Chapter 20

Chris continues the Narrative:

We four were up early the next morning, Friday the 19th, after about ten hours of sleep. Following the breakfast that Carry and I had made, we started on cleaning our weapons and working clothes in addition to returning the items that dad had lent us. We really hadn’t needed the silenced pistols or the radios on this job, and would have never used the night vision equipment if we had been carrying it, since none of those items had been necessary on this particular job, but it had been good to have them available in case we had needed them.

At this time, we also began to consider other things. Foremost in our minds was the help that we had received from the Agency ... actually a lot of help that we had received from them and for which we were now indebted to them.

“The Agency, but more specifically ‘the Family’, is going to want something in return from us for all of the help that they gave us the last two days,” I told the others, as we were cleaning our weapons.

“Yes, they didn’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, and I can believe that they will start pushing us harder to join ‘the Family’. I’m not ready to join them, and don’t believe that I ever will be,” Carry told us in an assertive voice.

“No, me neither, but they are sneaky and will continue pushing us about it,” I reminded her.

“From what we have seen of them, we aren’t interested in joining them either,” Roy added with a head-shake in agreement from Chuck.

“What can we do then?” Carry asked.

“Maintaining a unified front is about all until we can figure out how to escape their clutches,” I told the others, before turning the discussion to a different and more interesting topic following that.

“How long do we need to keep these Quitclaim Deeds hidden?” I asked.

“Several months at least,” Roy told us before asking, “When does the county collect the tax on real estate?”

“I believe that I have heard dad say that ours was due by the first of November,” I told him.

“Since this is only January, that will give us plenty of time until the taxes on the land are due, plus you are going to have to pay a tax when you file the Quitclaim Deeds, but it shouldn’t be all that much since the sale price for both pieces of land was around $450,” Roy told us with a grin.

“How are we going to get back to Virginia? Are we going to fly back and owe them for that too?” Carry asked in an unhappy voice.

“Definitely not!” I told her, “We can rent something and drive back.”

“A Suburban,” both Chuck and Roy suggested.

“Why that?” Carry asked.

“They’re big and comfortable, and we have all of our baggage to take with us,” the guys reminded us.

“We are going to need to go into the Agency’s office here to file our Agents reports. Maybe we should return their Suburban then and rent the one for the return to Virginia while we are downtown,” I suggested.

“Is there anything else that we need to go over before we go down there?” Carry asked.

“It may seem obvious, but don’t mention any of the things that we did off the record like the money and the deeds,” Roy cautioned us.

“Don’t mention the ice cream parlor or dad’s help either,” Carry reminded all of us.

We left for Atlanta in our business clothes at around 0830 hrs and were in the Agency’s offices by about 0945 hrs. It required a good two hours to fill out our reports, and then to return the keys of the Suburban to the Agency people at the office. Last, we thanked Agent Irvine for all of the help that we had received here before leaving to rent a Suburban ... one that was any color but black.

“Can you stay for a few more days?” mom asked when we returned home.

“We really need to return to our jobs, but we can do that tomorrow. We’ll leave really early and should be back to our apartment by tomorrow night,” I told her.

The four of us spent most of the remainder of the day hanging out with dad and talking over what had happened at the estate. We also showed him the Quitclaim Deeds, and Roy explained about them. We left them with dad who would keep them in his vault while we were away.

We were up early again the next morning, Saturday the 20th, and prepared to leave following a big breakfast. The entire family was there to see us off, and while the guys and I were saying goodbye to dad and Bill Jr., Carry spent an emotional time saying goodbye to mom. It appeared that she was still hung up on that dream and afraid that mom was going to be killed. Mom assured her that there weren’t any ambushes scheduled and that her bubble was working just fine. Eventually, Carry appeared to believe her, and the rest of us got to say goodbye to mom.

The trip back to Virginia wasn’t very eventful. We stopped for fuel three times, and combined eating with two of the stops. We also switched off driving so that each of us did only a part of the driving on the trip. It was an enjoyable trip with all four of us in the same big comfortable vehicle. We arrived back at our apartments just before 1800 hrs. that evening. There was a note on the floor of each of our apartments when we opened the doors.

“You have an appointment with the Director of Operations at 0900 hrs on Monday, the 22nd of January,” both notes read.

“Well, at least he didn’t demand that we be there tomorrow,” Carry said when she brought her note over to our apartment.

“This means that we won’t be able to return the vehicle until after the meeting with the Director,” Roy reminded us.

“Yes, they aren’t open on Sundays, but we can get it cleaned up tomorrow and fueled up also,” I reminded the others. We had dinner shortly after that, and spent a quiet day Sunday watching a couple of playoff games, after working on cleaning the vehicle.

Monday, we were up early, worked out, and after breakfast put on our set of clean and unwrinkled business clothes to wear to our appointment with the Director of Operations. On arriving at the Agency’s compound, we were surprised by the friendly welcome that we received from the guards at the front gate and also at the entrance checkpoint of the administrative building.

That all ended when we stepped off of the elevator on the floor where the Director’s office was located. Ingrid was there to greet us.

“You certainly took your time returning, why didn’t you fly back?” she demanded in her usual brusque manner on seeing us.

“We had some personal business to take care of,” I told her in just as blunt a voice as she had used.

“The Director will see you now,” she told us after the few seconds it required for her to recover, and she led us down the hall to his office and knocked on the door.

“Come!” was heard through the door, and she opened it.

“The Atlanta crew is here, sir,” she told him.

“Send them in, and hold any calls or other business until we are finished,” Tony told her, as she opened the door all of the way, and the four of us walked into the office.

“Have a seat,” Tony directed, and we all sat on the sofa facing his desk again. Ingrid had departed and closed the door.

“You could have flown back on Friday?” Tony said, and it was a question and not a statement even though he hadn’t added ‘why didn’t you?’ to it. “The plane was there for you to use,” he finished.

“We figured that we owed you enough already, and we don’t like unpaid debts,” I told him.

“What we did for you was just an example of what members of ‘the Family’ can expect when working for us. Did you enjoy our little demonstration?” he asked in that butter smooth voice of his, that we had learned he only used when he was sure that he was in control of a situation. I took in a breath to answer him, but Carry beat me to it.

“We aren’t interested in joining ‘the Family’. We are only interested in our family and the families that we will create for ourselves,” she told him in a very forceful voice. Tony’s face changed from smiling to solemn on hearing this.

“We thought that you would be a bit more grateful for our help than that, but perhaps hoped would have been a better word,” he said in a disappointed voice.

“Oh, we are grateful for your help, and that is why we are here to make a deal with you and ‘the Family’,” I told him.

“What kind of deal?” he demanded but seemed more interested.

“The four of us will agree to work for the Agency for a period of three years, but don’t expect us to change our minds about joining ‘the Family’,” I told him, laying out the first part of what we had agreed to during the drive back up here. Tony looked disappointed on hearing my offer.

“Five years,” he said instantly in a voice didn’t sound like he was ready to bargain.

“Four years with an option for one year extensions for each of us,” I told him before adding, “we may want to start families after four years,” Tony sat there for several minutes considering our offer before sitting up in his chair.

“And if we don’t accept your offer?” he demanded in a somber voice.

“We will resign right now,” Carry told him in a serious voice.

“We have a lot invested in your training, and couldn’t allow that without some form of repayment,” Tony said in a harsher voice.

“And how would you stop us?” Roy asked entering the conversation. “Would you shoot us?” he finished with a grin.

“Do you actually think that you could stop us from leaving if we wished to?” I asked.

“Or keep us out if we decide to return to deal with some of you?” Carry asked, as she faded from sight right before his eyes. Tony appeared surprised on seeing this, but his surprise turned to shock a very few seconds later when Carry appeared beside him with her pistol pressed up against his head.

“How fast can you call your bubble up, or can you even do that?” she asked in a sexy voice. The shock on Tony’s face was something to see.

“How long can you stay in your bubble before you run out of air, and can you open the top or bottom to admit more air?” I asked with a smile.

“You can do that?” Tony asked in surprise but hadn’t moved.

“Yes, and we can also change the size and shape at will. We can pull it up before we are in danger and maintain it for as long as needed,” I told him before adding, “we can also maintain our invisibility while doing all of that.” Tony wasn’t looking well on hearing all of this, but he soon had a more thoughtful look on his face imagining what possibilities it would offer on missions.

“So what will it be Mister Director of Operations, will you accept our proposal, or should we just leave and return home for good?” I asked. Tony appeared even more shocked by this last.

“You would return to that farm and waste all of that talent, those abilities?” he asked in a voice full of shock and confusion.

“Why not?” Carry asked with the gun still pressed against his head. “We lived there previously with all of those abilities, and we could return there and live quite happily again. It would also allow us to be married and start our own family sooner. I can hardly wait to have a little girl to teach all that we have learned, and to watch her learn to use the talents and abilities that she or perhaps a he would have,” Carry told him in a wishful voice.

“But ... but the Agency has need of talents like yours. With the abilities that you have, we could tackle situations that were considered impossible before,” he said in a voice that betrayed just a bit of awe.

“So do you accept our offer of the four of us working for the Agency for a period of four years with a provision for individual extensions of one year after that time?” I asked to be sure of just what was being agreed to. Tony took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds before answering.

“All right, I agree to your proposal,” he said on opening his eyes and exhaling.

“We’ll expect you to have that in writing for us when we return. We need to return the vehicle that we rented to return here in,” I told him.

“All right, return in two hours, and I’ll have the agreement ready,” Tony agreed.

The three of us rose from the sofa, and Carry joined us from beside the desk, as we exited the office. No one tried to stop us as we left that floor or the building. The guys followed Carry and me in their trucks which had been parked here since last Thursday, as we drove off of the Agency’s compound to return the Suburban. There was a rental office not far from our apartments in the city.

The door had only been closed a few seconds when Tony turned around to look into the hidden camera behind his desk.

“You saw and heard everything?” he asked.