Lisa and I woke early enough to workout for a few minutes before showering and dressing to go flying. She was headed to Montana and I was going to Las Vegas. I was going to be able to do some Marshal's Service business, plus do some further investigation of the sniper I had disposed of during the recent mission that never happened.

The girls were not happy to have to get up this morning, but it was to be a full day for them. They had made plans to spend time with Sue and Mercy again to do some planning for what I thought was to be for the babies coming.

Lisa and I were both flying Learjets this morning, and we were both leaving early. When I arrived at the airpark at seven fifteen, the two couples I was transporting had just arrived by limo. The aircraft was ready, so I did my preflight with the mechanic on duty, and prepared to get going, after making sure my passengers were buckled up. I showed them how the coffeepot worked and where the booze was stashed. I checked and there was ice in the refrigerated container.

We were soon at thirty-four thousand feet, doing about point six mach, or if you wanted to be crude, haulin' ass. We had a little headwind, so I needed to make a stop to refuel or I would be cutting it a little close. I flipped on the cabin speakers and told the passengers to pick a place to refuel. If we were going to just do a quickie refuel, we would stop in Amarillo. If they wanted to do some early morning partying, we could stop in New Orleans or Houston. They all yelled for a quick stop in Amarillo.

On approach to Amarillo, I called transient services to have four inflight breakfasts brought out while we refueled. The service said they would have them ready.

The runway and private operations area are close to each other, so it takes just a minute or two after landing to be parked and ready for the approaching fuel truck. While the service tech was fueling the plane, I received the four breakfasts, complete with some cartons of juice and milk for the passengers. The meals were still hot.

After checking the fuel covers, I signed for the fuel and breakfasts and made a hasty departure. Too bad I didn't have afterburners like the fighters do so I could really scoot. We set down just about twelve thirty in the afternoon. I had called ahead for a limo that met us out where we parked. I left the aircraft to be serviced, grabbed my piece of luggage with the gym bag and some phone books in it, rented a car, and headed to the branch bank.

The desk clerk for the safety deposit boxes was more security concious than the one in Huntsville. I showed her the driver's license, the debit card, and finally, the passport. She even noted the social security card and asked to see it. She compared everything and looked at me before saying, "You look a lot nicer without the beard."

I figured I'd have to sign in or something, but she didn't ask. We went to the vault, where she moved a cart over to the waist high drawer and put her key in. I put my key in and we pulled the box out onto the cart. It didn't feel as heavy as the one in Huntsville, so I figured this one wasn't full of gold.

In a little larger room than the others, I put on some of the surgical gloves and opened the box. The box was stuffed with forty bundles of cash and this time there was about fifty of the same size gold bars marked one hundred grams with three point two Troy ounces printed underneath. I put the cash and gold in the luggage and found a small black satin-looking bag with a drawstring. I pulled it open and, oh my, diamonds. I know nothing of diamonds, so I had no idea of the value, but they all looked fairly big to me.

In the bottom of the box was another big envelope and another set of IDs in a rubber band. The envelope had a bunch of papers in it that would take me time to study, so I put the ID and envelope in my gym bag. After putting the phone books into the big box, I locked the lid and wiped the whole box down. I stripped off the gloves then went back out to desk clerk. We put the box back, with her making the comment, "You must have really filled this thing up today, it's a lot heavier now."

I just smiled and followed her out to her desk. She asked me if I wanted to put the box rental on automatic withdrawal. I just nodded and she handed me a card to sign. I filled in the account number from the debit card and noted the annual payment amount had been paid about three-months prior.

Outside the branch bank, I used the debit card to get the amounts of money on deposit. There was only about thirty-five thousand in checking, but almost a half a mil in savings. The account was marked as a money market account. I with drew a hundred cash and headed for the address on the driver's license.

There was obviously someone living in the house, so I took a chance and rang the door bell. A lady holding a child on her hip opened the door and asked if I could help her. I said, "I'm Fred Dement," to see what she would say.

"Oh, Mr. Dement," so nice to meet you. We just love the house. The rent you charge is really low or rather the perfect price for us. We don't get much mail for you, but we just forward it just like you asked. Come in a minute to look how we decorated."

I followed the lady in. She put the toddler down and went to a small desk. She brought me a three by five card and held it out to me, "Is this still the same address you want your mail sent to?"

I looked at the address, quickly memorizing 1424 Reynolds St., Key West, Florida.

Handing the card back to the lady I said, "I'm really sorry to have bothered you, but I wanted to make sure you were happy with the house. I'm just here visiting and thought I would stop by."

"No problem, Mr. Dement, I'm glad you did stop. Just keep renting to us. I think we might be able to buy the place if you decide to sell. I hope you bought it back when it was cheap. With the home values going down so rapidly, a lot of people are losing money on their homes."

"I'm fine with what I have in the place. I hope you and your husband can buy the place. I'll let the agent know." I turned to leave, "Well, I do have some more stops to make. Thank you for your time."

I left quickly, now knowing a little more about the guy who was trying to snipe at our target. For apparently being a pro, the guy didn't have the right kind of rifle for the distance shots he was going to do. He would have just wounded someone and probably would have been caught by the men at the house. It would have been easy to catch him as he went back for his Jeep. It didn't make a lot of sense, unless he wasn't used to killing from a distance.

I went to the Marshal's station and visited with the chief and the new ACE. They were happy to see me and showed me their current activities. The station was busy with judges, but didn't have any escapees to deal with or other problems. Homeland had taken over the air marshal duties from them so now they were often assisting the FBI and DEA on surveillances. After a short visit and a cup of coffee, I told them I needed to begin the flight home.

Back at the airport, I called the charter office to tell them I was going to head home. DeDe said to hang on a second. She was talking to someone behind her who kept telling her to "Ask him, just ask him, it would really be a smart thing to do."

DeDe came back on the phone and asked, "Since you're in Las Vegas, could you go into Los Angeles and pick up a couple that wants to go to Key West? They want to get there as soon as possible as their daughter is having a baby. They called us because we were recommended. They can't get anyone to make the trip for them as they say it's too expensive. I quoted high and they didn't have a problem with the fee."

I looked at my watch, knowing it would be a very long night. I told DeDe, "It's going to be about a twelve hour flight time day for me by the time I set down in Key West."

"If you don't want to come back home to Tampa, sleep over down there. We'll pick up the charges."

I thought for a second and said, "Sure, I'll do it. I'll probably stay over down there. It's going to be about eleven or twelve your time when I get in. Call the customer and tell them to meet me in an hour. What airport?"

DeDe gave me the airport name and location. She said, "Thanks, Chuck. This really makes the company some money. It'll pay for a lot of the refurb you just did on that aircraft too."

"Listen, have the customer pick me up a Subway or something. I'll refill the ice and dump the trash before I leave here. The fare coming up had a few drinks and coffee. I bought them breakfast at Amarillo."

Since it was getting later in the day, I called Brandy on her cell phone. She said she was out at the trailer park and was talking with Tom Parks. I couldn't figure out what she was doing with Tom and Zena, but who knows. I said, "I'm doing a pickup in LA and have to drop them in Key West. It's going to be really late by the time I get to Key West so I'll probably stay overnight."

"We'll miss you, Baby, but at least you're not out where people are shooting at you. Be safe and be careful. We'll see you tomorrow. I think we'll have a surprise for you."

The flight into LA is always weird. There always seems to be hundreds of small aircraft flying in the area. Even though this airfield was good sized, there was still a lot of traffic. I was queued up in a distant pattern that overlapped another airfield's pattern. The controllers in the area must go nuts. I was given permission to land and followed another Lear in.

Once I was parked, a limo came up to the plane, even before the refueling truck got there. A man stepped out and said, "We always know these S&S planes. They are so well marked. Honey, look at the cartoons on this one. It has that 'Deputy Dawg' cartoon again."

They handed me a Subway sandwich and a couple of Cokes. I asked them if they were coffee drinkers and the woman replied, "Normally yes, but tonight, we're going to drink this champagne in honor or our new grandson. I can't wait to get my hands on him. Our daughter couldn't hold him in and had him about thirty minutes ago. Isn't it great? It's our first grandchild!"

I congratulated them and showed them where the glasses were for their champagne. The man asked if he could open the bottle before takeoff and I assured him he could.

Even with full tanks I should still refuel, so I planned on a quick stop in Texas again, but in Austin this time as it was more along the flight path. Before we left Austin, the man asked if I minded if he closed the door to the cockpit. I assured him it would be fine. I know Wanda and I played on a Lear one time. The way they had fixed this plane up was neat. The front right seat had been removed to make a small galley and to create the communications seats. The two second-row seats had PC tables and monitors that rose from the tables. Behind those were two seats facing back, then a long couch that would take up the area where two seat rows would be. Behind that, on one side was a head, and a nice lounger type seat was on the other. So the plane that would normally hold ten passengers now could seat eight, plus the pilot and co-pilot. The Learjet should have two pilots when flying passengers, but with less than a full load, a single pilot is okay.

We set down about eleven, East Coast time. We had a great tailwind for most of the flight. I considered going home, but I wanted to check out the address while here in Key West.

I rented a car and I drove to the address, even before going to a hotel. The house was on a busy street about three or four blocks from the beach. There didn't appear to be any lights on as I drove by, but it was hard to tell because of a tall fence across the front yard. I went back by and slowed at the driveway. There was a dusty car back under a carport and there was a dim light in the front room. The place looked like it was kept up, but didn't look occupied.

In the rental car, I checked through the wallet we had taken off the guy. There was a security company card with a K.W. and a four digit number written on it. Well, hopefully that meant Key West, and the number was for the alarm. I put on a pair of the surgical gloves and palmed the set of keys that we had recovered.

Hopefully this would work out, or I would have to explain why I didn't have a search warrant to the local cops.

I rang the doorbell several times to make sure there wasn't anyone home before trying a key. The second key I tried fit the lock. When I opened the door I could see the alarm key pad and immediately put in the code from the card. The alarm disarmed. Good deal, I was lucky.

Inside the door on a small table was a big cardboard banker's box with a bunch of mail in it. Because I didn't have much time, I decided that I would take the mail with me and not totally search the house yet. The place was clean and dusted. I walked through the house and found a long note on a yellow legal pad on the kitchen table that said,

"Mr. Dement,

The pool guy says you need a new filter. Should I have it done and use the credit card you gave me?

"I paid the yard man and myself with the card and will do that until you come back.

I really need to meet you so I know what you look like, instead of you just leaving me notes and money.

Thank you for trusting me with your credit card. It's a good way to take care of the house.

What do you want to do with that old car? If you have the title, we can send it to the junkyard. You can probably get at least a hundred dollars for it."

Rose's handwriting was very neat. The yellow pad had several pages turned under so I pulled them back to read some of the notes left by the homeowner. All the notes were simple directions for what he wanted Rose to do. He had her do laundry, manage the yard and pool people, and had even directed her to have the house painted. Considering how many identities the guy had, I wondered why he was the same Dement as he was in Las Vegas. I suppose I would eventually find out.

The refrigerator had nothing in it that would spoil, indicating that he planned on being gone a long time. A check of the bedrooms found one big bedroom with a closet and drawers full of clothes. The place was not anything special, but the bedroom smelled of cigarette smoke. As a matter of fact, the whole house smelled from all the stale smoke.

In the top drawer of the dresser, I found a stack of IDs but none of these had credit cards. I didn't count them, but there must have been a couple of dozen. I found the title to the old car outside so I took that out too. When I looked into a jewelry box on the top of the dresser there was a Visa card and a bank business card with a four digit number on it. The bank branch was here in Key West, so that would be another thing to check out.

The guy had a few toys in the house. The TVs were all new and plentiful. There was a big one in the living room, one in each bedroom, and a fairly big one in the kitchen. The guy did like to watch TV.

I went back to the closet to see if I had missed anything on the shelves. In the back of the small walk-in closet was a tall mirror leaning up against the back wall. When I pulled the mirror forward, I saw a small hole on the right side. The wall looked like it might come out so I moved the mirror out of the way and put my finger into the hole to pull. The back wall was hinged and came out easily. The closet behind the wall was jammed with every kind of pistol you could imagine. There were only a couple rifles, but there were some explosives, some rope, and several knives. So, the guy had a stash. I would have to clean the place out, but I didn't have time tonight. There was a hasp for a lock in a recessed area of the wall and when I stepped back out I saw a lock sitting on the top shelf.

I took the keys out that we had recovered and found a key for the lock. I pulled the chain on the light in the closet, closed and locked the door. When I put the mirror back in place, I could see that there were some slots for the mirror to fit in. The mirror had covered the area that told you it was a door and recessed lock. Now it looked like it should. Hopefully, Rose wasn't nosy and didn't find the closet full of guns.

Back in the kitchen, I wrote a short note in handwriting close to the original guy. I followed his pattern of notes.

Here is the title to the old car. Get rid of it. I quit smoking and the house is driving me crazy. Please have the house painted inside and wash everything you can. I may have to get all new curtains and carpet. If I do, tell me. I'll try to see you in a week or so.

I checked the phone to see if it was working and it was. I couldn't see an answering machine but I did find a telephone number written on the bottom of the phone. I used my cell to call the number and the phone rang. That was good, I knew the number.

I had to look around until I found another gym bag to load up the mail. I made sure I had not disturbed anything else. After putting in the alarm code from the card, I closed and locked the door, and left.

It took me a few minutes to find the bank for the Visa card. I checked the code and found less than ten thousand in the checking account, but over four hundred thousand in the savings. I wonder if any of the keys on the key ring are for a safe deposit box. I would check.

This is possibly the card that Rose was using, so I withdrew a hundred dollars and drove back to the house. After re-entering the house, I put the Visa and bankcard back in the jewelry box. I put the hundred in twenties I just withdrew on the legal pad and over it I wrote, "Tip." That should get me or Fred a few points.

My adrenaline was pretty high and it was only one in the morning, so I drove back to the airport and took off for home. As soon as I pulled up in front of the hangar, the night mechanics came out to help me. They were both happy to have the aircraft back as they said there were a lot of charters tomorrow too. I moved the suitcase and my gym bags to the trunk of my car and helped the mechanics clean the trash from the plane. They said, "We'll vacuum it and wipe down the seats. It looks like whoever was in it last joined the mile high club. I laughed and said, "And I didn't even turn on the monitor."

One of the mechanics said, "The DVR is always on. We could just download the DVR and watch it. Neither one of us is that kinky, so you don't have to worry about us. If you don't want the cabin recorder on, just push that 'off' button on the bottom off the monitor. The top button is for the monitor and the bottom is for the DVR."

At home, I decided to just leave the suitcase and gym bags in the trunk as I really didn't have a place to hide it in the house. I needed a closet like the Key West house had.

I was tired, but hungry and thirsty. I made a salad and a Beefeaters. While eating, I thought of all the places I was going to have to go to check out this guy. Oh well, this is going to be crazy.

When I finished eating, I went to my room and found the bed empty. Wow, where did they all go? I stripped, brushed my teeth, and lay down. It may have taken me as long as thirty seconds to fall asleep.

Tiani crashed onto my chest, pressing down on a full bladder. "Tiani, don't push, I have to go to the bathroom."

As I slid out of bed, a sleepy Brandy came in the door. "You're back. I heard Tiani yell and didn't believe her. I thought she was using that as a ruse to get me up."

I used the bathroom and found my peg. "I got in late, about two thirty this morning. I could use some more sleep, but I can get up now."

As we all met in the kitchen area to make coffee, Lisa gave me a kiss, followed by Tina, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda. John and Wanda walked in and the day started. The coffeepot had barely finished when Jan and Don came down, with Dennis and Marie following. Lena came in rubbing her eyes saying, "My two bedmates abandoned me. It's too early to get up. I don't have a class until nine."

Lisa said, "The master is home, so we all need to welcome him. Get your hug and have some juice."

Tiani said, "Where were you that your clothes got to smell like smoke. Were you in a bar?"

"Something like that. There was a smoker where I was, that's for sure. He's gone now though." I almost rolled my eyes thinking of where the guy was.

Wanda said, "Jan has all kinds of news for you about the Alcam Industries investigation. Sarge has come up with some interesting information, as well."

Frieda exclaimed, "Hey, I gave your office the lead, Chuck. When I checked the employer ID that Alcam gave us, we found it was fake. It didn't match any company. I called Alcam to tell them the number they gave me was wrong, so they gave me another number. This time when I checked, I found that it was indeed the number for the Orlando company, but there was no IRS activity, ever, other than getting the number when they incorporated three years ago. They have never made a trust fund deposit."

Jan said, "When Sarge brought the info down to me, we ran it real quick through our database. We found seven total corporate names with federal tax ID numbers, with no activity on any of them. We pulled all the incorporation papers for all the companies and began pinning down exact addresses of all the corporate officers. We've established that there are seven distinct locations, and that doesn't include the new Tampa office that they just opened. They have a bunch of equipment that has magically appeared. We've been able to get a bunch of aircraft numbers, and we're checking them out right now."

Wanda said, "I called John to set up a task force of our investigators and to have the Bureau put a half dozen of their people on it with us as well. They are working from DC to figure out what all these people are really into. They can put them all away on tax evasion now, but they think they can do more than that."

I turned to all the girls and said, "All of you, not one word to anyone. I know you girls handle sensitive information all the time at the employment office, but you Lena, Don, and Dennis, keep this under your hats, you too, John. I know this whole deal affects your flying, as well as you Lisa, but I'm sure you understand why we're trying to keep this quiet."

"Good," I said, "I'm too tired to do much exercising, but if the pool is warm enough, how about a quick swim?"

That was the right thing to do as everyone, including John and Wanda, were leaving clothes scattered as they made their way to the pool. I grabbed a stack of towels, walked out, dropped my peg, and dove in.

We did swim fairly hard for fifteen minutes, then quickly dried off and went back into the warm house. We gathered all the clothes and did our morning bathroom stuff. The girls were all talking about the huge bathroom they were going to build. The way they were talking, it sounded more and more like a fancy military latrine. A dozen sinks, half dozen toilets, and a massive shower room. Yep, just like the military, but built just for a bunch of crazy ladies. Lena said, "You're going to have to have a shower head that is really high, so I don't knock my head on it the way I do now. Even my parents' house has shower heads that are too low."

I think this house they were talking about was going to be something special. Who cares, I'll let Fred Dement pay for it. I have to figure out how to say I made it though, and pay taxes on it first."

Wanda said, "You should come into the office. John called for you a couple of times yesterday. He said he wants to talk to you."

Before I went to the office, I stopped out at the branch bank where the safe deposit box was. I brought in my two bags and proceeded to stuff everything into the one box. I counted up all the cash. There were 54 bundles of hundreds. That's two point seven mil. There are a total of four hundred and seventy bars. That's slightly over fifteen hundred and thirteen ounces. At roughly a thousand dollars an ounce, that's another million and a half. So there's over four point two and that doesn't include what's on deposit and the diamonds. This is going to be tough.

I kept the diamonds and all the IDs with me and headed to the office. As soon as I walked in, Wanda said, "John's on the phone, talk to him. He's called twice already."

John said, "Good, you've finally called, listen, it's Friday. How about coming up to get the wife and me and let us visit over the weekend. You and I need to talk and it would be a good time for it."

There was a laugh and he said, "Right now. Kenisha is dancing all over the place. I hardly ever take her anywhere, and she knows you and Jan. She wants to come see you. If it's warm enough in Key West, perhaps you could take us down there."

I said, "Let me see if I can get an aircraft. I'll get one but I don't know when. I'll call you back. Where are you?"

"I'm at the office, so you know Kenisha is causing a stir. The Director has already been in ogling my wife, and two of the Marshals are drooling all over the furniture. Hurry so we don't embarrass them."

When I hung up, I called the charter office and asked DeDe, "DeDe, Honey, Baby, I need help, I need to pick up a couple in DC."

"You want a Lear don't you? Well, I have a Lear going to DC to pick up a John Scott and wife. Do you want to do it or should I leave Lisa on the duty?"

"No, that was her job today. It wasn't until this afternoon so I thought you could combine who you were picking up. We could give this John Scott from the Marshal's Service a discount. Do you know him?"

"Yes, I know him and that's who I need to go pick up right now. I'll call Lisa and have her meet me out there so we can leave early."

"No need, Chuck, Lisa is up with a student. She'll be done by ten so you guys can leave as soon as she hits the potty. The Lear will be ready."

DeDe said, "I like the way you had them enclose the rest room. It's tiny, but it's just like an airline bathroom with the little sink."

"I thought that would be better than the curtain that other planes use," I said, then added, "I'll see you in a few."

Wanda said, "You're spending more time in the air than the office lately. Do you feel guilty?"

"Not really, Wanda. I'm still answering e-mails and doing the reports digitally now. Everything is running smoothly, and since I went on that one mission with John, no one is calling."

"This Alcam thing could come to head any day or maybe any minute. You need to be around just in case; it could be a difficult take down. If they have to take everyone at the same time, we'll have to have several offices come help. There are more than a hundred people with questionable backgrounds involved so far."

"I'll be back this afternoon late. We might come by. John is bringing Kenisha with him, so it's going to be fun while she's here. We need a room for them to stay in."

Wanda said, "You have it. Just have Lisa or Lena move into your area for a couple of days. Lisa probably has less, and her room will be easier to get ready. Lena is kind of a slob, but then she's still a kid."

"I'll ask Lisa on the way up. If it's a problem, I'll put them up in the hotel or over at the girls' house."

She answered, "Still on vacation, Honey. I'm out at the Sue's and Steve's again. Frieda is with me, why?"

"My boss and his wife are flying in and want to stay with us this weekend. How about moving Lisa into my area and making her room the guestroom. I'll make sure Lisa is fine with it, as she doesn't sleep in there anyway. The only thing she uses in there is the bathroom and the closet. My closet is still big enough to take her stuff, and I still have a bunch of empty drawers too."

Brandy said, "Good idea. Call me and give me the okay. I'll make sure the room is ready for your boss. That's John right? He's more like a friend, isn't he?"

"It's John, and yes, he's more like a friend. Anyway, he and I need to talk a little and this is the best way to do it. I'll call you in a little while."

Downstairs, I took the bag full of mail back up to my office and put it in the safe in the big cabinet. I also put the diamonds in there. I had an idea of how to get rid of the diamonds, but I still needed to have a way to report the income.

I stuffed my gym bag into the suitcase, then into the trunk. I figured there should be enough room for John's stuff. He'll laugh when he sees the rifles in their holders in the trunk. This is a police car, so why not have some weapons.

Out at the airpark, Lisa was just landing with her student. I did the preflight on the Lear while she signed the student's log and went into the charter office. She came running back out and said, "Wonderful, we get to fly together. This is going to be so much fun. Let me go potty and we'll be on our way. Grab some sandwiches from DeDe. She sent out for a bunch of Subways."

When we got on the plane, Lisa went to the right seat, but I told her, "Be command today. I'm probably going to put John's wife in the right seat on the way back so I can talk to John. We have some business to talk about."

Then I asked her, "Can the girls move you into my room? We need the room for John and his wife, do you mind?"

Lisa was grinning, "Do it. That'll make it permanent for me. I'll love it. You and me, Buddy, we have something going and now it's getting personal." She gave me a kiss with a lot of promise.

I called Brandy's cell and gave the phone to Lisa. Lisa told her, "Move me, Baby, I want to be permanent in there. Mix my stuff right in there so I'll know I belong. I'll give you some special kisses for moving my stuff for me."

Lisa handed the phone back to me and Brandy said, "Now I'm a little jealous. But I'm going to have a place in the new house the same as Lisa. We'll get her stuff moved and fix the room up real nice. You'll be proud."

The whole way up, Lisa was talking about the new house the girls were planning. She said, "They let me help design your new bedroom. Actually, it's all our bedroom, with closets and rooms off of it. They have a huge bathroom designed that looks like one those dormitory bathrooms, and you should see the studio I designed. Complete with soundproofing and recording booths. It's big enough we can play in it and have a bunch of people to accompany us, plus it will have the rooms for individuals to record simultaneously for a big production. Oh, Chuck, you're gonna love it."

Lisa was the chatty Kathy all the way to Andrews. As soon as we were parked, a big black Buick came rolling up to the plane. The Marshal got out of the driver's seat. John and Kenisha got out of the back. The Marshal shook my hand and smiled warmly, "It's good to see you, Chuck. You see what's happening. John has me chauffeuring him now. I guess he has you doing it too, flying him around. He has some things to tell you about your trip. I haven't thanked you enough for your country, and the Service can't. You really took care of an amazingly horrible problem. I can't really tell you, John doesn't know, and you probably shouldn't know. Just believe me, it was a bad situation."

John got two bags from the trunk of the Buick and set them down by the aircraft. Lisa was directing the refueling, so I shook John's hand and received a very warm hug from Kenisha.

Lisa got down from the fuel truck and just about fell over herself looking at Kenisha. I mentally said, "Down girl" to her, just thinking she was going to embarrass herself. Lisa looked at me strangely then shook hands with everyone. She remembered the Marshal from our trip to Atlanta and mentioned it to him.

The Marshal said, "Those were the best concerts I've ever heard. I hope you guys do it again so I can watch. I had the guy that was recording it send me a CD. He sent me both a CD and a DVD recording of you guys performing live. It is probably the music most listened to in my home. If you have some more, please send them to me."

The Marshal said he needed to get back and was happy to get rid of John for a week. He said he thought he had heard we were about to do some serious manhunting over around Orlando, so John might earn his keep for a change.

We loaded up and I took the right seat to get off the ground. We climbed out to our assigned altitude and I got up to start the coffee. I said, "Kenisha, how would you like to help Lisa fly the plane? John and I need to talk, so it will give you a chance to sit in the front."

She was so excited that I thought she would pee in her pants. That is, if she had any panties on. She had a very nice dress on that did show some good cleavage.

When I had them situated with a Coke for Kenisha and coffee for Lisa, John and I sat in the seats back by the couch.

"It's the last one I got. The one no one wanted to buy for some reason. The whole aircraft has been rebuilt, with the engines refitted, and all the gear rebuilt. The inside is all new of course, as is all of the instrumentation. Even the skin has been touched up with the new paint over it. It is nice."

John said, "It sure is. This could have been the Service's but they wouldn't have put the money into it. How are you coming out on it?"

"So far it's been rented continuously. I won't charge the Service for today, but it's been in the air enough to pay for itself."

"No, no, you have to charge the service for the charter. You see, I'm coming down to possibly be the go between for the Alcam thing. It's really getting to be a big deal. Let me tell you how some of it even ties in with what we did."

John took his briefcase out and pulled a file. He began showing me documents and pictures of suspects. He had some photos that were taken from a distance. He said, "This one was taken down in Miami where this company is causing some grief with some boat charter services. They are trying to muscle in and put the others out of business. Look at this guy. This photo is from about two months ago."

"He sure does. Here, this is a blowup of the same photo with the detail enhanced. It's him alright."

He put that picture away and brought another distance photo. "This is in Orlando a month ago, just before we went on our trip. That's him again."

John then said, "In both locations, there were professional mob type hits on people. You know, a twenty-two round up into the skull. No blood, no muss, no fuss, and no evidence. By accident, you and I eliminated a real pro. The only name we have been able to associate him with was the name of the guy you said had a safe deposit box in Huntsville."

"According to the Bureau, a couple of pros from New Jersey have shown up and now there's a guy from Chicago, who is on the wanted sheets, that is in town. These Alcam people are not going to play nice."

John put his stuff away and said, "So what have you found out so far? Oh, before you tell me everything, I have to tell you a story. About six years ago I was sent on something similar to what you and I did. The difference was that it was in another country. You know I speak French, so you can guess where it was. Anyway, in the process of taking care of what needed to be done, I stumbled onto a bunch of bank accounts that had to be closed to cover the activity. I transferred all the cash to an account in the states and prepared to give it to the service. The Marshal told me to lose the money, to burn it, throw it away, bury it, just get rid of it. He told me to make it a bonus. Well, that's how I bought the really nice place I live in, and have plenty in the bank for my future retirement. I'm telling you this because I think you may have a bonus coming, so how much have you found so far?"

"I found a couple of guns in Huntsville, and I've now found the guy probably has houses everywhere he has bank accounts. He has the one in Las Vegas rented, so I don't know what I'll do about that. The bank accounts have money in the checking and savings of each, a lot of money. Not a million total so far, but a lot. I found where the guy was living most of the time. He has a home down in Key West. He may have other places, but that one has been used a lot. The only strange thing about it is a closet full of guns and explosives. I need to clean it out so it doesn't cause anyone grief. He has a housekeeper that is taking care of the place for him. It is also where he has mail forwarded to him from all his locations. I did find a couple a dozen more IDs, complete with passports, so we know this guy has been busy."

I took a deep breath and said, "I know we can't give the money to the Service but how do we report it so it can be used? We have to pay taxes you know."

"I know, and it's not we, it's you," said John. "It's easy really. Do you gamble?"

John laughed, "Well, you do now. I want you to gamble and gamble a lot. Keep track of every dollar you win or lose. You need to make some stupid bets so you lose a lot. I know you have some money, use it to set this up. You will then begin depositing cash into your bank account and claim it on a quarterly report as proceeds from gambling. You'll have some offsetting losses that will make it believable. You'll just be luckier than most. There are people in DC that still won't let me join a friendly poker game. They think I'm some sort of professional gambler. I spent a lot of weekends down in Atlantic City losing in the casinos, but winning big bucks in private poker games. Get my drift. The IRS doesn't care who you won it from, they just want you to report your winnings. If you have some losses to show with it, it's all believable."

"It is easy, and it's the easiest, most honest, way to put the money into your account. If you want to donate a bunch to some good charities, do it. But just gather all the goodies from all the locations and that's how to pay taxes. Too bad you don't have some more lawsuits to get cash from. That would be another neat way to get cash. Like I told you, go to South America and buy airplanes and bring them back. Use them to charter. Who cares how you got them. The government won't. If you're reporting revenue, they are happy. Even an audit will be fine. Just have a holding company from Brazil hold title on the airplanes. That'll take care of that. Send some cash to the holding company as lease monies and once again, you're in good shape. Buy a big boat down in Panama. Who's to ask where you got the money, or if you even paid for the boat? That will work too. The best way though is to make most of it through gambling. You'll get a fun rep out of it. You'll also get all the freebies out in Vegas and Atlantic City, even over on the Riviera. Gamblers that win are famous. Just look at the poker tournament people. They make millions and lose hundreds. Sound like a good deal?"

"I'll never spend what I have, Chuck. You don't understand, the deal I was involved in was enormous. This happens to a few people every once in a while. It's just your turn."

I said, "I guess I feel better that a bad guy was eliminated, but I wonder how or why he was involved with those people down there and the ones at Alcam, here in Florida?"

John smiled again and reached for his briefcase. "Look at this from the boat people. These people were in competition with some Mexican cartels for business. The ones we got rid of were actually business enemies of Alcam. They think the pro we left there did the job, when it was really us. Since their guy hasn't shown up, I'm sure they think he's laying low. I'm also sure he had a way of collecting without ever seeing them again. The man was a pro. They know how to handle their money. He was doing jobs in Europe and South America, as well as here. That's probably why he has so much gold bullion. If your deal is anything like mine, you're going to be tracking down caches for another couple of years. Don't worry, it'll still be there and you've already figured out that almost no one has met this guy or would recognize him. If you were to grow a big beard, you would sort of look like the guy. You don't have a beard, so you're the guy without the beard."

"If you want, I almost did, but I was promoted into an easy position. You can have one of those too, but you don't want to move to DC. You can just about have a job like mine where you are. Just don't get involved in a lot of shoot-em-ups, stay low. I've tried to get people to leave you alone lately. I'm going to begin using the guy that was your sidekick. He can take the lead for a while. You'll still be around for some of the stuff to help him, but let him do the dirty work."

"Holy shit, John, this is too much. I wish I had that house cleaned up so we could go to the Keys and stay there. It's just a couple blocks from the beach."

John said, "As soon as you get it ready, have us come down for a week. I'll stay in it for you. Hell, if it comes with a housekeeper, that's even better."

"Listen," John advised, "You can find an attorney and explain that you used a bunch of aliases to buy a bunch of houses and hide money. You want to get honest and sell the stuff and report income. He'll do all the legal eagle stuff, and I've already told you how to report your income. Clean up all the loose ends out there. I'll make up some project for you so you'll have the time to get it done. You can buy some hotels over in Hawaii. You know I'm still waiting for my vacation over there. I want to go to the nude resort. Kenisha will have a blast."

I made us both a tall Bombay gin over ice. I got the girls more coffee and Coke. I thought to myself, poor Lisa is probably sitting in a puddle. Kenisha is one hot babe.

The rest of the flight was talking about Alcam and what we might have to do. I assured John that the two Tampa offices were working with Orlando, sewing up the loose ends. The part that I didn't know about was Miami.

By the time we landed in Tampa, John and I were a little tight. We were laughing and joking enough that Lisa said, "I think I'll drive us wherever we're going. Where to first, my love?"

Kenisha thought it sweet the way that Lisa was talking to me. We loaded their bags into my car and let Lisa drive us to the trailer park. It was still only two in the afternoon. Steve and the women were still at the gym. Glenda said, "Are you guys hungry? I have some wings you can cook since you're already in the party mood. Steve and Sue might even take time off and join you."

I held up my hand, "Wait a second, let me find out what the condition of a problem is first."

I called Wanda, who didn't know the answer, but transferred me to the station. Sarge wasn't in, and Sarah said she didn't know yet, either. She transferred me to the Bureau, where I got hold of Jan. She said, "No sweat today or tomorrow. The earliest is going to be Sunday, but I think we're planning on Monday morning when they open. We've got Miami involved now, so this is pretty big. The task force is already in Orlando and in Miami. They have the business under surveillance and will know if anything is happening. We have some intelligence that when your friend took down those guys out at the airpark, it made all of them step back a little. We're watching though, since they have some new hired help in town."

"Thanks, Jan, you just gave me the green light to party with John Scott. He's down for the weekend, or week, depending on what happens. Come out to the park after work, that's where we'll be. He will be at the house later though. He's staying with me."

I got the wings and some hamburgers and began cooking. More people kept coming, and I kept cooking more and more. Steve showed up and we were cooking together. This was fun. Kenisha was having a blast with the women. My girls took her to meet everyone so she didn't feel left out at all.

The kids soon began coming back from the rec center. School was out. The kids were wild, as all kids are on Fridays. Little Bonita saw me and wanted to be held immediately. Steve groused, "My youngest is in love with my best friend. I don't even get any sugar when he's around."

Bonita leaned away from me and grabbed hold of her dad's head and gave him a big kiss on the mouth. "I love you, Daddy, even more than Chuck, but I'm going to be Chuck's second wife, after Lisa."

I thought Steve was going to choke to death right then and there. It was a good thing Kathy was nearby and was able to smack him on the back a couple of times so he spit up the potato chip he had choked on.

I thought John was going to roll on the floor, he was laughing so hard. Steve just looked bewildered. Kathy hugged Steve and said, "How do you explain to your kid that mommy is daddy's wife number what? She listens to everything and puts it into her perspective. She's pretty smart, you know."

Steve was just shaking his head when Bonita leaned into my ear and said, "You better treat your first wife real good so I'll be welcome. Should I find Lisa for you?"

I smiled and said, "She's probably listening to her friends talk about a new house. Let her be. Perhaps later you and I, and maybe Lisa, can play some music? Would you pick out some songs for us?"

Bonita was down and running into the house in a second. John asked, "What did you say to her that made her run away?"

Kathy said, "He said something about playing music later and asked her to pick out some songs. You see, Chuck was her first guitar and piano teacher. She thinks Chuck is the world's greatest musician and Lisa is second. If Chuck builds a place out here, I'll know where to find her anytime she's missing. Chuck will probably go to jail for child molestation, while he's actually going to be the victim." Kathy was laughing as she held Steve to keep him from laughing too hard.

Tiny came in and said, "Ah ha! A new person partaking of wings and hamburgers, and he even has a drink in hand. Introduce me quick, he may be a relative."

John was laughing as I said, "Tiny, this is John Scott, my boss. John, Tiny, no last name, but he has a gorgeous wife."

Ruth was standing next to him said, "I resemble that remark. Thank you, Chuck. Come with us up to the hot tub and I'll show you how much I like that kind of talk."

I said, "I have some soaking in some special marinade. It's my own special recipe. Be prepared, my sweet, these will burn right down to your sweet pussy lips."

Mercy came up, hugged me, and said, "Be still my heart. A man is trying to steal me from the wonderful Steve. He uses special hot sauce to do it."

Sue was standing on the other side of Steve now but had unbuttoned enough buttons to cause a major commotion with her cleavage. She said, "Hey, Chuck, trying to burn our tongues tonight? Glenda said you only had one temperature on the wings out here, blazing."

"These here barely have any of my hot sauce on them. These over here should be considered sort of between hot and mild. These are hot and pretty tasty. These in this big bowl were specially treated by yours truly to not be for the faint of heart, but for those who truly enjoy flaming."

Shawna had come up and said, "You mean your farts will melt the paint right off your Learjet?"

"I'll have you know that is a Bombardier Learjet, you little redheaded tease. Where's your monster husband that you refer to as Stump?"

Charlie came up beside her and rolled his eyes. Shawna said, "You trying to compare your wimpy dick to the stump? Ha, this guy's got the world's biggest around stump known to man. If you serve him any of those real hot wings you've made up, you may see a demonstration on one of these tables. Hot stuff makes him crazy horny."

Kenisha had come out to be beside John. Charlie said, "Say, who's the new chick. I likes what I sees. You, new guy, is that yours? Wanna swap? I have a redheaded she-devil that's a hell of a fuck."

Trying to soften the conversation, "Charlie, Shawna, this is my boss, John Scott, and his obviously lovely wife, Kenisha."

Charlie said, "Obviously lovely, but then we've lived through Sue and my redhead."

Kenisha pushed out her chest and said, "Do you like my breasts? John gave them to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I think I like to play with them as much as he does."

John's face turned pink. Mercy patted him on the arm and said, "You know John, this is a fun place where every one has a good time." She turned to me and said, "Are you going to cook those good wings or make me beg? How about a bj to get you to cook 'em?"

"I want those good wings now, Steve. You like what they do to me. Last time we had some good ones, you cried uncle before Kathy and I were finished and we had to take care of each other."

Steve was shaking his head as John was laughing and Kenisha looked bewildered at what was going on.

I put all of the good wings on the fire and kept them turning while putting some more wings into the marinade. I kept taking them out and pushing the seeds into them by using a toothpick. That way the really hot stuff was right there inside the wings. It took about ten minutes to cook the first batch.

I looked up and found Kathy and Mercy salivating for their treat. The surprise was that their new friend was the delectable Kenisha. I popped about six wings onto each of their plates and put some on a plate for me, then moved the rest of them off to the side so they would stay warm.

At the first bite, Kathy's eyes opened wide and she nearly screamed, then said, "Damn, this is the hottest, the best wing I've ever had."

John said, "No way have you made wings hotter than my lady can eat them. Let me have one."

Kenisha held his hand and said, "My love, please don't, they will hurt you. These are hotter than even my father could make. You know how he likes his hot food."

John didn't listen and took a bite. Now that's the wonder of truly spicy food. It doesn't reach out and bite you instantly. It sneaks up on you, then cripples you. It took about sixty seconds for John to gasp and then try to drown the spicy bite with beer."

Gasping, John said, "Jesus, those are dangerous, and you're eating them as if they were nothing."

Mercy, through the tears and burning of great tasting wings said, "These will make Steve the happiest man in this park tonight. He needs to have Chuck around more often. Steve could have some more kids."

Kathy was grinning as she chewed the meat from the mini-chicken leg. She looked at me and said, "You were a good fuck on the boat, but right now, you would even be equal to Steve, the master. God, these are near orgasmic." With that, she choked a couple of times from the spicy hot taste, but kept right on eating.

The wings were too good, so many tried to see if they were capable of eating these delicacies. The surprise was Michelle, Ryan's wife. She ate a couple then said, "Can you make some more. These are great. Mercy, Kathy, you aren't fair. You've been hiding these from me."

Ryan tried one but knew that the spicy hot would catch him after he had eaten the wing. He was holding his hand over his mouth, almost crying, when his lovely wife decided to use her spiced tongue to try to soothe his burning mouth. It only enhanced the spicy burn. Ryan finally settled down in a chair with his head back holding a mouth full of ice chips to soothe the burn.

There were no announcements this Friday night, but Tiny did use the microphone to announce and introduce John and Kenisha as my guests. Then he said, "Bonita is ready, waiting for Lisa and Chuck, to play some music for us. I present our three entertainers."

Lisa had helped Bonita bring the keyboard and big amp up to the now stage area, in the big sliding doorway in front of the pool table. Bonita had the fake book open to our first piece. She said, "Mama wants some country, so this is first."

I adjusted microphones for me, Bonita, and Lisa, then led off with a keyboard intro to "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys."

This got everyone involved singing the chorus and refrain. By the time we were finished, there was a steady stream of folks tapping the beat. Next, we did some early James Young blues, followed by some Tim Rogers. Lisa had me use the electric bass that was brought out, but it really wasn't that easy to make sing. I played guitar for the Tim Rogers stuff and really wailed. It was just slightly this side of blues, in truly metal form.

We slowed down and did Georgia, followed by Stardust. I wonder how a six year old picked out Stardust. We did a George Shearing number that Lisa enhanced with some true Les Paul sounding guitar. We ended with Bonita begging to sing Summertime, while Lisa and I softly wailed behind her. It was enough to bring tears to your eyes.

We all bowed and didn't play any encores. Lisa and I helped Bonita put all the instruments away, but she brought out her acoustic and said, "Would you play some more, please?"

How do you turn down a sweet six year old that is pledging to become your second wife?

Lisa suggested some sixties folk songs, so when I began, "Hang down your head Tom Dooley," everyone began singing with me. This was what Bonita wanted. She sat next to me, smiling and holding the big fake book, so I could see the chord changes. We went through several requests from a lot of the older folks then I finally said, "My fingers aren't used to the exercise. Let's do one more. Bonita turned to a song from the sixties and I began, "You are my special angel." That brought all the older folks to the front to sing and help me through it. John was right there singing with them.

When that was done, I handed the guitar to Bonita and kissed her. I said, "Its way past your bedtime, sweet thing. Good night, Bonita, I love you, little girl." She was beaming as she went to her mom. "Mommy, Chuck said he loves me. He said, I love you, little girl. That's what I wanted Mama, I'm tired now."

Kathy picked up the little dynamo and walked down the hall with her. Lisa kissed my cheek, then all my girls were hugging me and kissing me. John said, "Jesus, how many women do you have?"

I introduced them all as I said, "These are the Fab Five, John: Frieda, the tallest; Tiani, the tiniest; Nancy, the darkest; Judy; and Brandy. These are the ladies from the employment office that captured my heart early here in Tampa. This is Tina, a budding 'Hey you, almost a doctor.'" The long, lean, lanky one is the super girl, Lena. She doesn't get any bedroom privileges, but is my special friend anyway. She is one of five super huge girls from a near seven foot mom. Lena wants to be the skinny one and she is. You have to agree, John, it's hard to resist this big woman."

Lena was blushing and pushing out her chest at the same time. She was really happy to be recognized with my other women.

"And last, but definitely not least, Lisa, my partner in music, and it seems destined to be my partner in life." My other girls were screaming that I had made that feeling public. All five of my ladies swarmed Lisa and me. Tina was in the mix, as well as Lena.

I announced, "Its late folks. Lisa and I have had a hell of last couple of days. I'm taking my toys, all of them, and heading home. John and the lovely Kenisha are coming with me. We'll try to get up in time to join you for breakfast. I think John will enjoy the weekend show from you ladies."

John looked confused, but the patio crowd laughed. We did get hugs and kisses from everyone, packed up, and left. On the way home, John asked, "When did you learn to play and sing like that? That was awesome. You don't need the Marshal's Service, you can make a living doing that."

"John, I love to sing and play music, but the Marshal's Service, working and doing something constructive for a living, is what really makes me feel good. Music is a hobby. It makes me and others feel good. But what you and I did a few weeks ago is what I'm good at and what I can do. I don't like all of it, but the grand finale out there, that was one hell of a show."

At home, we showed John and Kenisha their room and he was really impressed. He said, "If these were rooms for people we were placing, I'm surprised you could convince them to leave. I wouldn't."

John was impressed with all the people who lived in the house. John Truant, the pilot, made some drinks, including a good scotch for John Scott. I made a bunch of Mojitos for the non-pregnant girls, and we sat around in the kitchen/family room enjoying each other's company. When our drinks were done, I said, "How about going to bed and going out to the park in the morning for the fashion show. You girls get Kenisha ready in the morning. She seems to be a person who enjoys showing off."

My five were giggling as they were thinking of how the two girls would help Kenisha.

In bed a short while later, Brandy said, "You said it tonight. You told the world that you and Lisa were going to be permanent. That's so good."

Lisa asked the girls; "Aren't you upset or jealous about Chuck telling the world that I'm the one?"

Nancy said, "You don't understand, Lisa, we all know Chuck loves us. He might even love us as much as he loves you, but you are the one to stand up front with him. We are the ones to love him and you. We are the ones to give all of us happiness, pleasure, and lots of babies. Tina is the one to take him to new heights in intellectual pursuits. You see, Lisa, we all have our place with Chuck. We love you, Lisa, and we love you for loving our Chuck."

Lisa kissed Nancy, then hugged and kissed each of the other girls. Tiani said, "Would you love on this babe. As soon as you knock her out, I'm next. I've got the juiciest pussy ever just waiting for you. Do it, Chuck, make Lisa sing, then make me yell."

That broke all of us up, but the girls ganged up on Lisa and loved on her as I was loving her. It didn't take but a few minutes before she was screaming. This was followed by Tiani screaming her pleasure over and over again, until she was begging all of us to stop. I did some slow loving on my future mommies, then fell asleep while injecting some final fluids into Brandy.

Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Last one through — Deenara2000

Chapter 25