateral, then there will be collateral damage as well." Having an idea, I looked at the men and said, "How about this, we open a hole in the barge big enough that it will sink fast? I'm sure they didn't install water tight hatches to shut in case of a large leak so if we open a big enough hole, this will force all of the guards, workers, and slave prostitutes on deck to look for help getting off of the barge." "While that is going on, a contingent of men will distract the guards on the riverboat to come to the far end of the boat, therefore leaving the barge people vulnerable. If we act quickly, we can capture the barge people, or at least contain them in the open, so you can pick them off one by one if we need to." "As that phase of this is completing, we will then take the riverboat with all available men and clear the place room by room, deck by deck, until it is clear. Once again, let me stress that these people have been trained to kill and will kill you. Be careful and make sure everyone wears their armor. You leaders, figure out a way to sink the damned barge and give us a time frame. It's getting late and I'd like to get this over with." After a pause, I yelled, "Will the Marshal Service and Bureau leaders come here a second?" As the others huddled to figure out how to sink the barge, the two men I had asked for came up. I asked, "Do you have sufficient cuffs, chains, and personnel tie-wraps for this. You'll need somewhere around four hundred if we get everyone alive." The Bureau guy's eyes bulged, "Four hundred sets of cuffs? Who has that?" I said, "You should, or you shouldn't have even bothered anyone to do this job." He said, "I didn't, I thought it was Homeland Security that started this." The Deputy Marshal grimaced at his Bureau counterpart and said, "No, the Secret Service started all of this because of a flood of phony money that's been showing up and it all leads back to here. The more information they found out, the more agencies they called in. And Chuck," the Deputy said, "As far as cuffs and restraints, we have a bunch of chains with us, but we also have two cases of a thousand personal restraints, or tie-wraps, if you want to call them that." An ATF guy came up and told me, "I have two underwater teams here, so we'll put charges on two sides of the barge and as soon as the men are back on shore, we'll blow those and get set for the stampede to get out of there." I asked, "What's your time frame?" The ATF leader said, "It'll take us until midnight to one o'clock to get the equipment and come back. We should be able to have the charges set by two and then you can give the signal for the fun to begin." I called for everyone there to listen up and told them that we would tentatively set the attack for three AM. They should all monitor the Bureau emergency frequency for updates and for the call to strike. "One last warning, if you see anyone you suspect is involved near this command headquarters, you are to capture them at all costs so they cannot alert the barge or the boat. Let's keep a lid on this thing until it goes down." As I left the briefing tent, Lisa caught up with me and asked, "What are you going to have me do?" Answering, I said, "If that part goes the way it should, you can help get the prisoners rounded up and be some protection for the guys that have to shake them down and restrain them. Remember, just like out at that parking lot out west, these men are dangerous and ruthless. Shoot first and ask questions later. Don't take any chances, and make sure you have some cover." Lisa asked, "Where are you going to be, and what will you be doing?" "I'll help with the riverboat, since that one will be really messy as customers will probably still be on board as well as the crew cleaning up for tomorrow's cruises. Hopefully, the distractions will be enough to cause some confusion so it can be a clean take down. I'm planning on flooding the boat with Marshals and the National Guard so we can end it quickly. I heard that this Guard unit just rotated back from Afghanistan, so they are seasoned and won't hesitate to fire." Lisa looked at me and said, "You know I should be with you don't you?" "Not on this one, Lisa, it's too dangerous, I know from experience. It's going to be hairy enough where you will be. Keep your eyes open. This time you won't have Nightfox's eyes to help you. Like I said, keep some cover, and don't hesitate to shoot. These people are better trained than the terrorists we met. These are all probably ex-Russian soldiers and you know what their rep is." Lisa nodded, but was looking down, "It's just that it's my job to watch out for you and I can't do that if I'm somewhere else." "Not this time, please don't ask. It will hopefully all go smoothly and the riverboat people will give up before it gets out of hand." As I said this, I gathered her into my arms and told her, "Look, Honey, you have to stay out of the line of fire as much as possible. I know you've been trained well and you've now had some face to face experience, but a live firefight is different. It's so damned scary and happens so fast that you just don't have time to think. Everything is a reaction from what you've learned from previous live firefights." Lisa said, "I was in that printing plant where you two were both down, and I was doing what I had been trained for. I was in the middle of it up in Seattle, so I know what can go wrong." I wasn't holding Lisa any longer and was pacing next to her trying to figure out how to keep her out of the mess I was sure was coming. "If I let you get close to this, will you stay under cover? In the printing plant and up in Seattle you had cover. If you stay down, you can stay on the perimeter and back me up, but do not come into the fighting theater. I sincerely mean for you to stay there and back me up." Lisa was a little more relaxed and said, "I'll do that, but I'll feel a lot better being where you are, watching you." We walked out to the groups of people to see if the team leaders were planning how to position themselves when the people began streaming off the barge. One of the men from the Secret Service said, "How about we set up something like you did with the wedge? We can be in a loose situation before the barge begins taking on water then as they come off the barge we can begin funneling them into the wedge. I was thinking we could use a lot of the Guard to do part of that." Agreeing with his plan, I said, "That will work, but your men that are close to the riverboat need to be aware that fire could begin coming from there. They will have to concentrate on the people coming off the barge, so they need cover from the riverboat. Make sure your men understand that when you set them up. Don't start putting them into place until about two thirty. We don't want a bunch of people loitering around, attracting attention." I closed with him by saying, "And make sure you tell your men to not hesitate to fire at any strange movement." I told Lisa, "Let's get a couple of sandwiches and a Coke or some coffee from that canteen tent." This project didn't feel right. Something was missing, something was wrong with what we were planning, but I didn't know what else we could do. A full, all-out, frontal assault would cost a lot of lives. This was the only way I could think of that could possibly get the people off the barge without getting a lot of casualties. Lisa and I found a place to sit down and take it easy for a few minutes while we waited for the other contingents to get their men in place. Lisa nudged me and said, "Don't worry, Chuck, you gave them an idea when they didn't have any, and some of the men who were with us in Seattle are here to help out, so this should go okay. We can direct the men on how to close up as necessary." "Let's go see if we can find a recon position near the riverboat so we can watch it for a while. Maybe we'll see something. Before we go, let me talk to the ATF team leader a sec." We found the man sipping a cup of hot coffee. I asked, "Do you think your men might bring enough charges to do the same thing to that riverboat? If we did that when we begin attacking, they might give up easier. You know the people below decks will be coming out fast. What do you think?" The guy said, "I called for both UDT teams to come and they'll bring the van with all of our field explosives, so we'll have enough. That might be a good idea to keep in reserve. If the boat people give us a problem, we can blow it too." He asked, "Should we set all the charges at the same time?" "Please do that, but set the remote detonators for different frequencies. I want to wait to blow the boat. If we don't have to blow it, we could hold off." When he agreed and left for his people, Lisa and I walked down a dark alley, trying to get close to the riverboat. The riverfront in this area was lined with bars, restaurants, and tourist stores all along the street fronting the boat and barge moorings. All of the stores were at least two stories, and many had nice balconies facing the river and craft moored there. Close to the front of the building we were next to, was a stairway that probably was some kind of fire exit from the second story. Lisa and I quietly went up the stairs to check out the dark store below. The windows of the building were all dark, and you could tell that the balcony was used as additional outdoor seating for whatever was inside. We sat in the chairs and looked out over the balcony railing. The riverboat we were interested in was tied to the dock and appeared to be finished for the night. We watched as a couple of guys came out, staggering a little. A little later, three couples came out a little wobbly, having a great time. Taxis were on the street and came up to quickly gather the late night revelers to drive them to wherever they needed to go. Lisa and I were keeping track of the time, and when it came to two fifteen, we went back to the rendezvous point. The agencies were setting up their wedge, and the men who were going to take the boat were formed and ready to move through the alleys to attack the boat. I found the National Guard commander and told him, "I know this is right here in the states, but your troops must know that this is not a walk in the park. These men can be ruthless and will fight back. They need to not hesitate when it's time." The commander understood and relayed the directive to his squad leaders. I asked for a squad to penetrate the main doors with me when the attack began, and was given a sergeant and nine men to work with. While they did that, Lisa and I picked up radios with a single ear bud. The radio was set for the frequency we were going to use. The groups worked their way through the alleys until we were surrounding the area where the boat was. I found a place for Lisa to observe and snipe from, making sure she was under cover. The squad and I moved to the dock, staying under the cover of the railing, away from where the walkway was laid between the boat and the dock. I was checking my watch until the minute hand came up to six. I said into the radio, "This is Johnson, Go." There were two muffled thumps down the street where the barge was, but it was loud enough to attract attention on board the boat. A couple of men came out of the main doors of the boat and were looking around and back toward the barge. When the barge doors burst open and people began streaming out, yelling "Fire, Fire," the two men ran from the boat toward the barge. Several other men came out from different doors of the boat and did the same. All passed in front of us and didn't notice us down low as they were focused on the barge. This gave me an idea, so I broadcast, "Reserve teams at the boat, form a wedge to keep the people coming from the boat heading toward the barge. ATF, blow the boat now." There were two more, louder, thumps right below us. The charges were enough for us to feel them, but still small enough not to cause a huge sound. I waved to my men to stay down and wait. Doors up and down the side of the boat began bursting open and people were running from the boat. Some were fully clothed and some only had underwear on. Women were running from the boat in only light nightgowns or pajamas. This was working better than I had expected, as at least sixty or seventy people ran from the boat and were running toward the barge. I said over the radio, "'Boat reserve, ' take and clear the boat. Cabin by cabin, deck by deck. Now! 'Front boat men, ' move into the rear of the wedge and don't let them turn around. Keep them moving toward the barge." All of a sudden, there was firing toward the rear of the boat. I watched as someone came out of the tall wheelhouse, four decks up, and begin firing an AK toward the rear. I was raising my rifle when someone from the dock area cut the man down. I motioned for my men to follow me and we went across the walkway and through the main doors. No one was in this area of the casino and the boat was beginning to tilt to the far side. We could hear shouting and shooting, so we stood by the doors to take on anyone running through. As the boat began listing more and more away from the dock, I hollered at the men with me, "Get off the boat now before it capsizes." I repeated the message into my radio, "Get off the boat now, withdraw, do it now. The boat is going to capsize." We quickly moved off the boat and got into firing positions to watch who tried to come off. The teams that had attacked the rear of the boat were leaping from the boat. At least there was no one firing at them as they withdrew. Down the street, there was some sporadic firing, but nothing like I expected. When the boat looked like it was just about to roll on its side, it seemed to stop and settle. The main deck was now under water, so that meant the lower decks were all flooded. This was a problem, as there was resistance on board, but no real good way to clear it. One of the men with me showed me a canister grenade. He said, "If you don't care what happens to that pile of wood, this should take care of the problem." "What is it?" I asked. "That's an M14 thermite grenade. It'll melt damn near anything and will be sure to start a fire. I think we have a half dozen the SEALs gave us." I said, "Put one through a casino window, and one through a rear window, and let's see what happens. Make sure the men stay under cover." One of the men used his weapon on full auto to blow out a window in the casino, then another man threw the canister through it. The same thing was happening on the other end of the boat. There were a couple of heavy explosions, and we watched as fire erupted inside the casino. I radioed, "Command, this is Johnson, make sure we have the Coast Guard on the other side of this boat to capture anyone jumping off the side that we can't see from here." "Got it, the Coast Guard has already been picking up swimmers. We're on it." It was good that someone was picking up my slack. I had forgotten that some of these perpetrators might think of swimming to escape. I told the leader of the team I was with, "Just watch the boat and when we can get something to bridge to the boat, clear the place. Be careful, as someone armed could still be on board." The man nodded in understanding, and whirled his finger in the air for his men to gather around. I walked across the street to where Lisa was. She was sitting on an overturned bucket with her rifle poised over a crate. She said, "That went smoothly. That boat is rapidly going up in flames. I thought they had automatic fire suppression systems. It's not working, is it?" "Damn, that's another thing I didn't think of." I was standing in the shadows when a half dozen big cars or SUVs came to a screeching halt halfway up the block. Men were coming out of the cars with rifles in their hands. They didn't even pause and began firing at the rear of the men watching the boat. I watched as our men found cover, but it looked like there were several casualties right away. Lisa and I leveled off with our rifles and began picking off the men from the cars. I know I was at six or seven and Lisa was probably at that same amount when a car slid to a stop right next to us. I pulled Lisa down so we were behind a door opening, hidden from the car. Men began coming from this car, also carrying rifles, so I leaned out of the bottom of the doorway and fired rapidly, trying to hit as many as I could. They were all wearing armor as two fell, rolled over, got on their knees, and looked for their rifles. I yelled over my radio while looking at Lisa, "Headshots, they have armor." When my bolt locked back, I pulled my Glock and was close enough to hit three men in the head successively. Lisa was still plinking men in the head as if she was out plinking squirrels on a warm Saturday afternoon. I kept checking the car in the alley next to us, and I finally tossed a grenade into it to make sure no more would bother us. When I pulled Lisa back to shield her from the blast, I saw two men trying to get out of the car. It was too late, as the fragmentation grenade exploded. I motioned for Lisa to help the Guard guys out on the dock, and I checked the alley next to the blown out car. Just as Lisa was firing, I heard her give out an "oof" and turned quickly to see her sit down looking at me with her rifle barrel totally destroyed. I raced to her and asked, "Are you okay, are you hit, where, where are you hit." Lisa was shaking her head and said, "I think a round hit the barrel of my rifle when I was firing. My hands sting, but I'm not hit, at least I don't think so." I grabbed my rifle and shoved a new magazine in it and handed it to Lisa. We looked out to see what was happening and there didn't appear to be any more resistance. That's when I saw a movement on the walkway we were on, but down the block a ways. I got down low and pointed the Glock, waiting for the attacker to dart out of a doorway to run toward the next doorway. I put two rounds into what I hoped was his head, and watched him crumple. I kept my Glock aimed at him until he had been down at least a full minute. Lisa said, "Lucky you saw him. I didn't even notice the movement." "We'll watch for a few minutes before we show ourselves." I radioed, "Boat leaders, report." The first team leader said, "One casualty and ten boat people down." The next one said, "Two of mine are down, and I'm not sure how many boat people." It went on until there were six men down and twelve men injured. There was no good count as to how many boat people were down. I did notice that there were no boat people injuries, just all down. I said over the radio, "Command, Johnson." "Go ahead Johnson, this is command," came back. "Do you need assistance at the barge?" The voice called back, "We're good, how about you?" In a quick request, I said, "We need medics and a way to board the half submerged boat to clear it. Can you assist?" "We'll be right there, is the area clear now?" I told them, "No additional resistance for five minutes now." Trucks were coming from the barge area to the boat with more Guardsmen. The medics quickly set up and were running men through, getting them temporarily patched up as others were checking over the men who had been lost. The Guard commander came up to me and said, "I can't believe we lost six men to these miserable assholes. How do they get here and continue to do business without the law finding out about it?" I patted the commander on the back and told him, "It's been getting worse and worse. It's coming to the point where we're going to have to defend our country from the insurgents and illegals. It's going to be a war on our borders because we haven't been finishing what we need to finish overseas." He said, "Yeah, I know, we just rotated back and now this. We only lost two men to IEDs over there, and to now lose six, over a bunch of funny money and slave prostitutes, is nuts. Those men who we captured at the barge were all ex-military and well trained. I owe whoever thought up scuttling that barge. That move kept us from any casualties up there and only a few of the barge people down or hurt. Too bad this one was so bad." We heard a scuffle behind us, and I saw what looked like a hand with a Kbar coming down fast. There was still some scuffling as I ran to the conflict. A large body was covering a smaller body wearing fatigues. I pulled the large man to the side of the small one, and saw Lisa looking up at me with a sick look. She weakly smiled and said, "Pull him off me, please, get him off me." When he was rolled off, Lisa was covered in blood. I began looking for cuts or a stab wound. Lisa really looked sick. She rolled over, stuck her head off the low wood porch, and she threw up everything she had taken in for a day or two. As she threw up, she got up on her knees, and after wiping a bloody sleeve over her face, she stood and asked, "Anyone have anything I can wipe my mouth with?" I pulled my fatigue shirt off and told her to use some of it to wipe her face, and to take her fatigue shirt off. She stripped her vest and shirt and used the inside of it to wipe her mouth and hands. She still had her armor on over a T-shirt, so she was decent. She finally said, "He was on me before I knew he was there. I caught his hand the first time and he couldn't penetrate the armor, but it hurt like hell. When he tried to stab me the second time, I was able to use the force of his hand to turn the blade and cut his throat. That's where all that blood came from. I think he had a heart attack when his neck was cut. He just collapsed." The Guard full bird colonel was looking at Lisa and said, "Are you a soldier, or who do you work for?" Lisa stood up straight and said, "I work for the Secret Service right now. I am ex-Marine Corps."" The man stuck his hand out to shake Lisa's and said, "You're a soldier, alright. It was amazing that you could defend yourself like that. I'm glad you did." We slowly walked back up to the barge area and then on to the command area. There were rows of people with their hands tie-wrapped behind their back. They also had tie-wraps around their ankles so they couldn't move. It took me ten minutes to find the Secret Service leader there and I asked him, "It's done, right? It's over?" The man looked at me and asked, "I guess you want us to take you back home, huh?" I looked at my watch and said, "If we can get going, Lisa and I can be home by about noon. We need to get a little sleep too, but I need to get home to make sure everyone knows I'm okay. As of the instant I touch ground in Tampa, I'm gone for a couple of months." The guy said, "We need you to stick around a little bit. See that motor home over there?" He was pointing to the big black motor home. "Go over there and sleep for a couple hours. I'll wake you up if we need you, but you need some rest, and the girl looks like she's about to collapse. Do it so we don't have to worry about you two." We slept soundly for five hours straight, until a hand shook me awake. The guy says. "The boss wants to talk to you and I think he's going to send you home now." When we came out of the motor home, the man handed us each a cup of coffee and said, "This has gone very well. Your plan to capture the place was a good one. Sure glad we caught you before you left. I'm thinking everyone all the way to the top will be appreciative of what you two contributed." Lisa and I were only nodding in acceptance. The guy said 'thanks' again, before calling over to a man standing beside a car. He said, "Call the airport and have them get the plane ready to take these two back where they came from. We borrowed them for a while and we promised to get him home before Wednesday morning." We went to the car, but then I remembered and went back to the command tent and picked up our two weapons cases. There was another collapsible MP5 sitting right there, so I cleared it, folded it up and put it into Lisa's case. The Secret Service leader was watching me so I said, "Lisa's rifle is down the street, exploded. You never know when you'll need one." He nodded and said, "Make sure you send the serial number in for us to record." "Sure," I said, fully intending to forget it. We drove out to the airport, but I had the driver stop to get us a fast food hamburger and Coke on the way. Lisa was over her adrenaline shakes and was hungry now. She told me quietly as we sat next to each other on the Citation X, "When I get a chance to hide, I'm going to cry a while. That was too close. I thought that guy was going to take me away from us, and I wasn't going to let it happen. Oh, Chuck, that was too close." What could I say? I held her all the way to Tampa. I told the pilot to land at the airpark and we would get a ride from there. The co-pilot reached into his chart case and handed me a sat phone. "Call someone for a pickup. You know how to use this." I called the house and Brandy answered. When I asked Brandy to come to the airpark and pick us up, she quickly answered, "We'll be right there. Are you two okay? Are you sure?" After I assured her we were both okay, she said, "We'll be there as soon as possible. Are you there now?"' "No, I'm over the gulf, about fifteen minutes out, depending on the traffic." Brandy answered, "We'll be there. We're all happy you guys are okay." Lisa had sort of heard the conversation and said, "They are all really something. That they don't hate me for taking you away from them is amazing to me. I know they're as crazy for women as I am, but you were their man, to all of them. You're even the dad of the four kids that are coming. Pretty strange, isn't it?" "I don't know, Lisa, I'd never had a real relationship with a girl before those five, and they were all together from the beginning. I did have a little bit of a relationship with Bobby for a while, but she was pretty loose about it. The five girls were hot for me from the beginning, and I'm still at a loss as to why. Amazing, isn't it?" Lisa said, "Not so amazing. You show all of us a lot of love. You are always so caring and don't do anything behind our backs. I think they are the way they are because of their love for each other and their knowledge that they would never give up what they have, with and for each other, for you or anyone else. I'm sure that's why I'm accepted. They like me and know how much I care for you, so to them, it's a deal." I nodded, "I suppose, but it's still different from what I remember my mom and dad being like." My lover snuggled my arm and said, "Me too, but I like what we all have and am happy to have us all together." We landed just about nine at night, and when the Citation taxied to the operations building, instead of the charter office, I realized he wouldn't know. There was a crowd standing outside, across the tarmac at the charter office. When Lisa and I got off with our cases, they all were hollering and a pickup came roaring over to us to pick us up and carry us back to the crowd. I said good-bye to the two crewmembers, and thanked them for getting us back. I closed the big door, raising the stairs, and heard someone throw the lock inside. One of the night techs was driving the pickup and took us back to the charter office. When we got out of the pickup, all, and I mean all, of the people from our house crowded around us, clutching at us and trying to hug us. Wanda said, "That thing in New Orleans was all over the news. They had you two in about five clips, with Lisa holding a stained shirt, and you just in your vest like now. When we saw you two, we knew then why Mercy had been going nuts. Are you hurt, what happened?" I said, "How about we let it simmer a little, and we'll tell you all about it soon. Right now, Lisa and I need some food and a shower, and we all need to go to bed so we're fresh tomorrow. Who's going to take us home?" Wanda, Jan, and Lena were in Wanda's car, and she also had the two Chinese girls and Maria with her. The Fab five said, "We have room, come on, load up, we'll take you home." At home, I suggested to Lisa, "I don't know about you, but I need a shower. After that, we can eat something, then get a good night's sleep." "Perfect," Lisa said, "I'm with you about getting cleaned up." A little later, when she took off her vest, there was a huge bruise where the knife had stabbed her in the armor. She smiled at me weakly, and said, "Sure glad I had that vest on. That was close, wasn't it?" We showered and when we walked out to eat, a very nice meal had been prepared for us from left over meatloaf. After eating, the girls all tucked us under the covers, giving us kisses and promising to not to disturb us when they came to bed. Lisa and I didn't need much relaxing before we were both asleep. Primary editing by Pepere Proofing by Sagacious Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- Chapter 75 Steve Ah, Wednesday morning! I was still half-asleep, but knew something was happening today. I sat up straight and said, loud enough to disturb the sleep of the ladies next to me, "We're going sailing today!" Mercy rolled over, looking up at me while stretching, and said, "Only because Chuck is back." I asked, "He is? Did he call last night?" "No, Silly, he came home while we were playing up at the hot tub. His girls should have called, and may have tried, but I think they were all just happy he was home." Sue stretched and pinched Mercy on the tit, then tried to cover her massive nipples when Mercy tried to retaliate. Juanita then said, "Okay, girls, be nice. Enjoy the morning we are going to begin our special cruise." Mickey sat up and said, "You know I'm excited. This will be my first big vacation anywhere." Kathy rolled out of bed and grabbed my hand, pulling me with her toward the bathroom. She said, "Let's get a shower and greet everyone for breakfast." We were showering, when our huge very oversized shower was quickly crowded with six of us in there. Mickey was rubbing her belly and asking, "Can you see it yet? Can you tell that I'm pregnant?" Sue said, "I think we should run you over to the doc so you can start on some prenatal vitamins. He might want to do a sonogram already if you think you're over a month." Mickey grinned and said, "Yeah, I'm over a month, probably two, at least. I really don't know what the date would be." Breakfast on the patio was almost a party mood. Tiny and Abe had arrived home from Hawaii late last night, so they filled me in on the trip, along with what Crystal and Bear were up to. Tiny said, "Their golf weekends, along with the mainland shopping sprees, are going over much bigger than expected. They want to book as many as two hundred people a trip going over there for each tour. There are fewer people who want to go to the mainland, but it is still significant. We were able to resolve this issue with some direct charters with airlines. They are working with us so we can give the golf and holiday packages at really good rate. Their original idea was a good one, and it's working better than they expected." Ruth told me, "We probably could have handled everything over the phone or on a video conference, but Crystal and Bear feel like they are more of a part of us now that we went over personally. You're going have to begin making more trips over there too, Steve, if for nothing else, to pass out a few 'attaboys' and 'attagirls' from the boss." Abe said, "The new cart plant that we set up over there is producing at a good rate. I don't think we need to increase production as there is a limited market. Crystal has a couple of men on the two main islands that go to cart communities and hold repair days. They've been very successful gaining interest toward our carts. They take at least two carts with them every day, and almost always sell them at one of their stops. We're not going to get rich from the cart portion of our operation over there, but it is a profitable venture. "Now, let me tell you about the S&S sales and repair dealership over there. We're not doing a lot in new sales for forklifts, but they are steady. The big dollars are coming from our sales and leases of generators, and on two islands, compressors. The dealership only has four outside men who cover both sales and warranty. That's enough, as they are able to canvas the businesses throughout the island chain. They are now working hotels and resorts individually. Hawaii has a decent power grid, but does suffer brownouts because of demand. Whole outages don't happen often, just enough that some emergency power is needed. The salesmen are working with some electrical contractors to install backup generators for the hotels. "Another good thing we did over there is to create that rebuild shop. We're rebuilding generators, compressors, forklifts, and even a few of the heavy lifts. The shop is really producing some great numbers. That was one of the items that Tiny wanted to check on. He found out that the numbers are real. Crystal and Bear are doing a good job watching over all of the ventures and venues over there." I asked, "What is the condition of the hotels and resorts? How are they doing?" Tiny answered, "We didn't take a lot of time to go over books or to completely tour all of the hotels, but the ones we did visit are in good shape and the morale seems to be great in all of them. If the employees are happy, then our guests will be happy." "It's good you were able to get back before I left," I said. "I was concerned about that, although I know we have more good people here that could have taken care of things." Chuck and his family were having breakfast here on the patio this morning. I was happy to see that he and Lisa were back from wherever it was they were. It wouldn't have been good if we had to wait an extra day or two for him to get back. After watching the news last night, I kind of figured out where Chuck and Lisa had been, but that was like an all out war, not just an arrest or drug bust. I'm sure he'll tell us about it in time, but with stuff like that in your life, you just want to be at peace with the world. Chuck and all of his family were excited that our trip was going to get underway. He was talking with Dewey about the weather reports he had gotten from the internet. There was a pretty strong front that would probably pass us, and then stall around us, giving us six or seven days of heavy seas. Chuck was concerned about that portion of the trip. Dewey was telling him, "With a boat as large as yours, you'll know you're in heavy seas, but we'll be safe. Your boat can handle anything probably up to thirty, forty, and even fifty foot waves without too much trouble, and those are few and far between. That report was for seas up to twenty feet, so you know the boat will rock, but not bad. Some who might get motion sickness will probably have a problem, but we'll be fine." Mercy said, "The kids are bigger now, and wait till you watch them in a storm. They push all the furniture to one side then roll back and forth on the floor with the motion of the boat. They get pretty crazy playing 'roll with the boat'." Dewey's wife said, "When bad weather comes, our kids usually pile up in front of the TV and watch a movie. They don't seem to care or mind that much." Frieda looked around at the other two mommies to be, and said, "Sure hope you two don't have any motion sickness problems. If we're going through a storm like that, I'm going to have to make sure we have plenty of Seven-Up and crackers. That might be more than my system can handle. I don't usually get motion sick, but too much is too much." I told them all, "I'll bet we won't see any real bad seas. Even twenty foot waves aren't going to make us wallow around much. If the storm gets bad, we just turn into it and ride it out. The good part is that it will pass." Sue was more upbeat, "We need some warm days so we can use that top deck for sunbathing. I just love the way it is so cozy up there. The best time ever to get some sun is when we're out on the water." Brandy was talking to Chuck next to me, and I couldn't help but overhear, "Maria just doesn't want to come with us. She wants to stay home and take care of the house and take care of Lena and Tina. I think she's afraid of the seas after watching that TV program about those Alaskan crab fishermen." Chuck asked, "Should I talk to her? Try to convince her to come along?" "She might listen to you, but the person she would probably listen to would be Juanita." Brandy leaned over and said to me, "Can you have Juanita talk to Maria. She's afraid the storms will be too much for her, and she's now talking about staying home. We all want her to come with us. We've been planning on her going. All of her clothes are already on the boat." "Sure," I said, "I'll talk to her and get Juanita to talk to her too. Let me get Nita now, we're going to be leaving pretty soon. The bus you chartered should be here in less than an hour." I found Juanita helping the kids get the last of their stuff together. When I told her about Maria, she said, "Let me talk to her, Steve. She's told me a couple of times how she's looking forward to seeing Italy and the Vatican. She said she wants to see Ireland, too." Nita went to find Maria and when I got back to the patio, Maria and Nita had Chuck over on one of the couches. Maria was hugging Chuck and smiling, so I guess that is a good sign. A few minutes later, Juanita came to me and said, "She really wanted to go but was afraid of the ocean. Chuck assured her she would be fine, and I told her how we had been in a bad storm before and we all sort of enjoyed it. She's coming." Chuck got all of his people together so they could go get the last of their luggage. They left for their house in two carts. Glenda and Martin had come to the patio this morning with a pull along piece of luggage. Glenda said it was the little toiletries they would need. All of their clothes were already on the boat. You could tell Martin was nervous. This would be the first time the couple had been away from the park in decades. I helped clean up from breakfast, but Nancy and Susan were trying to chase me out of the kitchen. Susan said, "You just get yourself ready to go. Help get the kids out of their rooms and ready to get on the bus. They're all a little crazy with excitement right now." The small bags with each kid's special stuff were out in the hallway, so I began hauling them out to the yard to load on the bus. Bonita was making trip after trip, until I asked her, "What all are you taking, Bonita?" "I'm taking my guitars, and my music. I have my new violin and all of the video lessons I'm supposed to practice. You know, Daddy, I have a lot of things to take." "Violin?" I asked, "When did you begin playing the violin?" "When I heard all that beautiful Mozart and Beethoven music. I heard that country guy, Charlie Daniels, and I want to play like that too. I need to know how to play all kinds of instruments, not just the guitar and piano." I was standing there, scratching my head. "How does stuff like that happen and I don't know about it?" I thought to myself. There was a steady stream of kids finishing getting what they wanted to take, then heading out to wait for the bus. Mickey came with her little suitcase and gave me a quick kiss on the way by. Juanita had a silly grin on her face as she passed by, so I went into the bedroom to see what was going on. Sue and Mercy were holding some funny looking toys and discussing what to take. I asked, "Do you guys think I'm going to break down and you need some backup?" Mercy turned toward me, blushing, "We use these with each other, you know, we like to play with each other, and we were trying to decide which ones will be the most fun to ah, ah, use when we play with Chuck's girls." Sue was grinning her crooked grin, "Perhaps we'll let him watch one time. That'll let him know what we do and why these are important." As she zipped up her small case, Kathy said, "Those two are probably the horniest two women on the face of the earth. I swear they could play twenty-four hours a day and still be ready for more." As Kathy was leaving, Mercy said, "Yeah, but you sure are in the middle of things when they heat up. Take that big one, Sue; that's Kathy's favorite." I grabbed my bag and the gun case I wanted to take along. Chuck has a huge arsenal on board, but I wanted to have what I liked if something came up. I'm sure we wouldn't need anything for the trip. The last time we went over there, there wasn't even a hint of trouble. As I left the room, I said, "Better hurry, that bus is going to be here any minute." The two girls were zipping up their bags as I said that, and both said together, "We're coming." Then Sue giggled and whispered, "Not yet but we're going to come a lot on this trip." The two girls really began giggling then. A big bus was parking in front of the yard at that moment. The driver got out and opened the luggage compartment doors for all of our bags and last minute items. Two carts came up to the side of the house with all of Chuck's people on them. Wanda and John were with them, and I remembered that they wanted to go over with us, but were going to fly back from the Riviera so they would be back at least two weeks earlier than we would. They brought all of their last minute bags with them and loaded them onto the bus, then Chuck came over to me and said, "Man, I am like a kid. I'm so excited that I have to pee every fifteen minutes. This is going to be really something." Dewey, Sheila, Sheena, and kids all came out the patio door and began loading their stuff onto the bus. The kids were all being giddy and nuts because of the excitement. As people finished putting their stuff in the luggage area of the bus, they began finding seats inside. Tiny called me back into the patio, and as Chuck walked in, he waved us over. Tiny said, "Come and let me give you two a toast." He poured from one of our special bottles, said 'good luck' to us and we chugged our toast. I was happy to go, but always felt bad leaving such a good friend behind. Soon there was only Chuck, me, and the bus driver outside the bus, with Tiny and Ruth standing there to wish us goodbye. I climbed up on the bus and said, "Everyone look around to make sure everyone who is supposed to be going is on the bus. I see all my kids and all of Dewey's, so that's taken care of, but are all the adults here?" After everyone looked at each other back and forth, Sue said, "I think everyone is here." Brandy said, "Even Maria. We're all glad she's coming with us." I took a deep breath and told the driver, "Let's do it." He closed the door and I sat on one of the front seats, next to Kathy. As soon as we cleared the front gate, I asked her, "So, when did Bonita begin violin lessons?" Kathy kind of chuckled, "That was last week. She told me she wanted to learn to play the violin. When I told her that it might be more difficult than she thought, she said, "Mrs. Carnahan has been showing me how to play and is going to let me use hers on our boat trip. She also found a whole bunch of music and some videos for me to learn with." "Steve," Kathy said, "Bonita showed me what she had learned already and she played scales for me naming each note and telling me the differences on where her fingers were going. She was playing four complete octaves. I didn't even know there was that kind of range on a violin. I'm telling you, Bonita is going to need some special tutoring soon. I don't know what will be the right thing to do, but I don't want to waste that talent." "Amazing," I said, with a shake of my head. "It's hard to believe how fast she learns instruments. I've watched her teaching the other kids how to play the guitar, and I was watching her teach Trixie beginning piano. Dixie told me that Bonita is teaching her too, so when does she have time to play like a kid? I know she likes the motocross, and she does go play ball sometimes, but does she have enough play time?" Kathy said, "To her, playing music is play time. Teaching the others is fun for her too, because she also gets to play. She doesn't watch much TV, and like you said, she does go play ball with the other kids all the time. I think watching her on this trip is going to be fun. This will give us a chance to observe her more than we normally do. It's also going to be even more fun for her since Chuck and Lisa are going to be with us." I just nodded thinking of how special this trip was going to be. Missy and Beth were behind us, and Beth said to me, "You need to get Chuck to take you down to his island off Costa Rica. That place is really something. The lady that gave Chuck the island, Julie, is really nice, but then you probably know that already. Talk to him about it and maybe you guys can go down there soon." I was almost laughing, so Sue asked me, "What's so funny?" "We haven't even sailed yet and Beth is talking about going down to Chuck's new place in Costa Rica. If this keeps up, we'll have to sell out to someone willing to keep track of the business." Sue said, "We could probably just about let our people run things if we wanted to. You, and all of us, can travel to wherever we want and get away with it. There's the Keys, Alaska, Hawaii, now Costa Rica, and anywhere in the whole world in one of our boats. You know we can do it anytime." "It is something to think about, isn't it? Traveling is fun, but I still enjoy being home and involved in the businesses. You know, we have a lot of people who depend on us. Our input is necessary." Sue said, "I know, but it would be nice to get away more often. Sailing is the most fun, but we do have the availability to fly anywhere we want. That's a good thing, and fast too. Sailing takes a while to get somewhere, but flying is really fast. It's like immediate gratification." I said, "Just think about it, we can fly down to Costa Rica in two and half hours, but it takes four days to sail there if we go straight through and don't anchor at night. I think that some of our trips will have to be by air just so we can get there and back quicker." Mercy said, "We need the time together on the boat too, though. When we sail, everything seems to go into slow motion and we all seem so happy and content. Maybe that's just me and my love of sailing, but it is so serene out on the water most of the time." "We'll just have to make more time for both sailing and flying to areas we want to visit," I said, smiling. "I'm sure we can get a group together to go almost anytime." At the yacht club, it took us a half-hour to haul everything from the bus to the boat. Our crews from the other boats had the covers off the sails and the main salon, with the generator already running and the shore connections released. Dewey and I were getting ready to board the boat when Dewey pointed at the boat's stern and said, "There's more than just the Lucky Lady written there." The words "Lucky Lady" were domed over another word in script. I was puzzled and asked Dewey, "What does Seraglio mean?" Dewey was chuckling, "That's a Turkish word for harem, the location or palace of the women of the harem. When did Chuck add that?" I said, "He must have had that done when the name was painted. This is the first I knew about it." As Dewey and I crossed the boarding ramp he said, "Considering the three of us and the amount of women on board, I suppose that is an appropriate name." I just grinned and nodded in agreement. I think every passenger was lined up at the railing when Chuck hollered to release the line up front, then repeated the command for the aft line. He slowly motored away from the slip, turning to head out the channel toward the gulf. As soon as we were in the channel, people began moving about, stowing the lines and preparing for the open sea. As we turned out into the gulf at nine in the morning, Chuck began raising sail in the order Dewey had instructed him. There was a crowd of people surrounding Chuck, watching him as he raised the sails. With a nice fifteen to twenty knot breeze from the northwest, the boat keeled a little, but picked up speed and was soon traveling at that magic twelve to fourteen knots. The sea was perfect, with only small swells raised by the slightly gusting breeze. We would be making the turn around Key West sometime in the middle of the night and heading out into the Atlantic. It would take thirteen to fourteen days to get to Ireland, depending on the weather, so we would be settling into a traveling routine pretty fast. The folks joining us in Ireland would have a nice sail to Italy as it would take about seven days. The trip back to the Riviera was two or three days, so everyone would get some good sailing time to relax and enjoy the trip. I was with Chuck and Dewey at the helm as they were discussing how to set everything up for whoever was sailing at night. Chuck thought he might want to stay outside on his watch unless it was raining or got real cold. Dewey felt the same, but did say, "That bridge area you have set up in there is first class. Everything is within reach, including video monitors of the key rigging points. It looks like one of the stations at NASA for the space shuttle." This was it, we were on our way. Chuck There was a large, heavy, weight on my gut. Something heavy was bouncing on me. "Get up, get up, we're leaving today." Frieda was sitting on my stomach, bouncing up and down. I said, "Better be careful or you'll shake those kids right out of there." "That'll never be a problem," Frieda grinned. "They were wrestling all night anyway. They're going to be night owls the way they like to move around at night. We'll have to work to get them to sleep at night." All of the girls were up and smiling, so I slid to the side of the bed and hopped to the bathroom for a shower. It's a good thing we had a huge shower room built, with so many shower heads pointing from each end, and overhead if you wanted, in addition to regular height shower heads. Everyone can get wet and wash at the same time. Surprisingly, we were in and out of the shower quick this morning. We all sort of cleaned up as we left. While the girls all went to their private rooms to finish dressing, I shaved, and dressed in the nice cedar lined combination closet/dressing room. I put my shaving stuff into the bag I was going to carry, along with my peg, my sports leg, and even my spare leg. I was going to be prepared if something happened to one of my leg. With the last of my stuff packed, I opened up my special armament suitcase and checked it out. The fifty, the 308, and the fold up MP5 were all there, along with enough ammo for the weapons. I had my armor vest and my field vest in the case too, so if I had to do anything, I could carry what I would need. Out in the kitchen, Taiying and Sing had coffee ready, but said that we would eat breakfast at the patio. All of our bags were by the door in the family room next to where the carts were parked. I suggested, "Let's go over and eat breakfast first, then we'll come back and pick up the bags and anything you might have forgotten." We loaded up into two carts and headed to Steve's. There was a party atmosphere, a real bon voyage party for those that were leaving. Lena and Tina were with us for breakfast, but had early days for school and at the hospital, so they gave everyone kisses and hugs before leaving. Brandy said to me, "You know Maria is thinking about staying here. She thinks she needs to stay to take care of Tina and Lena and she's saying something about bad weather. I tried to tell her that we really want her to come with us. I hope you don't mind, but I asked Steve if he would have Juanita talk to her." It wasn't fifteen minutes later that Juanita and Maria came to me and we sat on a couch to talk. Maria looked up at me, "I do want to go with you on your sailing trip, but I'm worried that Tina and Lena will need someone to help them, to take care of them. That's why I thought I should stay." I hugged Maria to me and said, "Maria, the girls are trying to make you a part of our family and really do want you to come with us. I want you to see the Vatican, and I know you'll love the Irish folks we're friends with. You know that Juanita would miss having her little sister along with her." Maria's eyes got big and she looked at Juanita, "Oh Nita, I would miss being with you too. I will go; I really don't want to miss the time with all of my big new family. This will be special because it will be like Nita's family and our family will be one. Even Mr. Dewey's family will be a part of us. I will go." Maria hugged me and teared up a little before she kissed me and turned to Juanita to give her a hug. "Thank you, Juanita, you are like a big sister to me. We will have a wonderful time." Brandy came over to confirm that our group was going to remain intact and left to huddle with Sue and Mercy about something else. Lisa came to me and said, "Do I perceive you have resolved Maria's hesitation to leave?" "Yeah," I said, "She's coming with us. She was just having a guilty conscience about leaving Lena and Tina alone." Lisa said, "They can take care of themselves, but I can already tell you, momma said she was going to make sure the house stayed in shape while we were gone. She'll watch out for the girls." I told Lisa, "From what I've seen, she's been taking Glenda's place with the food preparation a lot lately. I'm glad she's enjoying herself and becoming a part of the family." "You don't have to worry about her, Chuck, momma loves to cook and she loves to take care of people. This is a dream come true for her. She has so many new friends, and her girls are now a part of all of the activities here. Thank you for bringing her here; it was the best thing that's happened to her." I looked at my watch and said, "Let's get everyone together and get to the house and back with our bags. It's almost time for the bus. I'm getting excited." Lisa smiled at me and gave me a hug, "Me too, this is going to be a really special vacation." It didn't take long to gather the ladies and to head to the house. We piled all of our last minute small bags on the carts to take back to Steve's. While we were packing, Nightfox came in on his crutches, "Hey, Partner, have a good trip and keep in touch." I told Sam, "Make sure you see the doc when you're supposed to, and get well. When you start your physical therapy, make sure you do it religiously." "You don't have to worry about that," Nightfox said. "Maria is going to push me to stay healthy. The problem will be when it's time to go back to work." I suggested, "While you're recovering, check with Dennis while he's here, to see what kind of program you could get into that would support you and your new family if you didn't work for the Service. You know, it might be time for you to consider a different line of work." Sam almost hung his head, "Yeah, I know. I've thought about that a lot since Detroit, coming that close does make you think. You need to do some thinking on that same subject." Ignoring the comment, I made another suggestion, "You know you might check with Homeland Security to see if they need any Air Marshals. You're already a sworn Deputy, so you would qualify for that. There's a lot of traveling, but not a very high danger level." Nightfox smiled, "I might do that. I have a lot of thinking to do, don't I?" We shook hands and I went to tell Lisa to take her equipment case. I pulled mine from the closet, verified what was in it, and took it out to the golf cart. Brandy was being her usual 'Ms. in Charge' and making sure everyone had their bags loaded. It was time, so we rode back to Steve's and found the big bus being loaded. We stored our stuff in the luggage area of the bus and I watched as all those from our house began boarding the bus. I walked inside with Steve as Tiny waved us over and said, "Just the men for my toast." Tiny poured a shot of something for Steve, himself, and me, and raised his glass. "To a great trip that is fun, successful, and safe." We three downed our glasses. Oh my, that was some good scotch. Probably some single malt that should be in a safe. I shook Tiny's hand and promised him I would look after everyone. Sure hope I don't have to. Steve and I watched as what appeared to be the last people boarded the bus. We walked to the door and climbed up. Steve looked around and said, "Make sure everyone is accounted for. We're on our way. Sue, Mercy, Kathy, count the kids one more time." That got a laugh from everyone. Steve turned to the bus driver and said, "Head 'em out." At the yacht club, we unloaded all of the luggage and got it aboard and down to the various levels it was supposed to be on. As soon as the bus was stripped and checked, I talked to Steve's charter crew people who were standing by the lines. I asked one guy, "Is the generator on yet?" He said, "Already started and powering the boat. As soon as you start the engines, you'll see the lights flicker. The shore connections are all taken down; we're ready for you to cast off." I watched as Steve and Dewey lifted the boarding ramp and let it slide into its holder. While that was happening, I had the engine started and warming. Steve waved at me, so I yelled for the lines to be released back to us. Mercy was up front and Dewey was aft. Almost as if we were a military group, every person on board was lining the railing, waving at the people we were leaving on the dock. Putting the boat into gear was simple, but I had to take a big breath before doing it. We began moving from the slip. As soon as Dewey hollered we were clear of the slip, I began turning the big boat into the channel to head toward the gulf. Steve said something and I jumped. I didn't know he was right there with me. By the time we were clearing the end of the channel and heading into the gulf, Dewey, Mercy, Sue, Kathy, Juanita, Brandy, Freida, Nancy, and Lisa were all around the helm. They watched me as I began making sail. We all cheered when the two big mains were raised, then as I trimmed the rest of the sails, they all watched as each sheet of sail billowed out with the wind. I was smiling as I shut down the diesel engines and the boat became quiet, except for the snapping of the rigging and the sound of the water alongside the boat. Every person around the helm was quiet, listening. Even the others on the boat were silent, listening. We were all listening to the sounds of our vacation beginning. Almost as if by some signal, everyone on board began cheering. We were on our way. Before Another Beginning Primary Editing by Pepere Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead Last one through - Deenara2000 ------- The End ------- Posted: 2009-12-19 Last Modified: 2013-01-29 / 09:57:16 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------