Monday morning, I was up and down at the gym by six. I cleaned up and ate by seven, then went downstairs to walk across the street at seven thirty. Street traffic was low, so I looked to see if there were any parked cars to worry about, then started out. My cane became stuck in one of those stupid open grates they have in the sidewalk. This caused me to begin to fall. As I was going down, there was something smacking the pavement and sidewalk near me then a whining sound. I finally realized that someone was shooting at me so I abandoned my cane and hopped back to the hotel door.
The hotel lobby Marshal saw what was happening and was instantly out of the hotel looking up toward the parking garage. He was on his radio and in just seconds, men were coming from the federal building running toward the garage. Just as they reached the garage, a white Ford Victoria roared out of the garage and down the street. Two of the Marshals kept running to the garage then roared out in one of the pursuit vehicles. Meanwhile, the hotel Marshal was making sure I wasn't hit then went out onto the street and pulled my cane free of the grate.
I said, "This is the first time I've ever been happy my cane got stuck in one of those grates. I wonder why the guy quit shooting. It looks like he fired only four rounds and quit." I went back across the street, this time with a man on each side of me, went through the metal detectors and up to the office.
The first thing Sarah did was to interview me as to what had just occurred. She typed the interview up quickly and had me sign it. She then wanted the list of all the videos I had watched. She filled out a Marshal training form and listed all of them and their grade value. She had another stack of videos that were required viewing by new Marshals. She said I might as well be gaining knowledge in the correct order.
Howard came in saying, "The shooter got away. There's no way to track a white Ford Victoria in a Florida city that probably has two or three thousand of them on the street at any one time. You were lucky out there, Johnson, I'll bet you look at rooftops from now on. Don't just look at street level check areas that would give a shooter a line of sight to a target. You'll learn."
He introduced me to another Marshal who was my shadow for the day. "Go to work, do what you are supposed to be doing. That will probably be as safe as anything else. You're predictable right now. You come here, you go home. You're only available to be hit out on the street. I am surprised they did the deed out in the open like that. This is a pretty cocky guy."
The Marshal assigned to me said, "Want to go downstairs to the range? They have all the ammo you could ever use up. Come on, let's get you a little more proficient with your sidearm."
We both checked out ear protection and each pulled fifty rounds of reloads. I stripped my magazine and loaded up with the reloads. My first target was all hits but there was no grouping, plus several were on the edge. The next set was all in the large body circle, but not necessarily a close group. By the fifth set, I had a nice small grouping in the target's head.
The Marshal I was with was just slightly better with his Glock. He said that I was a hell of lot better shot than most of the guys in the Marshal's service. He said most of them had to slowly fire single rounds at a time. We had rapid fired ten rounds in each set.
We policed our brass to turn in and reloaded our magazines with our original rounds. I asked the range officer if he had a cleaning kit. He pulled out one made specifically for my weapon and one for a Glock. We stripped our pistols, cleaned them thoroughly, and put them back together. When we were both done, we thanked the range officer and left for my car. Instead of playing tag, we were going to take only one vehicle today.
At my office, I checked in with Ms. White who had already been informed of my close call this morning. She asked my watchdog if he thought I would attract any danger to the building. He didn't think so, but he said he would be watchful.
Ms. White said that a lady would be up to help me shortly. She told me that I could use the office next to mine for the new person and to make sure I gave good directions in order to help the people we were hired to help.
As soon as I entered my office, the phone was ringing. It was a response from the ad. I made the man an appointment for later this morning then began looking at several message slips that I had. It took me until the time of my appointment to return the calls that had come in and to set up appointments.
The new lady came in, we quickly discussed what our goals were, and I asked her to interview our new client with me.
My first official client was not out of service yet, but wanted to look for work before deciding whether to re-enlist or not. We went over the pros and cons of military life. He was single and had just turned twenty-one. By the time the interview was over, he was convinced to re-enlist for both the bonus and the rank he had been offered.
At lunchtime, my shadow and I had to order from the sandwich shop. I had a nice time talking to the five girls and several of the other folks there. Brandy said she would call me later as she had something to ask me.
The appointments in the afternoon were okay, nothing special, except that I did have a man from Wells Fargo security come to give me parameters of the type of people they looked for. He had regular security jobs open, as well as transport or armored car positions. I thanked the man for being my first official employer.
I wrote up my ad results report, describing the eleven calls that were a result of the ads. There might be more during the rest of the week as the Sunday paper tends to hang around a while.
The new lady had a list of people she wanted to begin calling to see if jobs might be available.
Brandy called me from her counter position and asked, "Are you allowed to go out or are you stuck in the hotel?"
"Pretty much stuck," I answered.
"How about a few of us come up to your room and play cards or games tonight. It might be fun and definitely better than being by yourself."
"I'd love that, Brandy, if you guys want, whoever's coming should come early and have dinner with me. I also eat with the guy who is upstairs watching out for me. He'll join us."
"I'll talk to the others to see who all will come. If I'm the only one, you're in for a treat. I'll bring my nightie and we'll have a slumber party."
"Oh my, be still my heart. I'm not going to want a crowd then. Listen when you guys get to the hotel, you have to ask at the desk to go up to my room. That way the downstairs people can tell the upstairs guy you're coming."
"Got it, I'll definitely see you later, especially for the free food."
By five, all five girls had called saying they were coming. They were going to bring some chips, games, and a couple decks of cards.
My shadow and I went back to the garage and walked to the hotel. He said, "You've had an interesting day. It was enjoyable to be with you. Maybe I'll get to do it again tomorrow."
I told the downstairs guy that some girls were coming in a little while. They surprised me by saying the elevator car had been replaced and was working fine. I told the upstairs guy about the visitors and he was excited, looking forward to see some cuties. After quickly changing out of my clothes, I called to see what this evening's special was. They were having Veal Scaloppini tonight. That sounded good, but it would still need to be warm.
Right at six, five girls came in. They were typical women and had to explore the penthouse; looking outside on the terrace patio then all around. They were impressed with the sliding wall that exposed the bar. I fixed each of them a drink and asked if they all liked Veal Scaloppini. I got yes' all around, so I called down and ordered seven veal dinners with the appropriate wine, veggies, and dessert.
We were soon dining with the Marshal. We had salad, then veal over rice with thick sauce over all of it. The meal was accompanied with some asparagus, some great mild wine, and finishing with some sherbet, a really great meal.
All of us were full after the meal and decided to play some cards while listening to jazz from the cable. Nancy had brought a bag of pretzel sticks, so we divided them up and played poker. Frieda was the poker player and soon had most of everyone's pretzels. Tiani's went the fastest, as she was nibbling on them while also using them to bet with. Judy was doing pretty well too, and I was probably in third place.
We played cards till almost ten when the girls said it was time to go home. All but Brandy left after each giving me a kiss. Brandy gave me a very warm kiss saying, "I told you I was staying. Is that okay?"
"That is wonderful, Brandy, do you want a drink or can I get you something else?"
"Just you, let's shower then get in bed. I think we'll figure out something to do."
The phone rang. It was the downstairs guy saying he was missing one of the girls that had gone up. I told him she was staying over and he laughed, obviously holding the other four there until he knew what was going on. He said goodnight and hung up.
The night was very nice. Our playtime was energetic enough that we had to take another shower about midnight. Brandy said that she should be fine if we woke at six, so we snuggled up and enjoyed a satisfying night's sleep.
I got Brandy off for home to change for work and went to the gym for an hour. After breakfast, I checked in at the Marshal's office then with my same shadow, went to work. I had another excellent day, lining up another employer and actually referring two retired men to Wells Fargo. My bank even gave me a formal request that we were able to complete via fax.
My shadow and I were on our way back to the garage, the office, and the hotel. I noticed a white Ford Victoria riding close to my back bumper, trying to find space in the traffic to get in the lane beside us. Since the car was acting strange, I told the Marshal with me. He pulled his weapon and chambered a round. I was amazed that he didn't have a chambered round already. He was smart though, as he didn't turn to look, but made sure I was keeping track of them.
We were coming up to a cross street that didn't have any houses on it. The Marshal called in to tell control of our location and our situation. I changed to the right lane, with the car following us changing lanes as well. I signaled the turn while watching the car. He didn't signal and dropped back just a little.
My Marshal told me to go most of the way down the block, then pull over and get down in the seat. He would exit his side and be ready to fire immediately. When I turned the corner, it almost looked like the car following us wasn't going to turn, but did follow us at the last second. I had sped up and was able to slide to a stop with the Marshal getting out immediately while the car was coming up behind us. As it slid to a stop, I could hear rounds going off from behind hitting the Mustang and shattering the rear glass. I could hear the Marshal just outside the car firing.
I slid across the seat, over the console, keeping low and went out the door, going around to the front of the car. When I looked at the Ford, the guy in the passenger seat was hanging out the window, obviously out of the fight. The driver was kneeling beside the car behind the open front door concentrating on the Marshal. When he rose up to fire, I quickly put two rounds in his head, causing him to fall backward. The Marshal hollered that he was going to approach the car. He checked the guy hanging out the window looking for a pulse in his neck, then checked the guy I had shot on the other side of car.
He lowered his automatic and holstered it. I did the same, finally standing. The Marshal said, "You shouldn't have gotten out of the car. You are my responsibility. You did good though; you waited until you had a clean shot and took the guy out. I gotta call in and get the bureau out here."
I could hear sirens coming as he called in the attempt and the result. He was told to keep any locals away as the FBI would want to roll on this. Their crime scene team would want to run the show.
A Tampa squad car came sliding up with a cop jumping out grabbing for his weapon. The Marshal and I held up our badges with our other arm raised. The cop approached and checked our ID, then approached the dead guys.
"Don't touch. The FBI is on their way and will want the scene to be clean. Let's let them move anything that's to be moved. If you have markers, you might want to get them out and mark shell casings from them as well as us."
Another two Tampa cars and an unmarked car came sliding to a stop. The Marshal went through his speech about the FBI and asked them to stay clear of the scene. They were not happy, but that's the way it had to be. The unmarked car was a detective who brought out a camera and began taking pictures from every angle he could get.
Two unmarked cars arrived. One had Howard and the Assistant Marshal in charge in it, and the other had four FBI agents. A second later an FBI CSI team arrived. They were instantly taking pictures and began going through the two dead guys clothes, laying out the various things in their pockets.
When they popped the trunk, they hollered to call an ambulance. In the trunk was an older guy that looked dehydrated. He was tied up with duct tape over his mouth. One of the detectives said, "That's Jennings from out in the county. They put out a missing person's report on him and his vehicle. Check these tags to see who they belong to. This is a county sheriff's car.
The men there slowly lifted the man from the trunk and were pouring water over his mouth after they had removed the duct tape. An ambulance showed up to take care of the county officer and soon left for the hospital. Everyone at the scene was hoping for his recovery.
Meanwhile two of the FBI guys, accompanied by the Tampa detectives, had me and my shadow separated, giving them our individual versions of what had happened. The interviews took about fifteen minutes. We were just finishing when a news van pulled up with people piling out.
Howard began yelling for the uniforms to get those people out of here as this was a sensitive crime scene that was not for public consumption. There was a lot of yelling that they had the right to cover a shooting or any public crime. The cops just told them that if they ever wanted access to something that wasn't sensitive, they better get out of there. They reluctantly loaded up and left. My Marshal and I kept down in the seat of the car so we weren't visible to the camera while they had been out.
Howard came over and said to me, "You aren't going to be popular with the guys. You let those guys shoot up the Mustang. This is the most popular car in the fleet. I've already called the pool so they can fix this thing tonight. It'll be good as new by morning. This is the third time the car has been shot. It's not very lucky."
It took till almost seven-thirty before they hauled the dead guys away then hooked up the Victoria and pulled it off. The boss, Howard, said, "Drive this thing back to the garage, but park downstairs by the shop. They are expecting you. Doug and I are going home."
On the way back to the garage, I commented to my Deputy Marshal, "This is the third time they've shot at me. I'm starting to get pissed. Too bad both of those guys are dead. I would love to hang one out the window to find out who hired him. I wonder if they have anything else from the original goons we had up in the office."
"Let me check on them and see where they are." He used his radio and asked for the 10-20 of the suspects that had been in our office when the attack went down last week. Who ever was manning the radio said they were being held in federal private custody in the lockup there.
I asked my Marshal, "Are you married?"
He shook his head no. "Want to go to Reggie's for supper?"
"I'll have to ask if that's all right. Let me call in."
When he called, Howard answered back right away and said it was fine, but to be watchful. He told us to call the restaurant before we went though, as they were really busy since Poppa's was closed.
We turned in the Mustang and checked out a surveillance car, an ugly green Malibu. I called Reggie's and asked for Reggie, saying I was a fed. Reggie came on the phone and asked, "What do you want, Howard?"
When I told him it was me, he said, "Come on over. Metarie is here. You can eat with us." I told him I had someone attached to my hip and he told me to bring him too. "Park in the back, I'll tell security, whatcha drivin'."
We parked in the back of the restaurant and went in the back door, through the kitchen. We went to Reggie's office and knocked. We heard, "Just a second."
Reggie opened the door with his shirt partially unbuttoned and no tie. He had a shit-eating grin on his face as he greeted us. Ms. White was still straightening her clothes too, blushing a little.
"We were catching up on some home life. Business has been too good in this restaurant lately. This place is the star right now."
We had a great shrimp scampi dinner, along with drinks and wine. We chatted about several things, but never touching on my activities. Ms. White asked my Deputy Marshal, "Are you guys going to steal my new agent?"
"If we can, Ma'am. He's already proven himself in a couple of hairy situations. I'd love to have him as a partner. The service needs men like him. Even the FBI inquired about him."
Ms. White said to me, "I guess I'll have to up your salary to compete with these other agencies. I'll fight for you, Chuck, we really need some young male blood in the agency. Especially some that's honest."
After eating, I let the Marshal drive us back, as I had had several drinks. Once we parked, we checked the street thoroughly, then he accompanied me to the hotel. We said goodbye, then I checked in with the downstairs man and went upstairs.
The hall guy was someone I didn't know, so I got aquatinted with him then went inside to get ready for bed. It was nice to get off my stump tonight. It was a little sore from standing so much earlier. I had twisted the mount around and that bruised me a little, so I would be tender for a couple of days.
I stretched out in bed and was instantly asleep.
At six, I was on my way to the gym, followed by breakfast and a guarded walk to the office. My shadow was there waiting, and I asked him if we could go down to the range. I wanted to clean my weapon and I was two rounds short.
While down there, I asked for the combat series on the range and loaded three additional magazines they loaned me. The range positions were automated and were pulled back and multiple obstacles were positioned. The range officer walked me through their combat series first then did it again to explain the best angles to fire. He said the first series wouldn't give me any decisions, all targets.
Forty rounds later, I felt pretty good that I had scored a ninety. That was good in my way of thinking for a first run. I loaded my magazines while my partner did the series then it was my turn for the decision series. This you had to be a lot more accurate and you were not ever as fast.
I had forty rounds and a hundred twenty seconds. Top scores were about ninety percent hits in seventy-five to ninety seconds. The decision series seemed easier than the target series. I was done in eighty seven seconds with five rounds left, scoring a ninety-four."
My partner said, "Holy shit, that's got to be damn near top score at the range."
The range officer said, "You'll have to meet Jan. She's an FBI babe that is really good. She's going to some competitions this summer. You two might want to team up. Don't get doe-eyed over her though, I think she hunts in the other forest, if you know what I mean."
I smiled and nodded.
"She does a consistent over ninety in right at seventy seconds. It's really neat to watch her. Come just after lunch, she shoots almost every day, even weekends when she isn't on duty or gone somewhere."
We cleaned up our brass, then the weapons. I begged a couple of extra rounds so I would have full clips.
My Marshal partner, Ted, wanted to go upstairs a minute before we left. He went to Howard who was talking to Sarah and a couple of guys, "The boy wonder just shot a ninety-four in eighty-seven seconds. What do you think about that?"
Sarah said, "You and Jan should get together. Maybe you can change her persuasion if you shoot with her."
Howard said, "Leave FBI girls alone. They try to steal my men all the time."
Ted and I walked to the garage to find the Mustang ready to go. His radio went off, "Ted, Chuck, come back to the office, the boys from downstairs need to talk to you."
We walked back to find two FBI guys in the office. The one said, "A federal judge just signed a writ of Habeas Corpus on Poppa. I don't know how they knew he was here, but they served it in our office. We have the federal Attorney General's office working on an appeal, as we want the guy classified as a terrorist. I wanted to let you know the man might be getting out. We'll find out by noon."
Howard said, "Call Ms. White and tell her you have to stay here for a while. The way it's going, she might as well hire someone else for that job. It's going to be a while before you're back among the unwatched."
One of the FBI guys said, "The beltway guys tell us that this group that you've run into is national in scope, and probably has every major underworld guy in the states involved. It's just another of their lucrative businesses. They're going to be pissed for a while for us catching on. You, Mr. Johnson will be the object of their passion for a good while. They just hate to let someone like you get off. It's a thing they have."
Howard said, "He's just trying to tell you that we may have to put you into the federal witness protection program. That's where we change your identity and put you somewhere no one will look for you."
"I think I'll take my chances here for a while, at least until you guys get tired of boarding me."
Sarah smiled, "We can keep you just like you are for six months before we have to begin convincing you to go into the program."
I looked at Howard and the FBI guys, "Instead of that, let's just clean this thing up and make it too hot for any of them to continue their hunt for revenge."
An FBI guy said, "Whew! That's a lot of dead guys. You know those damn bullets can get you too."
I nodded.
Sarah said, "Come with me, Honey, I want you to have something." The guys all hooted and hollered that Sarah was going to give me something very special. She blushed and said, "I wish," softly as we were going into the supply closet.
"What's your jacket size, Honey?"
"This is a forty-four, Sarah."
She thumbed through a bunch of vests then pulled one out. "Put this on under your shirt. These are all type four vests. This will stop everything up to a fifty caliber. You're still going to get broken ribs and bruises, but it's better than dead."
"That's why you're taught to do head shots in some situations."
"Most everyone goes for the body. It's a bigger target. If you get hit, even with a vest on, it's going to knock you down. Hopefully, you'll still be alert and able to defend yourself."
I tried it on and it fit nice and close. The material was surprisingly thin, so you didn't bulge out because of the vest. I tucked in my shirt, then Sarah said, "Let me," as she tied my tie and helped me on with my coat. She gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "Wear this and take care of yourself.
Back out in the office area, Howard noted the vest. "Good idea, should have thought of that before. Hey Ted, get a vest, or at least remember to wear yours tomorrow."
Ted nodded and headed toward the supply closet.
Howard took a call and then cursed as he slammed the phone back into the cradle. "We have to let that slime ball out. The judge is only asking fifty thousand for bail." Howard looked confused and got back on the phone, "How does he rate only fifty when we have him cold on conspiracy to commit murder."
I could only hear this side of conversation.
"What do you mean we don't have enough evidence, we have witnesses?"
"Huh?"
"How?"
"Damn, how did somebody get at them?"
"Who was it?"
"No way, how in the hell did they get to him?"
"Oh shit, I'll be right down, I want to help."
Howard looked around and said, "All of you, come on, we have to help the boys downstairs. One of theirs is in trouble."
We all went into the FBI offices and right through the reception area into the main office.
Howard said, "Okay, McAllie, all of it, so we can all hear it."
"We found the three guys we were keeping in private custody, cold this morning. Poppa was down there too but he is was fine. We pulled the video of the rooms and saw Billy D come in and go to each of the three guys' cells, then leave. Billy wasn't on duty and when we checked the sign-in logs, his name didn't show up. We had the video so we picked him up out at his house. He kept saying he can't leave because some people had kidnapped his wife and his two daughters. They were gonna hold them until he offed the three stooges we were holding."
The agent continued, "We left, except we left Charlie Martin with him. About fifteen minutes later, a guy calls and tells Billy, you ain't getting your family back till you off Chuck Johnson. Billy tried to tell them that Johnson was guarded too tight. The voice said he didn't care, either Johnson gets dead or he uses the daughters for a Saturday night party. The guy said he'd send his old ladies head to him for a souvenir.
I must have looked bad as the FBI chief agent said, "You don't have anything to worry about from us. You're safe. We have to find Billy's wife and kids ASAP, though."
I offered something. "How about setting something up so it looks like Billy does shoot me? Make it out in the open where everyone sees it and you make a production out of arresting Billy. If you were to bring him back here for custody it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Make me look like a DOA and have the coroner's van come out to pick me up. Have me swapped with a stiff they already have then spirit me away somewhere. If I have to go into protection, fine, but let's get his family."
Howard said, "It might work. I hate to send the kid into protection, but we have to get Billy's family back. He's going to fry for those three hoods. If he's lucky he might get some kind of homicide. It's hardly justifiable though. Billy's family will be free, but he won't be."
The FBI chief said, "Let's set it up. We'll do it out front of the building. Hannigan, go over to the coroner's office and have them load an unidentified homeless guy into the van. All of that office knows how to keep their mouth shut. Load up a magazine with blanks. Make them so that there are blood spots where they hit. Chuck, I see you have a vest, Good. It'll keep the blanks from hurting too much. This time, we'll let the media see what we're doing. Don't give them the name but say it's another person from the unemployment office. If I'm thinking right, a Tampa uniform will report to Poppa the deed is done."
"I'll radio Charlie to tell him to call me on his cell. We'll get Billy moving toward the office. Let's make this happen."
As we were going back upstairs, Howard said, "You don't have to do this. I can get someone to look like you."
"Not enough time, Sir. Just do it. Where are you going to take me afterward? What can you plan?"
"We'll put you up over in Orlando for a little while. Grow a beard or something. Anyway, you're pretty recognizable with that leg so even if you were in protection, you could be found."
Howard addressed everyone in the office, "From now on while we're on this case, we don't wing anybody, no arm shooting, or leg shooting. We shoot to finish the problem. If any of you get a chance at that slimy fucker, Poppa, do him and make damn sure he's done."
An hour later, I was in the FBI office when they called Billy. They said that he had to come in as they had to ask him some questions. Figuring that Billy's phone was bugged, he only said, "I'm on my way, but I have to make it fast."
Another agent had gone out to Billy's with the blanks and personally put them into his weapon. Billy was told to body shoot the target to make it look good.
They pulled up Billy's GPS phone and watched as his car made it toward downtown. We got ready to go downstairs.
We watched as Billy pulled into the garage, then came out walking toward the building. Just as Billy was coming across the street, right in front of the building, I walked out of the door with Ted. Billy looked surprised, then pulled his gun and emptied the clip at me. All of his rounds hit me in the torso. The hits were hard enough that they knocked me down.
Ted pulled his gun and made Billy drop his. Our man from the hotel lobby had seen the action and came running across the street. People began pouring out of the federal building and soon police sirens could be heard. A medical tech from inside the building came up and acted as if he were checking my pulse. He then acted as if he closed my eyes. One of the security guys came out and threw a sheet over me. Sarah was there crying hard, making a good scene.
While I was lying there, I was told later that a limousine came rolling up and stopped across from where I was laying. Poppa Nardelli rolled down a rear window and hollered, "You don't fuck with me, nobody fucks with Nardelli."
He was lucky no one didn't just shoot him right then.
They had Billy cuffed and sitting up against the building, ready to go in. Just when there must have been a clearing of people around him, I heard two thumps of silenced rounds hitting then I felt like someone had kicked me in the ribs. There was a crowd of people that took off from the group around us. I could hear them yelling, "There he is, there he is, don't let him get away."
I heard Sarah's voice ask quietly, "Are you alright? That hit you right in the lower chest. Does it feel like you are bleeding?"
I responded, "No, I'm okay" softly.
Sarah said, "Billy's dead, they shot him. Wonder why?"
I could hear the FBI chief yelling, "Get these news people out of here. They have all the video they need. Let's get this place closed up. This is a crime scene, now move it."
About twenty minutes later a voice said, "We put this one in last. We'll put the other one in the middle rack. Let's get him moved."
A couple of minutes later, I was rolled sideways then back on a board. They picked me up and carried me to the truck and slid me in. The doors all closed then the van moved away. I could tell we were going slowly, probably to get around the crowd. As we were moving, a voice said, "Stay down a little longer. You don't have room to sit up, but we'll be at the morgue in a minute."
We stopped and I sensed the van was backing up. I could hear the difference as we went inside a building. As soon as the doors opened, I was slid out from under Billie and helped up. The attendant surprisingly handed me my cane. "Thought you might want that."
The other attendant said, "Hey, how are you, where did that round hit you while you were down?" I pointed at my ribs then noticed my new suit jacket had a hole in it, so did my shirt. I felt around and pulled out an out of shape bullet from my vest."
"Damn, you were lucky to be wearing a vest. This thing you guys are working on must be a mess. Let's get you in the lounge. We have some other clothes to put on you, a pair of our coveralls. We'll take you out of here and hand you off in a bit."
"Ring, Ring." My cell phone was ringing. I looked at the number and didn't recognize it.
The attendant grabbed it and said, "Whoever you are, if you know the party you are calling, you should contact the Tampa Police Department." He looked at the phone then said, "They hung up as soon as I said that."
The other attendant led me into the lounge and handed me a set of coveralls. He used a radio he had and called, "Hey, Smith, I have everything taken care of. I'm leaving for lunch in less than five."
One of the attendants said, "Get out of those clothes and into that jumpsuit, hustle."
I took off the suit but left the vest on, then put my shoulder rig back on underneath the big loose coveralls. As soon as I was ready, we went back out to the van. He handed me a cap and said, "Keep that on. Don't lose it."
We drove out of the morgue's yard and headed into the city. We stopped at a McDonald's and bought a bunch of burgers, then headed out toward Brandon. At 18th street, in the Ybor City area, we pulled into a construction yard and parked under an overhang next to a big blue sedan with very dark windows.
Howard got out saying, "You did good, Kid. I'll bet that round hurt like hell. To bad Billie didn't have his vest on."
"Did you guys catch the shooter?"
"Got him and his driver, alive too. We have them buried so far, no one can find them. Both of them tattled on Poppa. We're not going to pick him up yet because I think he thinks he's in the clear. I want him to do something stupid."
"How about Billy's family?" I asked, afraid of the answer.
"Nothing yet. That's probably why they killed Billy. They've probably either killed them or are using them. If Billy were alive, he would have hunted them down, so they killed him, and hit you with some insurance. You doing okay?"
"Fine, Howard, now what?"
Howard thanked the morgue attendants and told them to go back to work. He turned back to me and said, "I'm putting you up in our bungalow for a couple of days. You'll like it. It's better than a hotel room and you can even swim in the heated pool. The food isn't as fancy, but it is healthy."
We drove out to the Carolwood area then down a private street, with large homes on even larger lots. As we pulled up to a house, Howard used his cell phone to dial a number and then the garage door opened. He drove in and the door closed, leaving us in a lighted, enclosed garage, sitting next to a large, black Expedition with very dark windows. When Howard opened the door to get out, I followed. I followed him right into the house to hear him call out, "Hey, Bobby, you have a guest. Come meet him and feed him."
I was wondering why Howard was smiling.
"Holy shit," I thought. "That is one hell of a good lookin' huge woman."
"That I am, Honey, that I am. And who's talkin?"
"I'm sorry, I thought I was saying that in my head."
"You did fine, Hon, I love an honest man."
"Bobby, this is Chuck Johnson, you've probably heard some of the scuttlebutt about the bust he's been involved with and who is now a target."
"You the kid that did over ninety in under ninety seconds on the decision course?"
I smiled and nodded.
Howard said, "News travels fast in the company. Sarah probably told her."
Bobby said that she did and that she was glad to meet the guy that was tearing up her heart. Bobby said, "Sarah said she'd give a left tit to be a little younger so she could have a chance at you."
Howard didn't help, "Yeah, she's got it bad. Listen, Bobby, I've got to run. I'll be doing paperwork all night. Keep this one under wraps for me. I'll bring him some clothes later, but right now that's all he has. You probably have some stuff that will fit him."
Bobby asked, "Gonna have him long?"
"Long enough, Bobby. I'd just as soon keep him around here, but we may have to send him away."
"No sweat, Boss, that's my job. I'll keep him well-fed and happy till you decide."
Howard left, leaving me with a lady that was probably six-six, six-seven. She was taller than Millie, but not as heavy set. This lady had a set on her chest that would make anyone drool. Her size and broad hips made her ass something glorious to behold.
"You have shorts on?"
I nodded.
"Strip so I can get these coveralls back to the morgue. I took out my stuff from the pockets, my wallet and my badge wallet."
Bobby saw it and picked it up to look at it. "Sarah said she made you a full Deputy Marshal and not just a temporary deputy."
Bobby was leaning over still looking at the badge. This caused her mammoth breasts to hang exposed. I couldn't help it, I sprang a boner. When you're in just shorts, something like that is really noticeable.
"Oh you, sweet boy. That's the best compliment I've had in a long time. Keep that up and you'll have a great stay out here. Hell, we're mates in the company anyway."
She walked through the house, motioning for me to follow her. She pointed at a room and said, "That's your room." She pointed across the hall and said, "That's my room." She pointed at the floor and said, "There ain't no path between my room and your room." She looked at me a minute then said, "But then, I may make one."
We walked into a room that had clothes racks and stacks of all kinds of clothes. She said, "See if you can find yourself a pair of shorts or pants in here. Pick out a T-shirt and you'll be fixed. You probably don't need that vest on, so put it in your room and I'll show you the rest of the house.
After finding a pair of shorts and stashing my vest, Bobby showed me a library room, a room with a large video screen and a couple of different kinds of video machines.
The living room was typical, as was the family room. The one predominant thing I noticed was that there were TVs everywhere, but none were on. Bobby said, "I like TV. It's company to me when I'm alone. I usually have a few on at a time. If you want to watch TV, pick one, or several, and enjoy. I like the noise and the movement.
"I don't know about you, Kid, but I'm hungry. How about us grilling a steak? Okay with you?"
I nodded with a big smile.
I followed Bobby into the kitchen.
We worked together to get the meat ready. Bobby showed me the grille on her patio and screened pool area. I started the burners, but I told Bobby, "You need to teach me how to grille. I've never done it before except on little hibachis in the service."
"I'll have you cooking up a storm in no time. We'll work on it."
I looked around at the large backyard area. The back of the house was taken up with a large pool, covered with a screened cage. Beyond the caged pool was a decent sized grassy area that ended on the sides with an eight-foot privacy wall of painted concrete block, covered in some form of ivy. The pool and yard area was very private as there were no two story houses in the area, so no one had easy viewing access into the yard.
It was just a little early for supper, but we were both obviously hungry. We cleaned up the dishes and adjourned to the big family room off the kitchen to watch TV. Bobby and I talked a long while, with Bobby saying she would give me the story of how she ended up working for the Marshal's service tomorrow.
As we began to get sleepy, Bobby said, "Go to bed. Get a good night's sleep. I've turned on the alarm, so you're safe. You don't have to sleep with your piece under your pillow."
We got up and walked down the hall and before I went into the bedroom, Bobby turned me around and gave me a very nice warm hug. Being folded into her huge body was definitely a way to arouse me, not to settle me down to sleep. She said, "You're safe, sleep well, I'll see you in the morning."
When I lay down, I kept reviewing the craziness of the day and thinking of how lucky I was to still be alive. I couldn't help but wonder how nuts Billy must have been, worrying about his family, to just coldly kill people in custody. He was probably the prime example of temporary insanity.
Finally my mind settled down to let me go to sleep.