Chapter 39

Donte and I had discovered the control room for an enormous amount of surveillance equipment and disconnected everything we could and shut down the various drives recording activities of the many cameras. We now knew nothing could be sent out of the house.

Donte went to reconnect the internet to the house. I went into the kitchen and asked Wanda, "You guys have a pretty sophisticated alarm and home security system. Does the alarm company often send someone by?"

"Oh, yes. The man comes once a month and works on the system. He has to work downstairs near the laundry room, and does something upstairs. He says he has to check all the rooms and goes to all of them. He's usually here for most of the day."

I asked, "Do you pay him locally?"

"No Sir, he was paid directly by the owners. We'll have to find a new alarm company."

"Donte and I are having one of our security people come to check the system out, and we'll do some modifications to be sure that we are only taking care of the house and grounds."

Donte had heard Wanda mention the security system people went to a room near the laundry room downstairs, and immediately headed that way. We found the standard alarm system with all the normal connections and nothing strange. There was a data connection, but it appeared it was for some of the fancy alarm system apps, such as turning lights on and off through the internet and for checking locked or unlocked doors. Donte said that he would have the data security tech make sure that no extra information flowed from this system.

I showed Donte the gym and he asked if I had used it yet. I told him I had this morning. I showed him the remote that controlled a huge TV screen on the wall. We went back upstairs where I found Kini, and asked him where the girls had gone. He said, "Suda took them to a car dealership so the house can have a car. It isn't far, so they should be back soon if they are as fast there as you were last night."

I called Hideki. He answered me on the first ring, and asked how we liked the hotel. I gave him the story of what had happened and then told him that Jules made me buy a house on the beach. That's when I said, "You and Nobuko must come to see the house. It's beautiful and is similar to our home in California. There is plenty of room and will be perfect for you and Nobuko to often take a few days off for rest and relaxation. I'm calling to have your son stay with us instead of trying to go to that hotel. I know he'll be here Wednesday, and we can pick him up when he comes. We have a full staff here, Hideki, and we invited some who had been laid off to come back. We even have a Japanese cook who made some delicious sushi last night. Call your pilot and have him come and get you today. They can get an alternate set of pilots so they will be rested for a quick turnaround. It will be fun having you and your son here at the same time."

Hideki chuckled, and said, "I think Jules is telling Nobuko the same thing right now. Yes, we will probably be there late tonight."

That's taken care of, so I can go back to exploring the property.

The garage was a separate building that had living quarters above it. The garage would hold four cars and had a large area that appeared to be the fifth bay, but it was for landscaping equipment and a work bench for that function. I needed to check on that to see that the grounds were kept up. This homeowner stuff sure does require a lot of details.

I didn't bother looking at the living quarters over the garage and walked around the pool house toward the beach. The ocean air was very refreshing. I always enjoyed the sound of the water lapping at the shore, along with the various bird noises from those that frequent beaches near the water.

As I walked up to the house, I thought it would be neat if Mom and Dad could see this place. I'd bet Katie's mom and dad would like this as well. I called Jules to tell her about calling Hideki. She said, "I called Grandmother to ask her if Grandfather and she could come to see what you bought." "I made Katie call her mom and dad, and they can come. I called your mom and dad and they are coming. This will be so much fun. Oh, we bought two Cadillac Escalades that should be good for any domestic running around. Suda thinks we should get something like a Chrysler Town and Country for hauling groceries and other supplies around. We're on our way to a Chrysler dealership now."

I asked, "Did you call Nobuko back to ask if the folks can fly with them?"

"Of course, I did. Nobuko said she was excited to have both mothers with her for five hours to find out everything there is to know about Katie and you. This is going to be a really fun honeymoon, Brad. I promise you will enjoy it. You already got my cherry, and you're not getting my other one either now that I know the size of your monster."

There was a pause, and then a soft, "I love you, Brad. We are so blessed. We'll be home in a little while. Let me spend your money."

I didn't get a chance to ask 'What do you mean spend my money. How do you plan to do that?'

This was something I had to know, so I went to the master suite and brought my laptop and charger downstairs to the office off the 'big' room. I plugged everything in and hoped the Wi-Fi internet connection was working.

I was able to log into the bank and my account. I looked at the history for the last forty-eight hours and saw a balance of nearly ten million that had been whittled down by seven million in one swoop. There were a couple of minor charges, and then the two Escalades for near 70K each, and a charge for twenty-nine thousand popped up as I was going to log out. Where in the hell did I get ten million from? No one makes that kind of bread in that short of time even with an unbelievable trading day. I thought that I had most of my money playing with mutual funds in my secure account.

Not.

That account had a thousand dollars in it. That's it, nothing more.

I went to my conservative investment account and it had been stripped nearly bare.

Who wants to look desperation in the face, but I did because I saw the history of the past week. The girls had taken everything I had and put it into a deal that was just for us. They had manipulated the markets to a ridiculous payoff, and had built my meager funds into ten million. Now I knew what Jules had meant when she had told me that they built their joint holdings to almost fifty and Jules' and Hideki's account to well over five hundred million. How in the hell were we going to pay the taxes on those kind of gains?

I went into the 'big' room and was amazed at how Kini magically appeared to construct a proper drink. I was thinking food when a plate of sushi showed up in front of me. Kumi came out and told me, "That is some special delicious dolphin fish, what you call Mahi Mahi. I understand a woman of stature among Geishas will be here tonight. I want to show her how much I learned as I was taught by Geishas. They said that I should remain a cook and not become a Geisha because I had a special talent that was equally as important."

I told her with my smile, "Your special talent is your ability to prepare food fit for kings, Kumi. You will be able to prepare food for a very important Geisha later today. Nobuko will be here to spend a few days with us. You'll also prepare food for my parents and Katie's parents. Some of these people have just learned to enjoy the type of food you prepare for us."

That pleased the unusually tall Japanese woman who came and hugged me once again. The hug lasted longer and her lips touched my neck this time. This bears watching.

Donte came into the 'big' room and sat at the bar with me. He looked at me, and said, "You are a contradiction, Brad. You are so mild-mannered and calm all the time, but I saw you become angry at the hotel yesterday. Yori said that you have the ability to become very violent and aggressive if you're defending others. He told me how you saved him from being cut open, and then shooting someone who was going to shoot both of you. You just don't seem to be a person who will do that. Dai assures me that you will back me if we ever get into a jam."

The man had been sitting in a high bar chair, but was now on his feet pacing in front of me. "I'm really nervous about this place, Brad. I had an uneasy feeling that something was happening that might be out of our control when we landed last night. Dai called me to make sure I understood that Hideki, Nobuko, and the two sets of parents are on their way. The son, Yuu, has probably been advised he will be housed in this new place so he wouldn't be apprehensive about meeting so many new people.

Dai said he is bringing Michi with him, and Yuu has his own personal security for him and his wives. Nobuko and Yuu's wives always want to play with Hideki when they get together. Yuu only has two now, as one of his women passed away a year ago. Yuu is like Hideki, and has very beautiful wives he bought from Geisha houses. His first wife is Sora, and his second is Suzu. You should know that, because Yuu will invite your women to join him and will send Sora and Suzu to you with Nobuko when they are all here. Katie has not had Geisha training, so she may decline, but Jules will enjoy being with Yuu and Hideki."

Wild, these seemingly very reserved people had some really off the wall customs. Hideki is an old horn dog. Nobuko is enough to keep you up, that's for sure. I wondered if the women would all dress for everyone at the same time. I would enjoy that.

The girls came back to the house driving the three vehicles. They had let the limo and driver go back to his garage. I was happy that they bought white Escalades and a light blue Caravan. The entire house staff had to inspect and sit in them to enjoy the new car smell. The girls came in the house and went to the kitchen, while Donte and I were back in the bar area.

"Do you still feel uneasy about the house and property, Donte?"

My bodyguard told me, "I feel like I'm missing something. It isn't the house, and it probably should be, but our finding this place is too random to have been planned. This might have something to do with our general well-being and what might be happening in California. I called and asked Dai to send a couple of men to the house to watch what is going on there, as well as a man to the office to watch what's going on. Dai instructed he wants you to call your office in the morning to make sure they allow the man access throughout the facility. I may be way off on this, but Dai always says it's better to err on the side of caution than to ignore a feeling."

We were sitting in the 'big' room, when Donte said, "There, did you feel that? It was like someone was prying a can open and looking in on us. Let's take a look at the outside again."

The two of us went from the pool area, through the two cabanas, and then down to the beach. We decided to slowly stroll up the left side and moved along slowly so we wouldn't miss something in the brush along the way.

It's funny how two people can get the same feeling at the same instant. I stopped and backed up, and looked during a three hundred sixty degree turn. I didn't see anything out of place, and then Donte looked at me as if he didn't either. There was a van with some kind of dish pointed this way as we looked toward the roadway on the other side of the brick and block wall fence for this development. I brought my arm between the dish pointed at us and whatever it was focused on beyond.

My arm tingled, so whatever they were attempting was working to some degree. Donte repeated what I did and questioningly looked me. He asked, "What do you think it is?"

I said, "It could be some form of surveillance device, but it isn't aimed at the house. It's aimed out to the water. Let's keep walking and watch the road over there between the breaks in the trees and bushes."

Donte tapped my arm a little farther on, and motioned with his head. There was another van with a dish, but it was obviously pointed somewhere else. There was a little elevation to the angle the dish was pointing at as we tried to follow the angle's path. It seemed to be pointing to the second floor of the detached garage. Donte told me that we should go back toward the house. "Go get your gun and slip a sport coat on. Grab a couple of extra magazines just for fun. I'll take one when you get back."

I ran upstairs through the back way and grabbed my shoulder holster from my kit, slipped it on, and checked to be sure there was a round in the chamber. I rummaged in my kit and took two full magazines before I slipped a sport coat on. I went back out the way I came in so not to draw the girls' attention.

Donte was standing beside the door to the garage. I handed him the extra magazine and was going to push on, go into the garage, and up the stairs near that door. My protector touched my arm, and softly said, "We want to be quiet on our approach upstairs. We don't know whether or not there is someone up there. We don't know how dangerous they might be. We'll go in, but watch me and see how I climb the stairs. You slide your foot onto each step and raise yourself with an even pressure on each step. It keeps quiet the creaking and board movement from your weight. Let me go first; you watch my six."

Duh, it took me a couple of seconds to realize his six was his backside. I need to learn the jargon.

Donte completely turned the doorknob before very slowly pulling the door open. There was no sound. I turned the knob again to pull the latches completely clear once through, shut the door, and gently released the knob. We carefully listened before beginning to ascend the stairs in the exact manner Donte had instructed.

John Q. Average would never go up a stairway this way, and I would have run up the stairs challenging anyone's attempt to stop me. This was probably a hell of lot smarter.

Donte waited at the top of the stairs until I was next to him. He pointed to himself, the door, and then his eyes, and held up his hand for me to stay. I had this insane desire to bark like a dog.

The average person begins pulling or pushing on a door as he turns the knob. Donte pointed out there were no hinges on this side, so the door swung in, not out. He completely turned the knob before gently pushing to open the door. There was no sound, but you could feel air rushing past us. I suppose air didn't make that much noise, but there could be a sensation.

We both entered with our guns drawn and moved as silently as possible. The first room to the right was a small bedroom. To the left was a kitchen that also had a door to an open furnished living room. On the other side of the living room was a hallway that had doors on each side. The first door on the left was a closet with linens and cleaning supplies. The first door on the right was a bedroom with the sheets messed up. The next door to the left was a large bedroom, and there was evidence it had recently been occupied. The bed was rumpled and there were cigarette butts in an ashtray. The door on the other side of the hallway didn't want to open, so Donte gave it a hip bump and it popped open.

Son of a gun, four people, three women and a man, were looking at us with terrified faces. I told the four to be calm and to please not show any weapons. None of them seemed to understand. In very broken English, one said, "We escape, we seek help, protection, and asylum."

Donte looked at me and shook his head. Knowing that the usual answer for this kind of problem was 911 but I felt we should do something for them if they were related to the vans across the street.

I told Donte, I'm going to call the FBI and see what they think we should do. I'd really like someone to check those two vans out. I used my smart phone to find the number for the local FBI office. This was early afternoon on Sunday, so they didn't have a large staff on duty. I quietly spoke to the person working their information desk and was transferred to a duty Agent. I went through the whole scenario again until he finally said, "How about we do something with these people tomorrow?"

"No, I just bought this house and there are two vans with dishes on them aimed at my home. I want them out of here or I'm going to begin shooting them. My bodyguard and I are getting very jittery. You gave me your name, so I promise to use it when I file a report on your lack of assistance. Send a plain car and take these four people out of here. Have another two teams take those vans apart to see what they're doing. They are using some kind of powerful microwave or radio wave to possibly communicate with someone out at sea and to possibly gather information locally."

The man said, "I'll get right on it. Give me your number, and I'll call you with an update in fifteen to twenty minutes."

"That's not fast enough. Get the local police to take the two vans. I'll call 911 to get an officer out here to begin handling these non-English speaking people, and I'll call the three network TV stations to get some live coverage out here."

"Don't call the media. We'll be there right away. Don't do anything dumb."

"You haven't even asked for an address, so it's a foregone conclusion that you really aren't going to help"

"Please give me your address, and I'll have units out there as fast as I can."

The guy acted alarmed when I gave him the address. He stuttered a couple of times, then said, "I've sent two units your way and please don't shoot the people in the vans. The Bureau may have some explaining to do. Can you advise the guard at your main gate that two FBI units will be arriving in about five minutes?"