The Quest
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 7
The next morning, he exercised, did his forms, ran, showered, and drove to Albuquerque. He arrived at the Army Surplus and walked to my smiling money friend. He left $5k with him to keep him smiling, and I got my remote communications and a drone the army bought but found didn’t perform well in the field. It was too fragile and didn’t withstand being thrown around in army vehicles. That explains why it’s in mine, along with four metal spike strips, ten military teargas grenades, and some more tranquilizer darts. He wanted to sell some claymores and real grenades, but I said there was too much cleanup required with those.
On the way home, it reinforced my need to get my pilot’s license. This drive is getting old quickly. No other options were available other than flying a plane. It was almost a necessity to live in God’s country. Chad unloaded his purchases, grabbed a quick bite, and set traps. Arriving at the back fence, he put a spike strip 15 feet inside the fence, then again at 100 feet, and the last at the beginning of the trail through the woods. He tied trip wires to two teargas grenades just before the first-man trap.
He hoped the spike strips would force them on foot and into the mantraps. Great plan if it works as it should, and I started laughing while driving back, thinking about the fuckers on foot in the middle of nowhere. They would be pissed enough to go on foot, wanting to kill me. The cameras should be here tomorrow, so I’ll be ready for them the day after tomorrow. He ate dinner, then played with the tablet till he fell asleep.
Waking up, Chad did his exercises and forms, then ran, returning for a shower and breakfast. Then he loaded up the mule and took off for the back fence. He installed the driveway sensor and then ran the wire to the transmitter. Then he dug a small hole to hold the walkie-talkie and batteries for the small solar panel on the fence post. I punctured a small hole in the Rubbermaid container so the antenna could go through, and covered it up. Only the antenna was showing, and he tested it and then returned home. Hooking up the base unit, it was ready. The mail should arrive soon, so he ate lunch and went to the post office.
Chad had them hold his packages there instead of leaving them at the gate. He had the cameras installed by dinner time and was ready. Now it was waiting for them to try to break in. I’m getting pretty good with the tablet and thinking of some apps he could use. I’ve been checking the news and haven’t seen anything about James Harrison or an FBI agent being hurt. He knew James survived the knock on the head, but they may have committed him if it knocked a screw loose. Chad can see him claiming he’s a secret agent, and they put him in a mental ward. Just as he was ready to go to bed, the alarm rang.
He put on his camos, ran to the pole barn, loaded his gear, and drove the mule to the perch. Chad had just reached his perch when the lead truck hit the first spike strip. He got out, threw his gear in the second truck, and they took off. When the second truck hit the second spike strip, there was a lot of yelling. One of the men wanted to turn around, but he was outvoted. So, they were all in one truck when they hit the 3rd spike strip. Now they were all pissed, grabbed what they could carry, and entered the trail on foot. They all fell into the mantrap when they tripped the tear gas.
Chad waited for the gas to dissipate, then quietly walked up to the opening and listened to their conversation. One was in much pain, and the others debated what to do. One said we should wait for someone to come and play hurt, then kill the mother fucker when he helps us. We owe it to Tom, who isn’t going to make it. Chad knew they had at least two handguns, and he thought about what to do with them. When one said your son was trying to rob this sob, we agreed to help take care of him.
Now we’re here in a fucking hole and probably not going to make it out. The thief’s father said we all made money from my son’s work and what we did together. So don’t get all high and mighty now. You agreed to help hell, and my son gave us five profitable jobs last year. He did the small stuff himself, and we made money, too. You agreed to help, and he was getting pissed. A gun went off, then another five shots, and it was quiet.
Looking over the edge of the man trap, Chad saw they were all dead. So, he returned to the pole barn, got a ladder and tarp, and then drove the F150 back. He loaded them up in the back of the F-150 and drove until I was twenty miles out of town. Turning off the highway, Chad put it in 4-wheel drive, dumped them in a ravine after stripping them, drove home, and went to bed.
Chad woke up the next morning, did his exercises and forms, then ran, returning for a shower and breakfast. Then he looked up the law on abandoned vehicles and looked up all three men. They were all single, so he thought the winner of the war got the spoils. Chad took pictures of the vehicles, rented a trailer, moved all three to the pole barn, and waited for the legal process to play out. He had to post a notice in the paper once a month for three months, file paperwork with the Department of Motor Vehicles after 90 days, and provide proof of notice. He sent certified letters to the registered owners’ addresses and waited.
After fixing my fence, cleaning up, and resetting the man trap, Chad continued my grid search of the mountain three mornings a week. In the afternoons, he worked on his hacking skills and the tablet. The tablet was fun to play with, and he made several programs for fun. One program he developed could clone a nearby computer or phone, and that’s how I found special agent Andrea Taylor. More on that later, and the other two days he spent in the lab.
Getting an idea was how my new lab project happened. Chad took a dart, analyzed the drugs used, and started playing with it. He wanted to develop a drug that would put someone to sleep but put them in a suggestive state to speak and answer questions. Balancing my time kept me from becoming obsessed with one thing.
Weekends were for flying, yard and farm sales, community events, and socializing. That was one area I’ve been neglecting. Oh, and searching for horses for the barn. Chad decided on Stock Quarter Horses and spent some time in the evening researching and looking at what was for sale. He searched the grids around the metal debris field, found six larger pieces, and put them in the cave with the rest. Feeling that was the most he could recover, he reduced his searching to a couple of times a week and continued looking for all the exciting rocks and minerals.
After completing my online ground school, Chad found a retired pilot to provide me with flight training in his single-engine Cessna. He passed his flight test last week up in Albuquerque. Bud, my retired instructor pilot, said he had a friend in town with a plane for sale if you want to take a look. We went to see it after I passed my flight test, and it needed a lot of work. His friend had a stroke and had to give up flying. It was in great shape, except the motor required a major overhaul. He agreed to buy it but needed a week to get the money together, so he would return next weekend to complete the sale.
Chad wanted Bud and his friend to think he was getting a loan for the plane. Keeping a low profile and not flashing money around was necessary. Even with the cost of the engine overhaul, it was a good deal. And as Bud said, since there are no plane rentals around Alamogordo, I would have to drive to Albuquerque to rent one. It defeats the purpose of learning to fly.
We landed late Friday afternoon, and I thanked Bud, gave him money for fuel and flight time, and drove home. Pulling into the pole barn, Chad locked the overhead door and went to the gym. He stripped off his clothes and worked out on the heavy bags. He’s been doing these three nights a week before dinner. Chad found out it was a great stress release, cleared his mind, and had a great workout. Gathering his clothes, he walked to the house, showered, and ate dinner. He had taken up going nude while at home and found it relaxing not to be restricted by clothes. After dinner, He spent time programming his tablet and headed to bed.
Waking up Saturday morning, I did my exercises and forms, then ran and returned for my shower. Chad dressed, went to town for breakfast, and read the local paper. He saw two yard sales and a needlepoint class at the high school. The yard sales won, and the first was a bunch of crap, but the second was interesting. The wife had everything male for sale. He bought the gun safe for $500 unopened. She didn’t have the combination, so she sold it unopened. Three guys helped me load up, a little pissed they missed it.
She said to stop by tomorrow, and I will have more set out and left to help another customer. Chad used his ability to move things to get the safe off the truck. The son of a bitch was heavy, but he managed to get it off the truck. It had a dial, so opening it was easy. Looking inside, he knew her husband would be pissed and go after whoever had it. Moving it into the corner out of the way was an adventure, but he got it done.
Chad spent the rest of the day programming for the tablet. While eating dinner, he checked out Horse.net, looking for auctions in the area. A promising one was for the week from Friday in Tucson, Arizona. He could drive to that one in less than 4 hours, then turn off the computer and go to sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, Chad went to the yard sale and pulled up to her house. She came out, hopped in my truck, and said Drive. We drove up to the 24-hour storage, and she got out and entered the code. They drove through the gate, and she said to go to space D24. We stopped at D24 and parked. There was a nice aluminum horse trailer with a sleeping or dressing area and a tack room. She asked me to hook it up and pull it home for her.
On the way back, she told me about her husband going to Cabo with his girlfriend for a 3-day weekend. She found out when the credit card company called about changes to the card in Mexico. She canceled the card and asked for a new card to be mailed. Hubby was supposed to be fishing at Elephant Butte Reservoir, so she used the Find My Phone app and found him in Cabo.
Chad asked how much she wanted for the trailer, and she said $10k. He told her he would buy it if we could find a notary to witness the transfer. He drove home to pick up the cash, then to a mailbox store. She pulled in right after me, and we went inside together. They notarized the transfer, and he gave Sally Deming $10k in cash. She hugged me and kissed my cheek, then left.
Chad drove home, ran my tracking wand all over the trailer, and found two tracking devices. The first was under the bumper, and the second was behind a fake wall in the sleeping area, along with a shit load of cash. Chad removed them and rode his Harley to the truck stop, putting them on a truck heading east, then returned home. For now, Chad backed the horse trailer into the barn and parked the truck in the pole barn. Sally’s husband was doing something highly illegal.
When he gets home and finds all of his shit gone, and his trailer too, he’ll shit. No way this was his money. That means he will be a walking dead man. The hunt for Sally will start immediately, so he hoped she would hide well. He took the cash from the trailer and safe to the cave and put it in my vault. He spent the rest of the day working on his sleep formula. He found two drugs that look promising and are awaiting delivery on Monday. Heading home, he was looking forward to the coming week. Transfer the title on the trailer, then the drugs arrive, and finalize the plane sale. It will be a good week. After dinner, he worked on his tablet programming until falling asleep.
After breakfast, Chad gathered the horse trailer paperwork on Monday morning, headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and grabbed a number from the ticket dispenser. He convinced the clerk to enter restricted access to inquiries and change the previous owner’s last name to Heming. The way she is sitting, he can see her monitor, so he has her change the street name of the previous owner from Ash to Walnut. He paid the transfer fee, got his new license plates, and left. Government buildings give him the creeps, and he went to the coffee shop to practice with his tablet. Plugging in the portable storage drive, he searched nearby devices, copying photos, emails, and texts.
When he finished, Chad headed home to see what he’d got. Oh my god, these girls or young ladies have dirty minds. So prim and adequately dressed, no one would suspect her of texting her friend about how unsatisfying sex is with her husband. She complains we barely got started, and he cums, saying that was great, honey, rolls over, and falls asleep. Her friend replies You need to get a toy or a stud fast because your husband is a dud. She deserves her husband, as they are both alike.
The two drugs arrived, and he read up on interactions and effects and made two samples to try on my next intruders or attackers. The evening workouts have become very interesting as he ramped up intensity and speed. It seems the adrenaline flows by the end. The rest of the week went by quickly. Friday finally arrived, and he drove to Albuquerque with a bank check for the plane. The previous owner is delighted to get it sold and the money in the bank. Chad gave the airport repair shop a deposit to rebuild the engine and update the instruments.
It would be ready in 3 weeks, so he drove home looking forward to flying the next trip. Bud said if Albuquerque was going to be a frequently visited spot, get an airport car. Something that runs great and is cheap. Drive while you’re there and find a safe place to park it. It will pay for itself in the long run. Chad thought about what he said as he drove home, and it made sense. He pulled into the pole barn, locked up, and went to the gym. Chad stripped off his clothes and went into attack mode on three hanging bags, and 30 minutes later, he was standing in the shower, feeling great as the hot water relaxed his muscles. He got out, fixed dinner, and then went to bed.