Chapter 57

Steve and I were talking about the situation waiting for the next event or events. I had just commented that Aunt Etta's gold discovery was going to be successful regardless of outside enfluences.

My phone made its new call noise, so I said, "Johnson."

Major Williams said, "You and your partner, Steve Sharp, must think I'm your lackey. What's the deal with the people you want us to take?"

"They are probably child molesters, rapists, drug distributors, and could even be guilty of overdue books from the library. We need them for interrogation and your men can take them down. Make sure your guys wear armor because I'm having a feeling these guys are from a powerful group."

The Major said, "I have the warrant and we're set to serve it. Do you have a forensics team that you want to use, or do you want us to sweep the place?"

"How about I send the FBI folks with yours so that they can show off to each other as to how thorough they are."

The Major laughed, "You're sneaky too, huh? Mickey has told me all about you and how many times you've been shot. Are my people going to be shot at?"

"I don't know, Major, but use the advice I tell all my men, shoot first if you see a gun."

The older man on the other end of the call said, "Good advice, Chuck, that's how to stay alive."

I asked, "Are you ready now?"

"All I have to do is to wave my hand and the raid will begin. My Captain is with me and is on the phone with Hap. I wave, he'll advise Hap. Do we go?"

"Go, good luck and Godspeed."

"Now you tell me. Here they go, they busted three doors in, and I haven't heard a shot. We must have caught them napping. My guys know to use latex gloves so they don't corrupt the crime scene. Send your forensics team now."

I called the FBI team and told them we had a priority location to search. They were ready for something, and from what I could tell, ran out to their vehicles and headed to the motel as soon as they had the address.

Lena's phone rang and I answered it with my usual, "Johnson."

A young female voice said, "Ooh, are you the Chuck Lena always says is her lover?"

"Um, maybe that might be overstating our relationship."

"In other words you two just hook up whenever you can."

This was almost funny, but I humored the person on the other end. "Lena is very special to me and whether we enjoy each other in a more intimate way is between us. Do you want me to get Lena for you?"

The giggle on the other end let me know the person calling was going through some mental fantasies. She finally said, "Yes, please get her. I need to ask her a question."

Sharon went after Lena who was almost dressed, but hadn't put her bra and top on yet. She came to the kitchen carrying what else she needed and took the phone that I had been carrying. She stood in front of me talking to her friend while pinching her nipples and grinning at me. She must have answered the question that went over my head while I was fascinated by Lena's display.

She handed me her phone and told me, "Use it today and leave it in my room when you're done. Ginny is going to think you spent the night with me. I'm going to bring her to the patio so she can see what a hunk you are one of these Friday nights. She's going to cream her panties over you."

Sharon was biting her arm to keep from laughing so loud. She told me, "Girls get pictures in their minds about someone who's been described to them and constantly fantasize over them. I'll bet she's sore between her legs fantasizing about the hunk Lena keeps talking about."

Lena left laughing and we watched her drive off. Sharon was still fascinated by the video wall. She pointed at the various monitors and kept saying, "You can see everywhere. How come you can't watch the patio too?"

I pointed at the six blank monitors and powered up a bank of cameras and monitors. The patio came into focus with all the usual participants having breakfast. The kids that were still there began heading up to the rec center for their home school lessons while the men and women of the various companies headed for their work places. I watched Steve talk to Tiny and Henry for a while before all three went in three different directions. Steve gave Carson and another little girl a hug before going out to his truck and leaving the park.

"You can watch everything from here." We watched Hap's guys take the van and even watched as the flat bed truck came and took the van away. Sharon asked, "What should we watch for now?" when that was finished.

"I still don't know who's responsible for what's going on, or even why, Sharon. Meanwhile, let's dress in regular clothes and go to the doc so I can be released to fly."

We locked the house up, turned the alarm on, and went to the doc in a cart. The man was very thorough and made sure I was healing properly this time. He told me, "I would have been able to diagnose that you had an infection brewing in there if you had come by when you should have. This only held you up a week or so, but it's weakened you to the point that you're not going to be a hundred percent for a while. You can fly, but don't put too much pressure on the leg for a couple more days. Try to get back to me if something else happens, so I can evaluate how it's affected you."

As I was pulling my pant leg up the wounded leg, the doc said, "I'm told you're fathering another batch of kids. What I'm going to say is for your own good. You have to recognize that you're responsible for all those youngsters and all their mothers. You have to stop being a target. I have no reason why, but I like you, Chuck. You've always been the guy who the various branches want to know about. Make sure you're covered, and let this new little girl watch your back."

I really didn't need to be lectured by the company doc, but I knew he was right and I had to be more careful. The job still had to get done, and it has always been my attitude that it would be done at all costs. I guess the methods of 'at all costs' were going to be modified a little.

No calls had come to me for a long while, so I used one of my new cell phones to call Sam.

"Nightfox."

"Note the number as this is a burner phone, Sam. What do you know about all this shit?"

"More, Chuck. I had the Orlando team surround and take the location where you were supposed to find a captive. They pulled six men in who have been talking since we put cuffs on them. Those people and the survivors of the group that wanted you to go west to help out have all been captured and are in interrogation."

"This is so strange, Sam, because it seems like there is two different groups doing something at the same time."

"Oh so right, my grasshopper. One of the groups is from Russia, and they want something that you've denied them. The FBI and our hunters have tracked them back to a group called Bering Mining. You'll have to tell me about them. The other is from the group you pissed off in Hawaii. They found out you were part of the Secret Service, and figured you were part of the Ops Groups out of San Diego. They had a problem with lead poisoning when they tried to penetrate security there. You don't try to shoot your way into an Ops Group headquarters. We do have a couple of captives who are talking, so all is not lost."

"What's with the Bering Mining thing, Sam? What do you know about that?"

"Their man in Salt Lake City thought you would be an easy target to get to concede to their land grab deal. He decided to observe your fortress in Florida and figure out a way to grab you or someone close to you so you could be compromised. You had the locals raid them about the time they were ready to grab one of your people, and called the FBI forensics team in who found all kinds of bad things. They had explosives, automatic weapons, and a lot of sophisticated electronics to attempt to eavesdrop on you and us. What was surprising was that none of the people captured were prepared for a raid. Not a shot was fired by anyone, so it was all done without bloodshed."

Sam added, "The FBI is doing a quick look at all branches of Bering Mining, their holding company, and all the related holding companies they are involved with. I think the pressure we'll put on the company in Salt Lake City will probably take care of problems you might have had. We've found out the President of the Denver office is a former Company Commander you served under. I think he's embarrassed since he's found out that men from his company, although from another office, were involved in something like this. He's contacted the local FBI office and advised them he would work with them to ensure none of this problem was being originated from his office."

"Do I need to do anything, Sam? I'm a little gun-shy about leaving this place unprotected, so I'll probably just stick around until the women are back from Hawaii. They all know how to take care of themselves. I think the ladies would be a force far more deadly than you could believe should anyone attempt to harm any one of them or any of the kids."

Sam chuckled, "Women do become protective. I take it you have been teaching your women the art of self-defense with both hands and weapons?"

"Yes, for a couple of years now. I think they're smart enough to stay as a group and mean enough that they wouldn't be easy to handle."

Sam sighed, "Okay, stay there and do nothing. Keep in touch with your office and advise when you have to. I think you should be getting new phones. Exchange what you have when an agent comes to you. You'll need to have Lisa and Jane trade theirs in. The delivery will have a new phone for Sharon as well, so she can send her old phone back, or have her send it to one her family members if it's her personal property."

We both need a nap, but you're where you can get one. Get that leg to one hundred percent while we try to figure out how these two groups were able to penetrate the Secret Service and our communications security. There almost has to be someone on the inside who advised them of the security levels. I'm sure the troops out west will be talking to you about it."

Sam didn't sound too confident that the problem was totally resolved. I was also concerned about Carp and the people working out in Cut Bank. I called Carp, "Hey, Carp, Chuck here. There's been a bunch of strange things going on with my government job, and some of it has led back to Bering Mining. At what stage are you at with the startup?"

"I have to wait until the end of the lease to do any mining. The men who are going to stay have been taken care of and have helped me secure the mining equipment and explosives. I don't think anyone could get at them now. We inventoried everything, and we have what we're supposed to have. There's nothing missing. We've put all the equipment into a large fenced lot with security guards. The security guards come from the reservation. We went out to the reservation when I asked the preacher if he knew anyone I could trust, and I picked out a dozen men who are now on duty doing eight hour shifts, twenty-four hours a day. I have to find a half dozen more for relief and days off, but I'm sure I'll get those from the reservation as well. I've spent more of your money to do background checks on everyone that is working now and going to work for us. I've used even more of your money for a wireless video monitoring system that covers the house area, the gold mining area, and the uranium field."

"You've done it, Carp. You've resolved all my worries about that place. You shouldn't have any problems, but make sure you tell the security people to be aware that there could be people who don't want us to succeed."

Carp gave a chuckle, "I figured on that, Chuck. The office in town is empty and the two company inspectors have left. I don't think there is a Bering Mining guy anywhere in the area."

"Just be observant, Carp." I paused a second, "Have you any idea how the farm is doing?"

Carp said in a cheerful tone, "They did get something planted so now they should have produce if the temperature stays decent and we continue to get a shower every couple of days. I'm told the interior of the house is almost completely repainted. They've been working at making the ranch a real showplace. The young couple you have running things out there are really good, as all the folks from the reservation like them and work hard for them. I'm going to have him work on some of the mining equipment before we startup to be sure it's all in good shape."

I thought Carp was done, but then he said, "The braves have found over two hundred and fifty head so far, and they think there may be more. They've had a day where they cold branded the stock they found, and made steers out of a lot of the bulls and bull calves. You have quite a few heifers to keep building your herd with."

"That's great. There's going to be enough beef to feed the reservation and the church people for the winter. We'll have to make sure we keep track of what it takes to feed everyone to make sure we're raising sufficient for that, and to bring a few extra bucks in at the same time."

"That's the right idea, Chuck. You're really going to help out up here. You'll have a lot of happy friends here with the miners working and many reservation people with jobs for the winter. Come see us so we can show you what we've done."

I had been on the phone all day, but I still wanted to talk to the women to see how they were doing. They should be just about done. It was three here and five hours earlier there, so it was about ten in the morning. I called Brandy's phone from the house phone. Brandy instantly answered and said, "I know this has to be you, Chuck, and we have news. I think we're done. The bedding is clean in the houses and apartments, the landscaping looks like a picture, and I think the people we have to watch the place and help us keep it clean are clued in on our crazy family. We've had some heavy rains, and the tunnel and bunkers are all dry. We even had a power outage but our power remained constant. The lights didn't even blink. We knew the power was out because the little red light above the power panel in the kitchen was flashing. I think the wind turbines are going to be sufficient to keep us lit up and the solar panels are going to provide some reserve. Did you know you have solar hot water here along with solar heating for the pools when we need it? This is a great place. We should put solar hot water and pool heating in at home."

"We do have solar hot water and pool heating here, Brandy. That was one of the things that restricted the quantity of solar panels we could have. We have six of the small wind turbines that Mark created and they take care of our energy needs."

"So when are you coming home, Brandy? I think Steve and I are about ready to fly to you if you don't come home soon."

"The aircraft is actually being readied and we're all packed, ready to fly all night to get home. We all thought the kids might be okay sleeping on the airplane floor with some of us mothers sleeping on the floor with them holding down a blanket to keep them from bouncing in heavy turbulence. I know the kids don't like to have to sleep in their car seats."

Brandy gave me her plan, "So if we leave by five your time, that will be noon here and we figured we should be there around four-thirty or five in the morning, depending on weather. We might wait until just after their naps at one or two this afternoon. We'll call from the air to let you know either way."

The next voice I heard was Jane who told me, "Mom and Dad are coming with us. They want to visit a little more, and Mom is having a blast playing with the kids. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not, Jane, they are always welcome."

Jane said, "That's what Brandy and Lisa said, but I wanted to hear it from you. Anyway, we'll probably see you in the morning. Ah, here's Lisa. She's being anxious."

"Hey, Chuck," Lisa said, with a lot of questioning in her voice, "You must have a lot to tell me to have called Brandy's phone using the house phone. I received a call from our contact to advise me to turn my phone off. I've advised all the girls to be watchful and to be aware of what or who is around them. I think they are all packing, including Sue, Mercy, and the rest of Steve's women. We should be fine."

"Good, stay alert, and at least four of you get out and watch the area around you when you refuel in Victoria. I doubt you'll have a problem, but just do it to be on the safe side. Don't show your weapons, but carry a purse or have it in your waistband. You and Jane need to display your badges. Ask the pilots to park in an open area for refueling so that you can't be surprised."