Chapter 163

MIDVILLE, WYOMING

A little earlier in the day.

Bill Madison eased out of bed, being careful to not awaken his women. Taking his clothes into the vanity area, he dressed and slipped on a coat. As he walked out on the landing in front of the motel door, he noticed Frank Wainwright farther down the landing, waved to him and walked in his direction.

As the two men met, Bill slapped Wainwright on the shoulder. "I would say you're up early, but then again, you're always up early."

"Can't help it," Frank said as they descended the stairs. "My parents were early risers, and they rolled me out with them. I guess it caught on, or something; I've been a 'lark' throughout my adulthood, and continue to be, as you very well know. So why the comment?"

"Oh, I don't know. No reason, really. I guess I just wanted to get out early and walk around a bit. Seems a shame that what was once obviously a pretty nice town wound up like this. How did the meeting go last night?"

Wainwright spent the next few minutes bringing Bill up to date with the team's suggestions, as the men walked through the motel lot and turned down Main Street.

"So what did Cambridge think about it?"

"Difficult to tell. Tingle offered him the job that you and I discussed, but Cambridge said he wouldn't take it until he thought about it and discussed it with his wife. He also said he would have to give two weeks notice to the grocery store where he worked, but in the same breath said the owner usually fired an employee as soon as he or she gave notice."

"Nice guy," Madison sarcastically commented. "Then again, that will be better for us. Cambridge will have a much better paying job with benefits, and you will have a liaison who is known and respected. And ... you won't have to wait for him to work out a notice."

The men walked on for a time without speaking, just enjoying the early morning, Wainwright's security discreetly following them. Bill glanced over at his boss, "Are you planning to visit Cambridge's church this morning?"

"Well ... I had considered it, but I didn't want to give the impression that..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. A little like a politician. Shake hands with everyone and kiss the babies. Go to church. That kind of thing."

"But..." Wainwright continued, "Margaret informed me that we were going," he said with a chuckle, "so I guess the people will just have to debate my reasons for being there."

"Jill says she's going, and after what they did for her, I can understand why she feels obligated to go. Plus, she says she wants to hear Cambridge preach. And, of course, that means Kathy and I will go, also. What about Tingle?"

Wainwright let out a chuckle. "He said he was in church last Sunday and will be today. I don't know whether he went to show everyone he's a good guy, or just wanted to go to church. He said three of the people on the team went last Sunday, also, but they're people who usually go to church anyway."

"Well, I'm long overdue," the pilot admitted, "but I wonder how long it will take before people begin to realize that I have two wives? Things might get interesting then."

"And for me," Wainwright commented. "Well, technically, I'll marry Tina this week, but she, Margaret and I are all sleeping together, anyway."

"Cambridge and his wife know about Jill and Kathy, but they haven't shown any reaction. They actually invited us to spend the night with them, and they have only one extra bedroom. The implication was that all three of us would use it. I doubt if the Cambridges will make any effort to tell people that I have two wives, but I suspect someone will figure it out when they see us together this morning."

"Times are changing; multiple marriages are becoming more common, or at least more than one woman living with one man is," Wainwright commented. "But since there are only two women, one could easily be a sister-in-law, so the facts aren't as evident with us, but with Jeff..."

Madison chuckled as he glanced at Wainwright. "Yeah, with fourteen women gathered around you, I imagine people wouldn't even consider the sister-in-law angle."

Chuckling, the two Alphas turned right to walk in the direction of the parallel street, intending to circle back toward the motel.

"What about the vacation? Did you convince Cambridge and his wife to accept it?" Wainwright questioned.

"I tried, and so did my women, but right now, I haven't the foggiest."

Wainwright sighed. "I've had good employees who had financial problems. Problems that came about through no fault of their own. As you know, in these cases, I usually try to assist them. But some people won't accept help. They have too much pride, or perhaps, integrity, to do so. Whatever. At times, I've had to bypass them to accomplish my goal. Then I've just flat out lied and denied the entire thing. Why don't you sit down and talk to both of them together..."

"As I said, I've already spoken to Luther, and my women talked with his wife..."

"Do it again, then drop it for a while. If they don't respond positively, create a travel packet, including tickets for a private jet. The jet tickets should look official, the entire packet, as far as that goes. Hotel reservations, itinerary, the works. Provide a specific date and time the helicopter will arrive to take them to the jet. That travel packet should include pictures of my plane, the hotel and the beaches. Everything a travel agent would give them and more. Hell, when you decide, let me know and I'll have my advertising people take care of the whole thing for you. Having the trip already set up for the Cambridges will make refusal much more difficult."

The men had walked on for a couple of blocks, when Wainwright suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Bill wondered aloud.

Wainwright stopped to stare at his brother Alpha. "Oh, something just occurred to me. I'm just a wee bit glad this came back to bite you in the ass."

"Me? What did I do?" the pilot asked.

"Well, I seem to remember a plane that went down and trapped my ass in it. Somebody I know wouldn't leave me there, and that person was hurt as badly as I was — much worse in the end. That person," he said, tapping Bill on the shoulder, "pushed that panel back off my legs and carried me from the plane — literally. Then covered me with his body when the fuel tanks went. His back and legs were burned horribly, but he wouldn't take a fucking dime from me."

"You paid all my bills though, and provided round-the-clock limo service for Jill if she needed to go somewhere; had meals catered. You took care of my family while I was in the hospital..."

"Oh, bullshit, I just rented a suite for Jill at the hospital when you were in the ICU, and a few other minor things."

" ... And the VIP suite for us when I was released from the intensive care unit to go to a supposed regular room."

"So what, it was just a little money ... Money is nothing; you almost gave your life for me."

Madison frowned. "It was my duty to stay and get my passenger out. I couldn't leave without you, and you know it. Let's not make a mountain out of that proverbial molehill. Besides, we've been over this before."

"Yeah, well, the situation was hopeless, yet you managed, somehow, to get me free. I can still hear that jet fuel hissing as it dripped on something hot. If it had taken another ten or fifteen seconds to get out of there, we both would have died. I owe you my life, and you damn well know it. You wouldn't take anything from me, now you're up against the same thing. I think it's hilarious."

"So, what day are you and Tina getting married?" Bill asked to change an embarrassing subject.

Wainwright looked at his brother Alpha for a moment, grinned and said, "Not just Tina and me. All three of us to each other."

"Sorry. Just a slip of the tongue." Bill thought for a moment, then said, "Jill and Kathy reminded me of that last night."

"Oh?"

"They've kissed and sucked the others breasts a little when I'm making love to one or the other of them, but last night, they made love to each other, and I got to join in."

"And you..." Wainwright teased.

" ... had a damn fine time," Bill laughed. "Have yours..."

"Not yet, other than a little kissing and sucking each others breasts on occasion, like you say, but always when I'm making love to one of them. But Margaret tells me that is going to change on our wedding night."

"Tina isn't going to be alone with you on your wedding night?"

"Tina tells me she wants Margaret there too. I tried to tell Tina that it would be her special night, but she won't hear of it. She says she's going to make love to both of us that night, and that's obviously going to include girl-girl, too."

"Well, my brother Alpha, all I can say is it was the hottest thing I've ever seen, and I hope they'll do it again very soon."

The two men walked through the passageway from the back parking lot of the motel to the front where they noticed their women coming down the stairs. "Looks like our timing was perfect."

Bill, smiling, waved to the women. "And I'm starving. There definitely will be some snacks in our motel room tonight. When are we leaving?"

Wainwright stopped and turned to face his pilot. "I arranged to have the restaurant owner cater breakfast at our place in the morning. I intend to touch base with Cambridge and his wife and answer any questions they might have. Then I'm going to leave it with Tingle so we can return to the Retreat. We don't want to risk being late for the first wedding. Hanes and the two nurses are on for tomorrow night, unless they've changed the schedule."

"I'll pick up Clarence and we'll get the helicopter ready while you're having your meeting."

But Wainwright was shaking his head. "I would prefer that you and your women attend the meeting with us. I'll tell Tingle to only bring two of his people so there will be plenty of room at the conference table for my family and yours. I've invited the town council members, also. Tingle will have one of his people run Reed out to the helicopter so it will be ready when our conference is over."

Pastor Luther Cambridge and his wife, Megan, sat at their kitchen table as they finished their breakfast. Megan got up, poured them a second cup of coffee, put the carafe back in the coffeemaker and reseated herself. As she fixed her coffee, she watched her husband.

"Staring out that window isn't going to fix whatever you're worrying about, Baby," she quietly said. "I know you didn't sleep well last night. Why don't you share your thoughts with me?"

Cambridge let out a sigh. "Sorry. I, uh ... Honey, do you remember when Mr. Tingle called me aside while you were talking to that woman after our meeting finished last night?"

"Sure."

Luther met his wife's eyes. "Well, he offered me a job."

She smiled at him. "I was expecting that."

Luther obviously had not anticipated her answer. "You expected him to offer me a job? But..."

"Mr. Tingle and his people will need to be in contact with the Mayor throughout this whole thing. He's probably figured out by now that the town council will do whatever you tell them. Tingle can't stay in contact with you while you're sleeping days and working an hour away from town at night. Besides, he's here to develop ideas to revitalize our town, which means jobs for everyone who wants them. You have donated your time to the town and it has never paid you a dime. Why shouldn't you have the first job?"

"He said that the job might also involve an eventual position in human resources — hiring people and such — and I would receive training for it."

"So, why the long face?"

"He said the job would begin as a liaison between his group and the town council, and generally the people here, but ... if I took the job, it would look like ... I don't know ... maybe that it would be a conflict of interest, or something. It might seem as if I were on their side, I guess. A preacher can't have that."

"So when did we choose up sides?" she said with a little grin. "I thought we would all be on the same side. They're here to revitalize our economy, create jobs for all of us who want them, and train us to market the products we produce, if I understand Mr. Tingle correctly. Where does that say anything about sides? If anyone complains about a possible conflict of interest, tell them they can have the Mayor's job; see how they like it. You would be good in a liaison position. You know everyone in the town, and most everyone in the county. Anyone with any sense at all trusts you, and would trust you whether you were Mayor or not."