Chapter 57

Sissy and I had a plan, but it might be a little tricky. I considered what needed to be done, but also weighed what dangers there were. I figured that we had a fifty-fifty chance of everything working out and no one would be hurt and everyone would eventually be safe.

Supper was great, although it was without Bert and Pete for a change, as Mom had called everyone and suggested they not come tonight. The two FBI agents ate like little pigs, but what could you expect from a couple of men used to eating at restaurants all the time.

We all had a pleasant evening with Savannah and the kids planning to get a fresh start somewhere. Paul and Jan Swan thought our family was wonderful because we were trying to get their daughter taken care of, as well as buying their farm so they could relocate to Florida.

As it came close to bedtime, I suggested to Savannah and the kids; "Keep the clothes you will wear tomorrow out, pack everything else, and bring your bags out here so you guys can just grab your stuff and get in the car when they come for you in the morning."

The FBI guys said they would take turns napping on the couch and would awaken us if there was a problem. Sissy had spoken to Mom, giving her our plan and what she needed to do. Bill didn't think they should stay, but Sissy insisted to make sure that we were all fine.

The boys' two duffel bags were sitting next to their mom's big one that was stuffed with clothes. Savannah was an attractive lady, and didn't wear makeup. She really didn't need it and fit in with the other women in our house.

Sissy and I went to our bedrooms, leaving the FBI men in the outer rooms. I brought the dogs into the bedroom with me so they wouldn't give our plan away.

I kissed Millie and Rosita and told them to go to sleep, and that I was going to sit up for a while. When I was sure the two women were asleep, I flipped the little short-range close-circuit child-video unit on that we use to keep watch over the twins when they're napping. The difference was that I had relocated the camera to the kitchen, facing the area where the duffel bags were sitting.

It was funny to watch the two men walk to our door and listen every few minutes. They would walk over to the duffel bags and look at them as if what they were looking at was something wonderful that they should investigate.

One man finally sat facing our bedroom door, with a view down the hall to where Sissy and Mom were. The other man began going through the two bags. He wasn't cautious, but just pulled item after item out to look at it. They were not as thorough as I had been about running their fingers over the seams of each item. The ball glove only received a cursory look and a feel of the glove by sliding it on when they found it.

When they didn't find anything obvious in the boys' bags, they began searching Savannah's. They found a small zippered case the size of a wallet and opened it. The guy pulled out a wad of bills. He didn't try to put them back, but stood and stuffed them into his pocket. That told me these two were nothing but small-timers taking orders.

The men had a conversation that I couldn't hear as they were too far away, but they were soon stuffing everything back into the bags. They put their shoes on and slipped out of the house when they were done. The dogs knew something was happening and nervously walked back and forth by the door. I walked out of the bedroom and watched as their car quietly rolled down the driveway.

My next move was to hold my hand up to quiet Sissy and Mom while I called the FBI number that had been given to me by the office in Cincinnati. The man said, "I'm at the entrance to your mountain road waiting. We have units placed along the way to follow them and to see where they're going. There will be three units at your place to take the family to a safe place in the morning. I will come up in the morning and you can tell me what you know if you want. Be safe and be sure. Always ask for ID and don't be afraid to call the eight hundred number to verify any Agent."

That made me feel better. I let the dogs out and shooed Mom and Sissy back to their rooms. I thought I might just sit up in the living room to be sure that everything stayed good after I let the dogs back in. I didn't last long and fell asleep with the dogs lying beside me.

Mom kissed my forehead as Sissy walked into the living room in only a pair of panties. Her motherly breasts were swaying back and forth as she groped for coffee. Mom scolded her, "Go get some clothes on and quit showing your tits off to your brother."

"It isn't like he hasn't seen them before. Besides, he might need to play with them to get him started this morning."

I threw a small couch cushion at her as she ducked while sipping her coffee.

"Will you children quit? Get dressed, Sissy. Mike, go take a shower so that you're ready for whatever's going to happen today."

Mom, our mother, had spoken. I had that deja vu feeling Sissy and I were young teens again being directed by the matriarch.

Millie and Rosita were up and dressed by the time I was showered, shaved, and ready. Savannah immediately noticed that the duffel bags were gone when she came into the big room. She stamped her foot and said, "Now even the few clothes I had are gone. I had some money stashed in there too. Damn, where are those bags?"

Mom had called the real FBI Agent and he came in when she opened the door. He told Savannah that the two men who had been here the night before were imposters, and the people who might have come for them today would not have kept them safe. I asked the agent to show me his ID.

He handed me his ID case and pointed to the eight hundred number. I called the number on my office phone that had a speakerphone and was walked through how to identify the Agent. The man asked the Agent for an ID number, then told me to turn the speakerphone off. I was told what the password was, then the caller asked the Agent for his password. That worked, so I figured it was a good identification.

I took the Agent outside and showed him the note I had found in the ball glove and explained what I had done. He told me they had followed the men who had been here to a Mount Sterling motel, but he had heard they were already on their way back to Chicago. The motel rooms had been checked and they took the duffel bags with them. He told me, "You should be bad guy free for a while, but we need to get these folks out of here and into protective custody. The man your attacker spoke of as Julio is Julio Garcia, the main smuggler for the Lionel Cartel. He reports directly to the head man and is responsible for getting the drugs into the US, as well as getting money out. 'Sonny the gun' must have ripped the cartel off and hidden the money somewhere. This note will probably lead us to what he ripped off. Meanwhile, we'll get these folks out of the limelight."

After a pause, the agent told me, "The shooter across the pasture and the men in the garden were mercenaries from another cartel trying to intercept the money. Apparently they had the information of Sonny's rip off and were trying to get the money for their own. Since that group lost men up here and since it will be known the Lionel cartel men took all of the family's possessions, they won't be back. You and your family are not a part of any of this."

The Agent continued, "We'll make a big deal out of it, and make sure the TV stations get to show the mother and boys getting clothes at Walmart or somewhere, and we'll make a big deal out of how much money we found. We'll make sure your name isn't brought in, although I'm sure they know who you are now and would prefer to stay out of your hair. According to your Sheriff, you and your family were responsible for several of the perpetrators meeting their demise."

My only comment was, "We tried."

I sure hoped this was done, but I was apprehensive knowing how persistent those guys were. We really were not a threat to the drug smuggling cartel way up here in Kentucky, but they had lost a lot of men up here. If they wanted revenge, were they willing to lose that many more to get it?"

Mom didn't want to let Savannah or her boys go. She kept telling me, "You should keep these people and help them. The boys need the normal life you can give them, Mike."

Savannah finally convinced Mom that they would be better off away from us for the time being.

Shirley had been watching the local news channels non-stop all morning to make sure the incidents from the day before had not been reported on. That the Sheriff's department or Coroner didn't let the cat out of the bag was exactly what was needed. The Sheriff even called to tell me that the statements and reports from the problems I had been involved in were in his safe and he might just decide to burn them after a while. He told me, "I know you don't want the publicity, Mike, and I don't either. The less said about this mess, the better. I couldn't ask for better people to be Sheriff for. My men appreciate your support for them, and they will keep your secret."

Frank and Bill had gone to work, so the two girls were left with one SUV to take them and the four kids home. The kids wanted to stay and play outside with Mato and Minya. Sissy and Shirley agreed and said they would be back for supper with their husbands.

Sissy pulled small children's books from the bookshelves in the house and told each of the kids, "Read this and report on it. That means you tell me what it's about and a little about the main characters. You can give it to me orally, but you will have had to read it first. No book cover reports."

I really loved my sister and the way she asserted herself over everything, including the kids' studies. It was too bad that she couldn't help us with Minya and Mato.

I didn't feel as if I could run around the countryside with our situation still unstable. We didn't know what those people were going to do, but we did know that it would be difficult to get rid of all of their people if they decided to come again.

Sissy came back in the afternoon, but it was to get Rosita and Millie and take them to Mount Sterling. The women had Anita come up to babysit with Mom, as they thought the kids might be too much for one adult. Anita loved John and the twins, so she was happy to help. Sissy told me that she had something to teach my two women.

Mom smiled and said, "I'll bet those two come back with guns and experience at the firing range. I know you don't want to have to have your women fight your battles, but they are your farmer wives now, and should help defend everyone. You and I taught them to shoot rifles and shotguns, but not pistols. Sissy knows how to teach and make them safe gun users."

The FBI agent from Cincinnati called the next day to tell me, "Several First National Banks in Chicago have been held up and nothing taken, but they have tried to access bank account numbers. We've heard of some branches that were held up, and there has been a cyber attack on their records this past week. They are searching using the numbers that you put in the glove."

The man said, "We have located the account and the real safe deposit box. The account has about twenty million in it, and the safe deposit box is full of banded stacks of hundreds. There was also another map that goes with the map you found, and it leads us to a very high profile, or rather an important underworld person up there. We might get a warrant and see if the safe is where it's supposed to be, and if that's the right combination."

I told the FBI agent, "Send me some of that green stuff, and be sure to give some to the woman and her kids. They'll need it. You guys have everything you need. Give some where it will do the most good."

The guy laughed, "Well, you do get a 10% reward. That's at least $2 million, and it's up to you what's done with it. They will be okay, and may even be able to come back to visit with you. I just wanted to let you know that we're still working this case and not letting it go."

"Thanks, I really need to keep up with the status so that I'll know if there are other new people in the area who may be looking to visit me. I can relocate my family if I need to do it, but this is my mountain and I would prefer to stay."

Trying to assure me, the Agent said, "You're all right, Mike. I think that you should be clear since the family left. That the fake agents took everything the three of them had should tell the bad guys that they were not conspirators with Sonny."

The butcher called to ask me about the two steers that I was supposed to have brought. I told him I would bring them this morning and went out to do that. That no one knew the trouble we had just gone through was good and bad. It was good, since we didn't need to let people know what we had done, and the extent of the killing. It was bad because we looked like we had become reclusive from the rest of the world. Becoming a recluse had been my original intention a long time ago.

I took the steers to the butcher and took a five-gallon can of milk by the market. One of the farmers sitting around the stove asked me, "I heard you bought Swan out. You lookin' to own the whole County?"

I told him, "Paul came to me, I didn't go to him. I doubt that I can borrow much more to buy anything else. If any of you want to sell out to me, it had better be one hell of a deal."

Another old boy said, "How much better can it get than if you let me live my time out on my own place, while I watch you or your people work my farm? I might be next on your list, Mike."

I answered quickly, "Find a young guy who wants a homestead and sell to him. I'd bet that a young guy would build you or him a place, and keep right on farming, if the numbers were right. All anyone has to do is ask the same as Bert and Pete did and go from there. Paul was unlucky to have his place almost burn down, but it worked out for him. He's down in Naples, Florida now." I could see the older men around the stove thinking about what I said.

The guys and Bernie still wanted to put a video system in, but I didn't think that it was worth it. I told Bernie, "You might put some guinea hen activated cameras in if you have any. That way, we can see who's coming when the hens begin making noise. The men all laughed, but didn't win their point.

The FBI guy in Cincinnati called me again about a week later to inform me, "Mike, we were able to catch Julio Garcia on our side of the river, and we have him in custody. There have already been a couple attempts on his life, so he won't last long when we put him in prison. He's been telling us a lot of what we know so far, but we're just letting him tell us whatever he wants. When we finish part of the story he's trying to tell, he knows we're not stupid and blind. Anyway, Mike, Julio is telling us that our infamous Sonny stole about fifty million from the cartel, and Julio was supposed to get it back. He said that he had lost at least twenty men trying to recover the money so far, but he now thinks that the feds have it, and we do, or at least most of it. Oh, Mike, look for a mail package. It's an unintended gift from Julio."

The Agent added, "Julio told us your place wasn't suspected of knowing anything any longer, and he was glad because Kentucky had not been good for them."

That made me happy and I would be glad to pass that down to the long list of folks who had helped us. The Sheriff's office was a group I wanted to thank, and to ask what the citizens could do to make the Deputies safer. When we talked, the Sheriff promised to get back to me.

The mail carrier came up to the house with a package that Millie had to sign for a couple of days later. She didn't open it since it was addressed to me. She told me, "Mom wanted to open it right away and really tried to convince Rosita and me to do it. We didn't, but I think we want to know what's in there."'

I pulled my half-sized lock back Buck knife out and slit the package open. I sort of figured on what might be there, and when I slit the last piece of tape, the top burst open and stacks of hundreds almost exploded into view. How they were able to cram all that cash into the small box and to get it mailed was one hell of a feat. Millie and Rosita wanted to know how much it was, so I told them, "It's enough for you to go to Walmart and get all of those little things you've been wanting to get. Let's get the kids in the car and go do it."

While they vanished to get ready to go, I took a couple of thousand from the bundle and put the rest in the floor safe in the office. Mom told me that she wanted to count it, but I made her come with us.

We had a great time shopping for all the little things the girls had been wanting. We had a couple of full shopping carts, and didn't even spend a thousand for everything. Rosita was smart and asked if they could have another shopping day like this one later on.

"Of course, we can. Make a list of all the big and little things you want to get, and we'll be sure to get them next time." That made Rosita happy enough to hug and kiss both Millie and me.

I continued to worry whether the crazies would come back again over the next few days, but we were left alone and the world began to turn on its regular axis. All of our regulars came back to eat supper with us and our happy evening became as happy as before. I didn't let my guard down and I know Mom didn't either. Sis strangely was at our house more often than normal, using the excuse that she needed to help get supper ready if the families were going to eat together.

The next two new model houses were completed and were even landscaped with winter grass that was brown now. Bernie had his video crews come down to go through the homes and neighborhood, taking hours of tape to be condensed into one minute commercials. The man finally decided to do an infomercial that had my sister and sister-in-law showing their homes off, and displaying their checks from the power company, rather than being charged for power.

Shirley even said, "With our no cost electricity, I no longer mind taking a long hot shower. I'm able to wash and dry clothes without worrying about how much it's going to cost. Our home is actually going to make us money sometime in the future."

That was a seller, and people began flocking to the development on weekends to estimate the time it would take them to drive to work in the morning and get home at night. The area where the homes were being built would accommodate over a hundred in the first phase, and we were surveying for the second phase shortly after our grand opening.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first Christmas with Minya and Mato, John, and the twins, had all of us wanting to do something special. Not stacks and stacks of presents, but a way to make it special for all of us.

We were able to put a reasonably sized tree on the porch side of the fireplace so that the table area was open, and we could add more tables if necessary. The house was decorated and I was sent out to buy and put lights up on the outside of the house to celebrate Christmas.

Sissy's and Shirley's kids began telling the Santa Claus stories, and that was followed by having to go to Lexington to sit on Santa's knee. Minya and Mato didn't know about the guy with the real white beard, while the older kids thought they knew that Santa was imaginary.

John learned to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, even if he didn't get all the words in the right place.

I had made a couple of trips to town and to Lexington to find all of the right things for each of those that I wanted to give presents to.

All of the road men were given matching watches that they could synchronize and be on the same page at the same time. All of their women were given crock-pots so that they could be gone during the day, and still have dinner on the table when they returned. Of course, that wasn't necessary if they ate at our house.

I gave special presents to John and Carmen, as well as to Esteban and family. I think Raul enjoyed his new special table saw as he said it was going to be easier to do a lot of the finish work.

Sissy, Shirley, and Mom received a Victoria's Secret gift certificate, and some Godiva chocolates.

My two ladies received the same, and also received special lockets on a necklace that proclaimed my love. Rosita was disappointed that she still wasn't pregnant with our first baby. She convinced Sheryl to examine her to find out why she wasn't pregnant yet.

The kids received plenty of presents, but they were all non-electronic and all were educational and family enjoyable. We spent hours and hours playing games with John, Minya, and Mato as they learned to have fun with each other. The twins added their enjoyment by trashing game boards while in the midst of a move. It's difficult to teach little kids patience, but this was a great way for them to recognize that little ones were often rambunctious in order to gain attention.

Christmas morning was fun. Rosita and I did the chores early so that we would be there when the kids came in to discover the presents under the tree. Snow had fallen during the night, so we had a real white Christmas. That was perfect, as one of the presents was a sled that I ended up pulling the three kids around the area on for literally hours.

The snow was now over six inches by dinner time, but there were no road panics as the men had been out since the beginning. All of our roads were remaining clear and accessible through town, and all the way up to near Mount Sterling and to Pine Ridge. The guys switched off about every three hours so that all of us could enjoy at least part of the day with each other.

Harold and Martha came to have dinner with us, and I enjoyed having Harold give the blessing. He reminded all of us of the true meaning of Christmas. He even spent a few minutes telling the Christmas story to all the kids. The nice thing was that so many of the adults were listening to him as he spun the story.

I was sitting with Mom, Millie, Rosita, and D, drinking a little wine before going to bed that night. D said, "I've asked your mother to marry me many times, and she tells me that she was married one time and will be my woman, but not my legal wife. I worried about that as it might be a way to keep me on edge and to tell me to get lost one day. But Bea told me the most important thing in my life these last many years this evening. She told me that she loved me. She also told me that although she wouldn't marry me in a church, she considered us the same as married. I'm satisfied with that, and feel content in our relationship. Mike, I already look upon you as a son, even knowing the special relationship you had with your dad. I want all of you to know that I will honor and cherish Bea's and my relationship for the rest of my life."

That was heartfelt and special. Mom was smiling as she held onto D's arm. I felt their closeness and gathered my two women to me.

There is life after Christmas. Most of it is mundane, but life is sometimes like that. Chores must be done daily, and usually twice daily on a farm. Animals need to be fed and they must have water. All of the usual activities continue whether it snows, rains, or the sun shines. That was happening as we went through January and into the cold, dreary, February weather.

Valentine's Day is always fun. Minya and Mato had their first taste of Valentine's Day, but were on a level with Millie, who was still getting used to the fun of lovers' day. All of them made Valentines to give to each other, but most of the fun was making a cake and cookies. Everyone enjoyed the sweets, but everyone also enjoyed the hugs and kisses that went around.

It was March when Mom surprised all of us. She came from shopping up in Mount Sterling and with her was a girl or young woman whose clothes were ragged and rain-soaked. Her face was gaunt and thin with hunger when you looked at her. She had scared eyes and shaky hands.

I was later told that Mom brought her into the house and into her room. She stripped her down and put her in a warm bath. While the stranger was bathing, Mom found clothes from Rosita's and Millie's closet that would reasonably fit her.