Chapter 52

Someone was sleeping on top of me. It wasn't Tiani either, as whoever it was, was bigger. Opening my eyes, I could see the auburn hair of Brandy. It was so brown, it was a little reddish. You would think it was dyed, but her mom's hair was like that, only with some gray intermingled. I was surprised her weight wasn't hurting my ribs as I only felt the restriction from the extra weight.

I was still between the large breasted redhead, Frieda, and the small blonde, Judy. The group was very diverse, all very different in size and shape. The only common things were their short hair and their single mindedness. I should get them to tell me how they all got together. I'm sure it would be a good story.

I turned my head to look toward the bathroom, trying to figure how to get out of bed. It was coming up on six fifteen, so it was time to be up. Judy's blue eyes were smiling at me. She spoke quietly, "Good morning, Chuck, did you sleep well? Brandy does that at home sometimes. Tiani and her end up trying to sleep on top of someone all the time. Weird, huh?"

"I am not weird, Judy, I just wanted to feel his heartbeat. I wanted to soak him into me." Brandy squirmed a little and asked, "Are you going to do that dance this morning? I want to do it with you and Wanda again. You have to try, Judy, it is so smooth and sensual. Chuck calls it forming and stretching. It's teak something."

"Tae Chi, my sweet. Yes, I do need to get up and I'm going to stretch this morning and swim. Any or all are welcome."

Frieda said, "Another early riser, just what I need. At least Nancy and Tiani like to sleep."

Judy got up and Brandy followed. I slipped out of bed and hopped to the bathroom. I was standing, letting out the built up overnight water and noticed that Brandy and Judy were watching intently. Judy said, "You've got good aim. My little brothers were always peeing on the floor."

I hopped into the closet to get a pair of shorts and slipped on my peg leg. We were on the way out the door when we realized it was raining pretty heavily. Turning, I said, "Come on, we'll use the gym for a few minutes and then swim."

Brandy and Judy got on the two treadmills while I used the bike. I finished and used the four stations of the big machine to stretch my muscles. As we headed out the back door, Frieda, Nancy, and Tiani were all waiting for us. They said, "We like to swim, so we'll go with you. Isn't it weird to swim in the rain?"

I said, "We swim for the exercise and the rain sure can't hurt. If it were storming, that would be different."

While we were swimming, first Wanda swam beside me, then Jan dove in, followed by Marie, and finally Angie. We were having a pool party at six forty-five in the morning. We got out and I sent some of the girls into the bathroom to begin their showers, as there were a lot of us. Brandy, Tiani, and I washed under the outdoor shower. They had even put some of their shampoo out there. Everyone was dressed, had a little breakfast, and was ready to go to work by seven forty. All of us needed to get up earlier so we could have a more leisurely morning.

Before the girls all left, I passed out keys and instructed them on how to use the alarm, telling them it was important to set it when they left. I rode in with Wanda this morning as I had asked Hank to bring my Mustang in. I wanted to use it a little. He said he was glad to get rid of it as he had too many people coming to look at it all the time.

There was a slug of incident reports, mostly related to some West Coast peoples' smuggling operations. The Bureau, Homeland Security, and the Marshal Service worked together on some busts. Several became messy, but none of our people were injured.

I called the San Francisco and Portland stations to make sure they were okay and didn't need any help. They were happy to report that with their new methods of cooperating between agencies, they were doing very well.

I had the time to go downstairs to do some shooting. Wanda came down with me and even did a decision course with me. I fired some extra rounds, as I had not been practicing as often as I normally did. I did an extra three magazines with my left hand. It felt good to be able to get my groupings tight. The range officer said, "I loved the video. We're incorporating it into our training videos so the men can see how real incidents happen, how fast they develop and how quickly they're over. I love the one video where you can be seen getting back up to get your gun from the seat of the tow motor. It was awesome the way you picked up your piece and immediately began capping those guys. You did them in pairs by hitting both pairs with body shots then both heads and immediately turned and did the body shot followed by a really gruesome head shot on the guy kneeling. All of your rounds were right in the paint."

"Sometimes you get lucky."

"You didn't get lucky shooting. You got lucky wearing the vest. I heard it was a borrowed vest the team leader made you put on. Aren't you glad you did?"

"Yep," I said. "That was careless of me. I should have put mine on before leaving the office but I'm used to having my car with one in the trunk. The team leader did his job though. He protected the men under him and ensured we were following procedures."

Wanda and I cleaned our weapons, reloaded, and went back upstairs. Frank, the Bureau Chief asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with him. I said, "Sure, sounds good. Let me take you to a special restaurant that's close by. It's quit raining so we can walk."

He said, "That's great, I have a guest with us today. You'll enjoy the man."

I went downstairs to get Frank when it was noon. Jan, and a man I had never met before but knew from his pictures, were with him. Frank said, "Chuck, you know the Director, don't you?"

We shook hands and the Director said, "The way everyone builds you up, I would have thought you were a mountain of a man. Hell, I'm bigger than you are. Where are you taking us to eat? Do you Marshal types get better bennies than we do?"

The restaurant is a very nice upscale place to go for a midday meal. I'm sure most of the diners are there for business and were able to easily write something like this off.

As soon as we were seated, it became old home week. Tom and Zena were there with Burt. I introduced them and they were impressed to have the Director the Federal Bureau of Investigation in their little corner of the world. The next surprise was Ben and Beth Phillips. Ben was his usually very polished self, and Beth was as always very warm, very nice to have as a friend. Just as we were served some ice tea and coffee, Reggie and Metarie came in. Metarie is so elegant and I think it impressed the Director that Reggie just smiled and Metarie gave me a warm hug and happily joined us at our table.

The Director said, "It's seems you know a lot of people."

"I've been fortunate to meet many great people. Metarie was my boss at the employment office. I wasn't there very long but it was significant in my life here in Tampa. Metarie is how I met Howard who was responsible for deputizing me."

"That's what I want to talk to you about today. I want to convince you to come join our team in D.C. The Bureau really needs organizers that get it done, people such as you. D.C. is full of people that are just being pulled along. I need leaders, innovators, men to motivate others."

"Director, I'm a Deputy. I enjoy being a deputy and as you know I'm working with all branches of our law enforcement group. I think I'm in the perfect place and the perfect position to help all the agencies to help everyone."

"I was afraid you would say that. John even said you would. He says you're on some kind of semi-vacation, half days, for at least a month. What's that about?"

Jan said, "He was wounded, you know that. I sent you the video. It's mandatory convalescent leave. He should be on thirty days in a row, but he's at least doing half days to keep his office current."

The Director asked, "Are you sweet on this guy?"

"No Sir, I rent a room from him. He has a large house and rents to several people. He has a nice place with a gym, a media room, big garage and a pool. I have a boyfriend, and Chuck is a great landlord."

"I see," the Director said to me, "you're smart, you get someone else to pay for your nice home."

"The rent doesn't take care of everything, but it does take care of most of it. I've built on and will be renting out two more suites."

The Director asked, "What kind of suites do you rent?"

"They are simple; each unit has a bedroom, sitting room area, and a private bathroom."

The Director exclaimed, "That sounds nice, no wonder you have a full house."

On the way back from lunch, the Director said, "If you ever have a thought about leaving the Marshal Service, please call me. I don't want to lose you."

We shook hands amiably and went our separate ways. I checked with Wanda to make sure everything was as it should be, then headed out to the airpark.

I walked over to the garage and found Hank, wiping down the Mustang. He said, "This is a really nice car, far too nice for a fuck up like you. Be good to it and don't abuse it. Don't drive crazy in it either. Let me know if you want to sell it."

As I rolled out of the garage, the little Mustang felt like it wanted to get up and go. I resisted and drove sanely out to the airfield.

As soon as I parked, I could tell I wasn't welcome over by my new airplane. There were huge curtains surrounding the Beechcraft so you couldn't see the plane. I went into the charter office where Lisa attacked me. "Can you ride to Atlanta and back with me? I have a charter in the Lear and we should have a second. Please, can you? I've even brought you a present. You can have the present, but I really need help on this. If you don't go, I'll have to pull Jimmy and he's snowed under."

"Okay, sure, I'll go. I was coming out to try to get a couple of hours in anyway. This will be cheaper."

"Cheaper, my butt. You get paid for this one. Just like the weekend charter you have going to France. You're going this weekend and next right?"

"So far," I said, amazed at how crazy this place was with charters.

"Come on, let's go, we have to go down to Peter O'Knight airport to pick up the people. It's one-way to Atlanta; we're dumping them up there and dead heading back. Put on a shirt, the tie, and your nametag. We'll forgive the black slacks today. You'll have to start keeping navy pants and black shoes out here."

We were off the ground in twenty minutes. I was still tying my tie when we set down at Peter O'Knight on Davis Island. As soon as we landed and were parked at the small operations building, I opened the door and put down the stairs. Lisa had not shut the engines down and had them at idle while two couples came out from the building and I helped them board.

As soon as they were buckled up, I pulled up the steps, closed the door, and climbed into the co-pilot's seat. I went through the checklist with Lisa and we were off the ground on our way.

Once we were at altitude, I had to act as host and serve the passengers some soft drinks and one coffee. I did get Lisa a cup of coffee, but didn't get anything for myself. At junior rocket speed, we were on the ground in Atlanta in less than two hours, helping the passenger off the plane and into a limo. One of the guys handed me two bills and said, "Split that with your partner. Thanks for the quick service."

I was going to refuse the tip, but smiled and said, "Thank you."

He smiled as he got into the limo.

I climbed back on the plane and asked Lisa, "Are we going right back or do we need to refuel before returning?"

"Let's go home. Jet-A is cheaper at home. Lock it up and come read to me."

I stuffed the two bills into my pocket and climbed into the cockpit. We did the get off the ground stuff and were on our way back in an under twenty minute turnaround.

Pulling out the bills, I said, "The high-roller gave us a tip. Wow, have a hundred Lisa. That guy must be loaded."

"Oh he is, Chuck. That's one of Ted Turner's key men. They have more money than sense. They use us all the time and have said they hoped we could respond when they needed us real quick. I guess we showed them."

When we landed, we pulled the Lear up to the hangar so it could be refueled. I took off the borrowed clothes and put mine on. Lisa came out in a pair of shorts and said, let me get your present. It's in my locker.

Lisa came out carrying a guitar case and a medium size amp. She put them down and opened the case. She pulled out an older Fender Stratocaster that was amazingly clean and unmarked, with a wide shoulder strap. She plugged in the amp and turned it on and went through the strings with a tuner. She strummed it a few times before letting it sing out a little to give some very neat sounds.

She took it off and handed it to me and said, "See how it feels. I have something else, but try this first."

I was able to make the guitar sound like a guitar. I was picking a few Eric Clapton riffs that I liked and remembered. "Nice, Lisa. This is a very nice guitar. Don't you have a junk one that isn't worth so much?"

"I only have all the guitars my dad had. He had a bunch of Gibsons, several of which are Les Pauls. He has, or had, and I still have, all kinds of Fenders. He even has an early Jap Ibanez. I don't like it, but it's becoming worth something. Anyway, Chuck, play with this. Bring it with you Friday but let me get you this other."

She had another guitar case, and this time I instantly recognized what it was. It was a real classic sixties Fender rosewood fretless bass. My only expression was, "Holy shit, that is a real classic."

Lisa had a suitcase that had an assortment of effects and pedals. She said, "My dad got this from a guy that owed him money. The guy was going to get it back but died. No one has played this for at least twenty-five years or so. The big amp is in my car, but needs a new cone by now. The strings are probably no good anymore, but you can try. Fix it up and see how you like it."

We went out to Lisa's Wrangler and I hefted the monster amp from the back. We plugged it in and let the tubes warm up. I tuned the strings on the bass and plugged it in. I kept the volume way down and checked the tuning again. The sound was clean and mellow. I pulled out a sustain pedal and plugged it through the amp and tested it. It worked too. I couldn't hear any crackling a bad cone would have, but kept it low for safety. I cranked up the sensitivity, gave it a little more volume, and began running just my fret fingers in a scale, then playing correctly, I played a few scales with my right fingers just tapping the strings for a low, growling bass beat. It does your heart good to hear that sometimes.

I said to Lisa, "I'm going to have the amp checked out and have a new speaker put it both amps. That Sundowner for the guitar is a classic. I thought you were going to let me use a gorilla?"

"Nope, I have four of these Sundowners, so you get one. You'll have to come play for my momma. She'll want to adopt you when she hears you play these old guitars. Practice some of the blues stuff. That's what she really likes."

She was taking stuff apart and putting the guitars back in their cases. "Let's load this stuff up so you can take it home. Let's stop out at Steve's to see how they're doing on getting ready to leave. They are sailing Friday when school lets out.

I didn't do what I had intended for the day, but I did get a few more pointers on the Lear and logged some more hours.

We drove to the trailer park where the ladies had just returned from the boat. They said they were satisfied that they were ready, and everything from this point until they left would just be odds and ends and last minute groceries. They were going to fill the fresh water tanks tomorrow with filtered water and had been testing the desalination system thoroughly.

You could feel the tension, the excitement that was building. Even the people being left behind were anxious, since Steve was going to be gone and he was the anchor, the stabilizing influence, of the huge enterprise. Sue was as important, but had spread her responsibilities around better so the business could continue manufacturing products indefinitely.

I shook hands with everyone and decided I would be a better friend by leaving them alone. I drove home and found a new place for the Mustang. I took the instruments into my office area, along with the amps. I wanted to buy new strings and search out someone to check out and rebuild the amps.

I was in the gym when the girls began arriving. Jan was full of stories about the Director offering me a job in D.C. Wanda said she was glad I didn't want to do that. She said she wouldn't be able to work with just anyone.

After exercising and swimming, we had some pork chops with all the trimmings. When we had finished eating, the girls said they needed to go home to do some housework and laundry. After they left, Jan wanted me to come look at how Wanda and she had furnished the new apartment. I didn't know we had done that.

Upstairs, I was surprised to find the apartment now looked lived in and very comfortable. The kitchen bar/counter had four tall chairs. There was a nice table and chairs just beyond and the living room area was set up so traffic could flow easily from the kitchen out the door to the enclosed porch. The living room had a couple of big chairs, probably recliners, a nice couch, and a loveseat that were arranged to be able to watch a flat TV hung on the wall.

The bedrooms each had a queen size bed, a round table with a couple of chairs, a sofa with end tables, and a single recliner type of chair arranged with a lamp for reading. Since the bedrooms were so long, they didn't seem cluttered at all and the way everything was arranged, you had the feeling of openness. Jan showed me how she had purchased another TV to have in her suite and had brought a bunch of kitchenware from Goodwill for when she wanted to cook up here.

When Wanda and I were in the kitchen having a cup of coffee, I asked, "Do you have any prospects for someone to fill Jan's former suite in the house?"

She said, "There are a few, but they will need to be the right person. There is a student for next fall that talked to me, but we'll have to see. I really like her, but she may present a problem. We'll talk about her when the time comes."

Marie came in the kitchen with Dennis and wanted to discuss the possibility of moving into the second suite in the garage apartment. Dennis said, "Marie and I are very committed to each other, and although I would prefer to stay out where I work and where the whole family is, I think I like the privacy this home gives us. Chuck, you are so laid back that it's always relaxing to be around you. I wish you lived out at the park. You and Uncle Steve would be great together. You two would be real buddies. He would probably try to get you to work for the company just so you two could work together."