Chapter 45

Steve

I was having coffee in my room at the resort. I had the patio doors open, looking out from the ninth floor toward the beautiful lagoon or small harbor in front of the hotel.

It was still too early for beach people, but there were workers cleaning the beach. Two tractors were dragging the sand, smoothing it out to make it more appealing to the tourists. In the harbor and at the dock were several large yachts and sailboats. None, however, rivaled the Have Mercy, the Mercy Mercy, or Chuck's new boat. I wonder what he will name it.

There was knock on the door. I let Tiny in and he poured himself some coffee then sat with me facing the Pacific. Another knock on the door and I let Dewey in who also poured himself some coffee then dragged a chair over to join us in contemplating the deep blue expanse of water.

Tiny asked, "What do you think? Is Chuck done fooling around with strange goings on?"

I said, "He said he was and his boss, John, and the Marshal disappeared to go spend time with their families. Chuck still has that Nightfox guy with him, and from the way they were getting along, they may have become life long friends. Neither one will give us a hint of what they were up to, so it must have been important."

Dewey stated, "Chuck was drinking pretty steady last night, which is unusual for him. I thought he was asking pretty intelligent questions even though he was drinking heavily."

"That he was," I said, thinking of how Chuck was acting last night. I remembered that feeling well. It's the adrenaline let down after something that could have been hairy. Booze only takes the sharp edges off your thinking as you're still seeing three hundred and sixty degrees and questioning everything moving around you. Nightfox's eye movement told me he was still high from a scare too. Whatever it was, it must have had a good conclusion, because there was no panic in either one of them.

Tiny said, "I think we need to alert the mechanics about the helicopters that are supposedly being delivered today. Chuck said the large personnel helicopters were in good condition. What did he call them? Command helicopters?"

I answered the question, "Those are helicopters for people like Admirals or Generals that need transport for them and their immediate staffs. I think whoever Chuck is doing things for is using equipment to repay him for what he's doing. The equipment we bought over in Orlando was worth five and six times more than what we paid, or actually, what Chuck paid."

Dewey asked, "Where did Chuck get all this money? I thought he used up his money in investments here."

Tiny answered Dewey, "I mentioned last night how lucky Chuck was. He bought an aircraft from the feds then found millions and millions. The Attorney General says ownership had passed to the purchaser. I don't know how much there was but it was enough to buy all those aircraft, as well as the big sailboat."

"Holy shit," Dewey exclaimed. "That was lucky. What else has he been lucky about?"

"From what I've overheard between John and him, Chuck came into some money that couldn't be turned over because of how Chuck had to come into it. Since Chuck's been being used for some pretty hairy shit, I can only imagine that a lot of the money came from drug cartels or people who dealt with them. You'll never figure it out though, as Chuck was smart enough to move a bunch of it offshore"

Tiny said, "And of course, your father-in-law isn't going to tell you how much Chuck has. Dewey, just to give you an idea of Chuck's luck, he apparently tried to help a community down in Costa Rica that had a bully tyrant selling protection to everyone, including the communities poorest. According to Sue's mother, Beth, one day the bully is pushing Chuck around, and the next day, the tyrant and all his men had disappeared. The community wanted to anoint Chuck king, but he danced around that. He did however have to claim a seventy-five foot motor yacht that had been taken from a deceased Texas couple. It seems to the victor go the spoils."

Dewey mused, "I wonder if the boat is anything nice?"

Tiny said, "Apparently nice enough that it has a valuation down in Costa Rica of about thirty-five mil. In the states, who knows what it would be worth?"

I said, "Tell him about the women."

"Oh yeah," Tiny said, "Beth said that the boat came with a bunch of women Chuck rescued. They won't leave Chuck, and he has told them they can stay on the boat indefinitely. They take care of the boat and will attend all who come aboard that Chuck sends."

Dewey laughed softly, "The man does have some luck. Chuck seems very perceptive of others. It's almost as if he can see inside you or listen to your thoughts. You know, kind of like your Mercy, Steve.

It was my turn to chuckle, "He does seem to have that ability and lately has been learning how to use it more effectively. The surprising part is that he won't use it for his own personal gain. At least, I haven't seen him do it for his own gain. He will influence someone's opinion when he needs to and that's it. He uses it to encourage people all the time. He gives them self-confidence."

"That's neat. That's the way to use a gift like that," Dewey said.

Tiny said, "How about going for breakfast? We are supposed to meet Crystal and Bear at the airfield, then tour the hotels down here."

I said to Dewey, "I still haven't told Chuck that he bought out Mike's share of the new hotel in Anchorage and the other property we bought here. I seriously doubt he has any conception of how much money he has. Ben said he has been struggling to invest it all so it doesn't just vanish in taxes. That's why they started an offshore investment fund in Costa Rica."

There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Chuck smiling as if he had not had an ounce of liquor to drink the night before. Chuck said, "Let's get breakfast and this day started. I'm really excited to see how the airfield is doing."

We spent a great deal of time at the airfield. All of Crystal's and Bear's ideas were good ones, but it would take some time to implement them. They did show us the new cart plant that was being built. This was another of Jeff's specials, using more robotics than people. He defended the use of machines by saying that "We don't have bored employees this way. I've tried to install robotics for the repetitious jobs and use the skilled labor for the more exacting tasks."

Tiny said, "This plant should be in full operation within a month. We already have orders that exceed the first six months of capacity, but the customers are willing to wait for a Hawaiian made cart rather than having them shipped from the mainland."

There was no way a cart plant can survive on the islands, but we're going to run it for a while, at least, to provide locally produced products. The Hawaiians are very proud people and look to buy product made or grown in Hawaii.

In the afternoon, we watched as six helicopters landed in front of the ops building. Two were old Hueys converted to Bell 210s, one was a Bell 407, and two were newer command helicopters, Sikorsky Seahawks. The sixth was a bright red Robinson. Jimmy's dad was all over them and was checking each one to see what they would need and what he could do with and for them. He told us, "The command choppers are really nice. They are ready to be put to work. I'll do a full annual to make sure, but they look ready and if the logbooks are accurate, they are in good shape."

He turned and pointed at the two Hueys, the Bell 210s, "Those babies have to be like brand new conversions. Look at them, they're freshly painted and everything. I hear that the Bell factory strips old Hueys down to the frames and renews everything that's even a little off of perfect, puts a whole new nose on with new avionics, and replaces the rotor and drive system with one from their twin turbine Huey. They even upgrade the engine by 400 horsepower. Basically, they're brand new helicopters. We will use them for utility and transport. We'll get some removable seating and can use them right away. I think we can keep them in the air enough to pay for themselves. The 407 is perfect for the air taxi service we want to start. Now that little Red Robinson is perfect to give lessons in. I'll bet all of the instructors we have are qualified to fly it. All of these are a great start for our company here. Whoever pulled this off has my applause."

I said, "Thank Chuck. He made the deal with the Navy. He has pull with someone and he seems to get good deals all the time."

Chuck said, "Can we borrow your Bell 206L? If you don't have anything chartered, we can use it to go see the hotels." He was soon spooling up their 206L with everyone on board. Jeff, Crystal, and Bear all came along with Steve, Dewey, and Tiny.

Our tour was fun, as we were able to renew friendships that had begun the previous summer. We enjoyed seeing the improvements they had made. It was at the first hotel where I showed Chuck the improvements that had been made, that I said, "Chuck, I know you're not fond of surprises, but this is an especially good one. Mike and Chanda have begun to devote more time to investments in Ireland exclusively. Mike wanted to get out of this resort, so I asked Ben if your fund could handle the investment. Congratulations, Chuck; Dewey, you, and I are now partners in this venture too."

Chuck didn't frown, but looked at me funny. He asked, "So does that mean I'm partners in the Alaskan deals as well?"

I smiled and said, "You are, but if you don't want to be, Dewey and I have agreed to buy you out."

Chuck was actually laughing as he said, "You know, I know Ben wouldn't spend more than I have, and I know he is conservative enough to make sure I can pay my taxes. I'm just constantly overwhelmed that there is so much money. I'm trying to use it for good, and there is just more and more of it almost every day."

Dewey walked over and said, "You know, Chuck, I've heard of all the different ways you're attempting to help families. That is really great. Remember, the more you can invest to make a profit, the more families you can help. I like your scholarship ideas, too. That is a great way to help people progress. You are doing it right. You're not giving away freebies, but are helping people help themselves."

Chuck asked me, "Is there anything else I own that I don't know about?"

I said, "I don't think so. You are a full third owner of all of our Alaskan properties, so that is a good thing. You are now a full third owner of all of our Hawaiian properties. With Dewey's knowledge and your luck, we have to be successful together."

We ended up at the resort where we were staying and decided to eat at the clothing optional restaurant tonight. We wanted to check out the new restaurant catering to the nude clientele, rather than the popular fully clothed restaurant.

Dinner was great, but the bare bodies were a bit distracting. The decision to build the extra dining room was a good one, as it was full too.

Back at our regular resort, we looked into the new casino to see how it was doing. The manager had made the gaming a low key fun place. He did have some high stakes tables, but even there, the atmosphere was one of 'let's have fun' rather than frantic high pressure gambling.

While we were in the casino, I asked Chuck, "Care to show us your skills? You know we're going to have you play when we're on the Riviera."

Dewey said, "Lets try Blackjack first, then we'll move on."

The cards I kept being dealt were terrible and I didn't want to play any of them. I did stay on one deal that I knew the dealer would bust on. Chuck looked to be ahead a few hundred dollars. We migrated to the roulette table. After exchanging chips, Chuck said he felt red was good and it turned up red. Red was good two more times. Then Chuck announced 'black 12.' Black 12 it was. The croupier immediately was looking around for a pit boss. When Chuck chose 'red 23, ' everyone followed and once again we were paid off. The croupier asked, "Do you know something I don't? Is there a new way to play that ensures a win?"

Tiny, who had been quiet and observant all evening, said, "Chuck is just one of those lucky people, like Steve. If you follow these two guys around, you'll notice the rainbow always ends where they are."

Chuck said, "I'm just lucky. I'll probably lose pretty soon." Chuck finally said to everyone, "Look, I guarantee you this next bet will lose. If you put your money down with me, you will lose it."

Chuck put all of his chips on red 30 and ball dropped into black 19. Several people were bitching, but Chuck just said, "I warned you."

Chuck showed me his hand. He had written 'black 19' on his palm, amazing.

Chuck wanted to play craps for a few minutes and was laying chips all over the table. The surprise, or non-surprise, was that he was winning every roll on most of his bets. He said, "There are too many different ways to bet, so if you win on some, you'll lose on others. You can win a lot of money real quick here too."

When we were out in the lounge, Dewey said, "We will kill those people on the Riviera. A couple of the casinos over there are really bad. I think they are crooked, but with Chuck's insight, he'll have them crying on the high stakes tables right away. I think that will be a blast."

Chuck said, "I have to ask you guys a question."

I said, "Go ahead."

Chuck fumbled around a second then said, "With all of the money you two have, and how much you know I have, why in the world would you want me to win so much on the Riviera?"

Dewey laughed, "Those money moguls are so stingy they will push you out of the way to pick up a coin. I've been an investor there for many years and I have to have a lawyer and an accountant go over the books monthly to be sure that they are making the distributions correctly. They've screwed me more than once. I'll just enjoy them biting the bullet when someone wins. They've finally screwed me around so that I don't see any books from the casino. I only really know what happens on the hospitality side. You know they're cooking the books from the casino because I'm not French. You, Chuck, will help even me up. I think we'll have fun and you can invest some more money in people."

I told Chuck, "You'll love the way you're treated when you begin gambling with big bucks. You need to start out with a couple hundred thousand Euros so they know you're a high roller. They will be kissing your ass all over the place. They'll be trying to bring you drinks continuously so you will bet recklessly. When you keep winning, they will think it's an anomaly and a lot of people will be betting with you, making their losses bigger. They'll get you to go to the high stakes pits and that's when you will really come out a winner. You see the chips down there are different. The smallest is the equivalent of about a hundred grand. You'll see people drop a million on a single bet and then get excited over winning a couple of hundred thousand. You, my friend, will do well. We'll get you to play craps there too."

Dewey added, "If your gift is like Missy's, Mercy's mother, you will know the correct way to play even if the game is rigged. I'm sure they tried to weight the ball or do something like that when we were there before, but she knew it before it happened. You seem to know too, so it will be fun. Steve and I can't keep up with you playing craps, but we'll throw a bet in with you every now and then. You can win a bunch and throw a big party if you want. That way the profit will partly go to Dewey. That would be fun.

Chuck was satisfied with the answers and said, "I think I have to do one more thing for the Marshal Service with Wanda tomorrow, but that should be all. I'm really impressed with the changes and success of the hotels. It appears the managers we chose were good choices as they have been successful."

I said, "You actually chose them. You found people who were leaders and brought them to us. They were good choices and we have prospered with them."

The four of us were doing some heavy lifting at the bar when Tiny said, "When I got together with Steve, we went through some of the most phenomenal growth you will ever see in any industry. We just kept growing and growing, making more products, doing more business, and making more money. It was unbelievable."

"When Steve got together with Dewey, we went through some more expansion that boggled my mind. I just stayed on the ride, since it was fun working with someone like Steve who kept coming up with new ideas."

"We've never stagnated. We've constantly shifted the emphasis of our efforts to where the action is. We've continued to grow. Then the economy took a hit and I thought we would have to contract, but we didn't. We just shifted people around to where we could use them."

"Then you came along, Chuck. Since you've been around, the aircraft stuff has gone nuts, and the rest of the business is picking up as well. We picked up the two distributorships in Nevada, the T-shirt plant is in the process of being doubled, it looks like we're going to be fat from military orders for our vehicles, the R&D department is kicking out new ideas and products almost weekly, and even the RV store has had a bunch of sales. It's all been since you've become a part of us. I know you're a Deputy Marshal, but you've influenced S&S somehow."

I tried to soften up the impact of what Tiny had said, "Tiny's a numbers guy. He plots, plans, and compares numbers all the time. He gives us great advice on whether to go or not to go every day. You've probably contributed to us with your friendship, Chuck. It's been a lot of fun to be around you. You and your family have fit with us and that has had a positive influence on business."

Chuck said, "I think this has all been a coincidence, but thank you for thinking that I had something to do with it. If I did, good, I'm glad. If I didn't, well, no harm has been done as long as we keep doing well together."

The next morning, Chuck, Wanda, John Scott, and the Marshal were in the restaurant having breakfast when Tiny, Dewey, John Truant, and I came down. They were looking over a bunch of papers and discussing something, then everything was put away and they ate.

Chuck came over and said, "We have to go into Honolulu for a while. We'll be back this afternoon. I'll be done with everything I have to do by this evening. I know we were planning to stay until Sunday, but I'd be in favor of going back tomorrow, Saturday, if you would want to."

Dewey said, "I'm leaving tomorrow anyway."

I said, "We can probably do that. We'll spend today with Crystal and Bear and get everything planned out. If you have time when you get back from Honolulu, come by the airfield. We will bring those two back for a nice dinner and a few drinks."

Chuck said, "Good deal, that way we can take John and the Marshal back with us. Nightfox is going to come with us too, if that's all right."

"Might as well," I said, "we brought them, we can take them back. Where do John and the Marshal want to end up?"

"Probably L.A. for all of them," Chuck answered. "I think they have something doing out there before heading home. I don't have anything to do with what's going on there that I know of, so we'll go on home without the extras."

Chuck headed over to his people and it looked like they were leaving.

Tiny said, "Chuck gets a lot of time off, but they manage to keep him busy and doing crazy shit so often, that he doesn't have time to find a direction in life."

I defended Chuck, "He has a direction and actually is following it pretty well. Chuck does seem to find a lot of distractions along the way. When I talked to Ben this morning, he's still going on about how Chuck has totally turned that Costa Rican community upside down. He says, the town wants to do something special for Chuck, and Ben's afraid it would drive Chuck away. The community apparently has gotten together and totally remodeled the boat that he inherited down there. The female crew on the boat is telling everyone how Chuck saved them from certain death, while his house staff is telling the community what a good person he is because he wouldn't go to bed with any of them because of his women at home."

Tiny laughed, "He sometimes does seem to have some pretty strange attitudes. He turns down some strange stuff in Costa Rica, but comes home to a house full of willing women."

"You know," John Truant began, "Chuck is like so many of the military pilots that I've served with over the years. They would fly into anything, anywhere, and come out smiling, but you never knew when they would decide to just wipe out every enemy they could hunt up. I saw guys fly into anti-aircraft fire so thick that you could walk on it to blast the source away. They would get back to base with holes all over their birds, but they were still flying. They were gifted and blessed with some magical safety shield around them. Chuck took to those helicopters as if he'd been flying them his entire career. If he had both legs, he could still be one of the better pilots in the service."

The bunch of us left for the airfield to work with Crystal and Jeff a last day. We had actually made all the decisions necessary and made sure everything was locally funded.

Jimmy's dad had one of the 210s gutted and had a local upholstery shop working on the cabin; they were recovering the cockpit seats and refitting the gauges and instruments. "The 407 is going to require some work but we have a new mechanic that just got out of the Navy that is certified on that and the big ones. We should have them ready in a week or so. All six birds are in really good shape mechanically. The Robinson training helicopter they sent is a great trainer and is cheap to operate. A hell of lot cheaper than using the big Bells. We'll get a lot of use out it."

The man was waving some papers around and said, "I recognize these. This was a confiscation that was shipped over from San Diego last night. It must have come on one of the big transport runs they make every night. Chuck must have some some pull with someone."

Crystal was happy as she said, "We are applying for a regular commuter service permit between islands with our new command helicopters. We've found a retired Navy helicopter mechanic with Sikorsky factory training for what is really an S-70, but is a Navy HH-60 Seahawk with airline seating. We have the retired Navy pilots who can fly them available to us, so if everything shakes out, those two big helicopters should be in the air making us money soon."

Bear wanted for us to think about something. "We've had a few, and to qualify what I'm going to say, I say only a few, four, requests for charters to the mainland for groups of twelve to fifteen. I know that four charters for a G5 wouldn't support that kind of aircraft but it would be neat if there was a way to support that kind of charter. We could advertise a price based on deadheading a bird over here, doing the charter, and deadheading back. I know that would be expensive but I'd like to see a cost for that. The way to potentially make something like that work could be that when we had a charter from here, we could spot advertise on the mainland for a week or two in Hawaii in one of our resorts for a special price. That could cover the cost of the trip over to get the charter we have and the trip back, in addition to possibly making a buck on the specially advertised Hawaiian adventure."

Dewey said, "You know, that might work. I have two G5s now and they are not flying all that much lately. Do you have any potential charters right now?"

"I sure do," Bear smiled, "that's what made it important to mention. I have a group of twelve businessmen wanting to go to Seattle for a week. It's actually eight days. Do you think you could get a dozen or so people to sign up for a special week plus in Hawaii?"