Chapter 20

DAY THIRTEEN – Saturday

Mac Melville - The Junction

I woke up in my bed in the motel outside the main entrance to the CS&S airfield called 'The Junction' to the insistent buzzing of my cellphone. The secure line light was flashing, so I sat up and pressed the 'talk' button.

After exchanging passwords, the man at the other end began.

"Come on, Red Dog, wake up; others have been doing your work for you."

It was my Secret Service contact.

"You asked for the whereabouts of Bill Fullwood. Well, he's on a plane from Chicago, getting in to McCarran at 0830 your time. He's got the two Scarlatti brothers with him, and I'm told they don't look happy; so you'd better get started on whatever you're doing."

As usual, he just hung up without giving me a chance to reply.

After pausing to throw some cold water on my face, I went out into the hall and hammered on Sergeant Crossley's door. I glanced at my watch as he opened it; 0530. Good, we had time.

"Yes Sir?"

"Get eight men up, dressed, and fully armed; we have a problem."

"Yes Sir." The Sgt.immediately replied and walked out to start hammering on other doors.

I quickly did my three Ss, and after a moment's thought, pulled a CS&S pilot's overall on over my shoulder holster. The Glock wouldn't be easy to get at, but I'd have some alert Marines with me.

As I did this, my mind flashed to the yesterday's events that had led up to this.

When we arrived on Thursday after an urgent call from Steve Sharp, he had just returned from visiting a helicopter company over at North Las Vegas Airport that he wanted to buy. There was an apparent legal problem with the ownership of the aircraft, which the owner's husband was claiming as his. Steve had been told that the man was deeply involved with organized crime.

An attorney from Kirby, Mawson, and Candy had been sent out to look the documents over, and he telephoned the airpark after lunch to report. I'd taken the call and he'd explained that although he couldn't find any problems at all with Mrs. Fullwood's title to the aircraft, her husband was making threatening calls and she was frightened. Also he thought the hangar was being watched, so I'd alerted the Metropolitan Police, and phoned my contact to see what he could find out.

Jack Crossley had his men lining up as I emerged from the motel, having grabbed the keys to an SUV as I passed the desk. After stopping at the airfield main entrance to tell my man there, and the MP Corporal on duty with him, that we had a job over at North Las Vegas Airport, I drove over to the end hangar and had the duty mechanic help me push one of the flying school's B200s out.

I did a quick preflight and we were in the air, flying over an already busy Army camp as I climbed to altitude. I used my Federal ID number when I called my flight plan in, so we got immediate clearance to land at North Las Vegas, then taxied directly to the Sunshine Rotary Services hangar. It was located at the end of a row near the Air National Guard hangar, and before we reached it, Jack Crossley leaned over and pointed.

"Look over there," he remarked "That man just got out of his car and is now pretending to polish the aircraft; and at this hour too."

"Good eye," I replied, as I pulled up and turned the aircraft so that we could all disembark and quickly get into the Sunshine hangar. At that moment, a frightened looking woman opened a side door, but appeared very relieved when she saw the Marines. Jack guided her back through the door and waved his men inside as I quickly shut the engines down, while using the time to look around as I completed the shutdown checks.

My marines were checking the building when I walked in through the door where a sentry was already posted.

"You're Steve Sharp's security men, aren't you?" She asked, "I'm Gita Fullwood. I was afraid to go home after all Bill's threats last night, and David here stayed with me."

I smiled at her, and nodded my thanks to the man behind her as I introduced myself.

"You don't have to worry now that we're here," I told her. "Anyway, your husband and two friends are on a plane that gets into McCarran at 0830, so we have at least two hours to get ready for him, even if he comes straight here.

"Have you eaten this morning? We haven't. Maybe your man here could go over and get some breakfast sandwiches and coffee from the cafeteria?"

I handed him a hundred dollar bill, and he went over to the back of the hangar and I heard an engine start.

Mrs. Fullwood was looking white and drawn, but a great deal happier.

"Please can you show us around?" I asked.

A Marine Corporal came up to report that the building was empty, and Jack Crossley began to place his men in defensive positions.

Off to the side of the hangar full of helicopters, was a two-story office area and stairs leading down towards what appeared to be a basement. When I started down, Gita Fullwood stopped me.

"That's my husband's private area," she said, "He won't let anyone go down there, and I've no idea what's there."

The bottom of the stairs was blocked by a solid door.

"Do you have keys for this?" I asked.

"I don't know..." She went off and came back with a large bunch which she handed me, being careful to stay as far from the door as she could.

Very strange, I thought; but there was a key that fit the lock, so I opened the door and switched the light on. The room measured about 25ft x 30ft, but except for a pair of tables and some cupboards that seemed to contain only paper and inks, the only thing in the room was a large printing press. As I walked over, something in a trash can caught my eye; a crumpled sheet of half completed fifty dollar bills.

Jack Crossley had followed me in, and came up and stood beside me.

"Do you think this is what all the fuss is about?" He asked, after taking a good look.

"It sure looks like it," I said. "Lock the door and put a sentry outside."

I handed him the keys, and guided Mrs. Fullwood back into her office, where I used my cell to report my findings to my contact. I received a call twenty minutes later.

"Hello, this is Eric Coleman, the Secret Service Station Chief here in Las Vegas. I have orders to report to you."

"Thank you, Eric," I quickly explained again where I was, and what was happening. "I need you and a team of agents from your Counterfeit Investigations Division to get out here before Fullwood and the Scarlattis arrive. You have about an hour. They have someone watching the front, so please arrive silently and come in through the back."

Thirty minutes later, Eric and the first of his men arrived, looking doubtfully at my armed Security Force men as they came through the rear door. I flashed my ID and Eric relaxed, although his men were never comfortable around us.

"Before I show you the evidence, I told you we have an observer out front who we will have to deal with when the time comes," I told him. "It's vital the Scarlattis are not warned that we're here. Put a couple of your men into those mechanic's overalls, and have them ready so they can take him down when the time comes."

We went down the stairs and I was careful not to leave more prints on the door. Eric saw what I was doing and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"I want to prove that none of the people who work upstairs have ever been down here," I told him. "Get your Forensics Investigators out here; I want a full fingerprint examination of this whole basement."

When the door was open, I waved him and two of his men inside. They didn't need to be told what to do, and Eric soon went back up the stairs, calling for reinforcements on his cell. Just as he finished, one of the agents came up, holding the ruined sheet of half completed notes in a gloved hand, and a large magnifying glass in the other.

"I think we've found where the bad money that's been turning up in Chicago and Detroit came from," he told his chief

Eric checked the evidence then called his Regional, obviously thinking that he could now take charge of the scene here, but that was obviously not the message he got.

"What do you want to do now, Sir?" He asked me, with a complete change in attitude.

"We wait and try to secure Fullwood and the Scarlattis," I told him, and started giving Sgt. Crossley orders on where I wanted his men positioned. I made it clear to Eric that his men inside were only backups.

We had to wait nearly two hours before a dusty sedan drew up outside, and five men got out and hurried to the door. We let them enter, then announced that they were under arrest.

The first reaction of three of them was to draw guns, but it was their last. The Marines were all combat veterans and the three died in the immediate crossfire, while the other two looked on with shocked horror on their faces.

A minute later, two of Eric's men yelled, asking if it was safe for them to come in as they had a prisoner. The man was ashen-faced when he saw the bodies and promptly started singing like the proverbial canary to anyone with a badge who would listen.

Over the next few hours, a large quantity of forged notes of various denominations was found in a disguised strong room at the back of the basement. I'd made it clear to Eric that there was to be as little disruption as possible to Sunshine Helicopter's operations, so when I found out that Steve was just arriving at the airpark, I left Sgt. Crossley with four men to guard the hangar and flew back to The Junction with the other four.

Steve had arrived, so I told him what had happened, and what the attorney had said about Mrs. Fullwood's title to everything being good. He thanked me, and told Kurt that he'd arrange to complete the purchase, but that the business should be moved to The Junction as soon as possible.

STEVE – Lutz and the Junction

Following the General's call last night, it was a given that I had to get back to The Junction as quickly as possible. Chuck had some things to see to, so it was agreed that Dewey would fly me and The Junction contingent there, together with DeDe and Carlos.

All the Lutz G-5s being booked for weekend charters, Chuck would follow us using our original 'business standard' -700C. We decided to go on to The Valley later today and sleep at his Mansion there, before going up to Seattle in the morning, and from there to Hawaii to sort out this nonsense about the sudden shortage of hotel beds. Sue decided to come with Chuck and Lisa, but Mercy insisted on coming with me.

We got a nice and early start, had a good flight, and arrived at the Junction just four hours later. As soon as our pilot requested landing instructions, two Air Force Globemasters were waved off and we were given immediate clearance. Thank you, General, I thought.

During the flight, Dewey and I had a chance to discuss his aircraft needs and some possible solutions.

"You know," he began, "I've always regarded my aircraft as just a means of getting around, and not nearly as important as my resorts and other interests. I think I should reconsider, especially since I'm obviously going to have to put more time and money into the aircraft business.

"I've been thinking about what John said yesterday, and he's right.

"I really don't care for all the hassle and worry of the slow start up of a charter business, so I'm going to look around for a profitable, well established company with good management that I can buy. After all, I can well afford it."

He laughed as he said this.

"When we're in Seattle, will you and Chuck help me do this? There are two outfits that would welcome me as a partner, especially if Chuck and CS&S came in too, and we have the benefit of your new fuel contract to bring to the table.

"Come to think of it, there are some other possibilities as well. I know there are Federal water bombing contracts up for bids covering the National Parks in the northwest that might be promising. The existing companies who have specialized in this have been pulling out, mostly I hear because they were too small and the Government has spread the work around – of course, nobody benefited then.

"Chuck was talking about buying some DHC-6 Otters. I think he has an interesting point here, and there may be some real opportunities in the small freight business up in the northwest. I'll have this investigated."

I was pleased to hear my old friend becoming interested in one of our favorite areas, and told him so.

One of the General's staff officers met us as soon as we got off the aircraft, but I said goodbye to Dewey first, after ensuring that his pilots were going to be able to refuel the G-5. I wonder how we are managing for fuel and what the re-supply situation is. I mentioned this to the Major but was assured that General Haskins was taking care of it; he had a Nevada National Guard Truck Platoon with twenty 5,000 gallon semi-tractors running a continuous shuttle from the nearest supplier's fuel farm, and the rest of the Truck Company; two more similarly equipped platoons, was on standby in case they were needed.

I hardly got into the admin building before Mac Melville, Chuck's security manager landed in a B200, and came to report on the excitement around the Sunshine hangar over at North Las Vegas airport. When he told me that Gita Fullwood was there, I called her and suggested that she should get Dave Waters to fly her over to The Junction so that we could start the transfer.

It looked like it was going to be a busy morning, so I stuck my head inside the conference room and found General Haskins planning a show for our two important guests.

He jumped to his feet when he saw me.

"Thank you for coming," he told me, "Secretary Burton has asked to meet you, as well as your business partner, Chuck Johnson."

"Chuck will be arriving later this afternoon," I replied. "We both have to visit our Hawaiian resorts, but need to stop at Seattle on the way."

"I'd like you to accompany me when we show the two VIPs around," the General said. "Secretary Burton is new, and I want to put a real display on for him. Governor Manners being here is a bonus.

"First off, they will inspect the 2^nd/208^th Parachute Infantry Battalion, and following that, we're lining up a display of all the equipment we've brought with us. The whole party will next be transported in troop carrying Hawks out to the Air Force ranges where we have scheduled a Company of paratroopers jumping, together with dropping a couple of guns and other equipment. That will be followed by a quick firepower demonstration, which will give the Apaches an opportunity to show what they can do.

"All this should take about two hours; the Secretary's visit is timed to last for three, so after the demonstration at the ranges, we'll bring them back here and let them wander around, talking to everyone. That is just what politicians love."

I wished him luck and went off to see what else needed doing.

I had hardly sat down when Kurt and Jack came looking for me.

"We've received the Bravo Leasing contract for storing the 24 Airbuses. They had it couriered over yesterday," Jack announced. "I thought we were going to have to bid for the maintenance, but there's a covering letter saying they want us to handle it; the rates are really quite favorable.

"I'll need men to do the work, so can I hire Bertie Green and I.A.M.S as subcontractors?"

That was all good, so I told Jack to go ahead, and he went off smiling.

Kurt and I then sat down to plan what else we needed to do before I left.

Pete had gone off to visit his son in the hospital, but we now had Mac with us who was more than capable of handling the shuttle service.

After telling Kurt about Mac and his men's adventures with the counterfeiters, I went on to tell him that I wanted to get all the Sunshine aircraft and personnel moved here to The Junction as quickly as possible. He called Cindy in and soon had her arranging the move.

"I don't know if we will hear anything today from Jesse Harcourt, the Nevada Air Charter man, but he seems just the guy we need as charter manager. If he does and can persuade his brother to come in with us too, we'll have a full, ready made charter operation.

"This is something that you, Kurt, will probably have to handle yourself. Offer them appraisal value and everyone should be happy. Speak to Tiny about the money transfer, and have a word with Bruce Rogerson about the brothers' salaries, but sign their employees up at our usual rates."

Kurt looked rather startled at this, but nodded.

During the morning, we got all the Sunshine helicopters over to the airpark except for those that were out on jobs. The Secret Service Counterfeit agents didn't want to release Gita and her personnel, but after Kurt had a word with Mac, everything went smoothly. Mercy looked after Gita when she arrived, as the poor woman was being constantly ill again.

The VIPs arrived on time and I must say that the General put on a really impressive show. He whispered to me that he wanted me to look after Governor Manners (call me "Gerry") who had brought his chief of staff with him. He was an interesting man and I got on well with both of them. We formed a small civilian group among all the military, but the General's staff Major saw that we were well taken care of. Somebody in DC had obviously whispered in Gerry's ear, because he was well informed about CS&S and our operation here, and told me to speak to his COS if there was anything that he could do to help.

After we got back from the ranges, Jason Haskins and I seemed to swap responsibilities. He concentrated on the Governor, while Secretary Burton talked to me for almost twenty minutes. He was really interested in CS&S, Quality Wear, and what S&S could do for the Pentagon. The General had obviously been pushing our composite combat vehicles as Mr. Secretary asked to see one and an Army Captain, fresh from combat in Afghanistan, appeared who talked about the success of the test vehicles there.

I thought this was great, and Mr. Burton promised to send contract officers down to Tampa to arrange the purchase of more test vehicles. He also told me that his assistant had the Emergency Landing Facility contracts to give us, which he said we would like. All CS&S had to do was provide housing for the men and their vehicles.

The visits proved a great success for General Haskins and his officers, with the Secretary of Defense considerably delaying his return to Andrews so that he could talk to as many men as possible. Chuck's aircraft arrived before he left and Mr. Burton was able to congratulate him and thank him for all the work Chuck was doing to help the disabled veterans. He even knew about the recent incident in the Valley.

It's been a really good day all around; I was really pleased to see Sue, and she got to meet Mr. Burton as well. He thanked her for the great service that Quality Wear was giving the military.

CHUCK – Lutz, and the valley

After looking after my family and kissing the babies, I went down to the patio for my usual breakfast sandwich.

Sue was sitting over in the corner talking with Josie Lyons, so I took my coffee over to join them.

After being properly introduced to Josie, I asked Sue.

"When are you having the disabled vets' skills evaluated?"

"Our doctor, together with a specialist from the Veterans Administration, and the technical school head started doing it at the Village Medical Center yesterday, and they should finish this morning," Sue told me. "Do you have time to go out there and see how they are getting along? We don't need to leave until after lunch, do we?"