After breakfast the next day, Dewey had the hotel shuttle van take all of us to the clothing optional resort. It took three trips to get us all there, but we arrived as people were heading out to the beach. We were all dressed in swimwear, with cover-ups for the women and T-shirts on the men.
The moms had spent a great deal of time explaining to the kids that the resort we were going to visit was special as they didn't have to wear clothes if they didn't want to, but could remain in their swimsuit if they wanted.
At first, the kids were playing in the sand and at the water's edge in their swimsuits, but as other kids that didn't have clothes on began playing with them, the little ones lost their suits until all of the kids were bare. The ladies were all bare instantly, except Juanita. She kept her bottoms on for most of the day.
Steve, Dewey, and I met with the owner and some of the men he thought could be prospective managers. Later I was in my swimsuit and T-shirt, walking through the floors of the resort hotel, looking at the condition of the rooms when I met a lady coming out of one of the rooms. She asked, "May I help you, Sir?"
"I'm just looking at the condition of the rooms. I'm one of the new investors in the resort and am estimating what type of remodeling needs to be done."
"Wonderful, my name is Julie. I'm in charge of housekeeping and maintenance. The housekeeping staff does wonders keeping the rooms spotless and in good condition. The maintenance staff does well too, but could use more materials such as paint to touch up areas that need it. The stairwell next to the elevators is getting very dirty and we don't have the paint to do the whole thing yet. By next week, we should have what is required. Let me show you a room that has just been cleaned to show you the condition we like our customers to find."
Julie took me to a room down the hall and opened the door with her pass card. The room smelled fresh and clean. When I commented on that, Julie said, "The first thing we do in the morning is to open the sliding doors to air out the rooms, plus we use an air freshener than isn't too spicy. It smells like grass, the outdoors."
I noted to Julie that the carpet looked in excellent condition. Her reply was, "When the hotel was carpeted several years ago, they purchased some of the best commercial carpet available. It has paid off, as it will probably be several years before we have to re-carpet the upper floors and rooms."
As it was getting close to noon, I asked Julie if she could join me, the other investors, and our family for lunch. She smiled and said, "Let me make sure the staff is on schedule and I will meet you in the restaurant. Let me call down to make sure they have an area segregated for you."
"No, Julie, let us see how all customers are served. If we act like the tourists we are, we'll get a better idea of the quality of service provided."
Julie didn't frown, but did say, "That's kind of sneaky, but a good idea. The staff will want to meet you, as all of us have so many questions about our future."
Downstairs, I found Dewey and Steve and said, "I think I've found our manager. She's the manager of housekeeping and maintenance, a lady. She seems to have her act together and is very conscientious about her job. I've invited her to join us for lunch. Let's have the restaurant set up some big tables for us and get the family in and washed up for lunch."
The restaurant staff was very family friendly and arranged two long tables that would seat all of us. About the time the children were all seated on towels at the table and the women were also seated wearing their cover-ups and having some tea or soft drinks, Julie came to join us.
"Julie, this is Steve, Dewey, and ah Michael, who is not an investor on this venture, our wives," and I started around, "Dewey's Sheila and Sheena, Michael's, Chanda, Lucille, Margaret, and Serene. Steve's Sue, Mercy, Juanita, and Kathy. These older children are J.J., Ben, Carl, and Barb. Ah, the rest are all kids of all of them. Too many to list."
As she sat next to me, Julie asked, "Which are your children and where is your wife?"
Mercy laughed, "He's too busy to make up his mind, but I do understand he may become a father."
I was blushing, but didn't know who Mercy was talking about. Was it Nancy or Frieda at home, or was it Lucille and Margaret. Julie asked, "Are you opposed to giving a lady the opportunity to bear a child of yours?"
That was an unexpected question. "Ah, no, Ma'am. I just don't expect to be asked to help in that way."
Julie smiled at me intently, and looked at Mercy as if she and Mercy were communicating. I didn't feel Mercy or Missy, but did feel the scrutiny of Julie.
Steve and Dewey discussed the hotel and resort extensively with Julie. She had a great knowledge of the entire resort. She admitted to enjoying golf, but had not played the resort course yet. She said she had walked it several times with the maintenance people to discuss various options in landscaping. They used some of the pros who visited the islands to keep the landscaping fresh and to keep the course competitive.
Dewey asked a leading question. "If you were to assume another job within the resort, do you have a person you think would do a good job in your present position?"
Without pause, Julie said, "I have two. The senior maintenance man could be an asset in management, but he doesn't have a great deal of experience in housekeeping. I do have an assistant who could, and does, do a great job supervising the housekeeping staff in my absence. She follows up for me daily and has a great relationship with the staff. I think it important that the staff is comfortable with their supervisory personnel. We can't expect them to do their best unless we do our best for them."
Steve was grinning as he said to Dewey, "I think you have your answers, Dewey, what do you think?"
"I agree." Dewey turned to Julie and said, "The three of us want you to assume the position of resort manager, Julie. You would be in charge of the entire resort and would promote those you feel should be promoted to perform the necessary jobs. Would you like that challenge?"
Julie was grinning broadly, "I sure would. I've studied the resort for the four years I've worked here to find out what customers want, and how to make them happy while staying here. One of the things I would like to do is to expand our clothing optional dining area. The big formal restaurant and nightclub is known all over the island as the place to come, but many of our guests would rather remain in the clothing optional areas and enjoy a quiet evening. Our outdoor Tiki bar that serves the pool and outdoor lounge area is sufficient bar and lounge for the clothing optional crowd, but we do need extra eating facilities."
Steve said, "That's easy enough. I'm sure you can convert one or two of the big meeting rooms into a larger dining area. You should see if you should remodel in order to keep the clothing optional dining area as close to kitchen as you can. That will be your first major task, Julie. We'll go to your new office after lunch and discuss compensation. You know a resort and hotel manager is provided luxury quarters on site, don't you?"
Julie gasped, "That would be wonderful. I would love to live on site. I could be so much closer to the pulse of the place."
Dewey was nodding, grinning, happy with our selection.
Later in the afternoon, after returning to his hotel, Dewey asked me, "I want you to go to the other resort and do what you did today to look and talk to the staff. You did excellent in finding the perfect fit for the position of manager. See if you can repeat that process at the other resort. It might take more than a day, but you should be able to write a report of the personnel you have met."
I showed up at the new resort the next morning. The place was very elegant, but was still suffering from the smells of construction from the recent remodeling. They did have a manager, of sorts, in charge. He seemed a little surly and was reluctant to give me an immediate tour. I told him to handle those tasks he needed to and I would just wander.
I looked at the property, noting that the landscaping was beautiful. The men and women working on the grounds all seemed happy and were moving quickly through the shrubbery in front of the resort, working around the sides. As they continued, a couple took off in carts, heading toward the golf course or the condo complex.
As I was watching, a tall, willowy, lady was walking through the grounds looking as if appraising. She would stop, look at something, make a note, and continue. I strolled up near her and asked, "Are you evaluating the work of your staff?"
She looked at me quizzically and asked, "Are you a guest, why do you ask?"
"I just noticed the way you were walking the grounds after the grounds keeping crew had been through. The way you were looking so critically and taking a few notes, I thought you might be their supervisor."
"That is very astute of you, Sir. You didn't answer my question though, are you a guest here?"
"No, Ma'am, I'm one of the new investors in the resort. I'm taking a walk around the grounds before going through the hotel."
The lady smiled and stuck out her hand, "I'm Josie Floyd, the maintenance manager and head groundskeeper for the resort and golf course. Come with me while I check the condos, then we'll take a look at a couple of areas of the golf course the crew is working on."
Josie completed her walk and study of the grounds surrounding the resort hotel, then used a golf cart for us to go to the new condo area where a crew was still in the process of initial landscaping. She seemed satisfied as she checked a large print of the area for what was actually arranged and planted.
Next was the golf course. Josie parked her cart at the huge clubhouse and walked around the building slowly, looking at the freshly cared for landscaping. We then walked out to the first tee area and waited for a foursome to tee off before going to the side of the tee areas. The front tee had flowering bedding plants on both sides, while the rear tee had low shrubbery. Josie stood between the tee markers and looked from side to side. She asked, "Do you think the shrubbery or the plants are a distraction to the golfers?"
"I'm not a golfer, Josie, but the addition of the flowering plants looks nice. Will it be expensive to keep them up year round?"
"Not now that we have our own greenhouse set up. We will have a constant flow of flowering plants that we will use at each of the women's tees. I thought that would be a great addition. We will also have some flowering plants at the entrance to the women's locker room at the clubhouse. If we can do this right, we'll get more of the locals to come out to our course throughout the year. We can handle a lot more traffic than we get. There's no sense in having a great golf course and it only be used by the resort patrons. Not all of the people who come here play golf, and real golf nuts aren't going to play the same course day after day. I'd like to get reciprocity with the clothing optional course next door so our guests could use either course. Golfers couldn't care less whether there are naked golfers in front or in back of them."
"Great idea, Josie. I'll bring that up with the other investors and the manager next door. Do you know Julie next door?"
"I sure do, she's the best housekeeping supervisor on the island. She should be the manager over there."
"As of yesterday, Josie, Julie is the new manager of the resort."
"That's great. She is really good. I like the way she handles her people. I try to copy her style. I have so many people that I have to have leaders for each group. If they take pride in their work, it all goes better and it makes me look good. They like the idea that I look at everything they do. That's why I take the time to go over all of it."
"Smart lady. Say, how about having lunch with the investors today. I'd like to go through the hotel. Can you introduce me to the housekeeping manager so I can take a look at the rooms?"
Josie frowned, "I can, but she's not happy with the new manager and is going to turn in her resignation. She says she doesn't think she could manage the resort, but she thought a trained chimpanzee could do better."
I laughed and said, "The man did seem to lack some cordiality."
"You noticed, did you? He's done a great job of pissing everyone off. Your nightclub and restaurant manager is going to leave too, if you don't fix the problem."
"Can you take me back to the hotel? I still want to meet the housekeeping manager. I think I need to find the restaurant and night club manager too."
We went back to the hotel where Josie found Mrs. Murphy. The lady was a sweet, older lady, with a ready smile holding a clipboard and pushing a cart of towels and room supplies. After the introduction, I asked, "Do you clean rooms too?"
"No Sir, I have this cart so I can fill in where one of the staff might have missed something. I also leave some extras when larger families are staying with us. I think it makes us a better resort."
"That's a nice touch, Mrs. Murphy."
"Oh, Mr. Johnson, call me Margaret, okay?"
"Then you must call me Chuck."
The rooms had just been remodeled and were in wonderful condition. It was obvious the lady was pleased with the efforts of her staff.
I asked, "Margaret, what do you think of Josie. She seems to be really good managing and directing the ground crew."
"She's good managing the maintenance staff too. She's good at managing anything. One of these days that lady will be a resort manager. She's smart and knows how to work with people."
I smiled and said, "I feel that way too, Ma'am."
The lady stopped and looked me in the eye, "Why don't you ask me what I think of the idiot manager downstairs?"
"Probably for the same reason that I asked you what you thought of Josie."
Mrs. Murphy gasped and held her hand over her mouth, "Can I watch you sack the clod down there. He's called me so many vile names to my face that I would love to watch him get marched out of here. You know he makes some of the young lady staff do things to keep their jobs, don't you?"
"No, Ma'am, I didn't know that, but if you can find me just one of those young ladies, he won't be here minutes after I hear the story."
"Hmph, we can just go right in here," she said, as she went into a room with another cart by the door. A pretty young native lady was cleaning the room when we walked in. Mrs. Murphy said, "Luana, will you tell this gentleman what you told me earlier this morning?"
Luana blushed profusely and said, "I can't possible tell a man about that."
I spoke quickly, "Luana, my name is Chuck Johnson. I'm one of the new investors here and I've just heard there may be some improprieties by the current manager. If you have something I should hear, please tell me, but you don't have to be descriptive. Just tell me in a way that you are comfortable."
Luana looked at Mrs. Murphy, who nodded her head to her, then back at me. Luana was obviously distressed, "Mr. Johnson, when I came to work today, the manager called me into his office apartment downstairs and told me my work was inadequate. He told me the only way for me to keep my job was to make him feel good. I need this job, Sir. I work hard and do my very best every day to work fast and to do as good a job as I can. Because I need this job, I did what he asked. He had me get on my knees and do for him what I would do for a husband if I had one. He made me, a, made me, ah, suck him. There, I said it. When he was through with me, he said I should plan on doing that for him every morning. I need this job, so I will do it."
When she was through she had her eyes downcast. I place my hand on her chin and raised her face, "Luana, you will never have to do that again. Please forgive me for not knowing this morning what I know now. Would you like to accompany me while I terminate the man?"
"No Sir, I would be afraid. He knows where all of us ladies live. He goes to some of their houses. He will hurt us if he knows we've told on him."
"I think not, Luana. Please excuse me while I take care of this business."
I walked out of the room and used my cell phone to call Steve and Dewey. I said quickly, "You two need to come here right now. I've discovered a problem that we could have a great deal of liability from."
Steve answered, "We're on our way."
Since I was on the second floor, I took the stairs and headed straight to the resort offices. The two people at the desk had a terrified look on their faces and I could hear yelling behind them.
I walked through the open door to the resort offices to find a man laying on the floor, holding his mouth, while the manager stood over him with clenched fists. He said, "Come on, you punk. Get up and fight me like a man. I want to kick your ass all over my hotel."
I said quickly, "Please stand back. Stand back right now."
"Shut the fuck up. You may be some kind of investor, but this is my hotel, I'm the manager here and this asshole is nothing but some clod that thinks he's a world famous chef. He cooks slop."
"Ah, I think you should step back now. Please go to your office or leave the room right now."
"You know, I don't need you fucking with me, too. I'll kick your ass along with this guy. I saw you next door yesterday. You're nothing but a one-legged cripple anyway."
The man reached to grab me and with my left hand I grabbed him and twisted his arm behind him and forced him to his knees, pushing him toward the door. I released him pushing him forward so he had to catch himself with his hands. I stood up saying, "Leave now. Please go outside and wait for me there."
"Why, you little twerp. I'll fuck you up permanently," the man said, as he was standing and reaching into his coat. I didn't know whether he was going for a gun, so I stepped forward and chopped the hand that was reaching into his coat. The surprise on his face was great, and the man was pretty big, probably about six three and in fairly good shape.
The chop forced his hand to fumble what was a revolver that landed on the floor. With the introduction of a weapon, I needed to be careful. I said, "Please, I'm an officer of the law. Please step outside quietly with me right now so there will be no further problems."
The man looked at me and went to his knees to recover the gun. I kicked him in the chin. I tried to get the toe of my foot on my prosthesis into his throat so it would disable him, but it caught him in the mouth, which did a job on his teeth. While he was falling back, I pulled my Glock and held it on him and said again, "I am a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Please remain on the floor now with your hands above your head."
I turned to the man on the floor, noticing for the first time, a lady with a horrified look on her face sitting at a desk behind him. "Call 911, please.
We need the local law."
I stood with my fake foot on the back of the manager and said to him. "Remain very still. I'm now going to press charges on you for a variety of very neat crimes. This other gentleman will probably gladly charge you with assault too."
The man wouldn't give up, he said, "My uncle will fix you. My uncle got me this job and expects you to give him his rent every month. You'll be sucking my dick like that cunt housekeeper by the end of the day."
Steve and Dewey were standing in the doorway. Steve asked, "Is this the problem you mentioned?"
"It is. I didn't get down here to fire him fast enough. He attacked this gentleman that I believe is our chef."
I looked at the lady who was terrified behind her desk, "Ma'am, would you go get some bottles of water for you and the chef? You might have the desk people make sure the police come straight into the office."
Dewey got down and checked the man who was the chef. He had a slightly cut lip, but other than that, he was okay. Dewey helped him up and had him sit in the chair by the lady's desk.
Steve asked, "Is that the way you guys hold someone? You stand on them?"
"I don't have any cuffs, Steve. I had to kick him after he went for the gun I knocked out of his hands. He had that revolver in a shoulder holster. Don't touch it as it's evidence of attempted murder. His fingerprints are going to be all over it."
Steve asked, "Did you fire him yet?"
"I didn't get the chance, but you, Sir, should consider yourself unemployed as of the moment you tried to grab me. Actually, you were unemployed when you hit the chef. You don't do that."
A policeman came into the room and stopped in shock at seeing me holding a Glock while keeping my foot in the middle of the man's back. I said, "Officer, please use your cuffs on this man. I'm a Deputy U.S. Marshal and this man first tried to assault me, then attempted to pull that revolver that's on the floor over there. Prior to that, he assaulted the man sitting in the chair over there."
The policeman warily looked at me and used his portable mike to call in for backup. He used the code to advise there were guns present. He did pull his handcuffs and cuffed the manager on the floor then pulled him to his feet to search him.
The policeman saw the man's face and looked worried, "Are you Donello's kid?"
The now ex-manager said, "No, Donello is my uncle. You better let me free so he doesn't have you fired or worse."
"Can't do that, kid. You messed up. Hey buddy, let me see some ID to go with that Glock."
I showed the policeman my ID and he called my name into his supervisor to check on the authenticity of the ID. I had holstered my weapon and asked the policeman for an evidence bag. He looked at me funny, and I said, "I think we should bag the revolver as it is proof of the attempted murder."
As two more policemen came into the office, he told one to get some evidence bags. He said, "I'll need your weapon, Deputy."
"A Deputy Marshal does not give up his weapon unless it is to a supervisor. Please contact the local Marshal's office or the FBI office and they will advise you how to conduct the investigation."
"I don't need no fucking feds to tell me how to make an arrest or how to investigate a crime. Give me your fucking gun."
I held my coat open and said, "You take it at your own risk. I've advised you of the proper procedure."
The officer took the gun, dropped the magazine, then stuck it in his waist. I said, "Officer, please be careful, there is a round in the chamber."
He said, "Oh, ready huh?" He pulled the gun and ejected the round then tried to put it in the magazine. It wouldn't fit as the magazine was full. He looked at me closely and said, "You use this gun often?"
"Not for a few weeks. I'm on convalescent leave."
"Were you injured?"
"I was shot a few times, yes. The last was just a broken collarbone from a close up forty-five round in the vest and some splinters from a round that hit my prosthesis."
"Your prosthesis?" The officer asked.
"I lost a leg in the service."
Another officer asked, "That's kind of different to have a Deputy Marshal with only one leg, isn't it?"
"I don't know. I don't know how many deputies are amputees."
The original officer said, "It didn't seem to keep him from taking the kid here down. When I got here he had his fake foot on the kids back after knocking him down."
Three suits came in the office, making it a little crowded. One of the men flashed his ID case, showing a Deputy Marshal's badge and the other showed his FBI ID. "So we have the infamous Deputy Charles, Chuck, Johnson visiting. How come no dead bodies?"
The officer looked at the newcomers and asked, "What's the deal with your guns. This guy says I'm not supposed to take it."
The Deputy Marshal said, "I'm the local Station Chief and I can request it if I see that it should be taken. Other than me or the FBI Station Chief, the weapon remains with the Deputy."
The officer pulled the gun from his waist and handed it to me. I held out my hand and he handed me the magazine. I slid the magazine into the gun and chambered a round and held my hand out to the officer again. He looked at me and I said, "The extra round?"
"Oh yeah, sorry." He handed me the extra round and I dropped the magazine and put the round in then slid the magazine home again. The Station Chief said to the man next to him, "See, that's in one of his memos. You keep your weapon full in case you need it. It's even in the SOP."
The Station Chief said to the officer, "What's the deal now? Is there any federal crime here or did we come to visit with Chuck?"
The officer said, "We have to take a few statements then take this guy in and book him. He'll go to Honolulu for processing and arraignment. Your man is charging him with assault and attempted murder. The other guy is charging him with assault. His uncle will probably bail him out of jail as soon as he's arraigned, so this guy will probably never go to trial. We'll put a hold on him but there are too many ways to leave the islands. Too bad the judge won't remand him."
The Station Chief said, "If he's being charged with attempted murder of a Deputy U.S. Marshal, it's a federal offense, whether the guy knew Chuck was a Deputy or not. I think we can get the Federal Judge to keep this guy under wraps. Come on FBI, take a statement so we can transport the man. The other guy will be a local case."
I gave a statement, then the Deputy with the two other men took statements from the secretary and the chef. The Deputy tagged the revolver as evidence, gave a receipt to the local officer, and they hauled the former manager out of the office.
The Station Chief shook my hand and gave me his card. "Call me, I could use your help on a project. It won't take long, I promise."
I asked the chef, "How about we treat you to lunch. Either here or wherever you wish. You, Ma'am," I said to the secretary, "should come with us. You need a break today. These two men, Steve, Dewey, and myself, are the new investors of the resort. Please, will you all join us?"
The two hotel people gladly joined us. The desk people looked a lot more relaxed when we walked out. I asked the concierge, "Can you get a bellhop and yourself and empty the manager's apartment. You should box and seal everything in there. If you find any contraband, then call the police to dispose of it. Other than that, box it all and store it until we find an address to ship it to." The man was grinning as he waved at one of the bellhops.
The chef led us into the formal dinning room. He placed us near the kitchen door and said, "I'm very pleased to meet all of you and would like to give you something special for making my day wonderful."
Josie came in and I introduced her around, then Mrs. Murphy came in, and I introduced her as well. Josie had a man she introduced as the senior maintenance man, as she wanted us to meet him.
We had a wonderful lunch then took Josie outside where I asked her, "Would you be our resort manager here? I like the way you relate to your personnel and think you would be a good choice."
Josie smiled and said, "Margaret said you would do this as she said you were asking about me. Yes, I want the job. Before I move into the quarters of the former manager, I want to fumigate the place though."
"Better yet, remodel the whole place. Tear it out and make it the way you want it. I have to agree, I wouldn't want to live where that guy lived either."
After Josie left, I discussed with Dewey and Steve what the manager had done with lady employees. They were shocked. Dewey said, "We could be sued from now till next year."
I added, "According to Luana, the man goes to employees homes as well. I think you should know though, the guy is connected. His uncle is some kind of gangster and if I understood correctly, he runs a protection racket."
"So that's why we bought this place so cheap," Steve said. "What are you going to do about it, Deputy?"
"I guess I'll have to catch him at it and go from there. We need to find the old owner and find out how much rent he paid. I'm curious to see if this Donello increases it."
Dewey said, "The attorney is doing the closing right this second in Honolulu. I'll call and have him confront the man. We'll get the answer."
A little later, Dewey came back and said, "This Donello was picking up five grand a month and said it was going up. It was due yesterday, so we'll hear from the man soon."
Steve said he had to go back to the boat and would be back soon. He left Dewey and me as we went through the heads of the different departments to talk to each one, telling them about the new manager. They were all happy with the selection.
Steve returned all dressed up, at least wearing a sport coat. It took me a few minutes, but I put together what was going on. I went back into the manager's office and called the Station Chief.
"Hey there, this is Chuck Johnson. I think we might have an FBI case out here. How close do you work with them?"
"We're tight, as we're two small units. We work well together, what do you have?"
There's a local guy called Donello that apparently runs a protection racket that he calls paying rent. I think this is why my friends bought this place so cheap. If you can get together a dossier on the man, I would appreciate it. Send it electronically to my office in Tampa. I can pull if from there."
"I'll get right on it. Do you need a guy? I have a young guy that's dying to do something. How about I send him out and he can stand around as a bellhop and give you some back up?"
"Sounds great, send him. I don't know when I'll meet this guy, but it should be soon."
The secretary was at the door, "Mr. Johnson, a Mr. Donello is here to see you."
"Hey, my meet is right now. If you can make your guy materialize, do it. I'll have to handle this my way."
"I'll send the cleanup crew."
I said laughing, "I'm not that bad."
I heard "Sure," as he hung up.
I went out of the office to find a short guy in a white suit, hat, and ornamental cane accompanied by two big guys in flowery shirts worn loose, not tucked in. He looked like he came straight out of a gangster movie. It was everything I could do to keep from laughing. Steve and Dewey were out there, so looking at Steve as I stuck my hand out, I said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Donello, this is Steve Sharp, my partner. He'll join us."
Dewey was sharp and picked up on what I was doing. He walked out of the office.
As soon as the five of us were in the office and the door was closed, the two big guys pulled automatics and held them on me and Steve. The man, Donello, said, "Carmen said this guy carries. Get his gun and check the other guy."
They took my Glock, dropped the clip and put it on the desk. They took a 9 mil from Steve and did the same.
Donello said, "Sit at your desk. This is business. You'll need to write a check, so go sit."
I acted lame as I went to sit. Donello asked, "What's the matter with you?"
"I only have one leg. I lost one in the service."
"I don't care, that won't keep me from what I do."
As soon as I sat he said, "First, you call someone and get my Carmen from jail. You drop charges or whatever it takes and get him out. You don't do that and we have a problem. I'll give you time for that. He needs to come to supper with me."
He sat in a chair and messed with a big cigar. As he cut the end off and was about to light it he said, "You keep my Carmen here to watch this place too. He's a good manager and you will keep him."
He lit the cigar then said, "I was charging only five grand rent for this place, but if you open a casino and make all the improvements, you need to double that. Just for fucking with my Carmen, I think this month you pay maybe fifteen thousand rent, next month only ten. I need to give Carmen a little bonus for the humiliation."
I was moving around behind the desk acting like I was looking for the checkbook. Donello said, "The secretary keeps the checkbook, call her."
I called the secretary on the phone by pushing the "Sec" button on the telephone. I asked her to bring the property checkbook. She came in and put the book down on the desk staring at the two guns there. She hurriedly left closing the door.
While the commotion was going on, I had pulled my pants leg up and had pulled my little Glock 27. As soon as the secretary had left Donello said, "Now write my check quickly. Mark it as rent and I will be out of here. Oh yeah, my Carmen said he saw you with many nice looking ladies. He says he wants to sample the big titted one. You will make her available to us this evening. If you don't, you and all of the people with you will have a problem. Write the damn check." He laughed and looked at his two men.
"See boys, they are sheep when we do this correctly."
I used that loss of eye contact to raise the Glock and point. "You are under arrest, all three of you."
This surprised the two men who had their guns pointed down. They started to bring them up and I fired at both of them one after the other. They fell straight down. Donello shoved his hand into his jacket as I brought the Glock back onto him and he stopped. I said, "Steve, check to see what this guy has under his coat."
Steve came over put his hand under the man's jacket and pulled out what looked like a PPK. Steve dropped the magazine and slid the receiver. No round ejected. He laid it on the desk then checked the two downed men. He said, "They're both dead."
Donello looked at me and said, "I have many friends on these islands and you will pay dearly for this. I will have this place in flames by tonight."
I said to Steve, "Do you want to go out and see if it's raining while I check this guys pulse?"
Steve grinned and said, "I'd rather do it after his demand for Sue."
Steve picked up his automatic and slid the magazine back in and was holding it on Donello. I put the Glock 27 down and picked up my Glock 22 and put the magazine back in. Then turning to Steve I said, "Ask the secretary if anyone called 911 yet. The FBI is on their way, but we should have at least one legal witness."
As Steve went to the door, he tripped over a dead guy's arm and stumbled toward the door. Donello used that second to lunge at the desk for my Glock 27.
Steve and I saw him at the same time and we both fired at the same time. Donello's hand had made it to the gun, but he died with the Glock 27 at his fingertips.
At that second, the same officer who had come this morning burst into the office. He was looking at me and not at Steve who put his gun away quickly. The cop saw the two dead guys with guns at their feet and Donello with his hand on the 27.
"What happened here?"
I began relating that these two had come in and held us at gunpoint as Donello told us how much money we were going to pay for protection or what he called rent, that I had to drop charges on this nephew, Carmen, and that I had to keep him as manager. Steve said, "The last thing the man wanted was for me to give my wife to him. That pissed me off."
I said, "They had taken my gun from me as Carmen told them I carried. They didn't take my backup gun though, and I used that to jump them. These two were trying to shoot me when I shot them, and this man attempted to pick up my gun when I was retrieving my service weapon. This little gun is one we took from him."
The officer looked confused as the FBI and Marshal Station Chiefs came in the door. The Station Chief said, "I already called for cleanup. We heard the police respond to shots fired. Sorry, Chuck, but you have to say it all again."
While I was telling the Marshal Station Chief my story, the FBI Station Chief took Steve out to interview him. Hopefully he would admit to the man that he had a weapon. While I was telling the story, the Chief dropped the magazine from the 27 and counted the rounds then he did the same with the 22. He said, "Only three rounds used, two from the little gun and one from your service weapon. I already found out yours is a personal weapon. Your office manager told me that you turned in issue stuff before your leave, except that according to John Scott, you're still on duty. You just don't know how to relax, do you?"
The cleanup guys came and wanted us to leave so they could take pictures and begin the process of crime scene investigation.
Outside, in the office, I said to the secretary, "Why don't you take the rest of the day off? This has not been a good day for you so far."
The little woman said, "No Sir, I will not leave. Josie may need me and you may need me. Anyone that will get rid of the scum that's lying in there has all of my respect. That man and his kin have been a problem for many years."
The police officer said, "Now that Donello is gone, the detectives will probably pick up the rest of the family on old charges. Donello was a force that everyone was afraid of. The man went after people's families."
I looked at Steve and told him that we should advise the women. He nodded in agreement. He was smiling when he said, "I can't wait to tell them what this guy wanted us to do. I think the boats will be safe. You stay on Dewey's, you know my boat is safe."
It took the rest of the day for everything to calm down. Josie had the maintenance men remove the window in the office so the bodies could be lifted out that way instead of bringing them through the lobby. Some customers knew something happened, but they never would find out exactly what.
I had to promise to write up an incident report and used the secretary's computer to access my site to write it up while I had everyone's name. I forwarded it off quickly.
I asked Josie if she wanted to come out to the boat to eat and she said, "Only if you have a lot of booze. I think I'm very thirsty. Can I call Julie and have her join us?"
It was set, as soon as they could get there, they would come to Dewey's hotel, and come out to the boats for the evening meal.
Dewey had joined us and said, "Thank you for sending me away. I called the police as soon as you went into the office. I knew something bad was going to happen the way you two were acting. You know, I feel pretty safe around you two."
Steve said, "You still need to stay sharp and practice shooting. You never know when you will need it."
We headed toward Dewey's resort hotel and the boats.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious