Chapter 20

Thursday, November 22, 1979

Thanksgiving Day! With everything that had been going on, I had totally forgotten about Thanksgiving. Missy and I were snuggled on one of the love seats. We were in rapport, but we weren't saying anything. Jude came in and got herself some coffee then joined us.

{Happy Thanksgiving, } Jude said as she sat down.

{Well, I'll be damned. Happy Thanksgiving. I had totally forgotten.}

{Happy Thanksgiving, } Missy said. {I had forgotten too.}

{At least the rest of your family is aware of the world around us. Bonnie and Thelma are planning a big dinner. The turkey is already roasting.}

{Thank God for Bonnie, } I said.

{Amen, } Missy agreed.

{Are we going to be scanning for Hunt again today?} Jude asked.

{I had planned to, but with it being Thanksgiving, I don't know, } I said.

{Think about it, } Jude said. {This might be the time he tries something. He'll know we're all going to be here together today.}

{How long would it take Cindi to just do a quick scan of the area?} I asked.

{Not over a minute, now that she's used to it.}

{Could you guys just do a quick scan of the area like once an hour then?}

{We could do that. Cindi wouldn't get nearly as tired that way either.}

{When she gets up, let's get her to do that. I don't want to ruin your holiday, but you have a good point about all of us being together.}

After the family was up, Cindi and Jude scanned the area. When they finished, Jude said, {The guy from Dublin is back again. Cindi didn't find anyone else.}

{That's great. Let me know if anything changes.}

{Yes, Sir, husband of mine, } Cindi said with a salute.

<Tiffie, could you come in here for a minute?> I asked.

<I'll be right there, Mike.>

I looked over at Bonnie and she was smiling.

Tiff came in a couple of minutes later so I said, <Cindi, could you relinquish your spot so Tiffie can sit on my lap for a minute?>

Cindi had caught on to what was going on and she was smiling as she got up. Tiff walked over and looked down at my very obvious erection. <Is that thing safe?>

<It depends on how safe you want to be, > I said.

Tiff smiled and sat down. I put my arms around her, then I said, <Tiffany, during the time we've known you, we have all fallen in love with you. I'm speaking for every one of us when I ask you, will you marry us?>

<You all want this?> Tiff asked as she looked at each of us in turn. We all nodded when she looked at us. <In that case, I think it would be a wonderful idea for me to marry each and every one of you.>

I pulled her to me and we kissed. Cindi started pulling everyone into our married link. We were in rapport for a half hour or so when I broke out of the loop. Everyone followed me almost immediately. {Wow, } Tiffie said. {That was amazing.}

{You haven't seen anything yet, } Cindi told her. {Just wait until you are making love while you're in a link like that. It is totally awesome.}

We all agreed.

It was around 11:00 AM when Jude told me the guy over in Dublin had moved. {He's no longer in Dublin, } Jude said. {Cindi says he's almost in Castro Valley.}

{Can you ask her to stay in trance until we find out where he's going?} I asked.

{She had already planned to, } Jude told me. A few minutes later, she said, {Cindi says he's coming this way.}

<Annie, can you hear me?> I asked.

<Yes, Mike. What's up?>

<There is a guy using a shield who is coming this way. He could be perfectly innocent, but we're concerned.>

<Okay, Danny Thompson and I are just finishing up taking a report on a break-in in Castro Valley. I'll tell him you called in to the station and we'll come out and check it out. We shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes.>

<Thanks, Annie. We owe you one.>

{Cindi says he had been moving fast like he was in a car, but now he's stopped. He's close, Mike. Cindi says he's not more than half a mile away.}

<Listen up, everyone!> I practically shouted mentally. <There's a guy with a shield practically on our property. We all need to link up in case he attacks.>

We established an entire family link and we all listened in to Jude as she kept updating us on where the guy was. <He's moving slowly toward the house, > she said. <We think he's left his car and is approaching on foot.>

A few minutes later, Jude said, <He's stopped at a place I believe is just over the rise between here and the gate. We don't know what he's doing, but Cindi is trying very hard, using the strength she can pick up from our link, to read what he's thinking. So far all she's getting is a sense of excitement.>

<He's seems to be walking back toward his car. Cindi says she thinks he left something where he had been.>

The waiting is the worst in a situation like we were in. All of us were tense as we listened for the next report from Jude. <He's back at his car... Okay, he's headed this way again.>

<Jude, if Cindi dropped out of trying to locate his shield, could we get through to read him?> I asked.

<You're right. We know where he is now, so we don't need to find him.>

<Mike, I'm going to try to read him now, > Cindi said.

For just a brief instant, I felt a mental attack, then it was gone. <He knows we're aware of him, > Cindi said. <I caught him off guard for just a second. He attacked, but we started the feedback loop. Jude is holding him.>

<Did you pick anything up?>

<He's thinking of blowing us up. All I picked up were these things that look like little bombs. They've got fins on the back.>

<Are you following this Annie?>

<Yeah, we're just getting out of our car. We're going to walk up toward your house and see what we can find out.>

<We'll see if we can hold him.>

<Cindi, let's attack the bastard.>

<I did it briefly, Mike. He knows the trick with the feedback.>

<Okay, we probably can't break through that, but I think we should all attack together anyway. It might slow him down on whatever he's doing until Annie can get there.>

<Okay, let's do it, > Cindi said.

The amount of mental energy a group like ours can generate is awesome. I have no doubt that he would have eventually burned himself out supplying the feedback to counteract us. Fortunately, we didn't need to wait that long.

All of a sudden, the feed back was gone. <Guys, he's no longer attacking, > Jude said.

<I think he's dead, > Cindi added.

<He is dead, > Annie said. <Danny just shot him.>

<What happened?>

<We came up behind him while he was setting up something that I believe is a mortar. We yelled, "Freeze!" and he whirled around toward us. Danny yelled at him again, and he started trying to get an automatic out of his holster. Danny shot him in the head.>

<What happens now?>

<Danny is searching him. I'm going to walk on up to the house and get you guys so you can see if you can identify him.>

When Annie got to the house, Bonnie, Ken and I went back over the hill with her. <Thank you, Annie, > Bonnie said as we were walking. <I think we could have beaten him, but having the police involved was certainly a big help.>

<You're perfectly welcome, Bonnie. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.>

Danny had finished searching the guy when we got there and was inspecting something that looked like a mortar. "Is that some kind of mortar?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is a conventional M2 mortar with a tripod mount. It weighs around 45 pounds. It's a very effective weapon and a good operator can fire up to thirty rounds a minute," Danny said. "The ammo he has are the M49A2s. They're high explosive for taking out buildings and the like and they also fragment for killing people. This is a very nasty setup."

"Something like this can't be cheap either," I said.

"I have no idea what this would run on the black market, I know the M2 costs the military several thousand dollars. It could run anywhere up to four or five times that on the black market. Each mortar round, configured the way they are could cost as much as a grand."

"Damn! The guy sure didn't mind throwing money around."

"Yeah, you guys are lucky you spotted his car. If he had a spotter with him he could have fired at you from almost two thousand yards. That's over a mile. They're not very accurate at that range, but are very accurate at a thousand yards. He had to get closer though so he could fire a round, then check to see where it hit."

"How do you know so much about mortars?"

"I trained on them in the army. Thank God I'm away from that now."

"So, what do we do now?" I asked.

"Well, do any of you recognize the guy with the mortar?"

"I think I do," Bonnie said. "He looks like the guy who was driving the van that ran me off the road when I was kidnapped."

"Okay, we'll need to get a statement from you and from whoever spotted his car today."

"I'll take care of getting their statements," Annie said. "Why don't I go up to their house and call this in?"

"Sure, that sounds good. I'll stay here and preserve the scene."

When we got back to the house, everyone had to hear what had gone on and they wanted to know about the mortar. I repeated what Danny had told us.

Annie called in while I was talking then joined us. <They're sending the coroner and the bomb squad, > she told us. <No one here should approach the scene until after it has been cleared.>