Chapter 29

Present – Liz and Bernie – At Leadville airport

Bernie has been so great and I'm so excited to start looking for a house, but there are some loose ends I need to deal with first so I inquire, "Honey, would you mind if we go to the cabin before we start looking for a house"

Bernie asks, "What do we need to do at the cabin?"

I reply, "I hate to say it but the twins leaving the wedding and then the cabin without letting me know has really irked me. I would like to clean up our old life by firing their asses before we start our new life."

Bernie agrees, "Yeah, that's great I really didn't really want them hanging around the house with us. Call me jealous but I want you all to myself."

I smile at Bernie and say, "That sounds great to me. I do have one question though, do you still want to have our wedding at the cabin?"

I can almost see the gears turning in his head as he pauses to think. Then he grins at me and says, "Liz, we don't have any idea when the cabin will be fixed and I don't want to wait that long to marry you and start a family. So why don't we see about having it in one of the churches in Leadville."

His answer surprises me because I hadn't really thought much about starting a family. In fact, until Jens 'fixed' (you all do remember that don't you) my problems I didn't worry about getting pregnant – wait a minute that made me think of something.

I scowl at Bernie and swear, "Shit Bernie, do you remember the last time I had my period?"

The gears begin to turn again in his head, he returns my scowl and says, "Damn Liz, I don't remember, you don't think you're..."

I interrupt, " ... yeah Bernie I might be! No wonder I've been so hungry - we need to stop by a drugstore and pick up a pregnancy test."

Bernie whistles, "Damn, we might need to move up the wedding."

I agree, "Yeah, unless you want a pregnant bride with a big stomach."

Bernie hugs me and comforts me when he says, "Liz, it won't matter to me."

I hug him back, we flag down a cab to take us first to a drugstore and then the cabin. And now we continue our discussion...

Present – Samantha – in Leadville.

I still can't believe that this fucking backwoods Sheriff arrested us and locked us in his jail! I was sorry to wake up Stacy but I was glad I was able to contact her because I knew she would fix things. The only good thing about the whole fiasco was that this jail was really nice and clean. I sat on the bed and waited for Stacy to show up...

Present – Jack, Masha and the children – On the C 130

Ivan wants to hold his baby sister Veronika so he sits in the seat across the aisle from me. I stand to hand Veronika to him and oh hell no! My back goes out, I begin to fall to the floor, stretch out the arm that's not around Veronika to break my fall and to keep me from crushing my daughter. My arm contacts the deck of the C130, twists the hell out of my back and pain shoots through my body. It's worth it because it forces me to land on the side where I'm holding my girl but I keep her from hitting the floor. However, it scares her so she begins to cry. Ivan also gets frightened, begins to cry and the noise from both wakes up Masha and she says...

I hear Veronika and Ivan begin to cry. They wake me up from such a wonderful nap so I ask without even opening my eyes, "Jack, what is wrong?"

Ivan screams which makes me snap my eyes open, "Papa almost fall on my baby sister Veronika!"

I look and see Jack lying on the floor of the airplane holding Veronika who is now screaming. I move beside Jack, touch him and ask, "Honey, what is wrong?"

Jack grimaces and replies, "Masha don't worry, Veronika is fine - she's just scared. Nothing to worry about since I just slipped and fell."

I give him 'my look' and warn, "Jack Reynolds, you know better than to lie to me. Now tell me the truth!"

Jack tries to hide things with a very fake chuckle and says, "Yeah, I guess I never could fool you. My back went out when I stood up to hand Veronika to Ivan."

Ivan interjects, "But Papa big hero, he hold out arm so he not hurt baby sister."

I carefully take Veronika from Jack, look at Ivan and ask, "My son, can you hold Veronika even though she is crying."

Ivan vigorously nods his head and assures me, "Yes Mama, I take good care of baby sister."

I step over Jack, put Veronika in Ivan's lap then he holds her close and begins to sing a Russian song to her. Veronika begins to settle down and I turn all my attention to Jack...

Present – Thom and Inga – Heading back to Leadville

I had no idea Inga was already on the C130 until the pilot told me. We hauled ass out to the plane, climbed inside using the back ramp and I couldn't believe what I saw: Inga was there, sitting on one of the crew's lap playing tonsil hockey with the bastard!

I walked up cleared my throat and growled, "Thanks a hell of a lot for letting me know you were here."

Inga paused her oral exploration of the crewman's mouth, looked at me, grinned and answered, "You're very fucking welcome."

She began her gross exploration again, and I order, "Inga we need to talk, there's a new mission for us."

She paused her search, grinned at me and shocked me when she announced, "Thom, I am thinking of transferring to this crew."

I sputtered, "But Inga, I need you."

Inga corrected me, "No Thom, you need someone who you can boss around and do your work for you. That used to be me but I'm tired of it."

I asked, "So what would it take for you to come back to my team?"

She grinned and answered, "Thom, you know what I want. Now you need to decide if you want the same thing. I will give you until we land in Leadville to make your decision."

Son of a bitch, she was being unreasonable! I had a hell of a decision to make and I bet Byron was laughing his ass off - wherever he was...

Present – Stacy – in Leadville at her building

Things are going to hell in a handbasket! First the Sheriff arrested Samantha over the report she did on the bodies, and now he, Glen and Hammer are here beating on the door of my building. To top it all off, Bill is missing.

I call over the intercom, "This is Stacy, what do you want Sheriff?"

He holds up a piece of paper and says, "I have a search warrant for this building. Now stop delaying and open the door for us."

I answer, "Us? You can't mean you're allowing Glen Donaldson and Hammer to help you conduct the search?"

I figure I have him over a barrel since he wants to use civilians but he shoots down my theory when he replies, "Why not? They are both official deputies of my department. Now either open this door or we will be forced to break it down."

I move over to the door, open it and Sheriff Jim, Glen and Hammer rush into the building. Sheriff Jim hands the search warrant to me and Glen demands...

Present – Glen, Hammer and Stacy – in Leadville at Stacy's building

Even though from the report that Samantha did, we could not tell where Stacy took the bodies, we still got a search warrant for her building and were duly appointed deputy sheriffs. She finally opened the damn door, we rushed in and I asked, "Aw reit missy whaur ur teh bodies ay mah guidwife an' Megan."

Stacy blinked a few times, looked to be in confusion and answered, "Glen, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hammer interrupted, "Glen jist gezz puckle minutes aloyn wi' 'er an' she will gab."

Stacy swore, "You sons of a bitches! That sounds like a threat to me so I'm calling my lawyers."