I woke up at ten, sitting up quickly, knowing I had slept late. The house was quiet, so I knew I was alone. After using the bathroom, I walked into the kitchen and found a note on the table. Bobby had written, "We didn't want to wake you, so warm up some coffee in the microwave and make one of the Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls. We're all at work doing the required annual file cleaning and reviews, see you soon ... Love, Bobby."
I thought for a second how tough it was to have all of the office staff in on a Saturday but it only happens where it's required once or twice a year.
Instead of coffee, I opened the door to the patio and hopped out to the pool, where, to wake up, I jumped in and swam laps at a moderate pace. Once out of the pool, I had to hop over to the shower and scrub off, then hop through the house to the bedroom. After putting my leg on, I shaved before I had coffee and a breakfast bowl.
Wanda called the house and told me, "John called the house earlier, so at this second, I'm in the office. Bobby and Marie are working in the station waiting for you to come in. Get dressed and come in, I have your bag packed.
I pulled up to my parking spot behind the building about eleven-thirty. On the way to my office, I stopped in to say hi to Marie and Bobby. Bobby was busy with something, so I just waved and went on to my office.
Marie said, "You have been really busy lately, and it looks like you'll be even busier. We're happy to have you here for a few hours anyway."
Wanda gave me a radiant smile, welcoming me back. I thanked her quietly for letting me sleep and told her I felt for her having to come in on Saturday.
After turning in the paper work for the station change, I handed her the station's incident reports they had given me while I was there. Wanda said, "Yesterday, I thought you would be home for a few days, but you're needed in Boise, Idaho. Several escapees have apparently joined together to make a stand up in the mountains. D.C. wants you to be there so all of the current directives are adhered to. They would prefer a bloodless capture, but they understand that this could be a bad one."
"When do I leave, Wanda?"
"Now that you're up, I'll call out to the charter people. That will be the fastest way now. All the connecting flights have left for the day. I have a bag packed with clothes appropriate for the terrain where you will be, including your heavy boots. You might be leaving within the hour."
I checked my inbox to see no one was putting anything in it right now. I said, "If I have a full crew, I'll work on e-mails and write my station report for Oklahoma City. If not, then I'll just be busier when we get this one done."
Wanda said my bag was in the Escalade, so we stopped by the station to get the keys. Bobby said, "I'll go down with you. I need to go get us some sandwiches."
Down at the cars, Bobby gave me a big kiss and said, "Be careful, this isn't going to be a good one. There are eleven very dangerous escapees from all over that have gotten together. No one can even figure out how they know each other. Try to get some rest on the way out there, as you haven't had a good night's sleep yet."
After hugs and kisses from both women, I loaded my briefcase and pre-packed bag into the car and headed back out to the airport.
The crazy little girl was to be my pilot today. Another girl that I was told was still in training for commercial flying accompanied her. She didn't have enough hours yet, but was in the process of getting them.
This was good; I could work on e-mail as well as anything else Wanda wanted from me. The best part was that I could get a nap.
My e-mail folder didn't have much and all the inquiries were easy to answer. I did my station change report, then IM'd Wanda, telling her I would contact her after my nap.
The next thing I knew, the cute little pilot was shaking me, "Come on, Chuck, I understand you have work to do. We're in Boise and there are men here to take you away. Give us a call when you want to go home. Since we were told you would be here a while, we're going back home."
The men took me to their small station where I was thoroughly briefed about the eleven escapees and the location where they were holed up. It was thought from the way the shack was built, that it was built over a natural cave. Depending on how deep the cave was, we could be fighting the entire battle only to lose them inside.
"Is there any documentation about this cabin and who may have lived there before?"
One of the men said, "The old man that used to live up there died a couple of years ago. The ranger up there said no one had been in the place since the old man died. There is a granddaughter that lived in town that had visited the man extensively. Hopefully, she will be at the station in the morning to answer questions for us."
I looked at the video of the area again and inspected the photos that had been taken of the cabin. Several of the photos had one or two of the escapees outside cutting wood or moving more rocks in front of the cabin wall.
That night, I ate well, then after a nightcap, I went to bed early, ready to work out a plan to capture eleven dangerous men the next day.
Sunday morning, several deputies and the Station Chief joined me for breakfast. All the men were locals and knew the terrain well. Our hope was that the granddaughter would have something for us.
At the station, a lady in her forties, dressed in jeans and a wool shirt, was waiting for us. The men got her coffee and a donut, and settled down to listen to her. She confirmed that the cabin was built as the front to a cave that her grandfather had made habitable. She said that a circular hearth heated the cave, with the smoke escaping though a natural chimney.
We knew that many of the old miners that prospected in areas such as this, dug escape tunnels in case they were trapped by cave-ins. The granddaughter said, "There are three escape tunnels that gramps had. If you don't know where to look for them inside, you'll never find them. I can show you where they come out, but you might have a hard time getting in through them. The center tunnel is the biggest and would probably be the easiest to get in, if you wanted to."
We drove out to the site, but kept out of sight as we didn't want the escapees to know we knew where they were. The place was a circus, with some local law enforcement ready if we needed them, a couple of newspaper people, and a rep from the ACLU, who advised everyone that he would decide whether we gave the men an opportunity to give up or not. I told the ACLU guy and the two newspaper men to make sure they stayed where the cars were, as they might give our positions away or be in the line of fire if the men inside decided to shoot.
This was just what we needed at a capture where the escapees are armed, newspaper people and the ACLU.
The granddaughter walked us around the mountain to show us the three tunnel entrances. Next, she took us up the mountain to show us the two natural chimneys. Smoke was only coming from one of them.
Back down at the vehicles, she drew a diagram of the inside and what we might expect to find inside.
My only idea was to fill the place with tear gas that would send them outside. We could use a pepper gas, but we would have to go in it afterward to get the bad guys, so that was nixed because it would take a week to get the cave area cleared.
We decided to go take a look at all three tunnels and our side of the doors. Both of the side tunnels that the granddaughter said would be difficult to open were in decent shape, while the center tunnel was in excellent condition. There was a bar across the door that would not allow the door to open into the tunnel. That was strange, wonder why the bar was outside, instead of inside.
Now what I would like to do was to drop a flash bang down the chimney and while they were recovering come in from both directions. The problem was, would the flash bang bring down the cave?
The final plan was to cover the two side tunnels, then stop up the chimneys. As the smoke filled the cabin and the cave, someone would come out to find out what was wrong. We would capture them one by one, or a couple at a time, until we had them all or they were overcome by smoke.
When all the men were positioned, the signal was given to cover the chimneys. It took almost twenty minutes before the door opened and two of the men came out looking around. When they were satisfied they were safe, they headed up the mountain on a path that led to the top. The two were easily captured, handcuffed, and then led back down a different route that couldn't be seen from the cabin.
About five minutes later, two more men came out looking around and hollering for their fellow escapees. When they didn't hear a reply, they went back in and came back out with handguns. They continued looking around as they began going up the hill to clear the chimneys.
Once again, the two were easily captured, cuffed, and taken to join the other two in a large van designed to haul prisoners.
The good news was that we had only seven guys left in the cabin. The bad news was that they were now aware something was wrong. Soon the windows and door were open, letting smoke out. We could hear a motor had been started and smoke was pouring out the windows letting us know the motor we heard was a generator that powered a fan that cleared the smoke from the cabin and cave.
One of the more aggressive deputies wanted to start rolling hand grenades down the chimneys, plus drop a half a dozen flash bangs at once before charging the cabin.
I thought that we might as well follow procedures and commandeered a powered bullhorn. First I told the seven men we thought were inside they had this opportunity to throw out their weapons and come out with their hands up.
Nothing.
I told the men that we were in sufficient numbers to overpower them and possibly kill all of them.
Nothing.
I signaled for everyone to fire five rounds into the cabin through windows and the door. We heard a single yell of pain. I told them again that they had a chance to give up.
Nothing.
I had two experienced men each fire two RPGs into the cabin. One fired through the door and the other fired through an open window. After the four RPGs, I called again to give them the opportunity for them to give up.
Nothing.
I called together all of our men and said, "I want four men to load up on flash bangs and each drop two down the chimneys. With eight of those things going off, the cave may collapse, but if not, the men inside should be incapacitated. You other men get to either side of the cabin and when the eighth goes off, you all charge the door. Be careful we don't know how prepared the seven inside are. The second team will go through the rear door in the center tunnel. You will fire at any movement before anyone has an opportunity to fire at you. Don't hesitate, we've given them all the chances we can."
The four with the ordnance ran up the mountain, while the other men got into position on each side of the cabin.
I used the bullhorn to give the escapees one last chance. When there was no response, I signaled go.
I had talked one of the other men out of his .308 sniper rifle and had settled down into a prone firing position, sighting in at the door. This was not a group that seemed to want to give up.
The flash bangs began going off, and before the eighth went off, men were coming out the front door. The first two both had their hands to their heads, but the one behind them came out with what looked like an SKS, looking around quickly. The last three came out and didn't even look to see where they were shooting, but began spraying everything in front of them which included the two escapees with their hands on their heads.
I fired three successive rounds, knocking down all three of the men that were firing. They were motionless, obviously dead. Feeling a little self-conscious because no one else was firing, I picked up the bull horn and told the remaining men to put down their weapons as they were surrounded.
The idiot with the SKS fired at me and this time, several men shot him at the same time. This made another escapee, who just came out of the cabin, begin firing in our direction and he was quickly cut down by several riflemen.
Two more men came out of the cabin, dropped their rifles, and stood with their hands in the air. Now the script became even more confused, as there were thirteen total, not just the eleven escapees.
When the men were cuffed and in the prisoner van, we began checking out the cabin. They had enough food to last them through the winter plus enough ammunition to begin a small war. The crazy part was the money; how they did they get it? There was about fifty grand in cash for them to use. Who in the world did these guys know? We did save six escapees out of the eleven, but ended up with two unknown dead men.
One of the ACLU observers came up to me and asked, "Was it necessary to have killed those first three men?"
"They were shooting at us, at me, at my men, and at you. If I had let them continue to shoot at us, they would have hit someone, possibly killed one of my men, possibly even you. I can't have that. I fired only after being provoked. These men, even you, are my responsibility. Make sure that is included in your report."
The Station Chief came up to me and said, "Sorry you had to take out those three, but you had the best angle at them. You saw my guys take out the other two later. It's not like they're afraid to act."
"No sweat. They didn't know what kind of trouble they would get into if they did fire. I made up their minds for them. Your men did well."
The Station Chief and the granddaughter went into the cabin as she would know where any hiding places might be. While they were doing that I asked the local law to search the area thoroughly, looking for the vehicle or vehicles that these men used to get out here. There's no way they walked the fifty miles from Boise.
Around noon, a local sheriff's deputy showed up with a pile of sandwiches. The now large congregation of law enforcement personnel happily took a break from the gruesome cleanup going on. The local sheriff had been searching for the suspected vehicles and had not even found tracks other than our own. Any earlier tracks would be totally obscured now after all our traffic.
The Station Chief was able to have a helicopter begin an air search, sweeping the area, looking for newly dead foliage or even cleared areas that could be roadways.
Around three, the helicopter crew spotted some suspicious brush lower on the mountain from where the cabin was located. Upon inspection, we found a cave with two stolen mini-vans.
It was time for me to get out of there, so I said, "I guess that wraps it up here Chief, we have six to send to maximum security, and seven to send home to where ever home was for them. It's always a shame to have to tell someone that news. What else can I help you with while I'm here?"
Ed Landing, the local Chief, said, "You did what I needed. As soon as the prison released information that some prisoners had left the premises without permission, the newspapers were pushing the alarm button. As more information came out, the ACLU got involved, saying we couldn't hunt these really dangerous criminals down like animals. My constituents wanted them caught immediately, but the other faction didn't want us to use force."
The man looked around before continuing, "At first there were just the original four that walked off, but a witness said that a lot more than that had broken into a local gun store where the escapees stole a couple of dozen rifles and handguns. According to the other prison releases around the northwest, we were able to account for seven more escapees that had been heading this way. We'll probably never know how they got together, but it would be nice to find out how they were able to get so much cash."
I suggested, "Before you send the escapees back, interrogate them thoroughly, letting them know they will probably get an additional ten to fifteen years added to their sentence for jail break and armed resistance. Make sure you tell them that Leavenworth or somewhere like that will be expecting them. Perhaps a deal can be made."
Ed said, "Oh we'll try, but from the way the prisoners were acting, they didn't want to give up anything."
"Separate them; don't let them see or talk to each other. If they don't have the security of being together, they will all suspect each other of talking. Don't say that any of them are talking, but just smile at them. Let them think one of the other men gave you the location of the cars. That should put doubt in their minds."
"Good idea, Chuck, what we really need to do is water board them, but I think we might get into a hell of lot of trouble over that. The ACLU will be watching over our shoulders while we ask them their names. Funny isn't it, the guys that cry the loudest when one of these hoodlums breaks into their home spend the rest of their time protecting him?"
I rode back to the city in the prisoner van. I had left my bag and case in the station, so I went there first. To make sure of the protocol, I called John to ask his opinion. After giving him the whole story and my suggestions for the prisoners, he agreed with my approach and said to me, "You've fulfilled what you should. You led them into the confrontation and came out with only scratches, but with some escapees terminated. Since you've worked through the weekend, you can take a day or two off. Write your report, leave it on the clerk's desk at the local station, and then go home unless there's somewhere else you need to be."
"Nowhere, John, and I'm going to have to take a couple of days to get a new boot for my leg anyway. Perhaps I can get another leg while I'm at it."
"Well, if you're out of commission, you're out of commission. Do what you need to have done and stay in touch with your office. If you have to do without a leg, use crutches or a wheelchair."
"Thanks for understanding, John. I'll be at work, just not as mobile."
I called Wanda to advise her that I was free to go back to Florida, and did she want to check on a commercial flight for me. I told her my biggest concern was to get some more rest. Wanda said she would call me back in ten minutes.
When Wanda called back she said, "There is a commercial flight that flies direct to Dallas. That's the hang up, as it will be late there. The charter service will pick you up in Dallas and have you home by about two in the morning. Is that okay, or would you rather stay over?"
"Book it, Wanda, or would that be Dano?" I did get a chuckle from her. She told me to get to the airport as they would hold a first class seat for me, recognizing I would be an additional air marshal.
A duty guy rushed me to the airport, where I walked through the terminal and right onto the plane. As soon as I was seated, and they had stowed my bag, they were pulling away from the gate. The first class cabin hostess sat next to me briefly before takeoff telling me what all they had available to eat. I ordered before she had to take her seat for take off. First, I had a salad with a couple of little bottles of Beefeaters, then a very tasty piece of salmon in an almond sauce, chased down with some wine.
When I was full, sipping coffee, I realized that I was letting down after the adrenaline rush. A good meal with some spirits had tasted good and put me into a relaxed frame of mind. I had to tell the hostess that I was not really on duty as an air marshal, but if she needed me, to kick me on the way by. The next thing I knew, the hostess was waking me as we were approaching Dallas.
This was the result of what I had learned in the military. If you have a safe place to rest, you sleep. Because of the past learning experiences, I can sleep anywhere, anytime, if I'm safe. Find some shade under a deuce and a half, or a track and you can get forty winks before you have to be back in the field. The other part of that learning was to wake up refreshed and totally alert.
Once out of the plane and into the massive terminal, I began my search for my next ride by calling Wanda. There was no answer at the office. I looked at my watch, realizing it was not only past five, but it was Sunday. I called the house, where Wanda gave me a telephone number for the charter pilot who should be on the ground here.
The pilot told me to go to the counter of the flight I had just arrived at and they would direct me for transportation to the private aircraft area. The desk agent was very pleasant and said, "We are expecting you, Mr. Johnson. I will have one of ground crew assist you."
A guy in coveralls with noise canceling earmuffs around his neck came up, smiling. He took me through a maze of hallways and we ended up outside, near the planes. We used a pickup truck that was equipped with a radio that he used to cross some taxiways, but went completely around the end of the runways.
We drove into a forest of G5s, Lear jets, larger turbo props, and some small single engine planes. As we drove up to the S&S Lear, the man said, "I just love these planes. All of them have the craziest cartoons all over them. All the ground guys make excuses to get over here so we can see them when we hear they're in."
I thanked the man for the ride and was greeted by the nutty lady pilot I had flown to Boise with. She said, "Climb aboard, Chuck, I have my cute co-pilot with me again today, so you don't get to do the checklist with me. I'll tuck you in and you can just enjoy the ride. We'll be home in no time."
After buckling up in one of the desk seats, I turned on the PC as we prepared to take off. By the time we were airborne, I was answering e-mails. Wanda and the girls had taken care of most of them, so I was finished in less than an hour. I noticed a new file marked incidents. When I opened it up, I found that Wanda had scanned the incident reports and had made an area for me to electronically sign off on them. I finished up the last of them, then sent Wanda an e-mail to thank her for a great way to catch up on paperwork while out of the office. I would go into tomorrow clean.
We set down at one in the morning. I was entering the house at one forty. I stripped down quickly, brushed my teeth, and slid up behind Bobby to snuggle into her mass. She flipped over to give me a kiss, hugged me to her, and went right back to sleep. I was buried in her luxurious chest, so with a smile, I drifted off to sleep with her.
I woke at six, slipping out of bed to use the bathroom, shave and shower. When I woke Bobby, she wanted me to come back to bed but I told her I needed to be out at the base no later than eight. Seven would have been better but seven-thirty or eight would work.
Before leaving I was given kisses and hugs by Marie and Jan followed by Wanda giving me a full body hug and warm kiss. She said, "If you did anything with what you had in queue for work, you have done it all. Don't rush the people out at the base, get your leg taken care of. We need you mobile."
MacDill was still in full security mode so they had to check out my identification and verify that I was expected at the hospital. My leg and stump were given a thorough examination along with all the other things an exam called for. I pissed in a bottle, gave blood to the vampires in the lab and hugged a cold metal plate for a chest x-ray. My original doctor told me my muscle tone was great and I should continue to do whatever it was that I was doing.
In the prosthesis clinic, a tech examined my boot, took measurement of my leg or stump and even did a plaster cast of it. I asked them about a second leg and possibly a sports leg or even a peg leg. The tech said, "I can get you a second leg but I'll have to refer you to a civilian prosthesis maker for a sports leg or peg leg. There is a guy in Tampa that is very good and isn't terribly expensive. You might be able to get your medical insurance to cover part of it."
I waited in the fitting room a while and the tech came back. He said, "Go get some early lunch in the hospital cafeteria. I can have your original leg ready for you in about an hour. The second leg will take about another hour, as they have to build it. Since we have working lengths and sizes, we should be able to have it done quickly. You're already used to the new ankle technology so you won't need physical therapy. Go take a long lunch and be back by one or one thirty."
Three hours to kill, so with the use of crutches, I swung down to the cafeteria to see if anything interested me. On the way, I spotted the hospital library so I stopped in and was looking over an area marked as aviation instruction.
A book, "IFR Principles And Practice: Guide to Safe Instrument Flying: Instrument Flight Training Manual", begged to be read. I pulled it out and sat at one of the tables beginning at the front of the book. If you didn't have any idea about aviation navigational equipment or were not interested in airplanes and flying them, the book would have been a total bore. But to me, it was fascinating. I was nearly three-quarters of the way through the book when my stomach began growling. I looked at my watch to see it was already one o'clock. Time flies when you're having fun.
I wrote down the full name of the book and who the publisher was before swinging back to the prosthesis clinic on the borrowed crutches. There, the clerk asked me if I would mind occupying myself for about another forty-five minutes to an hour. I just smiled and told her no problem.
This time I went to the cafeteria for a sandwich and Coke followed by a cup of coffee. After leisurely eating while reading someone's discarded newspaper, I swung back to the clinic to find a smiling clerk that announced all was ready for me.
The tech had softened up the leather on the two new boots so they didn't rub my stump raw. I tried on both and couldn't tell one from the other and couldn't even tell which one was the original. When I told the tech this he proudly smiled at the compliment of his work.
The tech advised me, "You need to go out to the VA hospital and register. It will take six to nine months for them to get you into their system. Even though you have a combat injury, they would prefer you go to the VA for medical treatment. They have good doctors and techs there too. As a matter of fact, I will be retiring from the service in three months and have already been hired on at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. The next time you need fixed, I'll be doing it again, but out there. Go to the civilian shop I gave you for a sports leg or peg leg. I understand they don't overcharge you guys for what you need."
My spare leg came in a nice case that I happily carried out to the Impala. Since it was still reasonably early, I went by the prosthesis shop the base hospital tech had given me. The place was a very small office that was just one big room. There was a desk and computer by the door, two separate workbenches and several rows of shelves and bins of prosthesis parts. The couple working in the shop was very cordial, greeting me warmly and inquiring how they could help.
I explained what I wanted and the lady said, "I think I might have exactly what you would want for around the house. I've created a neat boot that is like Chinese handcuffs. You slide the boot onto your stump and it stays put unless you push up and turn it slightly. It's perfect for getting up in the middle of the night. I even have a soft-liner, like your sock so you don't bruise or irritate your stump. The liners are removable and washable. You can use it out too if you want, but it really isn't a sports leg. Can I see your leg now?"
She looked at my leg commenting on the new boot. She said, "Unless you think you want to jog or try to run, you don't need a sports leg. This one is one of the new flex ankle legs that will work fine for most sports. If you decide to jog or run, we can fix you up with a spring foot but they can be difficult to get used to. How about I take a cast of your stump? We'll make up your slip on peg for you to try. I'll bet you'll love it. I know I do mine."
The guy smiled at me and said, "I met this lady at the school I was going to where I was learning how to make these things. It seems we had both lost some leg and we both wanted to learn to make them. I lost mine while in the military so my school was taken care of and we've been able to get the Small Business Administration to help get us started. We became partners in school and have continued to work together for the last ten years."
"What he's not telling you is we're also married now. It's been a great partnership all the way around."
I said, "Sounds like you guys have found your niche in life. I'm finding mine as well."
She said, "We'll have your peg done day after tomorrow so let's get that cast so I can fix you up."
They took the cast and she cleaned up my stump for me before I put my sock back on. My new boot felt good when I put it back on making me realize I had probably let it get too loose before having it fixed. I would pay more attention to it in the future.
I was about to go into the office but decided to just go home and begin my workout. I had just finished with the treadmill when my family came home. They all stopped in to say hi before changing into workout clothes. After our workout we swam fairly hard but not all out then gathered in the kitchen to decide on food. Bobby said, "Since we have some good steaks in the fridge, let's have them tonight and just relax at home." She figured I was probably tired of being on the move.
The steaks were prepped, the grill was warming up and the salad was made. All of us were enjoying some form of alcohol relaxer before putting the steaks on and eating our salads.
When supper was finished and the dishes were all clean, Bobby wanted to go to the bookstore for a novel she heard that had just come out. I found my note on the instrument flight manual and the five of us stormed the bookstore.
Jan got a British history novel, Marie found a unique cook book she wanted to practice with, Wanda found a Robin Cook book in paper back she hadn't read yet, and Bobby found her book in the new releases. Back in a corner that was a little dusty, I found the instrument flight manual I was looking at earlier today. All of us came away with a smile.
At home, the five of us scattered to various places to enjoy our purchases. About nine, Marie came through the house announcing that we had to come to the kitchen area family room to sample her new creation.
She had made a dozen small calzones that she said were her own creation. I was the first to try one. It was filled with garlic spinach mixed in a Parmesan cheese sauce. The calzones was very, very good. I told Marie that she needed to share her recipe with Georgia out at the park and perhaps Georgia would teach her to make more good things to eat.
As ten o'clock came near, I yawned, I was ready to call it a day. I lay in bed to be hugged on one side by Bobby and the other by Wanda. Before long, Marie and Jan had joined us with Marie lying on me and Jan lying on top of Wanda. Marie said, "Jan and I need a couple of kisses to let us know the master still loves us. You've been gone so much and we've missed you."
Jan reached over and kissed me then went back to Bobby to luxuriate in the masses of our big girlfriend. Jan added, "It's a good thing you have a back up with Bobby and Wanda around or Marie and I would be relegated to the P-club and you know we would rather be right here at home."
Jan and Marie gave me kisses saying, "We'll see you in the morning. Be ready, we'll both need more help by then."
This left Wanda, Bobby and I hugging each other. Bobby was stroking me and kissing me from one side while Wanda was lying against me fully with her wet center rubbing on my hip. She hugged me saying, "I'm done with the curse and could really enjoy being loved, want me?"
Wanda and I made love until we melted together. This caused Bobby to want the same attention, so after getting me back up and very interested, Bobby and I made some of our great mutual moves that brought us total satisfaction.
Soon the three of us were laying back, one lady's head on each shoulder. Over five hundred pounds of very sexual woman was lying against me. After just a few kisses, we were all asleep in the gooey wet spots.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious