Chapter 43

I woke up early and made it outside before anyone else was up. I went to the suite’s bar after opening the patio doors, and made a huge pitcher of Dewey’s special mix. I made enough to partially fill a bunch of glasses so all they needed is ice. I then made one more pitcher so anyone who wanted to could have seconds.

I took my tall drink out to the patio and arranged my lounge chair to watch the horizon. The glow had begun, but was slow this morning. There would probably be a flash of morning, because the ocean seemed to have some large swells.

Someone kissed my ear and whispered, “Want some company?”

I reached around to pull whoever it was to me for a kiss, and was surprised to find that it was Sue. The buxom lady sat on my lap with both of us sipping one of the tall drinks. She laid her head on my shoulder, and said, “I’m so glad we’re taking this time to be together. Your ladies are all so loving and want to be a part of us. Steve’s ladies, and that includes me, want them to be a part of us too. You know that you are someone special to Steve. He depends on you for so much, that I’m surprised he’s not trying to get you involved with S&S. I’d love for you to be involved with Quality Wear, and I guess you are to some degree, since you’re the landlord of our Costa Rica plant.”

I was holding Sue as she sat on my lap. She took my hand and pulled it around to her tummy and under her bountiful breasts. She said, “Well, that’s just the beginning. All Steve’s women want us to be closer to you and yours. Dewey’s two want to be closer too. It’s not all about sex, either. You know that we love you guys and want to share your kids with you, just like Mom and Misty do when they teach your kids to speak. They did that with the two groups of my kids that came along, and it really helped them to progress faster than most. You’ll be surprised when you’re having conversations with your kids very soon.”

“It’s already happening, Sue. The two boys were showing me objects and saying their names. I loved it.”

“They learn quickly, Chuck. Oh wow, look at that! The sun is peeking over the horizon.”

Dewey appeared with a drink in hand, and sat next to us. He sipped and said, “This is the best part of the day. This beautiful sight makes me want to be more than I am every morning. You know, we should live here so that we can see this every day.”

Sue told him, “I’ve just been telling Chuck that. The house he’s building is going to be huge, so maybe it will be for all of us.”

“It is for all of us. Any of us who want to be here can just come. We’ll have our own private place where we can be by ourselves and enjoy the mornings and whoever is with us.”

Dewey said, “You know that I’m very content living on Friday Harbor, but I enjoy being with you and Steve even more, regardless of where it is. There is something about the three of us being together that makes everything all better. That sounds a little hokey, but it’s true, Chuck. We three are special together.”

We all watched the sun continue peeking over the horizon and gasped as its full brilliance began to show.

Steve had quietly slid in behind us, and said, “Yeah, I’m with you, Dewey. I feel very complete when the three of us are together. I know that it’s not practical for us to always be together but it’s special when we are. Chuck has become special to me and my family, just like you and your women have been, Dewey. Chuck’s women show us all so much love, and it’s a joy to have his little ones running around. This is what will keep our families alive and happy.”

Sue went to sit on Steve’s lap when he sat down. Someone kissed my ear and came around to sit on me. Julie was sitting on my lap and hugging me, holding a tall drink, when Etta came up and poured more ice and liquid into my glass. She told Julie, “You better make room because I’m coming back to share that lap.”

I chuckled as Julie moved to one knee and Etta came to sit on my other. We all sipped our drinks as we watched the sun move until it was fully over the horizon.

Etta asked, “What do you have in store for us today? Do you have a schedule?”

I told her, “The only thing we need to do is to check on the new resort construction, and possibly meet with the house architect to look at the changes I wanted. She should have new drawings today. They are computer generated images, but they still look like drawings.”

Julie told us, “It’s difficult to change sometimes. The little ones are lucky, because their vocabulary will be filled with all the things that we are still trying to learn. Just think, Chuck. In a couple of years, the little ones running around now, will have little hand held devices to communicate with each other and to find information. They will be proficient while you and I are still trying to learn these new gadgets, and the kids will end up teaching us.”

“I sure hope our kids learn all of that stuff early. I’m going to need the help. There’s too much happening on an almost daily basis for me to keep up with.”

Julie said, “Things are happening faster everyday now. Etta is having trouble keeping up with Virginia and Marion. Those two are learning all the new devices long before we are, but are willing to teach us. You get them all of the new toys, so I have to tell you that you need to upgrade us too when you upgrade them.”

We heard some of the little ones up and running around, so we three got up and went inside to help with the toddlers, or as it should now be better described, the runners.

Steve, Dewey, and I went to the new resort construction site after a fruity breakfast. There already was a wide walkway laid and landscaped all the way to where the new main resort was being constructed. We three had put our running clothes on, with me also putting my sport leg on. We amazed ourselves by being able to run to the new resort without being winded.

There was a lot of progress, but this was a huge project that was going to take most of a year to complete. I kept thinking that we should flood the place with workers, but that would upset the balance the construction supervisors had. I couldn’t push this like Costa Rica, so I smiled and closed my mouth and eyes at what I thought.

On the way back to our resort, Steve said, “I could see you wanted this to be like Costa Rica and get it done. This isn’t the same, is it? You don’t have a Mark here to make things happen, and Diego isn’t here to push everyone. You know that you built that place in about a third of the time it would normally take. You did that while finding water, natural gas, and oil. I don’t think you could ever do that again.”

Dewey added, “My guys from Amsterdam think you’re some kind of guru to have been able to get that place built so fast and still have so much perfection and detail. They wish you could supervise all their buildings. I told them that they had to convince you that what they were doing would help a lot of people before you would have it completed faster. They didn’t understand, since they don’t have your desire to help others. You’re special, Chuck, and you’ve taught me to look at projects while seeing how I can help others. It’s been an advantage.”

“Thanks, Dewey. I want to give back, and what I invest in is helping me do that. I have Sam Perkins here in Hawaii, looking for ways to help the local economy, and how I might benefit the islands. The economy here is good, with decent employment, but I think we can do better. Let’s think of ways to help all the islands and how we can improve them.”

We spent some time in the resort exercise room, and then I held Tai Chi lessons that caused a crowd and several onlookers to join us in our forms. We had over a hundred people out on the beach trying to imitate our forms by the time we finished.

Lisa and I did some very light sparing and then we were joined by Jane. Jane was exceptionally agile and was able to counter many of my defensive moves. She was considerably quicker than most I sparred with in the past, even with her twins inside her. I congratulated her with kisses, and she made me promise to give her the physical attention she craved. That was an easy promise to keep.

I lay with the little ones after lunch, as they liked to pile up together. We had just lain down when Maria came in with Juanita. The little girl gave me a hug and kiss, then ran to her friends. She was still wound up from being on airplanes for the last twelve hours, but was brought into the kid pile and very quickly fell asleep.

Maria didn’t come to me right away, and I was concerned. I had to go to her and gather her into my arms. “Why are you avoiding me, Maria? I’m very happy you’ve come back to us.”

The Latino looked at me with watery eyes, and asked, “Are you really happy I’m back? Can you forgive me for leaving you and our family to see if that is what I wanted?”

“I’m very happy you’re back with us, Maria. We have missed you and Juanita. Just look at them lying there together, doesn’t that look like she belongs there?”

Maria finally hugged me, and I made her sit on my lap as I sat down. I softly spoke to her; “I love you very much, Maria. I love you the same as I love all the ladies in our home. You wanted to see if something else would be what you wanted, and it mustn’t have been what you thought it would be, because you’re back with us. I told you before that I don’t own you. I love you and enjoy you being with us. I’m the father of our baby, Juanita, but that shouldn’t make up your mind for you. You’re the one who has to decide what you want out of life and what you want out of our relationship.”

Maria hugged me so tight that I had to pull her hands away in order to get some air. When she recovered, she told me, “I was hoping that those people would be the answer to what was eating at me inside. I kept thinking that I wanted another baby, but it should be by another person who would want me and take care of me for the rest of our lives. Tom and Zena tried, but it wasn’t something that I wanted. The more they tried, the more I knew I needed to be with our women and in our home with you.”

I held Maria to me and told her, “I’m glad you’re home, or at least with us. Relax a while and take a nap. We’ll have plenty of time to talk. I love you, and love having you with us again, Maria. Thank you for coming back to us.”

The little Latino hugged me to her as she fell asleep.

Brandy told me, “She was afraid that you would want Juanita and not her. You handled everything perfectly. We will make sure she’s clean before we welcome her back into our intimacy. Tina is getting everything put together to quickly test her. We all want our Maria back with us, but we need to be sure.”

I kept thinking that we should get back out to sea so that we don’t have to worry about all this bullshit. I want Maria to be healthy and free of problems, and I knew that Tina was the one to make that decision. This wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

Jane came to me and asked, “Can you call into the Marshal’s office to see if you can help them? They are having a problem with a warrant and you might be the person to help them. Will you do that?”

“Of course, Jane. Use my phone and call for me. I don’t have their number in my contacts.”

Jane called and handed the phone to me, “Johnson here.”

The voice on the other end said, “Desmond here. I think you have experience with some of this, Chuck. We have a group of people living on the outskirts of the city who are trafficking in young women. We’ve been watching, and they now have at least ten girls who are only fifteen or sixteen, who they have brought in by boat. We know they sell most of those they bring in, but they also have a business they use to sell their services.”

“Are the people who are buying and selling the girls Hawaiian?”

“Some are, but most are eastern European or mid eastern. A couple are Russian, but most are Middle Eastern. Does that make a difference?”

“Only if the Russians are buying or selling a lot of women or children.”

“No kids that we’ve seen so far, Chuck. Can you come to take a look at the target and give us some direction as to how to storm the building and to capture the dealers?”

“I’ll come on down, but I may have to sit back and watch you guys do what you do best. I’m sort of out of commission for a while, so I’ll direct and watch if that’s okay.”

“When can you be here?”

“Where’s here?”

“Oh yeah, you know where the Marshal Station is, right?”

“Yes, I know where that is. It’ll take me about forty-five minutes to get there.”

“That’s not where I want you to go. Meet us in front of the Alley Saloon just down from the center of the city.”

How could I forget that place? It was where I had the run in with the idiot who was shooting up the place. They had tables on the sidewalk and an awning over them. I could see the place in my head.

“Um, are you assembling there, or are we doing something there?”

“We’re meeting there. We’ll be moving a few blocks over to take care of business.”

That was a relief. “I’ll be there.”

Jane and Lisa had been listening and both were watching me to see what I was going to do. I told the two, “Let me go do this. I don’t need either of you two to be around me while I take care of business. We’ve already made that agreement. I’m not going to be involved, I’ll just be there to advise.”

Both girls looked at me and didn’t say anything. I went in to shower and put some slacks on, a knit shirt over my armor, and put my shoulder rig on. I made sure my backup had a round in the chamber, and that my Glock 22 had a round where it should be. I slid a couple of extra magazines into my sport coat pocket, and I was ready.

I was going to rent a car, but a Deputy was standing at the door when I came from the bedroom. He said, “The boss said I should come for you so that you don’t have to fight or learn traffic.”

I kissed the ladies goodbye and followed him out the door.

When we were in the car, he said, “You know we’re all a little jealous that you took Jane away from us. That she has twins brewing makes it that much worse. How did you two get to be so close so fast?”

I tried to give him the history and how we became close. That my women were her initial contact began to make sense to him, and he finally told me, “We all thought Jane might be a little Lez, but we all felt she was more than that. You and your family must fulfill everything she was looking for.”’

“So far my friend, so far. Jane is very loving, and enjoys the contact with the other women in my house. She’s tough, but I think she is going to be a great mom and a great partner for me.”

He looked at me sideways before saying, “You dog; you get what we all lusted after for the last few years. She’s a stone fox with all of the good parts, and you get to play with it all. We’re all so envious.”

“I won’t apologize, because I didn’t ask her to come to us. She wanted to be with us and made all the effort to join us. We all love Jane, and my Lisa and Tina think she adds something special to our relationship. Even I’m surprised at how she has been accepted.”

We parked on the street almost in front of the bistro. There were a couple of Deputies standing around waiting for us, and converged as soon as they saw us. The driver said, “We are all anxious to get this one done. They’ve heard some bad stuff about these guys.”

I greeted the men and asked who the leader was. They all looked at each other as if to tell me there wasn’t one.

Uh oh, “Okay, Guys; who do you think is the leader on this one, and where is Desmond?”

They all looked at me and one Deputy pointed, and said, “You’re supposed to be the guy. I’m Desmond, but was directed to get you to do this. Come on, tell us what to do.”

“Okay, let’s all have some coffee or a soda and talk about this. These people owe me a soda or cup of coffee. Have a seat and let me get us some service.”

I went into the bistro and asked for the manager. A portly gentleman came from the back and was grumbling about being interrupted. He looked at me, gasped, and then lunged at me with his arms flung out. “You, you should have been here a hundred times, but you’ve waited all of this time. I love you. You kept us alive and kept that crazed man from killing us all.”

I had to pry the guy’s arms from around me. “How about some coffee and a couple of Cokes for the guys with me? You know that what I did back then was my job. I’m glad I helped and protected you.”

The man suspiciously looked at me before saying, “You’re not going to use me for a commercial, are you?”

“Nope, I have a few friends with me and we need some privacy for a few minutes. Have one of your girls bring coffee and a couple of Cokes.”

The guy was all smiles, and as he was leaving, said, “Come see me for a special lunch or dinner. You are still my hero.”

That was a production I could have done without, but people are that way. I looked around and asked, “Okay, Guys, what are we doing here if you don’t have a leader?”

Desmond, the man who was apparently the head of the squad, told me, “The boss told me that we were going to pick up a guy who is some kind of con artist. I have a warrant for him. You’re supposed to know how to capture guys like this.”

“We need to go look at the place where he’s keeping these kids. We’ll make a plan to penetrate it when we know where it is and how it’s defended.”

One of the guys unrolled a floor plan and told everyone, “This is the floor plan for all three floors of the split-level home. This room here is where the girls are being held. Check this out; there is a roof access at the end of the hallway that we can use. We can surprise anyone in the hall and secure the room where the girls are if we go through there.”

I nodded in agreement, and said, “Now, I want you all to understand something. If any of the people watching these girls shows a weapon, you are to immediately shoot. This is just like one of the capture courses. You shoot first and ask questions later.”

The men all looked at me for a long time before coming to the decision that I was serious. One man asked, “Where will you be? I was told to keep you in the background.”

I told all of the men with a smile, “I’ll be with you and will lead you in. Everyone double check your weapon and make sure your armor is pulled down.”

When I had grunts and nods from everyone, I told them, “Let’s get ‘em.”

We moved to the front door of the house, while a two-man team was entering the roof access to the hallway, and two men went around to the back. Gunfire was heard upstairs as soon as we breached the door, and a couple of men were caught off guard by our bursting entry. We moved through the first floor to make sure there was no one else to give us a problem as soon as the men in the lobby were cuffed and gagged.

We slowly made our way to the second floor and checked up and down the hallways. Our guys were at one end, so we moved to the far end of the hall. We cleared the rooms by opening one door at a time, ushering one or two girls from each room down the stairwell.

When we cleared all of the rooms but the last in the hallway, the girls there were trying to tell us with their eyes that someone was in the closet. A Deputy and I stood on each side of the door when the room was clear, and I announced, “You’re not going to go free. There are two of us out here to take you in. Do you want to walk in, or will you be carried to the morgue?”

There was no answer so I banged the butt of my rifle against the door.

Rat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat of a full auto AK-47 surprised us.

The guy on the other side of the door and I instantly went flat on he floor. My partner there was about to empty a magazine into the closet, but I held my hand up.

I announced, “That was very dumb. We will now fire until we have punctured every millimeter of the space you’re hiding in. Give up now if you want to live to have supper.”

The Deputy on the other side of the door had his weapon up and pointed at the closet door. He would have fired if anything had moved.

I asked one more time, “Do yourself a favor and come out now. I promise you that you will die if you don’t. We are tired and want this to be over. It’s in your court.”

There was a long wait before there was a scraping sound of something moving around. “We’re coming out. There are three of us.”

“Bring your weapons out with you, but hold them by the barrel. Keep coming and we won’t shoot you if there’s no reason.”

The men came through an opening in back of the closet. and stood up one by one. Each had brought their rifle, an AK, with them holding it by the barrel. I directed a Deputy to go into the attic when the last man was out, and make sure it was clear and to bring out any weapons that were there. He was also to check for any bodies that could be in there.

I was still on the second floor when I heard the, Rat-a-tat-tat of an automatic AK-47.

Rushing down the stairs wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I was in a panic over my men on the first floor. One of our men came to me when I slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, and said, “There’s someone in the doorway to the basement or bottom level. Should we charge that area or try to negotiate?”

“Let me announce our intentions, and see what happens. Just be ready in case they want to fight their way out.”

We moved over to the basement doorway and I began yelling, “Give up now. There is no escape and we will begin blowing you up down there in just five minutes. There will be nothing left when we finish. Come out now and live. I’m counting.

I pulled a hand-grenade from one of the men’s harness, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the stairwell.

Bang!!

WHOMP!!!!!

There was no way to anticipate the secondary explosion that occurred. The floor beneath my feet felt like it was buckling. I waved at the men on the first floor to get out of the house. Men from the second floor were running down the stairs to get out of what I thought was a weakened structure. I went to one of the captives when I stepped outside, and asked what had been stored in the lower level of the split-level structure.

The man didn’t want to speak, so I put my rifle under his chin and asked, “Are you a casualty of this encounter or will you tell me what I want to know?”

I pushed the barrel up under his chin, and he said, “We were storing explosives for some people who were coming for them.”

“What kind of explosives and who are the people coming for them?”

“C-4, or that’s what was supposed to be in the crates.”

I was astounded, “You had crates of C-4 down there? How big were these crates, and when were you supposed to give this material to the people you were holding it for.”

The man was getting nervous when he said, “These people were Middle Eastern and are to contact us to deliver the crates this week. We met them when we were picking girls up in Qatar.”

I pulled the Marshal leader aside and told him, “Get some structural engineers out here so we can search for all of their cell phones. We need to get into the lower level to check and see what the crates of C-4 look like. If there were several crates, they didn’t all detonate. This house would be flattened if just one crate of C-4 detonated. I’d bet we set the detonators off, and not the C-4 itself. Get it started so that we can recreate the crates. Get some more men, and sweep the surrounding area to make sure whoever is waiting for the explosives isn’t watching.”