Chapter 383

The Fibbies set up shop in the card salon, which pretty much ended any thoughts of fun I might have had during the wait for my turn in the barrel. Oh well at least I was confident in Jerrod's ability to keep a secret. Hell, he had made it all his life being gay without anyone knowing. We also had a good cover story set up.

Jerrod had agreed to tell a cover story that I fabricated which was close to the truth. More importantly he agreed to stick to it and then ask for counsel immediately if questioned. The story was that he worked for me as my bodyguard. He only knew that we had gone to South America to search for a missing American. I had told him nothing else and nothing else really came up. We went down to search for him, we found him and we sent him home. That was pretty much the end of the story. What happened at the Monastery had nothing to do with the pirate raid on the cruise ship, so he refused to answer any questions about it.

If asked, I had agree to pay him $5k for the job and $10k if we came under fire. He expected to get his $10k upon return to Aster where we both lived. The story was close enough to the truth, as far as he knew it, that it was indistinguishable from the truth in his mind. Well except for the casino heist part that was.

As for me I would most likely make it up as I went along. I had the kind of memory that could not be tripped up. Still I had to cover all bases and I had to refuse the polygraph as well as any other little tests they came up with. I didn't even want to be interviewed by the Fibbies at all, but I felt confident.

As I said earlier, it was my plan to give a statement and immediately invoke my right to counsel. The trick then was to just shut the fuck up, period. I also knew to eat or drink nothiing until they figured out what to do with me.

I also planned to go home and trash my fancy computer. At least the hard drive after I had Peter sweep it. Just to get any and all the important stuff off it before the fatal crash.

Sylvia could enter all the legit business data onto a new one by hand. It was also time to change all the email accounts, even though little information had passed through email. Even less of it could be used by the Fibbies to do me any harm.

I had managed to stay out of the Fed's clutches up to that point, but I always knew that it was just a matter of time. It would be nice to say that the farm would take care of it with just an inter agency memo, but such was not the case. Some of the things I had done since my retirement for the United States Air Force were for entities not covered by the farm. I had absolutely no intention of bringing the Fibbies down on Swamp Thing.

The only choice I had was to just muddy the waters and refuse to cooperate further. I had muddied the waters for sure, now it was just a matter of no cooperation, while it seemed as though I was cooperating. Of course I also had to stand on my constitutional rights just like every other two bit punk I had ever met.

Well hell at least Jennifer was about to have some real fun. She might even get to assemble her little think tank of lawyers. The ones she called the Hell's Angels. Probably because they all knew how to ride motorcycles from their college days. They flew in and out of the Tryon International Airport now and then, when one of her clients needed a specialist. Unfortunately I was usually the client. She told me to think of them as brain surgeons and transplant specialists. Guys she called in for a specific case, then sent back to their wives, when she had used them up.

We were probably going to need them, if this turned into piracy on the high seas, I thought with a grin. Jennifer would be in seventh heaven for sure. Even if she only had to find someone in Miami to drive down and tell the Fibbies, "Let my person of interest go."

Of course none of that might happen. They might listen to me and send me on my way without any further questions. Then too I might marry in the spring. That seemed pretty unlikely as well. I mean most guys love their computers to view porn, or play online poker, but I don't think many want to sleep with it. Okay I was feeling sorry for myself when the Fibby chick came for me. Actually she came for everyone in my section of cabins. That included Jerrod, so we walked up the stairs to the main deck together. All or us wore expressions of dread. Even those people who still didn't have a clue, looked as though they were headed to a funeral.

We sat in the folding chairs of the salon while we waited for our turn in the barrel. Jerrod and I chatted about Dancer and Leon back in Aster.

"So Maxine, have you called Leon or Dancer?" he asked.

"No, why do you ask?" I replied.

"Just wondering how her dance studio is going," he commented.

"I had forgotten all about that. I should have called. Surely we are getting reception now," I said as I flipped my newly purchased burn phone open. Before the Fibby chaperon could stop me, I dialed Leon's number.

"Hello there Dancer," I said when she answered.

"It has to be you Maxine no one else calls me that. What in the world are you up to?"

"Jerrod and I are trapped on that cruise ship in Miami. We are in line now for the FBI exit interview, I think. Two questions for you," I said.

"Go right ahead," Dancer said.

"How is the dance studio thing working out for you?" I asked.

"Too early to tell yet. So what is the other one?" she asked me.

"Would you call Jennifer and tell her that I might need one of her Angels to come get me out of the clutches of the FBI. Maybe not, but just let her know, so she can give it some thought. Would you do that for me."

"Of course, should I call Sylvia as well?" she asked.

"I wouldn't worry her. I only called you, because I knew that you wouldn't worry at all." I said with a light tone in my voice.