Chapter 1

Kim and Megan and Me

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes it gets you.

I had to think on something else and not where I currently was at. This time it seemed that I lucked out. It was not a huge home, nor in some row of mansions tucked away in some cloistered pen; but it was all mine. $159,999 bought it lock, stock and pool. That good feeling didn’t last very long as some kind of creepy-crawler started moving along my back.

Now, you good ole boys in boot may wonder why not reach back and swat the unwanted hitchhiker away. Well, let me tell you in real-life you don’t move, never, no way, no how. It’s hard enough to stay hidden so to all you wannabees, remember neither spiders, snakes or pretty blonds should dissuade you into moving while in your appointed hide-hole.

At this point I needed a bit more of them good thoughts to calm me down a might. Back to my new acquisition, it was the best-looking home on Chesterfield Drive in Hampton Virginia and my own little piece of heaven; that is if you could stand the traffic, bridges, weekend tourists, fleet-in days and holiday backups that were the price one paid for this kind of easy living. For me the trips I needed to make were by boat or private plane so that restriction suited me fine. Upon further reflection a SO would be a tad better, or was that bedder, whatever.

Had to think of that promo shit those Canadians were bantering about. Yes those two mile shots are impressive, but ... You all realize a protected target, even slowly moving is not the same as some stationary target downwind from a mountain top. Sounds a little catty, eh. Wait you’re probably one of them Canucks, aren’t you?

Remember folks, you never want to try this stuff right out the gate. I did once and well, broke a double-pane window, two walls and a newspaper. Hey at the time, my aunt was sitting between that window and the walls, reading the paper.

Today, we had a job to do. The FFL (French Foreign Legion who went to the ‘pay as you go plan’ now to whoever had the gold) went high (Para) and low (ground) and pretty much did in two days what several thousand greenies(Army) could not do in three dozen months. My Master took a chance and my target played rabbit, shucked shelter and ran. He got about twelve feet towards the fleet of cars before he said hello to a .338 Lapua Magnum cal round from an older Steyr SSG08 welcoming greeting.(Under 1,000 yards, no glass and a head shot so no vest to contend with) Score one for ‘our team’. Looking back whatever they paid for us 501 mercs ought to be considered well worth it. They should have done it long ago, but ... not everyday ends in a celebration.

It was a difficult decision, six prop job flights, a R & R in Algiers or a slow boat into a place nearer to home. Don’t they say home is where the heart is? Besides when I would arrive by taking those flights would be my first day the home would be mine. Sleep on the floor or sleep on the floor, it was a difficult choice to make; maybe the mover would come a day early.

When move day came as expected it was like most others, a real FUBAR. Did you ever attempt to decode the meaning the move men put on the boxes they pack? It can’t be done; at least that’s what I thought until two silver-haired angels walked up to me and said: “Can we help. I’m Kim and this is my sister Megan. Mom sent us over telling us we ought to help out an ‘older’ neighbor with anything he needs.” ‘Great’ I thought just when I could have fallen in love with either of them I get that slam. Then again, ‘anything’ covered many things they or even one of them could do for me.

She had a huge smile, no a smirk on her face when she said that. Her sister, looking like a twin no less just nodded her head. My eyes started at her hair, her long, silky, corn-cob tassels and slowly reached the bulging top part of her outfit, all two inches of a halter, more a thin cloth band, was all she had covering those DD assets. Her mirror image now had that certain smile on her face when she saw where I was staring.

“Let’s go Kim, I think he can use us for something fun, I mean use our help and get us out of the sun. I sure hope he does not get us too hot today, maybe even then cool us down by letting us use his pool though without having our swimsuits with us it may be against some religion of his or something. You would let us do that, if things got hot, wouldn’t you mister?”

If I could even talk now it might have been better than just nodding my head up and down, both of them. As far as the ‘older man’ comment I just let it slide. If there was more than two or three years difference in our ages I was a monkeys uncle. I shifted my gaze as they sashayed into the house, wiggling their scantily covered bottoms side to side. I was twenty-two(You need to be twenty-three in a US DOD but not as a merc for foreign duty, besides the pay is better; if you get paid. Biafra a prime example of the ‘bear getting you) and from the way they filled out those outfits even my lower estimate of their ages now seemed too low. They did not grow girls that looked like that when I went to school.

If I could only catch my breath I should tell them where everything went. Right, like if my security clearance was a higher level I might be able to make out what those codes on the boxes meant. I did know those tall boxes with clothes went into a bedroom, mine of course, but there were a few others in the house to choose from. I did not need them all but I considered the house an investment and after four years overseas I was anxious and fell in-love with the pool and patio details; large yard, pool and hot tub you know.

I did notice some changes after ‘my’ girls (Yes, they were my girls now, eat your heart out) entered the house; I saw those mover men skip-hopping carrying boxes wherever Kim or Megan pointed to a room or called out where to put them like into the big bedroom or at the green room or another one upstairs. Obviously they could decode that gobbledygook that was scrawled on the box labels.

When I saw them in action I immediately chose my next words very carefully. Sure more like an idiot rambling I said: “Carry on men, I’m going to the store and get us some food and cold drinks. What do you want for lunch? We can go out somewhere for dinner or BBQ by the pool instead.”

I never got a verbal answer but the “Aye, Aye Sir” followed by the twin’s salute gave me pause to think I could get used to having them around more.

Without much thought I snapped a half-salute back but smiled at the two bombshells. Before I embarrassed myself further I said. “invite you mom, dad and siblings, they may want to swim too.” I took a deep breath and without looking back said, “you are in-charge, don’t let the movers or traffic stop and stare at you two too much, there’s work to do.”

Yup, real smooth I was. If they ever had a doubt about the effect they were having on this ‘older’ guy they no longer should have any doubts. There was not any question but that all men would fall at their feet, scrape the ground and still beg for more. Part of my trouble with them was they knew it and I knew they did too. I also got the feeling that both of them were not some pieces of high maintenance eye-candy though. The first words out of those luscious mouths had been an offer to help. In my mind I re-assessed their age upward now and figured eighteen or nineteen.

A mile or so down the highway were two grocery stores, a Wynn-Dixie and a Piggly-Wigley, guess which one I chose?

There was NADA in the house so I sort of went wild shopping. Breakfast, lunch, dinner foods, snacks, soda, wine and that nectar of the gods; coffee resulted in a loaded car and three offers for ‘any help I might need’ from some very interested to help teens, cute interested teens seventeen to nineteen I thought. One tiny issue was the fact that the two silver-haired beauties I already had running my home put these other three to shame.

What happened during the food store trip made me reach the conclusion that either there were few eligible young males around or Navy mates were not sought after as husband material. I also asked myself why at twenty-two was I automatically defaulting my thinking to marriage. I suspected it was being without a SO for so long had changed my way of thinking or seeing Kim and Megan had done that. Until that K & M morning in my wildest dream I had convinced myself that I would never take a bride.

Now thinking like that now put me in a quandary. I never planned on getting married. Hell, I never thought I would live long enough to even buy a house. I had some thoughts on that as I started lugging things from the car into the house. I noticed, being the observant bastard that I am that the truck and movers were gone now. Once inside to my left were two faces I did not recognize but the silver hair on both made me think Kim and Megan had some family helping out. I also remembered the saying, ‘never say never’.

“As soon as I find the kitchen and put the food things away I’ll be back to help you two.” I said to my two new cute bookends.

I caught my breath some, heard water splashing and looked out to see that the girls had christened the pool. I went back in the living room. “Hi, I’m Mike Smith, you must be Kim and Megan’s younger sisters, right?”

“Hi Mike Smith. Only one right though sailor, Trish is a sister but I’m Eve Styles their hard-working and under-appreciated mom stuck with cleanup duty. As you probably heard my other girls are ensuring your pool meets specifications too, my Trish here is not wearing things for show right now anything like my other two are; her seduction technique is not that far advanced yet, so you can come closer unless you have a thing for younger girls, she won’t bite?”

I was uncertain what to say. The look, you know the look ladies, made it hard to truly understand what she might expect me to say. Instead of a blush, Trish seemed ready to pounce should I affirm what her mom asked by getting closer to them.

“I’ll just go back out to the car then and bring in more groceries. Y’all are invited to lunch and dinner as long it’s only regular food and not poor me on the menu; a man has to be careful out in the wild.” Not quite certain why I said that but imagined soon I too would be jumping into that pool to cool down a might.

The youngster, Trish, came out to the car to help unload just as I was going back into the house. Her hair was combed and undone now as was the top button of her shorts, she now only had a very small halter on top; so she either was giving me a closer look or another chance to acknowledge my preference as to favoured age group. I tried to hold back a cough. No luck stopping that until the pixie version of Lolita was holding me and patting my back. She could have just lifted her hand off but no, she had to slowly run it along my shoulders and down my back. I now wondered just exactly how young she was.

Two more trips and we had everything in. Their mom started making lunch.

“You kids go out a get some sun and have fun in the pool.”

She said that with a straight face. If she only knew what I was thinking, and no, I did not care what those Saudis would pay for three silver-haired sisters. They were mine, all three now. The mom knew her daughters well. Trish soon joined the other two sun worshipers in the pool. No way was I mixing in this fray, my momma always told me what happened whenever one would swim with the sharks.

Later, three wet, snug, clinging towels later, we all sat down for lunch and the obligatory thanks for making it to Eve was given, I gracefully started the conversation.

“Hi, I’m Mike Smith, and Ahh...” That was about as far as I could go. My mouth was open and drooling all over as my eyes kept sweeping right to left, then left to right as three angels wearing far less than they had before smiled at me.

Eve must have been waving her hand in front of my face awhile since she and the girls were giggling when I snapped to.

“Tell me Mike Smith, do I have to be worried about you when I send them over here?”

“Yes” I nodded, and right then I meant it.

Sometimes you get saved by the bell. For me it was not working out that way. My pager, cell, land line and computer all started to call for attention.

I noted my Masters call and said: “Gang since we have known (not in the Biblical sense) each other so long, I need to ask you for a few favours. I need to be gone; gone like five minutes ago and need your help to do it” I had to catch my breath and adjust myself some.

“Could you sort of eat the food and watch the house for me; swim, sleep, party but no men or boys over I’m too jealous to even think of sharing my good fortune. You are in-charge again my not so little caretakers. Is someone old enough to drive my car and me to the Buckroe beach and take my car back, I don’t want to leave it there with all them rabid raccoon around. Here are the keys and some money.” I got the extra keys to the house and car out and a fistful of $100 bills out of a drawer; then handed them over along with a card.

“I have no idea when I will be back but if it is longer than ninety days call the number on this card. They will tell you what to do. I am really sorry, I thought I would have more time but...”

Eve just nodded her head. If I had to guess living near Norfolk she had been through all this before. I raced to the car, a new AMG CLS 63 S Coupe, got my grip and rifle case out of the trunk and entered the passenger side. Kim was to drive and Frick and Frack climbed in the back. They seemed to take all this as an everyday happening. I knew driving a 577 hp turbo wasn’t an everyday occurrence but living so close to Norfolk maybe what I did was common for them.

Anyway, it was a shit thing to do to them, but I had no choice in the matter; I did as ‘my Master’ commanded. As we approached the nearly deserted beach except for like them zillion zombie raccoon; I got three kisses, goodbye kisses maybe but not one word was spoken. In the distance a CH-53E could be seen coming in for a landing. Not a everyday means of conveyance but pretty usual for me. I knew the Kearsarge (LHD-3 a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship) had been in-port so it was probably where I was headed to catch my long ride(Plane) on to somewhere else.

I exited the car, looked back at the girls and wanted to say something to them, anything at all. Nope, I could not speak. I snapped them a salute instead and turned to climb aboard my short ride(Helo). Damn, it was times like this I wished I was in some other line of work. (Remember this is fiction, the Book says in the US military you have to be 23 to engage the enemy covertly. Right, and everybody follows what the Book says. One might check if eleven to thirteen year-old girl assassins in ‘BIS’ and the ‘NKVD’ were an exception too)

Climbing aboard the Helo I noticed a few more downtrodden faces. I nodded stowed my gear and took an open seat. No one looked like they were glad to be here. I guess the saying that misery liked company was true enough. I now had a few more good thoughts to go home to, even more if Eve was as young as she looked. Oh well, that was a deep subject as they say.

Airborne in the Helo was as short a flight as I had thought it would be to the Amphip. We landed or almost landed on Kearsarge but had to jump down as we hovered above it. A marine met us and escorted all of us into a small briefing room where huddled together were clusters of who would be my mates on this mission. That was the last time anything resembling a military uniform was seen that trip. A Commander Styles walked in and a sort of ‘Deja Vu’ came on me. He looked like Megan, err, rather she had his same facial features.

My thoughts turned back to the girls and at no time to what he was saying. Nope never heard a word he said. The hand on my shoulder sure got my attention in a hurry though. As I stood up it seemed all eyes were upon me. That I alone was sans uniform and carried my grip and gun case like one might a baby was a bit noticeable I guessed.

“My guess is you don’t know why you are here today, son.”

“Nope, a bit fuzzy ‘Dad’ thought you were dead!”

That started out bad then got worse.

“I don’t like ‘Civies’ being on this mission.”