Chapter 13

Steve

I had been told first by Mercy, then by Sue, that all of the women wanted to talk to me. That usually is almost instant death, or maybe it was going to be an execution, mine. At least they had waited for me to finish eating breakfast before the hanging.

It was with great apprehension that I was following Sue, Kathy, and Mickey up the stairs, or more appropriately, the broad curved ladder that goes up to the salon. Mercy was at the helm, with Juanita sitting beside her

.

Juanita heard us coming, turned, and said, "There's fresh coffee. Get some and come sit here at the helm with Mercy and me."

All of us except Mickey poured mugs of coffee and went over to the big comfortable couch behind the captain's chair. I brought Mercy a fresh cup and Sue took Juanita's cup back to the bar for a refill.

When we were all settled on the couch, Mercy swiveled the captain's chair and smiled, "Steve, I suppose you're curious about what this is about."

I answered by telling the group, "It must be something important to call a family meeting."

Still smiling, Mercy said, "It is. We ladies have been talking about our best friend and his family. We think you are the only one who can really influence him to give any consideration to what we all want."

Mercy fidgeted in her chair before continuing, "We've all spent a lot of time talking with Chuck's women. Taiying and Sing are interested in the topic, but feel they shouldn't interfere with the head of the family. You see, they all want to figure a way for Chuck to get away from being in danger so much. They know his job requires some risks, but they feel he's been getting deeper and deeper into more dangerous situations. Lisa frowned when we brought it up with her, but she did say that Chuck was increasingly worried about her being along with him. She also said that there was no way she would let Chuck go out on any mission without her. She's even said that she has put in notice to another of her employers that she wants to consider separating from their service."

I asked, "What service is that?"

"Don't know," Mercy answered, "She just said she was employed by another service that Chuck was also employed by."

This made me nervous, "Ah, if Chuck and Lisa are employed by some service they don't name, we don't want to know anything about it. Anything we know could jeopardize all of us. I know Chuck was shown a lot of special consideration by the State Department on the trip to the Netherlands, and I know Lisa was involved somehow, but Chuck didn't say anything about why. He just rolled with whatever came along."

Sue said, "You have brought Chuck into our businesses, especially the airpark and air charter companies. Can't you figure out a way for him to devote a hundred percent of his time there?"

I didn't understand and asked, "What's so important about Chuck getting away from the Marshal Service?"

"Oh, Steve," Kathy sighed, "You two have become very special friends. We see your concern when he's been called away to do whatever he's done. We see and hear on the news of some dangerous criminal being captured and Chuck shows up right after. Lisa and Chuck were both injured not that long ago, but they still went right back out on another mission. None of us wants to lose Chuck. If we lose him, we lose his whole family. The five girls will go back to their house and that will be the end of them. Lisa will probably be lost at the same time we lose Chuck. Taiying and Sing will have to be looked after, and then there is Maria. She's pregnant with another of Chuck's babies. I lost a husband in a war. I don't want to lose our friend to some unknown war."

I looked at each of the women, trying to think of something intelligent to say. Before I could respond, Mercy said, "Steve, I'm in your head, I know how you feel. I've been into Chuck's and Lisa's minds and know they have both been apprehensive lately, almost scared, and that's not like Chuck. They are constantly on guard unless we're like we are now, out at sea. You know you see the difference in him. You know you see how he looks at everything so intensely. He blocks me from knowing more about what he does, and so does Lisa. Whatever they are involved with is not for public discussion. Frankly, Steve, I'm concerned that Chuck will drive the five girls away because of their fear of losing him. You know they've left before, but lately seem to have become used to most of his job's demands."

Juanita spoke up, "I think the new house has all of them pacified right now. They have each other and the other women to be with right now, so they at least appear to be more at ease. The five girls are important to Chuck, but he's very loyal to his job. We all saw that last year when he was almost killed. I care for Chuck and all of his family, and want them to be a part of us. Little Maria has become like a sister to me. She's so proud of being pregnant by Chuck that she even asked me if she can name her baby after him. She didn't know whether she should since she isn't really a relative or even a citizen yet."

That brought a murmur from the girls. Mickey said, "To bad there already are a Steve and a Greg. I'd love to name my baby that."

Mercy said, "Don't plan on a boy, I've already told you that you may have a girl. You can always name a boy after your dad. That would make your dad proud."

Sue said, "We're getting off the subject." She turned to me, "Steve, you need to come up with an idea that will keep Chuck out of harm's way. At least keep him with us where we as a family can protect him. You know him; you came from some of the same background as he did. Talk to him and see if he might consider doing more with you, or maybe doing more with his own investments."

I nodded, "I'll work on it. We have a few weeks to work on him and his women. Make sure you include them in things you do so their attitudes will become more intertwined with ours. I don't think you have to work on Lisa. She'll be right there with Chuck in whatever he does. I'm sure she is thinking about a peaceful life the same as we are."

There were a lot of moans and noises from the ladies as they stood up. Sue said, "I don't think we've resolved anything, but at least you, Steve, know how we feel about Chuck and his family. They have become a part of us."

As we all stood, I saw a lot of movement on the far side of the weather deck. When I peered around the riser of the outdoor helm, I could see Don, Chuck, Lisa, Wanda, Taiying, Sing, and all of the kids in Gis going through forms. The one-legged Chuck was leading them as they went from position to position, totally amazing me. I should probably join them, but damn, I'm getting to the point that I don't want to have anything to do with confrontation. I sure hope I can keep it that way.

Mercy and Kathy saw me looking and both left the salon and went back to watch the lesson. Sue came up to me and hugged me, "Come on, let's take the captain's chair and get this tub to Italy."

We hugged as we went over the instruments and monitors. Sue punched up the weather on the TV monitor to see it was going to be another beautiful day. It looked like we would have clear skies and warm days the rest of the way.

Sue began talking about Italy and our stay there. She said, "I think I told you that I contacted Eduardo the Italian guide for us again. When I told him how many we're going to have with us he said he would hire a big bus for and begin making plans. I'm supposed to call him so he can give us a proposed itinerary. We're going to be there for at least five days, maybe a week. That way, you can go see your new factory there, and we'll have plenty of time to travel around the country. Ed is going to have reservations at hotels where we'll need to stay overnight and will plan everything for us."

I said, "Good thinking on contacting the guy. He was very knowledgeable and was able to cram a lot into a little time. I'm glad that this time we're going to take our time and see more of Italy than just around Rome."

Sue hugged me, "I know you have to see the Italian factory and you need to go see how Hans is doing while we're there, but do make time for some of the sightseeing."

I told Sue, "I might be able to wait to see Hans until we're on the Riviera. Dewey says we should probably go to the exclusive yacht club just west of Nice when go to the French Riviera."

Sue said, "I'm way ahead of you, I had Eduardo make reservations for us and the Irish Bell at the yacht club that is west of Nice. Hopefully, there won't be a problem with our two big boats. The place was fine last time but the yacht club where we stayed wasn't as close to everything as I would have liked. Ed says the yacht club we wanted is close to the airport, as well as the casinos and the beaches we enjoy."

"You should begin getting everyone's wish list for Italy. We know what we want to do on the Riviera."

Sue giggled, "You probably want to go the nude beaches on the Riviera. You know all the girls have been talking about that, including Juanita. She sure has become more of a free spirit since the last time we were here. I want to see you and Chuck in the casinos. With the luck you two have, it's going to be a massacre."

I said, "We should try the casinos with and without Missy. It was Missy who really made the difference last time. At the end, I tried to give some of the winnings back but got lucky on my own. Chuck seems to have the same sense of anticipation that Missy does, but I sometimes think he is even more perceptive than she is. He just doesn't display it."

"You might be right," came from Mercy's voice. She had come up on us without our noticing. "Sometimes I think Chuck is reading me without me even knowing it. Sometimes he'll talk to me a little to let me know he's thinking of me, but I think most of the time he looks into me to make sure I'm not seeing something I shouldn't. He has the ability to sneak in, whereas mom and I always seem to alert people when we're listening and reading."

Sue said, "You need to get into his head and plant the seeds of him becoming more like Steve, of him being more of a stay at home dad."

About noon, Chuck came to the outdoor helm where I was at, saying, "Hey Guy, I'll take over now. I think I'm supposed to be on from now till four. We probably should get back on some kind of rotation."

As I pointed to the long range radar monitor, I told Chuck, "Look at this, there's a good sized boat doing about twenty-five knots heading straight for us. What do you want to bet that is the Irish Bell? They should catch us by around four thirty or five depending on the wind."

Chuck said, "Probably is. I'll wait until they are about twenty miles out before hailing them. They should close on us in about two hours after that." Chuck was punching up history on the GPS and said, "It looks like we've been averaging between fourteen and sixteen knots for the last twenty-four hours so they should catch us soon."

I stretched and went below for lunch. I wondered if Chuck had eaten before he came on duty. That's when I saw Brandy making up some sandwiches on a plate I thought was probably for Chuck.

While we were eating, Dewey softly said to me to keep everyone else from hearing, "I'll bet you had the same family discussion my ladies had with me. Are you supposed to influence Chuck to get more involved in our businesses to keep him home, or at least out of the dangerous stuff he does?"

I looked at Dewey with a smile, "It's a conspiracy, Dewey. We're being manipulated by a bunch of women."

"Yep," Dewey said, "I think all of the women got together and are plotting. I actually like Chuck being involved in any of our projects. The man does seem to bring luck to us when he joins us. I also really enjoy the rascal. The man is so magnetic while he's playing and singing, and did you see him teaching martial arts to the kids this morning? All of the kids think he's special."

Sheila leaned down between Dewey and me to softly say, "I think you two could convince him to kick back and relax by doing business deals with you two."

I laughed, "So much for trying to have a private chat."

Dewey chuckled too, "Yeah, we're never going to have a private conversation with all these female ears around here."

Juanita was next to Dewey and said, "We ladies know what's good for you, so we listen to you and what you're talking about. We want to make sure that you two stay happy and healthy."

After lunch, I went to the office area on the lower deck to use the phone to check in back home. When I got through to Tiny, he said, "You were busy in Germany. Hans has turned his place inside out. According to Jeff, Hans appears to already be running his original line back at a standard pace, if not faster. Jeff says Hans had been micro-managing everything, but now that production is going as he expects; he has backed off a lot. Jeff says all of the new lines, including the new casting plant are running. They were able to purchase a nearby casting plant that was immediately able to begin making casts for our motors. As soon as he has a complete sampling of the components, he is going to ship them back here for us to test. He's also going to ship a complete engine for us to put through the paces."

"So how is the main plant there at home? Is the economy still playing havoc with orders?"

Tiny said, "We're still backed up on rebuilds of super lifts, but almost current on the smaller lifts. A lot of smaller businesses just can't afford to get their lifts repaired. I've begun a new strategy that should help them and us."

There was a long pause so I asked, "So what is it? Are you going to keep me in suspense?"

Tiny chuckled, "We are now in the full maintenance leasing business. We are taking a customer's broken down lift in trade and giving credit for them toward a full maintenance lease on one of our rebuilt products. The customer gets a lift that looks and runs like new, with on site maintenance if needed, and we get something to rebuild and lease or sell to the next customer."

"Good idea, Tiny. That makes sense," I said, relieved to hear another idea to keep men working. "How are you marketing this?"

Tiny said, "Phil has his men blanketing our customer base to talk about our deal. He figures a lot of sales are being made to companies that just don't want to have a maintenance agreement with us. This has been a good move so far."

"Good job, Tiny. Anything else happening?"

"Your buddy, Chuck, is spending a bunch of money with us on his island. Ben just paid for the wind generators, plus six brand new FEMA modular homes for construction workers and their families. Mark nearly stole the trailers for fifteen hundred a piece. Terrell had them shipped down on barges, along with equipment to put them in place. Mark had to import a couple of bulldozers, a couple of graders, and has even created a small concrete plant. I'm told that it is for the runway they are building. Terrell seems to know what he's doing, but I think you need to ask Chuck if he has a dollar limit on what he's going to spend down there."

I said, "I'll talk to him. He seems to think the island will be a great place for vacations for all of us. He said that he plans to use it for weekend getaways too."

Tiny said, "Sue's girls have taken over the management of the T-shirt operations. The new knitting and dye plant is producing cloth, the sewing plants are putting together the T-shirts, and the screen printing plants are running at maximum capacity. We've been able to produce product for several other companies, along with getting ahead on what we sell. Shawna has come up with cartoons for all of the race day T-shirts for the rest of the season, so there isn't a big deadline to meet every week. We should have our inventory in the warehouse in plenty of time before any of the races."

"That's good news. How is the rest of the race car support group doing?"

Tiny had a smile in his voice, "The motor group is at full production, with a waiting list. The fiberglass shop is putting out product to keep up. Sheet metal is a little behind, but there have been a lot of accidents in all three divisions lately. The one place that we've sort of put ourselves out of business is in the frame shop. The new alloy frame isn't bending, or at least it doesn't stay bent. Now that most of the owners have switched to our alloy frames, they don't seem to need as many. Thank goodness they still need body parts and motors."

Tiny said, "We're getting some more business from the Hollywood entertainment industry for our motor homes. That group still has money and spends it generously. We've been chosen as a favorite vendor for that industry. I have two drivers that drive the motor homes out to buyers and fly back for another delivery. We're averaging about six a month right now. That's like almost two million a month on big motor homes."

"Wow, who would have thought we could keep the motor home business going."

"I'm just as surprised," Tiny said. "Truck bodies are doing pretty good as owners want fuel efficiency. They also like the idea of getting an almost new truck back when we rebuild it. Of course, that keeps that group working as well as keeping the hotel filled near capacity."

I sighed, "There's too much, isn't there, Tiny? We started out small and let it keep mushrooming, until we're now really involved in so much that it's tough to keep track."

"Not too bad, " Tiny said, "I have help to watch the numbers and it helps that you made me put so much cash back for a rainy day. When we've had a little bump, we still have plenty of cash to keep rolling just like normal." Tiny paused, "Oh yeah, we've received another grant to train people. The education center is packed. This stimulus deal the feds have come up with is a grant to train skilled workers. I don't know where they will get jobs when they are trained, but we're putting a lot of people through. I think we are training all of the air conditioning people in Florida right now. That is a very popular field."

"That's good news. As long as we can continue to keep the school training people who want to work, I'm all for trying to help them pay for school. We can't hire them all, but we've enjoyed the trained graduates in all of our operations so far."