Chapter 7

"YOUR WIFE!?!" Lt. Jefferson was dumbfounded when Ann walked into the conversation. She was wearing her ninja suit, and it fit her like a second skin. All of the soldiers had trouble paying attention to duty. Even the sergeant was staring. Women in this day and age just did not walk around showing off their legs, even if they were completely covered by cloth.

I had a hell of a time not breaking out in laughter, but Ann couldn't help a little giggle. "Lieutenant, please relax. I have to dress like this if I am going to run around in the wild. I am not embarrassed, so don't you be."

"Well, Ma'am, you will have to admit it is a bit unusual to see a lady dressed the way you are. Much less, one carrying such a gun. May I see it?"

"I am very sorry, Lt. Jefferson, but I cannot do that. My husband has only made two of them, and we have to keep it under wraps until the patents are issued. We could lose our patent rights just by using them in your defense as we did today. You can't possibly know how arcane and foolish the patent office can be."

"Oh, well I can understand your problem. I and all of my men appreciate what you and your husband have done for us, today. We won't tell anybody about seeing the guns so that you can still keep them a secret until the patent people get down to business. Thank you, again, and I will make sure that my men understand that we have not seen you, today."

"Lieutenant, you are very sweet and understanding. Thank you so much." Ann leaned over and kissed the lieutenant on the cheek, and I thought that he was going to catch fire, he blushed so red. "Come husband, we must be leaving so that these men can forget that they ever saw us." Ann turned and blew a kiss to all of the men as we walked away.

"Ann, what stroke of genius made you come up with that patent story?"

"I don't know. It just occurred to me on the spur of the moment. It was a wild story, but it worked, so we better keep it in mind if we ever need it again."

Ann slipped her dress back on over her ninja suit, and we climbed into the carriage. She waved again to the soldiers as we passed them working on trying to repair the wagon. The two men who had been thrown from the wagon when the wheel broke were not in sight, so we never did find out how they fared.

We pulled into San Antonio late one afternoon, so the first item on our agenda was to find a hotel room. We found one without too much trouble and got settled in in time for me to take the carriage to a livery stable to try to sell it. I haggled a little bit for form's sake, but finally sold it for less than it was worth. I really didn't worry about it, since we didn't need the money. I did get what the horse was worth, so I guess that it was a successful negotiation.

We ate supper in the hotel restaurant, and let me tell you, it did not hold a candle to that Mexican restaurant in Laredo. The food didn't make us sick, but you can bet that we didn't plan to eat there again. Ann was dressed as a woman, so we could not visit any saloons together, and I was not that hard up for a drink, so we just went to our room and had fun with a long, long shower. I won't say that it was leisurely, though.

She washed mine and I washed hers and she washed mine and I washed hers, etc., etc., etc. For those who have not had the experience, I guess I should point out that it takes a little time for lubrication to accumulate in a well washed pussy and on a well washed cock. But we both spent the time necessary to remedy the situation. Thank God, but, also thank the Organization, for us not needing much sleep!

We were so recovered by the next morning that we were able to make a test run of the equipment. Yep, not a bit of wear showing on either side, so we were ready to hit the street.

This time, Ann dressed as a man so that we would not be hindered in our search for bad guys. We got up in time to visit a Mexican restaurant that was recommended as having the finest cuisine of its type in the whole town. Damn, if that wasn't true! Breakfast was delectable, and plenty hot enough for my pallet, though Ann did need to moderate hers a little. We figured that this was our restaurant of choice while in San Antonio.

We were walking down the street, taking in the sights, when my GPS bad guy signal went off with an itch I couldn't ignore, not that I wanted to. We were standing in front of a saloon that had just opened for business. I alerted Ann, and we went in to see what was causing all of the fuss.

Four men were sitting at a table swilling cheap beer like they expected it to go out of style. Since these were the only patrons, we knew that they had to be the ones who were triggering the GPS. The signal was so strong that I had to turn the device off; it was actually starting to distract me, and that could be fatal. We were not really ready to start drinking, but we wanted to justify our presence in the saloon, so Ann and I ordered Mexican beer—no point in completely ruining the day before it got up to a full head of steam.

We sat at a convenient table and made inane small talk while we used our augmented hearing to listen in on the bad guys. No wonder the GPS warning device was having a hissey, they were discussing a plan to hit the four banks in town simultaneously. Each one of the men was the leader of a gang of bank robbers, and they were trying an experiment. They figured that hitting the four banks at the same time and riding off in four different directions would so confuse the posses that they could easily get away. They planned to meet up later and divide the loot equally.

I had my doubts about an equal division of the loot. I could see treachery in the offing, but I was not worried about that right now. Ann and I each picked a man to follow. We planned to let the robberies go through if they could and follow our men to the rendezvous where we could take care of them all at one clip. Possibly, they would kill each other off and save us some work, but it made little difference to us, either way.

The men sat around talking and drinking beer for another hour before leaving to gather their gangs. We let them get out the door far enough to deflect suspicion before we followed. I had the meanest looking one as my target, no particular reason, it just made him easy to identify.

There was no subtlety here. My man rode his horse out of town to a camp situated in a convenient clump of trees. This was only about two miles out of town, so I had a brainstorm. I rushed back to town to our hotel room and changed into my ninja suit. Ann came in to do the same thing while I was changing. I picked up my pseudo-Winchester 73 and ran back to the camp before the outlaw leader had a chance to finish his first cup of coffee. I could run all day at 30 MPH without getting tired, so I was in good shape when I reached the camp.

The outlaws fooled around until about 1:00 PM. They broke camp and rode as a group into town. Every once in a while, the leader referred to his pocket watch. At 2:00 PM on the dot, the crooks dismounted in front of a bank, and four went inside while one stayed with the horses.

The crooks came back out within 15 minutes and mounted their horses. I had heard no disturbance from the bank, so the crooks must have really known their job. Each man who came out was carrying a heavy saddle bag, so I assumed that was the loot. They rode off at a brisk pace, but not something to attract more than idle attention.

I had been watching from a rooftop across the street, so I ran along the roofs keeping pace with the horses until I ran out of buildings and had to return to the ground. I was able to follow the horses from just inside the bushes off the trail. The were going about 15 MPH, so I had no trouble keeping up. They kept up this pace, branching off on side trails occasionally. I don't know whether this was to confuse pursuit or for some other reason, but they were never followed by a posse for their whole escape. I began to suspect some sort of collusion with the bank, but I could not be sure at this time.