Chapter 15

Chuck

When I woke up between Nancy and Judy, I was surprised they were still sleeping next to me. The noise that woke me was building in volume. Two of the babies were awake and fussing because they wanted to be fed. As I was preparing to get up, both of the mothers got out of bed, changed the babies, looked around, and found me sitting on the edge of the bed.

Nancy said, "We have to use the potty. Can you hold your daughters so we can go?"

I just smiled and held the two tiny people in my arms. The two were more content now that they had dry diapers on, but both were smacking their lips in sucking motions. The two mothers came out of the bathroom smiling at me, picked up their babies, and sat in the rockers preparing to nurse.

More noise came from the bassinettes. This time, Frieda got up and began changing her two girls. Frieda was saying, "Whew, you sure are stinky. How long have you been awake, little girl?" She turned to me and asked, "Can you change Sarah? I don't think she has a dirty diaper. It should be just wet. Do you know how to do it?"

I said, "I've been watching and Nancy did show me." I was able to change Sarah's diaper, but I really couldn't tell whether the baby was Sarah for sure, as the two still looked only like little babies to me.

When I was done, Frieda asked, "Can you hold Farah too while I go pee?"

Frieda was only gone a minute, but it was neat to hold the two babies. I tried my best to see the difference in the two, but I think only mothers are able to tell the difference between twins when they are infants. I watched as the three moms nursed. Nitika didn't want both breasts, so Nancy handed her to me and picked up one of Frieda's babies. She put the tiny baby to her unused breast and began nursing her. She looked at my surprise and softly said, "I have more milk than Frieda, and Nitika doesn't eat much, so I try to help Frieda feed hers. Works out, doesn't it?"

Judy had finished feeding Julia and had her sort of sitting up in her lap, holding her head as she talked to the baby. The infant was actually looked like she was smiling as Judy put the baby on her shoulder and patted her back.

I put my peg on, went to the bathroom, then into the kitchen to make coffee. It was just six when the three mothers and Tina walked into the kitchen. The mothers had fruit juice and only a small cup of coffee, while Tina and I had big mugs full. Tina said, "I don't have to go in until nine today, but that means I'll be there until nine tonight again. I'm working more and more with gynecology patients, but I get to work in obstetrics tonight. We're scheduled to have a full house for caesarian births. It should be interesting and fun."

Lena came rushing into the kitchen, "I have to go. Parking out at the campus has become almost impossible. If I get there before 7:30, no sweat, after that and you may have to walk a mile or two to your class, and hopefully still be able to find a seat."

Tina was used to Lena and her last minute rushes, so she handed her a buttered bagel and a cup of coffee in a travel mug. We all wished her a good day as she rushed out of the house.

Big Tina came in and said, "I'm sure glad I'm going to Hillsborough Community College (HCC) for the first year or so. Parking is tough to find there too, but the lots surround the buildings, so none are that far away. They are full early on Mondays, but there are always open spaces the rest of the week."

Brandi made the comment, "That's why we were all dormitory babes. No parking hassles, and an almost easy walking distance to anywhere on campus. UF (University of Florida) isn't that big physically, although it is big in attendance."

I was curious, "There are five of you that obviously were near each other in the dorms. Don't most dorm rooms have two people? So where is the sixth girl?"

Tiani looked at me with an almost mean look, "You mean Jeanette. Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes made fun of us for three years for being into girls and each other. At least, she didn't make a big deal out of it with others. She would just rag on the five of us all the time. Well, Miss Goodie got what was coming to her. She got pregnant her senior year, and what is worse is that she has no idea who the father was, as she soberly participated in a gang bang. The whole thing was videoed and put on the internet. Thirty plus minutes of her getting banged over and over again by a dozen plus guys, begging for more, using her mouth to get a guy back up until she was covered in cum. Jeanette admitted to everyone that she was sober when the video was taken, and said she would do it again anytime. She's now out in Los Angeles doing porn movies. She had an abortion in her third month, left school and Frieda without a roommate. That was another reason we moved into an apartment together for our senior year."

Frieda said, "I tried to tell her that she should finish school, but she said, 'The hell with it.' Saying she could make more money and have more fun fucking on screen than with a degree. I guess she will, but not for long. That only lasts as long as your looks do and she wasn't that spectacular looking when she went into videos."

Lisa was shaking her head, "That's too bad. She should have joined you girls getting each other off. I know it was the safest way for me to get through school. The guys all had big egos, while my close girlfriends enjoyed pleasing each other, just like all of us here."

Tiani came to perch on my lap, "But now we have our own human love sponge to be our dildo, and most importantly, be the father of our children. He's so easy to love, and we all want to get him more and more women."

Judy said, "Riiiight, sure, the extra women wouldn't also be for Tiani, would they? Would they be only heterosexual and only go for Chuck?"

Tiani stuck her tongue out at Judy and turned to kiss me. "You big meanie, you won't let us get more women for you, and us too, of course. I thought all guys like to have a huge variety of playmates."

I hugged the diminutive girl, "I have more than enough playmates right now, and most importantly is that I need to try to be a dad to a bunch of kids as they are born. When the time comes, play with an outsider that is clean, but don't bring her or any contamination home with you. There are so many women here that it's difficult to remember all of their names. What am I going to do with so many babies? I'll have to write their names on their foreheads with a magic marker just to play with them."

Nancy was laughing, "At least you won't have to worry about knowing who Nitika is. She will be your only, oh my, not the only." Nancy stopped short and looked at Tiani, "You better have a boy so they are easy to tell apart."

Tiani said, "If my baby is as light or lighter skinned as Nitika is and I am, Gina's, Taiying's, and Sing's kids will all be about the same shade of brown. Nancy, Nitika is extremely light too, so you better get your magic marker out."

The conversation was funny enough that Judy, Brandi, and Lisa were laughing.

I said, "Let's go get breakfast. I'm hungry."

As soon as Giovanni and Mesa came down, we all went to the patio to join the throng that enjoys breakfast together. I spoke with my two people, Marty and Moleson, for a few minutes. Both guys said, "You have too many projects going at once. How about we hire a secretary to keep us on track? I'm already lost and haven't even started yet."

I told them, "Find the right person and have her put through personnel at Quality Wear. They do a good job in clearing people. I'm thinking we may have to have some form of federal clearance as we get more charter business. Get the lady from S&S to get you a clearance started, but watch her, she'll embarrass you unbelievably when you go through her private domain."

Marty said, "Hey, I know how to pee in a cup and have done it in front of so many women it's not terribly funny. I often use a catheter now, as I sometimes can't control when I go. Most of the time, I feel it and know when I need to find the bathroom."

I went to find Terrell. "Hey, Terrell, I want to thank you for putting an elevator in the office between the two new hangars. With Marty working out of there, that will help him in getting up and down. It has already helped him with the little problem we had out there."

Terrell said, "There was plenty of space for the elevator and an extra bathroom upstairs, so I thought that office might become the new charter office and figured it would need to be twice the size as the other one. The size dictates handicap accessible for the second floor, thus the elevator. I suppose I will probably be remodeling where they are now to get them the new size they will need. You know the new building codes require all new restrooms to be eight by ten feet, and there has to be at least one restroom for each sex. There are two in that downstairs office, but only one upstairs. Can you imagine, two hundred and forty square feet just for bathrooms?"

Tiny was next to me and said to me, "That's why we thought it would be the perfect place for you and your new people, Chuck. With the airpark as your central profit center, you will all be there. Most of your other ventures are out of the country, so you will begin working on those various projects from the airpark anyway."

I sort of agreed with him, but said, "We are going to have several management and supervisory people down in Costa Rica. Diego's office isn't big enough to handle all of that, and I think the personnel should be out on the islands, especially during the day."

Marty was nodding in agreement. He said, "That makes sense. You can ferry those who come from the mainland back and forth with the local labor you hire. Those that come to you from other areas may need some form of housing."

Moleson said, "Don't you think providing a good paying job and transportation to the site is enough? I think those that temporarily relocate for the construction project should find their own housing. If it was here, you would send them to someone here in the trailer park or out to one of the apartment complexes near here."

Marty was nodding his head, "You're right. We will have to provide transportation to those that live on the mainland, and the only on island labor housing is going to be those FEMA trailers. I say we offer them the same type of housing as supervisors or they can commute."

Tiny asked me, "You know that you are possibly going to have a transportation issue between islands, don't you?"

I asked, "How do you mean? During construction I was planning for the construction people working on the project on the middle island to stay there, and those working on the big island to stay on that island. There will still be those stateside workers on our home island that will need transportation to the other sites, but I figured we could get a few bigger boats with outboards to be buses to the job sites."

Tiny recommended, "Why don't we go down to Magellan and ask them to design a few boats for the purpose of hauling people from the mainland and for transportation between islands. I'll bet we will almost have to set up a schedule just like public bus service to handle the traffic."

After thinking about the problem for a couple of minutes, I said, "You're right. I can't do it this week, but maybe Steve and I can go down to Miami together and talk to them. This is something we need to address, as those same boats will be important even after the resorts are built for commuting to the mainland for guests, as well as for transporting all the resort worker staff. I sure wasn't figuring on building housing for five hundred workers."

I was smiling and pointed to Marty and Moleson, "You two think this through and come up with some suggestions, so that when Steve and I go down to Magellan, we'll have an idea of what we might truly need."

Lisa came over to me and asked, "Are we going to leave for the west coast this morning? And if so, are we going to take Wanda? I've already spoken to her and she said she can be ready in thirty minutes."

I commented with a smile, "She's eager huh? We should get out there and get this over with. From the way the Marshal was talking, we may have a few small things to help with at each of the locations. Let's eat and get to it."

Turning to Marty and Moleson, I told them, "Find the first of your office help, and get her, him, or it, through the screening process. I want to be like Steve and not have a high turnover, so be selective and agree on the person you want. You know, you might want to check with the employment office where the Fab Five work. They have people who are dedicated to finding work for returning and retiring vets. I'll bet you could find someone from that group. Remember, I do want to give preferential consideration to those vets, or especially those retirees with physical disabilities."

Marty was all smiles, "I really like the way you're constantly working toward your goal to help wounded warriors adjust to life away from the military. I'll do my best to further your endeavors for that cause. I'm lucky, I knew what I wanted to do even before I was hurt, and being hurt didn't keep me from the path I wanted to follow. It took me a little bit to adjust to being confined to a wheelchair, but now I think I'm just one of the guys."

I smiled at the man. Marty is a real man who was being positive about his condition, and wanted to help others find the same success as he had.

"Okay, Guys, I need to leave, so enjoy your new space and keep in touch with Ruth, Tiny, and Henry about what you need and what you need to learn."

Each of the ladies needed a hug and a kiss before Wanda, Lisa, and I took off. I, of course, had to make a tour of the new babies for one last touch and kiss of the sweet little girls.

The three of us used a cart to get back to the house to pack before going out to the airpark. I made the call out there and was surprised to hear DeDe's voice. "Didn't I just see you on the patio? Do you have a clone so you can be in two places at once?"

DeDe said, "Naw, I grabbed a sandwich and a cup of coffee and came out here with Star. We have a busy day today. Your Citation isn't done yet, but we can give you another G-5. I wish you were proficient with a 737 so I could have you ferry a bunch of people on your way out to the west coast. I hate the idea of dead heading back here, but we did figure that into the price."

I told her, "A G-5 will be fine; big, but fine. We should probably use one of the smaller jets."

DeDe laughed, "And where would you find this smaller jet? We're booked, Boss, I kept the G-5 out of service just for you, knowing you would need it again this week. All of the little jets are busy, as are the rest of the G-5s, and all, and I mean all, of the 737s. We're lucky to have crews for all of our aircraft."

There was a pause before DeDe said, "Star and I were talking about the charter service and wanted to know who the boss is, you or Steve?"

I answered honestly, "Both of us. Go into the restroom and look into the mirror, that person you see is your most important boss. Keep doing for her what you do for us, and we will all be happy."

DeDe said, "And that's why we love you two guys so much. You push us off the high dive and watch us swim."

An hour later, we were at altitude on our way west. Wanda came up to the pull down jump seat between the two cockpit seats to talk. She asked, "Chuck, what all are you going to have me do out there?"

I told her, "Remember when we did some tours for station management changes and stuff like that? I want you to work with the various station administrators to make sure they are following the proper procedures. Check their inventory to make sure it is up to date and generally get a feel for the offices. What you see, hear, and feel will be important to our overall evaluation to Sam."

Lisa asked, "Where are we going after San Francisco?"

I told her, "We'll work our way south after getting a helicopter ride to the Oakland station and back, followed by Reno, Las Vegas, L.A., and probably San Diego, in that order. I don't want to spend a lot of time at any station if we don't have to, but we will assist them on a special case if they need it. Wanda, if we have any special cases, I'll need you to review the files and see if you can find anything they may have missed. Otherwise, we're going to go in and out of these stations in a happy, business like manner."

Wanda asked, "Are you going to pass Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and what about the big Texas stations? The new office in Dallas is complete and it would be nice to stop in there."

I laughed, "Wanda, Wanda, this is only our first tour out west. We'll have to do this for another couple of weeks in order to check all of the major stations."

Wanda was smiling and nodding her head. "Let me check e-mails to see if anyone needs an answer."

We had notified the San Francisco station of our anticipated arrival time and were met by the Station Chief and assistant, the ACE. They briefed us all the way to the station and set Wanda up with the administrator to help her go through procedures.

The Station Chief had Lisa and I off to the side, "So you two are the ones who helped out up in Portland and Seattle. I have a tough warrant out there and could use some direction. We spent a ton of man-hours trying to get the man, but he has been as elusive as your Seattle man. He's the non-violent, but smart, type. He runs various computer scams, and only stays with one project for a week to ten days before moving to his next one. We're pretty sure he works alone, and hasn't ever displayed a weapon to a victim, but the man can talk a nun out of her panties faster than a cat can catch a mouse."

I asked him, "Let's look at the file and see if we can find anything. There might be a pattern we see, or maybe the way he does business, that will give us an idea what he's up to now while he's doing it, rather than waiting until people begin complaining they were conned."

The Chief smiled, "That's what I figured you would want to do. Let me get the files and some coffee for you two."

Lisa and I studied the stack of thick files that the office had compiled of the active fugitive. The one thing we both agreed on was that the man was smart, extremely smart. After a couple of hours and a Subway sandwich for a late lunch, Lisa asked, "Do you see how the guy focuses on one specific occupation at a time. Like the dentists he worked on first. Next he worked on doctors, and followed that up with a scheme that netted him a bunch from the imaging or x-ray company owners. He went back to doctors, but only neurologists this time, where the first time he did doctors that were all urologists. He went off to some oral surgeons, then to supply houses for the x-ray community. What do you want to bet that he's back to doctors right now, but I wonder what kind?"

I made the comment, "There really isn't a pattern as to how he chooses a specialty. Considering what we've recently gone through, let's get some deputies to check with gynecologists and obstetricians. I'd bet the guy would do obstetricians so he could get close to a group of potential parents he could swindle at the same time."

The Station Chief listened to our reasoning and detailed several deputies to begin a phone and in person survey of obstetricians within the physical boundaries of the groups he had worked before. Lisa and I figured he was using his knowledge of which doctors were associated with a specific hospital or clinic, and going out from there."

Wanda was looking at the files with us after her survey of the station, and said, "It looks like the guy steals a lot of personal information and usually uses a victim's credit card or debit card. He opened charge accounts with a few, and used them for a few hundred dollars of merchandise. I don't see any interviews of the stores where the merchandise was purchased. That's where I would work and see if they have any videos of the cashiers' areas."

Lisa said, "Good thinking, Wanda, let's get some deputies on it."

When he came back in, I asked the Station Chief, "How come this case is in your hands, why not the local police?"

He said, "If you looked in the first file, you saw the suspect's picture and data. He failed to show up for a tax fraud trial. He skipped a small bail before he, or at least we think it's him, began bilking groups of people."

I asked, "Have you compared any of the security videos of the man to be sure he hasn't changed his appearance?"

"Some," the Station Chief said, "The guy is careful to hide his face when in front of a cashier. He knows there is a video camera and we only have recorded distant images of his likeness lately."

I told the Chief, "Have a deputy go to this big Sears where he opened a charge. Check the entrances around the same time as the purchase to pick the guy out. Maybe we can get a better look at the man."

When the Chief came back, he said, "You have just about everyone in the station out working on this project. I sure hope it does some good."

At that moment, one of the men assigned to making phone calls came in, "There is an obstetrician who was contacted this morning about the potential of a lawsuit concerning a recent stillborn. The person who contacted the doctor told him he could make sure the problem went away for a hundred thousand. Sort of sounds like the ruse the guy has made before."