Chapter 30

Steve

I had just discussed the medical laboratory plant with Sue and we agreed that this was an important project. We both wanted to continue to assist Chuck in helping vets any way we could.

It was past time to run into work, so I went to see how the company was functioning. A walkthrough of all the shops is always the best way to get a feel for what's going on. I saw Hank in the rear of the motor shop, painting one of Shawna's chopper creations. He was doing it from a chair with his left arm in a sling. I noticed a wheelchair nearby, so his ankle must still be giving him trouble.

A new face was in the motorcycle area of the motor shop. Jim and Charlie had a bike in pieces, going over what was going to be needed. Jim waved at me. "This is Hank's sled. Mine is the mound of parts on that other bench. Bob is working on my frame right now, so that will be done. We're going to rake and stretch Hank's out, too."

All of the teams in the motor shop were elevated to new heights of enthusiasm since it was nearing Speed Week in Daytona. They had built near fifty percent of all of the engines running in the Nationwide and Craftsman races. They were making big moves into Sprint Cup racing with some teams. They all were betting on whose engine came in highest.

The welding and sheet metal shops were still busy, but not as much as they used to be. There were not as many people able to afford to race. This economy was a killer to a lot of companies and jobs. All anyone could do is to continue to try to create business and businesses that would hire. We were lucky to be able to switch people from one craft to another. The most difficult were the people on the cart production line. Although still selling, sales were off by over a third. We at least had enough people retire, or leave for other reasons, that we did not have to lay anyone off.

I found Jeff in his office this morning. This was unusual, as he traveled between here, Costa Rica, Canada, the UK, and Germany. When I came into the office, he was on the phone and waved me toward his coffee pot. His secretary smiled at me, but didn't get up. She really couldn't, as she was a truck driver vet paraplegic who was disabled by an IED in Iraq. Mildred was a pretty girl with a good attitude toward life. She lived in Chuck's village and that's how she heard about the job available at S&S. We had been trying to move around people lately, but when she showed up in our display room, they took her back to see Jeff. He never seemed to have time for some of his reporting or to finish up various orders. Jeff thought Mildred would make a great addition to his office. She now had a parking place right in front of the automatic door Jeff installed. She could move in and out of the office, as well as into the shops as necessary, and was good with Jeff's office work.

When Jeff got off the phone, he asked, "What can I do for you, Steve? Do you have another major project brewing, or how about putting a fiberglass shop in Japan or China? I'd bet they would really like to have the formulas for some of our stuff."

"I was curious about the Costa Rican operation," I said. "Now that you are producing all of the skins for the combat vehicles you build down there, how is the quality? Is it as good as it is here?"

"It is just as good, Steve. You'll have to stop in down there. I sent one of my older guys from here to run the shop down there. He is a bilingual Puerto Rican, so he doesn't have any language problems. You should stop in, though, as his shop is about the cleanest I've ever seen. It's even cleaner than Germany, and they don't do the heavy fiberglass composite yet. That composite stuff is as tough as metal and the powder gets everywhere. We save all of the trash from the product and use it to make the next batch. Nothing is wasted."

Jeff rose and waved for me to follow him. We went out past some of the forming molds, into a small double garage sized shop where two men were working on what looked like one of our military vehicles. Jeff began describing what they were doing, "Steve, this is going to be the first fully composite vehicle. No steel except in the engine. If Gerry and I could perfect materials in the ceramic engine, we could have a totally metal free vehicle. We're still waiting for those computer gurus to figure out how to build our ceramic engine.

"There would still be some copper in wiring, unless we could incorporate all fiber optic links. Some of the circuit board materials would still be silver and copper, but the components would be all composite. The vehicle would be damn near indestructible. We even have composite nuts and bolts. So far, so good."

I had to ask, "Will this make the vehicle cost prohibitive?"

"No way, from all of the estimates so far, about the same as we have now, and that is cheap for the stuff we turn out." Jeff looked at me. "What I don't understand is why some of the big guys aren't busting down our door to buy our technology. I know they are working on comparable products, but from everything I've heard, a twenty-two magnum round will penetrate what they have."

I had an idea. "Perhaps we should be marketing to them. They have bigger and better manufacturing facilities than we could set up. I think the lack of money from the Defense Department is why they are not pursuing what we have. They are still building out their old contracts and would just as soon produce what they know how to."

We had walked back into the office during the last part of our conversation. Mildred spun around in her chair and gave us some news, "A friend of mine e-mailed me that one of your test vehicles was blown up by an IED in Afghanistan. They had to replace the tires and it was back on the road in minutes. The men inside were banged up, but not dead or blown-up like me. Someone, somewhere, has to be hearing how your trucks are performing. I hope so, as our military people need them."

She had a point. I suppose we were going to have to have another major display for the DoD big shots. You would think the last time we did that would have been enough. We have had a traveling road show for local law enforcement that has two types of assault vehicles. Both could handle bomb disposal and both had retractable arms to use for grasping things when needed. Maybe we could send the demonstration people to DC, but we could not show how the vehicles could take on live fire. When you see a direct hit by a mortar and the truck keeps going, that is impressive. I would have to have Phil and his people think about how to get the DOD to look at our stuff some more.

By the time I was back to the main shop, Sue was calling about lunch and a workout. It was cloudy today, so there wouldn't be any sunbathing.

At home, I heard Brandy talking about Chuck and Lisa being in Costa Rica. She was saying he had taken some men down there to do some work for Mark. It was strange to use the cost of the Citation for three men to go down there, but that was Chuck. If he wanted to get something moving, he didn't care what it took. That's when I heard that Chuck's new boarder, Ace, had gone to the airpark and was with Chuck on the trip to Costa Rica. I was getting curious about what Chuck was up to.

The rest of the day was spent out at the airpark. Sue and I each gave a lesson, and I visited with Wes as he worked on his new small passenger jet. It looked finished, but he said he had some tweaking to do before the first test flight. Jimmy and another tech had their heads buried in a turbine's workings, and that gave me peace of mind the aircraft would do well during its tests.

Wes told me, "Chuck ordered four of our LSAs as trainers for down in Costa Rica. There also are two 172s being rebuilt and refitted for instrumentation for down there. What is Chuck going to do, open a charter office and school down there? I even heard that Terrell was going to build a couple of hangars at the Limon airport. Next thing you know, he will be training helicopter jockeys down there."

"Well, Wes, I guess you're going to have to get your helicopter into production so Chuck has something to train with."

We both had a laugh over that as the helicopter had a very long way to go.

On the way back home, I called Mark down in Costa Rica to ask him about what was going on. Mark offered, "Chuck brought some sandblasters down to help me rebuild a couple of my barges. I want the barges as perfect as possible, and not rust buckets like most barges are. I want to use these to haul finished materials back and forth. I also think I'm going to commission a fuel barge to haul some refined Jet A back home. Chuck has these people adding on to their refinery by the month. He keeps telling them they need to be able to handle all of the oil he's pumping from here. So far, the Costa Rican government is going along with him. They are getting some decent tax money per liter that is refined, so they're happy. You know, Steve, one of these days we're going to hear where they rename this place 'Chuck City.'"

That was worth a laugh. "I don't think Chuck would ever allow that. He really tries to keep a low profile. Do you know when he's coming back?"

Mark informed me, "Lisa and Chuck said they would probably stay the night, but you know him. His cell phone rings and he vanishes."

"Well, keep me posted, Mark. I do need to go over some stuff with Chuck."

The evening was full of dialogue by Tiny and Henry about the progress they were making with the pharmaceutical plant. They brought a man to supper who was about fifty, greying hair, medium to light build like a runner, with a tiny woman who had a smile wider than her face. You had to smile back at her the way she beamed a path for them. Tiny introduced the couple, "Jim, Fran, this is Steve and Sue Sharp, two of the investors in the plant. Steve is the head of S&S Enterprises, and Sue is the head of Quality Wear clothing."

Tiny turned to me and said, "This is Jim and Fran Fisher. Jim was the plant manager for the former pharmaceutical company for almost ten years. If you have a few minutes, Jim has some of his production records to show us."

Sue took the tiny woman with a big smile into the house to meet a lot of people and to see the babies.

The four of us had just sat at a table when Ben walked in, visited Beth in the kitchen, and came out to where we all sat. After some more introductions, Jim pulled out the first group of papers. "These show our plant's P&L for the last three years. Please note that the bottom line for each year would be desirable in almost any industry. It apparently isn't for pharmaceuticals; I was told the profits from our products were not anywhere near where their newer drugs are. Our R&D lab was closed when a huge lab and research center was built in Chicago a year ago. If we decide to reopen the R&D lab, I'd bet most of the people who used to work down here will pack up and move back. Can you imagine the culture and weather shocks of moving from here to Chicago?"

Tiny and Henry were poring over the documents, while I didn't know what to look for. I asked Jim, "What have you been doing since the plant closed?"

"I didn't want to move up to Chicago to be a third or fourth level manager, so I stayed here. I have been working as a pharmacist in a Walmart to pay the bills. We didn't have a lot of debts and don't live high, so we've been comfortable." Jim lamented, "I've missed the challenge of out-producing the other facilities, our general attitude, the camaraderie, and how great the plant always looked. I'll bet the place still looks pretty good, although abandoned."

Ben raised his head from some of the papers. "I looked through the buildings today and they all look very nice. Steve, you will have a good time there as everything is nice and white. You can put your signs everywhere."

Jim looked at me questioningly, so I told him of how I like my facilities, "I like to have people know we strive for perfection at every level. I put signs, or rather paint lettering, on walls to encourage people to create perfect work. I don't believe in trying to make them hurry, but to put perfection first. That's when the production picks up. I like to have the words, 'Is it perfect?' over all of the outside doors. This is to emphasize that any of our products leaving the building are perfect."

Jim sat back in his chair and agreed, "If I had something to toast you with, I would. Those are my sentiments exactly."

I had to laugh. "These guys are usually boozers. Come to the bar with me and let's fix ourselves something. If you would rather have a beer, the fridge over there has a tap, and we do have soft drinks and iced tea."

We sat at the bar and built a couple of Dewar's on the rocks. While we were sitting there, Jim looked around at the patio and asked, "Is this what it seems to be? It looks like a big family room where everyone congregates. All these people can't be your family, as I see some varying species."

I laughed. "They are all family, just not all my immediate family. This started small and has grown over the years to what you now see. We usually all get together for a drink and conversation before supper before eating together. The women are inside putting the finishing touches on the meal. See those kids? They are putting tablecloths out and setting the tables. This means supper is coming soon."

Jim's tiny lady, Fran, came out to the bar where we were. She sipped some of Jim's drink and kept giving her thousand watt smile to everyone. She said to Jim, but it seemed as if to anyone who would listen, "I love this place. I've met dozens of women and seen another dozen or so babies. There are kids playing music inside, kids playing with babies, a couple of them are playing pool, and just look around; groups of people are all laughing and enjoying each other. I love this. I want this."

Jim was almost laughing, "When Fran makes up her mind that she wants something, look out. She'll do damn near anything to get what she wants. She isn't greedy and doesn't want a lot of physical things, but she loves people. This is a perfect place for her."

Jim turned Fran to face him. "Don't you think we should be invited before we move in? I think most of these people live in trailers or manufactured homes. Would you give up the beautiful house you had built just for you?"

Fran slammed her palm down on the bar, "Damned right, I would. The bunch of highbrow bitches that live in our neighborhood don't have the time of day for me since the plant closed. They think you are a lowly pharmacist and not a multi-millionaire, and that makes me have the plague and I am to be avoided. These people don't give a d ... darn who you are or what you do. These are real people."

Jim teased, "Now tell us how you really feel."

After he finished laughing at her exuberance, Jim told us, "Fran has wanted to go to work to have more money, but we didn't need it. The house is mostly paid for and it hasn't needed much upkeep. Fran designed it and watched every board, nail, and screw go into the house. She's an architect and knows how to supervise construction. People don't think this tiny little fireball with the big smile is capable of much, but Fran is really something."

It was my turn to laugh. "You two would fit in very well out here. You're always welcome here for supper, or if you're in the neighborhood, a lot of us have an early breakfast together, as well as lunch around noon."

Fran waved her arms. "I'm coming over here to check this place out in the morning. You don't have to go in until nine, so you can come too, Jim. I want to see how this place operates. This is just what I need to recharge my batteries."

Mercy was standing next to me and announced, "It's time to wash up for supper. Tonight we're having fish or chicken. You can have both if you want, as both are in smaller cuts. Come on, get ready and find a seat."

That's when Fran shocked Jim. "A couple of these guys have more than one woman or wife. See, you could have a couple more just like me and all of your women could try to keep you satisfied." The smiling lady looked around and said, "This guy's a stud. He wears me out every night."

Jim was laughing again, but he was blushing as he asked us, "See why I have gray hair at such an early age?"

Mercy and I were laughing as we all took turns washing our hands at the bar sink. Everyone was in a good mood tonight. People hardly ever sat in the same place twice, and tonight Sue and I were next to Fran and Jim, and across from Gerry and Donny, with the Sandy Flowers couple next to them. The smile on Fran's face lit up our table and kept the conversation light.

Donny was talking about a train he had at home and how he would love to bring it to Florida so he could work on it. Abe was sitting next to Jim, and told Donny, "You know, we have a spur behind the building where the fiberglass and big lift shop are."

Donny's head came up. "Are you inviting me to bring my nineteen thirty-nine steam engine here? If I could have a place to park it, I would have my brothers and dad help me get it here. The wheels are all in good shape and the bearings are all good now. The drive rods are off to make it easier to move right now, so there is nothing to do there."

The big man looked up at me. "It's your land, your shops, and your spur, what say you, Boss of bosses?"

Gerry was having a fit as she thought Donny was being insubordinate to me, but I understood his humor and said, "You should just about be able to pull that thing here with one of those manual platforms."

Donny grinned. "I have one of those and it is in like new condition. That was the first thing I did when I found all the equipment in the round house. It gave me an idea of the size of everything I was dealing with. I can make that platform really move up and down our spur at home. I used it to help clear all of the trees trying to grow between the tracks."

Abe was happy to join in with, "You know, we could probably get some track added on and build our own elevated area to work on that engine and coal tender. If you brought a caboose, it would have to be a fairly long enclosed building. You'll have to get the dimensions so we could gauge how big a building it would have to be."

"Ha, do you think I don't know the exact lengths of the equipment hooked together? We would have to have it a little longer than the three pieces, as we'll need to disconnect them to work on the connecting equipment; you know, the couplers."

While everyone was intent on what Donny was saying, I added, "Well, Donny, I guess it's time you brought your favorite toy here for all of us to see."

Donny's smile was bigger than Fran's, if that was possible. While he sat there with his fork full of food halfway to his mouth, Gerry elbowed the big man to get his attention. "Eat, big'un, you'll need your strength to drag that thing all the way down here."

"You know I'll have to call right away to see what it will take to have the engine, tender, and caboose brought over here. My dad can use a block and tackle rig to get the platform up and strapped down on the tender. Now I'm really excited."

After supper, Ben had Tiny, Henry, Jim, and me talk about what had to be done to re-open the plant. Jim said he would put a list of the needed equipment together, and he would also begin licensing the various medications the other companies didn't want to make any longer. Jim was estimating; "It will take a month or so to get equipment, another month to install it, and probably three months to get people hired and trained. There will have to be multiple FDA inspections to the point that we might as well put one on our payroll. We'll need a licensing attorney who can double as our warnings attorney – you know, the guy who writes all of that tiny print that tells you your ass will fall off if you take the pill. I think I can get the man, as he went into private practice when the company closed. I know he liked his job, so that should be easy.

"We'll need a whole bunch of lab technicians to work the chemical mixing, and a couple of people per line to monitor the pill compression equipment. How many we need is going to depend on how many lines we'll have. Actually, it is going to depend on how many licenses we can get. Orders will be easy."

Phil was nearby and offered, "Just tell me what you have to sell, and I'll have a crack team of pill salesmen beating on doors tomorrow. That's one thing we can do around here, sell stuff."

Jim looked around at all of us. "I'll begin as soon as Walmart releases me. I can do some during the evenings, but I'm too busy during the day to do any of what this will require. You can bet I'll get it done though. What do you think, Fran? Want to help me get my plant running again?"

I liked the way Jim considered it his plant.

There wasn't a lot of drinking tonight and I watched Charlie and Hap being antsy and nervous. There was obviously more happening than I knew about. About nine, Jim and Fran left, Fran telling all of the ladies that they would be here early for breakfast. Poor Jim, that woman knows what she wants and pushes to get it. He was lucky to have a wife and friend like that to keep life light and fun for him. They made a nice couple.

Around ten, Merlin, Missy, and Mercy showed up. Mercy and Missy almost immediately sat with Etta, and all three had worried looks on their faces. I went over to see what was going on, and three faces turned to me. Mercy explained, "Chuck is involved in something, and it isn't nice. We don't know everything, but we were comparing what we felt. Both Chuck and Lisa have blocked us out again, but we can still feel them and get glimpses of where they are."

Etta added, "I was watching the triplets who were with Marion and Virginia, and they were all a little uneasy tonight. They knew something was happening with Chuck, but not enough to upset them."

Remembering what Mark had said, I commented that according to Mark, Chuck and Lisa are staying in Costa Rica tonight.

That was obviously incorrect as all three raised their heads and stared at me again. This time it was Missy who explained, "I felt like Chuck and Lisa were flying, and they had that Ace guy with them."

Mercy nodded her head in agreement, as did Etta. The three women had their eyes closed until Mercy suggested, "Call the airpark to see if they know anything."

As soon as the night attendant answered and I asked if she had heard from Chuck, she confirmed, "He landed about five minutes ago, had me have someone else checkout his Citation, jumped in his car, and roared out of here. He said he would call to check on the aircraft later."

I had put my cell on speakerphone so the three ladies heard what was going on. I sarcastically joked, "We need a helicopter over him, so we could have some video to go along with your mental tracking."

Etta looked at me funny and said, "We're not physical GPS units, we're mentalists, clairvoyants; we feel others, and we somehow know how they are and if they are in danger. Those two, or I guess it's those three now, are in some kind of danger."

"You three need to stop dwelling on this and probably go to bed. Etta, did your household leave a cart for you? I think everyone else has already gone home."

Etta looked at me as if I was nuts. "How can I leave these two when my nephew is doing more of what he does and is in danger? When the three of us are together, we are stronger than when we're apart."

Mercy nodded in agreement. "She's right, Steve. The three of us together do see and hear better. But Steve is also right, we need to let those three be and not get into their heads. We might distract them, and that could be bad, even fatal. Let's go to bed and worry there, instead of out here on the porch."

I made an offer, "Let me give you a ride home, Etta. I'm sure the twins are waiting for their goodnight hug. Let me take you home."

Etta didn't have a cart to get home, so it was good that I offered to take her. When she was inside Chuck's big house and I saw lights begin going off, I rode back home to shut the patio down and lock up.

In bed, Mercy snuggled up to me and held me tight, while she tried not to think about Chuck and Lisa.

A little after midnight, Michael was shaking me. "Dad, Dad, I need to talk to you. We're all scared. Trixie, Dixie, and Tommy are all up, and they are almost crying. Come and talk to us, Dad."

Mercy heard her oldest, and both of us went into Trixie's and Dixie's bedroom. Mike and Tommy shared a room, but it seemed the common meeting room was the girls'. Mercy and I were swarmed by the kids. Marion and Virginia were in the girls room looking scared. All six of them wanted to be held, but that was impossible. I gave the boys, Marion, and Virginia a hug, pulling them onto my croweded lap, while Mercy pulled the two girl triplets to her.

Mercy was the patient mother. "You kids were not supposed to think about what you were feeling."

Dixie spoke up, "But we like Chuck and Lisa like we do Charlie and Shawna. They are important to us. All of us feel them."

Trixie was looking kind of funny. "Whatever it was is over. They are alright and seem to not be in danger anymore." She looked at her brothers, and Mike said, "I can see clearly from a, a, ah, Chuck's eyes." Virginia commented, "there are flashing lights everywhere, and lots of cars. I think I see people lying on the ground, but he's looking at Lisa and I can feel him smile."

The two boys stood up and Mike said, "I'm sleepy, I think we'll go back to bed."

Marion and Virginia, gave me a hug and left for their room.

When I looked at Mercy, Trixie and Dixie were falling asleep in their mother's arms. Mercy tucked them in, we shut off the light, and left for our room while checking on Tom and Mike on the way. We had to pass through the living room where we ran into Missy. She announced, "I could see with Lisa and everything is fine. I couldn't help but wake up when something intense was happening. I'm sure that is what woke the kids. I'm going to bed."

Mercy and I watched Missy go into her room. We stood there a second before hugging. In a soft voice, Mercy told me, "I wish I could have told you we would have kids that acted like this. I really never thought about it until I could tell that the triplets were doing things. I just wrote that off to being triplets, then Mike came along and burst that bubble. Let's go to bed. I have a feeling, tomorrow is going to be busy."

I woke up just as the clock flipped over to five fifty. Mercy was snuggled to me as Sue hugged her back, with Mickey behind her, then Kathy, and Juanita on the other outside.

I had my morning triple S out of the way in a couple of minutes, and walked out into the kitchen dressed ready to go. The auto coffee pot inside was done and when I looked out to the patio, I could see the auto timer on the fancy coffee system was on. Every time I see that behemoth coffee system, I almost laugh as this all started with a small eight cup Mr. Coffee.

I had been doing this for so long that it was automatic. I poured two cups and took them outside to sit at a table near the inside door. I reached up and flipped on the lights, the signal to all that it was time to gather. I had not had my first sip when Glenda came in, gave me a hug, and sat with me, grasping her cup for some of the morning elixir.

As she sipped her coffee, Glenda told me, "Honest, Steve, I'm not a snoop, but I noticed you up last night. I'm not sleeping all that well and saw movement between the big bedrooms and the kids' rooms. A little later, I saw you and Mercy in the hallway by the kitchen. Was everything all right?"

"The kids were upset about something, is all. Mercy and I settled them down and they went right back to sleep."

"It was Mercy's kids, right? Something was happening somewhere, and those four knew it. They are more intuitive than their mother or grandmother, or at least they let it show more."

Not knowing how to respond, I evaded with, "They're all right. They do sometimes tend to get upset about things they think might be happening."

Glenda was smiling. "Don't kid a kidder, Buddy; those kids know a hell of lot more than you're letting on. You forget that I'm like a grandma to them, and they tell me things. They predict things, you know. They will watch Jeopardy with me, and they know the questions before they are asked. How do you explain that? I know my kids, Steve, and those four are like Missy and Mercy. I worry about your friends Chuck and Lisa too. They have that same look on their faces as Mercy and Missy do. They are — What did Merlin called them? — Mentalists. I'll have to look that up."

Son of a gun. Chuck pulled up in his car. Lisa, Ace, and Chuck got out and came into the patio. They all said good morning and went for the coffee. Their appearance told it all. Ace looked a little bedraggled, and Lisa wasn't shipshape either. The person who gave it away was Chuck. His sport coat was torn, his pants' knees looked ragged, and his face was dirty; not the prim neat Chuck I know.

As they poured coffee for themselves and sat with Glenda and I, the question had to be asked, "I probably shouldn't ask, but have you three been out all night? It doesn't look like you have been partying either."