When we went out by Sarah's desk, she was still with Dave. I suggested, "When you have him done and sworn in, call Ms. White and have her meet you at this place." I wrote the name of the Mart and the address on a piece of paper. "She'll help you pick out clothes. When you're done there, take the man to Wal-Mart for underwear and socks then take him home to get settled. Tell Howard what you're doing and I'm sure he will agree. Before you go though, check him out a piece like mine so they will fit the jackets right. To get over there with the piece, take one of the linen jackets you have in there for undercover. That way he won't stand out so bad."
I shook hands with Dave. He stood up and walked me away from the desk. "Do you know that Sarah was my first crush? We seriously dated for a long while. When I went into the service, she started going out with some other guy and that's how I met my wife, she was Sarah's friend back then and was until we moved away. Now look what you did. You not only brought me home, you gave me back my first girlfriend and I'm even going to be in her home. Thanks, man."
"Enjoy and enjoy the service. It's a good group. Study the videos and you'll go up fast, I promise."
Bobby and I left. We radioed over to the hotel and the duty guy came out and walked over to get us. We checked every which way as we walked back to the hotel. Upstairs, we had the duty guy there call the imitators and tell them to go over in about an hour.
The duty guy said the penthouse was clean as a pin and even more ready than ever for us. They even put a motion alarm for the patio and roof in the penthouse for me.
We walked in and decided to have lunch sent up. It was decided to have some shrimp scampi, so I went back to the duty guy and asked what he wanted. He said he had already eaten and thanked me anyway. I asked him if he wanted a Coke or anything. He said. "I have a coffee pot, a mini-fridge, and even a small john. This is a neat job now except when the subject starts shooting in the penthouse." We both laughed as I went into the suite.
After lunch, we had a choice; get some sun and swim, take a nap, or study some videos. Bobby stretched and said, "Let's take a nap. We didn't get much sleep last night."
We did take a nap, a short one, after a long bit of exercise.
We worked, or rather studied, till about three and decided to go exercise. I told the duty guy and he called another guy to come up and escort us to the gym. Bobby and I worked out for about an hour and a half, then decided we needed a swim. We went up to the roof, stopping for some towels, and checking in with the duty guy. He said he would shut down the cameras up there for us. Bobby said, "If you can stand to see my bod, look all you want. If this guy gets frisky, turn it off."
The guy laughed and told us to enjoy.
We swam, and had fun putting lotion on each other. I noticed the light was off on the camera, but that didn't mean another might be on. We were satisfied so we just enjoyed the sun. About five, we put on our sweats and went back to the penthouse to clean up for another formal dinner.
By six, we had guests drinking in our penthouse. Sarah and Dave, who was in new clothes, came and both of them were smiling in each other's company. Dinner was a good steak and good conversation. The only announcement was welcoming Dave to the service. When dinner was done, Sarah asked if she and Dave could come up with us.
As soon as we were in the penthouse, Bobby winked at me and said, "Make us a bunch of Mai Tais, we'll be right back."
They went into Bobby's room. Dave asked me if I knew what was up. I said, "I'll bet they will be bare-assed naked out in the Jacuzzi in just a few minutes."
"No way!"
I smiled and nodded, working on the Mai Tais. I had just crushed a bunch of ice and had four tall strong drinks made, when Bobby and Sarah came out in robes. Bobby said, "We're on our way to the hot tub. Dave you undress in my room and both of you meet us out there. Bring some towels."
Dave looked at me smiling. He said, "Do you think I'll get lucky?"
"More than lucky, my friend, you're gonna get loved like you wouldn't believe. That woman has been waiting her whole life for you to show up. What a coincidence."
I went in and changed clothes, leaving everything except my pistol and the radio behind. I also left my leg on till I was out on the patio. I wrapped a towel around me and put one over my shoulder and walked out. Dave wasn't out yet, so I put the gun and radio within reach then took off the leg. The girls helped me, but Sarah was in a teasing mood and was trying to lift me by my male handle. "Save it for Dave, I think he's going to come just looking at you."
"Oh, I hope so. I'll just suck that stuff right up."
Bobby said, "Damn girl, you are really wild tonight."
Sarah said, "I've wanted this guy all my life. I would have never approached him while he was married, but now he's free. I am too, and I want him. Oh, Chuck, you don't mind if Bobby sleeps with you and Dave and I stay in her room, do you?"
I just smiled. When Dave came out, he was a little embarrassed. He said, "This is the first time I've ever been nude around a lady other than my wife. I will say that I'm looking forward to checking out delicious Sarah, you are definitely my type.
The man dropped his towel and was already hard. Sarah reached for him and pulled him into the tub with her. "Come here, you stud. Let me make us both feel real good."
Sarah didn't wait until they went to bed. In less than five minutes, she had kissed the man into a daze and was impaled on him, slowly going up and down. When she began telling him she was coming, he came out of his stupor, stood up holding her, and used his strength to raise and lower her until they both exploded.
That had the expected effect on Bobby and me. We were shortly standing with me behind her, pounding away. When we had reached our peak and were relaxing in the tub, Dave said, "You two are really sexy together. Watching you has really revved me up. How about you and I go to bed, Sarah, and get reacquainted in comfort?"
"Oh yeah, Dave, take me to bed."
They got up and left. Bobby said, "We can only hope that couple takes. I think Sarah really has waited for that man all her life. I'll bet if she were to think about it, he was the one she has been thinking of all these years."
"How about I take you to bed too?"
"Sounds good, I'll take the glasses in and then come help you."
We got me and our stuff inside, then used the radio to advise the duty guy that Sarah and Dave were staying over. I told him I was turning on all of the perimeter alarms. He keyed his mike and I checked the video monitors one last time. In bed, Bobby turned on the TV and we drank our untouched Mai Tais.
As we were drinking she said, "I feel more comfortable than I should with you, Chuck."
"Same here, Bobby."
"What do you think about this?"
"What you said last night, Bobby."
"What was that?"
I leaned over hugging the big woman, kissing her then softly in her ear said, "I love you too, Honey."
She sobbed. She didn't quit right away either. She just lay there holding me and sobbed. It took her a long time, almost a half-hour, to finally look up at me with a smile. "God, I love you. Danny just told me to love you with all my heart, to give myself to you as I did him. I'm yours to do what you want, Chuck, whatever you want."
We made love slowly the first time, softly exploring each other again and again. The second time was a little fiercer than the last time; it was pure, total, lust. We both came screaming, really intense.
We fell asleep in each other's arms saying "I love you."
I kept thinking, wow, this has been fast. Can she really love me as much as I've fallen for her? Will this last? Everything I thought was, yes, yes, yes.
Morning came at almost six, but it came peacefully. We woke up, kissed and made love again, quickly but sweetly. We showered together, then she went to her room to get her clothes and had to wake up the couple in there.
While everyone got ready, I called for breakfast and was finished dressing by the time the bellhop arrived. The five of us ate, enjoying each other's company. Sarah said to Bobby and me, "We'll stay at my house tonight, thanks for giving us a start."
Dave said, "I think this is my last move. I'm here to stay. Perhaps I'll be there with the Marshal's Service to stay too."
Sarah had a big smile on her face.
Bobby said, "Chuck and I decided, without saying, that we were made for each other too."
The duty guy gasped. "Really, Bobby, is this the guy that we've been hoping you would find?
"Yeah, I feel it. Danny seemed to talk to me, telling me to follow this guy wherever he goes. I'm following."
"I'm happy for you, Bobby, we'll miss having you as "Safe One."
I interrupted, "Who said she wasn't going to be Safe One any more?"
The duty guy said, "It's going to be tough doing that, and you working in the service."
I smiled and hugged Bobby to me, "I'll bet we figure it out. Besides what better safe house than with a couple that are both Deputy Marshals."
"I hadn't thought of that. You're right, that might be a good thing, and it sure would confuse anybody looking for someone."
Sarah and Dave left for the office while Bobby and I waited to be summoned. We watched the required module until it was complete. We hurriedly took the test while the information was fresh, then sat back thinking it was getting close to lunch.
The radio crackled, summoning us to call in. Bobby called Sarah who transferred her to Howard. Bobby's face went from a smile to a frown then said, "Okay, we'll be over in a few minutes. How long ago were the decoys over there?"
"Okay, we're on our way."
We checked that we had all our gear, and went out to tell the duty guy we were going to the office. He called downstairs and told us to hold a minute. The three of us were looking at all of the video screens at once, when we saw a bellhop get off the tenth floor, pushing a cart.
We didn't think anything about it until the bellhop came back pushing the cart, only this time the bellhop had his hat on kind of crooked and we noticed the pants were dragging the ground. Bobby said, "The guy's hair changed color." He knew that the elevator wouldn't stop at the penthouse floor, so he went down to the kitchen floor and called the penthouse elevator from there.
As the guy was waiting for the elevator, all three of us pulled our weapons, checking to make sure there was a round in the chamber. We watched as he pushed a button and were surprised that he had pushed the roof button. Our duty guy called down, advising the downstairs people what was up. He said they were sending people to the floor below us to come up to our level. We saw them board an elevator while watching the penthouse elevator passing our floor heading for the roof. The guy in the elevator lifted the cover from the food on the cart and took a piece of the food and sampled it.
Once on the roof, the guy walked straight to the railing over our patio and brought out a small line that he attached to the railing then went over the side. Bobby and I said we were going to wait for the guy inside. Our duty guy said he would have the others come in as soon as they arrived. We didn't even bother closing the door. We just walked to each side of the sliding door to wait. Bobby reached up and flipped the lock off so the guy would find it open. She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed, "Why mess up the new glass."
The guy landed on the patio and was messing with something out there before trying the door. Just as he opened the door, the team from downstairs was coming in the penthouse door. Both had surprised looks on their faces. Our man made a stupid mistake. He went for a gun. Seven handguns went off at the same time propelling the guy backward. When he seemed to be still functioning, the team leader from downstairs and I both fired at the same time putting one, or two in this case, between the guys eyes. Finito!
The duty guy from our floor said, "I saw him do something to the jacuzzi. We better get that tested quickly."
Bobby went back to the video wall and opened it. She scrolled back on the patio tape. We watched the guy land on the patio. He went to the jacuzzi and opened a bottle from his pants pocket, poured the contents into the tub, then put the bottle back into his pocket.
The leader was about to go through the guys pockets and I suggested, "Why don't you get some gloves. This guy is wearing gloves and we don't know what was in that bottle. Let's call the cleaning people and get them rolling. We also need a hazmat (hazardous material) unit to check what that bottle had in it.
I looked at our duty guy and asked, "You can control our elevator right?"
He nodded.
"Can you keep the car from moving or keep a door from opening?"
He nodded again.
I asked then, "Next time, we'll trap whoever is in the car until we can be prepared for whatever someone has planned when we open the door. We might even want to put some kind of gas that can be released in the car to knock someone out. Let's think it all through, have it done, and make some plans."
Bobby asked the team leader, "How come you recognized a problem but didn't stop the guy downstairs?"
"We didn't want to tip our hand down there. We think there is another one down there watching. Now that we have this under control, we'll take that guy and question him." He called on his radio telling the downstairs men to take the man down there. He then sent two of his men to look for the bellhop that had been replaced.
"Okay, Bobby, let's head to the office." Before we could even get to the door, Howard's voice came over the radio, "Hold wherever you are, hold and take cover please. Back in ten."
We walked back into the penthouse, just standing off to the side, when a helicopter came down to eye level with the patio. Every man there dove for cover. I was watching a guy that was strapped in holding what looked like an RPG launcher. (Rocket propelled grenade.) Instead of waiting for him to make up his mind to fire, I put a round into his head making him jerk back and fire the RPG up into the air.
One of the team guys said, "Oh shit, don't shoot the pilot unless you think he can fire on us. That thing will make a mess on the ground."
The helicopter suddenly lifted straight up, banked, and headed north. There was a military helicopter less than a hundred yards following behind it.
Our team leader radioed Howard and advised him of the action. Howard said, "Have the guests come visit?"
We rode down in the elevator with a team guy who went with us all the way to the federal building. We waved our badges and went upstairs to the office.
Howard and John met us at the door, with Dave watching from behind. Howard asked, "Did you shoot somebody again?"
Bobby answered for me, "He body shot a guy wearing armor, along with me and all five team members. When the guy stopped staggering backward, the team leader put one in the guy's head."
John asked, looking concerned, "You didn't finish it?"
Bobby answered again, "Chuck's round hit the guy's head at the same time, but the team leader should get credit for the kill."
John smiled and said, "So he shall."
Dave was behind John, smiling.
Howard said, "We think that they will throw everything they have at us in the next twenty-four hours. DC said that from their intelligence, this is a last gasp effort. I want you two to go back to hotel, take Dave with you, eat, go to the gym, then take a nap for as long as you can. I want you both to be rested so you can stay up tonight. We might even have you spend the night in the ready bunks. Dave here will watch you till five, then we're putting two of our teams on you, plus a bureau team. DC says nothing is to get within a hundred yards of you, period. Chuck, before you go, Sarah has not fingerprinted you yet. The Corps is reluctant, as usual, to give us your prints because you're still alive. Dave has to have his done as well. We need to file them in our database. We also need a DNA swab, all for ID purposes."
I went to see Sarah, who had the card and swab kit out for me. We did the prints and swab, then I went to the head to wash my hands and take a leak. When I came out, Howard said the hazmat team said the guy had put some kind of radical poison into the tub so it was being drained and given a steam cleaning, an acid bath and a reseal. He said, "Sorry, no hot tub for a couple of days."
John said, "Come to my room, you can use mine."
Bobby and I both laughed.
The radio cracked again, and Howard was informed they had the helicopter on the ground, and that a team had been dispatched to another location.
I looked at Howard and said, "Why are they still trying. Their jig is up, their operation is done. Why would they be trying to get revenge for something they can't even do anything about anymore?"
John said, "They put an open contract out on you for a million. We think that most anyone who tries now is a money seeker. This last group should be all of the organized crime guys that try. We're putting the word out that everyone who's tried to date is pushing up daisies and that the people who had offered the contract were now dead, not in custody, dead. They tried to resist a raid and died. Word will probably get out by tonight or tomorrow. Until then, the crazies will be coming hot and heavy."
Bobby said, "We need to find a cocoon and just hole up."
Howard said, "You're not hunted, Bobby, if you want, we can replace you."
"Not on your life, Buster. This guy is my charge and I'll see him through this." Then under her breath she said, "For the rest of his life."
Howard did a double-take at her, then smiled, "Really?"
Bobby blushed, but said loud enough for all to hear, "Really."
Howard was nodding his head, smiling. "Go rest up so you two are alert tonight. Get Dave away from Sarah and go."
I told Howard that Dave could stay and stay with us later. All we needed was an escort across the street to stay within orders. John said, "Come on, I'm not too good to do escort duty. Let's get you secure."
We crossed the street without any trouble. We thanked John, radioed our duty guy upstairs, and rang for the elevator. Bobby and I were in the classic back to back position watching in all directions to make sure no one was making unusual movements. The downstairs guy walked over to us and said with a smile, "Perfect, absolutely perfect. We should have a film crew for you two. You're so damn perfect the way you're protecting each other, it needs to be on film."
The elevator arrived and we stepped in while the guy outside the elevator called upstairs. He didn't need to, as the man up there was watching us on the video monitors.
When we stepped off the elevator, we both said to the duty guy at once, "Are you hungry?"
He laughed, "Every time you two have tried to eat today, it's been too busy. They have a great grouper sandwich today. Have one of those and relax. You two are supposed to take a long nap to be ready for tonight. If what they say is right, you could be in for a long night."
I said quietly, "I have an idea on how to avoid all the problems. I'll tell the evening guy about my idea."
Bobby looked at me and I said, "Let's just get some food, I'm starving."
We ordered and food was at the door shortly. The man wasn't even allowed in the door. The duty guy made him get back on the elevator and go back down, then he knocked on the door and had us take the cart in. He said, "New orders, no one but service and bureau people in the room. Shouldn't be a big deal. Have a good lunch, enjoy."
After eating, we lay on my bed and were soon asleep. We slept till about five and decided to dress more comfortably. We both put on jeans and dark T-shirts, with our shoulder holsters in place. I had the neat sport coat with patches on the elbows and Bobby had a jacket that looked good and covered her. She asked, "Shouldn't we wear body armor?"
I thought about it a few minutes then agreed, "Yeah, that's what the stuff is for."
We put the armor on under our shirts and were ready. John came to the door and said, "We're eating in my penthouse this evening. I thought the less exposed you were the better."
This night, we had a great salad before dinner, but no drinks. We had a fancy chicken dish that was delicious. I think it was scaloppini. Whatever it was deserved my praise. When we were done, I suggested we all go back to my penthouse and watch the monitors for a few minutes.
There, I turned all of them off except the ones that were downstairs. I began counting agents, Marshals, deputies and Tampa officers. "You know, if I were a bad guy and wanted to get up here, I would just walk right up to the desk and rent a room for two or three days. To make sure I was accepted, I would go in and out the doors and elevators often. I would use all of the facilities and generally be seen by everyone. Once I had all my timing down, I would find an easy way to get on the elevator and blast my way past the duty guys and begin dismantling the room until I had all living things taken care of."
"How would you get past the duty guys?"
"For a million dollars, I'd kill them. As each area was neutralized, I would work my way up until I finished what I had started. What do you bet that there are at least two, maybe more, assassins registered in the hotel right now, laughing at the reckless shit that has been happening?"
I looked around. "If you think you can protect me easier in the office than here, think of just the two guys downstairs with no back up. A bad guy, walks in, bang, bang, then rides the elevator to the office. From there he kicks down the steel door and methodically uses about fifty well placed rounds to hunt us down."
John said, "So you're saying there's no way to protect you."
"There is, but not in an urban environment. What we need is foxholes, some automatic weapons with defined firing positions, claymores, and an anti-personnel perimeter alarm."
John laughed, "You're right, that would be impenetrable."
Howard asked, "Where would we set up something like that?"
"How about we go where it's already set up. I'll bet I could call and get Bobby and me a nice comfortable bed for the night, with enough guards to protect all of us if we needed to. John, here is a telephone number that you can call and ask if they can put up two people in protective custody for a night. When we get permission to go, we'll make a big deal out of displaying me to everyone. As soon as I'm tucked away, it's over. I can read a book then get a good night's sleep. You can too."
John's second in command said, "Damn that's anti-climatic. Where is this sanctuary you're talking about?"
John answered for me, "The Air Force Base. We can stash you in some officer's quarters in the BOQ and it's over. Let me call."
John called the number that was for the commanding officer of Central Command and talked with the man for a few minutes. He thanked the man then said, "We'll be leaving in ten minutes. I'm staying out there with these two just to be on the safe side, plus some Marines from CENTCOM are being detailed for guard duty. I feel better already. Let's move. What do you need to take with you, Chuck and Bobby?"
"Just a shaving kit, Boss, Bobby has an overnight kit in her purse."
"Let's roll then."
Howard had our armored rolling stock brought to the front of the hotel. About five Tampa cars pulled around ours. Not one of the officers was looking up, and that's where the threat would come from."
I asked them to open the rear doors of the car we were going to ride in then told Bobby. "Go, get in the car."
When she was in the car, one of the duty guys said, "Let me help you."
"Don't be an idiot. Stay right here."
There was a neat steel plate that slid in place for wheelchair patrons that would need a ramp. They would slide the steel plate out and lay it in place and push the patron right up or down. A patron could use the main door and just glide right in, but this was the private entrance.
I told every one to stand clear, then slid the steel plate out from its holder and swung it over my head. Balancing the thing on my head, I staggered to the car and what do you know. Before I had gone two steps, three shots rang out, with rounds ricocheting off the steel plate. All the cops suddenly were looking up.
Another set of three hit the plate and I was almost at the car. As I was right at the car, there was firing from three different locations that all hit the plate. I sure hope none got lucky and hit my fingers. The idiot cops were firing up in the air with their guns. The odds of hitting anything with a pistol at that range were really remote. I slid into the car with the steel plate over the top of the car but sticking out far enough that there wasn't an angle into the car.
I pulled the door closed and a few more rounds were deflected by the car. I wondered whether with all of the law there, if they would catch the shooters?
Bobby was petrified, "You knew that was going to happen didn't you?"
"I've been thinking how I would do this and how I could be prepared in the event the target did something like we're doing."
"Why didn't you let me protect you?"
"Because you couldn't."
We waited about five minutes at the curb then John and a duty guy came out and picked up the steel plate and put it where it belonged. John then came without fear and climbed into the front seat.
"I'm not congratulating you on a good plan, as you exposed yourself too much. If you knew you were going to be targeted, we could have used a decoy. But then you did get the maneuver accomplished without any casualties, plus you located the shooters. I'll bet there are a bunch of pissed off people."
Bobby shivered, and hugged my arm.
Three service cars and five police cars with sirens blaring headed out of downtown toward Bayshore Boulevard. The police officers kept us moving right along and ended the noise at the gate to the base. The air police guards on the gate had been advised we were coming. They checked all our identifications and led us to the BOQ. (Bachelor Officers Quarters.) We could have stayed in an airman barracks and would be just as safe. It's not that the base was impenetrable, but it was damn near. My other thought would have been the base hospital where I had spent so much time.
We only kept our driver and John, and were all shown into rooms. Bobby and I were lucky to have adjoining rooms with a connecting door. We had some ice cream from a vending machine before we all said goodnight. Minutes later, Bobby was in bed with me. I had on shorts and she had on a gown. In the event someone came in to check on us, we would be decent.
We slept like babies.