Chapter 85

For a change we had a pleasant evening with no interruptions. I got to hear Dina and Dana play along with Sandra and Jimmy. George even took his turn and I couldn't believe he was playing so well after such a short time. Then all three played Sandra's Love Song together and did an award winning performance on it. Of course Sandra played two more written by her teacher and they were new ones. I was totally bewildered, wondering how many songs she had in that pretty little head that I hadn't heard yet. When they finished, George and Jimmy went up to practice some more, and the girls came over and sat on the couch with Tran and me.

There wasn't much conversation among us, but it seemed like we were all enjoying the closeness. The girls decided to go up and watch a movie before bed, and that left Tran and me alone for the first time in awhile. I leaned over and kissed her and the return almost took my breath away.

"Harry, how long do you think you will have to stay in Florida?"

I turned and looked at her, putting a time table together in my head before I answered her.

"Probably no more than a week, if Floyd gets all the information I asked for. I promise you I will be in and out as fast as I can, hon. I wouldn't even go except that I owe him for all he went through with Terri and the girls. If I hadn't stepped in, he would have lost custody and Terri wasn't in any kind of shape to take care of them. Like all courts, unless you have good evidence, the man doesn't stand a chance. I think this will be a quick in and out. Then we can maybe get back to some normalcy in our lives. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to spending some time with my family for a change. I haven't had much chance to do that since this all started."

"I know Harry, but we are still very happy together. These little lapses on your part are not your fault. The girls and I have talked about it a lot, and I think they understand what's going on. George hasn't helped much because he makes you out to be some kind of hero or something. The girls just eat his stories and jokes up. I had to pull him aside because some of the jokes he was telling them were what I would call a little dirty. After he thought about it, I almost laughed out loud because he blushed a deep red. Since then, he has kept it on a "G" level as far as I have heard. I hope for Doris and his sakes' they can have a good relationship. He seems like such a good man, and she needs someone like that."

I didn't say anything, just got up and poured us a glass of wine. I took it back into the room, and we sat and watched the sun set, sipping our wine together. For the first time in several weeks, I felt at peace with my surroundings and the company I had beside me. Later, I took the glasses out to the kitchen and then we went upstairs. We went to make sure that the girls were settled in and make sure Jimmy was ok sleeping in the guest room with George.

When we went into Sandra's room, she was sound asleep and the girls were the same. We kissed them all goodnight, and went to check on George and Jimmy. They were fine also, and from the little snatch of conversation I caught, they were talking about Doris. I told them we were going to bed, and I would take Jimmy home in the morning. I barely got an ok from him before they were talking again and I closed the door.

I went into our room and found that Tran was in the shower, so I undressed and joined her. We played until we ran out of hot water and she laughed because I had to rinse the soap off with the freezing water. When I got dried, I ran for the bed to warm up. She never did let me get warm, just a little overheated.

I woke up the next morning cuddled up against her back with a mouthful of her hair. I got it out of my mouth and kissed her on the neck.

"How come you always wake so early and so happy, Harry?"

I raised the covers and looked, but got swatted when I did and she chuckled at me.

"It's not every day an old man like me can wake up with a view like that. Besides, if you didn't treat me so well every night I would probably wake up grouchy with a hangover like I used too. This is like having a Victoria's Secret model in my bed every morning and she belongs to me. What man wouldn't be happy with something like that for the rest of his life?"

I got out of bed to the sound of her giggles and headed for the shower. I was hoping there was some hot water so I wouldn't freeze to start the day. I got dressed in jeans and a long sleeve shirt with the fifty riding my hip like it was part of me. I grabbed the light jacket with the extra mags and headed for the kitchen. I got the coffee going and settled back with a cup on the front porch in my favorite chair. I lit my first cigarette of the day, hacked a couple of times and then sat back and enjoyed the quiet.

I was on my third cup when George finally came out looking like he was hung over. He explained that he and Jimmy had talked most of the night. I told him I was going to walk down to the plant to get my Jeep and then I would come back and take Jimmy home. He just nodded when I said that. I got both phones from their chargers and my ID and headed for the plant. I told the radio operator what I was doing via the ear bud and got an ok from him, saying he would alert the guards and the gate I was going to use.

I almost got to the gate when my cell went off. It was Zeke from the camp and his news made me smile until he got to the end.

"Harry, you can take anything from here that is stolen. We decided we would cooperate with you all the way. Also, there is another cave that we don't have access to, which Hubba used to store his special stuff in. None of us have ever been inside it, and you and your people will have to figure out how to get in. We also want anything there that isn't stolen, if it's ok."

"Zeke, I gave you my word that you could keep whatever wasn't stolen, but let's wait on that cave until we see what's in there. I am glad you told me about it, because it would have caused a mess if we had found out about it later. We still have a lot of documents to go through, so it will probably be listed there somewhere. Ok, now the big question, when can we start moving the stuff out, and how many big trucks do you think we will need? What equipment should we bring with us?"

"We have two forklifts, but I would guess at least ten or more big flatbeds to empty our cave. Harry, about all the troublemakers that Hubba brought in, they are all dead so it's mostly just the original people here and the widows of those men. I can tell you most of them plan on staying here. Harry, we are now mostly older people with women and kids so there will be no trouble of any kind. The vote was unanimous to give it all to you. You can start tomorrow and we will be glad to load the trucks for you. I do have one question though."

"What's that Zeke?"

"How you gonna know what's stolen and what we get to keep?"

"I will bring a radio truck so we can check it by computer online and get an almost immediate answer for most of the stuff. If there are trucks and equipment that you get to keep, I will have titles for them so you can legally register them with the state. For anything else we will have to go through channels, but I will expedite that for you too."

"Thank you Harry, and I will hold you to your word. I guess we will see you tomorrow at dawn then. Again, thanks Harry for trying to help us by being so cooperative about all this stuff."

He hung up and I smiled to myself until it hit me how much work we had ahead of us. We had to put all the lists and serial numbers together so we could get it all done in one day if possible. This other cave worried me because even they didn't know what was in it. This was going to be a big worry until we got inside to see what was there. Knowing Hubba and his dad, it was hard to tell what we would find.

When I got to the chemical plant gate, a Jeep was waiting to take me to the Intel area. I walked into the room and found Preacher asleep in a chair with his head on the table. I decided I wouldn't disturb him and went to the radio room. I had the operator call Stumpy in and to have him meet me in the briefing room. I headed in that direction and almost ran over Masters as he was coming around the corner.

"Damn Harry, when did you get here? I want to thank you for putting in a good word to get me promoted so I could keep my team. The guys are really happy that we are staying together. I would probably still be on the waiting list for promotion if not for your help."

"You deserved to run the team that you have been with all these years. I have to meet Stumpy, so I will catch you later."

"Ok Harry, and thanks again."

I went on toward the briefing room and found Stumpy was waiting outside the door as I walked up.

"What's going on Harry? I was told there was a briefing but no one's in there."

"I need a few things done right away and since Preacher is snoozing, I thought I would call on you to get the ball rolling."

I told him about the call from Zeke and what I needed and that it had to be in motion this morning. He gave me a big smile and said he was glad it was going to be settled peacefully. I went on to tell him about the other cave and what Zeke had told me about it. He looked pensive for a minute then asked if it was possible that we could fly up there today to get a look at it to see what it would entail to get in. I told him unless he had a good demo man then we were wasting our time.

"Hell Harry, Preacher will just have to do without his beauty sleep since he is the best demo man on the base right now. I will get it all organized so we can leave as soon as you can get permission from Zeke and his people for us to land up there."

"I have to take Jimmy home first, and then I will come back. Have one of the Whispers ready to go when I get here. I will call Zeke and get permission to land. Have the radio operator get busy and get those semis moving in our direction right away. I also want all the paperwork on all stolen arms with serial numbers ready to go tomorrow. I will call the Director while I am out and he can get the ball rolling on that. I know this is a rush, but I want to be ready by tomorrow. Let's get moving on this right away. Use all the personnel you need and I also want a drone over the camp all night to watch it. If they try to move anything, I will want to know right away."