Chapter 11

The dreams were back with a vengeance, Everett alive and as evil as ever. I was nine all over again and watching while he toyed with his victim, the living meat sack that had been the boy before me. Only this time, we were on a boat, and there were girl meat sacks. None of them were really alive; all were waiting for that final cut. I watched, helpless, as he went from one to the next, each time asking me if I was paying attention ... asking if I was watching their eyes.

When I woke again, there was a strange man sitting on the bed, jotting something down on a clipboard. Dean was leaned against the wall watching.

“Hey” He said quietly, nodding to me when he saw my eyes open.

The seated man, dressed all in khaki, turned and I saw the rank on his collar. A lieutenant commander and the caduceus on his collar point said he was a doctor.

“Welcome back, young man. You had some folks worried about you,” he said jovially, gesturing with his head. I turned to look and Cam, Estrellita, Amelia and Rosa were all perched on the bed next to me, smiling at me.

“I’m Commander Barnes and I am a doctor at Key West Naval Station. They flew me out at the insistence of the some muckety-muck in Washington. Funny, you don’t look all that important,” he said, humor in his voice, then he waved me off when I started to reply.

“Don’t even bother. We both know how these things work. The important thing is that you are perfectly healthy. You had a considerable shock, mostly emotional, on top of a long, stressful situation. Considering what your protector there was able to tell me about your past, I think you are doing just fine. You might want to think about talking to someone, professionally I mean, PTSD is nothing to mess around with. Anyway, you are awake and aware,” he paused and looked at me suspiciously. “You are aware, right? Nod for me.”

I nodded and he grinned like an idiot. “Good! So, I can go back to work now on real sick people.” He stood and looked down at me. “Son, you are doing the Lord’s work. Never forget that,” he said seriously, then picked up a large leather satchel and walked out.

“What the fuck, Dean?” I asked, shaking my head.

“Yeah, he’s a trip. You okay now? I thought I was going to throw up when the lieutenant told us. As soon as I saw you go white, I knew you were ... well, I knew you would take it bad. There was nothing we could have done. The doc says those kids were dead twelve to eighteen hours. Long enough for Rigor to start releasing. It was already too late before we even saw them on the radar, Jack,” He said softly, shaking his head.

“I better go up and relieve Dave. He has been keeping that young lieutenant at bay. The poor guy feels responsible, like it was his fault you, um, got sick.” Dean stepped out and I was suddenly buried under girls.

When I got them to stop squeezing the breath out of me and kissing all over my face, I found out that they had heard about my kidnapping and why I was so upset.

“We feel so much closer to you, so much safer because you know! You know how we feel! And you are so strong, so brave to fight them, to kill them!” Cam gushed, the other girls smiling and nodding.

Amelia moved closer until she was filling my vision and slowly licked her lips. “You can have anything you want, Jack. You are our hero,” she said as sexily as she could.

AGH! NO! Oh fuck, no, no, no. My panic must have shown in my face because she backed off, looking confused.

“Jacques? Are you okay?” Cam asked, taking my hand.

“Yes, yes, I am fine. Sorry. Look, Amelia, you are a wonderful girl, but don’t do that. Don’t ever do that. Not to me, not to anyone. You are not a toy. You are not property and you don’t even pay debts with your body. I would be as bad as those who made you a slave if I said yes!” I told her, trying to keep from yelling.

She looked a little frightened, but mostly seemed sad. “I have nothing else to offer and you won’t take what I do have. What else can I do?” she said, her lower lip sticking out in a cute little pout.

“You can get dressed and get me some juice. I think breakfast sounds good too. Now go, all of you, I need to get dressed,” I told them, waving towards the door and smiling to keep them from knowing I was a hairs breadth from freakin’ on them. I was naked under the covers.

Who undressed me? In fact, who showered me? There were fragments of memories, me in the shower, someone helping me stand, hands touching me, then drying me. It was all so disjointed. I was not a happy camper about any of that.

Dressed, I looked for, and found, my shoulder holster and quickly checked to make sure it was loaded. I ran a comb through my hair and took a good look in the mirror at my bloodshot eyes and the dark bags. My beard was still scraggly. I would have to wait a couple of years, I guess, if I ever wanted a good one.

Following an urge to do ... something, I used the scissors in my kit and cut as close as I could, trimming all the hair on my face off. Then, using hot water from the tap and some shaving cream, I shaved. It took two disposable razors, but I was smooth-faced again.

Upstairs, the discussions in the main salon stopped when I walked in. Dean was not in sight, but Dave was talking to the lieutenant and an enlisted man with three stripes. A Petty Officer, First Class, if I remembered correctly.

The girls came out of the kitchen with a tray and stopped dead, staring at me too.

“Did I miss some shaving cream or something?” I asked self-consciously, and that seemed to break the tableau.

Dave gave me a once over and nodded. That was all I would get from him, thankfully. The lieutenant came over and shook my hand, telling me that he was glad I was back on my feet because he was ordered back to the Geronimo. I looked outside and saw the frigate pacing us on one side, the destroyer Camden Bay on the other!

“The doctor get off okay?” I asked and was assured he was whisked away by a helicopter and was probably almost to the base by now. I was getting some strange looks from the first class petty officer, but he also offered me his hand.

“Captain. Heard good things about you and I guess I expected someone older, more um ... grizzled?” he smiled and shrugged. I just rubbed my chin and smiled.

“I guess I should have waited to shave the beard off then,” I joked, then watched as they both climbed over the side into a ship’s boat. Once they were cast off and, on their way, I headed in and up to the top deck to see what was happening.

At a glance, I could see we were no more than an hour or two from Key West! I must have slept a while then. The girls had followed me up and Cam laid her hand on my arm, drawing me over to the small table and urging me to sit down.

Eggs, bacon, hash brown potatoes, a toasted English muffin, coffee and orange juice. A breakfast fit for a king! After thanking each of them, I tucked in.

I was done and was sitting back, drinking a cup of coffee when the radio squawked.

“Motor vessel E Squared, Coast Guard Cutter Marathon Key requests that you stand off the coast. We are approaching from landward and need to consult with you before you make landfall.”

“Acknowledged, Marathon Key, E Squared will heave to and wait for you” Dean replied and I saw him throttling back on the motor. I walked over to look at the displays and could see that the sails were still furled, maybe even from last night if Dean didn’t feel comfortable with the new controls. The radars were set for close-in work; ten, five and two miles was plenty in the congested waters close to the Keys.

There was one big contact coming straight towards us and Dean had us down to a stately ten knots, waiting for them to intercept us.

While we were waiting, and while the girls were gone with the dishes, I had to apologize.

“Dean, about last night...” But Dean was holding up his hand for me to wait. I looked, but nothing appeared out of place on the displays and he didn’t seem tense.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

He turned and rolled his eyes at me. “Just leave it alone, okay? I get it. You are embarrassed, but you shouldn’t be. Hell, you held it together just fine when we needed you, that is what is important.” He turned back to face front again.

“Still, I shouldn’t...”

“Oh, fer fuck’s sake, man!” Dean groaned. He cut the power until we were just barely moving and stood. “I have to get the fenders and you can help, but let me say this first. I had a sergeant that would cry like a baby every time we came back from a successful mission. On the mission, he was a machine, servicing targets, leading his squad, always putting the mission first, but he would come back to camp, crawl into his sleeping bag and cry for hours. I asked once, and he just shrugged. It was his way of releasing stress. The thing is this, and listen close, because I am sick of saying it. You got the job done. You held it together, even led during the crisis and what you do afterwards is nothing I am going to worry about, okay? Relax.”

Dean pushed past and hurried down the stairs to the main level. After a moment, I followed and got the port side fenders, moving them to the starboard side to double up. No sense taking chances against a huge metal ship.

Lieutenant Bannon came aboard with a couple of enlisted men to guard the ramp. SOP, or so I am told. Along with him came a guy in a suit with a briefcase.

I invited them inside where the girls had been busy, bringing in a tray with a carafe of coffee, sugar and creamer as well. I had told them that they didn’t have to wait on anyone, they were guests, but they insisted.

“Thank you, ladies, that was very nice of you,” I told them and got smiles in return.

The man in the suit sat down and watched them walk away. “Those are the freed girls?” he asked skeptically.

I just nodded.

“Huh. I expected to find some huddled wretches but they look pretty healthy. Good! Sorry, I am Sid Meir, State Department,” he said, handing me over an ID folio. “I got some preliminary information from a Judge Ramirez?” he looked up to see if I knew the name and I nodded. “And we were able to develop more by contacting the officials in the three countries. I just wanted to find out if they were strong enough, physically and emotionally, to deal with this now.” He looked at me again, shaking his head.

“Sorry, Mister or should I say, Captain? McCoy. I heard horror stories of sex slaves freed from durance vile by a dashing young yacht captain in the Caribbean and I half expected Johnny Dep in a tricorne hat.”

I laughed but nodded. “I am younger than you expected, and the girls are not retched refuse, so it threw you. I think they are strong enough, but let’s ask them.” Instead of calling for them, I set my mug down and went out to the kitchen where they were all sitting at the small table, sipping tea. I didn’t even know we had delicate china cups with matching saucers on board!

“Ladies, that guy in the suit is from the State Department. That is the department in our government that deals with other governments. They have contacted your home countries, and he has some news for you. If you want to come with me, you can talk to him yourselves or, if you prefer, I can be a buffer between you and him.”

The all looked at each other but remained silent for several seconds. Then, almost as one, they nodded and stood. “We will come with you, Jacques. We trust you to look after us when we talk to this government man.”

Jacques. I kind of liked that. Jacques! I just need a mustache to twirl.

We all took seats with the man from the government and Lt. Bannon, the girls all crowding together on one couch.

Amelia’s parents in England were overjoyed to hear that their daughter had been found and was alive. She had disappeared while on a school trip to Dover and they had feared the worst. The British government asked that she be turned over to their consulate as quickly as possible for repatriation.

Estrellita’s parents were much the same and her story was not much different. They lived in a seaside town and she disappeared on the way home from school one day. The Portuguese were very happily waiting to bring her home again.

Rosa De La Lune, was different. She was the second daughter of a minor Conde – Count, but one with rapidly growing influence in Spanish political circles. She was kidnapped and sold to slavers as punishment when he refused to torpedo a trade deal that the opposition felt was not beneficial. The kidnappers and the man who hired them had already been found and were in prison, but no sign had been found of poor Rosa. That she was alive and well was a matter for national celebration and they were sending a delegation to the US to fetch her home again.

Last and, according to the government, least, was poor Cam. Her fate was not so clear. She had turned eighteen in captivity and was no longer a ward of the state. There was a huge uproar as Interpol, with the cooperation of the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) had raided the orphanage. They believed that the man had sold as many as thirty young children to slavers over the last decade.

Enrique Marceau was caught trying to leave the country by ferry across to England. It was said that he broke free from his captors and hurled himself off the dock, with his hands handcuffed, and drowned before they could fish him out. Suspicions were raised and both constables who were involved had been detained for questioning.

There was a great hue and cry in Paris when the story was released and they were calling for the repatriation of Camille Raimond, ‘Notre petit héros orphelin’ or ‘Our little orphan hero’. A well-known lawyer had offered to take her on as a client in a suit against the state.

Estrellita, Rosa and Amelia were all smiles and were chattering happily, all excited about going home again. Cam sat there stoicly, her eyes on the fingers that writhed and twisted in her lap.

“Ms. Raimond, you look unhappy,” Sid Meir said, setting his folder down.

Cam looked up, unshed tears in her eyes. “Do I have to go back to France? I am eighteen now, an adult, non? May I stay here, in the United States?” she paused, then looked at me. “May I stay with you, Jacques, mon loup?”

I looked to Mister Meir, but he didn’t speak. He just looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not. There will be some questions raised and you will probably have to talk to the French consulate, so they are certain you are not being coerced and so on, but I think it can be done,” he paused at looked up at me, humor in his eyes. “If you have an American sponsor.”

Great. Just great. I am too young to be a father. Even a surrogate father! And to a girl two years older than me? How did that even work?

I looked at Cam though and she had such a hopeful expression on her face. It was such a welcome and wonderful change from the fear and pain I saw there that night she snuck aboard.

“Okay, where do I sign?” I said, giving in. I couldn’t be the one to put that pain back in her eyes.

Cam damn near knocked me over, chair and all, when she launched herself into my lap and kissed me. On the lips!

It took a minute to calm her down but she refused to climb down from my lap. So, I sat there, my face red, and tried to have a conversation with the man from the State Department. It didn’t help that Dave, Dean and Lt. Bannon were all smirking at me. Bastards. All of them!

Sid, he insisted, already had permission from the State Department (and Immigration) to allow these four non-resident aliens into the country without passports or visas. He handed me four sheets of paper, all with raised seals and fancy signatures, that would act as passports while they were here.

He wanted to take all four with him to Washington but Cam absolutely refused to leave me behind so, in solidarity with their ‘sister’, the other three demanded that I be allowed to escort them until they were handed over to their countrymen.

Sid just shrugged and said it was no skin off his nose and said he would send a jet.

We talked about some of the details, like shopping for decent clothes for them, there being none aboard. He assured me that as soon as we hit Washington, we would have our very own aide and helper to do whatever we needed and cut through any red tape.

The one upside to all this foolishness was that the US government, in gratitude for our part in rescuing these young women, would be taking my boat and making any needed repairs. After getting it all ship-shape, it would be delivered the berth that Jake had reserved for me at the Key West Yacht club. Lt. Bannon would leave behind Chief Parker, a coxswain chief, to pilot the boat to the USCG base for repairs.

It was not even noon yet when we tied up in my back yard. I did a walk through, checking to see that the gun safes were all secure; that the safe in my office was closed and locked and that there was nothing around the Coast Guard would get upset about. Dean grabbed the weapons that had been fired so we could clean them. We needed to get cleaning gear for the boat, as it was something that had been overlooked.

When we were done, the Chief assured me that, other than removing perishables from the kitchen, there was nothing else to do. She would be locked up solid while in port and guarded. Reassured, we disembarked and I led the girls inside my house.

I gave them the nickel tour and then we ordered pizza while I started a load of laundry. By the time we were done eating, my second load was in and the girls wanted to go shopping for some personal items to hold them over. I had promised so...

I called a cab, asking for a big passenger van, not having any vehicles that would hold us all (Dave and Dean refused to let me loose with four girls) and we headed out to find them some clothes and unmentionables.

A quick trip turned into four ... four hours. I didn’t care that we spent almost five grand between the taxi and the suitcases and the clothes and the makeup and the shoes and the accessories and new purses ... I really didn’t. Why they insisted that I sit and watch them model each and every piece of clothing, was beyond me. Okay, wait, not every piece, thank god, but every exterior piece!

I insisted they each have was a nice set of luggage, something hard sided that would last a long time. Each of them, Cam included, got a matching four-piece set that had a large roller, a medium roller, a small carry-on style roller and a garment bag. The plan I had would require sturdy luggage.

When we got back, I was more tired and more annoyed than I had been after the firefight with the Arab’s men! Still, I was a good boy and I smiled and nodded. I put my clothes in the dryer and started a third load while they took over the two guest bedrooms upstairs and did whatever it was that teen girls do in groups.

I needed exercise so changed into loose shorts and sneakers, then went out back to do my forms. They always seemed to calm me, to center me, and were a good warm up for whatever came next. Swimming, running, lifting ... all of them were easier after doing my forms.

I closed my eyes and began, feeling the muscles warm up and stretch. Feeling the blood flow and my mind relax. I could almost hear music, but whenever I concentrated it would fade away. I couldn’t even pin it down to a type ... it was just there. I flowed to the next and the next, trying to move smoothly through, never hesitating, never straining. When I was done and was standing tall again, both feet on the ground, I bowed like Dean had taught me and opened my eyes.

Dean and Dave were there, just finishing their own bows and the four girls were seated in a semi-circle on the grass, watching us with open mouths.

“Jacques, that was beautiful. You did not tell me you were a dancer.” Cam said accusingly.

Okay, it was cute, but it wasn’t that funny. I didn’t think it was ‘Dean and Dave laughing so hard they were laying in the grass and holding their sides’ funny. Jerks.

After showering, I got Dean and Dave into the office, dragging two of the coin cases in with me.

“Plan on taking one of those with you when you go tomorrow, Dave. Dean, the other is yours, I don’t care what you do with it. The other four are going with the girls. I figure they can carry ten pounds with no worries, and I can pack the rest in their luggage.”

“I wondered what the deal was with the luggage, but I figured it was just more of your personal baggage.” Dean said with a straight face.

Dave couldn’t help but laugh and I just flipped him off, too proud to actually lower myself to his level.

“Jokes aside, I don’t want one.” Dave said and Dean was nodding.

“What? No! You have to! Look, you deserve it. Think of it as a souvenir!”

“Nope. Give it to the girls, sell it, make an anchor out of it, but I can’t take it. Think, Jake. How the hell am I going to explain that to the guy who is on the X-ray machine?” Dave asked, rolling his eyes.

“You are a pain in the ass, you know that? Fine. Whatever. Don’t take it.” I would find some other way to reward him. Both of them. I would reward them so hard ... wait, that sounded bad, didn’t it? Yeah, sounded kind of bad in my head too.

“At least help me get the rest packed up, jerks.”

We were going to meet the private jet at the airport at nine the next morning so I insisted on turning in early. I showed the girls how to use the entertainment center and left them watching some show about people who had 90 days to get married for some ridiculous reason.

Upstairs, I took another shower, letting the hot water relax me. When I got out, I put on my usual sleeping attire, a pair of soft shorts and then went back for a t-shirt, thinking about the girls in the house. I wasn’t going to sleep half-naked with strangers in the house.

I went to sleep thinking about the email I needed to write to Stacy. She would lose her mind when I told her about this trip.

When I woke in the morning, I was shocked to feel myself surrounded by warm bodies. The girls had managed to sneak in and were all laying on part of me! Cam and Amelia had their heads on my shoulders. Rose was behind Amelia with her hand on my stomach and Estrellita, the youngest and smallest, was actually laying between my legs with her head on my stomach, resting on her crossed arms.

It felt kind of nice, actually, until I realized that part of me was ... awake. I had to piss and my bits were at attention, pressing into Estrellita’s chest! How could she be asleep? Couldn’t she feel it? I was surprised she was not screaming and traumatized!

A dozen deep breaths to calm down and I slowly shifted Amelia and Cam off my shoulders. Then I reached down, grabbed little Estrellita under the arms and lifted, trying not to drag any of her against my parts, but she was as limp as a noodle. I was mortified to feel my parts rubbing up against her stomach and then her ... lower parts. When she was up to head height, I rotated until I could lay her down between the other girls and I was leaning over her, careful to keep my body from touching hers any more.

When I looked down, she was awake and smiling at me. She reached up and put her arms around my neck, pulling herself up to kiss me. When her tongue touched my closed lips, I am afraid I wasn’t very gentlemanly. I ducked out, dropping her back to the mattress like a hot potato, and practically levitated out of the bed and into the bathroom, her light little laugh chasing me the whole way!

When I had done my business, I opened the door and peeked out. The four had migrated to the center of the bed and were now cuddling in a big puppy pile. I just tip-toed out of the room and down the stairs as quietly as possible.

While I drank some juice, I opened each of their carefully packed bags and added a little extra. With Dave and Dean’s help, we had emptied four cases, row by row, and wrapped each row up in cellophane and packing tape. Each hundred coins was about six and a quarter pounds, so I thought four rolls per large case, three per medium and then one per garment bag would give each of them a full case and just shy of a million dollars in gold as a bit of a repayment for what they had suffered. The last thing I did was tuck in a note I had written to each of them.

‘Ladies, this was in the slaver’s safe and really belongs to you. I hope it helps you make your dreams come true.’ and signed, ‘The Wolf‘ Cool, right? Whatever, you have no clue, no sense of style. It is totally cool!

When I had all the cases put back together, I went and pulled the laundry from the drier. Seeing my swim trunks in the batch, I grabbed them and changed in the downstairs bathroom. Outside, I did my forms barefoot and then went into the garage to lift. An hour of rotating through the stations and I was a sweaty mess, ready for the pool. The outside shower was cold, but it warmed up enough to finish, then it was in to the pool where I swam until I felt someone touch me!

I was so surprised I swallowed enough to make me choke and sputter like that rattle trap old VW Bug the guy down the street was always messing with.

The girls were all in pretty conservative one-piece bathing suits. They were laughing and splashing and having a good time, so I couldn’t be angry. I just floated to the side and watched, enjoying the laughter. It wasn’t long though, before Dean came out.

“Breakfast in five! We leave in forty minutes for the airport, let’s move people!” he called and the girls all squealed as one, climbing from the pool and running into the house. Dave wasn’t there when we piled in to a taxi; he had left already to rejoin Jake. Too bad, really, I had hoped to say goodbye and thanks for all his help.

The aircraft the Washington folks sent was, according to the Air Force enlisted man who was acting as flight attendant, what the Air Force called a C-37 but the rest of the world called a GV or G5. Nice planes!

The flight wasn’t too terribly long, two hours and five minutes. We were met by a whole delegation of people who immediately tried to separate the girls from us and, with Dean by my side, we damn near had an international incident on the airport apron. Four of the men in the delegation were security of one type or another and, when one reached for his gun, Dean had him laid out and had the others in his sights.

I grabbed a second man, taking his gun and kneeling on the guy’s back so I could support Dean while the girls were hiding behind us. The remaining two security men had their hands up and looked really mad! Four airport security types, TSA maybe, came running with guns drawn, pointing them at everyone, and it was a huge mess.

It took several long, tense minutes for things to calm down enough for phone calls to be made and tensions to ease.

We waited, not giving up our guns but no longer threatening people with them, until Sid Meir showed up in person at the airport. I had the Judge on the phone the whole time and I could hear him cursing out someone on another line.

“Mister McCoy. You seem to have the knack for bringing excitement everywhere you go!”

“Mister Meir, what is going on? The first thing to happen was these people trying to grab the girls, one of them using force, for god’s sake! I damn near broke her skinny neck! Then one of these idiots pulls a gun on a MARSOC Marine? He is lucky he is not dead too, and I was not going to let this idiot shoot my Chief of Security in the back.” I was still on top of the man, one knee on his neck, because he had been unrelentingly belligerent.

Sid shook his head and took a deep breath. He walked over to the group of suits and said something, getting back an unintelligible cacophony as every one of them tried to talk at once. He held up his hand and the silence was immediate. I was impressed! He must have some serious pull over there at the State Department.

I watched as he pointed his index finger at one woman, the one that had been at the front of the delegation that met us. He listened for a minute, asked a few questions, then shook his head. The woman looked like someone had just kicked her dog, but Sid looked angry. He stalked back over to us and threw up his hands.

“God Damned Bureaucrats!” he cursed, then rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. Heck, he probably did!

“Mister McCoy, the leader of that group was instructed to greet you, provide you with transportation to the hotel where you have a suite, and present you with a proposed itinerary for your time in Washington. If there were any issues, she was empowered to make changes in the itinerary to better suit your needs. Those were her instructions.”

I nodded, then held up a finger before he continued. “Jack, please. I feel stupid calling you Sid if you call me Mister McCoy.”

He smiled and continued. “When they can’t hear me, absolutely, Jack. Now, what that idiot did was have someone do a quickie background on you, find out you were sixteen and decided that you were some snot-nosed rich kid that wouldn’t have a clue and would probably screw something up and hurt her career. So, she was going to take the girls, get them dolled up and present them at the appropriate embassy. It would make her look good and she was going to have some flunky give you a tour of landmarks and ship you back home again.”