Chapter 63

Tiny Izzy was sitting on my chest giggling at me while Nitika was leaning over my head trying to pry my eyes open. The two darlings were jabbering away with each other, probably trying to decide what to do with me. Cassie and Nancy were watching the two to make sure they weren't going to be too rough. I reached around both little girls and brought them to me so I could smooch them with kisses to make them giggle even more.

I realized it was important for me to get up when Nitika very plainly said "Breakfast". Nancy leaned over me and gave me a loving kiss. She smiled as she rubbed her tummy and said, "I can't wait until our son is doing the same thing to you."

Cassie gave me a kiss as she pulled Izzy from me and stopped long enough to tell me, "I know you didn't want more women, but I'm so happy that you accepted me. I know I have your son in me and I also know we will have a loving family for the rest of our lives."

Now that's an emotion to wake up to. I heard Mercy tell me in my head, "I've left you alone for long enough. Mom and I need someone to harass, and you're it. Get up. We're all hungry."

I slipped a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and my peg on before I went out to the big kitchen with the giant table. Dewey pushed a tall glass with red liquid into my hand and said, "Time to catch up, Grasshopper. You've had a couple of hours sleep and I've had my two, so we're ready to enjoy Hawaii."

Steve told me, "We've been briefed by the pilots and the outside security people. Bear has even been out to tell me how he put some professionals here to watch out for you. Whatever went on out here is more than any of us know about yet, but we will."

Brandy brought me my phone and said, "This thing has been going crazy for the last couple of hours. Take a couple of Dewey specials and answer your calls. We're going to eat breakfast, but will save plenty for you."

I stuffed the phone in my shorts pocket and carried two Dewey specials to the porch. I figured the contact should be first, so I called him. After the protocols under the sync mode, I gave him a brief report that we were able to repel some people who came last night. He said. "No shit, Sherlock. The cleanup folks said they transported fifty plus and are shipping five prisoners. They don't know who they are or where they're from so far. Their fingerprints don't match any on file. What have you gotten into?"

"Don't know, don't care. I'm going to shoot first then ask from now on. Those men had to be directed to do what they were doing by Carl Manning. Get it out of him. I'll come waterboard the bastard if you want."

"It won't happen, Chuck. The man elected to shoot it out with a bunch of Deputy Marshals attempting his capture. He lost. One Deputy has a scratch, but that's all it is, a scratch. The Service can't believe they were harboring someone from a subversive group. Four more line people have disappeared, so they must have been a part of the same group."

"Did you get anything from the prisoners transported last night? Is there any information as to who they are? How about the men from the boat we sunk yesterday? Or I think it was still yesterday."

"Nothing, Chuck. It's as if these men have just materialized out of nowhere and have never done anything to get themselves fingerprinted or observed. We are going over embassy applications now, but that isn't working out either. I'm thinking Manning and his group were moles who came alive when he was accepted into his job as a Homey auditor. That position gave him access to a lot of information and our Ops groups. I think he discovered an entire agency within an agency. It's actually an agency within an agency within an agency, and funded by some Daddy Warbucks through the big buck dot gov group somehow. Auditors can't stand entities that seemingly exist without budget oversight."

"How come they don't vet their employees better than that?"

"Manning professed to be Muslim, and therefore was justified not having a lot of contact with people, but he attended school here in the States and was clean as far as police records or general knowledge is concerned. His school transcripts are on file, and the service is going after them for a second look."

I took a big drink of a waker-upper and said to the contact, "What else do you know, or that anyone has heard? Is there any Intel at all?"

The contact told me, "You aren't important any longer with Manning gone. He was gunning for you because you wouldn't buckle under to what he wanted by trashing our rehab locations. He probably began looking into you and your holdings, and thought you might be an important target. The Director is assigning someone as head of the rehab program now. That group will be contacting you as we need locations. We might be able to get some of the locations that closed on us back, but we need all the help we can get. They're pulling people from the Middle East and a lot of those have been under for a long time. They need to decompress."

I told the contact, "You know this Hawaiian location can handle at least two more, and I'll call the ranch and have them do the remodeling if you think we'll be able to get at least five grand a month for each. We might be able to handle a couple more up there if we were to use the bunkhouse. Will we have a problem getting what we need to house these guys?"

"No, no, no. They may be feeling that the five grand isn't enough for what we're asking for from you from what I've already heard. You can plan on the five, but I'm sure they will be renegotiating with you right away. The one thing you need to do though is to set up a separate bank account for each rehab location. You know how they like to pay by direct transfer. Get that done for the three locations, and have the banking numbers forwarded to me."

"I'll do that this morning. I think it's still morning. Okay, call me if you get any info on who these people that visited last night were. I'm going to get something to eat."

The next call was a voicemail from the Director asking me to try and help the service with rehabilitation locations. He said he thought the Secretary of Homeland Security might call about the Manning problem, but for me not to wait by the phone.

The last call was from the guys on the island near Friday Harbor. "This is Chuck, what do you guys need?"

The voice on the other end said, "Nothing now. We had some people who came to visit us last night. We sort of had to make them leave. Our contact called and warned us we might get some visitors who would be difficult to deal with. They left and were last seen on their way out to sea in their boat. There were only four of them, so it wasn't a big deal. Our only question is do you think there might be more?"

Christ, this Manning guy had caused a lot of trouble. "I don't think you'll be bothered again. The only bad thing is your location is now known, whereas it had been a quiet location before. What you had to do should pass if we don't make a big deal out of it. The operatives you ran into won't be missed from what we know about them, since they have no real ID or record of having ever existed."

"Well, good, we were worried, but now we'll just hope that boat had enough fuel on it to get a few hundred miles out before it decides to sink. We put something on it to help it sink, so it shouldn't be tracked back to here."

I asked, "Aren't you being pretty loose over an open cell connection?"

"Not to worry, I have a scrambler and I activated yours as soon as you called. It's as good as a sync call. The emergency is over anyway, so enjoy yourself wherever you are, Chuck."

I finished my second Dewey special, and then got up to go inside. True to their words, there were some biscuits, warm gravy, some bacon, and a pile of scrambled eggs waiting for me. I ate while I listened to the general conversation. My only comment was, "I want another nap as soon as we can get the kids worn out from playing. My butt is still dragging after no sleep last night. I'm sure the rest of the women here are feeling the same way. What time is it anyway?"

Dewey looked at his watch and said, "It's eleven o'clock in the morning where you're sitting right now."

"Okay, let's get the kids into the pool and let them wear themselves out before lunch and the much looked forward to nap. I still have a couple of more calls to make. Thanks for the breakfast, Ladies."

I almost went after another Dewey special, but thought two would be more than my share. I went to the office and called the ranch. Janet answered the phone and immediately recognized my voice. "It's great to hear from you so soon. Do you have good news about us getting visitors?"

"I do, Janet. Get the contractor we talked about to start building the two apartments on the third floor, but also have him look at what needs to be done to have another couple of apartments in the other bunkhouse. Let's just think about that one for a bit, but go ahead and get the third floor work done."

"That's really good, Chuck. The income from that will put us in the black a lot sooner. Wilma came out and talked to us about what all we could do to make the place profitable."

"Don't worry about making the place profitable, Janet. The reason for our existence there is to help others. We are successful, which is a lot more important than being profitable if we help the church, help the tribe, and employ a lot of people. I'm sure we'll be profitable, but we don't have to rush to get there. Relax, have fun living in that great country, and enjoy your life with your family."

"Oh, Chuck, you make me feel so lucky every time we talk. I know you mean every word you tell me and that you truly want us to be happy. Thank you for choosing us, Chuck."

"We're both winners, Janet. Give your critter a kiss and a hug for me. I'll be available if you need me and give me a call when the upstairs is ready."

That was done so I could now refocus on here and Costa Rica.

This was crazy, as I should have been sitting in the sun enjoying myself, but I was still wound up over everything that should have been pushed to the side. I had to make the decision that I didn't want to make. I needed to separate myself from being a special Ops guy and probably separate myself from being a Deputy Marshal. I hadn't been a very good one of those for a while with all the crazy problems that have been happening. How could I balance it all? Some of the responsibilities had to go. I needed to be able to focus more on my family, but I knew that I'd go crazy if I didn't do some frontline work. How could I do that and not be in the line of fire? This was going to be tough to deal with.

The little kids were all having fun in the pool. The older kids were playing catch and batting some balls around. A few had a couple of soccer balls and were doing some fancy footwork. I must have really been preoccupied, as I took a second look and noticed that most of the women were sunbathing topless and a few were totally nude. I suppose it doesn't hurt anyone, and the little ones always swim naked.

I asked a topless Mercy where Steve and Dewey were, and was told by Missy, "They took one of your cars to the airport to see Bear and Crystal. They wanted to talk about the golf holidays and whether or not they should increase the trips during the winter."

That didn't interest me in the least, so I pulled my T-shirt off and sat back in the lounge chair to soak up some sun. Gina saw me and came over with some sunscreen and gave me a nice massage with the oil. My gorgeous Italian was topless and dangled her large mammaries in my face as she applied the lotion. The decision to want to pay more attention to my family is becoming easier by the minute.

The women began gathering kids. The little ones were getting tired, so they willingly came from the pool. The older kids really didn't want to come in, but did so at the parents' request. The one thing these kids were is respectful, and minded when asked to do something.

We had soup on the table with a couple of stacks of sandwiches for all of us in a very short period of time. The little ones sloppily ate from tiny bowls of soup and also had a small turkey and cheese on whole wheat bread sandwich. The sandwiches already had some mayo on them, but a couple of the little ones wanted a pool of catsup to dunk the sandwich in. They learned that trick from the older kids who had learned it from their folks.

I joined the little ones on the floor as they lay together in a mass pile after lunch. We were covered with a light sheet and given a bunch of airline type pillows as we settled down. I had all the kids touching me in some way as we fell asleep.

Lisa kissed me and said, "Your phone is ringing. Come answer it."

I had been asleep for all of thirty minutes, but I felt better. Whoever had called was not there when I got to the phone. The caller ID said undisclosed, so I couldn't return the call. The phone made the sound announcing a voicemail message, so I entered the password and listened. "Sam Nightfox here. You've been a busy boy and should give me a call. Nothing that has to be done immediately, but I do want to talk to you. Use your encryption and give me a call."

I looked at the time to see it was nearly two here, so it would be eight PM in DC. Something must be pretty important for Sam to be in the office this late. I synced the phone and called Sam's private line. Since the call doesn't show an ID in the synced mode, Sam answered, "Is this Chuck?"

"It's me, Sam. What are you doing at the office this late?"

"It's a long story, but not one that's bad, Chuck. I'm tying up a bunch of loose ends before I take the family on a week's plus vacation. I can get a ride to just about anywhere, but thought it would be neat to spend some time with you and your family. You know how my Maria loves all you guys. She sort of wanted to go to Costa Rica to see Mark, but is willing to go wherever I want to go. Where are you now? Are you in Hawaii where the big happening occurred? You'll have to tell me about it one of these days."

"I'm in Hawaii. Can you get transportation here, or should I get you a ride?"

"I'm in good with the Air Force, and they have flights constantly going to the west coast and Hawaii. I've already sort of reserved seats for me and the family on a troop flight your way. Where should I get reservations?"

"You don't, Sam. You'll stay at my new place. We have plenty of room with lots of kids for yours to play with. Call me when you get to Hawaii, so that I can either come get you, or you can have someone with a helicopter drop you in our back yard."

Sam laughed, "I might not have that much pull. Is your new place very far from your little commercial airport and your resorts?"

"The house is close, but you would need a guide to get here. You'll see when you come. Come, I'll enjoy having you and yours with us. We probably have a lot to talk about."

"That we do, Chuck. I think we can give each other some advice. I'll see you in about twenty-four hours. I'll text you to keep you posted on our progress."

That was a strange call. Sam usually hides out during his vacation time. He's coming a long way to join the masses having fun here this time. Lisa was watching and listening, but Brandy was now beside her. I asked Brandy, "Can we handle a family of five? One kid is like ours, and the other two are near the bigger kids' size."

Brandy said, "We still have two suites for visitors upstairs. The suites have efficiency kitchens, but I'm sure he'll be eating with us if he's your friend. Each suite has two bedrooms and two baths. One bedroom has two big beds in it, so there should be plenty of room."

I told them both, "Sam Nightfox is coming with Maria and family for about a week. You know who she is because you know who Sam is. I'm sure you'll make her comfortable with us so that she has fun too."

Oh well, another life heard from. I should probably call Wanda to see if anything is happening. She would call me if something was stirring, but she might be trying to hide shit if she thinks I may be in some form of danger. It would probably be best to call her at work tomorrow.

I had just poured myself some coffee when Lisa came to me and asked, "Why don't you call Wanda to see if something's going on. You know she might not want to disturb you since I'm sure she's aware of the screw up with the Manning thing."

Amazing, I know no one was listening to me, but she hit on what I had been thinking about. "Yeah, let me call. I was going to wait until tomorrow. I'm sure they are probably still at the patio, but they may have gone out to eat."

The phone couldn't have completed its first ring before Wanda answered, "It sure took you long enough to consider calling me to tell me you're okay. The report said over fifty casualties, but it didn't give a breakdown between good and bad guys. Are you sure you're okay? Is your new backup, Sharon, okay too?"

"There were no casualties on our side, Wanda, nothing to worry about."

My office manager and former roommate said, "Yeah, right. As if you would call to tell me you picked up some lead. I hear just the one line reports, like tweets, and then worry until I hear from you."

"No sweat, I'm fine, Wanda. What else is going on? Sam's taking a vacation week and coming to Hawaii to visit. Is there something brewing that I should know about?"

Wanda gave me the rundown, "The only things I know about all have to do with the Homey people. The Secret Service had that crazy man running around trying to subvert the rehabilitation and training programs. I saw on the Marshal's website that the man was killed in a shootout in Baltimore. Was he responsible for your quick departure for Hawaii and the fun you just had?"

"That's the man and the reason. We were coming here anyway, so it just shortened our stay in Montana and got us here quicker. You're sure that there's nothing that I should be aware of within my area of responsibility?"

"Not a thing, Chuck. The guys you have set up to handle kinky warrants and heavy captures are all healthy and ready to do the deeds. Your office is functioning as if you're in your chair playing with the in and out baskets. All is good, Boss. I think John will be going crazy for a couple of weeks since you pulled some pilots and instructors, but he said he has more men retiring from the Air Force who are going to take up the slack. All is well."

"Okay, good. I was going to call tomorrow, but I'm glad I didn't wait. We can both relax a little now. There has been too much tension lately. I'm ready for some downtime. Call me if something comes up. Good night, Wanda."

"Goodnight, Boss."

I had the phone on speaker so that the ever curious Brandy and Lisa wouldn't have to be given a word for word repeat of the call. Brandy was satisfied and left to either check on her son or to gather with the women in the kitchen area. Lisa sat back, rubbing her growing belly and thinking of something. She finally looked up at me and said, "I do want to resign from the Services. I can remain a retired Deputy or something, but I don't want to have anything that will take me away from my kids. I hope this doesn't mess with you or your work, but these babies in my belly have become more important to me than just about anything. You're still number one with me, but these kids are a different kind of number one. Tell me if this is upsetting to you, but I want to be a mommy and housewife. I can be a wife and mother even in our strange family."

I pulled Lisa to her feet and hugged her to me. "I love you, Lisa. I want you to be the mother of our babies right here, or wherever we are. Our kids, all of them, are more important than anything else in our lives." Lisa looked up at me and gave me a sweet kiss that told me more than words could.

Steve and Dewey came back and were extolling the value and worth of the properties we jointly owned. They told me that I was going to have to visit the new resort that was being built, since it was going to look just like the houses and buildings here in our compound or mini-village. All the roofs appeared to be thatched, with all the siding made to look like native hut walls. Dewey told me, "There were some drawings of what the rooms and suites are going to look like. Everything is going to continue to look like native huts with wicker woven furniture, palm leaf baskets, and natural wood tables. It will be modern but be rustic looking. Oh yeah, all the golf courses are complete, with the clubhouse already serving the golfing public."

Steve told me, "The pros in the golf shop said two of the five courses were the toughest they had ever seen, and that includes in Great Britain. You have two links courses with holes that resemble those crazy holes with deep hollows for sand traps. There are water hazards everywhere with that stream that flows through the property. They've dammed some areas so that there are small ponds to go over or around. I'll bet these courses have a big reputation before the resort is even finished."

Dewey was at the small bar in the family room next to the kitchen, pouring some evening libations. He looked at me and I gave him a hand signal of a tall one. Today had been busy, but all my family was with me at last. I thought I should check on my security men, and went out to the rear of the house to see if one would approach me. The on duty team leader came out to see me as I approached the lane road. He asked, "Have you heard whether or not you are still under threat?"

"Nothing conclusive, but I think the main source of the problem has gone away. I want you guys the entire time we are here this time, so plan on it. You can reduce the amount of men on a shift so that you can swap more frequently."

The man looked at me and said, "You know you're paying for twenty-four trained men right now. Do you really want to continue?"

"I don't care what I pay for the security of my family. I'm lucky enough to afford you guys, so watch my joint for me so I can have a drink, eat, and sleep in peace. I do have another family coming tomorrow. He may want to meet with whoever the team leader is while he's here. You'll want to meet him too." I shook hands with the man and he blended back into the vegetation.

I ran into the groundskeeper on my way back to the house. He was putting one of the big tractor mowers away. I asked him, "Can you really keep up with taking care of all the property here by yourself? I love the way you've planted coconut palms and pineapples around the perimeter. It's very functional in addition to being beautiful. I'm sure we'll be able to enjoy the fruit of what we are growing."

The man told me, "The folks who farm the fields and groves for you helped me arrange and plant what you see. They have been here often to help me make the place into something special. They like the idea that you've tried to blend your place into the landscape. It's like when I came to interview for the job, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A bunch of thatched roof native built homes that were supposed to be worth millions. The more I looked, the more I could see the place was special."

"Do you need some help? There is a lot to keep up with along with taking care of the women of the place."

The man laughed, "All four of the ladies are natives and desire some of my attention. They are a lusty bunch, although they don't appear to be anything but the most circumspect when you look at them. You can help me out if you want to, you know. They've already told me they would like to enjoy the one-legged man with the nice smile. They think you must have something special to have so many women. They are curious."

It was my turn to laugh. "Don't go spreading that to my women, or yours would be lined up for me. Mine love to get me to enjoy other women, but I think I have as many as I could handle. What I was asking though, was if you needed some help taking care of the grounds and maintenance?"

He thought for a second, and then said, "I might in the future as things begin to become older and more problematic, but I can handle the stuck toilet plunger or the clogged drain right now. I have to do some touchup patching and painting where the rounds hit the house and buildings. We were fortunate not to lose any windows, but mostly fortunate to not have any casualties."

The man told me, "That was one hell of ambush you did on those guys down the lane. I was out watching and saw how you trimmed them from both directions. They didn't have a chance and should have immediately given up, but they didn't. You only had a dozen or so people, but you sure took care of that bunch. That little girl who was with you is a tough one, isn't she? She was right there at your side, taking out man after man who came from the exploding pickups. She's a good one."

I tried to get back to what I wanted to know, "So you don't need any help right now?"

"I might look for a part timer, but I think I can handle it for now."

I told him, "Just remember, if you get behind, even a little behind, get help. Get a part timer or another full time man, and spend your time landscaping and tending the pineapples and coconuts."

That got me a smile and chuckle. I strolled toward the big house, but was accosted by one of the maids who worked in the rehabilitation area. The woman greeted me, "You are Mr. Johnson, right?"

"That's me, and you are?"

She giggled and said, "I'm Lani. I work with Mele to take care of the apartments for your visitors. We both want to ask about what we can do with the men who are here. Both of us feel these men are very lonely, and we want to help make them feel the happiness they should enjoy. May we attempt to enjoy their conversation instead of always remaining quiet around them?"

This was delicate, but I needed to know, "Do you want to just talk to them, or interest them in some other forms of attention you want to give."

Lani looked at me with a question in her stare, but said, "I think I know what you ask. Mele and I want to make the men you have here feel good and be the men they want to be. I think the word is intimate. We want to be intimate with them."

There it was. That was about as truthful as it gets. "You know that these men are here for only a short time to get to be more relaxed and to know they can be accepted back into regular life, Lani. What you are asking might be very personal to the men, but could be welcome in most cases. Will you be upset if one tells you to leave him alone?"

"No, Mr. Johnson. I think we understand. Our culture tells us to comfort those who are with us and to enjoy them as well. You know Mele and I would very much enjoy comforting you, but you have many very beautiful women who seem willing to comfort you."

"Be careful of those nice looking women, or they will be trying to comfort you instead of the reverse."

Lani giggled before saying, "Hawaiian women enjoy each other as we do our men."

That does it. I'm moving the entire trailer park here.

"Be very careful how you or Mele offer yourselves, Lani. You know the ways of men, so give them space or comfort if you want, but make sure your advances are welcomed."

"Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We want to do well in this job and maybe be promoted to help with the many women and babies in the big house. I think the people in the big house are very intimate with each other. I know I would want to find out."

I wonder who interviewed these babes for the job. I didn't have to wonder if it was Frieda and Brandy.

Back in the house, I saw Steve and Dewey enjoying drinks on the patio while women were milling around in the kitchen. The bigger kids were all out in the grass kicking soccer balls and playing either baseball or softball, depending on the grouping. I made a drink and went out to join the two men.

Dewey asked, "What do you think of your place so far?"

"It's great, Dewey. I'm going to be up to watch the sunrise in the morning. I think that is why I bought land on this side of the island. Get up with me and enjoy that mind melding experience with me."

"Oh, we will, Chuck. Steve and I will be here with our morning treat, watching each change of color of the horizon as the sun comes up. I know I've missed that since we last watched the sunrise at the resort."

Steve told Dewey and me, "You know there is an easy answer for all this. We would be able to watch both the brilliance of the sunrise and the magnificence of the sunset if we were on one of our boats. Both are special and both deserve our observance and praise."

Dewey said, "You're so right, Steve. We probably should spend some more time on the water together. Chuck's big boat is big enough for all of us, but may not be when Chuck has his next batch."

Steve told Dewey, "Don't forget, I'm going to add another to my brood so that Sue Ellen has a brother or sister. I'm sure there will be more folks from the park who are bringing a new one into our family by then."

Dewey sipped his drink and said, "I feel like a slacker. I haven't brought any more women or any more children into my family. I'm older than you guys and should probably just enjoy my women and the kids I already have."