Chapter 51

The alarm went off at four, making me wonder what was going on. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had set it for four so we could get in the air to go home. I shook Etta and Lisa who were both groggy. The person who surprised me in the bed was Sharon. She sat up with the sheet falling away from her bare breasts. She rubbed her eyes with her fists like the little guys, looked at me, and said, "You're so mean to wake me up in the middle of a good dream."

Etta sat up with her and said, "That was a very naughty dream, little girl."

Sharon giggled and said aloud, "I forget that you guys know how to see into me, even my dreams."

Lisa sat up and told me, "Your children are becoming active. They're already moving around. I'm only a few months along and they are already moving. What's it going to be like when it's nearly time for them to be born?"

Etta told her, "Hug Chuck's back and they will be calm when they get active at night. That's always worked with Tasker and Johnson women."

We showered, were checked out, and at the airport by five. Lisa spooled the APU up while I did the exterior checks. Lisa was spooling up the first engine as I pulled the door shut. As I sat in the right seat, Lisa said, "I used my smart phone to file a flight plan. That's the first time I used it, but a smart phone can do a lot of things. It's a new app I found." She showed me the assigned altitude confirmation and the weather between Cut Bank and Tampa.

We were off the ground and climbing to our altitude in minutes. I got up and made coffee while Sharon went to sit in the right seat to talk to Lisa. Etta pointed at the seat next to her, and said, "Talk to me a while. You know we've accomplished a years worth in a few days, but we haven't had much time to talk."

I had to agree and sat with Etta. She leaned her head on my shoulder and told me, "I didn't have the opportunity to rely on a man until my son grew up. Even then, he wasn't the assertive person you are. It's only reasonable that you would be like both your mother and father and be the take charge person you are. You know that you overwhelm people with your desire to succeed, Chuck. Poor Jim is shaken with the responsibility you were putting on him. The tribal elders were trying to keep from laughing because you were pushing their people and everyone else so hard. I saw it and I know Lisa felt it. You made a good choice by putting Harry in charge, and Janet is just as strong. Those two will be assets and good friends. All they needed was a little push from you."

We sat without talking for a few minutes until Etta said, "You know that I was almost angry at you for not making a deal with those mining people. I kept thinking that we needed to sell the property to get it out of my or our control. I knew not to say anything when I saw how incensed you were about the way those lawyers acted. But you made it all better by finding Carp to head the mining, Chuck. I hope it brings happiness to him and some fortune to the town."

We had coffee and I refilled the coffee cups for the two up front. We had adjusted our watches from Mountain Time to Eastern to give us a better idea of when we would land. We set down at eleven thirty-five. We taxied to the front of the light jet hangar, and spun around to park. Lisa and I were used to cleaning up after ourselves and put the empty cups and coffee grounds into trash bags as we got ready to leave the aircraft. I poured the remaining coffee into some cups for Sharon, Lisa, Etta, and I before we got off the plane. Everything was ready for a charter if they had someone to rent it.

Lisa turned the logbook in before we were given a cart ride to the big Lincoln. I told the girls, "Let's go to the patio and have lunch there before going home. I think I need to see all my kids first."

Lisa told me, "And your women too. They are breathlessly waiting for you to come home. You know they all hold their breath when you're gone. They may not have this time because they knew it wasn't for 'business', although it was a kind of business."

The patio was busy with people there for lunch. I enjoyed the hugs and kisses from the women there and then sat on the floor to enjoy the little ones saying hi to me. I'm so amazed at how aware they are and how loving they are to me and others. Little Izzy came to me and sat in my lap while I was sitting Indian fashion with my legs curled up. The little girl hugged me and tried to tell me something. She then killed me by smiling at me and saying 'dadada'. Cassie heard that and was shocked. She ran to us and told me, "I'm so sorry, Chuck. Izzy hasn't ever called anyone that. She must have learned it from the other kids."

I smiled at Cassie and told her, "She'll know differently one day, but I'm proud to be her dad right now. It's easy to love a little one."

It was the wrong thing to say as I saw Cassie melting. Oh shit. I needed to have Lisa, Etta, and Julie head her off at the pass.

We went to the house after lunch, and the kids went with us to get a nap. Izzy came with us, as well as Sue Ellen, because they liked to be with the other kids their age. The women put some blankets down and let them pile up together for their nap.

The four of us who had been gone spent a couple of hours telling everyone of what we had been doing. Brandy said, "Your architect in Hawaii wants to talk to you. She said to call anytime because she needs an answer. Give her a call now."

I called the architect and found out that she was having trouble with the contractor regarding the connection of the passageways to the bunkers. She told me, "It isn't that big a deal, but he's making out like it's nearly impossible to align them. He wants some kind of extended flexible joint between the bunker and the passageway. I think he's just building the price up. I know the levels of the two are exact and the fittings of the two are as close to perfect as anyone could expect them to be, but he's still bitching. Chuck there is even some give between the bunker and passageway to work with earthquakes."

"What can I do to resolve this?"

The young woman said, "I know it's unreasonable, and the contractor knows it too, but you need to be here to tell him to make the standard connection and be done with it."

"How much does he want to put the extended flexible connections between the bunker and the passageways?"

"That's the problem, Mr. Johnson, he wants like three hundred grand for everything, and says he won't insure or warranty his bunker without them."

"Wow! That's a lot for something that should have been priced with the bunkers. I'll tell you what, I'll be there as soon as possible and we'll have it out with the contractor. I'll call you in time to get Sam Perkins out there at the same time. Let me get a ride and we'll be out of here."

I told the ladies what was going on, and asked if they wanted to come along. All the bobble heads were going up and down, so I called Steve and told him what was up. His words were, "We're going with you if you're going to Hawaii."

A call to the Airpark was next to find out where our special pilots were. I told them to grab them and have the 737 prepped and ready to go to Hawaii. Sue called me and asked, "'I know Mickey and Sue Ellen can go with us, but can Izzy and Cassie come along? Cassie can continue the kids' lessons and Izzy is such a little doll."

"Of course, Sue; we have plenty of room. Tell Bonita this is just a quick trip and we don't need our instruments."

Lisa nudged me from the side and told me, "You know the little devil has filled the studio closets over there with instruments. She'll be playing out there if she finds an extra minute to do it."

I could see our pilots were dead on their feet when we got to the Airpark to leave. I told them, "Lisa and I are fresh. We'll take it there while you guys rest. You guys can fill in if one of us needs relieving. I really appreciate you coming with us."

Lisa and I had been up since early this morning, and I knew she probably needed her sleep. She told me, "I'm good and feel good, but I need food. I called in a big food order so we should have something ready for us. Brandy and Tiani can get it ready."

Lisa and I were so well tuned that we went through each step of getting off the ground like professionals. The two other pilots were asleep in their seats before the wheels were off the ground.

We landed in Los Angeles to refuel and were only on the ground for thirty minutes. The other pilots came up almost as soon as we were in the air, and told us they were refreshed and would take it from there. I was ready, and so was Lisa. We sat in the main lounge area and played with the kids for a while.

Lisa was soon sitting back in her seat sleeping, and I was thinking that I could also use a nap. The kids were all going down for the night, but really didn't like having to sleep in their car seats.

We landed in Hawaii during the early morning hours. A bus took us to the hotel and we were in bed within minutes.

I opened my eyes and saw the clock show six-fifteen local time. That was good because I wanted to be at the house jobsite when the workday started. I was up, showered, dressed, and had a car rented by six forty-five. Sharon showed up at my side as soon as I walked out to the car, and told me, "I go where you go. Don't leave me."

Our timing was good as the men had just arrived at the worksite and were going to their respective jobs. The architect was at the building site table with a couple of other men when I approached. The one man was talking loudly, "You know that every day you delay us from completing this job is costing you. Let us put the flexible connectors in and be gone. Don't be such a wuss. This is something we do to make a buck on these jobs. Come on, the buyer of this place probably has money coming out his eyeballs and couldn't care less if we make a buck."

The architect was adamant about the bunker connections. She didn't know I was there and within hearing distance, when she said, "You're a thief to do this and I will report you. You can leave anytime you want but you won't be paid for your bunkers. Pull them and ship them back to the mainland. I'll find someone else to provide them."

The man began to swing at the girl, but I stopped him and put him on the ground. "You, Sir, were about to commit a very bad crime. If that architect says we don't need a extended flexible connection, then we don't." I pointed at Sharon and said, "That young lady is calling your home office right now." I pointed at another worker who had heard what was going on, and said, "That man is calling my attorney and will have someone of authority here as soon as possible."

The guy stood and was being huffy and obstinate, "You don't know what you need. Just because this two bit whore thinks you don't need the correct connection, doesn't mean shit."

I was going to hit the guy for his characterization of the architect, but stopped before I lost it. Sharon handed me her cell phone and I told whoever it was on the other end, "Johnson."

"This is Samuel Baker, owner of Baker Bunkers. I understand you have a problem."

I explained to Samuel Baker that his local installation engineer was demanding extended flexible connectors for an obnoxious amount of money. Samuel Baker said, "I have the utmost confidence in that site supervisor. If he says you need those connectors, you need them."

Shit, this was not going the way it should. "Mr. Baker, I want you to advise your man to remove these bunkers and be off my property before the day is over. What you are doing is wrong and I will suffer the cost of redoing the trenches and subflooring. I'm going to hand the phone to your site supervisor and he had best be removing these bunkers immediately or I will have him thrown off the property. Do I make myself clear?"

The man was trying to interrupt me while I was talking and still trying to talk as I gave Sharon's phone to the site super.

The local man was puffing himself up and several of his men were now standing behind him. I stepped back a few feet so I had a view of them all. Sharon stepped back with me. I pulled my sport coat back to reveal my Glock as Sharon smiled and pulled her jacket back to reveal hers. I pulled my U.S. Deputy Marshal badge out of my pocket, flipped the flap over, and stuck it into my breast pocket. Sharon pulled hers from her pants pocket and put it in her waistband.

You could see the men deflate as they stood there. I was really surprised to find out that they had this so well choreographed. What the fuck kind of operation was this? The man was still talking on Sharon's phone when I said, "The clock is running. You need to get these bunkers out of here."

The site supervisor handed me the phone and said, "Listen to the man."

Samuel Baker of Baker Bunkers came back on the phone and said, "We will honor our original agreement if you will retain the bunkers. My men will make the connection to your passageways and be off the job site by day's end. Will you still honor our agreed upon price?"

"Certainly, but you will have to pay for me to come here to resolve this. Please invoice me and I'll have my accountant deduct the cost of my travel here. We are done if you are in agreement."

I handed the phone back to the site supervisor and he listened before ending the call and handing the phone back to me. He said, "I'll be done by four."

I told the architect to have our contractor put a couple of men in the hole while they were connecting the bunker and make sure it was being done correctly. Instead of leaving, I stayed through lunch and afterward to be sure the job was properly completed. I sent Sharon off to get us lunch and to bring some back for the architect as well.

The bunker installation crew left at the end of the day, and I made a personal inspection of the bunkers and the facilities there. The only errors we found were a few electrical connections that were wrong, but all the plumbing and waste connections were right.

The architect said that she wanted to let the installation sit for a couple of days to be sure it was still sealed correctly. She said it didn't delay anything else on site.

Sharon and I went back to the hotel and found the family and Steve's family enjoying the beach. Sharon was into a bikini and running toward the ocean in seconds. Brandy came to me and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't handle that one. This was a real problem as the guy thought he had us over a barrel. You'll have to tell me what you did."

"Ask Sharon, she was there. I really didn't have to do much other than tell them to take the bunker out of the hole and get out of there. They became a lot more congenial and it was resolved."

Tiani said, "I'm sure it wasn't that easy, but that will do until Sharon tells us the rest of the story."

Lisa handed me a drink while I sat on a patio chair watching my toddlers having a good time. Cassie came to sit beside me, and asked, "What are you anyway? Are you a lawman, businessman, or what? I hear something different every day."

"Does it make a difference, Cassie? I do all that stuff, but I'm a family man most of all. Just look around. All my kids are here, all of Steve's, Sue's, Mercy's, Kathy's and Mickey's kids are here, so the big family is together. Look at Steve playing with the boys. Even my little boys are trying to play with him. We made a quick trip here to make sure our new home is being properly put together. We'll get out of here and go home now that it's going the way it should. We've had a lot of things going on lately, but we need to make sure they're all going the way we want."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Cassie said. "What are you, a lawman or businessman?"

"I'll have to let you figure it out, Cassie. I really don't know how to answer you."

Izzy took that moment to run to me and jump into my lap. The tiny bundle of bubbly child told me everything she had done today, and probably what she planned on doing tomorrow. She hugged me, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and was gone running through the sand toward all the other kids her size. Cassie grinned at me, winked, and gave me an air kiss.