Chapter 54

Chuck

What a bunch of bullshit. First thing this morning, there's Steve having to get wound up with someone breaking into his R&D building. They didn't hurt the guard, but tied and gagged him while they ransacked the building.

Because Steve, or at least, Sue and S&S, are government and military contractors, I was able to call Jan into the investigation right away. She had their CSI group on site in minutes and was able to glean a lot of evidence to work with quickly.

Nightfox had followed some footprints all the way to the highway and found a key and a few pieces of paper that had fallen from what had been taken from the research facility. I suppose having Nightfox around is a good thing. Maybe I should deputize him, so he could be with me and sometimes assist me.

Then there was the big catastrophe. A relocation, a person in the witness protection program, had somehow disappeared from the hotel. The individual was being relocated with a new identity because some organized crime figures had been implicated in a military contract problem. The contractor was pimping for extra money because they contend the government was asking for changes. The informer said there really weren't any changes requested, but the military purchasing agent had asked for a confirmation of the specifications. This really wasn't that big a deal, but the changes the vendor claimed were worth fifty million dollars, were not real. The whole thing sounded like it could be handled through channels instead of making it into a federal problem. But the end result was that the squealer was absent, and it was the Marshals Service's fault the guy ducked us.

Sarge was trying to tell me on my cell what he knew of the guy's disappearance, so I asked, "Have you reviewed the security video tapes yet? Check them out to see if you can see how he managed to get off the floor."

"I'm on it, Chuck, I'll get back with you."

I was sitting at the counter in my new house having a cup of coffee, when I looked up. Nightfox was sitting near me on another stool and Lisa was on the other side of the counter, dressed in her flying uniform, having a cup with me.

I said to Nightfox, "I may need you to help me with a couple of things, so I'm taking you to the office to get you sworn in. You may not want to be a deputy, but if you want to stay with me, you don't have a choice. I want you sworn in, then we'll get you all of the training videos. You're gonna be busy for a while if you're gonna hang with me."

Lisa was smiling at me, so I told her, "You know, I should probably deputize you too, so you could come with me and watch my back. You have a knack for being around when something is going down."

Lisa smiled, "I just like to be with you, Chuck. So far, wherever you are, good luck is not far behind."

Nightfox said slyly, "You noticed that, huh? He does lead a charmed life, doesn't he?"

Lisa said to me, "Well, you're too busy to help the charter service today. I was going to get you to fly right seat with me. We're short people for a G-5 flight up to Minnesota and back. DeDe said that she might have someone who needs hours, so I'll call her. Be careful, Chuck, sounds like you may be dealing with some people that could get desperate."

The rest of the women in my menagerie gave me kisses as they whisked by on their way to their cars. They all had something different to do after work today, so they were all driving separately. I looked up at Nightfox and asked, "You ready? We should get into the office so you can get sworn in and get put to work."'

"Are you serious, Chuck? Do you really want me to become a deputy?"

"You bet, Sam, if you are going to hang around, you need to be helpful. You and Maria will have plenty of time to compare chili recipes later. Right now, there's work to do and I may need your tracking expertise."

Instead of going to my office, I went into the station and found Sarah in the ACE's office, doing what she's supposed to. "Sarah, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart."

Sarah looked at me funny, "Uh oh, what do you want from me this time?"

"Meet Sam Nightfox, a really great guy and a man I've completed a couple of missions with. I need for him to be a deputy. Talk to him for a few minutes and see what you think. I'm going to run see Wanda and be right back. See what you think, Sarah."

I left the two of them together and went to my office. Wanda said, "Everything is under control, but you need to help Sarge with his absent relocation. Something's wrong with that whole picture, considering he disappeared from the hotel. That's hard if not impossible to do."

"Sarge is looking at the videos now to see where he might have taken off from." I thought for a moment, then said, "Have you run Sam Nightfox for me? I sort of figured you might as soon as you got a line on him."

Wanda grinned, "I did. The man has no real history. He's an Indian, grew up on a reservation with his family. They all died in a flu epidemic when he was in high school. He joined the Marines and was selected by the Secret Service straight from there. He has been used for increasingly more dangerous missions, right through the Hawaiian thing you just did. You see what my clearance level can find out?"

I paused in front of her desk, "What do you think about me teaming with a guy like that. You know, team up with him as a deputy, as well as team up with him as part of the service?"

"Probably a good choice, Chuck. Perhaps he'll keep you from being the bulls-eye for bad guy's target practice. I'd say, bring him on. Where is he now?"

I said, "I left him with Sarah to see what she thinks. I want him, so we'll see what she says."

Wanda went with me to see what Sarah thought of our Indian. Sarah was smiling up at Nightfox, who was looking at an ID card, along with a badge in a special wallet. Nightfox looked at me and said, "This is pretty special. This lady just made me swear allegiance to the U.S.A. and then, in an aside, she made me promise to watch your ass. She said you had a habit of collecting metal in various parts of your unprotected anatomy."

Wanda laughed, "Most of the junk shot at him doesn't stick. It goes on through or just cuts him up. It's your job to pull him out of harm's way."

Nightfox said, "Thanks, Chuck, Sarah, ah, Wanda, this is special, isn't it? I'll do my best, I promise. Chuck said I needed to get a bunch of videos to begin my learning. Who gives me those?"

Sarah called Marie and said, "Get our new one hundred percent deputy a set of videos so he can learn how to tie his shoes. You might want to issue him a vest, and maybe a sidearm, if he doesn't have one."

Nightfox rolled his eyes and pulled his coat back to show his sidearm. He smiled and said, "I like the way there is so much camaraderie among everyone. I'll enjoy meeting all the rest of the men."

I grabbed Nightfox, who was now carrying an armload of videos and went downstairs to the range. I introduced him to Cap and said, "Give us five magazines each. We'll use two to warm up with, then we'll both do a combat set."

Cap smiled and handed us the magazines. I dropped my personal magazine and ejected the round from the chamber. Nightfox followed what I was doing and loaded up with me. We put on ear protection and stepped into the range positions. I quickly used up my two magazines, and pulled the target up to see that I had done my usual of equal rounds into the paint on top and center. Nightfox was still shooting, slowly, methodically, but when I checked his target he was right on with hits all in the paint.

Nightfox said, "I'm not that fast, but I know where my round is going to go. Tell me about the combat course. Is it something I should have been doing?"

Cap said, "All of the branches should have their men qualify on it, but as I've found out, few do. Watch Chuck go through the course, then you can try it. You won't win any prizes for speed, but you will for accuracy. Watch."

Just before I began, Jan came in and was grinning, "Stop, wait for me to shoot a couple of magazines and we'll compete. I've been waiting for you, Chuck. I'm going to beat you this time."

Cap was chuckling, "She's been down here almost everyday. She's so damn fast that no one will compete with her."

Jan quickly went through her two magazines, and nodded approval at her target. Cap set up the two combat courses, checked our magazines, and had us put our weapons and magazines on the stand.

He yelled, "Ready? Go!"

Jan and I slammed our magazines home and chambered a round to fire at the first target. I really pushed to get through the target series quickly. There were a few quick decisions that I had to hesitate for a split second on, and then there was quiet as both Jan and I ejected our last magazine."

Cap was checking his computer and the timer. He said, "Damn, you both hit that last target exactly at the same time. Your times are exactly the same. I'm looking at your decisions, and you both are perfect so far. Damn, I can't believe you two did the course perfectly in that short a time. It's just not possible."

Jan was grinning, "Change the course, Cap, and let us try again."

Cap said, "First, let's give Nightfox a chance to try his hand at the course. Just be accurate, don't rush, make good decisions, and keep looking for the next target."

Nightfox was a little nervous and laid his handgun and magazines on the shelf in readiness for the course. When Cap rang the bell, Nightfox loaded his weapon and fired quickly at the first target. He was slow and very methodical. Cap had several no fire targets pop up at him, trying to trick him, but Nightfox kept right on moving from target to target firing and searching, searching and firing, until his slide locked back on the last round. He nodded to himself and dropped his empty magazine.

Cap was smiling, "You did great. I didn't give you a beginner's course, but an intermediate. You scored perfectly and actually under the norm for time. You're proof, that slow and methodical is a great way to fire. These two hot shots just do what they do for show."

Nightfox said, "I like Chuck's show off shots. They've made a difference for us already."

Jan and Cap looked at us and let it go. I told Jan, "We need to clean up and get. We have a few things to work on today, and need to get with them."

Jan said, "I do too, actually. I'm on the break-in out at the R&D shop. It looks like this could be bigger than we thought. A couple of prints are from some international weapons spies and/or thieves. I'm surprised they weren't wearing gloves, but we have their prints all over the file cabinets. We have men at the airports all over Florida watching for them, so if they travel, it'll be by car."

"Keep me advised, Jan. We're working on a protective custody person that has disappeared while in the hotel."

We three cleaned and loaded our weapons with our duty rounds and left together. Sam and I dropped his videos into the car, went across the street to the hotel, and were allowed to go up to the top floor to see what we could see.

Sarge was at the video panel, watching the video while there were CSI people going over every square inch of the room. I could see the sliding door to the patio area had dust on it, so I pulled on a set of rubber gloves and opened the door. The first thing I noticed was that there was no dust on the outside of the door. I went back in and asked the duty deputy; "Was the door locked this morning after you discovered your man gone?"

"No, it's never locked anymore. Especially since the roof is off limits to everyone except the four units up here. It's got to be safe up here."

I called the CSI guys and said, "Go over the patio the same way you have everything else. Do that and I'll be right back."

I took Nightfox and went to the duty deputy, "Do you have the pass key so I can look at the suite below?"

He said, "I've already checked. There was no one in there last night. Actually, there was no one in any of the rooms on the floor below."

"Give me your pass card. I want to look for myself."

He gave me the pass card and Nightfox and I went down the stairs and into the room directly below. It had a small balcony, and if you looked up, you could see the outer rail of the balcony above. Looking down was the same. You could see the outer rail. I was looking at the railing when Nightfox pointed to some scratches on the rail. "Look at these; it looks like there was something like a grapple hook that caught here. We need to check the room below."

We were quickly out the door and down the steps. I slid the key card into the door and quickly opened it, with Nightfox leading the way into the room with his gun at the ready. We smelled it before we saw it. The body was lying on the floor by the bed. There was blood all over the bed and on the wall next to bed and body.

I used my cell phone and called Sarge. I told him, "Get your CSI guys two floors down. I think I've found our man. We're backing out to give your men the chance to collect the evidence."

We were standing outside the door when Sarge came running down the stairs and was going to bust the door in. I pointed to my gloves and he stopped to put on his gloves. I took him inside to show him the corpse, then brought him back outside the room about the time the CSI guys got downstairs.

Sarge said, "Damn, damn, damn. How did we let this happen? We've been over every bit of this before and no one has come from below. They've tried from above like they did with you, Chuck, and they've tried using a helicopter like they did you, but never from below and from two floors below. Shit, we missed something that we should have been prepared for."

"Let's let the forensic guys do their thing, then we'll look over the evidence. Let's get the file out to see who was trying to get this guy and we'll work from there. Come on, this is our baby and we need to investigate it."

Sarge was still shaking his head, "Investigate, hell, we have to catch the guy. Let's start with the surveillance camera at the front desk."

Sarge, Nightfox, and I went downstairs and began looking through the computer records to find out when the room had been rented. It had been rented about seven PM the night before, by a John Adams, from an address in Philadelphia. The room had been paid for with a credit card, so Sarge called the information in to the duty man at the station to begin checking from there.

I already knew about multiple identities and credit cards. If this guy was as clever as the ex-CIA guys, we were going to be in for a long search. We had our internal resources working for us to quickly begin tracking someone down.

Nightfox and I went through the desk surveillance videos until we captured the man who had checked in. He had asked for that room specifically, as he said he had stayed there once before and thought it had a great view. We copied the tape onto a DVD a couple of times then took them to the Bureau lab so they could get an enhanced still of the guy's face.

One good thing was the man wasn't trying to hide his face. He was bold enough that the Bureau technician kept enhancing and enlarging to make sure the guy didn't have a mask on or was made up. When he had a good face picture, he uploaded it into the homeland security and FBI face recognition program to look him up now, and for future comparisons.

The Marshal Service station duty man called back that the car the man had rented was still out, so he had put an APB (All Points Bulletin) out for the car and whoever was driving it. A few minutes later, the deputy called again telling us that the address in Philadelphia was occupied by an older couple that rented through a real estate broker. They were sent the photo from the surveillance tape to show to the renters and to the real estate broker.

Our guy in Philly had obtained a court order to search the checking account of our suspect, as well as get his bank records. Within that information we found a payment for a cell phone, so Washington had contacted the cell company to get an up to date log of cell activity.

We were back in the station, when DC called telling us they were transmitting a file to us with the current cell activity. They said there was activity on the cell phone today in Tampa, so we had the second confirmation the suspect was still in town.

Nightfox said, "This guy isn't covering his tracks very well. If he's a pro, he would have skipped town by now and buried himself so deep, we would never find him."

I had to agree, but since this was our only lead, we needed to keep tracking. I called the Bureau lab and gave them the link for the cell phone company so they could hook up to the GPS signal. I told them that we were heading for our vehicle and they were to report where the phone was at that moment.

We were getting out on the street when my cell rang. The technician at the lab told me the cell phone was moving north out of downtown on North Florida Avenue. I called for any deputies or Bureau people in the area to begin converging on that area.

I used my lights and siren, heading north on I-275, until I reached Bearrs and turned off to get onto Florida. According to the Bureau tech, I was almost on our man, when I saw the car I was looking for turn off into the Holiday Inn next to Steve's business park.

With the radio, I directed for all our resources to surround the hotel while we entered from the front and back at the same time. I was walking through the hall toward the front desk, when a guy resembling the photo was walking from the front desk to the elevators carrying a garment bag and a large funny looking briefcase.

When my gun was pointing at him along with Nightfox and a deputy that had come in the front, the man looked around, frantically trying to figure out where to go.

"Stop where you are. Drop everything from your hands and put your hands on top of your head. Do it now."

The deputy that had come in the front door walked up behind him and took the guy down until he was face down on the tile floor with his hands behind his back being cuffed. When we began shaking him down, we found he had a full shoulder holster and two ankle guns. We unloaded all his pockets and removed a handcuff key that was on a necklace around his neck. According to the standard search video, we removed his wristwatch, belt, and shoes, and put a waist chain on him with ankle cuffs.

So far, the guy had not said a word, but was constantly looking around for what I figured to be an escape route. Nightfox said, "The guy's looking around for someone to rescue him. We need to look around so someone doesn't shoot him."

I turned to a deputy, "Get your spare vest and put it on the guy. Let's get him in a protected vehicle and get him out of sight. One of you other men, check with the front desk to see if another single man has checked in this morning. I want them investigated while we have people here. If you need back up, call it in. Let's move."

We discovered my car was the only protected vehicle present, so we took the prisoner outside and stuffed him in the back seat. Once that was done, I told Nightfox to watch the car while I checked on the guys inside.

While I was walking to the car, a guy came running out the rear door making for the cars in the back lot. When I yelled for him to halt, he whirled around with a handgun, trying to see where I was.

When he began turning quickly, I ducked down behind one of the service's cars that was sitting with the doors open. The guy figured the call to stop came from it and rapidly fired four rounds at the car. All hit the outside and none hit the open doors. I leveled across the trunk and put a round between the guy's shoulder blades. He went down like a rock, but kept rolling until he was behind another car.

He rose up trying to see where the shot had come from, and that was when I put a round between his eyes. Damn, I didn't want to kill the guy, I wanted him for questioning. Shit, shit, shit! I sprinted to the guy to see if he could be salvaged, but he was done. The back of his head wasn't there any longer. I pushed his handgun away from the body and checked his ankles to find only one backup. I went through his pockets and noted he had one of the new lightweight body armor vests that we were due to get soon.

Two deputies burst out of the rear door and came running toward me saying, "There's another one but we can't find him. He must still be in the hotel or you would have seen him come out."

I said, "Scatter, go completely around the hotel and try to keep each other in sight while you to it. I'll go the other way and circle from that point. Tell the guy by my car to get in and lock the doors as you go by."

As fast as was prudent, I began circling the hotel, going farther around in the back. There was a bread truck backed up to the kitchen loading dock, so I cautiously went up to it and pulled the keys from the ignition. Being even more careful, I walked to the back and eased the rear truck door open until I could see that the back was full of racks with no place for a man to hide.

Looking around, the only thing I saw was a dumpster in a gated enclosure. The odd thing was the enclosure gates were wide open. I grabbed a mop that was leaning against the building and walked up to the dumpster. Kneeling to the side, I used the mop handle to push the lid open.

As soon as the lid was just barely open, there was the loud buzz rattle of a mini, full-auto, some kind of gun. It sounded like an Uzi, but who knows when you're scared. I let the lid drop and stepped away, keeping the lids in sight.

The three deputies that had been circling the building came running up after hearing the automatic rifle fire. I pointed to the dumpster and said, "He fired when I pushed the lid up, thinking I would be looking in. I'm not sure how to get him out, but if you have any ideas, make a suggestion. I want this guy alive."

One of the deputies said, "I was going to suggest a flash bang, but that would probably kill him."

Another deputy said, "We could call the trash company and have them dump him into a compacting truck. That might be just as dangerous for us though, as he could keep his footing."

One of the cooks came out of the kitchen and asked if he could help. A deputy told him we had a guy cornered in the dumpster and needed a way to make him give up.

The cook said, "Easy, see that little hole at the top, use the hose over there that we use to wash out garbage cans, and fill the dumpster up with hot water. That water is scalding hot. I'll bet he tries to get out."

A deputy ran for the hose and was ready to stuff it in the hole while another turned on the faucet. I was up close to the dumpster and yelled, "We're going to scald you like a chicken, then pluck your feathers. What's it going to be, die trying to shoot your way out or give up now and not be scalded alive."

"Alright, Alright, turn it off, I'll come out."

With a smile, I said, "First, push your guns out of the dumpster, all of them. I figure you for the auto rifle and two handguns at least. Do it now, and I'll shut off the water."

"Alright, I'm doin' it. Stop that damned hot water. It's burning."

When four guns came out of the lid of the dumpster, I signaled the deputy to turn off the water. I used the mop handle and pushed the lid up again, while all of the deputies had their guns trained on the opening lid.

The man stuck his head up and looked around quickly. He saw that he had no chance and slumped a little, but was moving his feet around in the garbage slush that was burning his feet and ankles.

I waved for two deputies to get him out and stood with my gun trained on the guy to make sure he didn't make a crazy move. As soon as he was out and flat on the ground, the deputies cuffed him while another began fitting a waist and ankle chain on him.

We shook him down and found that he too had a vest on along with a handcuff key on a necklace around his neck. When we had taken everything from his pockets, his car keys reminded me that I had the bread truck keys, so I handed them to the chef. He laughed and said, "The bread driver was afraid to go out after that crazy guy ran through the kitchen waving a gun. He'll be glad to get back on his route."

Now we had to clean up. First, I went to my car so Nightfox could get out into the cooler air. He didn't have the keys to start the car to cool it down. I handed him the keys and suggested we make the prisoner a little more comfortable. I also said that if he wanted, he could question the guy, but not to kill him. The prisoner looked at us warily and slouched farther down in the back seat.

One of the deputies had called our clean up crew so they could take the dead guy away. Another deputy went into the hotel and copied the check in videos of the two other men, as well as the guy we captured by the elevators.

A prisoner van came out and we loaded the two prisoners in to be taken downtown. One of the ride-along deputies in the team went with the van to make sure everything went safely.

Nightfox joined me and said, "The man said he was just a contractor. He had performed his job and was here to pick up payment and possibly another job. I asked him if he was involved in the break-in and he said no, but the people who had been involved in the break-in were not pros or contract people. They were from some big company trying to get information about a big bid that was coming up. He thinks they are still in town and have a private aircraft at Tampa International."

"He didn't know what company they were from?"

Nightfox said, "He said he didn't, but it's unusual the guy would know as much as does without knowing more."

"I wish I didn't have to shoot that other one. If we had all three, we could work it out better. Come on, let's get over to General Aviation at Tampa International and find out what jets on are the ground."

I radioed Sarge, "Call over to TPA General Aviation and have them shut down all departures. Get some guys on the way over there to keep anyone there now on the premises. There are two prisoners coming your way that have to be questioned, so keep them isolated from each other and everyone else. This is getting pretty crazy. The one guy you're getting is probably the shooter for the hotel victim. He seems to be ready to talk, so work him hard."

Sarge said he would get on everything and was calling in men to help cover the activity. He also said he was sending some Bureau people to help at the airport.

I used lights and the siren all the way down the highway to the airport, then back around to the General Aviation area. There were already some deputies, along with a bunch of Sheriff's cars out front keeping anyone at the terminal there.

Inside, one of the deputies and a Bureau agent were checking what corporate aircraft were on the ground. They had narrowed it down to three aircraft that could be who we were looking for. One aircraft had the pilot and co-pilot already prepping the aircraft, but were standing by as had been directed.

I said to Nightfox, "Let's call for a search warrant for the aircraft to check on luggage. I'll have some deputies go through briefcases in the lounge where the passengers and corporate personnel are being kept."

After giving directions on what to look for, Nightfox and I went out to the aircraft. The co-pilot was helpful and opened the luggage hatch. We went through each bag, not really disturbing anything, but making sure there were no papers or documents in the luggage from the break-in. When we were through, we looked through the very nice 737 to see if there was anywhere to hide anything.

The pilot and co-pilot were very friendly. We learned they had both been military before leaving the service to fly commercially. The pilot offered, "You know, I saw one of the department heads that are with us, pack up a large FedEx envelope and check it in at the operations desk. You might want to look at that. These guys are really nervous about something, and were waiting to hear from someone before they left. If you ask me, they are up to something that may not be good for everyone."

Nightfox and I went to the operations desk where I asked the clerk for the FedEx envelop that had been checked in by the corporate people. He said, "You can't have that. That's protected. It's like the mail. No one gets it but who it's addressed to."

A Bureau guy was standing there and told all of us, "We have a judge standing by. I'll get the search warrant to include the FedEx package and this whole damn building. I think we'll just lock the place down for forty-eight hours while we take it apart."

An ashen faced guy came running out of an office and said, "You can't do that. We have several aircraft due in this evening and some departures that are very important. We have to remain open. You can't do that to us."

The Bureau guy smiled and said, "Watch me. Now, I want everyone except this counter guy to go to the employee lounge and stay there. I'll have someone watch you and there will be no cell phone calls and no discussion until you are each questioned individually."

He called another agent and told him what to do. The agent took an empty FedEx box and directed everyone from the desk and offices to drop their cell phones in the box before going to the lounge.

Sarge came running in the door. "Man, you have a bunch of city people up in arms. The governor is supposed to be coming in and his plane was just notified they can land, but not come to the general aviation terminal. I suggested that they have them land over at Clearwater-St. Pete airport. It's closer for the governor anyway. His permanent residence is over that way."

Sarge used his cell phone to call someone, then used his handheld radio to call the station. When that was done, he pulled out a paper and said, "Here's your search warrant, what do we need to look at?"

I pointed at the clerk and waved the search warrant at him and said, "Get me that package now."

The guy reluctantly retrieved the fat FedEx bundle and handed it to me. I put on some rubber gloves and flipped it open up on the counter. As I slid the papers out of the bundle, the first thing we saw was the S&S R&D logo on the top of the pages, with a red stamp across the front, saying 'Confidential.'

I looked at Sarge and said, "That clears up part of the S&S break-in." I looked at the clerk and said, "Come with me and identify who gave you that package to ship."

He sputtered and said, "I can't do that. I'm sure that's confidential, too." I waved the search warrant at him again and said, "You will identify the correct man before we take you in for questioning. You are withholding evidence and obstructing an investigation. What do you think, Sarge, should we ask for five or ten years?"

Sarge chuckled, "I don't think this kid's asshole would last ten years. He's too pretty to not be someone's pet inside the big house."

"I'll show you, I'm sorry," the kid said, almost shaking. "I've just always been told that our customers' actions were private and we were to protect their privacy. Come on, I'll show you. I'm not going to jail for some criminal."

At the door of the customer/passenger lounge, the kid pointed to a fairly tall guy that looked very fit. He must have come up the ranks within the company fast, as he didn't look thirty years old yet. I asked the clerk, "Who else was with him when he gave you the package?"

"Those five men standing with him. I think they are all together, but the tall one was the one that gave me the package."

I sent the clerk to the employee lounge then asked a Bureau agent, "I need someone to be pushed into the room so they can be right by the big guy when we come in to arrest him. He may be armed and he is big enough to cause a problem."

Nightfox said, "Have them push both of us into the lounge. We'll make it look good and fall. Show off your leg so that will make the big guy feel like he has the upper hand. This way, there will two of us in case something starts."

I nodded in agreement, so two Bureau agents took us to the doorway and after opening the door, shoved us into the room hard enough that Nightfox and I fell to the floor. My prosthesis was exposed enough that everyone saw I had a fake leg. When we got up, the other people watched us warily for a couple of minutes, then went back to complaining among themselves.

Nightfox and I migrated behind the group of six men. We were able to do that as the coffee pot was near them. We poured coffee, then stood leaning back against the counter, checking out the six men.

Nightfox nodded toward a bulky guy standing on the outside of the group. If you looked at him and the way he stood, he had a waist holster that he wasn't used to wearing. His arm kept catching on it. I kept watching and then, when Nightfox looked at me, I patted under my left arm. He had a shoulder holster too.

The tall guy was pretty vocal, constantly telling the other four men to relax as he was in charge and would get them out of this soon. He kept saying, "I called and someone will be here for us soon."

At that moment, four deputies and three agents entered the room. They began directing people from the room, but held up their hands at the six men. When the room was clear except for the six men, the law enforcement people, Nightfox, and me, the agent said, "You men are all under arrest. I want for you to be very careful what you do with your hands. No funny movements, no reaching for anything. We are going to cuff and search each of you one at a time. While we do that, I want you to know that there are two men behind you that are armed and very dangerous."

With that, all six turned to see Nightfox and me holding our Glocks at the ready. You could see blood draining from the men's faces, except for the tall guy and the bulky guy on each side. Nightfox went up to the heavy guy and put his gun to the guy's head, "Careful fella, ' I'm going to relieve you of the gun at your waist and the one under your shoulder. Keep in mind that I'm holding a Glock, and it is ready to fire. Stand very still."

Nightfox pulled the waist gun, then the underarm piece, and threw both on a sofa in front of the deputies and agent. He said, "Bring me some cuffs but be careful, this guy's a bull. It might take more than one round in the head to put him down."

While the agent advanced, Nightfox pushed on the guy's head so he had to move it forward, keeping him off balance until the cuffs were on him.

The tall guy was slowly moving his right arm. It looked from behind like he was reaching for his jacket. I put my Glock to his head and said, "You were told not to move. Put your hands on top of your head now. Do it!" I bonked the end of my barrel into his head to get his attention."

I saw his muscles bunch and stepped back quickly. I knew the meaning of his stance. He had been raising his hands as if putting them on his head when he spun to his left kicking, with his left foot at where he thought I would be. He was bringing his right arm and hand around in a slashing movement in order to finish what the kick should have started.

As his foot came close to my head, I pushed up on his foot sending the six foot six guy onto his butt. Before he landed on his back, I chopped him on the side of the neck, hoping I didn't break it. The big guy crumpled quickly.

The other four men were standing there docile, hanging their head, caught in the act of corporate espionage.

The deputies cuffed and chained the out of commission tall guy, and relieved him of a couple of weapons and all his personal possessions.

While opening the heavy guy's shirt, Nightfox said, "This guy has armor. Can you believe it? They must be expecting some kind of trouble."

Jan came in the door and said, "Hold it. We may have a problem here. Someone from DC has called and said we were to hold these people until they could get here to take custody. What's going on?"

I said to Jan, "They're my prisoners right now and I'm holding all six on conspiracy to steal military designs, breaking and entering, assault, conspiracy to commit murder, resisting arrest, and attempted murder on a federal officer. I want them in front of a federal judge within an hour, along with the evidence that we have gathered. I want you to come along, Jan, to make sure we do this by the numbers."

The tall guy was sitting up and sneered at me, "You just got lucky, you dumb fuck. I'll be out of here in a few minutes and I'll be back to see you. We'll see how you do face to face."

"Jan," I said, "Add threat of violence toward a federal officer. You're a witness."

The tall guy wouldn't let up. He kicked at me, but I jumped up as his leg extended, and with accidental exactness, came down with both feet right on his knee. There was a loud pop. I think you could have heard him scream in the next state.

"Oh, sorry, man, I didn't mean to hurt you. When you kicked at me I had to jump. You know, there's no telling where you'll land. Better get an ambulance, he's going to need a cast or something."

Nightfox turned his head to keep from laughing while everyone else just looked wide-eyed at the strange accident. All I could think of was, "Threaten me, motherfucker, it'll be a while before you come looking for me, if ever."

While the six were being ushered out of the room to be taken to the federal courthouse, and to a judge's chambers, I turned to Nightfox, "Call a contact from our other job and find out who is behind trying to take over these guys. Something isn't kosher about this. These guys are all caught red-handed and are involved in something pretty big. I'm betting it's a lot bigger than just here in Tampa."

Nightfox walked away and was talking on his cell phone. He was talking for over twenty minutes as deputies were making sure the evidence they had gathered was secure. I called Steve to say we had recovered his papers, but there was more to it than just the papers. He told me thanks and hoped to see me this evening. I told him, "If you want to take a quick trip, say through Sunday evening, have your family pack up for a trip to Costa Rica. If you can, have one of your women call DeDe and Lisa to see if they can get us something to fly us all down there in. I have to leave town for a couple of days, and this would be a fun way to do it. What do you think?"

Steve laughed, "Man, you don't give anyone much notice do you. I'm sure my brood will want to go and can be ready in a jiffy. Call me back later, and I'll let you know what we might have to fly down there in."

I had the Bureau guys get the General Aviation terminal back in operation, then sent Sarge out to confiscate the aircraft. I told him, "Have the two pilots come see me."

Nightfox came to me and said, "Our bosses had to go outside the Service to hunt down who is involved. Someone is sending some kind of security detail from the Pentagon to get these guys. He said to hide them so they can't be gotten to, and to call him back. The DC guys are not even out to Andrews yet, so it'll be a while. The boss says he likes that you're getting them in front of a judge right away. That will solidify the booking and the charges. He'll set bail and the Pentagon can't override it. Hopefully, the judge will remand them to custody. Anyone who lets them go will go to jail for a mandatory five years."

"Okay, thanks, Sam. Let's get these guys in front of a judge real quick and see if we can stash them somewhere. I think I have a place, but we'll have to see."

While we were on the way downtown, my cell phone rang. "Johnson."

John Scott said, "What the hell are you doing? Someone from justice just called and said the Pentagon is upset because you just arrested a bunch of people that were on some kind of special mission for them."

"If that is so, John, you better get your butt down here with a special prosecutor to handle this. I have these guys cold for breaking and entering, industrial espionage, possibly murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Further, I think two of them may have some international background as spies. Like I said, John, if you want to let these guys go, you do it along with the Director. This is going to be a mess, John, and I think someone big better be the front man when we let murderers go."

"Holy shit, Johnson, if you don't have time to tell me about it yet, I'll get on a plane and get out there. I'm not letting them go, but there's some Justice muscle that might."

"Tell you what, John, I'm going to lose these guys and they may never be seen or heard from again. I wonder how much of a splash they would make from ten thousand feet over the gulf."

"Christ, Chuck, don't talk like that. Do what's legal and stick to your guns, but don't get crossways with someone from Justice. They are like crusaders lately, real henchmen or hangmen or something. Watch your back."

"I'll do that. Let the Marshal know and see if you can get our Marshal from down here out of a bar so he can help out."

We hung up.

When we arrived downtown, the federal prosecutor was busily filling out paperwork with the six men sitting in the court room. The tall guy was in a wheelchair with his knee wrapped. One of my deputies motioned me out of the courtroom. Outside he said, "I thought we should handle the other two guys separately, as both are on murder charges. I don't think I want them all to see each other yet."

"Good idea," I said. "Do you have any idea where we might hide these guys?"

He said, "I thought out on the base, but since it's Pentagon people coming, it would be too easy to for them to hear about them and get them. What do you think?"

"The base might still be good. We could put them into the stockade section of the hospital for two weeks without anyone finding out. The staff there is about as closed-mouthed as anyone can get. The only people who are even notified are CentCom and SouthCom. We could do that."

The deputy said, "That's an idea. I didn't think about that. You know the Sheriff owes you big time. How about we put these guys in the isolated jail ward at Tampa General? We don't have to identify the prisoners. We only have to suggest they have some form of contagious disease. It'll take a couple of weeks before they decide they don't have anything really bad."

"Set it up. Make sure they can handle all six. Put some of our men on duty there on every shift to make sure no one can get to them. Someone may even try to get to them like our witness."

"I'll go tell Sarge so he can set it up. The guys are dying for the overtime right now."

Nightfox said, "You and I need to go over the security at that ward to make sure of what there is. These guys are not amateurs. The two heavies are pros and might even be out of some agency."

"Do me a favor, get a listing of all the IDs and get them to your people to check out. If the two heavies from the airport are the ones whose prints were out at S&S, they have Interpol files. Get the stuff from the two guys from the Holiday Inn too. I think we better get our friends to watch our backs on this one too."

Back inside the courtroom, Sarge and the Bureau Chief, along with the prosecutor, were outlining what all had happened over the last twenty-four hours. When it was mentioned that the assassinated witness was part of this mess, the judge said, "All here are remanded to isolated custody until further notice. There is not enough money to bail these men out. I'll notify DOJ of the seriousness of the crimes we're facing here. I'll advise their attorneys, when they get one, of our schedule for dealing with them. Now, get them out of my sight."

When they were gone, the two assassins were led in. The prosecutor read the charges and the judge asked, "How do you plead? Guilty you say? I think we still have a gallows out back. Get them out of here." The judge was grinning as he said, "They did say guilty, right?" The court clerk just sat there with a red face, and said, "I can read it back to you, Your Honor."

As the men were still on their way out of courtroom, the judge said, "I'll set up a date for an additional hearing. You are remanded to custody until that hearing."

When the courtroom had cleared except for the prosecutor, Nightfox, me, and the judge, he said, "You be careful on this one, Johnson. I've already gotten a call from Justice. They said the Pentagon has some kind of interest in this one. They also said that you should try to hold these guys if you can. Get lost or they will want to subpoena you for questioning."

Nightfox and I walked back to the federal building and we went into the station. I had him sit down with Marie. "Marie, have Sam go through the incidents as he knows them out at the hotel and at the airport. I'll fill in the blanks in a little bit. Do the regular Q&A stuff so he knows how to fill out a report. I need to talk to Sarah and Wanda."

I went in to see Sarah. "Sarah, I need you to work with Sarge to make sure our prisoners are isolated from the world and each other. Tell Sarge that if necessary, put a deputy on each prisoner and keep interrogating them to get every last bit of information. Stay in contact with Wanda so she is current. There's a lot of shit about to hit the fan on this one."

Sarah smiled, "With you around, there's always a lot of shit hitting the fan."

I went to see Wanda, and as soon as she saw me, she said, "What the hell have you done. Half of DC has called wanting to talk to you. Some are saying you have to let your prisoners go, and some are saying that you have overstepped your authority. Even justice has called, but they were kind of funny. They just told me to tell you to keep your powder dry and watch your back. What's going on?"

"A lot, Wanda. You heard about the theft out at Steve's R&D shop, then the killing of our witness over at the hotel. We were able to track down the assassin of the witness, and ran into a couple more out at Steve's hotel. One died and we have another in custody."

Wanda asked, "What about these people the Pentagon is worried about. Who are they?"

"They are some industrial manufacturers that are involved in stealing other company's secrets. They hired some people to break in at Steve's but may be connected to the witness killing. When we captured them, they were trying to make a getaway and had a couple of heavies with them. No one died, but they are all guilty of industrial espionage, and possibly of conspiracy to commit murder."

With a sly smile, Wanda asked, "You have been a busy boy, so what are you going to do?"

"Run, Wanda. I'm leaving town for a couple of days. Sounds smart to me, right?"

Wanda said, "You're caught up. Nothing's pending and your e-mail is caught up. The only thing happening is the Omaha incident where a couple of agents were killed while investigating a break-in at a military supplier. Oh, my, just like Steve's. The Bureau is hot on it and we have a deputy team working with them."

"Damn, I wish I could help them. Make sure you have our people question everyone about the Omaha stuff. Be tough with Sarge and tell him it's important. This may be bigger than we think."

"I'll take care of it. From what I've heard, you do need to get scarce. Get out of town for a couple of days and let things cool off. There's too many people upset over this for it to be nothing, so let's let it come to a boil."

I went back to Nightfox and Marie. After reading the report, I filled in more about the shooting of the one suspect and the capture of the other. I made sure she referenced all of the video evidence we had, along with the lab's findings of credit cards.

As Sam and I drove home, I asked, "Want to go out of town with me for a couple of days?"

He turned to me and asked, "Do you mind if I stay here and perhaps find out if this thing with Maria is real or not? I've never had anything like this happen to me and I want to know. Is it real, or just a passing fancy? I guess I should sign up for a Spanish class so I can talk to her better."

"No," I said, "teach her English. Make her practice, and from what I hear, you need to help her learn what she needs to know for her citizenship. Help her learn English and talk to her kids in English. That will help her more than you learning Spanish. Come on, Sam, do you talk in Sioux? Or English?"

He looked at me and said something I didn't understand, then said, "No one understands Sioux, so I do speak English. At one time I spoke my people's language better than English, but now, English is all I speak. You're right. I will work on her English."

I told Sam, "One thing you can do while I'm out of town, is work with Sarge to check out the security at the prisoner ward of the hospital. Sarge is a great guy. You can learn a lot from him."

I dropped him off at Maria's trailer and he said, "I'll get them up to the patio for supper. I'll see you there."

At home, the girls were all running around stuffing things in suitcases. "Hey, what's going on, are you guys going somewhere?"

Brandy came up and pressed her chest against mine, "Lisa called and said she has an airplane to take us to Costa Rica. I don't know about you, but we're getting ready."

I laughed and said, "How about some supper first? Let's run over to the patio and eat. We should see if Steve and family want to leave right away too."

That brought a halt to all of the running around. The five girls came up and Tiani said, "It's too bad Lena can't go."

"Yeah, it is," I said. "Isn't this finals week?"

They all looked at each other and agreed. "This is too important for her to miss. If she doesn't do well this week, she might as well go to Burger King and look for a job."

That got a bunch of looks from each other, then they went about their business.

Lisa walked in the door, all smiles. She said, "I have an airplane and pilots for us. We can leave any time. The aircraft is out at the airpark ready."

Nancy came up to me and asked, "Can Maria, Sing, and Taiying come with us? They would enjoy coming along."

I thought about it for a second and said, "They can if they have passports and can get back into the US. You know we'll have to go through customs coming home."

Nancy had a sick look on her face, "I don't know, let me check."

She came back with a smile, "Maria was born here and has a passport. Sing and Taiying have permanent visas and have applied for citizenship. They can get back in the states."

I looked at Lisa and asked, "What about Peaches and the girls?"

Lisa said, "No, they'll want to stay here. I think Pops and Rags are coming this weekend. They are staying in your other cottages and over the garage for right now. Is that okay?"

With a laugh I said, "Sure, I wish I could stay so we could have some fun with them."

Lisa was smiling and said, "We'll work on some stuff in the studio next week. Pops has a bunch of new stuff for us. Let's go to supper."

We took two big carts over to the patio and enjoyed some drinks and supper. Lisa brought a couple of guys to me that I recognized. She said, "I think you know Captain Shaeffer, and his co-pilot Captain Michaels."

"So what brings you two out here? I did say I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't expect you here."

Captain Shaeffer said, "I'm Doug, and this is Tom. We've worked for the company that flies that jet for a long time. The last few months, we've been doing some strange flying and have wondered what was going on. That's why we weren't surprised when you wanted to search the luggage."

I had to ask, "So why does that make you guys so happy to be here tonight?"

Tom Michaels said, "Well, someone confiscated the aircraft, and that just breaks the lease the other company had. According to the law, you can't confiscate what isn't owned by the offending company or person. So there is an aircraft to lease with a couple of pilots to fly it. Your DeDe said she can keep us busy, and I have a couple of suggestions to help do that. So, where to, Boss?"

Steve was grinning at me and said, "Yeah, Boss, where to?"

I asked, "Done any international?"

"Lots, been to Europe lots of times, to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and everything in between. Where to, and we'll file?"

"When we do go, it will be Limon, Costa Rica. Keep that under your hat, okay?"

Doug smiled and said, "Got it, Boss. Thanks for picking up our plane so fast. Say, do you know of a place a couple of vagabond pilots might find to rent? I think we'll be moving from Omaha now that our fare is in Tampa."

Ding, Ding, "Did you say Omaha? Is that where your company is from?"

Tom said, "Yeah, we have been in Omaha for over two years. There are two big manufacturers there and we've been flying for the one who seems to be the biggest."

Doug offered, "We fly as many people from the Pentagon as we do company folks. We are always going after some big shots in DC. We even land at Andrews most of the time."

"We'll talk about your past employment soon. Right now, how about some food?"

Steve nudged me and said, "So what's up? I saw your look when they said Omaha, did that make sense to you somehow?"

"We'll talk later. I think we need to eat and consider getting out of Dodge. How about we eat, pack, and meet at the airpark in about an hour to and hour and a half."

Steve looked at me strange, "That fast, huh? I think the girls are packed. They want to take the kids, can we?"

"Sure, I planned on them. What fun would it be without them?"

Steve said, "Probably a lot sometimes, but I've been busy lately and I'd like them along."

"Me too, and the girls need to get used to the confusion the kids cause."

Mercy was listening and said, "Somehow, I think your women are going to be more demanding of discipline than we are. I guess that's something we'll have to see."

After eating, Steve and I announced we were taking off for a few days to discuss some business. We were taking a bunch of family, so we would probably be back on Sunday night or Monday morning sometime. We avoided the subject of where we were going, just saying we needed to have some serious discussions.

I told the two pilots, "Get the plane ready and we will depart in about an hour to an hour and a half, max. Tell DeDe that our destination needs to kept quiet and she'll take care of it. Check on Limon, Costa Rica. With any luck, it should be about three hours."

The two men smiled at each other and high fived. They waved at me as they left. Steve said, "So is this a new hire? Did you lease a 737?"

"I guess so. Lisa said DeDe was jumping at the chance to charter it. We'll see how it goes. If it works, I'm all for it."

Steve said, "I'll meet you at the airport in an hour or so. You might even beat us."

I smiled thinking that the household will be crazed about taking a quick trip to Costa Rica.

At home, I made sure everyone had their passports, and that they all knew that we were going to be with people who might be a little strange. I figured on discussing all of the females down there while on the plane. When I thought we were all ready, we loaded up into a couple of SUVs and headed to the airpark. I had packed my special briefcase just to be on the safe side. Who knows what's going to happen any more.

At the airpark, the ground people took our luggage and put it in the luggage compartment. The girls began going up the stairway. Steve's ladies were in the doorway waving them on. I suppose this was a precursor to our sailing trip coming up soon.

Jimmy came up to me and said, "You know if we keep this one, I'll have to go to school, or we'll have to hire someone who's certified on it. This is some aircraft. Have you seen the inside?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, I saw it. It's fancy, but I really didn't look that close."

He said, "Well, look. This is some bird. When you get back, I'll have the price of the conversion modules for more seating or for cargo."

When I looked at him funny, he said, "This is a specially built aircraft. The interior is designed to be interchangeable from luxury, to high density passenger, to cargo, or a mix of any two or all three. I just have to find the modules for high density."

I was ginning at Jimmy as I climbed the stairs. When I entered the cabin, Jimmy hollered and pulled the stairway from the door. I pulled the door around and latched it, sliding the escape slide bar into position. Tom leaned out from the cockpit and said, "You got it the first shot. Find a seat, Boss, so we can get this show on the road.

Lisa and Brandy were motioning for me to come sit with them on a couch with seat belts. I looked around and saw that everyone was belted in with all the kids in the rear with Juanita, Tiani, and Judy. It was strange to be a passenger for a change. I had not flown with someone else for a long time. Steve was across from me, with Mercy, Kathy, and Sue. He said, "Strange, huh? I know how you feel. When I'm not flying, I wonder what's going on in the cockpit. I think we need to get checked out in this, what do you think?"

We felt the pull of acceleration on takeoff and felt and heard the gear pull up. In a few minutes, Doug came on the intercom and said, "We've reached our assigned altitude. The weather should be clear all the way, so you are free to wander around the cabin and enjoy yourselves. If you decide to nap, I recommend fastening your seatbelts."

Mercy and Brandy got up and poured two mugs of coffee and took them to the cockpit. When they came back, Tiani joined them and began serving drinks. Steve grinned at me and said, "I suppose we don't have any obligations, so how about a few?"

No sooner was that said, than drinks were in our hands. The two of us walked back in the aircraft to see the rest of the luxury seating. The kids were playing a couple of games with Juanita, Nancy, and Judy. Bonita and Greg were almost arguing about the location of Costa Rica on a map of Central America. Amazingly, Bonita was correct in her location. I told them to look it up on the internet and pointed to the front cabin. They were instantly gone.

I was smiling as I sat in the seat, watching the kids. They were amazingly content to play some games, read a couple of books, and two were watching a movie. Just watching Juanita, and now Maria, Nancy, and Judy, playing with the kids, made me think that having a bunch of kids was going to be okay. We could probably handle them. Having watched Steve and his ladies with the kids for so long, I hoped my ladies were able to do as well.

I lay my head back on the comfortable chair back, and that was that.

Editing: Primary/Initial by Pepere (This guy has the hardest job)

Continuity and editing by Sagacious (Good memory)

Legal and Helicopter by Rotorhead

Last time through by the mischievious Deenara2000