Chapter 198

Jeff sat at his desk in his business office as he talked with General Whitworth on the secure satellite phone. " ... I just gave the sketch to Security. You should have a copy on your desk momentarily," he finished, his mounting frustration evident. "We'll never get all these sons-of-bitches if we wait for the FBI. Shit, I don't mean to belittle them. The agents I've worked with lately are first class, but these two bastards will probably be able to squirm out of anything that's done to them legally, and ... you and I both know it."

Whitworth found himself trying to appease an obviously angered Prime. "We've been gathering information, Colonel. I have no problem taking them out; we just need to do it a bit discreetly since he's a fucking high-level diplomat. We could dispose of him with any number of untraceable drugs, but ... it would still throw suspicion on our government. And ... I don't need an investigation that might tend to focus on black ops. Best to do this another way."

"And while we're farting around, no telling what this bastard is doing."

"Well ... that isn't exactly true. I've kept him under surveillance since we identified him after Hope made the first sketch. From what we hear and see, he's running scared since the shootout in Georgia."

"So? How does he know about that?"

"He's a fucking diplomat, and we both know he's involved with the slavers. I just don't know exactly how. You can bet your ass that Hope was soon to be kidnapped. If the money deal hadn't gone through, I think they would have just taken her. That goes along with what Art got out of the meeting, too. But I think she was destined for the politician – at least for a while. Maybe until he tired of her, then who knows? Maybe out of the country, or an overdose to kill her."

"And he'll skip on this, won't he? His government will pull him out of the country, no matter what he's charged with. We're back to square one, General. And ... my wives are pushing me to marry Hope. I can't let what he's done to her go unanswered."

"Never said you should, and you know it, Colonel. You must know me better than that. What about the people who sold Nat, Nicki and Whitney? See them running around?"

"Sorry, General. I guess I was letting my temper talk too much."

"No problem, Jeff. Just give me enough time to set this up properly. I suppose you'll want to use your team?" Whitworth chuckled, "Don't even bother answering that. What about Art? He will want to go. You need to start training him to work with your team if you decide to take him."

But Jeff was shaking his head, even though the General couldn't see him. "Unh uh. I'm sure he would want to be there, but he's FBI. He doesn't need to know about this ... well other than in a general way. There could be a lie detector somewhere in his future, and this might come out, or rather, force him to lie and probably get fired for it. If things ever cool down for him, I assume he would want to continue his career. But for now, Helen and Laura are working to get something going for him and his wives."

Whitworth sighed. "If I were in his shoes, I'd be pissed if you left me out. But it's your call."

"I'll just tell him it's taken care of and he should not ask me about it. He's a smart guy; he'll figure out that I'm trying to protect his job for him."

"Are things still going well with Kayla? Oh, I know she's practically your shadow? I've asked before, but..."

"She insists on training with my team, as I'm sure you're aware. Some days, she's so exhausted she looks like she wants to die. She has had a collection of scrapes and bruises, but hasn't once complained. I have had Little One heal her a couple of times when I knew her bruises were too severe for her to continue the next day. She's trying to train and protect me, too. Before she goes to the ski lodge to meet with the team, she makes me promise not to leave the Retreat. She lucked up and was here when the thing with Caitlin happened, otherwise, I would still be in deep shit with Kayla."

There was quiet for a time, then, "General, I'm still not sure about using her for my personal security. She's too anxious to defend me. She could get hurt that way. I can take care of myself."

"Then teach her to be good enough to defend you," Whitworth responded.

"Shit, General. My team has trained for years, and those people were the best of the best before they even got on the team..."

"Then make her the best of the best. She's exactly where she needs to be. If Arlene had been better trained, she would have taken that mercenary out without getting herself shot. You know it, and I know it. She was valiant, but had no combat training. Security has training instructors. Your team's instructors are there as well. You're a Colonel, and besides, they're there for you. Use them."

"I don't want my women to be trained fighters. They're my wives, for goodness sake."

Whitworth let out a quiet sigh. "Sometimes we don't get everything we want, Colonel – not even the Prime."

The puppies traveled down the hall, practically bouncing with their playfulness. So far, neither of the little animals had done anything on the carpet, and the girls were watching them less and less closely, although they still took them outside very frequently.

The puppies' new world was big ... and interesting. Each one had missed its mother, but there were so many distractions, plus many people who picked them up, loved them, and played with them, that it was hard to be lonely for long. Having a buddy they had known all their short lives also helped, and getting to sleep with their humans was a big boost as well.

They were frequently distracted as they made their way down the corridor, turning to follow each new scent trail, most of which ended at a closed door. As they passed the kitchen, they were again distracted by the smells, this time, though, the smells were far more interesting, until...

Billy had lain in wait for more than an hour. He had decided that his new hiding place behind a planter that was sitting on a pedestal would allow him to pounce on the two dogs from above. His plan had been a good one, and with the patience of a cat, he had sat unmoving for more than an hour, except for an occasional twitch of the end of his tail. Now his prey neared, and that twitch became more frequent as he readied to pounce.

But ... the puppies, in unison, turned their heads away from the kitchen door to lock onto the cat smell. Dashing the twenty feet to the pedestal, they sat barking up at a frustrated Billy.

Come on down and play, Cat, Sugar said in her mind.

Yeah, Spike agreed. I'll bite your tail again, Cat. My nose is still sore where you scratched it.

Billy stood staring down at the dogs, hissing, his tail fluffed out, but their barking was hurting his ears. With one final hiss, he teleported back to his suite to contemplate the situation. There had to be a better way to do this that would trump the dogs irritating advantage in smelling. This was his territory and they were the interlopers.

Jeff, Diana, Van, Adriana, Lillian, Jeremy, Connie and Denise sat at the table in one of the small conference rooms.

Adriana's mind swirled on the crux of a dilemma. She wanted her daughter to be happy, but she was only fifteen. Having been reminded that fifteen would have easily been marrying age less than a hundred years ago, helped very little. Neither did it help that she, Adriana, had been the one to more or less suggest to her husband they go ahead and allow their daughter to marry. She knew that Paulette was hurting, but in recent months, she had become much like the sister that Adriana never had. Now the teenager would no longer be living with them, but would be a married woman living next door. No matter what Adriana had said to try to convince her husband, it seemed as if she were losing her daughter.

" ... She does look sixteen," Adriana sighed, "but she's still my little girl."

Van took his wife's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "We're either one hundred percent, or we tell her she has to wait. You're the one who convinced me," Van reminded. "I thought this was settled between us."

Before Adriana could answer, Jeremy spoke up. "Mom, you know how much we mean to each other. She snuck into my bed the last time I slept at home. Did you know that?"

Adriana gave out a little chuckle. "Van and I knew, and we trusted you. Well, trusted both of you. But every time she did it in recent years, we worried more. After all, Van and I didn't wait, and we know that she loves you."

Jeremy looked at his mother, a grin taking over his face. "Damn, we thought we were being sneaky, but I never touched her that way. We just snuggled."

Van raised an eyebrow as he looked at his son. "You never touched her, but did she..."

"We never had sex, Dad – in any way, but she ... checked me out," he finished as he blushed. "I swear that was all, but you have no idea how difficult it was to tell her 'no.'"

Van looked at Adriana and they both smiled at each other. "Oh, I could guess," he said as Adriana giggled.

Jeff cleared his throat. "Here in the Retreat, especially now that we have Security, we don't have a problem with people trying to meddle in our business, but what about your home? Are there neighbors that will notice? What about Paulette wearing a wedding ring? What about school? Who will likely pay attention to her actions, and will she be able to keep secret from her girlfriends that she's married? She's young and she'll be proud that she's married. What about a slip of the tongue to her teachers or friends? In another year, most of those problems will go away with a suitable cover story – a husband who is in the army, or something like that. Right now, there could be problems.

"Understand," he said just before Van could answer, "I'm all for her marrying. I just want to call attention to some of the problems you might face. And ... Di and I might have an answer for some of those problems. Helen has a state certified private school on the premises. Perhaps there's a way to have Paulette enroll in Helen's school and attend via the Internet. That should vastly decrease the possibility of the marriage being discovered. And before you ask, Helen has some friends – good friends who have the authority needed, and they owe her some favors, apparently big ones – at the state level, who might very well smooth things out should there be problems with the Internet school."

"Would Helen be willing to do that?" Adriana asked.

"She was the one who brought it up," Diana answered.

"Adriana?" Van questioned.

"Just help us stay close," she responded. "I don't like my empty nest, but I want my daughter to have what I've had – still have – with you, my Darling. And okay, I agree, we should let her marry Jeremy."

Van hesitated while the others waited. Taking his wife's hand, he looked at the Prime. "Yes. I agree."

"You two?" Jeff asked as he looked at Denise and Connie.

But almost before he could get the question out, they both emphatically said as one, "Yes!"

"You know I vote yes," Jeremy chuckled.

"And you, Lillian?"

"Me? I'm just..."

"You're one of us, Baby," Van said. "Your vote counts just like the rest of ours do."

Lillian sat up straighter, hesitated for a second, then said, "Paulette is more adult than some of the adults I know. She obviously loves Jeremy, and I know he loves her, too. So if I have a vote, then I vote yes, also."

"When?" Van said.

Adriana squeezed her husband's hand. "I know that Paulette will want the wedding as soon as possible. And like I said earlier, I know she's hurting to be with you," she said as she turned to her son. "So, I guess as soon as we can get her a dress and a ring, and ... whenever the Matthews have the time for the ceremony."