The TV news announcer was telling the camera what a beautiful day it was going to be, with no thunderstorms in the forecast and great beach weather, if anyone could find a beach.
Looking at the clock told me it was five in the morning. That was reasonable as it was six at home. I felt nasty having slept in my clothes with my leg strapped on all night. I stripped, hopped to the bathroom, and took a long shower, washing off the grime of the world. After shaving and taking care of all my morning duties, I quickly dressed and packed as always, and headed for the restaurant. Having breakfast while reading the local paper is always a good way to start the day. While I was having a second cup of coffee, Sandy came in and sat, waving at the waitress to bring him some coffee too.
"Sleep well, Chuck?"
"You bet, Sandy, with a full belly too. Should have exercised this morning, but I was too lazy. Any word from the team executing the search warrant?"
"More than expected. They have found bomb making training videos, propaganda videos to entice men to blow themselves up for Allah, a whole arsenal of guns, and from early estimates, about five hundred pounds of explosives and detonators. The eight tons of nitrate fertilizer is interesting, since they don't have any farm land, and the six fifty-five gallon drums of diesel fuel are also interesting, as they don't have any diesel vehicles out there."
Sandy took a drink of coffee and said, "The dogs found something I wish they had not. My clean up guys are out there right now exhuming bodies. So far they've dug up seven, but haven't gone very far or broadened the hole that much. We've taken everyone that was out there into custody including their holy man or Imam. I didn't get that much sleep considering my phone kept ringing, but at least my wife knows I'm safe."
I looked up at Sandy and asked, "This is big, should we get the D.C. investigative team out here? Should we ask for the strike team to come back us up?"
Sandy said, "I was wondering about that. We might do that so we get another couple of prosecutors out here. I haven't heard from the Bureau yet this morning, but I'd bet we have something before we go to court. When you're done, we'll go to the office and check with the Bureau. By the way, your being here is helping the Bureau and us get along. We need to work together, just like your memos suggest. Hopefully this dual investigation is the beginning of future cooperation."
We went to the office and stopped in the Bureau station. The Chief was there looking over some reports. He looked up and said, "That's some gruesome shit out at that camp. Christ, who'd have suspected stuff like that? I'm just looking over the research my men have done overnight on our favorite prosecutor. There are only two flags. One, the man has made some healthy bank deposits, and has bought some luxuries for cash that are interesting. None of that is against the law if he can tell the IRS how much he's received, where it came from, and pays taxes on it. The other flag is, the man is married to a Muslim woman whose parents are very militant. The parents are Lebanese immigrants who live in Kansas City and just happen to be down here right now. We don't know what's going on, or if there is even anything illegal happening, so we can't bring charges or even bring him in for questioning. We will watch him. I'll give the judge this information and see how he handles changing prosecutors."
We had some coffee in the station before heading to the courthouse for the early hearing. We stopped in the judge's chambers before court to advise him of what had been found out at the camp and what had been discovered about the prosecutor.
The prosecutor from Oklahoma City was in the judge's chambers looking over the evidence we had against the five men. He said it was more than enough to keep the men in custody and he would handle the citizens' side of the case. "I've already heard this morning of some craziness out at a couple of Muslim retreat camps where explosives and weapons have been found. This thing is getting out of hand and we'll let you guys in law enforcement crack down out there. Keep us safe."
A couple of deputies had been sent to intercept the prosecutor so he couldn't get to court on time. Their excuse was to take him to the houses that had been searched the previous day. They kept him all the way through noon just to be safe.
The defendants had four attorneys from a large firm located in Oklahoma City and St. Louis. When the prosecutor laid out the evidence against the men, the judge remanded them to isolated custody as was the policy for terrorists.
When that case was cleared, the fourteen men from the camp were brought in for arraignment. The terrorist evidence was documented in detail and the bodies were itemized, but had not been identified. When they were asked if they wanted counsel, none spoke. When asked how they pled, none spoke. The judge said, "The law will appoint an attorney for you if you don't have one. If you have attorneys, please state who they are so we may get them for you." They just stood there without speaking.
The judge finally spoke, "You are to be kept in isolated custody until trial. If any of you should decide you want an attorney, please advise your jailer. Bailiffs, please take these men away."
As the men were being led out of court, the four attorneys came rushing back into court. One rushed up to the judge and said, "Your honor, we've just found out these men being led from the room are our clients. We want to register as their attorneys and plead them not guilty with a request for bail."
The judge just looked at them. "You're a little late. They didn't plead, so after looking at the evidence against them, I feel they should be kept in custody until trial. Since there may be additional capital charges, they are being considered dangerous and therefore isolated. Do you have any questions, gentlemen? If not, see my clerk before you leave."
They looked among themselves and went to the judge's clerk. The judge looked at Sandy, the Bureau Chief, and me and nodded toward the door.
In the judge's chambers he said, "Those are some high priced attorneys. I don't know them personally, but I've heard of them. So far you boys have played the game the way it's supposed to be played, so stay clean, stay sharp, and protect your evidence. Now get, I have a golf game at noon."
The three of us left for the Bureau office and stopped in the ATF office to talk to the Chief there. He said he had a team out at the camp north of town and had just sent a team with dogs out to the camp near Muskogee where more explosives had been found. We made sure he knew how important that the chain of evidence was.
We left the ATF office and said goodbye to the Bureau Chief. While on the way upstairs, Sandy said, "From what I'm told, this isn't a normal trip for you. No shoot 'em ups, no dead bad guys, I hope you're not bored."
"Actually, I'm very happy nothing went bang so far. I don't really like to be involved in gunplay, it just seems to find me most of the time."
I wrote my reports of the previous day's activities and the hearing. I felt better knowing the Bureau, ATF, Homeland Security, and Marshal's offices were working together on this. I asked Sandy, "Can we get the leaders of the local Mosques together for a short meeting? I want to tell them what we've found, and how we found it, so they know we're not picking on them."
Sandy said, "I'll try, they might listen. It won't hurt to try."
An hour later Sandy said, "We're meeting at three at the Northwest Mosque. The senior Imam in the area presides there and wanted our meeting to take place within his community." We gathered up stacks of photographic evidence, including the photos of the bodies being found at the camp. The body count was now up to eleven and still counting.
Sandy and I had a leisurely lunch and arrived at the Mosque at two forty-five. We were courteously shown into a large conference room with several other men dressed in traditional attire. Most were pleasant and smiled. Sandy and I introduced ourselves and sat where directed.
The senior Imam came in and all present stood in honor of the man. When he bowed to us, the others all bowed in response, so Sandy and I did a little bow as well.
The Imam said, "You wish to address us as to your actions yesterday. We are very concerned that you took our people into custody yesterday and have withheld information from the news media. Can you explain?"
Sandy looked at me, so I began by describing the initial contact with some men who advised us of three imminent bombs that were going to explode. I described that we had been fortunate to have found all of the bombs and were able to disarm them. I passed out the photos of the bombs and the individual devices. The last photo was of the two cell phone detonators.
I then described how we were able to track down the caller to the two cell phones when someone tried to set off the bombs remotely instead of by their original timers. This was how we came in contact with the men taken into custody. I explained that we captured the men as they were exiting a house that contained a large amount of explosives, and that the original houses they had been in also had explosives stored in them. Again, I showed photos of the evidence.
"Now, gentlemen, we have another problem you may not be aware of hopefully, and you will want to make sure never happens again. The camps supposedly used for retreats north of here and near Muskogee both warehouse a great deal of explosives and have been used for terrorist training. You may not feel that is so serious, but we've found several bodies buried on the grounds and are still digging them up. If you've lost track of someone of the past year or years, you might want to give us information on that person. This is a serious matter and goes beyond plain terrorism. Look at these photos and think of anyone who isn't here anymore, who dropped out of sight all of a sudden?"
I looked at the shocked Imam and said, "If I were to have let the news media get the information that real bombs were planted in shopping centers where mothers and children would be shopping, what kind of retaliation would you be able to withstand? The Federal Building is one thing, but other civilian targets? I hope you can withstand the anger of your neighbors if they should find out. They will eventually find out when these men go to court. At that time, you will all need to be making big signs of peaceful coexistence to everyone in the community."
"Now, Sir, do you understand?"
You could tell the Imam was disturbed and didn't know how to respond. I added the photographs of all of the men captured yesterday and out at the camp. "These are the men who could have brought you the wrath of protective parents and family members. You should know whom to blame. If there are more of them that you know of, get them out of the country or turn them in to the Bureau, the FBI. They will know how to deal with them. Gentlemen, I'm sorry to have brought you this information, but it was necessary."
I passed my card to the Imam, along with Sandy's, and stood. I sort of bowed to the Imam who was still sitting, stunned at this information. Another man escorted us out of the Mosque.
When we got to Sandy's car, something looked funny. I put out my arm, stopping him from using his keyless entry system. I pointed at the passenger seat that was tilted forward a little. We looked into the backseat and there on the floor behind the seat was what looked suspiciously like the bomb at the first mall yesterday.
I pulled Sandy away from the car so we were on the side of the Mosque and shielded by the building. "Call in for some help, Sandy. I'm not sure whether the ATF is going to be able to help. And wouldn't you know, my clothes are in your trunk along with three full magazines."
Sandy called the ATF, then called his station to request assistance. He said to me, "We're getting pretty thin on men, perhaps the strike force would be a good idea."
We were crouched down on the side of the building when Sandy said, "We have to tell those people not to come out. Christ, the whole building could collapse if that bomb goes off."
I said, "Tell you what, stay here and keep watch. Check everywhere constantly. I'll go to the door and if I'm lucky it won't be locked. I'll tell the men to be careful and to leave by the back door so they won't be caught in an explosion. I'll come around from the back. I'll yell at you so you'll know I'm coming."
"You sure you want to expose yourself?"
"Somebody's got to do it. Watch, everywhere, be careful."
I slithered along the wall in the front of the Mosque, looking at the car and hurried to the door. I was in luck, the door was open. No one was visible inside, so I went to the conference room and found the men still there. I said, "All of you must leave the building for your safety. Someone has planted a bomb in our car in front of the building. If it goes off the whole building could collapse. Please, humor me and leave by the back. Hopefully, that's where your parking lot is."
The men were suddenly fearful as I was obviously trying to help them. As we were heading to the rear of the building, the old Imam said to me "Thank you, I will do all in my power to make us a peaceful community."
When we were out the door I said, "Give me a telephone number where I can call you when the danger here has passed."
The older man gave his number and asked for mine, which was on the card I gave him. When we had them written, I headed around the building to get to Sandy. I was about to yell at Sandy when movement off to the right caught my eye. My hand automatically went for the Glock as I tried to identify what I had seen. A man was crouched behind a large transformer that had some decorative bushes around it. I could see Sandy kneeling down up front, looking around and trying to stay concealed.
I picked up a rock and threw it at Sandy. It landed next to him and he jumped, startled. He looked at me and I waved him down and with hand motions pointed to where the man was crouched. When he nodded, and while looking at the man, I yelled, "Hey, Sandy."
The man looked at me and knew he was seen. He stood and fired at me with some kind of semi-auto handgun. He fired about five rounds before I shot at him. He staggered back, but didn't go down. When I was about to shoot again, something hit me on my side that was hard enough to knock me off my feet. I was stunned. I looked up and Sandy was in a kneeling firing position, aiming behind me. He fired multiple times then I was able to look where the original man was. He was trying to do something with a cell phone when "BOOM" the bomb in front of Mosque exploded. He picked up his gun and aimed at me, but I didn't miss his head this time.
I had rolled to the side of the building to get some protection and kept looking around for more danger. Christ, this was getting ridiculous. Every time someone took a shot at me lately, they were hitting me. My side really hurt. Must have been another .45 or something like that.
Sandy hollered, "Chuck, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I got one off to the side of us."
Sandy answered, "I got the one behind you. Sorry, I didn't see him until he shot. Did he hit you?"
Sandy came up and helped me up and looked at the back of my suit coat. He said, "Looks like your nice suit got ruined. Hey, you're bleeding somewhere. Let's get the coat off."
I took the coat off and Sandy had me take off my shirt. About that time the senior Imam came up to us and said, "Thank you for watching out for us. The front of the Mosque is destroyed. We could all have been hurt. Oh, you're hurt, let me help."
We finally found where I was bleeding. The round had pinched the flesh where it hit and moved sideways tearing the skin. I had Sandy tear off the tail of my shirt so I could hold it over the tear. Sandy used his phone to call in an incident and to get a clean up crew out. Meanwhile sirens were coming from at least two different directions.
Sandy and I joined with the Imam and the other men who had been in the conference room in the front of the Mosque to look at the damage. It was amazingly extensive. What was left of Sandy's Ford was twisted junk. I looked around the wreck for my clothes and found the little gym bag with the three magazines further down the street, along with my suitcase that was torn open. Lying on the side of the road was my briefcase with my laptop in it. Wonder if that was going to work?
When a fire truck and two police cars pulled up, they got out of their vehicles to look at the damage, trying to determine what had happened. Sandy and I showed our badges and IDs. We said we were in charge of the crime scene and that our team was on the way.
A duty car pulled up with a team that came out quickly. While Sandy was briefing the duty team, the cleanup crew came with the CSI team from the Bureau. I showed them the two downed men and walked back up to where Sandy had one of the firemen get a first aid kit and clean up the skin tear and bandage me. The tear shouldn't require anything except a butterfly bandage. The fireman cleaned me up, put the butterfly on and bandaged the area. He said I should go see a physician and noted my stitches on the left arm.
I put my shirt back on with my vest over it just for safety. Because I didn't know what else to do with it, I put my coat on too. I had to give statements to the CSI team and the local detectives. When we were finally done, I asked Sandy, "Take me to a Sears or Penny's. I'll get a pair of khakis and a shirt. Everything else is in shreds. I think my toiletries are okay though."
He said, "You know, I'm done too. Are you going to stay overnight or just go home? Oh yeah, you're flying yourself. Are you going to be able to fly with,,,, say you need an x-ray on your ribs. You probably have some broken or cracked ribs. Let me take you to the hospital real quick. I'll make them check you out right away."
I couldn't talk Sandy out of it so we went to the hospital where in all their speed, it still took them three hours to look at my skin tear, and finally get me x-rayed. The report was as expected, another cracked rib. It was now after nine o'clock. Sandy said, "We'll swing by Wal-Mart. You can pick up a cheap pair of pants and shirt along with anything else you need. Stay overnight and fly back in the morning. You need to call in the strike team for me too. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, Sandy, sorry I've kept you out so late again."
Sandy smiled, "Hey, we're alive. I'm going home to my wife and kids in one piece, thanks to you."
We did find a pair of western cut pants and shirt at Wal-Mart that would be fine for tomorrow. That, along with what I salvaged from my bag would get me through.
In the hotel, I took out my laptop and plugged it in and turned it on. Miracles of miracles, it came on, connected to the in-house wireless system, and I logged onto my office PC. The greeting was "Call Wanda immediately."
I called home after ordering a fish dinner, a drink, and a beer from room service.
Wanda exclaimed, "What the hell is going on out there? Are you hurt? The service report says one deputy wounded."
I said, "Only a skin tear, no big deal."
Wanda asked, "Were you shot?"
"Yeah, but I had my vest on. Sandy got the guy."
"How is it where you were hit?"
"Another cracked rib, but I'm okay."
Wanda sounded as if she were going to cry, "You have to be more careful. I know you're a good man in the field, but your luck is getting thin."
"I'll be okay, Wanda, I'm fine. If everything is straight in the morning, I'll be on my way home before noon."
"I hope so, I'm having a hard time keeping Brandy and the girls pacified that you're okay. If this keeps up, Brandy might not stick. She's getting nervous as it is."
"Well, Wanda, easy come, easy go. I like all those girls, but this is what I do."
She said, "Well, John is upset about this so you better call him and tell him you're alright. He's already dispatched the strike team. Was your car really blown up?"
"Not my car, Sandy's car. What's so sad is the Mosque it was in front of was heavily damaged. We were lucky though, as I was able to get everyone out before the explosion."
Wanda sounded better, "I'm glad you're okay. Call John and call me in the morning to let me know how you feel. If you don't call me by seven my time, I'll have the hotel come check on you, so don't be late."
There was a pause, then Wanda said, "Please, stay safe. You know we all need you here. Goodnight, Chuck."
I called John real quick and explained I couldn't stay on my cell as my charger was lost in the explosion. He said, "You better have an incident report in my mailbox by morning any way you can get it here. If you're injured, you may be pushing a pencil here in D.C. for a month. Watch out, my friend, and be careful. Goodnight."
My battery still had all the lines, so I knew I was good for at least twelve hours. There was a knock at the door, food at last. By habit, I pulled my Glock and opened the door to find a cute bellhop with a tray.
She brought a tall Beefeaters, a salad, some kind of fish dinner, and two bottles of beer.
I tipped the bellhop, totally ignoring how cute she was, then sat down to eat while watching TV. The news channel showed the blown up car and the front of the Mosque. The Imam was interviewed and he assured the newsman that he was doing everything he could to bring the perpetrators to justice. For some reason, there was no mention of the two dead guys.
I ate and relaxed, coming down from the adrenaline rush. Thinking that I should call, I called Brandy's cell phone. When she answered, she sounded rather cool. "How are you, Chuck? Are you okay? I heard you were injured again."
"Only a skin tear, no big deal."
"It's still very scary. We think Nancy miscarried. She began bleeding today and the doctor said she wasn't pregnant. She's been crying all day."
"Brandy, people don't always get pregnant on their first try, especially if they just stopped using the pill or some other kind of contraceptive."
She said, "I know, but she seemed so convinced she was pregnant. She even took one of those home tests and it showed positive."
"Well, she can try again. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunity."
That's when the ice came, "She may not want to do this now. You're pretty scary. We're all afraid you just won't come home one of these days. I'm sorry, Chuck. We'll talk when you get home."
She hung up. Oh well. Damn, I'm having trouble with women.
I took off my leg and lay down. Sleep came fairly fast but it was toss and turn most of the night.
Oh my, what time is it. The clock says five thirty, so it's six thirty at home. I better call.
When Wanda picked up I said, "Good morning" as cheerful as possible.
"You sound good this morning. How're your ribs?"
"Sore, but no more than expected. The little cut is fine."
I could hear that Wanda was smiling now, "You just scare the shit out of everyone all the time. Grow eyes in the back of your head or something. Take Dave with you all the time to watch your back, anything, but be careful."
"You know I do what I do, Wanda. It's part of the job."
"I know that when I'm at work, Chuck, but when I'm at home looking at the empty spot in the bed, I feel differently. Hope you can come home. You know that it's Thursday, don't you?"
"It is? Have I been here since Monday night?"
"You've been busy, meet with the strike force and the investigative team then get out of there. You're done. I have to get to work. Call me to let me know your schedule."
I called room service for some coffee and a light breakfast, then wrote up the incident report from yesterday. Along with the report, I wrote up a synopsis of the ongoing investigation and sent it along with the incident report. I toldWanda to disseminate my findings to all the agencies involved.
After eating and watching more local news, I showered, shaved, and dressed in my Wal-Mart clothes. They didn't look bad, but were a far cry from the nice clothes I had been wearing.
I left a tip and note for the maid that the clothes had been ruined and I was throwing them away. The hole in the back of the suit coat was obvious. I wonder if someone would get it repaired. For a thousand dollar suit, why not? Hope they enjoyed it and I'd bet they would wonder how the hole got there.
A duty man was waiting for me when I came downstairs carrying my gym bag and briefcase, but wearing my vest outside my new shirt. He laughed, "Are we that dangerous around here?"
"Don't know what else to do with it, so I'll just wear the darn thing. If it's outside my shirt it'll be easier to take off later."
"Nice tear you have back there in the vest. Bet that hurts like hell."
As we drove to the station, I said, "Not bad, I've had worse."
At the station, I was greeted by Sandy and the strike team leader. They had the investigative team downstairs at the Bureau going over the evidence. I asked Sandy, "Are you guys done digging out at the camp?"
He said, "I think fourteen is all of them. We have an ID on one already and I hope we can ID the rest. The Muskogee camp had a grave outside their walls, and you know it has to be related. The grave is too fresh. Are you leaving or staying?"
"If you need me I'll stay, but I've been directed to head home. Somehow, I don't feel like this is done, but I don't feel there is any immediate danger. Make sure the Bureau works with the local police department to check on any, I mean any, suspected extremist. We don't need any blown up malls. Hopefully, we've found the bulk of their explosives. Help the Bureau track down where that stuff came from."
I shook hands all around then had a duty man take me to the airport. I put my stuff in the aircraft and went into operations to clear my fees and fuel bill. The operations billing clerk said, "S&S already called and took care of everything. We don't charge the feds any field fees. You have to pay for fuel of course, but that's all."
I brought my thermos inside and had it filled while getting a couple of sandwiches and some bottles of water. I took one last leak before checking the weather. Right then it was clear all the way, but this afternoon there would be building cumulus with some on shore activity from the gulf.
I was wheels up by ten and at the top cruising airspeed, plus twenty knots more ground speed from a real nice tailwind at twenty thousand feet.
When I made the turn to stay out in the gulf near Panama City, I thought of Michelle and her family and wondered how they were doing. That brought the memories of Bobby and my feelings for her. Damn, she sure seemed to be the one. A little too wild, but she sure was something. Perhaps Brandy wasn't a lost cause, but she didn't sound very good last night.
At one ten in afternoon, I was lining up on final approach for home. Everything was automatic as I went down the checklist while watching the glide slope. I touched down and when I turned to go back to the hangar, I felt relieved to be home this time. Having the car blow up on me was a little scary. We could have been in or beside it.
I put my little bag and briefcase in the car and cleaned out the aircraft. While I was turning in the logbook, Jimmy came running over to me, "Hey, Chuck, that Jeep is great. Thank you, man, it's perfect for me, and I have to thank you for that little girl that lives with you, you know, Angie. We went out again last night and had a great time."
"I didn't know you had met her?"
"Yeah, when you were out before, I met her and I got her telephone number. I couldn't ask her out without a car, but now I've got wheels so I could call."
"That's nice, Jimmy, she's a neat little girl."
"I'll say, my dad will get over she's another color, but I don't see it being a problem since my mom's Filipina. We're having fun as friends, we'll see if it works out."
As I left to go home, I thought, "That's very good. Even Angie is finding another friend."
I called the office, "Wanda, I need a new charger for my cell phone so I'm going by the store to get one. I also need a new suitcase so I'll try to pick one up."
"Are you home, I mean here in Tampa?"
"Yeah, I said I was coming."
She said, "But you were supposed to call."
"Oh, I was so interested in getting home, I forgot."
"That's fine, Chuck, I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson, since it's still office hours. I'm glad you're home. I'll tell everyone so they'll quit worrying."
"Okay, I'm going to run those errands and head home. I'd like to relax this evening after a nice supper."
On my way back toward the city, I remembered that the warehouse had suitcases so I pulled in there. I didn't want to wear my gun in but I couldn't leave it in the car. Oh well, I guess there's no hiding it this time.
I did get some looks as I bought a nice suit and two shirts. The man at the office register gave me a nice belt before I could even ask for a new suitcase. He was going to give me a fancy leather one, but I suggested one of the tough canvas ones instead. I told him, "I'm pretty tough on suitcases, just like my clothes. I ruined another good suit yesterday. That's why I'm here."
He was nice and when I looked in my bag while walking to the car, I noticed an extra colored shirt and a handful of ties in the bag. This was a great place to shop.
I stopped at the cell phone place to get a new charger, then headed home. I put on my swim trunks and went out to the pool to get some sun while sipping on a beer. John called while I was out there.
"Where are you, Chuck?"
"Home, by the pool, enjoying the sun and a cold one."
"It's not even five and you're drinking?"
"If a beer is drinking, then the answer is yes."
"I wish I could join you. You did a good job with those religious guys. The Imam has talked to the press continuously, telling everyone how wonderful we are and how nice it was that you helped them. The strike team is busy helping the investigators and has found a couple of cells out in the country around Tulsa. There may be more problems there, but it's yet to happen. I wanted to tell you to stay away for a while. The Marshal that loves you is afraid you're going to be hurt and is making noise about bringing you in to D.C. I've already told him he would lose you if he did that, so lay low, stay home, be bored or something. Your file is full of wound notices. Stop it, stay out of trouble."
"I will, John, I will sure try. I need to reset my luck again, as I've been a target too often lately. It's time to get a stronger vest and maybe leggings. I think I need something for my arms too."
John said, "No, you just need to stay away from finding trouble. Be good, stay home a couple of days. I'll try not to call you. Find me another helper; we're having enough problems that I'll need another one."
I decided I had put it off long enough. I went into the gym and got on the bike. I did that then got on the dreaded treadmill. That made me remember that my sport leg might be ready. While walking at a leisurely three miles an hour, I called the prosthesis shop. The wife answered and said, "Your new leg is done. Come in tomorrow and we'll fit it for you. You'll need some practice and therapy for this thing. If you can't get in out at the VA, I'll give you a local doc that has people who can help you."
I was happy to think I might begin running, or least jogging, again.
The weight machine beckoned, so I began using the different stations to see what hurt and what didn't. I was really in pretty good shape for having another cracked rib. It barely hurt.
I heard the garage door open and a car come in. It sounded like Wanda's Chrysler. She came into the gym room and gave me a hug. "I'm so glad you're home." She looked at me and said, "I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you. You're stretching your luck lately."
Wanda left, but Jan came in shortly after her and hugged me, saying about the same thing. Marie and Angie were at class so I didn't expect anyone else. Lisa walked in the door and gave me a hug. She said, "I missed you out at the air park. They said you were back. The girls tell me you were in another scrape out in Oklahoma. Don't you know when to stay down? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. A little cut is all."
She nodded and said, "That and some more damaged ribs. You better take care of yourself. There are too many of us worrying about you." When she left, I didn't know whether she was staying at the house or leaving.
Wanda came back in the gym room wearing jeans and said, "How about a ride out to Park Place for dinner or out to the trailer park to see the folks out there."
"Ah, I kind of thought Brandy might come by and we could have that talk she said we would have."
Wanda frowned, "Brandy called me to tell me she wouldn't be by this evening. She said to tell you she would call you."
I nodded and said, "You know, a quiet night at home wouldn't be bad."
Wanda stood with her legs spread and her hands on her hips, "I want to ride, I want to feel the wind in my face. Come on get some clothes on and take me some place. Let's ride over to Clearwater and have supper over there. Let's go."
I did get up, showered quickly, and put on jeans and a T-shirt, along with some boots. I was about to leave my weapon, but put the clip-on holster on my belt and slid a too large vest on to cover it up.
I pushed the bike out of the garage and checked the gas. Wanda said, "The house is secure, let's get going."
We rode toward Clearwater in the remnants of evening rush hour. This was more dangerous than a dozen gun fights. When we made it across the causeway out to Clearwater beach, we rode the strip till we ended up at a Froggies by the old pier. We had a beer and a great baked Mahi Mahi dinner. Thinking there was a lot of evening left, we went back to the mainland and rode north along alternate or business 19 until we came out on highway 19 up by New Port Richey. From there we rode up to Highway 52, back towards I-75, then back to I-275 and exited on Fletcher to get home.
We pulled into the house at ten, putting the bike away and going in to enjoy a nightcap before bed. We were sitting at the bar/counter when Lisa came in, wearing shorts, and said, "I just love it here. It's much quieter and more peaceful. I think I'm going to like it here."
When I looked at Wanda, she said, "Lisa asked if she could try it here for a month, so I told her to come on over. So far she's been a lot of fun and we hardly know we have another housemate. She has to leave early in the morning pretty regularly, so she's often gone when we get up. I gave her a slot in the new garage. I hope that's alright?"
"Nice, glad to have you, Lisa. Now that I'm back, I need some hours if you have any right seat time available for me."
Lisa grinned, "As long as you play some music for me. I've already asked John if you can crew with me on the Lear and G5. He's fine with it. You still need the schools though. Lear is next week and John may send you to the G5 school in Savannah. He says you would like it there as they push you really hard for three days, test you, and send you home. You have to be able to pass a written test first though. I'll get you the manual to study."
When it was time to go to bed, I was surprised to not have any company. I washed up and was leaning back on pillows with the TV on when Wanda came in. She sat with me and asked, "Do you want me to sleep in here with you? I thought you might want to be alone a little so you can sort things out. What do you think?"
"Wanda, if you want to cuddle, please, I would enjoy feeling you with me. It's up to you though. We're still buddies, right?"
She hugged me and said, "Still very much buddies. I think there's another that wants to sleep with you too, let me get her."
Wanda came back with Lisa who was all smiles. Lisa slid under the covers and hugged me. She pulled her gown off and said, "I like the skin feel better than all those clothes. Thank you for wanting company."
Believe it or not, we snuggled up and went to sleep. I slept very peacefully, enjoying the closeness of two who were not my "lovers," but true friends.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious