Steve
Last night had been strange. Chuck was in a fight, no that wasn't right. He really didn't have a fight. That monster guy attacked him, and Chuck just tossed him. He did whack the guy in the nose, but it could have been the heel of the hand into the nose, a killing blow. We all learned that one. That wrist thing Chuck did was so quick that it was just something that happened as the big guy went over the top of him.
I was sitting drinking that first cup of coffee contemplating what had gone on when arms reached around me and soft lips kissed my ear. "I love you," a voice softly said, and it told me instantly that Sue was up with me. She said, "Everyone is acting tired this morning. It's already six thirty and Glenda isn't here yet."
"She would be here, but I haven't turned on the light yet," I said softly. "Watch, I'll turn on the light and she'll be walking over here in a minute."
I reached up and flipped on the light. Seconds later we heard a screen door slam across the big yard and also another behind us. Glenda came walking across the yard with her cup in her hand. She was wearing one of her slinky opaque gowns that were so pretty. I stood and we greeted each other with a warm hug. While she was pouring herself some coffee, Tiny and Ruth came in the back door. Ruth was already wearing her Sunday morning visual treat. Ruth gave me a hug too, but it was as if a full bodied nude woman was molding herself to me. She greeted Sue the same way. I think I saw Sue tweak one of Ruth's nipples.
Tiny immediately began fixing Bloody Marys and was making one of his new concoctions. He had been experimenting with a mixture of orange and grapefruit juice mixed with vodka. The little bit of sweet key lime and tangerine juice he added made a delicious drink. The kids loved the mixture, so Tiny always made a huge amount and just added joy juice to the adults' drinks.
Sue disappeared and returned in a short, sheer, gown but was now accompanied by Mercy and Kathy dressed the same way. Kathy is so much taller than Sue and Mercy that it is almost funny to see them standing next to each other. Juanita appeared in a gown similar to Glenda's this morning, and she was leading Trixie and Dixie. The little girls gave everyone hugs and disappeared into the house, probably to wake up their siblings.
More and more folks and kids began coming in to join our morning gathering. Everyone was fairly quiet this morning. I would suppose it had to do with the fact that most had enjoyed a raucous evening the night before. Abe pulled up in his cart at the same time as three SUVs pulled up. Chuck and his entire group came out of the vehicles. His friend from DC and the friend's good looking wife, Kenisha, were with him. All the women were wearing the wispy gowns Sue had given them yesterday.
Jan and Chuck were talking together, so I walked over to them. I asked, "Is this private or can I ask you two a couple of things?"
Jan said, "Anything we have to say about the Alcam group, you might as well hear. I was telling Chuck that the team leader from the DC front line group wants to do something tomorrow morning. The intel has more hired help coming to town, and the strike force feels it's getting closer to them making a move."
Chuck said, "Sarge says the observation teams have reported at least a dozen men have come to town. They drove in, so that means they brought their own tools."
"The Miami Bureau, along with the Marshal's staff are ready to move in down there at the same time we move up here," Jan said. "They have cause to go in after them, so we might be able to clean out all the nests of rats at the same time."
I asked, "What can I do? My security people are all ex-military and well trained."
"Steve," Chuck said, "You need to concentrate on your home area and your businesses. Your exposed areas would be the yacht area and the airpark. You've proven you can protect the airpark fairly well, so do the same at the marina, and make sure you're protected here and in the business park. We don't know how much they know about you, so anything can happen."
I said, "You know I'd give up everything to protect my family and friends. This is nuts to have a large group like that try to forcefully take us over. They really haven't even asked if I would sell out to them."
Chuck told me, "If they can hurt your business, then the business value wouldn't be worth as much. If they can intimidate you into just giving it to them, they would be real money ahead."
"Do you think we're safe during the daylight hours?" I asked. "They wouldn't do anything during the day, would they?"
Jan said, "Probably not, but it would be good to stay vigilant. Since this is Sunday, they may think our guard is down, so keep your family close and keep your friends close as well."
I said, "I don't like being threatened or being afraid to just be normal. Let's get Hap and make sure we have all the help he needs."
Hap was having breakfast when the three of us sat down. "Hap, Chuck and Jan say we need to be careful today as some bad guys may think we would be relaxed around here on Sunday. Do you have enough help to watch here, the airpark, the shops, and the marina?"
Hap was nodding, "We have some Sheriff's deputies helping out part-time at the shop and now out at the airpark. We have some Pinellas county deputies at the Marina. We should be fine there. I have men all over the business park and we're protected pretty well here. We put two men over at the sports complex to make sure the people there are protected. I'm spending lots of your money, Steve, but we should be good."
Chuck said, "Sounds like you've put resources where you need, Hap. We just need to make sure all the units watch for any strange vehicles or something out of place."
Hap said, "That is part of their marching orders. I've briefed all of the part-time deputies and they know this could be serious. I'm not saying we're impenetrable, but we should be damn near there."
"Thanks," I said, "all of you. Hire as many as you think you need, Hap. This scares the shit out of me. If it were just me, no sweat, I can defend myself, but all these folks out here, the marina, and the airpark, are what I worry about."
Everyone was enjoying breakfast when Mercy came to me, "Steve, how about we have a big boat outing today. Tiny and Kevin can take a couple of the big fishing boats out and you can take a bunch of us out in the "Have Mercy." It's at home this weekend and not scheduled to go out until next week. I can feel you, Steve, I know you're concerned. Let's just go have an outing for the day. We'll all be safe out there."
I asked her, "Do you think I could get everyone interested in going out? It's already almost eight?"
Mercy said, "Just announce it and watch them move."
I stood up and said, "Listen, everyone, Mercy wants to go out on the big sail boat today. Tiny and Kevin are taking a couple of the big boats out too. How about all of us get ready and head over to the marina and enjoy a day on the water?"
Heads were bobbing up and down, and even Chuck's bunch were all for it. I could see Chuck and Jan telling his group to go out and have fun today. They were staying behind. Chuck's friend, John, even had his wife, Kenisha, convinced to go with the girls. People scattered to hurry to get clothes on to go out on the water."
Hap came over to me, "Good move, Steve. Get 'em all out of here so the kids aren't all over the place. It looks like Jan, Chuck, and his friend John are staying. Marie and Wanda seem to be sticking around as well. I guess they are part of Chuck's defense group. I see Mickey is over there with them. They will be assets if we need them."
John had received a call on his cell phone and had walked away from the group. About the same time, Jan had received a call and did the same to go talk. I watched as John came back and spoke to the group. When I walked up, he stopped talking and looked at Chuck.
Chuck said, "He can know, tell him."
John said, "That was our strike force in Orlando. They just watched as eight big SUVs full of people left there heading west on I-4. They're following, but wanted to let us know that potential trouble was due in about forty-five minutes to an hour."
Chuck said to me, "Get your people out of here and out on the water. You can take care of yourself out there. Take some protection and get. You should be out of the yacht club by the time they get here. We'll keep you posted."
Hap said, "Let me alert all the folks that there is a potential threat."
Jan offered, "You know, we don't know where they're heading. We need to be able to watch them to know where they're going."
Steve said, "Let me get you one of our helicopters and you guys can go spot them driving this way and follow them. Just keep in contact with someone on the ground and let them know where they're headed."
Mickey said, "The county has helicopters too. They can help on something like this."
Chuck told her, "Then get them, Mickey, let's get our defenses up."
I said, "I hate to leave you to do everything."
Chuck said, "Just protect our families. You'll be safe out away from any potential problem."
My family began appearing on the patio, ready to go sailing. It was a little cool, so all had heavier clothes on. It's funny to watch all the mothers inventory their kids. They had them all lined up, with all of our friends kids as well. My ladies were ready to leave. I gave Chuck a key and said, "Hap has a key to the house as well. Call me as soon as you know anything or if anything happens." They assured me they would.
I felt really strange leaving my home and hundreds of residents behind. My family would be safe out on a boat and we would be able to defend ourselves out there easier. Tiny and Kevin got the drift that we needed to be out of the harbor area quickly and each had a large group on the boats and moving fast.
My group was helped by the regular crew, who were on the boat cleaning, after getting back from a trip. They joined us going out for the day, ready to enjoy just being passengers.
I had brought two suitcases full of protection and hoped we wouldn't need any. When we were pulling out of the yacht club, we encountered the Coast Guard who came aboard to do a life jacket check. I got the Coast Guard boat skipper aside and said, "There is a problem going on with some bad guys coming from Orlando. We're getting out away from land to avoid any potential danger. Have you seen any strange boats up this way? Especially any boats you might recognize as being charter boats out of Miami?"
The Chief said, "We have seen a couple of Miami charter boats up this way recently. They haven't been in near shore before though. What's going on?"
I said, "Call the FBI or the Marshal's Service, they're the ones working this. I know these people have or are building a charter service out of Miami. The next time you see one of their boats, run the numbers, you might get a surprise. I've heard they are muscling their way into business."
"We'll do just that. Are you folks going to be alright out on the water? I saw two of your big fishing boats go out already."
"I think we'll be fine, Chief. All of the women and the older boy and girl were with us when we had a problem on our last big cruise. We're just going to enjoy some sailing and let the water ease the tension."
The Chief suggested, "Why don't you have those two big fishing boats sort of tag along, keeping each other in sight. That might be a good thing."
"Good idea, let me radio them before they get too far out," I answered, as I reached for the radio microphone.
As the Coast Guardsmen left our boat, I talked to both Tiny and Kevin on our designated frequency. Nothing out on the water is private, but we use an off the wall frequency that is probably never listened to by anyone else.
We had some good wind and enjoyed being pushed along by mother nature. It was going to be more difficult getting back, but perhaps a passing low pressure area will help with some winds from the northwest later.
Tiny and Kevin were about a half mile off my sides. They were idling along at our twelve knot speed. I could see they had outriggers working hoping to pick up some fish. Mercy had come to the helm to take over and asked, "How come you don't have the radar on? If you're afraid someone might come up on us, you should at least know if they're coming."
"Good thinking, Mercy," I said. "Just didn't think we would need it today."
As I turned on the radar, I asked Mercy, "So what's going on with Chuck. You two have a link going. What's happening with him?"
Mercy grinned, "He's being Chuck. He focuses on something so intensely that his mind is closed to me. I know he's all right but that's all."
When the radar was up, I took a grease pencil and marked the bogeys around us. Next, I turned on the collision avoidance system and programmed to alert for any craft approaching us within two miles. That would mean that any craft closing the distance between us would make the system alert us and mark the bogey.
It had only been five minutes since programming the system that it gave the alert. I looked at the screen to see two bogeys with circles flashing around them. I picked up the microphone and called to Kevin and Tiny. "I want you guys to be aware that there are two craft closing on us. If they get close, you should be able to outrun them. Do it if it comes to that. We can't call the Coast Guard yet, since we don't know if it is a threat. I just wanted you two to know there may be a problem."
Kevin came back, "Figured that's what was up. I've brought protection to use if necessary, and have a couple of men on board with some experience. We won't run, but will be cautious."
I caught Sue's attention, "Just to be on the safe side, I want to get out the weapons we brought along and store them up in the lounge under the seats. Have Kathy and Juanita move everyone out gently while you do that. Then if I give the warning, get them all below. We may have a threat."
Sue went to talk to Kathy and Juanita and I saw that the lounge area was quickly cleared. Sue assembled the rifles and stored them under the cushions. Since no one was around the helm, she brought me a rifle and a Glock to put in the cabinet. I showed her the two bogeys that still had flashing circles around them. She asked, "Where's Mercy?"
I pointed to the rear deck where Mercy was standing with binoculars up to her eyes. I said, "She was the one who suggested the radar. I didn't even think of it. She must have had one of her feelings. Just be ready to get everyone below if necessary. Make sure you can see Juanita and Kathy at all times."
We had begun our big turn to pull around to head north so we could pick up the wind from the northwest later. This move kept our speed down and allowed the two craft to get closer. The two boats were about a half mile away, but not closing, just following. They made the turn with us but didn't close.
Everyone began eating as hotdogs and potato salad started coming up from the galley. The regular crew had the grill out and was cooking hamburgers, so everyone along for the ride was having a good time.
It was around four o'clock that Tiny radioed that he had just received a call from Chuck on his sat phone. "He said that the FBI and his men along with the county had been in a prolonged fire fight with a group of men." I asked, "Where was this fight, Tiny? At the house? At the airpark?"
"Shit," Tiny exclaimed, "I didn't ask. We should be back in cell range any minute. I'll connect up to an antenna and see."
Mercy came up to the helm and pointed to the collision avoidance screen and said, "They're coming up fast, look."
I said, "Get the girls and get everyone below, now. Then you girls get armed and come out with me."
I radioed Kevin, "They're coming. Don't get too close and remember if they get between us to watch where your rounds go."
He said, "Gotcha. Can't we call the Coast Guard yet?"
"We're not threatened yet, Kevin, it's only two craft coming up to us," I answered, thinking the same way Kevin was.
I radioed Tiny, "Put some distance between us, Tiny. If they chase you, pour it on, I don't think they can keep up."
The girls came out with rifles and Juanita had a shotgun. Three of the crew came out with rifles and told me, "All the trips through the Caribbean and no trouble, yet here we are on a Sunday afternoon and we have a problem."
The radio began making noise on the open CB channel. "Sailboat Have Mercy, heave to. This is the Coast Guard we are going to board you. Stop in the water to board."
I picked up the microphone and said, "Are you nuts? You can't impersonate the Coast Guard over the open channel like that. Show me your colors first then I'll consider it."
I said to Mercy, "Go in and call the Coast Guard on the emergency frequency. Tell them we're being approached by two boats telling us they are them."
Mercy went into the main lounge to the weather helm and was using the radio as the open channel again said, "You must obey this warning. You will stop or you will be considered a danger. We will take your boat by force."
The crewmen, Sue, Kathy, and Juanita were standing in front of me. They looked at each other and Kathy said, "I don't think so. Where do you want us, Steve?"
"Look, I don't know how they will approach us. If they both come on the same side, no problem, but if they come up on both sides we need to have designated sides and you must find cover so you are protected all around. There are eight of us so if they split up, you three crewmen and Sue watch the port side, and the rest of us will watch the starboard. They're not coming up on us fast, so they are either afraid or they don't have the power. Go find positions and wait until they fire the first shot, or I fire. Be careful and make each shot count. You guys with shotguns, wait until they are very close. Use them for anyone who tries to board."
Kevin radioed, "Looks like they are going to try to get in between us. We'll hold our fire and stay down. You're not going to hurt this boat if a round gets to us."
Tiny said, "I've called the Coast Guard and heard Mercy calling. I'm moving forward about a quarter mile to be out of the line of fire."
Mercy was close to me, so I asked her, "What do you think. Should I take down sail and slop around for them or keep the sail up?"
She said, "Let's leave the sail up. If we have to take it down, we can. There's no advantage either way."
Both boats were coming up on my left, the port side. They looked to be cheap twenty five foot day cruisers with a single outboard engine. They couldn't outrun anyone. If we had the wind to our backs, we could almost outrun them.
A guy was on the bow of the lead boat with a bull horn. "Take down your sail; we are going to board you. We are taking your ship."
Mercy was standing there and said, "Can I just shoot him. This isn't even a ship."
I didn't have to say anything; one of the crewmen did all the talking. The guy with the bullhorn was pushed back by the force of the round hitting him.
Another guy came out of the back and aimed a pistol at us. Mercy said, "Let me have the helm and you take care of this, will you?"
I brought my rifle to my shoulder and watched the guy pitch back from a round. A quick glance at the other boat and I could see two men kneeling on the bow trying to get a target. I leveled my rifle across a gear brace and shot twice, two down.
Sue hollered, "There are two men on the back of the rear boat. I can't get them from here."
I looked, and sure enough, there were two guys with pistols playing cowboys and stagecoach. They were firing at us from a small boat in three to four foot seas. They weren't going to hit anything unless it was a very lucky shot. Since I could see them, I leveled off at them as I had the men on the bow. The first guy went down, but the second dove back into the cabin.
From the nearest boat, a rifle poked out of the cabin window. Several rounds hit the person holding the rifle at the same time. All of sudden that boat idled down and let us move away. The second boat had also idled down.
Kevin said, "How about I act like I'm going to ram them and see what they'll do?"
"No, Kevin, no sense in getting nicks on your boat. I don't think they hit anything on our boat at all. Using handguns on the open water like that is pretty dumb."
A voice came over the radio, "Have Mercy, this Coast Guard cutter Seagull, please state your position."
I gave them our co-ordinates but said, "The attacking boats have desisted and are at idle aft of us."
"We have you on radar, are the two boats close together?"
I answered, "Yes, they are close together, but are not tied up together."
Kevin broke in and said, "This is the boat, Still Fishing, I can stay and watch them until you get here."
The Coast Guard asked, "The report was that shots were fired. You're out of the twelve mile limit, so unless it was an act of piracy, we have no jurisdiction."
I radioed, "They attempted to, or at least stated, they were going to board us. They originally said they were the Coast Guard."
The Coast Guard radioed, "We should be there in less than five minutes. We'll take them into custody and administer first aid, if necessary."
I hollered to everyone on deck, "Put your weapons away, and get the folks back out on deck. I didn't get a hamburger yet."
Mercy gave me a hug as I took the helm back. Sue came up and gave me a kiss and said, "No one fucks with this family, do they?"
I smiled, "Not and lives to brag about it. I'm glad they were inexperienced sailors. Someone who knows the water wouldn't be out on a tiny craft like that in these seas, trying to hijack a boat."
We were losing sight of Kevin and the two boats when Kevin said over radio to the Coast Guard, "Watch out for the boat on the starboard side. It looks like someone has a rifle back there."
"Thank you, Still Fishing," the Coast Guard responded, "we see him. I'll have a man on the bow to take care of it. You should probably join up with your armada." The guy on the radio was laughing as he took his finger off the transmit button of his microphone.
Mercy came up and said, "Chuck's involved in something heavy. I feel it."
"Where are they at, Mercy, can you tell?"
At that second Tiny said, "Mickey just said that the FBI chick, Jan, was shot, but is doing okay. They are at the airfield. Hap had them close all the hangars and lock all the doors in case of something like this. We'll have to find out what happened. What do you say, Steve, can we head in, I don't feel like fishing any more."
"Go ahead, Tiny, it'll take us a little longer to get in."
Kevin said over the radio, "I'll stay with you, Steve; everyone over here is enjoying some beer and brats. They don't care if we get back early or not."
I asked Sue, who was hovering around the helm, "Call Hap to check on the house and park."
She called, then told me, "Hap said no problem there at all, but the airpark had a big mess. He said he tried to get out there but they have it totally closed off."
It was almost six by the time we were tied up at the yacht club. The crew told me not to worry about cleaning up. They would do it tomorrow, as they didn't have anything to do until the weekend. I thanked them for the help, and asked the one crewman who had shot first, "Why did you shoot so fast. You didn't wait for them to make a violent move or anything."
The crewman said, "The guy was standing there announcing to the world that they were going to take our boat by force. That's piracy, and at that point, I can defend my boat anyway possible. The Coast Guard will probably contact you and me, but that's okay, we did what's legal on the open seas."
Sue and I told all the crewmen that if they were in port, they were always welcome to come out to the house for supper. All of the people were soon on the way home. Sue said she had called Park Place for calzones and pizzas. She would stop on the way home to pick them up.
At home, Chuck's women were upset as they had tried to call Chuck, but his cell phone was turned off. Kenisha said that John's phone was off too, and she was concerned. Mercy tried to tell them, "I can feel Chuck is okay. He's just busy right now. I think they still have a problem out there."
The big TV was on the local cable news channel and they had a helicopter up near the airpark. They were talking about a raging gun battle with county and federal law enforcement officers up against a formidable group of people. The airpark looked funny, all dark with the hangar doors all closed. Hap was on the patio and said, "Every hangar has a man plus a deputy marshal inside to protect what's in there. We don't have to worry about equipment this time."
Mark and Caroline came up to the patio and said, "The airpark is on the national news. The cable news network is providing a feed to CNN and Fox news. That is really something. What's it all about anyway?"
I just said, "Someone is trying to be greedy, Mark. That's the whole of it."
Chuck's girls were going to go home, but Sue convinced them to stay with us. I said, "As soon as he can, he'll call to let us know he's all right. Since he and John are together, you should stay here and keep Kenisha settled as well."
Brandy said, "It's right here this time. We're usually nowhere near where he's being super deputy. This time it's just right over there," as she pointed to the north and east of us. "I feel we should be there with him, but I know we would just be in the way. How can we protect him though? We need to be there."
Mercy herded the girls together to settle them down. At that moment, Lisa and Bonita began playing guitars and singing some songs. They began with "Somewhere over the Rainbow." Both of them were playing and singing. Lisa did some fancy guitar work on it, while Bonita was grinning the whole time. They continued for over an hour, when Chuck's car drove up and parked.
John and Chuck got out and came onto the patio, where Kenisha almost knocked John down hugging him. Chuck's women all crowded around him, hugging, and kissing him. Lisa had hung back, then when the bevy of women relaxed, she hugged him and gave him a special kiss.
Someone handed John and Chuck a beer so they could relax a little. Someone else asked, "What happened out there?"
That's when John said, "Give us time to soak up a little beer and something to eat. I want some of that pizza and at least one of those famous calzones first."
When everyone was sitting back, more relaxed someone again asked what happened. John said, "I'll let Chuck tell you, and then I'll tell the real story."
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Last one through — Deenara2000