Chuck
When Steve called to tell me that men in black were at the patio to see me, I was almost apoplectic. I was really mad that they would come for me, especially knowing I was about to leave on an extended leave of absence.
When I found them in the patio having some iced tea and acting like gentlemen, I felt a little better. They did need to get a new wardrobe designer, though, as the black suits and black ties were a little much.
When they finished their iced tea, we went outside where they explained the problem. It was a big bad problem and I had already witnessed and been a part of something similar in the past. Before it was in Mobile, Alabama, but this time it was on some riverboats and barges in New Orleans. Just what we needed, another very nasty group of people.
I asked, "So isn't this a Bureau problem?"
Gus, the Secret Service leader, said, "It sure is, and it is also going to partly be Homeland Security's, and the U.S. Marshal Service's problem, along with the DEA and an ATF. We were asked to take the lead on it and when we looked up to see who had worked that deal in Mobile, low and behold, your name was right there."
I told the guy, "Look, if we can do this right now. I mean, I go there, we do what we have to do, and you get me back here. That's the only way I'll do it, otherwise, you guys can figure it out on your own. I'm totally done, and getting more done by the second. What's it going to be?"
Gus used his cell phone and talked for a long time. He handed me the phone and a voice said, "You know we can just put a hold on you, don't you?"
I laughed, "Sure go ahead. I can be a civilian too, and you can go pound sand. Whoever you are, I said I would help if we would do this right now, and I thought that's why I was talking to you."
The guy said, "We may not be ready. I want at least a hundred men to do this."
"If you have a hundred men, what in the hell do you need me for?"
"You're the only one who knows these people, and you have experience with what they will do and how hard they will resist."
I said, "Look, do yourself a favor, just blow everything and everyone on or around those boats up and let them sink. Let them stay down for a week, then salvage everything and life will go on. If these are the same immigrants of dubious status that we had in Mobile, you are probably in trouble. Like I said, just blow the place and contain the area so no one gets off the boat or the barge."
I could hear the guy take a deep breath, "We can't do that. We have to take the place in a conventional manner. There will be too many witnesses, and too much collateral damage, if we just blow it. As it is, we're going to have to have men on other boats with tourists and customers on them while we take down the one we want. It's going to be messy; there is no way out of it."
"Well then," I repeated, "Can you do it right now or what?"
"Okay, we'll do it now. How many people do you want and what kind of equipment do you need?"
"All hundred you said you had. I want the local guard troops, with live ammunition and full field gear, to contain the boat and maybe help inside if need be. I want the boats to be blasted with microwave so their cell phones don't work when we begin to close in. I want an active military or naval EOD team on hand, even if you have to get the faculty from the EOD school at Eglin AFB. Get me there and back by early AM Wednesday at the latest."
The guy on the other end said, "Give the phone to Gus."
I handed Gus the phone and he spoke a couple of minutes then hung up. He said, "Dress in your field gear and grab your arms. We will be flying out of Tampa as soon as we can get there."
I pulled out my cell and gave a call to Lisa, "I'll be home in a minute, I need to talk to you." I hung up without letting her talk.
When I went inside the house to change clothes, Lisa followed me into the bedroom and when she saw I was changing into fatigues, she said, " You said you wanted to talk to me. What's going on? You're not going anywhere without me. I'll get dressed and I'll go with you."
"You may not be able to be involved in part of this. It's going to be really messy if it's like the last time. You can come, but you may only be an observer or sniper."
"Fine, I'll do whatever you say, but I'm going," Lisa said, as she was stripping right then.
We quickly dressed, put our armor on under our shirts, and donned our field vests, as well. I grabbed my weapons case, as did Lisa, and we went out of the bedroom, said bye to the ladies, and were out the door.
When the Secret Service men saw Lisa, they were about to object, until I said, "She goes, I make that decision."
Gus drove to the airport like a crazy man, and we pulled up to another Citation X. We got on the aircraft while someone came to drive the car away. The jet was already spooled up and ready to leave. Like magic, I heard the pilot say he was ready to depart, and suddenly all other aircraft on the taxiways were told to hold their positions while the Citation made its way to the active runway.
We were off the ground and almost as soon, back on the ground. While we were in the air, the four men in black suits changed into fatigues with armor. They suited up the same as Lisa and I had, and began loading their pouches with ammo. Lisa and I pulled out extra MP5 ammo from our cases and filled our vests. I also made sure I had four extra magazines for my Glock.
I asked Gus, "Do you have any hand grenades?"
Gus reached over to what looked like a catalogue case, pulled out four M67 grenades, and handed them to me. Lisa looked at me with her hand out, and I just shook my head. "Naah. You throw like a girl," I said with a wink and a smirk. The expression on her face said she wasn't happy, but that was my decision.
A small bus took us from the airport to the riverfront area where casino barges and boats were moored. We met at a big black motor home parked close to the docks next to some tractor trailers waiting to load or unload.
Inside the motor home a man I had met before while out west began briefing the various agency team leaders. It was really close to what had been set up in Mobile, but this time, there were two craft, a large replica paddle wheeler that traveled out of the moorings up and down the river, and a large barge that had been converted into a luxury casino.
The arrangements were that the barge had space below decks for the working girls barracks. It was estimated there were at least a hundred girls working from there. At least another thirty or forty girls were on the boat, supposedly working the gaming crowds and not in the forced pseudo whorehouse the casino barge had.
The Secret Service man said, "Now the fun part, there are probably a hundred plus workers in the casino, and nearly that many security people. Since the casino barge brings in such a great amount of cash, they have more security. Of course, that security also watches their investment in forced prostitution. We came on to this when a young girl of only sixteen showed up at a police station and began telling her story. She had been smuggled out of Russia into the United States, and brought directly here, along with a dozen other young girls."
He continued, "She said that there were at least a hundred enslaved girls working as prostitutes on the barge, and she knew that the girls who became easy to deal with, and wanted to stay, were given the opportunity for higher stakes prostitution on the riverboat."
"Now the nasty part," the man said. "The working people on the barge all appear to be imports that look to be in good physical condition, almost as if they are some form of military group that have been trained as card dealers, bartenders, chefs, and other service workers on the barge and boat. The security people are about the same, but they are obviously security. They are plainclothes inside the casinos, but some that patrol either on the outside deck or inside on the perimeter of the casino floor, wear security guard uniforms."
"We have just about been able to pin down the number of security people at about a hundred and thirty between the barge and boat. The problem with the internal workers is that only a very few go off the boat or barge. The rest stay in some kind of barracks on board the barge."
The man was pacing back and forth in front of us and when he came to me, he pulled me forward and said "This is Chuck Johnson of the U.S. Marshal Service. He also works with the Secret Service and has previously been involved in a situation like this. I want him to tell you what to expect."
I looked the men who would lead their people into a very messy situation over and said, "If these are all from the same mold as the Russians and Czechs we were involved with before, I can tell you they won't give up easily. They fought as if their lives depended on it. What we need is some kind of diversion and some way to force them into the open or we're going to suffer a lot of casualties. If we consider the enslaved women on board as collateral, then there will be collateral damage as well."
Having an idea, I looked at the men and said, "How about this, we open a hole in the barge big enough that it will sink fast? I'm sure they didn't install water tight hatches to shut in case of a large leak so if we open a big enough hole, this will force all of the guards, workers, and slave prostitutes on deck to look for help getting off of the barge."
"While that is going on, a contingent of men will distract the guards on the riverboat to come to the far end of the boat, therefore leaving the barge people vulnerable. If we act quickly, we can capture the barge people, or at least contain them in the open, so you can pick them off one by one if we need to."
"As that phase of this is completing, we will then take the riverboat with all available men and clear the place room by room, deck by deck, until it is clear. Once again, let me stress that these people have been trained to kill and will kill you. Be careful and make sure everyone wears their armor. You leaders, figure out a way to sink the damned barge and give us a time frame. It's getting late and I'd like to get this over with."
After a pause, I yelled, "Will the Marshal Service and Bureau leaders come here a second?"
As the others huddled to figure out how to sink the barge, the two men I had asked for came up. I asked, "Do you have sufficient cuffs, chains, and personnel tie-wraps for this. You'll need somewhere around four hundred if we get everyone alive."
The Bureau guy's eyes bulged, "Four hundred sets of cuffs? Who has that?"
I said, "You should, or you shouldn't have even bothered anyone to do this job."
He said, "I didn't, I thought it was Homeland Security that started this."
The Deputy Marshal grimaced at his Bureau counterpart and said, "No, the Secret Service started all of this because of a flood of phony money that's been showing up and it all leads back to here. The more information they found out, the more agencies they called in. And Chuck," the Deputy said, "As far as cuffs and restraints, we have a bunch of chains with us, but we also have two cases of a thousand personal restraints, or tie-wraps, if you want to call them that."
An ATF guy came up and told me, "I have two underwater teams here, so we'll put charges on two sides of the barge and as soon as the men are back on shore, we'll blow those and get set for the stampede to get out of there."
I asked, "What's your time frame?"
The ATF leader said, "It'll take us until midnight to one o'clock to get the equipment and come back. We should be able to have the charges set by two and then you can give the signal for the fun to begin."
I called for everyone there to listen up and told them that we would tentatively set the attack for three AM. They should all monitor the Bureau emergency frequency for updates and for the call to strike.
"One last warning, if you see anyone you suspect is involved near this command headquarters, you are to capture them at all costs so they cannot alert the barge or the boat. Let's keep a lid on this thing until it goes down."
As I left the briefing tent, Lisa caught up with me and asked, "What are you going to have me do?"
Answering, I said, "If that part goes the way it should, you can help get the prisoners rounded up and be some protection for the guys that have to shake them down and restrain them. Remember, just like out at that parking lot out west, these men are dangerous and ruthless. Shoot first and ask questions later. Don't take any chances, and make sure you have some cover."
Lisa asked, "Where are you going to be, and what will you be doing?"
"I'll help with the riverboat, since that one will be really messy as customers will probably still be on board as well as the crew cleaning up for tomorrow's cruises. Hopefully, the distractions will be enough to cause some confusion so it can be a clean take down. I'm planning on flooding the boat with Marshals and the National Guard so we can end it quickly. I heard that this Guard unit just rotated back from Afghanistan, so they are seasoned and won't hesitate to fire."
Lisa looked at me and said, "You know I should be with you don't you?"
"Not on this one, Lisa, it's too dangerous, I know from experience. It's going to be hairy enough where you will be. Keep your eyes open. This time you won't have Nightfox's eyes to help you. Like I said, keep some cover, and don't hesitate to shoot. These people are better trained than the terrorists we met. These are all probably ex-Russian soldiers and you know what their rep is."
Lisa nodded, but was looking down, "It's just that it's my job to watch out for you and I can't do that if I'm somewhere else."
"Not this time, please don't ask. It will hopefully all go smoothly and the riverboat people will give up before it gets out of hand." As I said this, I gathered her into my arms and told her, "Look, Honey, you have to stay out of the line of fire as much as possible. I know you've been trained well and you've now had some face to face experience, but a live firefight is different. It's so damned scary and happens so fast that you just don't have time to think. Everything is a reaction from what you've learned from previous live firefights."
Lisa said, "I was in that printing plant where you two were both down, and I was doing what I had been trained for. I was in the middle of it up in Seattle, so I know what can go wrong."
I wasn't holding Lisa any longer and was pacing next to her trying to figure out how to keep her out of the mess I was sure was coming. "If I let you get close to this, will you stay under cover? In the printing plant and up in Seattle you had cover. If you stay down, you can stay on the perimeter and back me up, but do not come into the fighting theater. I sincerely mean for you to stay there and back me up."
Lisa was a little more relaxed and said, "I'll do that, but I'll feel a lot better being where you are, watching you."
We walked out to the groups of people to see if the team leaders were planning how to position themselves when the people began streaming off the barge. One of the men from the Secret Service said, "How about we set up something like you did with the wedge? We can be in a loose situation before the barge begins taking on water then as they come off the barge we can begin funneling them into the wedge. I was thinking we could use a lot of the Guard to do part of that."
Agreeing with his plan, I said, "That will work, but your men that are close to the riverboat need to be aware that fire could begin coming from there. They will have to concentrate on the people coming off the barge, so they need cover from the riverboat. Make sure your men understand that when you set them up. Don't start putting them into place until about two thirty. We don't want a bunch of people loitering around, attracting attention." I closed with him by saying, "And make sure you tell your men to not hesitate to fire at any strange movement."
I told Lisa, "Let's get a couple of sandwiches and a Coke or some coffee from that canteen tent."
This project didn't feel right. Something was missing, something was wrong with what we were planning, but I didn't know what else we could do. A full, all-out, frontal assault would cost a lot of lives. This was the only way I could think of that could possibly get the people off the barge without getting a lot of casualties.
Lisa and I found a place to sit down and take it easy for a few minutes while we waited for the other contingents to get their men in place. Lisa nudged me and said, "Don't worry, Chuck, you gave them an idea when they didn't have any, and some of the men who were with us in Seattle are here to help out, so this should go okay. We can direct the men on how to close up as necessary."
"Let's go see if we can find a recon position near the riverboat so we can watch it for a while. Maybe we'll see something. Before we go, let me talk to the ATF team leader a sec."
We found the man sipping a cup of hot coffee. I asked, "Do you think your men might bring enough charges to do the same thing to that riverboat? If we did that when we begin attacking, they might give up easier. You know the people below decks will be coming out fast. What do you think?"
The guy said, "I called for both UDT teams to come and they'll bring the van with all of our field explosives, so we'll have enough. That might be a good idea to keep in reserve. If the boat people give us a problem, we can blow it too."
He asked, "Should we set all the charges at the same time?"
"Please do that, but set the remote detonators for different frequencies. I want to wait to blow the boat. If we don't have to blow it, we could hold off."
When he agreed and left for his people, Lisa and I walked down a dark alley, trying to get close to the riverboat.
The riverfront in this area was lined with bars, restaurants, and tourist stores all along the street fronting the boat and barge moorings. All of the stores were at least two stories, and many had nice balconies facing the river and craft moored there. Close to the front of the building we were next to, was a stairway that probably was some kind of fire exit from the second story. Lisa and I quietly went up the stairs to check out the dark store below. The windows of the building were all dark, and you could tell that the balcony was used as additional outdoor seating for whatever was inside.
We sat in the chairs and looked out over the balcony railing. The riverboat we were interested in was tied to the dock and appeared to be finished for the night. We watched as a couple of guys came out, staggering a little. A little later, three couples came out a little wobbly, having a great time. Taxis were on the street and came up to quickly gather the late night revelers to drive them to wherever they needed to go.
Lisa and I were keeping track of the time, and when it came to two fifteen, we went back to the rendezvous point. The agencies were setting up their wedge, and the men who were going to take the boat were formed and ready to move through the alleys to attack the boat.
I found the National Guard commander and told him, "I know this is right here in the states, but your troops must know that this is not a walk in the park. These men can be ruthless and will fight back. They need to not hesitate when it's time."
The commander understood and relayed the directive to his squad leaders. I asked for a squad to penetrate the main doors with me when the attack began, and was given a sergeant and nine men to work with.
While they did that, Lisa and I picked up radios with a single ear bud. The radio was set for the frequency we were going to use.
The groups worked their way through the alleys until we were surrounding the area where the boat was. I found a place for Lisa to observe and snipe from, making sure she was under cover. The squad and I moved to the dock, staying under the cover of the railing, away from where the walkway was laid between the boat and the dock.
I was checking my watch until the minute hand came up to six. I said into the radio, "This is Johnson, Go."
There were two muffled thumps down the street where the barge was, but it was loud enough to attract attention on board the boat. A couple of men came out of the main doors of the boat and were looking around and back toward the barge.
When the barge doors burst open and people began streaming out, yelling "Fire, Fire," the two men ran from the boat toward the barge. Several other men came out from different doors of the boat and did the same. All passed in front of us and didn't notice us down low as they were focused on the barge.
This gave me an idea, so I broadcast, "Reserve teams at the boat, form a wedge to keep the people coming from the boat heading toward the barge. ATF, blow the boat now."
There were two more, louder, thumps right below us. The charges were enough for us to feel them, but still small enough not to cause a huge sound. I waved to my men to stay down and wait.
Doors up and down the side of the boat began bursting open and people were running from the boat. Some were fully clothed and some only had underwear on. Women were running from the boat in only light nightgowns or pajamas.
This was working better than I had expected, as at least sixty or seventy people ran from the boat and were running toward the barge.
I said over the radio, "'Boat reserve, ' take and clear the boat. Cabin by cabin, deck by deck. Now! 'Front boat men, ' move into the rear of the wedge and don't let them turn around. Keep them moving toward the barge."
All of a sudden, there was firing toward the rear of the boat. I watched as someone came out of the tall wheelhouse, four decks up, and begin firing an AK toward the rear. I was raising my rifle when someone from the dock area cut the man down. I motioned for my men to follow me and we went across the walkway and through the main doors. No one was in this area of the casino and the boat was beginning to tilt to the far side. We could hear shouting and shooting, so we stood by the doors to take on anyone running through.
As the boat began listing more and more away from the dock, I hollered at the men with me, "Get off the boat now before it capsizes." I repeated the message into my radio, "Get off the boat now, withdraw, do it now. The boat is going to capsize."
We quickly moved off the boat and got into firing positions to watch who tried to come off. The teams that had attacked the rear of the boat were leaping from the boat. At least there was no one firing at them as they withdrew.
Down the street, there was some sporadic firing, but nothing like I expected. When the boat looked like it was just about to roll on its side, it seemed to stop and settle. The main deck was now under water, so that meant the lower decks were all flooded.
This was a problem, as there was resistance on board, but no real good way to clear it. One of the men with me showed me a canister grenade. He said, "If you don't care what happens to that pile of wood, this should take care of the problem."
"What is it?" I asked.
"That's an M14 thermite grenade. It'll melt damn near anything and will be sure to start a fire. I think we have a half dozen the SEALs gave us."
I said, "Put one through a casino window, and one through a rear window, and let's see what happens. Make sure the men stay under cover."
One of the men used his weapon on full auto to blow out a window in the casino, then another man threw the canister through it. The same thing was happening on the other end of the boat. There were a couple of heavy explosions, and we watched as fire erupted inside the casino.
I radioed, "Command, this is Johnson, make sure we have the Coast Guard on the other side of this boat to capture anyone jumping off the side that we can't see from here."
"Got it, the Coast Guard has already been picking up swimmers. We're on it."
It was good that someone was picking up my slack. I had forgotten that some of these perpetrators might think of swimming to escape.
I told the leader of the team I was with, "Just watch the boat and when we can get something to bridge to the boat, clear the place. Be careful, as someone armed could still be on board."
The man nodded in understanding, and whirled his finger in the air for his men to gather around.
I walked across the street to where Lisa was. She was sitting on an overturned bucket with her rifle poised over a crate. She said, "That went smoothly. That boat is rapidly going up in flames. I thought they had automatic fire suppression systems. It's not working, is it?"
"Damn, that's another thing I didn't think of."
I was standing in the shadows when a half dozen big cars or SUVs came to a screeching halt halfway up the block. Men were coming out of the cars with rifles in their hands. They didn't even pause and began firing at the rear of the men watching the boat.
I watched as our men found cover, but it looked like there were several casualties right away.
Lisa and I leveled off with our rifles and began picking off the men from the cars. I know I was at six or seven and Lisa was probably at that same amount when a car slid to a stop right next to us.
I pulled Lisa down so we were behind a door opening, hidden from the car. Men began coming from this car, also carrying rifles, so I leaned out of the bottom of the doorway and fired rapidly, trying to hit as many as I could.
They were all wearing armor as two fell, rolled over, got on their knees, and looked for their rifles. I yelled over my radio while looking at Lisa, "Headshots, they have armor."
When my bolt locked back, I pulled my Glock and was close enough to hit three men in the head successively. Lisa was still plinking men in the head as if she was out plinking squirrels on a warm Saturday afternoon.
I kept checking the car in the alley next to us, and I finally tossed a grenade into it to make sure no more would bother us.
When I pulled Lisa back to shield her from the blast, I saw two men trying to get out of the car. It was too late, as the fragmentation grenade exploded. I motioned for Lisa to help the Guard guys out on the dock, and I checked the alley next to the blown out car.
Just as Lisa was firing, I heard her give out an "oof" and turned quickly to see her sit down looking at me with her rifle barrel totally destroyed.
I raced to her and asked, "Are you okay, are you hit, where, where are you hit."
Lisa was shaking her head and said, "I think a round hit the barrel of my rifle when I was firing. My hands sting, but I'm not hit, at least I don't think so."
I grabbed my rifle and shoved a new magazine in it and handed it to Lisa. We looked out to see what was happening and there didn't appear to be any more resistance. That's when I saw a movement on the walkway we were on, but down the block a ways. I got down low and pointed the Glock, waiting for the attacker to dart out of a doorway to run toward the next doorway. I put two rounds into what I hoped was his head, and watched him crumple. I kept my Glock aimed at him until he had been down at least a full minute.
Lisa said, "Lucky you saw him. I didn't even notice the movement."
"We'll watch for a few minutes before we show ourselves." I radioed, "Boat leaders, report."
The first team leader said, "One casualty and ten boat people down."
The next one said, "Two of mine are down, and I'm not sure how many boat people."
It went on until there were six men down and twelve men injured. There was no good count as to how many boat people were down. I did notice that there were no boat people injuries, just all down.
I said over the radio, "Command, Johnson."
"Go ahead Johnson, this is command," came back.
"Do you need assistance at the barge?"
The voice called back, "We're good, how about you?"
In a quick request, I said, "We need medics and a way to board the half submerged boat to clear it. Can you assist?"
"We'll be right there, is the area clear now?"
I told them, "No additional resistance for five minutes now."
Trucks were coming from the barge area to the boat with more Guardsmen. The medics quickly set up and were running men through, getting them temporarily patched up as others were checking over the men who had been lost.
The Guard commander came up to me and said, "I can't believe we lost six men to these miserable assholes. How do they get here and continue to do business without the law finding out about it?"
I patted the commander on the back and told him, "It's been getting worse and worse. It's coming to the point where we're going to have to defend our country from the insurgents and illegals. It's going to be a war on our borders because we haven't been finishing what we need to finish overseas."
He said, "Yeah, I know, we just rotated back and now this. We only lost two men to IEDs over there, and to now lose six, over a bunch of funny money and slave prostitutes, is nuts. Those men who we captured at the barge were all ex-military and well trained. I owe whoever thought up scuttling that barge. That move kept us from any casualties up there and only a few of the barge people down or hurt. Too bad this one was so bad."
We heard a scuffle behind us, and I saw what looked like a hand with a Kbar coming down fast. There was still some scuffling as I ran to the conflict. A large body was covering a smaller body wearing fatigues. I pulled the large man to the side of the small one, and saw Lisa looking up at me with a sick look. She weakly smiled and said, "Pull him off me, please, get him off me."
When he was rolled off, Lisa was covered in blood. I began looking for cuts or a stab wound. Lisa really looked sick. She rolled over, stuck her head off the low wood porch, and she threw up everything she had taken in for a day or two.
As she threw up, she got up on her knees, and after wiping a bloody sleeve over her face, she stood and asked, "Anyone have anything I can wipe my mouth with?"
I pulled my fatigue shirt off and told her to use some of it to wipe her face, and to take her fatigue shirt off. She stripped her vest and shirt and used the inside of it to wipe her mouth and hands. She still had her armor on over a T-shirt, so she was decent.
She finally said, "He was on me before I knew he was there. I caught his hand the first time and he couldn't penetrate the armor, but it hurt like hell. When he tried to stab me the second time, I was able to use the force of his hand to turn the blade and cut his throat. That's where all that blood came from. I think he had a heart attack when his neck was cut. He just collapsed."
The Guard full bird colonel was looking at Lisa and said, "Are you a soldier, or who do you work for?"
Lisa stood up straight and said, "I work for the Secret Service right now. I am ex-Marine Corps.""
The man stuck his hand out to shake Lisa's and said, "You're a soldier, alright. It was amazing that you could defend yourself like that. I'm glad you did."
We slowly walked back up to the barge area and then on to the command area. There were rows of people with their hands tie-wrapped behind their back. They also had tie-wraps around their ankles so they couldn't move.
It took me ten minutes to find the Secret Service leader there and I asked him, "It's done, right? It's over?"
The man looked at me and asked, "I guess you want us to take you back home, huh?"
I looked at my watch and said, "If we can get going, Lisa and I can be home by about noon. We need to get a little sleep too, but I need to get home to make sure everyone knows I'm okay. As of the instant I touch ground in Tampa, I'm gone for a couple of months."
The guy said, "We need you to stick around a little bit. See that motor home over there?" He was pointing to the big black motor home. "Go over there and sleep for a couple hours. I'll wake you up if we need you, but you need some rest, and the girl looks like she's about to collapse. Do it so we don't have to worry about you two."
We slept soundly for five hours straight, until a hand shook me awake. The guy says. "The boss wants to talk to you and I think he's going to send you home now."
When we came out of the motor home, the man handed us each a cup of coffee and said, "This has gone very well. Your plan to capture the place was a good one. Sure glad we caught you before you left. I'm thinking everyone all the way to the top will be appreciative of what you two contributed."
Lisa and I were only nodding in acceptance.
The guy said 'thanks' again, before calling over to a man standing beside a car. He said, "Call the airport and have them get the plane ready to take these two back where they came from. We borrowed them for a while and we promised to get him home before Wednesday morning."
We went to the car, but then I remembered and went back to the command tent and picked up our two weapons cases. There was another collapsible MP5 sitting right there, so I cleared it, folded it up and put it into Lisa's case. The Secret Service leader was watching me so I said, "Lisa's rifle is down the street, exploded. You never know when you'll need one."
He nodded and said, "Make sure you send the serial number in for us to record."
"Sure," I said, fully intending to forget it.
We drove out to the airport, but I had the driver stop to get us a fast food hamburger and Coke on the way. Lisa was over her adrenaline shakes and was hungry now. She told me quietly as we sat next to each other on the Citation X, "When I get a chance to hide, I'm going to cry a while. That was too close. I thought that guy was going to take me away from us, and I wasn't going to let it happen. Oh, Chuck, that was too close."
What could I say? I held her all the way to Tampa. I told the pilot to land at the airpark and we would get a ride from there. The co-pilot reached into his chart case and handed me a sat phone. "Call someone for a pickup. You know how to use this."
I called the house and Brandy answered. When I asked Brandy to come to the airpark and pick us up, she quickly answered, "We'll be right there. Are you two okay? Are you sure?"
After I assured her we were both okay, she said, "We'll be there as soon as possible. Are you there now?"'
"No, I'm over the gulf, about fifteen minutes out, depending on the traffic."
Brandy answered, "We'll be there. We're all happy you guys are okay."
Lisa had sort of heard the conversation and said, "They are all really something. That they don't hate me for taking you away from them is amazing to me. I know they're as crazy for women as I am, but you were their man, to all of them. You're even the dad of the four kids that are coming. Pretty strange, isn't it?"
"I don't know, Lisa, I'd never had a real relationship with a girl before those five, and they were all together from the beginning. I did have a little bit of a relationship with Bobby for a while, but she was pretty loose about it. The five girls were hot for me from the beginning, and I'm still at a loss as to why. Amazing, isn't it?"
Lisa said, "Not so amazing. You show all of us a lot of love. You are always so caring and don't do anything behind our backs. I think they are the way they are because of their love for each other and their knowledge that they would never give up what they have, with and for each other, for you or anyone else. I'm sure that's why I'm accepted. They like me and know how much I care for you, so to them, it's a deal."
I nodded, "I suppose, but it's still different from what I remember my mom and dad being like."
My lover snuggled my arm and said, "Me too, but I like what we all have and am happy to have us all together."
We landed just about nine at night, and when the Citation taxied to the operations building, instead of the charter office, I realized he wouldn't know. There was a crowd standing outside, across the tarmac at the charter office. When Lisa and I got off with our cases, they all were hollering and a pickup came roaring over to us to pick us up and carry us back to the crowd.
I said good-bye to the two crewmembers, and thanked them for getting us back. I closed the big door, raising the stairs, and heard someone throw the lock inside.
One of the night techs was driving the pickup and took us back to the charter office. When we got out of the pickup, all, and I mean all, of the people from our house crowded around us, clutching at us and trying to hug us. Wanda said, "That thing in New Orleans was all over the news. They had you two in about five clips, with Lisa holding a stained shirt, and you just in your vest like now. When we saw you two, we knew then why Mercy had been going nuts. Are you hurt, what happened?"
I said, "How about we let it simmer a little, and we'll tell you all about it soon. Right now, Lisa and I need some food and a shower, and we all need to go to bed so we're fresh tomorrow. Who's going to take us home?"
Wanda, Jan, and Lena were in Wanda's car, and she also had the two Chinese girls and Maria with her. The Fab five said, "We have room, come on, load up, we'll take you home."
At home, I suggested to Lisa, "I don't know about you, but I need a shower. After that, we can eat something, then get a good night's sleep."
"Perfect," Lisa said, "I'm with you about getting cleaned up."
A little later, when she took off her vest, there was a huge bruise where the knife had stabbed her in the armor. She smiled at me weakly, and said, "Sure glad I had that vest on. That was close, wasn't it?"
We showered and when we walked out to eat, a very nice meal had been prepared for us from left over meatloaf. After eating, the girls all tucked us under the covers, giving us kisses and promising to not to disturb us when they came to bed.
Lisa and I didn't need much relaxing before we were both asleep.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000