Chapter 14

I woke at five thirty. It's amazing that my body will wake up when I need to. I hopped to the bathroom, peed, shaved, brushed my teeth, and showered. I was hopping out to get dressed as Bobby came in with a cup of coffee. We kissed and she said, "I hope that wasn't too far out for you. It was heaven for me. I hope Marie is okay with it. I can't wait to enjoy Wanda, she is something."

The conversation was causing my dick to rise. I said, "Cool it; I don't have a lot of extra time."

Marie rolled over and said, "Plug that thing in and dump a quick load. I'd love it."

"You two are making it difficult to get my pants on. I'm going to stain my suit pants if you keep this up."

Shortly, I walked out of the room to be greeted by a tall, totally naked, big-titted Wanda. She hugged and kissed me saying. "I can love on you here, but I have to remember you are off limits at the office. Can you do that?"

"I do it with Bobby and I want to enjoy her constantly." Good timing, as Bobby had come down the hall to observe Wanda's interception. Bobby said, "You're lucky, I love to suck on the pussy that my man is going to fuck. It makes me boil to watch him make love to someone intensely. And it makes me love them as much as they love him. I'm just too much into us loving each other."

Wanda shivered and said, "Jesus, you are as bad as I am. Let's get him out of here so I can fuck you."

I walked into the kitchen to see a plate of bacon, potatoes, and eggs with a couple of pieces of toast, milk, and coffee.

Bobby said, "You got it exactly right for him."

I ate while the girls chatted. Wanda said that she and Angie would have the office shipshape by this afternoon. She said she had another appointment with an older lady that sounded good for the job. She asked me if I had any prejudices. I told her my only prejudice was against people who didn't work.

I picked up my big briefcase and headed for the door. Wanda said, "I put the papers for George to sign in order. Each one has a note so he knows what he's signing. Tell him I'm sorry we didn't work out. He'll like that and think of it all the way to D.C."

The Expedition was fairly comfortable and handled well. I made good time out to the airport that I noticed was named an air park. I parked in an open area next to the operations building and walked past it across the tarmac. I was about a half-hour early. A guy and a girl were checking over the airplane that was still hooked to a tow motor. They opened the cabin door and the girl went in while the guy pulled the tow motor away.

I stood off to the side and listened as they talked for a while then the engines started winding up. They caught one by one settling into a gentle roar. The girl came out smiling and said, "I'm almost ready, I didn't like the way something was and wanted to check it out. We could have taken another airplane, but this one is faster."

She asked where my luggage was and I pointed to my case. She said, "What if we can't get out tonight?" She was cute, so I said with a smile, "Then I'll sleep naked and wear the same clothes as I'm wearing today."

She grinned real big and said, "I'm sure I can find a reason to stay over."

"Let's get going. Steve said you know how to run the checklist for me. Sit up front with me, Okay?"

We did about what I had done with Steve coming back from Branson. Soon, we were up and had gone through all the items.

"Want to fly it awhile? You can get the feel. We'll play around a little. Let me get up to our near max speed and let's play a little."

She pointed to a needle that was indicating near five hundred then told me to put my hands on the wheel like hers. She said, "Put each foot on the pedals. Now, I'm going to hold the wheel steady and push on the right pedal." We swerved a little. "Now I'll do the left pedal." We swerved again in the other direction.

"Ever want to fly upside down?"

When I said, "Yeah" we instantly flipped over hanging in our seatbelts. I had felt the pedal go down and the wheel only turn slightly. We flipped back over, going level.

"What do you think?"

"I think I need to be rich so I can own one of these things and fly it all over the place."

"It's neat, isn't it," She said grinning. "I'm going to slow down to normal cruise and set up the stuff that you would call autopilot. The manufacturer calls it navigational equipment."

She didn't slow that much, but she had pushed buttons and moved dials until she pointed at something that was some fancy screen that was in front of each of us. "This is our route. We'll probably be there early. If you will go back to the little galley behind you, you can get us some coffee that I put on. If you wonder how it stays in the pot upside down, it has a lid that doesn't let the fluid out. Pretty cool."

I asked, "How do you take yours?"

"Black."

As I got up to go back, I thought I heard her say "With some man cream would be nice."

No way, I thought, and used some heavy Styrofoam cups to get us some coffee. They had cup holders so I put the coffee in them and sat back down. I put the checklist up in the overhead and pulled out the landing checklist and looked at it. I asked, "Do you fly this with only one pilot often?"

"Almost never. It's actually against some rules, but everyone is committed today. I can fly you in the turboprop without a right seat pilot and this one isn't that much different. The boss said since you knew what to do and if I promised to keep both hands on the wheel, I could fly you by myself."

We chatted about a bunch of stuff and when she finally realized I was some form of law enforcement she asked, "Do you have a gun?"

I moved my coat to show her the holstered gun.

She said, "Now I'm in trouble, guns make me hot, real hot. Shit, I promised I wouldn't get nuts flying you up here."

"Go get more coffee?"

"No," she said, "Go get me a Coke. That'll do it."

When I got her the Coke she said, "Now take all your clothes off and lay back on a seat. I'll be right back to fuck your eyes out."

I climbed in the right seat with another cup of coffee. "You're quite the hostess pilot aren't you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. It's coffee, tea, or me. But then it's pussy, mouth, or ass. Like I said, I go nuts over guns. I saw the boss blow a couple of bad guys away a long time ago. If he had not shot them, they would have killed a lot of people. That turned me on. Not that he killed someone, but the fact that he had that gun and knew what to do with it. That's power. Life and death power."

I said, "You know, you have that same power."

"What do you mean."

"Look at you, a mere woman, flying a multi-million dollar airplane almost to the speed of sound. One stupid mistake and you and I are dead. If the plane were full, one mistake and everyone would be dead. You scan those instruments constantly looking for a change that shouldn't be there. One miss and we die. We might get a chance to save ourselves, but it would be you that was saving us. Like I said, you have the same power that your boss or I have with a gun."

"Jesus, that's hot. I knew that, but no one ever said it to me like that. That's a lot of responsibility. I'm fuckin' around far too much, aren't I?"

"Not in the least. You've demonstrated to me your unique ability to show me how the plane handles and a cute little flip. You've demonstrated to me before we ever took off that you wanted to be assured the plane was right. I want you whenever I fly. You're really good."

She smiled at me and said, "You married?"

"No, but I do have someone special."

"She the jealous type?"

"Not as long as she can watch?"

"Oh, I like your woman. When can I meet her?"

When I didn't answer right away, she said, "Pull the landing card and start. I'm almost to the point of going down."

We went through the checklist as she chattered on the radio. We were soon lined up with the runway and she set the plane down smoothly on the main gear, then gently let the nose gear settle to the ground. We taxied up to the terminal spot she had been assigned. I read off the last few items and she was shut down.

"Good job. I'll teach you some more on the way back."

She gave me a card with her cell number. I gave her my cell number and got out. As I was getting ready to open the door, she grabbed me by the tie and said, with her mouth close to mine and her eyes looking into mine, "Don't mind me when I'm like this. I get horny at the drop of a hat and you're a big hat. Thanks for letting me tease you and thanks for being a fun fare. See you this afternoon."

That babe was something. We were about fifteen minutes early, but a guy was waving at me from the private terminal steps. I walked up to him and he said, "I'm George."

"Chuck."

We shook hands warmly and walked out to his pickup truck. "I decided to save you money and pick you up. I'm all cleaned out and ready to roll. I've already met the new guy and talked to him extensively. We went to the office about six and I worked with him until nine. I took him to eat before I let him go. I think I covered everything. I'm a damn good deputy. I know the rules. I let something personal make me an asshole. That Wanda is one hell of a lady. I didn't treat her right, but I don't think I would have treated any lady right."

We arrived at the office and walked in. There were a few people there and the clerk had a terrified look on her face. I smiled at her and said, "I'm Chuck Johnson, who are you?"

"I'm, I'm, I'm Sandra."

George said gently, "Sandy, Mr. Johnson won't bite. He's going to make the Chief transfer, give you a kiss on the cheek, and be gone."

"Oh, Oh, he can't do that."

"Figuratively, Sandy, he won't really do that."

A man was standing there waiting to be introduced. When no one did anything I stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Chuck Johnson."

The guy said, "You gonna kiss me on the cheek?"

"Not unless it'll get me a better deputy."

George said, "Meet my ACE or the station's ACE."

Another guy came from the hall, zipping up. "Hi my name is whatever you want it to be. I'm supposed to be the new Station Chief."

"Well," I said. "At least we're all relaxed and ready to do the paperwork."

Sandy said, "I was going to get everything ready, but George did all his stuff, and your Office Manager said she was sending the paperwork with you."

"We should be fine, Sandy. I'll need your help on some things though."

"Just ask, Sir."

We began with the formal "Your sidearm, please."

George handed me his Glock after he dropped the clip and ejected the round catching it in midair. He put the round back in the magazine and handed it to me.

"You will be issued a new one in D.C. You'll probably get the one with laser sights."

"Neat."

I handed him the station inventory and said, "The two of you will complete this now. I know men are in the field, but it has to be done."

They did the weapons, the main equipment, and then we went to the motor pool, where we had to check off the vehicles that were out and the vehicles in the garage.

Next were the classified files. We went through those one at a time, checking them off.

We confirmed his sick time, his vacation time, and I handed him his check for this station. That's pretty final and it was probably hurting. I had the surprise though.

I put his new assignment papers in front of him and said, "Sign here, here and here."

He looked at me strangely. "Uh, these are hire papers."

"They are."

"Why?"

"You're being hired for an ops job. I have to do this."

He signed in the three places and I gave him a fat ops hire and transfer check.

"What's this?"

"Your transfer to ops bonus."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Now check these serial numbers." I pulled a new box that held the fanciest Glock I've ever seen. He was tongue-tied. He read the numbers and didn't know what to do with the gun. I handed him a box of shells and four magazines. I rummaged around in my case and pulled out a box that he opened and found a custom holster for the gun."

He was looking at the check and the gun.

He looked up and asked, "You didn't ask for my badge?"

"You'll need it in D.C. It'll save us postage and you're already used to carrying it."

"This is real, isn't it?"

"You're checked out, George. That old Sarg is waiting for you there. It's time for you to drive carefully all the way there. Ready?"

"I swear, if I could get away with it, I'd kiss you."

"Give John a kiss when you see him. If you don't, I'm going to come to D.C. and kick your ass."

"You'd do it too, wouldn't you?"

I smiled as we shook hands and said, "Good luck."

He waved at everyone, and with tears steaming down his face, left with his new toys and his dignity.

The new man said, "If I fuck up, please be the one to check me out."

"You won't fuck up. If John had you in the wings, he knows you will do the job. George said he's gone over every thing with you. Let's you and I and your ACE go find a friendly sandwich shop and have a quick lunch."

I asked Sandy, "Can I bring you back something?"

"You?"

"I'll be back."

"No, I meant you'll really bring me something back?"

"If you want."

"If you're going to Daily's. I want a roast beef with pepper cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and jalopenos. Some mayo, too. Thank you, Sir."

We left and had some good fat sandwiches. We discussed everything to get the new man going. The ACE said the station was in good shape as George had made sure it was straight. I said, "Treat your people with respect, and show them a soft and a hard side. Be next to them in danger and at their side in sorrow. You'll do fine."

The guy said, "Straight out of the Non-Com and officers' manual for the forces."

I smiled, "It applies."

"That it does."

We got Sandy her sandwich and according to the ACE, we got her a Diet Coke. We brought it back to her and she disappeared into the break room. I shook hands all around and went to look for Sandy. She was savoring her sandwich.

I stuck out my hand to shake hers and she stood up. She said, "You can kiss my cheek. I trust you."

I did. I kissed her cheek, saying I hoped to see her again.

The new man asked why I wouldn't stay longer.

"Do you need me to?"

"Not really, but."

"If I'm here, everyone will look to me to tell them what to do. I don't know what they need to do. You can happily refer to your ACE and say, "Ask him." I can't, the buck stops here."

"You need to lead your men, including the ACE. Call me Friday after briefing and tell me your status. I'll be waiting." I pointed to the ACE and said, "You have a company vehicle, take me to the airport."

"You're taking my ACE?"

"You can't handle it?"

"Get out of here, Christ, you're tough."

I smiled and waved as I dragged the Assistant out by the arm. He drove me to the airport and we did have a decent discussion. I told him to help his new Station Chief with answers. "Don't do his work for him. I understand you're good. Do him a favor and teach, but don't do for him. Make sure you give him everything he needs for tomorrow's briefing, actually every day. But tomorrow, you give it to him early and tell him everything line by line and ask him to go over it. You introduce him then vanish. Go to the John, walk around the block, go downstairs to the Bureau, anything, but vanish."

"When you come back, smile and ask him how it was. When he's gone, ask Sandy."

He said, "You're right, you have to push them in. He'll be alright."

"I know, you're here."

We shook hands and I watched him drive off.

I walked through the operations building and spotted my pilot chatting with a waitress. I walked up to them and said hi.

The pilot said to the waitress, "See what I said, isn't he cute, a hunk, and a deputy marshal. He's got a gun."

We went out to the plane and she began walking around the plane, looking at whatever she was looking at. A ground guy came out and stood in front of the plane while we got in. She pushed a start button that started the coffee pot. She said, "The most important part of the pre-flight and it ain't on the checklist."

When I looked questioningly at her, she said, "The coffee. I put the coffee on and it's not on the checklist. Airplanes don't fly without coffee. Didn't you know that?"

This babe was a case.

She pulled the preflight check list card out and pointed at the things we had just done and asked, "Did I forget anything?"

"I don't think so."

"Grab the start 'em up and takeoff list."

I used the list from item one and read each item as she went through each one. Sometimes she'd say, "Hold a sec." then say "OK." She called for taxi instructions and we were off.

We cued up in line and eventually were blasting down the runway. You can feel the airplane actually get lighter on the wheels before lifting off. If you watch your pilot, they get a silly smile on their face.

I kept doing the item by item checklist until we were at the end. I put the card away and she said, "You're not done."

I pulled the card back out and opened it to the last page and was looking at it. She pointed to blank area at the bottom of the page. "We didn't do that yet."

She smiled and said, "Get the pilot coffee."

She waited until I was out of my seat and said, "You're supposed to request permission from the command pilot to leave your seat. I'll remember that."

After a second, she added, "Oh, you can have some coffee too."

We had coffee and some decent conversation on the way back. She said she was a friend of the girl who was the main instructor at the air charter and school. She said, "I was a dancer for a short time at the same place Star and De De danced. I always wanted to fly and learned to fly a few years back but needed my transport license. They told me to come on out and get some more right seat hours. I took lessons during the day for the more advanced aircraft and danced my ass off every night. I did everything I could to keep getting rides and now I'm qualified for everything, including the G5s. I love to fly. This is better than dancin' although I do love to be naked. I live out at a naturist preserve with a house full of crazy people. You ever go to Park Place?"

"All the time."

"I live right behind there in the park. Do you ever see a redheaded bartender with the cutest freckles ever?"

"Yes, we have, I think her name is um ah, Shannon."

"You got it. I live in a house with a guy named Tom who is married to a girl named Zena. Kinky name isn't it. Her mom's name's even worse, Zora."

"Anyway, I live with Tom, Zena, Shannon, Joanie, Becky and Maggie. Becky is going to get married and move out soon but will still live in the park. Her guy is an officer out on the air force base. I think Maggie's going next. She has a really nice guy that follows her around like a puppy dog. She used to be a hundred percent Lez, but look what happened to her. You should meet these people. Come out and stay in the Bed and Breakfast. We'll go canoeing, or fishing, or just get naked and lay in the sun. You'll love it. Bring your lady or ladies and enjoy. You can't come solo. They don't allow guys by themselves."

We flew back in decent time, landing at the airport and taxiing to the hangar of the charter service. The pilot said, "If you had a bunch of luggage, I would park over at the ops building, but you only have that one case. You don't mind walking over to the parking lot do you? I could give you a ride, but I might not let you out of the car." She laughed loud and long.

When I got out of the plane, the lady with the star tattoo near her eye came out and asked how the flight was. I nodded. She said, "I'm sure my ditzy pilot talked your arm off and probably propositioned you. I hope everything is okay."

"It's fine. She made it fun."

"So you wouldn't mind flying with her in the future."

"Not in the least. She's a good pilot."

Star smiled.

I said, "Say, how much notice do I have to give to start flying lessons?"

"Not much right now. Instructing is a little slow. Actually it's a lot slow. We have a few special deals if you're interested. We can schedule you daily anytime, or just some evenings and weekends."

"Most of the time I could be regular, but sometimes my schedule screws up."

"Basic ground school and initial training will probably take a couple of months unless you do it every day. If you can afford it, that's the way to do it. I think you learn better when it's crammed."

"If I do this, I want to understand how to do instrument flying."

"They are changing a lot of the instruction cycles on instrument flying because of new equipment. I think the old way is best then learn the new. That doesn't take a long time but you have more studying to do."

"I'll call to set up a time to start class."

"Are you really interested or just curious?"

"I want to fly."

The lady took me inside and gave me a big binder and said, "Read every word. I'll quiz you on it. Here, take this book and read it. It'll give you some insight on flying. Call me for your first free ride. After that, flight time is expensive. Fuel is killer expensive."

I stuffed the binder and the book in my bag and walked to the Expedition. I sat in the car and called the office. Angie answered the phone saying, "U.S. Marshal's office, Senior Deputy in charge, may I help you?"

"My goodness, young lady; you sound young to be the senior deputy in charge."

"Ah no, I mean this is the office of the Senior Deputy in charge."

"Oh, now I understand. Does he have an Office Manager?"

"Yes Sir, he does. May I ask who's calling."

I said, "Sure, tell the Office Manager a Charles Johnson is on the line."

"That's funny. My name is Johnson, the Office Manager's name is Johnson and the main man is Chuck, oh, that's you isn't it. I'm sorry, Sir. I'll get Ms. Johnson."

"Hey, I have to have fun sometimes too, Angelina. Don't be mad at me."

"Yes Sir, it's fun."

She put me on hold, then Ms. Starch came on the phone. "How may I help you, Mr. Johnson?"

"I'm calling to see if my inbox is overflowing or are there any calls I need to return."

"Nothing important is pending, Sir. I've been able to divert most everything. You are requested to be home early this evening. I understand you are to be the subject of a serious discussion. It could become laborious."

"You don't say. Well, I'm on the ground and I was calling to see if it was worthwhile coming in."

"Definitely worthwhile, Sir. I think you need to see some changes we've made."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Goodbye, Sir."

I parked the Expedition in the back of the building next to the Bureau Chief's Mercedes. That's pretty pretentious. I was about to use the elevator, but went around to the security gate and showed my badge.

I walked into the station office out of habit and Marie said, "You're back. Do you need to talk to someone?"

"I came in by mistake, Marie."

I went back out and entered the office to find Angie and an older lady. She was very sophisticated looking, and very attractive. She asked if she could help me and I introduced myself, sticking out my hand. She began to stand and I said, "Please, remain seated. I'm sure we will have an opportunity to talk later."

She smiled pleasantly, I said hi to Angie, and walked into my office. Holy shit. I walked out of it then back in. This was the right place, but there was a garden in there. There were hanging plants all over, with two real palms and another tree. Wandering Jews were hanging off the bookshelves by the TV and on the bar shelving. The plants made the place smell great. I had blinds and drapes. I opened the door to Wanda's office and it was a repeat of my office. There were plants everywhere. She had blinds and drapes too. I looked into the clerks' office and noticed the plants, a tree, blinds, and drapes.

I looked at Wanda, "This is all wonderful. It smells so fresh, so full of life. I love it. The drapes are just right. They add some color. You did well by getting different colors for each room."

"I like the ship in the bottle and the Learjet on the back shelf. Nice touch, as that is what I flew in today."

Wanda said, "You and I need some form of art on the wall. I'll find some appropriate prints and this will be a nice place to work. What do you think of my second choice for a clerk?"

Answering Wanda with a smile, I said, "The word, elegant, comes to mind. She is you in twenty or so years."

"I thought so, as well. So far, she has grasped everything I've given her, as well as Angie. I'm very happy with our choices."

"I am too, all three of you. As long as I'm here, I'll clean out my basket."

I went in and plugged in my laptop to charge and to get my e-mail. I did not check it yet today. I pulled the stack of papers from the in basket and set them in front of me on a new leather pad. Okay, I guess it's easier to write on. There on my desk was a leather picture frame with a beautiful picture of Bobby. I looked up to the shelf of the TV cabinet and there were framed pictures of Jan, Marie, and Wanda. Sarah was missing. As was Angie and you know, she didn't give me her name.

I got up and went to the front of her desk and said, "Hi my name is Chuck Johnson, I'm pleased that you're one of my new clerks."

She looked at me as if I three heads. I stuck my hand out and she shook it, but remained silent.

"Do I address you as "Hey you." "You out there ah, perhaps, the lady on the left, but you would be on my right and on your left if you turned around."

She began to giggle. A really cute giggle and said, "My name is Conish Matathena. Most people call me Connie, but that is rather common don't you think?"

"Since I'm doomed to be forever common with a name like Johnson, Conish Matathena is a magnificent name. I will probably refer to you as Mata Hari."

She giggled again, "Do you always jest so much?"

"I joke around in order to make my life smile more. If someone joins me in that smile, it makes my day."

"In that case, Mr. Johnson, you may call me Connie, Mata Hari, or any new name you should come up with."

"Conish, I am pleased to meet and know you. Enjoy our office."

I went back into my office and began looking at only four e-mails and was able to immediately answer all of them.

As I began going through the stack of papers, Wanda came into my office shutting the door to the clerks and sitting in one of the chairs. I said, "Thank you for the photos. I'm impressed you were able to get those so fast. We need one of Sarah, Angie, and Conish. That will make the set complete.

"Will you wish pictures of the deputies?"

"Of course, I wish a picture of a size that will include all of the office personnel. Then I wish one from each office that I'm responsible for. I want them displayed in the hallway and throughout the offices up here."

Wanda said, "I knew you would want that. I've already sent a request throughout your offices for a staff photo. When we get them, we'll have them blown up and framed. An excellent idea."

"I take it you are filtering my e-mails. Make sure I get and answer those I need to. This stack isn't very large."

"That's what you have two clerks and me for. We are here to make your life easier. Do you have the transfer papers from today?"

I pulled the papers from my case and handed them to her. I had made sure they were in order and paper clipped together in a file folder. "Thank you, Wanda, for arranging the employment bonus and for obtaining the new weapon. You made that man's day. He asked me to tell you, he wishes you two could have been compatible. He thinks highly of you."

"That's very nice. I too have some regrets over that relationship. It's best forgotten. I do not let a relationship enter into my business persona."

I had been doing the papers as we spoke, and finished the last one and put it in the out box. I had held one out. "This doesn't sound right. Think I should ask for a more detailed account of the incident?"

"A single incident report for three deputies that did not have a dead ending, but a devastating ending just the same. Something is not right."

Wanda said, "I didn't like that one either. Why not e-mail them asking each to create and write their own more detailed incident report and tell them it is due within twenty-four hours. That will let them know you read the reports and that they were skating by offering you a single collective report."

"Send a general memo that collective reports are never acceptable for serious incidents and cite the reg for it. I'll look it up if you can't find it."

"I know it by heart, Sir. I've had to show it to enough deputies. I'll send that yet today."