Chapter 2

"You naughty boy. I know what you were doing last night. I felt it. Good wasn't it. You wouldn't let me in so I could make you feel it even more."

I raised my head to look around trying to see who was talking to me. Sheena was still lying partially on top of me, but we had become disconnected and our combined fluids had run out of her onto me, dried, and matted.

My movement awakened Sheena. She smiled and kissed me and shook her head. "That Mercy is always talking to me. She said she enjoyed sharing our loving last night. We must have been projecting or something as she told me she was with us while we played."

When I looked at Sheena strangely, she said, "If you don't feel Mercy in your head, you will. She looks at you like she does Steve, so I know she's in there. She talks to you, she sees inside you. Her mother does it too, but it's Mercy that is the predator. Both her and Sue like to get together with Sheila and me for some special attention we share with each other. You'll understand."

I smiled and hugged her to me. She said, "I enjoyed our loving. I don't know if we have enough time to have some more of that good loving, but I would be all for it." We kissed again and both felt as if we should get up.

I headed for the shower as Sheena went out the door. I was soon washed, dressed, and downstairs, where I met an older lady who claimed to be Dewey's "Almost" mother. She poured me a cup of great tasting coffee and began to tell me stories of Dewey in years past.

Sheila came down, gave me a warmer kiss than could be expected, and said into my ear, "Sheena says you are very cuddly and that you make a nice fit." My face became crimson, which made Sheila giggle.

As she picked up her coffee cup, kids began coming from the stairs and the door. Soon, all the people from Steve's boat were in the house, including Ben, who was carrying a suitcase. When I pointed at it and raised an eyebrow he said, "I'm not going any farther this trip. I want to get back to Tampa. This is the longest I've been on the sailboat at one time and I feel like I'm out of touch. I know I have the internet and even the satellite phone, but it's not the same as being in Tampa or on land."

I had to ask, "Is one of Steve's planes coming for you?"

"No, I won't pay for a charter and I don't want Steve and Sue to either. I have a non-stop commercial flight to Atlanta and straight home from there. I've even booked first class so I'll ride in style the whole way. I want you to look after my Beth for me. Keep her safe and give her a hug every once in a while for me."

Merlin had come in with his suitcase, also saying he was leaving and heading back to San Francisco. He could only be gone from his restaurant and club a couple of days at a time. As we shook hands, he reached up to my ear and came back with a guitar pick. As he handed it to me he said, "I understand you are quite a musician. You'll have to come west and play at my club. Watch out for my Missy, she's a handful, but needs the watchful eye of someone like you."

We shook on it as we were soon surrounded by lots of people.

Sue announced, "For anyone who has not looked out into the lagoon, please let me introduce our Irish friends Michael, Chanda, Lucille, and Margaret. Their children are first Mike's and Chanda's twins, Cory and Corine, Lucille has contributed this cutie Sean, and Margaret has produced little Mike." I think this whole introduction was for my benefit. The rest of them knew each other.

There wasn't enough table space for everyone to sit, so we fed the kids first as they swarmed the table and filled up on melon and pancakes. Kathy's older kids also ate so they could supervise the little ones after their breakfast. Once the kids ate, the adults sat and ate until Dewey said, "Come on, Ben and Merlin, the sea plane should be landing out there about now and pulling up to the dock. Let's get you two on board and off to Tampa and San Francisco."

Beth and Ben, as well as Merlin and Missy, kissed and hugged before Ben and Merlin took their bags down to the dock where a brightly painted Cessna 206 on pontoons was taxiing up to the dock. I had to go down to watch since it had something to do with airplanes. Steve and I watched as the pilot settled the plane so that the side with the dual doors faced the dock. We held the plane still while Ben and Merlin climbed aboard, shut the doors, and waved as the plane pulled from the dock, heading out to the channel to take off.

I liked how efficient that was and commented to Steve that a private pilot could probably make a living running a taxi service like that out among these islands.

Dewey commented, "You could make a great living, but you have to enjoy flying in overcast conditions, fog, and rain all the time. If you're a small plane sea pilot out here, you fly in some terrible conditions. They get used to it, but it's still brutal on the nerves and equipment."

The day was spent using the catamaran as a means of ferrying people from Dewey's place to Friday Harbor for fresh foods and more shopping. I had to get some special rain gear, along with a special life jacket to be worn during storms.

Before we left Friday Harbor, Dewey, Steve, and Mike went back to the pawn shop to buy another keyboard for Mike's boat, plus the last six acoustic guitars the shop had. Dewey wanted to buy an old overpriced Stratocaster and Amp duo, but I finally convinced him that it was not a smart buy. I told him, "If you have to have an electric, I'll call Lisa and have her ship me something along with a Gorilla amp and some sound effects. You can buy a brand new Strat, with an amp, cheaper than you can buy that beat up one."

I convinced them and added, "How about I play some guitar stuff for everyone this evening and we'll see how it is. If you think I need the electric, I'll call Lisa and she can ship it to Alaska."

Steve said, "Tiny told me Lisa said you have copies of the videos from France and Spain. He also sent me two videos of you and Lisa with some people up in Atlanta. I think we have a lot of music to watch and listen to."

Since this was going to be the last day on land, I called Wanda to see what was happening. She said, "You know, Dave, and both of the guys you used last week, are out taking care of problems in the field. All three have already had termination incidents, so you weren't all that bad. I think you convinced them to not let anyone get a chance to harm them. They are believers."

I asked about the attitude of the Fab Five and Wanda said, "I think they all have some of your T-shirts that you wore and haven't been washed. They say if they can smell you they feel better about you being gone. They are a bunch of kooks that's for sure. Lisa is the one who really misses you. She's been either in my bed or Tina's, and is dreaming up some kind of special trip to Hawaii to meet you there. She's trying to get the group you guys ferried to Europe to plan a tour to Hawaii so she can come over to be with you a couple of days. She says she can probably convince the band to take a break and vacation there for a week or so. I'll keep you posted. You might want to check your e-mail and files so you can keep up with the attitude coming out of D.C. You are not as important now that you are on convalescent leave, and there are so many other bad incidents happening, both within the Bureau and the service."

We talked a little more, I said I would call John, and promised to call in using the sat phone.

John was not in a good mood. "For two cents, I'd pull you off convalescent leave and have you spearhead these problems. Now that you're not around to temper the way a take down should happen, everyone is scared shitless, shooting first, and then asking suspects to give up when they are already down. They all know how dangerous it can get and know you were shot several times doing a job by the numbers. They're skipping all the warnings and going straight to shooting as soon as they see a gun. They're right and you even put it in an SOP, but the cry babies are having a cow. We even have a video of two guys coming out of a building firing at our men who were waiting for them. Of course, the two only lasted about three seconds. The men on the takedown now all have warnings in their file for not warning the two while they were being shot at. Don't worry, I'll pull the warnings as soon as the files get to me. Hope you enjoy yourself."

"John, I have an idea. The next capture or nasty takedown from any agency, take along as many of the do-gooders as you can. Issue them bull horns and get them as close to the action as you can. Make sure no one fires or returns fire until the angels of criminals have given the warnings. Try to keep them down, but let them feel the rounds buzzing their heads while they are trying to help the idiots that we have to shoot. You might even do the most stupid thing I can think of, tell the men to shoot the legs from the bad guys. If they can make a head shot, then they can do a leg shot. As soon as these oversight people see the criminals on the ground still trying to kill us after being warned and shot, they'll change their mind. If the guys think they will have trouble hitting legs, just get a bunch of new range targets and paint on the legs."

"You are so strange, Johnson. Should I really put the oversight people in jeopardy?"

"Yes, you should. These men and women have to learn that we are not dealing with nice people and that they do want to kill us. If a couple of them get hit, I'd bet they have a totally different attitude. They might want to issue reprimands for not shooting when we are being shot at, but we have to wait for them to give the warning."

"I'll try one. Hopefully, it will make a difference. Perhaps I'll do more than one. I guess it's worth a try. Go on your boat ride, but keep in touch. We do have something working up in Alaska. You might be able to take care of it incognito while you're there."

John and I said goodbye and hung up. I had to sit and contemplate the state of those who think we should keep asking someone to give up while they are shooting at us. This was not smart. You can't lie about it because there is always that one person at an incident that will be for the underdog and will make a louder noise than everyone else. Oh well, I have holes all over my body because I kept warning people.

The evening at Dewey's was pleasant. I did get my good Gibson out and played a lot of kids' songs for the kids. I even went through a few pieces of sheet music, once again becoming more proficient at sight reading. The practice helps. I was glad I had bought several bundles of music pads so I could write some scales for students. That was one thing I had forgotten to buy.

After the kids were put to bed, I played some soft ballads for the adults that we could sing to. We did revert to the standby campfire songs. Amazing how many people know the words to Tom Dooley.

When it was time for everyone to think about bedtime, Kathy told me, "We moved your clothes and things out to the boat. Come on, we'll show you your room. You'll like it, it's right next to the master suite."

I noticed Mercy and Sue had a very smug look on their faces as I left with the boat people. I did take four guitars, all the sheet music, and one of the pianos with me. I hoped the room was large enough for all the toys.

Out on the boat, I marveled at the main deck lounge with the weather helm. The lounge was huge and could easily hold twice the number of people on board milling around and not be crowded. There was a fancy bar along with several small table and chair groupings.

Down one deck, you were immediately in the huge galley and breakfast or family room area. It was expanded into a sort of playroom for the younger set. They didn't show me the aft area of the boat tonight, but did show me the cabins that were forward where the master suite was. I was given a brief look at the huge master suite with a bed that looked to be ten foot across. There was a room near the door that contained a huge hot tub. The tub could also be entered through a small ante room on the other side so the tub could be used without bothering anyone in the master suite.

I was shown where Beth's and Missy's rooms were, and that my cabin was the one next to the ante room for the tub and across the hall or gangway from the ladies. The cabins just down from there were for the younger kids. The middle-aged kids were to the rear of the kitchen area, and then down a deck, in the crew's quarters, was where all the older kids were. The middle of the lower deck was where there was storage, a work room, an exercise room, a large communications room, and two more guest suites in case they picked up more people.

The cabin I had been assigned was considerably larger than I could have guessed. It was about twelve by twelve with a queen-size bed. The head was against one wall with a shelved headboard. There were two small closets on each side of the bed that had small nightstands built into the doors. On the wall opposite the foot of the bed was a flat panel TV with a video player. Beneath that was a stereo system that could play cassettes or CDs. There was a sort of dresser built into the wall, with a large walk-in closet on one side, and the bathroom on the other. The room was large enough to accommodate a nice easy chair, with a lamp on the wall for reading, and I had a large porthole. I opened it up immediately to feel the cool sea air quickly come into the room. The bathroom had a decent sized sink and toilet, and a shower that could hold two people, pretty nice.

The closet had my hanging clothes and with a quick check of the built in drawers, I found my folded clothes and socks. I stripped quickly and put on some lightweight running shorts and a T-shirt. I took my good leg off and put my peg on, thinking I might make a raid on the bar upstairs.

I was about to walk out of the room when there was knock on the door. Mercy was standing at the door, smiling, in a gauzy nightgown that was not really revealing. She asked, "How about coming up to the lounge for a nightcap. We usually go up there or sit in the tub for a little while each evening. Come up with us."

It was going to take some time to get used to the steep stairs going up to the lounge, but they don't take up a lot of space when they are steep like that.

In the lounge, I found Steve sitting back with a drink, while all the women were lounging in nightwear. Sue's gown was the most provocative as it was near sheer, with enough cleavage showing, that I was afraid I would be tenting my running shorts. Juanita was a close second, and I do have to say, that woman was built nice. Kathy was in a gown similar to Mercy's, but showed more cleavage of her more mature large breasts. Missy and Beth were dressed in similar gowns, with Beth showing more cleavage than even Sue. Another quarter of an inch, and there would be a "Houston, we have nipple."

Mercy made me a tall Beefeaters, and I sat back to enjoy the peacefulness. Steve reached over and pressed a button for the lounge music system, and what do you know, the first CD that Lisa and I had made in Europe started playing. It had my lead-in at the beginning, the music stopping, then we really began. No one knew who was playing what, but the music was good. We chatted, listened, and drank, with Steve saying, "We're going to watch the videos next so we know who's playing. This is very good."

We didn't listen to all of the CD, not even half, as it was time for us to go to bed. We all said goodnight and I slid into bed, tired but excited about the coming trip.

That's all I remember.

Morning was a trip. Mercy, still in her nightie, came in the bedroom. I'm sure it was not by her invitation, but Lizzie and Bonita came with her to wake me up. Bonita saw my leg in the corner, plus the peg, and had a thousand questions. Liz acted the sophisticate, trying to explain to Bonita why I had the legs.

Mercy gave me a wakeup kiss and said, "Come have coffee before you get dressed. Shorts and a T-shirt are fine. Most of us don't wear anything to bed, so I'm surprised you are dressed."

"Didn't want to get caught with my pants down. The kids might have caught me with the covers down."

Mercy grinned, "They're used to most of us being nude. They don't think a thing about it. We're all pretty casual. Even mom and Beth are relaxed now. Especially with Uncle Ben and Daddy gone now, they will be considerably more casual."

I slid my peg on, to the fascination of Bonita and Liz. We went up to the main lounge for coffee, passing through the busy kitchen. The kitchen, or galley, had the older kids making breakfast for the young ones, trying to keep them pacified long enough to sit and eat. The kids wanted to hurry so they could go play with the kids from the house and the big boat next to them. I could see that this could be a daily problem, and difficult to resolve, when three boats are involved.

I had coffee with Steve, Dewey, and Michael, who were up early and out on Steve's boat to visit and go over the itinerary for today. Dewey would finish loading and we would motor out to sea by nine-thirty or ten this morning. Since he was short of crew, J.J., Carl, and Ben, would spend most of their time on his boat to help crew. J.J had his captain's license but Carl and Ben had to wait for the age requirement. Steve assured me all three were good sailors and knew how to handle a boat, and themselves, in heavy seas.

The prevailing winds going up to Anchorage would not be favorable, so the two sailboats would be tacking the whole way unless we could get a big high pressure area in Canada, which was unlikely. So the yacht would follow us, cruising at an idle, as the two sailboats fought their way north. We would not stop for the first night and planned to bivouac together for the second night near one of the lower Alaskan islands, and we would plan from there.

Michael had everyone come to his yacht for breakfast because Dewey's house would be in such an upheaval while getting his boat loaded. Breakfast was a real riot, as it was easier to feed all the younger kids so they could go do something they wanted to do, while the adults ate. Michael's big yacht had a large enough crew that there were plenty of people to help with food preparation and cleanup.