Chapter 126

A little earlier in the day, Jessica had stopped on the back steps to stomp the snow off her boots, then left them on the back porch. Once inside, she grabbed her mother for a hug as Carla moved bacon from the skillet to a platter.

"Whoa, Girl. What's this all about?" Carla laughed. "I assume by your good mood that our horses are okay?"

Jessica grabbed a piece of the bacon. "Oh, wow, ouch," she said as she juggled the hot slice from one hand to the other. "Yeah, Molly and Abby are fine and so are the others."

"That's hot," Carla added, nodding to the bacon.

"No, duh," Jessica said, blowing on the piece and taking a bite. Giggling, she hugged her mother again.

"So, did you get them all fed?" Carla teased, knowing the system was automatic.

"They were just finishing up the grain that the system had fed them. I decided to put some more hay out in the lot, but all I had to do was press a button to have it delivered by the conveyor. I did have to move the big bale to the lot rack with the tractor, but that took about thirty seconds," she finished, laughing. "Feeding is surely not going to be the chore it used to be."

Carla chuckled, "Well, feeding a few horses is a lot different than it will be to feed a whole herd of cattle when we restock. I was going to go with you this morning, but that man of ours was threatening to start eating the furniture if I didn't cook breakfast. Might have had something to do with us all being horny after the wedding. I have no idea when I fell asleep. We must have screwed him half the night," she finished with a laugh.

Brenda and Audrey walked into the kitchen holding hands and giggling.

"What's so funny?" Jessica asked.

"We just discovered that his cock goes from zero to ninety in about one second flat when we gently scratch his balls," Audrey said.

"Now that's useful information," Jessica said as Carla slapped Jessica's hand when she tried to sneak another piece of bacon from the platter.

Brenda began scrambling eggs as Audrey started another pot of coffee, the women all used to working with each other preparing meals.

"I'm hungry," Fred roared as he walked into the kitchen.

All his mates chuckled. "When are you not hungry?" Carla said as she turned to him, pressed her breasts to his chest and kissed him as if she hadn't seen him in a month. "You should still be full from all the pussy you ate last night," she teased.

Fred rubbed his belly and grinned at her. "Low calorie. Have to eat a lot of it," he laughed.

The timer dinged and Jessica took the big pan of biscuits out of the oven and began spreading a thick coat of butter on their tops. "She's still horny. Weddings do that to women," she said over her shoulder.

"I am not," Carla said, trying to keep a straight face. "I'm too sore to be horny," she admitted.

"Bull," Jessica said, "you're just sore and horny, just like the rest of us."

The teasing continued. Brenda began setting the table as Audrey put hash browns on a platter.

"Diana said she wanted us to spend the night with them tomorrow night," Carla said.

Fred took mugs down for everyone, then stood waiting for the second pot to finish brewing. "We just returned from a trip. Did she have a particular reason for wanting us to stay over so soon after our vacation?"

Carla stopped momentarily to look at him, "She seemed ... oh, I don't know, a little bit secretive about why she wanted us there. She did say something about telling us some things we didn't know."

"Did she seem upset?" Fred asked as he began pouring coffee for everyone.

"No. She did say it had nothing to do with the farm, just something that we should know."

"We're going back tonight, anyway. We should have plenty of time to talk after the wedding," Fred reasoned.

"I mentioned that," Carla agreed, "but she said they wanted to talk when we could all sit down and relax with plenty of time afterward, and Jeff could be there also."

"Odd," Fred said. "I thought we already knew all their secrets."

"I have no idea what they want to talk about. Diana assured me that nothing was wrong, but she was insistent that we spend the night tomorrow night."

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll find out what it's all about then."

Breakfast ready, they sat and held hands as Jessica said a short prayer of thanks for their safe trip and their meal.

Carla looked over at her mate. "After breakfast, I'm going to go see our horses for a few minutes, then visit our neighbors and thank them for looking after things while we were gone. I talked to them on the phone Friday afternoon just before we got in, so they know we're back, but I want to make sure they know how much we appreciate their taking care of things while we were gone on our trip."

Fred had finished his eggs, hash browns and bacon. He put a dollop of fresh butter on his plate, poured sorghum syrup on it, then worked the butter into the syrup with his butter knife. With a fresh biscuit in hand, he lathered a swipe of the mixture onto the biscuit and took a bite. "We should probably all go. They need to meet Brenda and Audrey, anyway, and you're right, we need to thank them with a little more than just a phone call."

Audrey got up to get the coffee pot and refreshed their cups. "I'm a little nervous about meeting your friends. What are we going to tell them about our relationship?"

"Nothing," Carla chuckled. "Sooner or later the women will ask, and I'll tell them the truth. I suspect it won't take long for them to reason it out just by the way we treat each other. I'm not going to try to pretend."

"Regardless, I can see that you're a bit nervous," Brenda said as she thanked Audrey for the coffee with a smile, "but what about me? What am I supposed to say? Oh, hi, I'm Brenda, Fred's dead wife come back to life in this neat new body that used to belong to a doper. That should go over really well."

"I guess..." Fred started.

But Brenda interrupted, "Oh, I know I can't do that, but I do want to get this body's name changed to mine. Every time I look at her driver's license, it worries me. We didn't get stopped on our trip, so I never had to use it, but it still concerns me."

"That's something else we need to discuss with Jeff and Diana," Fred allowed. "Maybe we need to get the driver's license transferred to Colorado before we get involved in the name change thing. Might get some advice from one of Jeff's lawyers — do things right so there won't be any complications."

Carla reached over and took Fred's hand for a moment. "Your mates have been discussing something. In addition to Jeff and Diana marrying us, I want us to have a contract something like the Matthews have. Should I have an accident..."

"Whoa, woman. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"I know. I know, but still, I want our marriage to be something a little more secure than just our word in front of friends."

Jessica started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Carla said, staring at her.

"Well, we can't all get legally married," she laughed, "so we'll just get contracted, instead."

Carla wanted to glare at her, but she could see the smirks on all their faces. Giving up, she chuckled, "Okay, let's see about getting contracted then."

"Does that mean I can look for new pussy?" Fred said just to play with them.

"No!" they all said at the same time.

Carla added, "You have all the pussy you need, Big Man."

"And some fine pussy it is," Fred chuckled, leaning over to kiss Carla again.

Whatley, the Atlanta SAC of the FBI, parked his vehicle and sat staring at the apartment complex in front of him. This area wasn't a ghetto, but it was a far cry from where Courtney Grigsby (The ASAC's wife) used to live with her husband. I wonder what happened to them? I have never seen the slightest indication that Matt was running around on her. Crap, I can't imagine when the guy would have time. I guess he was away too much and she hooked up with someone else. I suspect this trip is as near useless as anything I've ever done, but dammit, I feel a certain responsibility. Here the guy is busting his ass to do the best job he can for me, and she just up and leaves him, apparently with no warning. Then she ends up in a dump like this. Matt says she's didn't even attempt to gouge him with what she asked for in the divorce — except for that nice TV he just bought, he chuckled to himself. He really liked watching the game on that thing, but it was little enough to give up since she didn't even ask for alimony. From the looks of this place, there must be one hell of a difference in their salaries.

Sunday morning. At least I should be able to catch her at home. Of course, I'm going to embarrass the hell out of myself if her boyfriend comes to the door. Then again, that would provide the answer as to why she left. What the heck am I going to say to her? Oh, yeah, I'm your husband's boss, remember me? I came by to meddle and get you to go back to the guy who saved my life yesterday. Yeah, that should go over like that proverbial balloon ... Fuck, get out and get this over with.

Whatley walked up a flight of concrete steps that sported a rusted guardrail that needed a new coat of paint — five years ago. A half dozen screaming kids pushed past to run down the steps and around the corner. Someone across the street repeatedly revved a loud car motor. Passing the landing, he walked on until he reached apartment 212. There was a curse, then an argument started up between a man and a woman in the apartment two doors back. Whatley could hear every word the two screamed at each other. Crap, how do people live like this? he thought as he pressed the buzzer — which didn't seem to work. He rapped three times on the poorly disguised steel door set in the concrete block wall of the apartment.

A moment later the door opened a crack, then stopped against the chain lock. "Yes? Oh ... it's you."

Whatley had met Courtney Grigsby shortly after Matt had transferred to Atlanta to be one of Whatley's ASACs. He had seen her several times since then, but only in passing.

"I would like to talk to you for a few minutes, Mrs. Grigsby. I didn't come by to harass you. Matt doesn't even know I'm here."

There was a moment of silence before the door closed, the chain rattled and the door opened wide. Courtney looked at Whatley for a moment, turned and walked toward the couch. "You may as well come in and get it over with."

Courtney was dressed in a robe that went down past her knees — utilitarian. She turned to sit on the couch, crossing her arms under her breasts as she nodded to the chair on the other side of the coffee table. She's darn sure pretty enough to attract most any male she wants, Whatley thought as he glanced at her petite frame, pretty face, nice figure, and long, very dark brown hair that bore a gentle wave. There seemed to be just a hint of Asian in her ancestry.

The living room was spartan — concrete block walls painted a light green with a stippled and water-stained off-white ceiling. The couch and fairly comfortable seat at least matched, but he suspected they were rentals. The coffee table seemed new, but it was certainly not quality. There were two small tables with lamps, and a matching bookcase with a few books in it. The only real thing of value was a big screen TV at the other end of the room. Courtney Grigsby had definitely not improved her living conditions when she left her husband.

"I told Matt I wouldn't put up with him harassing me..."

"And has he?" Whatley interrupted. "And again, he doesn't know I'm here."

"Uh, no. He signed the divorce papers, but I wouldn't talk to him. I just want to end it. So how did you find me? Used the resources of your agency, no doubt."

"Actually, I did. I asked one of my agents to find where you were living. He called information and got your new number and address from them. Took him about a minute. So I guess I did use my authority to find you," he said, grinning at her.

He saw her fight a grin in return.

"I didn't come by to harass you, Mrs. Grigsby..."

"I won't be a Grigsby long," she interrupted.

"Uh, may I ask why?"

"Why what?" she said, frowning, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Did you find someone else? Did he?"

Courtney glared at Whatley, her eyes flashing. "That's personal and absolutely none of your business. I can't believe you would so blatantly ask that."

Whatley sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I apologize. I've found the direct approach works more than you might imagine. Look, I knew before I came over here that there was an excellent chance that this visit would be fruitless, but I just had to try. Your husband saved my life yesterday. Saved no telling how many lives, for that matter. To say I owe him one has to be way up there on the list of understatements."

Astonishing him, Courtney Grigsby stared at him, started to say something, and suddenly her pretty eyes overflowed and tears poured down her cheeks. "I knew he was involved in all that as soon as I saw it on TV. I just knew it. And ... for your information, that's basically the reason I'm divorcing him. I saw you looking toward the bedroom. There's no one in there and I'm the only one who has been in there since I moved in. I know you're speculating, but I didn't leave him for another man. I ... just can't stand wondering if he's coming home, or if I'm going to get a call, or if someday there'll be a knock on my door with someone there to tell me..." She choked up, waved her hand a little bit to try to signal for him to wait, then just stopped trying to talk. She took a tissue from a box on the coffee table and wiped her eyes, making Whatley wonder at the convenience of the tissues.