Chapter 45

“San Diego Control, this is Navajo six seven zero three whiskey tango.”

“Go ahead, zero three whiskey tango, I have you on the scope.”

“San Diego Control, zero three whiskey tango requesting landing instructions. Be advised I have weather report Charlie.”

“Confirmed, zero three whiskey tango. Advise when you can see Sweetwater Reservoir on your left.”

“San Diego control, reservoir is three zero degrees to the left of my nose.”

“Zero three whiskey tango, turn to heading three four zero and maintain current speed and altitude. I’m trying to work you into the traffic pattern.”

“Affirmative, Control. Heading three four zero, current speed and altitude. Control, do I have time to contact Jimsair on Unicom?”

“Affirmative, zero three whiskey tango. Notify me when you’re back on channel.”

“Roger, Control.”

“Jimsair, this is Navajo six seven zero three whiskey tango.”

“Go ahead, Navajo.”

“Jimsair, I’m currently approaching airport. I’ll need fuel and short-term parking.”

“No problem Navajo. Will you be staying overnight?”

“Unknown at the moment. I also need to request a landline call to Renaissance Inn and advise them the Gilford party is about to land and will be at your facility.”

“Navajo, we’ll take care of it. See you shortly. Jimsair out.”

“San Diego Control, this is Navajo six seven zero three whiskey tango back on channel.”

“Good timing, zero three whiskey tango. I can slide you in behind a Southwest seven three seven. Turn to heading two six three and begin descent to angels three. Reduce speed to one six zero. Acknowledge when you see Southwest aircraft or pass the edge of Balboa Park.”

“Confirm control. Heading two six three, angels three, speed one six zero. Will advise on sighting Southwest seven three seven or Balboa Park.”

“Renaissance Inn, may I help you?”

“Yes, Sir. This is Angelo at Jimsair. I was asked to advise you the Gilford party will be landing soon and will be parked at our facility.”

“Thanks, Angelo. I’ll advise our driver immediately.”

Sol left his brother at the desk and went into the office off to the side. He dialed the Gray Hawk suite, as he knew they were still in a meeting.

“Hello.”

“Hawk, this is Sol at the front desk. I just received a call from Jimsair at the airport. They said the Gilford party would soon be landing at their facility.”

“Thanks, Sol. I’ll advise Ken.”

“Ken, that was Sol. Someplace called Jimsair just phoned about the Gilford party arriving at their location.”

Maria chuckled, “Hawk, you’ve already forgotten your other wife. That’s Brenda and the group she’s bringing from Alamogordo.”

“Oh!” he replied sheepishly, “I forgot her last name was Gilford.”

Maria exclaimed, “Men!” at the same time the others uttered a surprised, “Other wife?”

Maria laughed at the men’s shocked expressions and said, “Yep, it takes two of us to take care of him, though I’m the only one he’s legally married to. Now, where do we go from here?”

Hawk asked, “Ken, do you have a full first aid kit in that ‘tank’ you’re driving?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Possibly some camouflage.”

Turning to Joel, Hawk asked, “When I call you with the room number, would you please have somebody drive Michael to the Travelodge, and bring him to Jimsair when he’s finished? Also, has anyone been scheduled to pick up our luggage from the Del Coronado?”

Joel responded, “Yes, on the luggage, as well as everything else.”

“Then, with that all covered, Ken, would you please drive me to this Jimsair. Michael and I will make the change at the aircraft.”

“Sure.”

Hawk gave Maria a scalding kiss that actually embarrassed her, as well as the other men. They quickly exited the suite to give the couple a few moments of privacy. As he held her tightly to his chest Hawk proclaimed, “I love you Chipmunk. No matter what happens, remember I love you and Brenda with all my heart.”

“We love you too, Hawk. Now, take care, and we’ll try to do the best job we can.”

“Good, but please include Ken in as much as possible. I’ve a real good feeling about him.”

“Don’t worry, we will.”

Hawk kissed her again before joining Ken. The two men headed for the blue Suburban they’d used earlier that morning coming from the Del. Before they even got out of the building, Hawk’s phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Room one-thirty-one.”

“Thanks. He’ll head that way shortly.”

“Was that your makeup artist?” asked Ken.

“Yeah. Michael needs to go to room one-thirty-one.”

While the two continued toward the Suburban Ken touched the mike under his collar and repeated the room number to Joel. For security purposes no mention was made of where the room was located. As Ken pulled out onto the main street Hawk could see Joel and Michael getting into one of the other Suburbans.

A mile or so from the hotel Hawk’s phone rang again. Looking at the display, he could see that it was Jason. “Good morning, Jason.”

“Hawk, I hope it is. How are you doing?”

“Actually, I’m doing pretty well at this point, especially considering how our morning began. Ken D’Angelo and I are heading to the airport to pick up Brenda and some people who flew in with her. Also, I’ve got someone to be a decoy while I’m going though the procedure later today, and while I’m still swollen. Where are you this morning?”

“We’re at Admiral Burke’s residence on Coronado Island. White Dove and I are staying here to help coordinate your support from this end.”

“Good,” Hawk responded. “I need two SEALs who can be trusted completely. One needs to have dark hair and my build. They both should be in fatigues.”

“We’ll get started on it immediately. When will you need them?”

“From what I know at the moment it’ll be late this afternoon, or early this evening. The one my size will be a second decoy, with us swapping clothes. Therefore, he probably should bring a second uniform or some ‘civvies.’ The second SEAL will be security and needs to be well armed, though it shouldn’t be obvious. Please inform him and the Admiral it’ll likely be an overnight trip.”

“We’ll have them ready.”

“Thanks, Jason.”

“No problem, Hawk, but don’t take any chances. This guy is ruthless, dangerous, and seems to have Southern California in his pocket.”

High on a ridge overlooking the city of Tijuana and the village / resort of Agua Caliente an encrypted satellite phone rang three times. Finally a Hispanic man in his mid thirties released the young girl he was brutally raping and angrily grabbed the phone from the table at the end of the sofa. It was bad enough being interrupted while he was taming a new piece of ass, but he hated to talk on a telephone, dreading any possibility of someone monitoring his calls or recording his voice-print in a computer somewhere. At least, in this case, he could be totally confident no American agency could be eavesdropping on his conversation, as both he and the caller were using encrypted satellite phones manufactured in Israel by the same company that made the phones used by the Mossad. In fact, he’d just purchased enough of the phones to supply every one of his lieutenants, and due to that confidence these were the only phones he ever personally used. All other communication was either eye-to-eye, or through intermediaries. Thankfully, there was a flaw in his thinking because twenty thousand feet above the fortress a sensor aboard an Israeli UAV locked onto the signal and began to feed information concerning the call and the conversation to the surveillance ship sitting off the California Coast. From there, it was sent to the Cubans working at the base in the Florida Panhandle who prepared the following transcript:

“Eduardo, this is Rodolpho Gonzales.”

Trying not to voice the anger he felt Vasquez answered, “Yes, Rodolpho, how are things in San Diego?”

“Patrón, you wanted to know if anything strange was happening in San Diego, even if it seemed insignificant.”

“That’s correct. It’s for me to decide if something is insignificant or not.”

“Well, the hotel owned by Tony D’Angelo contacted all its Latino workers last evening and told them they were on vacation for the week.”

“Interesting, but Tony D’s legit and is no longer competition. Was he closed this morning?”

“There was some activity this morning, but a lot more last night. There must have been twelve or more couples arriving late in the evening.”

Now concerned Vasquez asked, “Mob types?”

“Not from what I can tell, though they don’t look like typical Anglos. Their skin is much darker, but they are not Negroes. Also, they look like students or young workers.”

“Rodolpho, do you see any threat from this situation?”

“There are none that I can see at the moment, Patrón. I wouldn’t have even called if your instructions hadn’t been so specific about small details.”

“Rodolpho, you did the right thing. I doubt it’s anything important, but check around a little and see if you can get any additional information.”

“I’ll do that.”

As an afterthought Eduardo added, “Rodolpho, why don’t you come down this weekend. I’ve a young teen stashed at the farm who needs to be broken in, and get this, she’s the daughter of an Admiral.”

“A virgin?

“Unfortunately, no, but she’s had very little experience and should be very tight.”

“Sounds like her ass would be virgin.”

“That’s quite likely. Now go, I’ve business to attend to.” The two men had barely hung up when the team of young Cubans shouted with glee, and minutes later Admiral Burke received a faxed copy of the transcript.

Ken and Hawk arrived at the Jimsair terminal shortly after the Navajo taxied to the ramp. With clearance from Airport security the Suburban pulled on to the tarmac and parked in front of the boarding door of the twin-engine aircraft, effectively blocking the view of anyone in the terminal. As soon as Ken stopped an excited Brenda led Bill and the Bright Feather family to meet Hawk.

“Now, what’s all the rush about?” asked Brenda.

Hawk pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss that left no doubt as to her status in the family. When he finished the kiss and hug, he said, “We’ve a potential problem, and, as a result, we need everyone under security’s umbrella as quickly as possible. Also, Maria and I needed your help with the interviews, as we weren’t expecting so many at the beginning.”

Hawk pulled Brenda over to where Ken was standing, and said, “Brenda, I want you to meet Ken D’Angelo. Ken, this is my other wife, Brenda Gilford.” The statement didn’t shock Ken, as he’d heard Hawk and Maria discussing Brenda and her position. On the other hand, the introduction pleasantly surprised Brenda, and mentally and emotionally reaffirmed her position in the family. Hawk continued, “Brenda, in addition to being part of security, Ken has an advanced degree in Human Resources Management, so Maria and I thought he could also help in the interview process.”

“We can certainly use help like that. Ken, welcome aboard our jolly little ship.”

“Thank you, Ma’am, but I haven’t been officially offered a crew’s position at this point. Let’s just say I’m being a volunteer intern.”

Turning to the others Hawk said, “Please forgive the chaos this morning. Brenda, I know Bobby, but would you introduce the rest.”

“Sure.” Then with a chuckle, she said, “This is William ‘call me Bill’ Bryce, our new pilot.”

“New pilot?” queried Hawk as he shook Bill’s hand.

“Yep, and approved by Dan. Bill came with this Piper Navajo, which Dan agrees would be a good choice for our first corporate aircraft. As you said, you’ve met Bobby Bright Feather, and this beautiful young lady is his wife, Larena, or Rennie as she prefers to be called.”

“Welcome Rennie to San Diego. Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“Very much so, thank you.”

Next, with Rennie’s approving nod, Brenda carefully took the infant from her mother and presented her to Hawk, saying, “And this sweetheart is their daughter, Mandy.”

Hawk gently touched Mandy’s cheek, and said, “Good morning, little one. I hope your future is as bright as your eyes.”

Hawk moved down the line and stood in front of a very muscular young man. Brenda said, “And finally, this is Bobby’s brother, Joaquin. Joaquin has a BS in Geology from New Mexico State and a Masters in Metallurgy from UTEP. For some reason, I thought we might be able to use him.”

As he shook Joaquin’s hand Hawk replied, “Of that, I’ve little doubt.”

Then speaking to the group, he said, “It’s good to meet all of you. Now, while Rennie and Joaquin help get Mandy and her infant seat set up in the Suburban I need to talk first to Bobby and Brenda and then to Bill. Ken, can you help with their luggage?”

“Sure, I’ll be glad to.”

Hawk stepped toward the rear of the SUV, with Brenda and Bobby following. “Bobby, you know much of my secret, yet you remained quiet when you could have blown the whistle on me. That counts for a lot in my books. It didn’t buy you a job, but it told me you could be trusted. Is that still the case?”

“Sure.”

“Then I need to let you and Brenda know some things. The potential problem is with a drug kingpin who rules this area. We don’t think it’ll affect us directly, but there’s a basis for some potential problems to occur, and that’s the reason for much of the security. Also, I’m going to have plastic surgery today to make my current face permanent, and we’ve arranged a decoy to cover for me while I’m away. Bobby, I need you to help Brenda and my other wife to carry off this charade, as well as to make good choices. Ken, though he’s not Native American, will also be helping.”

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Support the author's future writing by purchasing this book from Bookapy

The Hawk and the Chipmunk

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

$5.95