Chapter 32

I was exhausted and ended up sleeping soundly until seven. I wouldn’t have gotten up, but the girls were all making noise and trying to get Kissa and Fran into some sexy gowns to show off for me in front of the rest of the folks on the patio.

Only Dora noticed me sitting up while she was trying to convince the two new girls that this was a tradition. She came to me and said, “Go shower and shave so that you can give us all some kisses. You fell asleep on us while we were gabbing with the two new girls.”

I didn’t think anything of it and got up and headed for the bathroom. Kissa gasped, and put her hand to her mouth while fixated on Mr. Happy saying good morning. Fran laughed and said, “I’d be showing off too if I were a guy and all this pussy was standing around.”

That was perfect as all the other girls were laughing. Kissa just said, “It just surprised me, is all. I’m not used to a naked man with an erection walking around in front of me and not attacking me.”

Janet didn’t have a gown on yet and followed me into the shower. We did some light kissing but not enough to give her whisker burn. It was enough that she needed me to help with her personal itch and fire though. It wasn’t a long shower, or the other girls would have been in there with us if they had known we were having some fun.

I shaved while Janet dried off and brushed her thick platinum hair out. You knew that it was natural as her thick eyebrows were also pure white. I put jeans, boots, and a t-shirt on, while Janet put on a very sheer sexy gown. I wonder what Fran and Kissa decided on.

Dora handed me coffee as soon as I came out from the house and told me, “It’s good to see and be with you up here. When are you going to bring all your women down for me to show off the restaurants and the two dance clubs? I think we have rebuilt the business in both clubs now, but I don’t think we were ready to have the responsibilities double on us. We tried to bring investors who could assist in the on site management in, but they all wanted to just put in a little cash and get out a lot. The girls and I have agreed that any new partner was going to have to be management, as well. I think that Colette almost has enough to buy her way in. She wants to be a partner with us as much as she wants to continue being a partner with us at home. She doesn’t even have her own place any longer. She has been giving us about half our rent and leaves cash out for food all the time. She’ll make a good partner. You should have come in with us and been one of the partners. Just think of all the pussy you missed.”

I told her, “Look around, sweet sister. Check out my girls right here. I have five of the sexiest there are not counting Fran and Kissa. I know that Janet and Gin rival any in your club. Donna and Nikki are about as desirable as anyone could want, and Sheena is gorgeous with her perfect dark skin. Just look at her loving expression and you know that she’s special.

Dora chuckled and said, “They could all be making five to ten grand a week if they were working for me. They have all told me what their aspirations are, so I know I won’t be getting any of them. I suppose I could buy an airplane and interest Janet, but I think you might be her one and only. I wouldn’t want to mess with her open loving attitude. I can’t believe how she so easily accepted the other girls. You two may have a long future together. You actually may have a long future together with five.”

Chuck with his crowd of kids and women came in. Peaches came over to me, and asked, “Are you taking care of my Sheena? She’s acting mighty happy lately.” The older dark lady hugged me then Janet, and said, “You two sure take the cake the way you gather the ladies. You have two more that aren’t bedmates yet, but they already act like they belong. Can you afford a house like Chuck? You could get Brandy to help you design a place just for you, but remember where we meet and eat every day, right here.”

Sue had heard that and told Peaches, “Steve already said that he’d just add another 14 by 72 foot addition in order to keep Chuck with us. He’s determined to keep Chuck here no matter how many women he has. Some of what he’s thinking is from Mercy and Missy, but the man truly wants Chuck around.”

Tiny was fixing Bloody Marys, and I was about to get one when Donna brought me my phone. There were three calls from the charter desk.

I called the desk number, and said, “You called?”

“Thank goodness you called in. We have a G-V that decided to have a problem out in California. The customer is on their way to Hawaii, and we were subcontracting to Dewey’s service. Can you fly your G650 out there and on to Hawaii? Dewey will appreciate it, and you will get the full distance fees for the six people who will be on the plane. There will be food to be picked up out there, so you’ll need at least one hostess. I don’t know the passenger makeup, but this is a high roller who has used you to go to the Island Paradise before.”

This was something that I hadn’t planned on, but it could be done. I told the girl on the charter desk, “Have my 650 prepped, and I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

Janet was already at my side, and Fran was about two feet from me, looking into my eyes. I said to Janet, “That’s a fare from California to Hawaii with food and a hostess. I think the customer will get two hostesses. Let’s see if Sheena can fly with us, and Fran has to stay in my hip pocket. Sheena can teach Fran what to do. I suppose we could include Kissa to learn too, but that might overwhelm the customer.”

Janet said, “Let’s take Sheena and Fran today, and we’ll take Kissa and Fran next time. I’ll get Sheena to help Fran get ready. Let’s change into some nice clothes.”

I almost didn’t grab my shoulder holster when I was dressed in a nice knit shirt and slacks with a good sport coat. It’s not a problem with us being Deputy U.S. Marshals now. I didn’t use the shoulder holster and put my gun into a belt clip holster. I had the girls pack an overnight bag since we would probably have to stay over somewhere because of flight hours. Fran and I carried our equipment cases, and I also had my flight case with an extra shirt and toiletries.

We were at the airpark within that thirty minute time frame I had given. A tech was finished with the exterior check, and another one had the APU running. I checked with the charter desk to confirm the airport we were flying into, and filed a flight plan from the pilots’ room.

Janet assumed the co-pilot seat and I made sure the two other ladies were buckled and slid into the pilot’s seat. The left engine was spooled up as soon as I had the headset on, and we were moving toward the end of the runway. This worked very well with two people familiar with the aircraft and willing to do everything a step at a time.

The flight out to California wasn’t bad, with weather all the way to Hawaii looking pretty good. We landed at Burbank Airport and parked at the customer pickup area as directed. No one came out and I called the charter desk after fifteen minutes to get a local phone number. The customer’s cell number went straight to voicemail when I called. I called the home number, and it was answered by the customer’s housekeeper.

Not knowing what to do, I called my Agency contact to find out the best way to handle this. It took a while to explain everything, and he said that he had people scanning to find the family that was supposed to be here.

I was told that two of the youths’ phones showed their location as being between the airport and Hollywood a minute later. The phones were stationary at this time, and they were dispatching a local team to check on the location.

I was waiting for a response when my other cell phone rang. The call was from the Marshal Service and asked me what my status was. I described what was going on and was told a ransom demand had just been made to the man’s agent and he had immediately called the FBI.

It took a few seconds to get the attention of the Agency’s contact to tell them what I had just found out from the Marshal Service. They told me to respond to the Marshal Service for now and to keep them informed.

I turned to Fran and told her, “Get a rental car company to give us a car with GPS, and have it brought to the airplane.” I turned back to Janet, “Taxi the airplane to another parking location as soon as we’re out of here, so that this area can be used for other pickups.”

Fran was already changing into her BDUs, so I changed into mine in front of the two girls. I think they got the idea that Fran and I might be more than we appeared. Fran asked, “What do we need?”

I shook my head and said, “Who knows until we see what we’re up against. This isn’t like anything we’ve been on before, because this is domestic, not terrorist.

The GPS location for the two children’s phones was sent to us by a text message. I used those numbers to insert into the rental car’s GPS. It plotted streets and roads to get us exactly to where the numbers were. I worried the kidnappers had discovered the phones and had tossed them out. The two pre-teens were savvy enough to hide the phones on their person and go into hysterics to cover their intentions. They knew their parents had given them GPS phones so they couldn’t hide from them. It was very important they had them now and that they were active.

We drove past the house where the phones were located.

A Marshal Service van and an FBI event van that held six men with good weapons were just down the street. Two men from the Ops section of the Secret Service were there as they were the bird dogs who had located the kids’ phones.

I asked, “What’s the plan?”

The lead FBI guy said that he needed more intel to be sure the kidnapped people are in the house and also needed some kind of knowledge of other potential collateral damage that could occur if any of us were to attack. I asked where his observers were, and he said that he had not put any out yet.

I walked away instead of becoming vocal or visibly angry because they had been on site for nearly an hour and he hadn’t done anything yet. I had Fran get into the car with me and we drove to the house across the street from the house of interest. We carried our equipment cases with us and rang the doorbell. No one came to the door even after ringing the bell and pounding on the door. Fran pulled her pocket knife and performed the trick taught to us at the Deputy Academy. She picked the lock and opened the door.

We quickly went upstairs and looked out the windows at the house across the street to see what we could see. Faces appeared at two different windows in just a little over a minute. I wasn’t sure of what they were looking for, but it did give us an idea there may be several people there.

I told Fran, “We need a sniper from here, and maybe one from the house behind the one we need to get into. Someone is going to have to go into the house and surprise these people, probably from the rear. We don’t know where in the house the kidnapped people are, but they are probably on the second floor. They wouldn’t let them be on the main floor as it would give them too much of a chance to escape. Let’s see if there is as good a view from the back.”

We left and drove around the block to a house behind the house of interest and knocked on that door. An older man answered. I showed him my badge and told him, “We need to use your second floor windows to check on possible criminal behavior in the house behind yours. Are you willing to let us come in for that purpose?”

The man became excited, but I told him I would relocate him while this operation was underway. I asked him if he would show us the best windows to look at the house behind his. We went to the second floor and were shown some windows without curtains in a room that only had some old furniture stored in it. Fran and I closely watched and didn’t see anyone looking out the windows, but we did see movement within the house. We were looking into the kitchen and watched as one of the people inside made coffee.

I told Fran, “Let’s get this gentleman into the FBI van and find a couple of snipers. We can lessen the opposition by a couple of people if we place the snipers, and they will focus on being attacked from the front. I can gain access from the back and we can rush them. We will have eliminated most of the kidnappers before they realize we are attacking if we keep it quiet.”

Fran worried, “The kidnappers may have someone watching the family and could harm them when we attack. How do you prevent that?”

“I’ll enter the back and go upstairs where the family is probably being held. I’ll eliminate anyone guarding them, and then call to have the rest of the force clean the house out.”

I had made up my mind and the plan seemed viable. “Okay, let’s get two snipers, and I’ll go in with a quiet MP5. You cover my back while I go up the stairs.”

We drove to where the two vans had parked, and I told the FBI Agent in charge what was going to happen. He became very nervous and jerky, but I assured him this was the best and fastest way to recover the family. There were two Deputy U.S. Marshals who were familiar with the .308s we used, so I took them with us. We had one on the second floor of the home we had jimmied our way into, and took the other to the house in back. We would text them to begin and they would shoot any faces that appeared in the windows and at any movement in the kitchen at the back of the house. Fran and I would enter the house and I would go upstairs while Fran covered my back as I went up.

You know how it is with the best laid or made plans. I was ready to go through the back door after we had sent the text to ‘go’. It was unlocked, but there was a man in the kitchen who dropped a large cast iron frying pan full of hot grease on himself and two other men. I shot two and Fran accounted for the third.

We heard glass breaking in the front room, but no noises that indicated injuries. We slipped into the hallway and I went up the stairs with Fran being the vigilant one watching my back. A man appeared at the top of the stairs that I immediately reacted to and shot him, and kept going up although he rolled down the stairs by me. Another man was sitting in a chair by a door, and looked up as I came into view. He couldn’t get his pistol into his hand fast enough and died as he grasped the handle of an older .45.

I turned the door knob and pushed the door open. Several rounds flew through the doorway from the room, but I was crouched down on the side of the door and not at the level the man was firing. I swung around the door entrance and did a triple on the guy’s head when I heard the slide of his pistol lock back. The parents and the four kids were tied up with duct tape over their mouths. I used my phone and texted to all the phones I had numbers for, ‘Parents and kids alive and well. Come in and clean the place.’

I hollered to Fran, “I called the men in, so find a place to be safe or come up here.”

I heard Fran’s feet hit the stairs on the way up, so I stepped to the door to make sure that it was her and waved her to me. I texted that the family was safe again, and that two neutralized troops were on the second floor with no living adversaries remaining.

The FBI and Deputy Marshals crashed into the house and swept it from top to bottom. Fran and I had untied the parents and kids, and had them sitting together so they could comfort each other. The FBI Agent in charge said they would take care of the people who had been kidnapped.

The man stood and said, “I’ve paid for a private aircraft to fly my family to Hawaii for a family vacation. Our clothes are still in our car, so take us to our car and let us get out of here. Please let us have this vacation. These men chose us because my last movie released was such a big hit and they figured that I would have a lot of cash. What they didn’t know was that I had just sunk most of what I’m worth into a big budget film that I hope will out-produce the last one.”

The FBI Agent wanted to keep everyone in order to get statements and to build his incident file. I told the Agent, “My boss said for me to get these people out of here, so I’m going to do that. Have your men in Hawaii get more statements for you If you need them. Let’s get these people into a relaxed and safe environment.”

I ushered the family to the car we had rented and told them we would take them to their car or to the airport. The guy pointed at a Mercedes SUV in the driveway and said, “That’s our car. Let me check if our clothes are still in the back. He went to the car and popped the rear. The clothes were still there. The key fob was in the console tray, so the man said, “We’re on the way to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. We sincerely thank you.”

I waved as he took off. Fran and I didn’t even say goodbye to the others on site. We recovered our .308s before rapidly driving to the airport with Fran calling Janet to tell her to get the plane ready. We would be there in a few minutes and quickly change clothes.

Fran stuffed our weapons in our cases and was unbuttoning her BDU jacket on the way. We walked on the plane and changed clothes as Janet was preparing to move the aircraft to the operations building pickup location. Fran and I had changed and were looking very comfortable in civilian attire when the family came from the operations building toward the aircraft. The family was greeted by me, Fran, and Sheena. The man stopped and stared at me. He asked, “Do you have a twin who is in law enforcement?”

I smiled and told him, “No, Fran and I are Special Ops Deputies and we were asked to help in your release. I hope that you don’t mind if we are also your host and pilots for your trip.”

The man smiled and the woman lunged at Fran to hug her and then me. I told them to find their seats and buckle up. The girls will show your kids all the fun you can have while on the way. We have plenty to drink and some food for you. Sit back and let’s fly to Hawaii.”

The family was almost too exhausted to enjoy a lot of the toys the airplane offered. Mom and dad had several drinks and weren’t feeling any pain when they fell asleep. The twin boys, who were about five, grew sleepy watching a movie and fell asleep. The two older girls were busy with the computer and having fun trying to decide on a movie. Janet was watching as the two girls removed their phones from their panties and wiped them down. I wanted to tell the two that their phones were what gave the world their location and helped to save them. We didn’t mention it because we would want them to hide the phones if this happens again and they might be nervous about protecting them. That could tip off anyone who noticed their actions.

We landed in Hawaii and I thought that we might rent a car and go out to Chuck’s fancy house, but we found two rooms in a nice nearby hotel, ate a good meal, had a drink, and fell asleep at our ten PM Florida time instead.

I called the charter desk Sunday morning to find out if there was anything we could pick up on the way home. The charter clerk said there was a note from Dewey about someone willing to pay for a private trip back to San Francisco. I called Dewey, and he told me, “Let me give you the man’s number. I’m sure he hasn’t found other transportation yet, so call him and give him your rates.”

I called the number and a man obviously on a cell phone answered. I explained who I was and was returning to the mainland. He said he needed an immediate flight and was willing to pay the going rate for a charter. I told the man to be at the S&S Airport and we would board him after financial arrangements were made.

The man showed up holding an American Express card. I used the office’s reader to access the card and it didn’t have any credit available. I took the card back to the customer and he went through his cards and held one up. “See if this is enough.”

The card went through, and the man was relieved. He said he was short only because he had financed a film that had been made in the islands. The girls had purchased food from the in-flight kitchen and had the man board and buckle up. Fran proved to be someone special when she came to the cockpit and handed Janet a Glock of some kind. She said, “I saw the man with it, and I made sure the gun was in my hand instead of his holster when the plane lurched. I think that we should give it back when we reach California, but it’s ours until then.”

Janet was tickled that Fran was worldly enough to recognize the gun and slick enough to pick the guy’s pocket, or his holster in this case.

I took the gun, pulled the magazine out, and jacked the round in the chamber. I had Sheena get me a plastic bag to put them in, and then wiped the gun down after disassembling it. That reminded me; Fran and I still had to clean our MP5s and .308’s. She may not have fired hers, but I thought she had. That would be something we would take care of as soon as we reached home.

The man was searching around the cabin for something when we landed in San Francisco. While holding up a plastic bag with his gun and another plastic bag with the magazine and the shells, I asked him, “Do you have a permit to carry this thing? That you are so careless with a weapon like this makes me wonder. Why do you have this?”

The man rummaged through his wallet again, and came up with a concealed carry permit for California and Hawaii. He said, “My ex-wife was trying to knock me off a while back and I got used to carrying the piece. She was threatening again just before I left for Hawaii, so I took the thing with me. I promise to not be careless with the gun again. That could very easily have been misunderstood. Let me give you some cards for some free shows.” He gave each of us two passes for a theater in Hollywood.

None of us had the heart to tell him that we were going to be on our way to Florida in minutes.

We refueled and Janet and I did an exterior check. Sheena and Fran went to the private aircraft operations building to pay our fees and to get some Subways from the location in the building.

We soon were on our way home. Fran and Sheena used the communications terminal to look this customer up, and he was a major producer who was constantly creating films and documentaries that he sold to networks for fillers. He would be profitable, but it took a while for him to get his money out of the films.

Home sweet home. It was late when we landed, so we drove to Park Place for some decent food in the diner. Janet was joking with the girls about how on the other side of the tall fence was a village of naked people. She told them how some of the folks from the park had gone out there, and that Steve and family, as well as Chuck and family, had friends who owned property there. Janet said, “Chuck might even have an investment in this place. He has investments everywhere.”

We were early enough to get a couple of calzones and some weak chicken wings at home. The pizza was gone and a horrible thing had occurred. The keg had run dry, and there wasn’t a refill in Steve’s workshop. The bottled beer was vanishing fast, so Janet, Fran, Sheena, and I had some of our favorite drink. Sheena went back to our suite and came back to say, “The girls have made the couch up for Fran and Kissa. You should see them though. They’re all sprawled on top of the covers stark naked. They must have worn themselves out.”

Janet and Sheena snuggled to me on both sides, and together said, “More for us.”

We helped finish cleaning up and went down the hall to go to bed. I pulled the covers over the girls before I stripped and hung my clothes up. I took my equipment case out to the patio and used a table to clean the MP5s and 308’s, refill the magazines, and put them back into their cases.

I came back to the room, brushed my teeth, and slid in to hug Sheena back’s and be hugged by Janet. Sleep instantly got us.

Monday

I woke up at six and came out of bed excited to greet a new day and new week. I knew that Gin, Donna, and Nikki all had school obligations early on Mondays, so I kissed each of them into waking up. They were very loving, wanted to call in to be excused, and just play this morning. The longer they thought of it, the more they knew that they couldn’t do it. All three were quick to get up and get ready to leave.

I went out to have some coffee with Steve and Glenda. Tiny and Ruth were sitting at the table, and welcomed Janet, Sheena, and me. I had to go tell Fran and Kissa that they had to come to sit with us too as they were a part of the family now.

Tiny told me, “Janet had the guys out at the airpark create a weekly report for you two so that you would have a running total on the business. I looked at the report Friday, and you two are doing very well with the two aircraft and extra personnel you have. You’ve been using a King Air enough to justify one of your own. A couple of short runs have been done by some smaller aircraft, but you need a King Air for a lot of your courier drops. I think you’d be good for a King Air and another CJ4. I think you can handle most of the courier responsibilities and your island charters with those four aircraft. You have six men now according to your sheet, and could probably use a couple more. Your little company is doing very well.”

I looked at Janet, and she smiled at me. “What do you think, Janet? Should we look for a Super King Air in decent shape, or try to do everything with a couple of more CJ4s. It looks like we can get the men to fly everything, so let’s see what we can do. Tiny thinks a turboprop twin would be good, so we could get one of Wes’ twins. Those things are fast and have been pretty maintenance free so far. We can buy a new one of those for half or less than a five year old Super King Air with a lot of hours. Let’s talk to Wes to see what his delivery time is.”

Chuck had been listening, and told us, “You and Fran are probably free this week after your involvement in school and then out in California. You both need to write a report for those incidents and file it with my office. I need it in case someone bitches that we had Ops people come in and take over the operation. I know the feeling since so many of those people stick their fingers up their butts and do nothing. You two got the job done and that’s what you were trained to do. Write your reports on the secure internet website, and submit them to Wanda and me. I’ll send them to Tom’s office so that he also has a copy. Be thorough and exact so that he knows what cautions you took to guard against harming outside collateral persons and property.”

Both my phones began ringing at the same time. I answered the Agency phone first, and asked them to hold on a second. I answered the other phone and said I would be with them in a minute. I said that I was giving the phone to my backup and they could talk to her.

I went back to the Agency phone and heard the guy say, “We should go to the next man in line if he doesn’t come back to the phone. Chuck is the one who said to give this guy all the ops we could.”

So that’s the score. Chuck wants me to have a taste of everything as fast as possible. I said, “I’m back; what do you have for me?”

The man said, “We have a minor problem on the docks near New Orleans, and it could become a bigger problem if it isn’t taken care of. We need you to go to New Orleans and fix this. You will be alone on this one as too many troops will spook the people we want to catch. Hear that? Catch them, cuff them, and call the U.S. Marshal’s office to get rid of them. Chuck says you can do this, so go do it.”

“Hang on a second to let me find out what this other call is about.”

Fran was looking at the phone and said, “The Marshal’s office in St. Louis caught four people trying to sneak explosives into the arch. They also caught some men with vests trying to get into Busch stadium. The vests didn’t go off, but they were real and could have. They have a whole nest of these people bottled up, and no one to go in and get them. They want you or Chuck, and Chuck is unavailable.”

I asked the people from the Agency, “Can your capture wait twenty-four hours? There is a terrorist problem in St. Louis that is serious enough that you guys should be a part of it. I’m surprised that you haven’t heard about this yet.”

The man said, “We know about it, but the FBI thinks they can do it on their own with the help of the ATF people and the local Marshals’ Service. Go fix that, then call me when you’re ready to clean up down in New Orleans. We need more of you, Chuck. Be careful and make sure Fran is prepared.”

I told Fran, “Come on, let’s get out of here. We’ll steal another CJ4 or the Phenom, but we need to get to St. Louis fast.” I told Janet, “I think I need the fancy CJ4 so that I have the communications desk. Fran can look some things up on the way. Use a CS&S CJ4, or use a couple of King Airs for courier work.”

Janet said, “We’re really driving up the value of our aircraft, aren’t we?”

I dressed in Jeans, a knit shirt, and boots to deal with the St. Louis problem. I threw an extra pair of jeans, a knit shirt, and hung a sport coat in the closet behind the pilot’s seat to be safe. Fran and I had our equipment cases and were out to the airpark within twenty minutes. Fran had to run into the charter office and came back with a ream of paper for the printer. Janet had come out with us, gave me a hug, and told me to be safe.