Chapter 41

Chuck

For me to not sleep well means there is a crisis. I guess there were many crises going on. It was just after five, but I was wide awake, so I slipped from bed, used the bathroom, mounted my peg and went outside to relax by forming for a few minutes.

I was concerned about getting the cash and gold down to Ben in Costa Rica. If I could get out of here with all of it, I could leave here and fly direct. I might have to pull some tricks in Costa Rica to get the stuff to a bank, but I figured I could get it done, either all at once or over a couple of days. This way, I could move as much as I wanted into the new investment fund. Ben had told me he had an offshore investment fund that he was doing fairly well with, but he didn't have a ton of money in it yet. I don't know how much there is to take down there, but there might be a ton of money in all that gold and cash.

There was too much of it to transport in one trip, so I was planning on at least two, or perhaps, three trips. The gold is really heavy and needed to be carried with some of the cash at the same time so a bag wouldn't be so heavy.

I thought to myself, as I stretched into a position, 'Each two hundred pounds of gold would be worth about a million.' Would that be right? When I checked prices, the hundred gram bars were worth over eleven hundred, so the thousand gram bars should be worth eleven thousand. So it takes around two hundred pounds of gold per a million. I had counted a few drawers and think there was about six hundred pounds of gold so that would be three million. In those same drawers there were over six hundred bundles of money and those were twenty bundles to the million, so that's over thirty million. I'd get it done and get it down there, but it would take a couple of trips.

The money was becoming just something that I didn't value. I did value the new house we were getting. I valued the aircraft out at the airfield. I thought the new sailboat would be really nice but, what I really valued were those women sleeping in the house.

I brought my stretching to a close and walked back into the house. Lisa was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee and poured another for me. She said, "You looked deep in thought so I let you do your forms by yourself this morning. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just some odds and ends that I'm trying to straighten out in my mind."

Lisa got up and snuggled into me. She said softly, "Thank you for wanting to bring momma and the girls down here. I know she'll be happier when she gets down here. You know she's going to baby all of us. She'll want to cook for us all the time and try to do everything. We'll have to make her just be a busybody in her own cottage."

"She'll be fine," I said. "When she meets all the ladies, she'll be happy to cook with them and join them in their card games and gab sessions."

Lisa asked, "What do you have for today? I may not have to fly as one of the charters cancelled."

"I need to talk to Steve this morning then do a few things at the office. I'm going to run out there real quick so I can catch him for breakfast. Want to come with me?"

Lisa answered, "No, I'll stay here for a while. I need to straighten out my clothes in the closet and drawers now that I've transferred into your room. You know the girls have moved most of their clothes over here too. I can't believe your closet and drawers hold everything for six of us."

Lisa joined me in taking a shower, then waking up the girls so they could get to work. I said goodbye to them and drove to the park.

I was telling Steve that I felt pressured of late because of so many things happening at the same time. He just kept saying he would help, and that it was good that I was becoming more a part of S&S. He even talked about me owning part of the fixed wing air charter service.

We agreed he would have John and a couple of crewmen go to Magellan down in Miami and pick up the new boat. That would take care of a major worry. I'd love to go on the boat's initial cruise, but I needed to get Ben and the money down to Costa Rica.

While I was having coffee with Steve, my cell rang. It was Ben who said, "How about going to Costa Rica today. Beth and I want to go down there to check out that big condo next to us that's for sale. We want you to buy it. If you do, then Sue and the kids could come down for a weekend sometimes. Anyway, what do you think?"

I told Ben, "I can pick you up by noon or one. What do you think?"

Ben said, "How about two to two thirty."

When told him, "I'll meet you at the airpark about two then."

As soon as I hung up, I realized I really didn't know where he was. I called him back and asked him, "Ben, where are you?"

Ben said, "At your place in Key West. Beth and I have had a great time. That beach resort is a great place for meals. We've been down there everyday visiting with people."

"Okay, Ben, I'll meet you at the private aircraft operations terminal at around two. See you then."

Steve was sort of laughing again as he said, "Ben and Beth are really moving around lately. He told me he was staying at a house that you have use of down there. I thought he would stay at our hotel. Sue says her mother liked the house."

After saying goodbye to everyone, I drove to the house to pick up an overnight case for me and all the extra suitcases I had purchased, and then I went by Wal-Mart to get four more. At the bank, I cleaned out two safe deposit boxes and filled up eight suitcases. They were heavy, but manageable. My concern was to keep them from being so heavy with the gold that the seams of the suitcases would split. The cheap cases were surprisingly strong. I had a neat little folding hand truck that I was able to haul the cases to the car with.

I brought the last six suitcases in and only cleaned out one more drawer that was stuffed almost too full of cash and gold. That would leave two big drawers, but I would take care of those another trip.

Out at the airpark, I was stuffing suitcases into the reduced cargo area when my cell rang. It was Steve, "How about flying your girls, me, John, Mercy, and a couple of crewmen down to Miami. I talked to Ben and he said he would take a commuter up if you didn't want to make two stops."

I said, "That's how many people?"

Steve said, "Your girls, Mercy, John, two crewmen, and me."

I thought a second and said, "Okay, that's ten. A couple will have to use the seatbelts on the couch. Since the modification, the aircraft usually only sits eight, with a jump seat for a stewardess when we need one. Come out anytime. I'm already getting the Lear ready."

When everyone showed up, there was an extra person, Lisa. Well, Steve or Lisa would have to ride up front with me. When each group arrived, I quickly loaded their duffel bags myself so they wouldn't notice all the suitcases in the compartment. I had to do a quick mental calculation to make sure I wouldn't be overweight.

I had a thought; we should have a large scale area like trucks use so we could weigh aircraft before takeoff to make sure of the gross weight. That would be a great double check.

We didn't have any trouble getting off the ground and we were quickly landing in Miami. I got the bags out of the compartment for the folks, and received lots of hugs and kisses from everyone.

Mercy got me off to the side and asked, "What's going on, Chuck? I can tell you're concerned about something. Let me in, Chuck, maybe I can help."

"It's just something that I need to do, Mercy. I need to take care of this and get on with life. Enjoy the boat ride and let me get this done."

She said to me, "Chuck, if you get into a situation that you need to control, use your gift. It can be powerful. You can influence people, Chuck. You can suggest to them to think the way you want. Keep that in mind."

She gave me hug and seemed satisfied with my answers. Now I just had to get to Key West and then out of there with no hassles. I sure hoped everything would go okay as I was using the painted up aircraft as some additional cover. Since the S&S aircraft had often been to Costa Rica, I figured they might overlook the plane during an inspection.

It was not quite one thirty when I landed in Key West. I had radioed for the fuel truck and was topping off the fuel when Ben and Beth came from the operations building, carrying just two small bags. Beth said, "Don't you just love being down here. All you need is shorts and a swimsuit. We didn't even wear those while we were at the house. Rosie was very cool about our nudity around the house. We tipped her and it was from us, not you. We'll be coming back down here."

The two stayed in the passenger area and sampled the liquor in the bar. I was glad I had filled the ice bucket. The trip is just about three hours, but I was thinking of just about every scenario that could be a problem during that three hours. The one thing I hoped for was that I was not going to embarrass Steve or his company.

After we set down in Costa Rica, a customs man came out to the aircraft to greet us. Ben knew the man and greeted him. They shook hands warmly and the man checked out the cockpit and passenger area of the aircraft. I had opened the cargo hatch and was pulling out a suitcase when the customs man came back to take a look.

Thinking of what Mercy had told me, I thought hard, "Tell this man to have a good time here. Tell this man to enjoy being in Costa Rica. Tell this man you want to be his friend like Ben Phillips." I kept thinking those thoughts over and over.

The customs official smiled at me and said, "Enjoy being in Costa Rica, Mr. Johnson, please, come stay with us for a while."

I said, "I have to go back home and come back today or tomorrow, but I plan on possibly buying a home here."

That took the man away from the cargo hatch. He really had not looked into the hatch, only approached it. Beth had called a taxi and it was a Chrysler Town and Country van. While Ben talked with the customs man, I unloaded fourteen big suitcases putting them into the back of the van.

I left the aircraft open for more inspections. The customs man protested, but I said, "Hey, that's what you do. I'll leave it open for right now. I'll be back to leave shortly."

Ben and I went to Beth's and his condo, then took a quick look at the condo he wanted me to purchase. The place was really big. The man who had lived there had been some kind of super rich playboy. He was selling the place fully furnished with a huge round bed that was actually bigger than my bed at home. I might want to change some of his colors, since I'm not big on red and black bedrooms. I told Ben, "Buy it. Have Beth make the bedroom more presentable and maybe figure out how we can modify it so Steve and his family can all stay in it at the same time. How many maids do you have to have to keep something like this up?"

Beth said, "We have two, but they are so inexpensive. Two maids are less than having your lawn cared for back home."

Ben and I left to go to the bank. Ben went in and made arrangements for some help to carry the suitcases in. Ben said to the banker, "This isn't all of it. We'll have the rest by tomorrow. Now, we need to count this and deposit it. As far as the gold, let's just put that into a safe deposit box for right now. We can convert some later, perhaps when everything is brought down."

As the banker and four tellers began counting, Ben said, "Take twenty of those gold bars out. That will be a little over two hundred thousand. You'll use about a hundred for the condo and you can have a separate account here with another hundred. You'll need it to buy food, pay for your maid service, and all of that. The place may need some maintenance, and you do have a monthly fee, just like condos back home. You do get a discount if you pay by the year. We do that with ours."

Instead of twenty, I counted out thirty and said, "Let me have a bigger account for right now. I may come down often for a while. My boss may even want to use a place down here."

After watching the folks count money for a while, I asked, "Do we need to stay to watch them count?"

Ben said, "No, they are wonderfully trustworthy, a great bank. You'll enjoy doing business with them. They were the ones who handled all the transactions for Steve when we made a big oil deal in Mexico several years back. I've used them since for all of my off shore investments."

We took the thirty bars of gold to be weighed and converted to the local currency. Ben and I both signed signature cards for each account and then left to take Ben home. When we got to his condo, Beth had the local real estate representative there with four very attractive and very sexily dressed young ladies.

The real estate rep, who was a woman, asked me if I was really interested in the property. I said I certainly was and wanted to go ahead with the purchase. Ben took over for a while and negotiated what I thought was a price so low that it was stupid. The agent thought it was a wonderful price.

When they were done haggling, the agent had the four ladies stand, "These are the maids from the apartment. They would like to give you a tour of your new home in Costa Rica. They were well trained by the former owner as to how to take care of the man of the house."

Beth was sniggering, almost choking, from holding back a giggle. As one of the four girls took my hand and said, "Please, let us show you how nice your new home will be."

I waved at Ben and Beth saying, "Come on, come along. They must know more about the place than we saw before."

Ben burst out laughing. I asked, "What's up? What are you two laughing at?"

Beth came and pulled me down so she could whisper in my ear, "They are trained to be your sexual toys, as well as maids. They are going to show you how nice you will have it when you are here."

I stood up straight and said to the agent and Beth, "Come along with me so they won't try to get me to do something I don't want to do."

The agent said, "They will do to you what they wish in front of anyone. If you don't wish to do something, tell them. They will mind. You may have to give them something to let them know they are not repulsive to you."

As we toured the apartment, the girls took turns holding my hands and rubbing my arms with their chests. By the time we went up the big stairway to the bedroom area, I was getting excited, but was still determined to put the girls straight about my abstinence from their favors.

In the big bedroom, I sat the four very attractive girls on the bed and said, "I have a wonderful family at home with attractive women I consider my wives. Please don't be upset, but I am faithful to them, and will only be intimate with them."

The agent translated what I said so they would hear it in their language too. All four looked a little disappointed, and one said, "But you are here and they are there. I see you are interested in us, or is it the two other ladies. Let us help you with the interest you're showing."

I smiled and said, "How could I not be affected by your beauty? I still only wish to be intimate with my ladies back home." I took out some cash from my coat pocket and handed each lady a hundred dollar bill. "Please, take this as my appreciation for what you wanted to do for me or with me, whatever. When my ladies come down, you will like them and hopefully you will still wish to continue helping me keep this home as nice as possible."

The four looked at their hundred dollar bills and gasped. Then all at once, they were off the bed and hugging me, kissing my face and cheeks. The one said, "Now we want to show you our gratitude more than we wanted to welcome you to your new home. Please, Sir, let us."

I did separate myself from the lovely ladies and said, "I must make a hasty trip back home. I may see you again tomorrow, but please remember that we will be great friends, but not lovers."

The agent was almost laughing when we left, and said "Those four just received more than many months of wages as a gift. You know you do have to buy them clothes. The next time you get them clothes to wear, you might choose less revealing outfits."

Beth said, "Ben would have never resisted. Those four are very attractive. I would have enjoyed watching you take them all on. You could have, you know. The agent and I might have even joined in."

I laughed and said, "Darn, I didn't even think of that."

We were laughing as we entered Ben's and Beth's condo. I told the agent, "Ben will make arrangements for the money to be transferred and will set up something so you can manage the condo and the staff. If any of them leave, I don't think it takes four to keep the place up. I think two would be more than enough. I'll let my ladies decide that at another time."

After a hug from Beth and a surprising hug from the agent, I shook hands with Ben and said, "I'll call you from the aircraft before landing back here. Meet me with the same cab so we can get to the bank. I should be here between noon and one. It's too late today to get back and still get to the bank."

Back at the airport, I filed the international flight plan, made sure the fuel was topped off, and called for the customs agent to check the plane before taking off. I shook hands with the agent then began my startup.

While getting ready to depart, I was thinking how convenient it is for the international language for air travel to be English. I was also glad for having the experience flying the charters to Europe, as I knew how to file the flight plan.

About three hours later, I was in Miami getting my customs inspection. The customs officer even dug through my travel bag. They used a dog to walk through the aircraft and released me. I refueled and headed home.

At the airpark, I told the night clerk that I would be using the same aircraft tomorrow, and that there were no maintenance issues.

On the way home, I stopped at the trailer park and had supper with Sue, Kathy, and Juanita. We were joking that I had traded my ladies to Steve for them. They were bragging that I had made the better deal. Tiny was teasing, "Hell, he not only gets you guys, he gets all these other women as well."

After supper and a beer with the guys, I headed home. There were two Wal-Marts on the way home and I bought all of the suitcases in the size I needed. I hope they recognized their recent sales of suitcases were an anomaly and not a trend. I figured eight more suitcases should hold everything I needed to take to Costa Rica.

When I got home, Tina and Lena were having some ice cream in the family room while watching TV. I joined them and they were talking about how neat it was going to be to have a big boat. I mentioned that we might go out on it for a weekend soon and they were both anxious to make a trip. Lena asked me, "Could I ask mom and dad to come along. My sister Tina will want to come to, I'm sure."

I told them, "Sure, we'll plan some weekends and make sure they get a chance to spend a night or two on board."

When I went into the bathroom to brush and wash, I was alone in the bedroom but when I came back out, there were two heads on pillows in the middle of the big bed. Tina asked, "Can Lena and I spend the night cuddled to you? She promises she won't do anything. I won't promise that, though."

We did kiss a lot for a long while. Tina's hand found my interest under the covers, and Lena did what was asked. When I turned to my side to hug Tina's back, the long Lena snuggled up to me and kissed my neck. She had her arm holding me, while Tina worked to fit me into her. Tina turned her head to kiss me and said, "Stay still now, we all need to sleep."

Morning found me on my back, with a very intense Tina slowly moving up and down. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open in an "O," as she filled herself completely before she would rise and then slide back down.

Just as she was clutching me internally with an orgasm, Lena leaned over me and stuck a nipple in my mouth. The uniqueness of the act had me squirting into Tina as Lena shuddered in a climax with us.

Lena pulled her nipple from my mouth and kissed me, then Tina. She said, "That was so good. I think I felt everything Tina did just now. If you do that with me every now and then, Chuck, I promise to be good and leave you be."

I gathered the long beauty in my arms and hugged her. Although Tina was still planted on me, Lena was hugging me and received some nice kisses. Tina lay down and got into the kisses as well. She said, "I needed that last night, but I think I liked it even more this morning. Come on; let's get some laps in for some exercise."

I said, "How about a half hour in the gym, then some laps?"

That got groans, but we did exercise in the gym for a half-hour, then moved out to the pool for some strenuous laps. When we had drifted to the shallow side with the steps, Lena said, "You know, now that Bobby's officially married to that creep, you can be my friend and visit with mom, dad, and Tina. The twins would be very happy to see you, and I know my brothers like you. When I talk to Michelle, she always asks how you are. You know you are still a friend to all of us, even if you won't keep me as one of your wicked women."

I laughed, "Wicked woman, huh? What kind of wicked would you be?"

"As wicked as you'd let me. That's what I would be."

"Oh, Lena, you are so beautiful, I don't know how you resist all those good looking young guys that I'm sure are chasing you."

Tina said, "In her defense, you are good looking, keep us very nicely, and we don't have to listen to their childish come-ons. Their lines are from hunger. You wouldn't believe how crude most guys are."

Lena said, "Do you know that yesterday, some guy actually asked if he could bring a ladder and fuck me. He just came up to me and said that, as if I would even be interested. That's what I get all the time. Assholes. If some guy were to really be nice and ask me to go get a Coke or something, I would probably go, but crap like these drooling dimwits spew, is not appealing. That's why I'm in my second semester of martial arts. I exercise every day and spar constantly so I can do to these guys what you did to rock brain Rocky horror."

I had to laugh at the Rocky horror reference. I'd bet that came from her mom or Michelle, as Lena is too young to remember the Rocky Horror picture show.

We had a quick breakfast and the two ladies got ready to leave for classes. Tina said she had an evening rotation tonight and probably wouldn't finish until after midnight. She said, "Their three to eleven-thirty is more like three to two-thirty or three, but then, this isn't as bad as the next step. Internship will be really tough. I'll really be proud to be there though."

They left and I was setting the alarms when Wanda came into the kitchen. She was dressed, ready for work. She said, "John called yesterday and wants to talk to you. He's busy doing something and says it's a real bonus for you. Don't know what it is, but he was excited."

Looking at my watch, I figured he was still at home or possibly being driven to work. I poured myself another cup of coffee and dialed his cell. "This is Chuck. What's up, John?"

"Hey, you lucky fucker. You not only get the brass ring for having possession of the aircraft before we found the money, but you are in for a big bonus from the service for the cash that was found in the other six guys' places. Since you took care of the six that were scaring the shit out of most of the hotshots up here, you are now removed from the permanent shit list to that of renowned and exalted one. Notice that we're not even talking on secure phones."

John was excited and said, "Anyway, they are trying to funnel some of the findings to you. I tried to tell them that anyone who would pass up taking over thirty million one time before, wouldn't want anything special, but they are insisting. It is on the QT that they are doing this, but they are going to give you a million dollar bonus, and have the IRS forget that you have it. Someone said that you are being, I think the word is exempted, from any examination for a while so you can absorb some of your bonus. Just report your normal stuff and they won't peer into your soul."

"That's cool, John. I had my lawyer, the money guy, find those explosives out on the beach and turn them in this past week. The locals were all excited about explosives washing ashore. I've had all the guns run, and they are all clean. I'll clean them out of there over the next few months and sell them to gun stores. I'll have those nasty little twenty-twos melted down or something. You know that I've got nine of them now. They must be cheaper by the dozen."

John said, "That's good that you're taking care of all of that. The cleanup guys from the Secret Service are getting fat from those seven. You should have taken the houses apart yourself. I've heard some stories about a lot of bonuses coming from their investigations."

I said, "Like you said, John, I'll never spend it all. But then I am looking for a big airplane. That might take a few mil."

John said, "We might confiscate something big. If we do, I'll let you look at it. The Service might just give it to you. Like I said, you are the golden boy right now. Those guys were making a lot of people very scared. The pressure is off and the Bureau has brought in all the folks that were putting up the money. We're getting lots of properties from these guys too. They have a couple of Rolls Royces that just came in. Want one?"

"No way, John. I've got a good Chevy to drive. With the nicer paint job and wheels that were put on it, the car looks pretty good too. Well, you know, you rode in it."

John laughed, "You're still driving that car that was shot up?"

"Sure, I just had the holes patched and had them give me a neat paint job so it doesn't look like a cop car anymore."

"I just wanted to tell you, that you're getting a bonus from the Secret Service and the IRS is going to let you skate on it. Everyone made the deal so you are good on it. Otherwise, they would have had to give you over three million to get you one. I told them you were pretty well fixed, but they wouldn't hear of it. They still can't believe you did in a couple of days what ten of their men couldn't get done in two months. The Secret Service wants to put you on, but I told them you were already in their quiet black outfit out west. That shut them up."

I said, "John, I may have a neat place for you, and even the Marshal, to go visit. I'll let you know when I get back from Costa Rica. I put a bid in for a place next to my banker down there. It's pretty fancy and comes with four of the sexiest maids you'll ever see."

John laughed, "So the plot thickens and you're getting an offshore place now, huh?"

"Just an opportunity that I'm checking out, something that I can turn if I ever need the money. It's also a neat place to go to for some relaxation time."

"Well, my friend," John said, "I'll be interested in taking you up on the offer of a visit. I'll tell the Marshal so he can begin planning. He's thinking of another visit to the Keys."

"Anytime, as the place is always ready. Go down and have some beach time."

John finished the call, "The Marshal and I may need to speak to you this weekend. Keep your phone on, okay?"

"I'll do that, John. Talk to you later."

That was strange; John was talking about a lot of stuff that should only be mentioned on a secure connection, or under secure conditions. Something is up on that. It's as if he wanted to be heard and wanted someone to hear what had happened. It's his bag; I'll let him play those cards the way he wants.

Back at the bank, I was able to clean out one drawer completely but only about two thirds of the other. I figured that leaving about six or eight dozen bars of gold in a drawer along with about twenty-five bundles of cash wouldn't be bad. I might need cash sometimes around here. I hauled my eight bags to the car and headed to the airpark.

I loaded the plane, along with my overnight bag, and began a preflight. Jimmy came out and asked how the flight was. I told him I didn't need the new tanks, but it was good to have them. I checked weather and filed my international flight plan. I called for a customs inspection and was given the go ahead. They know S&S is a charter company and usually don't hassle them.

This was a different flight path, as I was flying direct to Costa Rica from Tampa. It was still right at three hours. When I was about a half hour out, I used the satellite phone to call Ben. I told him that I would be in at twelve thirty and he corrected me, "Ten thirty, my friend. We're two hours behind Tampa. I'll see you at the airport and distract the customs official."

When I landed, I was sent to the nearest parking position to the operations building. The customs guy showed up about the time Ben pulled up. The two were yakking away as I unloaded my eight suitcases. I left everything open, offering to have the customs agent check out the plane. He glanced at the suitcases in the van as I kept saying to him mentally, "Tell the man to enjoy living here, tell him you're glad he's moving in, tell the man you are happy to be his neighbor, tell the man to enjoy living here."