Chapter 58

Chuck

Life was settling down all around. I was just doing the usual office work with no flying everywhere on an almost daily basis for a change. John Scott seemed to have settled down in DC and was enjoying his job again.

I had the flying lessons and was checked out in the new Citation X but had no reason to go anywhere. The charter company used it once for a quick trip to San Diego and back, but Lisa took that one. She said it was great to have an aircraft that could fly that far, that fast, and that high, as she was able to get over the tops of some tall cumulus clouds that would normally cause a bumpy ride or cause her to go around them.

While sitting back in my downtown office, John called to ask me if I would be interested in a trip to Omaha. He said he had a task force there, working along with Bureau task force, trying to get all of the information necessary for the prosecution of the men still in federal holding cells in DC.

"What do you want me to do there, John?"

John said, "I thought you could help the men there stimulate some of the witnesses we've uncovered. I think we need to define whether they are whistleblowers or guilty associates trying to cover their tracks. You've always done well with interrogations, so go up there and work them over. Take your new man Nightfox with you for a good guy/bad guy routine. Your man, Bud Anderson and your old sidekick, Blake, are up there too, so it will be like old home week. You'll be there in support of Bureau people, so help them out all you can."

"I'll go up in the morning, John. There is also some unfinished business in Salt Lake City that needs attending to. The station chief up there did a hell of a job when we were hiding those escapees. I need to go by there and buy him a nice meal and say thanks. I'll work with Omaha a day or two then go up to Salt Lake."

"I'm glad you take care of the guys you work with, Chuck," John said. "That means a lot to them. We can send out commendations and letters all day long, but nothing says thanks more than a personal pat on the back and a good free meal."

John gave me a word of caution, "The Pentagon has a group of investigators out there that are more in the way than a help. It's been reported that every time the interrogations get close to some solid information, the Pentagon boys screw up the witness. They're either stupid investigators or are sly about concealing what they want to conceal. We also have some intelligence concerning the company that hired the imported muscle in the first place. It seems they are importing some more muscle, even with all of the federal men around there. Just a heads up, Chuck, but watch your back."

"Sounds like there's more to be found under some rocks, John," I said, while thinking through what he had been telling me. "I'll give you a call if we come up with anything. Make sure the Director knows I'm going to be out there."

John chuckled, "That's who asked for you to go there. He'd steal you in a heartbeat if he could. Thanks for helping all of us out, Chuck. Be careful."

After talking to John, I called DeDe to make sure the Citation would be ready in the morning, then called Nightfox to advise him we were going to Omaha and out to Salt Lake. Sam asked me, "You're going to make me do something I've put off doing for years. Can you take me to wherever it is you buy your clothes? I need dress clothes if I'm going to hang around with you. I can't hang around in jeans while you're in one of your expensive suits or sport coats. Hell, even your sport coats put most other men to shame."

I thought for a second and said, "How about I swing by where you are and pick you up. I'll call my special fashion assistant and have her meet us. She'll help out and we'll get you fixed up. I've trashed a couple of suits, several pairs of slacks, and my favorite sport coat once again, so I need to do some shopping as well. Where are you?"

"Home, your house. Maria is working, so I usually stay here or the patio during the day and watch training videos. I've been doing the online testing after each video and I think I've done well so far. I'll be ready to go when you get here."

I called my fashion consultant, Metarie, "Hey, Metarie, want to go shopping? I have a friend that needs a whole wardrobe like you did for me. I need some stuff too, but you are the one to give a guy a good look. Do you have time to do that this afternoon?"

Metarie laughed her beautiful laugh and said, "I'd love to. I'm bored to death at work today. You know who would be a help if you would let her?"

"Who's that Metarie?"

"Brandy. Between her and Tiani, they are the best-dressed girls at the office. Your other three are good dressers, but Brandy and Tiani are really fashion conscious."

"Well, if you can let them off, bring them along. Tell them they will be shopping for Sam. Sam is a new cohort of mine, Metarie. You probably met him at the open house. He's also a new deputy that I drag around the country."

"Well, Chuck," Metarie said, "Meet us at the warehouse in forty-five minutes to an hour. We'll fix up your new guy."

I picked up Sam at home, making sure he was ready to try on clothes. He had on a pair of Dockers and dress shoes, so he was ready to do some serious shopping. "Sam, do you usually use a belt or shoulder holster? Whichever it is, you need to have it with you to try on clothes. Just pull your shirt out if you wear a belt holster or put on a light jacket if you wear a shoulder rig. You need to make sure the clothes don't bulge where your piece is."

Sam put on a bigger shirt with the tail out of his pants. He said, "You're right about making sure of the fit. I've always used the telltale bulge as a way to know who was packing and who wasn't. This is the smart way to do it."

When we pulled up to the warehouse, I saw both Metarie's Mercedes and Brandy's new Cadillac Escalade. It seems everyone in the house has been buying cars that will haul more people at a time. Brandy usually drove her little Saturn, but when she took everyone to work, she drove the Escalade.

Inside the warehouse, I re-introduced Sam to Metarie. Tiani was bouncing around, wanting to get to some serious shopping. In just a few minutes, the three women, along with a saleswoman from the store, had a huge cart loaded down with suits, sport coats, and slacks. The ladies were pulling various shirts out to wear with suits and sport coats and were pushing Sam toward the fitting rooms so he could get his clothes sized up.

The poor guy must have tried on over a dozen pair of pants, from at least six suits, and over a half dozen pair of slacks. The tailor marked up the parts and jackets, making note of where Nightfox wore his gun. He only had to exchange a few items to get the right fit.

While he was busy, I pulled a few pair of slacks, a couple of suits, and a couple of sport coats for myself. I took Sam away from the shopping frenzy and had him try on a couple of pairs of shoes. He said to me, "I saw the prices of the stuff here. I'm going to make a pretty big dent in my savings account."

I told Sam, "Those are the manufacturer's recommended prices, Sam. The prices they charge are less than half of what those tags say. Just wait, you'll be pleased."

When we were at the register to pay for our clothes, after the tailor had marked up our jackets and slacks, Sam was astounded that he was paying a third of what he had thought it would cost him. The warehouse owner, who now knew me, said to Sam, "You've come with one of my good customers. Thank you for shopping with us and please recommend us to others."

The owner handed Sam a large selection of ties and a dozen pair of socks to go with the suits and shoes he had purchased. Sam tried to pay for them, but the shop owner refused saying, "Everyone gets a gift from my store. You bought a large amount of clothing; you get a large gift."

Sam saw the suitcases that were displayed on top of the racks and asked, "I need a nice suitcase to hold these clothes when I travel. Can you pick out one for me to buy? I need something that will hold three or four days of clothes."

The owner pulled down a leather fold up garment bag that would easily hold a couple of suits and a sport coat. That would be perfect for three days to a week on the road. I told Sam, "When you get stuck out too long, you can always have your clothes cleaned at the hotel at night. It's a great way to get along with a smaller bag."

The owner had been taking his time with us and not leaving us as he usually did. He told us to step back to the fitting room area and two of his tailors began bringing clothes out for Sam and I to try on. The tailors had altered all of our purchases while we had been paying and talking ... How can you not love a place like that?

Metarie, Brandy, and Tiani were all smiles at having helped us get new clothes. They had each picked out at least one nice business suit for themselves. Metarie bought a couple pair of nice heels too, so her day was complete.

Sam and I went home and the three ladies left to go back to work. At home, the housekeeper, Maria, took our new shirts to wash and iron and went to hang up our new clothes. Sam was staying in one of the apartments on the second floor when he wasn't at Maria's trailer park home. Sam asked me, "When we travel, do you always take your personal weapon? How about your tactical weapons?"

"Always have your personal weapon with a couple of spare magazines. As far as the tactical weapons, you and I need to keep them at hand, as we never know when we will need them. The service doesn't give us much notice most times. They have people watching us that know where we are all the time. I don't know who watches us around here, but I can assure you they do. They are here to make sure we're alright, so I'm not concerned about it."

Sam said, "I'll bet whoever they report to are surprised I've actually hooked up with a woman, Maria. She'll be unhappy that I'm going out of town, but we've talked about it and she knows that it's my job. She says that she'll support me at whatever job I have. And you know what? I believe her. She is really a genuine and sincere lady. Her kids are great too."

"Sounds serious, Sam?"

Nightfox said, "I am, but she said we have to wait before we make a public commitment to each other. She says she wants me to be sure she is the one I want and she wants to make sure I am the one for her. I think she's the one, Chuck, but I'll be patient and see how it works out."

We spent a little while cleaning our tactical weapons. I had a larger suitcase than Sam did since I have the 308, the collapsible MP5, plus the .50 caliber. We checked our ammo supply and put our cases away for the trip tomorrow.

Sam took off to meet Maria when she came home from work. I decided to go to the patio to see Steve and family.

The first person I saw when I entered the patio was Bonita. She grabbed me and pulled me into the living room, where she was using the back half of the room as her personal music studio. She picked up her acoustic guitar to show me some of the techniques that I had taught her. The little girl was playing some very decent blues with her tiny fingers. She was really proud, saying, "It took me a week to finally be able to get that neat sound when you pull the string down with your left hand. I'm going to learn to play like you and Lisa so we can all play lead."

I commented, "You know, I think I need to have you playing an electric a little more. You're really showing a lot of aptitude for the guitar."

Bonita looked at me funny, "Is aptitude a good thing?"

With a laugh I said, "It means you are showing the ability to learn."

"Okay then, I have an aptitude. The mommas will all say I have an aptitude for an attitude." Bonita was laughing as I left her with her guitar and went back to the patio.

Mercy came out and sat with me, "You're going somewhere tomorrow and I want you to use your gift while you are there working. You know you can find out a lot more from someone if you use what's in his mind to ask him more questions. Work smarter, Chuck, use your gift."

"You're right, Mercy, I do need to use whatever means I have on this one. Something's wrong with this case. I'm really not comfortable with it and I am very apprehensive for some reason."

Mercy was nodding her head, "I know, I can feel it in you and I feel your uncertainty. There's danger, but there's mostly deception. Look into everyone you meet to find out if they are really who they appear to be. You're more like my mother than I am and can listen to someone easier than I can. Use your gift Chuck, look into people, look beyond where you are, anticipate what you feel."

This time it was me nodding, "This gift is a wonderful thing, but it is so strange. Every time I use it, it seems to get bigger, more intuitive. Lately, I'm hearing things from people I talk to without even trying to listen. Normal stuff usually goes unheard, but anything extreme is amplified and I hear really good stuff or really bad stuff. When we were holding those men on the boat, I could hear the two professionals trying to think up ways to get loose. I could hear their plans to escape even when they go to court. I can feel their murderous attitude and to what extremes they will go. It was very disconcerting in the beginning, but as time went by, I used it against them and was able to anticipate each of their futile attempts to try to escape."

"That's what I mean, Chuck," Mercy said. "Listen to them, feel them and the situation so you have a warning."

Steve came in the door of the patio and gave Mercy a hug and kiss. As he went through to the kitchen, Juanita and Kathy met him with more hugs and kisses. There soon was a stampede of young feet that crowded around their dad, as they all spoke at once to tell him what they had done today.

As the kids began to go in different directions, Sue came from her office and gave Steve a loving hug and kiss. We were sitting with a beer when Tiny and John Truant came into the patio. John said, "We just received two high density seating modules for the 737. One module is a group of eighteen seats, three rows of six seats with an aisle in the middle. The other module is similar to standard first class and has eight seats, two rows of two seats on each side of an aisle. We'll see how that works out and if we need more of either module, we'll order them."

Steve said, "With this increased flexibility, we should have the 737 in the air daily. Phil put together a sales presentation for local businesses. His men are going to spread the word."

It was Tiny's turn, "I talked to the leasing company and they are not in a good cash flow position. They offered us the aircraft at very good price. I think we might buy it, but I'll let them give us a better price before we commit. If they can unload this one aircraft, they will be out of hot water, so we may be able to make a very good deal."

I mentioned to Tiny, "You better check with Ben to make sure I can spend that much. Half a 737 is a lot of money."

Tiny said, "Actually, we'll do this a little different. We'll put this on a lease purchase with our bank so we can write off all of the cost as we go. The only increase in cost is the sales tax on the lease. That's a lot of money, but it will be worth it so we don't use up our cash reserves."

"I don't understand all of that, Tiny," so I asked him. "Who's going to lend us the money for the lease?"

"One of the investment portfolios Ben has. It's a great low risk investment, so it fits right in with the fund's strategy. If you guys begin to look shaky, the fund can always force you to buy the aircraft or find a new lessor."

Steve said to me, "Don't try to understand what they do with money, Chuck. Just let them do what they do and forget about it. Tiny's a master at manipulating dollars for us. When he gets his head together with Ben, I'm sure the treasury department sends out investigators just to follow them around. They do make them nervous, that's for sure."

Tiny said, "The IRS is auditing S&S Truck Bodies right now. They've spent two weeks looking for something that isn't there. The bad part is that I have had to have one of my better men, plus a representative from the accounting firm, with them the whole time. I invited them to put an office at the shop so they could audit the books when the accounting firm is doing it. That way they could both do it at the same time. Their problem is that we pay our taxes on time every quarter, but we also re-file for changes and refunds if any numbers change. They have actually found that we've overpaid again."

Steve looked at me and said, "That's why you have Ben. He's responsible for keeping you straight on taxes. He now has a whole group of attorneys and accountants to handle the offshore accounts as well as the 401K plans he's managing. Between S&S and Quality clothing, that's a lot of money to manage. He's doing a good job, because he's making the money grow even in this economy."

Sam, Maria, and her kids all came into the patio at that moment. The kids took off to be with the other children, Maria headed toward the kitchen and the other women, and Sam walked over to us. Tiny was behind the bar and put some ice in a tall glass and poured Sam some iced tea. He said, "Nice that you don't drink up our beer, Sam, it leaves more for us."

Sam asked me, "What time are we leaving in the morning? If we leave too early, I'll stay at the house instead of at Maria's."

"Just get your stuff together and I'll bring it with me when I pick you up in the morning. It's always good to spend your time with a special person."

Steve jumped in, "Or persons."

Sam said, "One's enough. I don't know how you and Chuck do it, Steve. I'm surprised he can even remember all their names; I have a hard time remembering them all."

Over the next half-hour, the patio filled with people and my ladies showed up. The five were chattering about Sam's and my shopping expedition. Sue kept saying that she needed me to take Steve to the warehouse so he could get some nice clothes. Just before the food was brought to the tables, Lisa came in and greeted everyone before giving me a special hug and kiss.

Lisa told me, "There's a front moving into the plains tonight and tomorrow. You're going to have some bad weather when you get to Omaha. If you were to leave tonight, you could beat that front. You might get into a little rain, but nothing like what the maps show is coming."

I thought about it and motioned to Sam. When he came over, I said, "What do you think, Sam, want to leave tonight and beat some bad weather or would you rather wait and get beat up trying to fly through the soup?"

Sam's eyes got big and he said, "Man, I hate it when airplanes act like they're on a trampoline. Ah," Sam looked toward Maria and the kids, "I'd really like to stay tonight, but maybe we should get an early start."