Chapter 67

I woke up the next morning with a sinus headache, the first one I had in years. I went in and dug through my shaving kit 'till I found the medicine I always kept on hand. I took two and got in the shower and then I cut myself shaving. I sure hoped the men who went to the gulch last night were doing better than I was this morning. I went down to the kitchen and got the coffee going and started the extra pot. Hmm, I thought Tran said she would be making the coffee this morning but she was still sleeping. I looked up at the clock and realized it was only a little past five in the morning. No wonder they were all still asleep. I was sitting there thinking about the subjects I was going to go over in the briefing this morning when my personal cell rang. I went into the front room and picked it up off the charger and answered it. A voice on the other end sounding like they were trying to disguise their speech patterns started talking. I hit the external recorder when he did.

"Ve vant you to queet looking for our veapons. If you do not ve vill have to start shootzing your family and friends. Ve vill take zem away within ze veek. Zen you not have anyting to look for."

"Don't hang up, just listen! I am not the one who is doing the looking, but Homeland Security is and they won't give up till they find the weapons. I had no interest in it all until your men tried to kill me and threatened my family. To me this is a personal affront, so you need to know I am actively searching for the rest of you. I will shoot every one of you until I find the one who gave the orders to hit me and my family. If you want the number for the Director of Homeland Security, I will give it to you so you can call him. Or you can have your boss meet me one on one and apologize for threatening my family then I am out of it. Your choice to make, but I suggest you do what I ask or find a hole."

"I vill tell vhat you say. I do vant that number, zen I can talk to your boss instead of you."

I gave him the number and the whole time I was smiling to myself. As soon as he had the number he hung up again, reminding me he would pass on what I had asked. I turned the recorder off and went back to the kitchen still smiling. Maybe I would be able to get a chance to cut the head off the snake after all. The number I had given him was a cutout and would immediately go to the Director, but there would be four or five agencies tracing the call. I already had a hunch where the call had come from, but I would reserve judgment till after I met with Preacher this morning. I would head to the next county where the camp was and have a talk with the sheriff there and get his outlook on the camp and its inhabitants. Then I would go to the shop and pay for the unit Doris was holding for me. I was still planning on taking George with me because he would be a good back up if I needed it. I also knew that it was highly improbable that the boss himself would meet with me but I would still be able to cut some more of them down, even if it was just the soldiers of their bunch. After the other day and what I had seen, I had made up my mind that I would put them down like they had rabies, because they had done the unpardonable to me. They had threatened harm to the ones I loved most, and nobody did that and got away with it as long as I could draw a breath.

Butter came in looking for coffee and sat down, saying the men were supposed to be back by 09:00 and they better not be late or they would be running all morning, hangovers or not. I told Butter about the call and he almost choked on his coffee when I told him about me trying to set a one on one with their boss. He listened to the recording and when we sat down he lit into me like I was one of his men.

"Harry, are you nuts? They will shoot you down like a dog the moment they lay eyes on you. That has to be the one stupidest thing I have ever heard."

I let him stew while I poured another coffee before I said anything.

"Butter, reel it in 'cause I am not an amateur nor am I one of your men. These bastards threatened my family so I'll tell you the same as I told the Director. I will take them out as I find them without any regret. I have an executive order and can handle it as I wish. They started this and I will finish it, even if I have to take the whole bunch out. I don't need your protection. You're assigned to my family, not me. I am going to the briefing with Preacher this morning, and then I am going to the next county and have a little talk with the sheriff there. He is the one we will have to deal with if those weapons are in his county, which I think they are. At least some of them are, but I think I have figured out where the rest are and it is going to cause some very red faces when it's found out. Sean will be here some time today and he can brief you a little better on all the bodies we found when we first started this. By the way, all the plutonium slugs have been accounted for so it is just the weapons we have to recover."

"Dammit Harry, I have come to like you and your family so don't you go and do anything stupid. George is going with you today whether you want him or not. He is one of the best pistol shots I have ever known, and he has a carry permit like the rest of us do. I know what the chief can do, and if you taught her then I can just imagine how good you are with any kind of weapon. According to Preacher, you haven't lost your touch."

"I had planned on taking George, but maybe I will go alone on this trip because if I find what I think I will, I don't want the extra set of eyes. Butter, I want them to come after me this time because once the Teams start to observe them, then they will stay in hiding and I won't get another chance to draw them out. They are watching the cabin, on that you can bet. They have just learned to do it from a distance, and I think I know where they are set up. When I leave the briefing, I am going to take their little nest out. I just need to know the family is safe so I can concentrate on what I am doing without any distractions."

"Harry, your family will be safe as long as I am in command here. I have already called Preacher and he has several men at the other cabin. When Sean arrives, I will meet him and do the introductions. Do you know what kind of alarm system they have over there?"

"I have no idea but Tran will fill you in, since she set it all up. You can bet it is state of the art because she uses top of the line equipment for whatever she is in charge of. Don't ever underestimate her, Butter. She can be as hard as concrete if she has to be."

"When your men get here have your demo man check over my unit to make sure there are no surprises for me. I haven't used it for a couple of days and I don't know if they had time to plant anything on or in it."

I got up before he could answer and made another pot of coffee since his team was about due. I started breakfast because I heard the girls in the bathroom. Tran and George came in and grabbed a coffee and sat down. Butter was talking to her about the alarm system at the other house while I made breakfast for all of us. I decided I would make French toast and bacon for the girls since they hadn't had it for a while. I ended up frying six pounds of bacon and made three loaves of bread into French toast and put it in the oven to keep warm. I watched as the girls and the rest ate 'till they were full. Tran got up and made another pot of coffee and I went to the front room to get away from all the chatter. It was 08:59 when the Bradley stopped in front of the cabin and the men started piling out. To my surprise they all looked reasonably sober except for one and the others were helping hold him up. I opened the door and was greeted with a cheery hello from most of them. They headed for the kitchen when one said it smelled like breakfast was ready. I just smiled to myself as I heard Butter chewing them out for not making sure they all were able to walk. I just shut them out because it brought back a lot of memories from my past.

I was sitting in the chair thinking about my upcoming marriage when two little wiggle worms climbed into my lap. I got a kiss and a thank you for the great breakfast from both of them.

"Uncle Harry, when are we leaving for this Vegas where you and Auntie Tran are getting married?"

"Tomorrow morning sweethearts, why?"

"We were just wondering because we are bored to death. We both are tired of watching movies and not being able to play with Sandra. She spends all her time with those Indians."

"Honey, you all will be together for years and she will only get to visit with them while they are here. I know you're bored and I thank both of you for making the best of the situation. I will talk to Sandra and make it clear she needs to split her time a little better. Why don't you ask her to give you both some guitar lessons today? I think she will if you ask her. Better yet, before I leave, I will ask her if you two want me to."

"That would be great, Uncle Harry. We do have a movie we want to watch that Sandra didn't like because she said it was too much of a kid's movie. We will go up and watch it now and she can come up when it's over and give us our lessons."

They gave me another kiss and hug and went up the steps. The news about Sandra's attitude bothered me so I called for her to come into the front room. Tran was following her and I told her I wanted to have a private conversation with Sandra for a few minutes. Tran just smiled and went back to the kitchen and Sandra came over and climbed into my lap.

"What's wrong Grandpa?"

"Sandra, I think you need to break up your time a little between the Team and the girls. They are feeling totally left out. Sandra, I love you but I need to remind you that you are not an adult, and those two little ones depend on you and consider you their big sister. You went through a lot finding me and it has made you grow up faster than you should have. They have always been protected by their father and everyone around them. They lost both parents almost in the same week and they are still afraid of their surroundings and the living situation they are in. You have been there for them and they have come to depend on you almost as much as I have. I know it doesn't seem fair to you but you are so smart and you have a unique look on things I have come to depend on. They feel the same way and they are scared of what will happen to them after Tran and I get married. Honey, I know you're proud to be adopted into the Team but the girls are your team too and you are their leader. Without Butter and the rest, the members of our family are our own team, and we always help each other as we grow and become one with each other. Take some time for them too, honey. I know you are hesitant about having a ready-made family and are still adjusting yourself, and that's my fault. I am sorry I threw you into all of this so fast but those two and Tran love you and want to be your family as much as I want us all to be. Please think about what I have told you and remember, I love you and always will."

She sat turned looking at me and I saw tears starting to come out of the corners of her eyes and she just hugged me, crying on my shoulder. She wasn't sobbing but just crying, and I didn't know why because I had tried to be up front with what I had told her, but I had a deep suspicion she was crying because something I had said touched a nerve. She leaned back and wiped her face and sniffed before she spoke.

"Grandpa, they are my family now and I think of them as my sisters. I feel bad that I have been ignoring them when they are more important to me than anything else. I have come to love them both and I promise from now on it will never happen again. I will go up and talk to them and maybe give them a guitar or Spanish lesson. Thank you for telling me in such a sweet way, Grandpa. I know you love them both too and you worry a lot about us. I promise I will always be there to help all I can so you don't have to worry so much about all of us. Tran told me you signed the papers and adopted all three of us and believe it or not, I am very happy for you and Tran. She loves you almost as much as I do and I think the girls will always think of you as their Uncle Harry. One other thing I think you should know before you get in trouble. Dina is a year older than Dana and we both are the same age and our birthdays are just two days apart. Guess what else?"

"Ok I give up, what else?"

"They are less than two months away and Dana will be nine a month after that. I think you better think of some good gifts for all of us because we all want to celebrate at the same time."

With that I got a sloppy kiss and she gave me that cheesy grin and went up the steps. Oh God, now I had something else to worry about. Hey! What did she mean by good gifts, I was thinking when Tran came back in followed by one of the team.