Chapter 32

The meeting went very well. We kept going over the drawings and plans, making notes and expansions. I told the architect that I wanted him to talk to Mark in Costa Rica and the architect who put that place together. I told Katana, "You should go with him to take a closer look at the place. I want that same quality here at this resort. I know that place is a palace, but I want that in the new resort too. I want the guest areas to be so plush that people will want to be there. I also think that we need some pampering areas for women similar to the Island Paradise. I'll get the two of you rides down there. Take your wives with you if you want, and I'll call Diego to have the architect meet you. I think the man is on site for some additions. We should be able to get this place under construction when you get back."

I turned to Brandy and asked her, "See if Bear and Crystal have an extended range small jet to get these people to Costa Rica and back. Make reservations with the resort under my name so that there isn't any hesitation. They will stay two days and return. Make sure the crew of their aircraft is taken care of too."

Brandy smiled and told me, "I'll get it done right away. When do you want them to leave?"

I looked at the two men and asked the question, "How soon can you be ready to go? I don't want any grass to grow under our feet as you can tell. Let's get this done."

I said to the architect, "Look closely at all the energy saving systems we have down there. It could be a real boon to the area if we show them how we've done it there. I'll call Mark and have him go with you, Diego, and the local architect to give you the insider's view."

My cell worked well in the resort, so I called Mark first. "Hey, Mark, Chuck here; I'm sending a couple of people to have a close look at what we did down there. You and Diego can show them the inside stuff. We're going to build a resort in Hawaii that I'm handling, and I want the place to rival yours. That's not possible without you being here, but it will be close. I'm interested in your power options like the wind turbines and solar panels. Show them and put them in contact with the people who make the products."

Mark simply said, "You make the stuff, or rather one of the plants Steve owns and runs makes the stuff. Steve has started a solar panel manufacturing plant and supplies some from here in Limon. I'll get them in touch with who you need. You know you could fly Caroline and me out there to see Hawaii. That would be a nice vacation for the kids too. Plan on it."

Okay, now I know something to reward the man with. This was moving along well. I called Diego and talked to him for a minute. He was busy, but said he would have his architect stick around so Katana and George could meet with him.

I told George, "Take your plans and let the architect down there look at them. He should be able to give you some suggestions about the additional facilities we want."

Katana was grinning. "You do push, don't you? You've been here a day and you have people going in all kinds of different directions. I'm good with that. Tell me when we leave and I'll get Mylee to get packed."

Brandy was disconnecting her call and said to Katana, "I have a crew and an extended range G5 ready if you and George can leave this evening. I've made sure to have a double crew so they won't be too tired to fly straight through. You can wake up there tomorrow."

George got on the phone to call his wife, and told her to pack for three days and take a taxi out to the private airport. He looked at me after disconnecting and said, "It would take me too long to drive the round trip, so she said she'll be there in about an hour."

Katana said, "Order that aircraft, Mylee will be here in an hour as well."

Brandy was grinning as she used her phone again. I sat back and had another iced tea. I turned to Monte and said, "You're going to have to wait until these guys get back from Costa Rica before you can begin designing, and almost immediately building the pools. If you think some of it should be put off until the construction is done, say so, but create your filtering and maintenance locations so that you're ready when you get the pool done. Oh, I may have a couple more small projects for you at the same time, Monte."

The man was grinning now that he knew he was going to be used and had other business to look forward to.

I was going to go out to the airport to talk to Jimmy's dad when Sam Perkins called. He told me, "I had Ben transfer money to your personal Hawaiian account. He's going to put enough over here to pay for the house construction too. I used your place in Tampa as a guideline and increased it by twenty percent. Do you think that amount will be enough?"

"Sounds good, Sam. Deke's son-in-law is supposed to get with me for some preliminary ideas for the design. I want the place out there started right away too. You might get some recommendations from Deke on the construction people we want to talk to. I want quality and to have it quickly completed. Do you know of someone who would be good to supervise the construction, someone I could use as a contact?"

"No, but I'll think about it tonight and get back to you. The surveyor is going to be out tomorrow, and Deke may be selling you more acreage than he thought. The numbers may go up a little, but it shouldn't affect what you're doing."

I laughed and said, "I suppose I'll have to have more goats then."

Sam said, "That's the cheap way a lot of people keep the grass and weeds down. I drove over to the place and saw how beautiful it is. You're lucky to get some pristine land like that. There isn't much left except on the north island, and there's still some on the big island."

I told Sam, "I'm sending Katana and George to Costa Rica to visit with the architect there and get some ideas. I think that takes care of the immediate business."

Sam again said, "I'll get to work on the deeds and make sure you can build a house out there. You might have to live in a tent." Sam was laughing as he hung up.

That reminded me and I called Sam back, "Sam, did you ever apply for the resort permit and zoning change for the new place?"

"It's been approved all the way through the county, island, and state. The permit people want to see the plans, but they are going to salivate to have another place like the palace you guys built."

"Thanks, Sam, I just thought of it and didn't know whether you took it all the way yet."

"That's what you pay me for, Chuck. Since I hooked up with you, almost a hundred percent of my time is spent doing your resort's legal stuff. I'm being well taken care of, thank you."

That reminded me about Sarah Perkins. I looked up the passwords and phrases of the day before calling my contact. I said to him, "I need to check someone out. I'm uncomfortable around the guy, and he's just married a friend of mine."

"Holy smokes, did you give one of your women away?"

"Ha, ha, ha. No this wasn't one of my women, but a good friend. She helped me a while back when I needed the help. Anyway his name is Sir Edward Montgomery, and may be wanted in the UK. My friend's name is Sarah Perkins, and I'm sure she wouldn't give up her name. Do me a favor and find out about this guy and let me know. If you want him to be held until the Brits get here to take him home, say so and I'll have the local Marshal's office bring him in. Do me a favor, call Lisa's phone when you call back on this. I don't want to be standing in front of someone if you give me some really bad news."

The man laughed and said, "Got it, Chuck. I'll give this to security and we'll find out about him. If you have a bad feeling, we have a bad feeling. We'll check it out."

I checked off another thing on my mind and looked around. Lisa was over talking to Jane and Tina. Brandy was poised to take a note or do something for me. I told her, "I need to go to the airport, so I'll get a taxi out front. I shouldn't be gone long. I need to talk to Jimmy's dad. Fred has something he wants to talk to me about."

I went to tell Lisa and Jane what I was going to do. I told Lisa that our contact may call back with some information about the Sir Edward guy and she smiled.

The women were all headed to the suite and then on to the beach after the kids had some exercise and a nap.

I was out at the airport in time to see Katana and Mylee board the G5. George and spouse must already be on the plane. I walked to the hangars and looked around for Fred. There was an office complex in the back of the first big hangar, so I began walking back there.

Fred came from the office area before I could get halfway back there and pumped my hand for a while. He told me, "You came back. I need to show you something that you'll like. You're always doing things to save equipment and fuel. This idea is one that's right up your alley. Come into my office and check this out."

I was surprised at the modern office and setup Fred had. A secretary was busy on one end of the office and Fred introduced us. She smiled and went back to being busy. Fred had security video monitors in a long row above the windows. I could now see how he knew I was coming in. There was ding and a light lit up on a monitor down to the left. Fred looked at it for a minute, then back at me, "Let me show you."

He used a PC on his desk that must have been connected to the three big monitors he had. He entered something and a video began. I had heard something about this, but had not seen it in operation. It was the Wheeltug. It had an electric motor in an aircraft nose wheel that would pull the aircraft around and even taxi it out to the runway. A pilot usually has the APU running anyway to keep the aircraft cool with good circulation while not burning a lot of fuel. The aircraft wouldn't be burning fuel with at least one engine running while waiting for a hole to open up if there was a weather problem. I asked Fred, "Have you sent any of this to Steve or John? They would be the people who would find this interesting."

Fred said, "I'll do it, but I needed you to put your stamp on it to make them look at it. Steve usually looks at everything I send him, but John gets busy and doesn't. Steve sort of waits for John to tell him about what I've sent. Jimmy thinks this is a great idea, but even he said that you should get behind it. He says you'll push for us to dissect this thing to make sure it isn't a pipedream. I need you to tell Steve to get R&D involved so they analyze it. Wes has been busy, but I know you'll follow through like you did with the winglets for all our aircraft. You've probably saved triple what they cost so far."

I called Steve, noting that he should be on the patio about now. He answered, "Steve here, Chuck. What are you up to? You're in Hawaii, right?"

"I am, and I'm talking to Fred at the airport. I want you to go somewhere and look at some videos of a product called the Wheeltug. Just go look at it and call me tomorrow after you do. I'm excited about it, but we will have to do some more investigating before we jump in with both feet. These probably have the potential to save us more than triple what we saved with the winglets, Steve. That should interest you."

"No kidding. I'll check it out right away and get Jimmy and John to look at it."

"Steve, Jimmy knows about the product and has been trying to get John to look at it for a while. You know how John is. He's busy doing everything else under the sun and doesn't get around to looking at some things. You look at it and consider having R&D evaluate it. I think it would be worth the investment to check it out."

"You're excited about this enough that I'll have to look. Where are you staying over there?"

"The resort. I'm handling the new place stuff from here. I think we're moving forward on it and should be letting contracts for construction by next week. The permitting is done, and we're working on the plans right now. I just sent Katana our new project boss and the architect to Costa Rica to see how that was done and to get some inside looks from Diego, Mark, and the local architect. That'll be done and they'll be back so we should be able to finalize plans by Sunday or Monday."

"Wow, you're really moving on this, Chuck. Dewey will be happy. You know he wanted you to do the whole deal by yourself because he thought that would slow you down. He doesn't know you like I do. I knew you would put everything together fast. I might have to come see you if you're going to be there for a month. My women miss yours and the kids. Some of the family is missing and we do miss you guys."

"Well, have a stiff one for me and enjoy your evening. Check out Wheeltug for me tomorrow and let Fred and me know what you think."

Fred was smiling when I hung up. He said, "It's just like the resort thing. You're not messing around. You're going to make it happen. That's what I want to know and find out about this Wheeltug thing. It looks almost too good to be true."

"So did the winglets, Fred, and they turned out to be a real fuel saver. I know that the engineers and manufacturers made a fortune retrofitting aircraft, but they have really helped the industry save money. Everyone saves some fuel money and everyone picked up a few knots. Let's hope the Wheeltug does it too."

As I left, I said, "Steve will let us know. Do you need anything? Is everything going well?"

"You bet. Bear and Crystal run a tight ship. They don't spare the coins when it comes to technology and safety. This place is running like a greased pig, and I have some really good men to maintain our equipment and service our customers. We're cooking, Chuck. I know you know, but you never look at numbers. You look at results. I like that."

I took a taxi back to the resort and went to the suite. I looked out at the pool near the patio and I think all my kids, including Marion and Virginia, were swimming. The mothers were all showing more skin than is probably allowed by law, but they were happy. I saw Jane out there with Tina and Lisa, but not Ipo. I wonder what happened with her.

I thought about Marion and Virginia and how I keep thinking of them as my kids. I knew they weren't, but I felt like they were. I wondered what Aunt Etta thought about that?

"You don't have to worry, Chuck. You're like their dad now. They look to you that way, and know how much you love me and them. You really should invite me into your bed, you know. I should have been your father's woman, but he resisted, can you?"

I thought back at her, "Oh, Aunt Etta, I do love you, but you can't be serious. You're my mother's age."

"I'm four years younger than your mother and a year younger than Julie. I want to be one of your women, Chuck."

A younger voice said, "You could really be our daddy if Grandma was your mate too."

A different youthful voice said, "May be a 'granddaddy' as well as a 'daddy'."

"See, Chuck, you should take me as a mate."

Lisa turned and looked at me. I heard her say in my head, "You need to get a couple of more rings, big daddy. I think Etta has a case."

It was Mercy who laughed and said, "Knowing how much of a horn dog you are, I can't believe you're resisting pussy."

"Watch your mouth, Mercy. You shouldn't be eavesdropping on family anyway."

Mercy said in my head and probably to all of us, "I am your family, and want you to have an even bigger family. Mom and I love you, Guy. I would be under you in a heartbeat if I wasn't so in love with Steve and Sue. I think my mom would beat me."

"You are so disgusting, Mercy. Why would you think I would do that?" Missy was trying to sound stern.

"Easy, Mom, you love the guy the same as all of us and would love to have him get your cookies for you."

Now I was almost laughing and I could see Lisa smiling. A new youthful voice could be heard, "Momma, Grandma is thinking nasty thoughts again. We're not supposed to listen, but she keeps talking."

"Hush, you little varmints, go to sleep or Grandma won't be making cookies."

"You'll make them for us anyway, Grandma."

Aunt Etta came inside the house, hugged me to her, and said to me, "Oh, Chuck, you are so much of your mother and father that we should be mated. I wish I was younger so that I could give you another baby."

I looked at the woman and gently kissed her. "I know, this is a lot for both of us, but it's a lot for Marion and Virginia. We'll let nature take its course."

Aunt Etta said, "You need to call me Etta, though. I don't need the extra moniker. Call me Etta and I'll know how you feel."

Lisa came in and kissed Aunt Etta, or was that just Etta now? She said, "What will the girls say when you're enjoying both Chuck and me?"

"I think they'll be learning some new things, but won't say too much. They've been listening to you and Chuck for a long time. They listen to Mercy and Misty too, and those two are very risqué."

Etta looked at Lisa and told her, "Do you know that Chuck's mother and I were lovers long before Chuck's dad married her? We met one time when the family was visiting and we were drawn to each other. There's a lot that's inevitable."

I felt my heart tug as Etta talked of my mom and dad. She was a link that I was so happy to have. When Marion and Virginia came in with watery eyes and hugged me. Marion said, "You are like our daddy and have loved us like our daddy, so you must be our dad."

That's some powerful stuff. The girls told me to put my swimsuit on, so I went to the bedroom, found my peg, and put my swimsuit on. The little kids seemed tireless as they paddled all over the pool. Sarah and Farah paddled to me for a hug when I got in the pool, then Dan and Sam came. Even Carlo paddled over, with Gina hovering over him. The little guy was a happy critter. My two little oriental boys came to me and were trying to climb on my shoulders. One made it, and pushed the other one down. Sam pushed him off, and the other climbed up. The boys were having great fun demonstrating their superior male strength until Nitika knocked Dan off my shoulders and climbed up, giggling the entire time. The tiny little girl was a heck of lot stronger than people thought. The boys had been defeated by a tiny little cocoa girl.