Chapter 3

For the next two weeks, we were living as husband and wife. As we were advised, we painted the trim around the house before the siding arrived. It would look neater and we wouldn't have to be so particular with the painting the trim. We also had the fiberglass vapor wrap stapled in place.

My furniture came up from North Carolina. I directed most of it to be stored in the storehouse in Claremont. We just unloaded the necessary things, like a couch for the big room in the front of the house. The kitchen utensils were welcome and cooking was made easier. Eventually we would use my dining furniture and the rest of the living room furniture when the walls and floor were finished.

"You sure have some elegant furniture."

"I kept the best of what my in-laws owned. My own furniture wasn't anything special."

The next day our fiber cement siding arrived. I called the friend who was the contractor I had gone to school with. He was waiting on my call and we could have a man (Joe) Thursday and Friday.

Joe was older by fifteen years than I was. "Hell, this will be a snap. Two of you on a ladder and you'll be done in no time."

"Joe, it isn't going to work that way. There are only three legs on the two of us."

"You?"

"No, the lady. She left one knee and everything below it in Iraq."

"I wouldn't have known it. Well you can get it done. I'm here to show you how. Let's get to work. I think we had better start on the ends. There we'll have to make some angle cuts. We get the angles first and then cut them to length last. That way if you make a mistake on the angle you can cut it again.

This carpenter knew his business He spent an hour figuring and marking before he measured the first course for length. We did the end over the porch roof first. Joe was talking all the time he was working. This was for our benefit so Sheri and I would know how to do it.

"Every one of these panels on the ends has to be cut at an angle. The contractor that built this building was good and that makes it easy everything is square. We can do much of this on the ground as all the angles are the same. That keeps us both from getting up and down the ladder. I'll do the first couple and then you can cut the rest. I'll nail them and you can pass them up to me as I call for the next one."

Joe showed me how to score the panel with a knife and to snap the end off. It was necessary to smooth the cut with a sanding block. "I also have a saw that will cut this type of material. It has diamond tipped teeth. The problem is, this creates dust and it is deadly because there is some silica in it. You should wear a mask when making a cut with the saw to protect yourself." Joe went to work as I passed the cut panels up to him. He caulked the ends where the panels met the trim to make sure water didn't get in behind them.

I was concentrating on getting the angles. I heard him exclaim, "Holy shit, look at that." I looked to where he was pointing. There were five deer coming down through the heavy woods. Two were buck and they were in velvet. "One is a four pointer and the other is at least eight points. I don't suppose I could get permission to hunt here during season, could I?"

Joe knew he was asking a lot. He sweetened it by offering, "Let me hunt here and I'll work this weekend for nothing. That will give us just about time to finish putting the siding on."

I laughed for I would have let him hunt anyway. "You can hunt and if you work this weekend, we'll feed you."

"Deal."

Joe did not quite finish by Sunday night, but promised to come up Monday evening. Sheri and I worked on it during the day, and had it all done by the time he arrived. I paid him overtime wages anyway. We sat around and drank a couple of beers. We had made a friend; that was for certain.

I hadn't slept with Sheri since the day up on the promontory. I thought I could have, but wasn't certain. I could see Sheri looking at me during the afternoon and then when Joe was here she looked resigned that I wouldn't be coming to her room tonight either.

She went to bed shortly before Joe went home. I showered and shaved. I knocked softly on her door, not knowing if she was still awake. "Come."

The light on her nightstand was on. She spoke, "I thought you and Joe were going to make a night of it."

"I am going to make a night of it, but not with Joe."

"I was hoping. I'm not even going to use my leg for an excuse, either."

She flung her summer blanket and the sheet off. She was naked and with the glow of the soft light, she was beautiful. I trickled my fingers lightly over the stump, up between her legs, pausing just a moment there before going farther. She raised her arms over her head and I continued lightly touching her skin to her underarms. She was ticklish because she squirmed and sucked in her breath. My fingers caressed the sides of both breasts before I leaned down and kissed each nipple.

Her arms came up and pulled me into bed with her. "Bobby, would you teach me to do what we talked about the other day. I've had it on my mind and it is only fair after what you do for me. Just a little and go slow. I want to get used to it bit by bit."

"Wouldn't you like me to continue doing what I was just doing?"

"We will get to that. I'm not going away. Someday I want to give you as much pleasure as you give me." Her education began and a little while later. "You have opened up a whole new meaning to pleasure. I swear I get terribly aroused when I do this for you. Is it okay if I stop now? I need you to take care of these new feelings or I'm going to pass out."

This woman I was making love to had been seriously deprived. I was changing that and yes, I was teaching her. She was putting herself in my hands and was totally uninhibited. What more could a man ask for? I stayed the night.

She said, "One more week and we can go all the way. I'll bet you are looking forward to that." I knew she was thinking more of me than her own pleasure.

Sheri and I worked every day on our home. I knew in the back of my mind that we would hear someday from Cassie. A person just did not lay out thousands of dollars to provide a home for a crippled sister and an ex-husband without wanting some payback. Cassie wouldn't think like that. Maybe she had changed in the last ten years, but I doubted it.

It was a week before Labor Day at seven in the morning. I had come downstairs and was looking out the window for deer. A van with Vermont plates drove into our yard. A very large man got out and came to the door. He knocked. I went to the door. "Are you Bobby Kinsman?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good, your ex-wife wants to speak to you. Invite her in."

"She's invited." Bly made a signal to the van and then stepped off the porch and lit a cigarette. Cassie got out of the vehicle and came up onto the porch. She was a beautiful woman. When she got close, I could see she looked hard and tense. I wouldn't say the years had been kind to her, but no doubt she was still beautiful. I held open the door.

She turned on entering and put her arms around me. "Hi Bobby, nice home you have here. You must know I made it all possible." I escaped from her embrace as soon as I was able to.

"I do, but what is it going to cost me?"

"That is why I'm here to explain it to you. Where is Sheri? She might as well hear this too."

"She's upstairs. I think she is putting on her leg."

"God, how can you stand to see that thing? It turns my stomach." She paused and then asked, "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Yourself?"

"I'm great. I've got a good business going. Are you still working for peanuts some place?"

"Not working, quit the last place. Have to find something soon."

"I can solve your problem as I do have a position for you. Pays good and you can stay right here with my busted up sister. The only requirement is that you keep your mouth shut. In fact, if you even mention anything about my business or me you will end up in prison. I've taken steps to make sure you do."

"How is that?"

"Think about this. You have had an agent working on your behalf for the last two years. If the authorities ever investigate you about what I do, everything leads back to you."

"Explain more."

"All I need is a place to come to once a week and transfer goods from one vehicle to another. Occasionally I'll leave something stored in your cellar for a few days. You don't need to know more. Better for you if you don't, even though you are the only one who would be charged with the contraband. Questions?"

"Am I free to go into town?"

"Of course. Your life doesn't have to change at all from what it has been this summer." She opened her shoulder bag and took out an envelope. "This is your first payment. You will get one of these every time Wallace comes with the van."

"Wallace?"

A crooked grin appeared. "Yes, Wallace, the man who came to the door. He is your agent for your smuggling operation." Cassie's eyes looked beyond me. "Hello Sheri. Make us coffee and we'll visit for a little. I can't leave yet, but can as soon as the other van shows up. Bobby, would you go upstairs while I talk to my sister." This was said as a command.

Earlier, when I was more suspicious of Sheri than I was now, I had discovered by opening one of the hot air registers at the end of the upstairs hall, I could hear what was being said in the front room. A person had to be close to it, so I laid down and put my ear to the grill. I could follow the conversation easily.

Sheri didn't speak. She went into the kitchen and built a pot of coffee. She came out and sat on the couch. Cassie went over and sat alongside of her. "So tell me Sheri, is Bobby as good in bed as Cameron was?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't let him into my bed. He hasn't pushed it. He knows I would scream rape."

"Well, if I remember when I was married to him, he wasn't that great. I doubt he would improve any. How are your finances? Are you okay?"

"I get by. Bobby pays for most of the food."

"Where does his money come from?"

"He said he sold his cottage down south somewhere. He has been moaning about having to find something to do for work. I certainly can't support him."

"He can pay you something now. I'm paying him for something he is doing for me. Don't be shy about asking him for money. Sheri, why don't you come into this operation with me? I'm making money hand over fist now that I have my route established. You would be good cover with you a crippled war veteran. No one would believe you were a part of something like this."

"Let me think about it. All I really want is to live my life here alone. Bobby is a burden, but if he is necessary to you I suppose I'll have to put up with him."

"Well, maybe it would be better if you stayed here and watched him. If you think he is trying to get out of working for me, tell Wallace when he comes next week."

"I can do that. How long is this supposed to go on?"

"It should last at least for several years. It took me a long time to get this into place, but I'm sure I have everything covered. Or should I say, I made sure I have. Everyone does what I ask, just like I have made sure of Bobby."

I saw another van drive in. This one had Massachusetts plates on it. Wallace and the other driver started moving some boxes from his vehicle to the other one. A satchel passed to Wallace. I wondered what that contained. Cassie shouted up the stairs that she was leaving. Both vehicles turned around. Cassie's van left first. After sitting there idling twenty minutes, the Massachusetts van drove away.

I came downstairs and Sheri said, "Bobby, I managed to get pictures of Cassie and the other man before I came down. I also got a tape of your conversation with my sister. When she came in, did you kiss her?"

"Had her right on the couch completely undressed and then you showed up."

Sheri was shaking her head, knowing I was kidding. "Bobby, stop pulling my leg. Do you feel anything at all for her?"

"Pulling your leg? Which one?" This brought tears to Sheri's eyes, but it was because she was laughing so hard. She came into my arms.

"Bobby, I hate it that my sister is a crook. I hate it that she is forcing you into a life of crime. I hate her just because sisters are supposed to love one another. I don't feel any love for her at all."

"Would you want to see Cassie in prison? I know I have told you about the qualms I have had over this whole situation. I have tried to prepare for whatever she is planning. I guess we know now what kind of operation she is running. That is why I had you take a picture of the cars and the people who came with them and turn on the tape recorder when Cassie showed up.

"We should go to the authorities as soon as possible with what we suspect. I don't want to take a bullet from Cassie and I'm positive she has me as the target if she suspects this is going to unravel on her."

"I'm with you all the way. You've planned some of this already and I can see why you needed to."

"Let's say I know Cassie. Here is what I thought we could do. I want you to go into the post office building and get an interview with a federal marshal. They handle the federal security detail in the federal court. I think there is a marshal still there by the name of John Hook. He knows of me. My bookstore had a book he was searching for. It was in stock and I mailed it to him. Tell him everything. He should know what to do with the information you give him.

"If someone wants to meet with me, give them directions on how to get up to the promontory the same way you got there. Make sure you tell them to come in hunting clothes as if scouting for deer. We don't need any suits running around in the woods. Make it for two days from today at noon if possible."

"Where will you be while I'm there with the marshal?"

"I'll stay in the Harmony Parking lot. I'll go into Baskets Book Store and hang out. From the parking lot, you go through one of the stores to Main Street and then up the street to the post office. Come back the same way when you return. You can poke your head into the bookstore and find me when you are finished.

"Kind of cloak and dagger isn't it?"

"Yes, but we don't know much about Cassie, She might have some friends left over from when she lived here who would recognize me. Understand why I'm putting this first meeting on you. When I meet with the feds, that should make it clear that neither one of us are involved in Cassie's scheme. When this is all over, we can go on with our life together.

"Bobby, you have never said you love me. You certainly treat me as if you do. Do you?"

"I do, but I was waiting to hear 'I love you' from you first."

"I love you and I can't imagine being without you."

"Just what I wanted to hear. Now if we can get away from Cassie, we'll be all set."

When Sheri returned from the federal building and we were on the way home she said, "There will be someone to meet you on the promontory two days from now. I didn't go into any supposition while talking with Marshal John Hook. He has called the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. You will be talking with one of the agencies. Did I do what you wanted?"

"You did just fine."

"Bobby, I'm worried. I've never dealt with anything such as this. What if these feds don't believe us?"

"That is why I wanted to inform them that there was something happening that they should look into. We'll be okay."

"I hope so. I did something you didn't know about. You didn't hide the envelope with the money Cassie gave you. I took that and gave it to the marshal with the rest of the things. Are you mad? I know you probably need it, but to me it is dirty."

"You did just right. I should have thought of doing it."

We anxiously waited for the two days to pass.

I was sitting on a boulder and Sheri on a ledge outcropping back from the edge of the cliff. Sheri and I had brought a lunch and came up earlier the easy way. We could see the view very well from here. There was a pair of hawks circling high up. Always there were interesting things to look at, if you took the time.

Just before noon, we could hear someone coming through the woods. I didn't think they were deer hunters as they weren't that quiet in their progress. They might not have sounded like hunters, but they were dressed as hunters when they came into view. We watched as a man and a woman approached. They introduced themselves and showed us their badges.

"I'm Mike Stinson with the FBI. This is Molly Summers with the DEA. We work together sometimes." We introduced ourselves.

Mike questioned me. "Are you two related or how is it you know each other?"

I explained, "I was once married to a woman named Cassandra Goresuch. When I found out she was dealing drugs, twelve years ago, I divorced her. She did receive a piece of land in the settlement, but not this one. This property here I was able to keep for myself in the settlement. I then moved down south and made a new life, even to the point of getting married. My second wife is now dead, killed in an auto accident.

"When I started getting tax bills that were increasing because of improvements I didn't make or was aware of, I came back. I was coming back eventually, as I grew up here and it is home to me. I found Sheri living in the building that was the cause of the higher assessment."

"Did you know her before?"

"I knew of her as she is my ex-wife's sister, but we had never met."

Molly did the questioning of Sheri. "Sheri, did you know Robert?"

"I knew of him. I had heard my sister speak about him when they were married. I thought from the way she spoke, she regretted the divorce, but I don't think that now. She is just using him."

"And how come you came to be here?"

"I was in the military and was injured. When my sister suggested living in this place, I took her up on it. I was to finish the building in payment. Cassie told me all along that she owned the property, but I found out later it belonged to Bobby."

"What are your injuries?" Sheri stood up and showed them just the way she had shown me. Mike was as interested in her underwear as I had been at one time, which made me chuckle. I had concluded that pretty underthings was something she indulged herself in without stint. Both agents were as amazed as I had been that she was able to get around and up here over such difficult terrain.

Sheri was asked to explain about the relationship she had with her sister. Mike turned to me again by asking in more detail about Cassie and me. Molly was interested in the same when I explained about discovering her drug dealing years previously.

"That is one reason why I have been so suspicious of her. That and why she was making improvements on property she didn't own. I can see why from what she said the other day. It was a way to warn me about keeping my mouth shut. She must have been planning this for two years or more, so it did set alarms off in my mind. She admitted that all trails would lead back to me and I would be the one holding an empty sack if she was found out."

"That is why you came forward?"

"Yes. I would have anyway after the first time I went into the cellar."

"Why is that?"

"The cellar is constructed as a prison. At some point I figure she is going to have someone down there she wants to keep out of sight and they can't get away or get out."

Mike thought a minute before saying, "It might be you."

"I know, but I have it covered. I fixed it so if a person knows how he can escape."

"Would you share?"

"Sure, I have no secrets from you people."

"Tell us then."

"Okay, all of the doors are steel. Also, the bulkhead is steel with the bolts sunk into cement. A padlock on all three openings would make the cellar a prison. The windows are small and have a heavy steel mesh embedded into the poured cement. Both entrance doors are steel and the lower one has a hasp so it can be secured with a padlock."

"So how can a person escape?"

"I removed the screws in the hinges and cut them almost off and then reinstalled them. They look solid, but with a sharp blow, the heads will snap off. I also have a strong pry bar that will work and do the same thing. Both the bar and the hammer are well hidden.

"The steel bulkhead was a little more difficult to figure a way out. The nuts are showing, but if you don't have a wrench, you can't remove them. I made one and it is hidden in the bulkhead. There is also a wrench I purchased and that is hidden with the hammer and the pry bar. With the nuts removed a person can lift the bulkhead completely off."

"What makes you think this is a prison and who would it be for?"

"I was thinking illegal persons. Maybe Latinos or Asians. Maybe even terrorists from the Mideast. Of course it might be for Sheri and me if they think we are talking to the authorities or just want to get rid of us."

Mike asked another question. "What kind of operation would you think she has?"

"I'm guessing she has built a pipeline to move contraband from Canada to the cities south of us. If drugs, I doubt any of it is sold here in Vermont. We have to go to Massachusetts for that."