Chapter 29

Traffic increased as they neared Jacksonville on I-10.

IN SIX-TENTHS OF A MILE, MERGE RIGHT ONTO I-295 TOWARD SAVANNAH!

Fred checked his mirrors and rearview camera screen, then eased into the exit lane. Just as the exit came up:

MERGE RIGHT!

"Yes, Dear," he said under his breath.

At that moment, several things happened at once. A lady was passing in the next lane to the left while having an argument with her husband on her cell phone. Suddenly realizing this was her exit, she swerved to the right, and since she was well above the speed that she could manage this, she jammed on her brakes, still waving her hands around as she shouted at the hapless husband on the other end of the conversation.

Fred was suddenly confronted with a vehicle that had crossed the double lines and road reflectors just as his exit lane split from the Interstate. Now the vehicle was in front of him and slowing alarmingly. Fred had been looking straight on down the lane at the road signs, but had caught the movement out of the corner of his eye when the woman had started to swerve in front of him. Before his conscious mind caught up with the situation, his foot hit the brake, and he yelled, "Hang on," while desperately hoping Carla and Audrey were belted in. He knew better than to try to swerve aside in the short distance he had; the rig would roll for sure. Another thought plagued him as he rode the brake; would the auxiliary braking system the dealer installed on the PT Cruiser work as it was designed to do, keeping the towed Cruiser from jack-knifing into them?

The woman, part of her mind suddenly snapping back to what she was doing as the blaring of a loud horn and the scream of big tires on the road, not to say anything about the approach of what looked like a giant wall behind her small car, finally did something right, and hit the accelerator. The gap between the Tourmaster's front bumper and the woman's small car narrowed to inches as Fred flinched in the driver's seat, before the car suddenly shot away.

Fred's mind had seemed to split between the rearview screen showing the PT Cruiser, and the vehicle he was about to run over. The cloud of blue smoke from the tires of the Cruiser, as well as the cloud produced by the big tires of the RV, billowed out behind them. Fortunately, there was no one following closely.

"Well, fuck. It actually worked," he said as Jessica snapped her head around from the near-crash, wondering what he was talking about. Having pulled trailers on the farm, it only took a second for her to figure out what he meant and focus on the rear screen and the smoke behind them.

"The Cruiser didn't jackknife," she said. "The auxiliary braking system worked like it was supposed to."

"Yep, sure did," Fred agreed. "Everybody okay?" he called out to the two behind them.

"We're fine," Carla answered back. "But I'm glad we were using our plastic go-cups. If they had been glass, we would be cleaning up a mess. I don't even know where they went."

"They're under my feet up here," Jessica said.

The small car pulled onto the shoulder of the long ramp and stopped. Fred eased the rig in behind and turned on his emergency flashers.

"Stay here," he told the women as they unbuckled. "I'm just going to see if she is all right, and check the hitch on the Cruiser. That hitch probably went through hell."

"No," Carla said as she stood. "You check the Cruiser. She doesn't need to see a guy your size looming in her window right now. I'll go check on her."

Grudgingly, Fred knew she was right, for visions of snatching the silly bitch through the window weren't all that far from his mind at the moment.

A few minutes later, they were all back inside and standing together as they watched the woman pull onto the lane and drive away.

"I take it she was okay," Fred said.

"Yeah," Carla said as she came closer to hug him. "If you count being as white as a sheet being okay," she chuckled, looking up into his face. "I think you scared her out of using a cell phone while driving — at least for the moment," she laughed. "All she could do was apologize and cry. She said she thought she was going to die, and probably would have if that horn hadn't jarred her out of her argument with her husband."

"You okay?" Fred said to Audrey as Carla stood back from her hug.

"Well, other than about peeing in my pants," she said as she let out a short, nervous giggle. "But I guess I'm really proud of our man, right now," she finished as she threw her arms around him.

"It must not take much, then," Fred laughed as he hugged her back.

"Maybe not," Jessica broke in. "But I suspect that if one of us had been driving, someone would have been calling 911 about now."

"Bullshit," Fred said as he slid into the driver's seat. "Buckle up everyone," he needlessly said as they all took their seats.

Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, Fred seemed more relaxed than he had been all day as he checked behind them and pulled back onto the road, more confident of the rig now. "How much farther?" he asked Jessica.

Jessica touched the GPS screen. "Eleven point three miles until the exit," she answered. "The camp isn't far from there." Flipping to another screen, she continued, "We've averaged fifty-two miles per hour, even with our stops." Then looking back at her mother, "We'll have plenty of time. There's a lot of daylight left in the day."

Fred eased the rig to a stop by the office. "I'll get us a nice place by the lake," he said as he stood.

"I'll go with you," Audrey said. "Since I own a camp, too, they'll probably give us a discount."

Fred beat her to the door and tilted her chin up for a gentle kiss. "No, you gals stay here and figure out what we're having for supper. I'll take care of this."

Audrey started to object, but instead, just said, "Okay."

Inside, Fred surveyed the map of the camp that the manager was showing him. They had already looked at it on the computer during a rest stop, and the women wanted a site as close to the lake as they could get. "What have you got that's right on the lake?" Fred asked.

"Well, you've pretty much got your pick today..."

"How about that one on the far right?" Fred said, pointing to the map. "Is it available?"

"Yeah, all of those are," the manager replied, sweeping his finger down the lots. "How long you gonna stay?"

"Put us down for two nights. If we decide to stay longer, I'll let you know in plenty of time."

After the transaction, "We don't want to be around a bunch of people who are making a racket," Fred tried to casually comment.

"Well, quiet time is between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M.," the manager started until he realized the denomination of the bill Fred slid across the counter. Since Fred had already paid with a credit card, it was obvious what the bill was for. "Uh, I can start filling the row from the other end, just as easily," he said as the money disappeared.

"I would really appreciate it," Fred responded, as he thought about Jessica's announcement to the world as she orgasmed. "We're on this trip to relax. The quieter, the better." And, besides, I'd really hate to have to try to explain to the cops why she's screaming at the top of her lungs, he thought.

"Twenty-three L," Fred said as he slid into the driver's seat and handed the printout to Jessica.

Jessica eagerly grabbed the map of the campsites and traced the route with her finger that the manager had marked. "Two intersections, then take a left. When we get to the lake, we take a right and go to the end."

A couple of minutes later, "Oh, look," from Jessica, "two paddle boats out on the lake. Can we do that?" she said as she turned to Fred.

"We can do anything we want to," Fred said as he glanced in the direction she had pointed.

Shortly, they passed the docks where the paddle boats and canoes were kept. "They have four-person boats," Audrey said.

"Yes," Jessica let out.

Fred, not quite sure why she should be so excited about a paddle boat, took the turn and started checking pad numbers for their campsite. Sure enough, theirs was on the far end.

Fred eased onto the concrete. The rig was barely stopped when Audrey headed for the door. "I'll get us hooked up," she said over her shoulder, and was out the door.

Fred sat chuckling as he looked toward the open door. "What are you laughing about?" Jessica said, fighting to not laugh with him.

"Oh, nothing," Fred said as he wondered if he would ever have to hook up the RV as long as Audrey was around, "I'm just in a good mood."

"Would chicken appeal to your palate tonight?" Carla said to Fred as she stood looking in the freezer.

Glancing at Jessica, Fred answered, "How about a quick sandwich now to tide us over before we check out the paddle boats," he grinned as the young woman's smile suddenly doubled. "We can cook the chicken on the grill later tonight."

"Yes," Jessica hissed out again as she grabbed him for a hug.

There were two loud raps and Sergeant Gomez walked through the door; leaving it open, he took the couple of steps necessary, turned right, and froze.

"It's time, Major ... and, uh, Lieutenant," he almost stammered before quickly catching himself as he recognized Lieutenant Fisher in the dim light.

Jeff flipped the light on. Fisher, still sprawled across Jeff, opened a red eye and glared at the sergeant for a moment before her expression changed and she smiled.

"Sorry, Ma'am," Gomez said. "I didn't realize the major had company."

"No use apologizing, Sergeant. You're only doing what you were supposed to do. And besides, I'm decent."

"Yes, Ma'am." Then focusing on Jeff's grinning face, "Sir, the lieutenant would like to show you something before we board the plane."

"Fine, Sergeant. I'll take care of it."

When Gomez was gone, "What's he so embarrassed about?" Fisher propped herself up on Jeff's chest and asked. "We're not doing anything wrong. The only rules we have here about fraternization are between enlisted and officers. Even that isn't enforced unless they become blatant about it. And besides that, I've never been with anyone since I came here."

Jeff chuckled. "I suspect that it was more about me than you. He and I have known each other for years. You're the first woman to 'sleep' with me at the base, and he knows it. Of course, all we did was sleep, but he doesn't know that."

"Sorry, Major. Diana was explicit about what I should do. I just..."

Jeff pulled her face down to his and kissed her. "My Queen is sometimes ... unfathomable."

"Your Queen?" she sighed, her mind determined to remember the kiss forever.

"We'll talk about that after the mission. Can you get some time off to come back to the retreat with me?" he said, knowing that arguing with Diana about another woman was worse than useless.

"Well, Sir, I, uh ... Diana already thought of that. First thing I did when we got here was to check with my boss. I haven't taken any time off since I was recruited, so I have six weeks R and R coming. I can stay for a while ... uh, if you want me to, that is."

"That sounds good, Lieutenant. But let's put this conversation off until after we take care of Ingles."

Fisher, as if suddenly realizing where she was, blushed again. "Uh, I guess we need to get up," she said raising the sheet. Of course, that allowed her to look between them at the long bulge in Jeff's shorts.

"I'm not going to rape you, Lieutenant," Jeff said as he smiled at her.

"Uh ... no, Sir," she managed as the sight seemed to burn into her mind. Hoping that her bra and tee-shirt would keep him from noticing her suddenly swollen nipples, she scrambled over him and off the bed. As she picked up her pants, Jeff stood and pulled her to him. Turning her around as she continued to clutch her pants with one hand, he lifted her chin and gently kissed her for a moment. "Kayla, Diana has never been wrong about something like this. Let's just get through the mission, then we'll go home and discuss things. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Well, that leaves me wide open, she thought as she tried to get her mind off the man whose very spirit seemed to call to her.

Jeff sat at Lieutenant Richardson's desk reading Bill's file. "I already knew about him landing his crippled Tomcat on the carrier, and the doctors managing to save his RIO because of him refusing to punch the two of them out, but I didn't know about him walking out of that mess with an operative on his back. Makes me even more proud to know the man," he said as he finished. Looking up, he focused on Richardson's tired face, and frowned.

"How much sleep have you and Sergeant Gomez had?"

"Not much," Richardson sighed.

"All right. Is our equipment aboard?"

Richardson nodded. "What we're taking with us is aboard. The RVs and the rest of our equipment are already at the staging area."

"Good. I want you and Gomez on the plane right now. Find a seat, strap in and sack out. And I mean sack out. I expect both of you to be sound asleep before the rest of us get to the plane. We'll wake you when we get to North Dakota. Lieutenant Fisher and I will get the team aboard, and take care of any last-minute details."

Richardson stood. "Thank you, Sir," he said as he saluted.