Chapter 2

War creates ripples in your life. When you let the ripples become waves, the challenges start. When they go from simple swells to towering heights, you stand little chance of overcoming them. The key is to stop them before they resonate so much that your life is changed. At this point, I was living a calm exterior life using the same control I had when I left the battlefield. Within me, the waves were crashing every minute of the day and night. There was no peace any longer as the waves crashed and left me drowning inside, and they were my constant companion. The action of them was eating away at me with no way to release it.

The ol' man had steered clear of asking any more questions or making any more comments. We worked on painting all the rooms during the rest of his forced exile. It crossed my mind more than once that he was deposited into the house to search out what I was doing, so much so that I began locking everything about it in the gun safe.

His lack of loyalty created a distrust that wasn't just going to be pushed away because he said he went to bat for me this one time. No, Cal I was certain of; ol' Dad, that was another matter, and I would wait and see before allowing any more latitude.

He was summoned home five days afterwards, and I sat in the house all on my own again. Looking at the possessions I had destroyed on the bender had me realizing that I wasn't very bright. But what the hell, what was done was done.

I was working out a nightmare in the weight room that I kept in the garage when there was a knock at the door. I opened it and there stood Detective Jill Callis, gold shield around her neck, falling just below her large breasts, firearm strapped to her side.

"Hello Jill."

"Good morning Mr. Wilkerson." That sent the alarm bells going. No first name greeting.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Just passing by; thought I would give you an update." I saw her move her head up and down my bod. Not that I minded one bit mind you. It had been a very long time since I had any female company in those regards.

"Thanks," I returned the favor and looked her over. Damn, she was well-built.

"We have been in contact with everyone who knows them, and for now they have dropped off the face of the earth."

"Likely in a hole too deep and slimy to crawl out of for now."

"That may well be. We have forgotten to ask you if you might have an idea where they could be." That made me stop and wonder. Why ask me when she had to know I was seven thousand miles away? My paranoia, with having watched too many crime shows on television, told me that right or wrong, when leads just didn't pan out, they come back looking at the spouse or significant other. I was on the radar now. It maybe only Hollywood but it made sense to me at this point.

"I don't but I understand she is going into her third trimester, so she is going to have to find a hospital to deliver the baby in the future."

"Yes, Detective Mac Avoy thought about that too." Yep, they were no longer Robert and Jill but Detectives Callis and Mac Avoy.

I regretted showing them the weapons I had now; I was certain they would want to come and take them for testing if Buddy and she turned up dead. Oh well, water under the bridge as they say. Until then, they needed probable cause to seize them and that didn't exist without bodies.

"Great minds think alike."

I wondered about throwing dear ol' Dad and Mom under the bus and telling them about Dad's blow up and his suspicions of Mom knowing where they were. But for now I would leave that card yet to be played.

"Well, I'll be heading out then."

"Have a good morning Detective."

I waited until she left and then locked the place up tight and went for my run. As I was doing that I was thinking of how I would have to re-key the locks again since I had given Dad a key.

What the hell had I been thinking? Oh well, another move I should have my head examined for to go with a multitude of others that were in front of it. I'm a hell of an operator in the field, if I do say so myself, but not much of one on the home front. Way too damn trusting was what it was coming down to. And if I kept it up, I was certain it would bite me in the ass.

I got back from the run and went inside for a shower. Everything I wanted to do to the house was done. I hadn't heard from any of the attorneys, likely because there wasn't anything they had to report. And if my guess was right, I was going to have some form of surveillance from the police department since Buddy and the ex couldn't be found.

What the hell, Cal was retired and wanted to go fishing. So I might as well do that and let's see some damn city detective out in the woods keep tabs on me. I went over to Cal's and showed up without my box of doughnuts.

I knocked on the door and Cal called out, "Come on in."

"Where the hell are the doughnuts?" Was the first greeting out of his mouth.

"This ain't no time for doughnuts. Hell, it's time for lunch already."

"Then where the hell is my sandwich?"

"You only think about your stomach?"

"At my age, what the hell else is there?"

"Well, I thought we could go fishing and maybe play some out in the woods."

"Why would we play out in the woods, if we're going there to go fishing?"

"It seems I have moved up on the radar."

"What the hell does that mean?" Cal asked no doubt confused.

"Well, she and Buddy aren't to be found at the moment, and I got a visit from Detective Callis this morning, not Jill which is the name she told me to call her the other day."

"Are they are so stupid to think with all the money they took that they would be hiding in the local no-tell motel waiting to be found?"

"I don't have any idea, but I have this feeling they are going to take a hard look at me."

"That is just too damn sad not to be funny. They think you had something to do with them disappearing even though you were what, seven thousand miles away?"

"Well now they will think you did too. You're my co-conspirator," I grinned at him.

"Asshole," he spat out.

"Exactly, I thought it would be fun to show them assholes and elbows out in the woods for a week."

"You're a sick puppy."

"That means you don't like the idea?"

"Hell no! I'm a bit old to be traipsing all around the woods is all. But them thinking you and now me had anything to do with their disappearance is just plain stupid."

"Exactly, but I'm thinking the District Attorney has no idea about that and these two and maybe some more are off operating on their own."

"Damn, they mushroomed him?"

"Yep, kept in the dark and living with the shit they are feeding him."

"So what do you think we should do to have this little bunny run?"

"Why don't we go early tomorrow morning? We will take your old truck that you have in the garage. I doubt they have any tracking devices on it and then we will take them fishing with us."

"You think they have a tracking device on your truck?"

"Yes, I have used them in the field before. No reason they wouldn't."

"Okay, so after you hike them all over the woods, then what?" He laughed.

"I just want to exercise them some. If I had my choice I would run their asses into the ground, and they will think that Rambo has them out in the woods."

"You're one sick sadistic bastard."

"So you're up for it."

"Hell yes, I wouldn't miss this."

"So we will leave at four tomorrow morning."

"Okay, what do you want to bring?"

"Just bring the camping and fishing equipment along. I have enough toys at the house for the rest."

"You know how long it has been since I had any fun like this?"

"Nope, but I can guarantee you that only the two of us are going to think this is fun after we are done with it."

"You gonna leave them out in the woods?"

"All depends on how many of them there are."

"Count me in. I'll see you in the morning. Oh and stop for my damn doughnuts. They open at four."

"I don't want to let them know what is happening so you go and get the food, and I'll split the cost of it with you."

"You're on. Now go, we have things to do."

I hadn't mentioned to Cal that I had given Dad a key, but I was sure he knew. I mentally kicked myself again for being an idiot. So I called the same locksmith, and he re-keyed the house.

He joked that "There was a twenty percent discount if I re-keyed the house within the next thirty days."

"I like not to make the same mistake three times in a row."

"Yep, I've only been married and divorced twice now." I laughed with him.

He finished and was gone. I pulled all of my camping and fishing gear out of the house and garage then. I thought about taking a weapon with me but figured that if they had a traffic stop that it was better if I didn't have one.

At that time of the morning, a tail would be easy to spot if we took Cal's truck. And with us going so far out in the woods it would heighten their suspicions. Of course, letting me and Cal out there to lead them around playing 'see my cottontail' could be a hell of a lot of fun if it came to that.

I got everything loaded into my truck and headed out the next morning. I stopped and got the doughnuts along the way. I figured that they had a transponder, so they didn't need to be in line of sight with me now.

Once they lost that technological edge it would be a hell of a lot harder on them and swing the advantage to us. Cal's old truck would simply drive them nuts if they only had one car watching me. The truck itself was older than the hills but ran well, even if it didn't have a stereo worth a shit and only roll down the windows air-conditioning.

Of course I did pack some of my play toys for the woods and when I got to his place Cal had a bag sitting on the table too. No doubt he had a few fun items in there to add to the mix. Mine didn't have anything that was dangerous, but if you were going out to operate in the woods, it was always fun to have some toys.

I left my truck parked in his garage, and we took his out. I had seen some headlights on the road when I was going to Cal's, but that could have been anyone. I put the box of doughnuts in the front seat and the coffee in the custom cup holders he had added in. What the hell good is any vehicle without cup holders; it's just damn un American.

I was certain after about twenty miles that we had a tail. Cal looked back in the mirror and chuckled.

"Should we take them back through pothole hell?"

"Sadist," he laughed.

Pothole hell was one of the two ways into our fishing spot. The forest service had abandoned the road about ten years back and just let nature take its course. You could take the nice straight road which stopped about half a mile's hike from our spot, or you could take pothole hell and drive right up.

Of course you had better drive very slow and have a high enough clearance, or you were going to be one axle short at some point.

"You know those are our tax dollars they will be wasting."

"If they are operating on their own, why not help drive up the costs for screwing with me."

"Okay, but you are going to drive then. If you break my axle, you're buying a new one."

"Oh, ye of little faith, I am crushed."

"You didn't buy enough coffee. I still have two doughnuts left."

"Stop anywhere you want. We can fill up the tank, take a leak and get some more coffee. Just make sure when you get the coffee you get a large cup but fill it only halfway."

"Why?"

"Cause I want you to come running out of the place at full tilt or as close to it as you can, and I will speed off."

"You're thinking whoever is out there will be taking a leak then?"

"Hell yes. I can see him pissing his pants trying to get it back in and get in the car before we're out of sight." Cal was laughing so hard he was almost crying.

When he got control of himself, he said, "Remind me, never to screw with you."

We got off at the next exit and pulled up at the gas station with a mini mart. We both went inside and I took a leak while Cal went over to get the coffee. He put the coffee on the counter, and I paid for it and seven dollars in the tank. Just enough time for whoever was following to keep me in sight to feel comfortable and get out to water the bushes.

I didn't see the light go on in the car that was down the road, but I thought he would be getting out soon. I finished with the gas pump, and before I put the handle back, I signaled Cal. Cal had pulled to the pump closest to the door so the distance wasn't that great but I put the handle to the pump away and Cal motored to the passenger side and jumped in. I was back in the driver's seat; and I gunned the truck, sped out on the street, tires squealing, and hit the ramp at about fifty and skedaddled onto the freeway, getting it almost up to what Cal thought the max was of sixty-five. He only thought it because the speedometer had broken a longtime ago and he never replaced it.

Cal looked back and didn't see any lights coming after us, so I figured that we had caught whoever flat-footed, likely with it hanging out in the wind. So I got off at the next off-ramp, crossed over the road and then pulled down just far enough to know we were hidden from a direct line of sight.

We sat there drinking our coffee and eating the doughnuts for a couple of minutes before a car went blazing down the freeway.

"You're a damn sadist."

"Hell, fuck with the best, die like the rest." I had waited until he had taken a drink of his coffee so when he started to laugh it came out his nose.

"Bastard," he shot out after he caught his breath.

"You need some Depends there too old-timer?"

"I'll old-timer you. Just wait sonny boy. Old age and treachery beats youth and inexperience every fucking time."

"So you think we should start up and head down the road now?"

"Remind me..." I cut him off.

"Yea, I know," and we both laughed again.

It took us almost half an hour to catch up to whoever had been following us. He had slowed down and was in the right hand lane talking on the cell phone when we drove past. Cal looked over and against my better judgment, smiled and waved as we passed him.

He could have pulled us over, but if he had pissed himself, he might not have been too happy to do that. So we drove what I figured was the speed limit until our turn-off, him following all the way and then hit pothole hell.

Since we had made him, he was right behind and just followed. He did that for about a third of a mile until he got the back tire stuck in one of the holes. I just kept driving along weaving back and forth for the next three miles. Then pulled up to our campsite and parked the truck.

"He has to be one pissed off guy right about now."

"Well, he should have more support and the right equipment if he wanted to come out to the woods, right Yogi." I said it in my best Boo Boo bear voice.

"You're one sick puppy."

"So how long do you think it will take them to find us?"

Hell, they don't have any better cell reception than they did the last time we were here. He is in for a long walk. Or he can use his unit's radio, but then he is letting the local's know he is up here."

"So he is screwed and tattooed any way he plays it."

"Oh, they are not going to be pleased one little bit. I can assure you of that."

"So we have time to put up the tent and see if we can kill some fish."

"Well, you can. I didn't have time to get a license yesterday, and I don't want to break any laws."

Cal was damn near pissing himself, he was laughing so hard. I got a case of them then and joined in. We snickered as we set up the tent and got the rest of it all squared away.

The Internet is a beautiful wonderful tool. We needed a backwoods permit to camp here, and you could get that. But a fishing license you had to go to the store and get. Oh well, so Cal went off to see if he could catch us dinner, and I walked over to the Rangers station and told them we were camping. I took the permit with me to show them.

"He wasn't too pleased that we had the truck back there, but since we had come in on an authorized but seldom used road, there wasn't anything he could do to make us leave. He did say it was lucky we had made it in when we did because some car had busted an axle coming in that way this morning, and it was still closed as they were trying to get the car out.

I laughed all the way to camp and when I got there, I got out my play toys. I didn't want to hurt anyone but just enough to aggravate them and let them know that they had better find other things to do than aggravate me.

After I had packed my supplies on the kitchen table, I spent the rest of the night breaking down all the weapons and cleaning them. I also took off every semi-automatic to automatic converter kit. It was a shame to toss them all away at the doughnut shop this morning, but the reality was that I was screwing with those who would do their best to do that to me when they had the chance.

I didn't think Matt Sullivan was part of this, and I had Charles there to help me out if it came to that. Plus they had no probable cause to come and search the house. With the weapons all cleaned and oiled, any fingerprints they might have left on them to show they had seen them before were gone.

Cal ended up catching three trout and we had dinner before the Ranger and Robert came walking into camp.

"Evening Ranger, Detective Mac Avoy."

"Hello, Mr. Wilkerson," the Ranger responded.

Mac Avoy didn't respond he just went off.

"What the hell was that little stunt this morning?"

"Cal, did you do any little stunt this morning?"

"Nope, we got up early to come here to camp and fish. No stunts in that."

"You know damn well what I mean," the Ranger looked at what was going on and decided he didn't want to be around. So he just went and made himself scarce.

"Did you have a problem with something, Detective Mac Avoy?" Cal asked.

"The two of you are not beyond me taking you back for questioning."

"Are we under arrest?"

"No."

"Good, then we were just about to start eating dinner. I think you know the way back?"

Cal and I sat down. We had actually finished but I wanted Mac Avoy gone. I knew he was going to be all the more pissed at this slap to his authority. But I was in no mood for him. I had been eating nothing but shit from everything associated with Buddy and the ex. Them looking at me to be involved in this was just more than I wanted to deal with. If they expected me to be pleased after everything I had been through, they were in for a rude awakening.

"So you think they are going to have someone keep an eye on us, since we know they're here?"

"I don't think they can afford not to. We already cost them a few grand, not counting whoever we pissed off with the gas station stunt. I figure they are going to want some payback."

"So you think they will be here at some point then?"

"If I had you pissing your pants, wouldn't you want some pay back?"

"Oh yes."

Then I suggest we think up some countermeasures we might like to deploy."

"What did you bring?"

"Just a little of this and a little of that."

"You are planning to go and see them though, right?"

I pulled out some latex gloves and Cal laughed. I figured they would want to come sneaking up during the middle of the night to work on some revenge. Both we and the truck would be the targets that I would go after if I were them.

So some fishing line at the obvious points of entry about mid shin and our empty beer cans with a few pebbles in them was enough to let me know what way they were coming. I set a twenty and fifteen foot perimeter around the truck, so I would know if that was where they planned to go. Some bb's in the cans at the fifteen foot marker would let me know if they had continued after the twenty foot warning.

It wasn't much but all I needed to do was to turn on the flashlights and call out who was there and they would likely hightail it and hide. That would just get them all the more pissed and set them coming directly at me.

Of course they would have left their car unguarded then. Cal dug around in his bag and found the skunk scent we wore on a patch when we went hunting. Once they left their cars, he would make sure they spent the rest of the night outside.

We would pack up our gear and the truck and move it at first light. I wasn't certain that we could keep them from finding it but Cal assured me that it wasn't worth more than sentimental value. Still, it would be a hell of a long walk home without it.

So we stoked up the fire and made some racket. Figuring that would keep them satisfied while we drank the beers and made our signal cans. That of course had us needing to take a leak every so often, and we just took a little more time to set the trip lines out.

It wasn't high tech and wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would piss them off enough that they would end up giving up and heading back. Could I be wrong? Sure, but the odds were in my favor for now.

Was it going to be the playing the woods game I had wanted? No, their cover was blown at the gas station, so I couldn't have a lot more fun, but I would at least keep myself and Cal entertained for our trouble.

Cal had had his share of beer, and I asked him if he wanted to stay and guard the camp instead of scenting the cars.

"I may have had a few extra ones but I will hold my end up."

"I never said you wouldn't Cal."

He was a little miffed for awhile but let it pass. It was about one in the morning when I told him it would be good for him to head out. I figured they would be coming anywhere between a half hour from now until to about four. I wanted him in place so when they left, he saw which cars were there and could do what we wanted done without risk of him being seen.

I was right. About two, the first set of cans signaled they were going for the truck. Then they set off the second set, and I hollered out and turned the flashlight on in the tent. They hightailed it out of there because I didn't see anyone. I stood out there for about ten minutes and flashed the light around enough to make them uncomfortable and admittedly egged them on.

I fussed around enough with some of the alarm cans, so they would think I set reset the alarm. The truck was now safe and if they came back, it would be after the camp. Most people have a tendency to protect their most valuable asset but not the others. I wasn't trained to be most people.

I pulled out one of the other surprises I hadn't show Cal. I had a compressed air canister boat horn. You could hear it over a mile away and when they came back this time, I was going to share it. I know that anyone close to us in the forest would be awake when I was done. And no doubt the Ranger would be around to investigate. That would be an end to their little search and destroy mission.