Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 07:03:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Orrin Rush <orrinrush@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Lifeguard
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are
offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go
somewhere else.
Copyright c 2000 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.
Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed
electronically or in any other manner without the express,
written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters
to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not
intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIFEGUARD
Chapter 27
By the time we got home to the West Coast, Eric had been gone
almost a month. A lot of changes had taken place.
When we drove through the gates, Eric commented on all the
activity in the yard. Sam had gotten help, as he'd promised,
and was now involved in re-landscaping the place. He'd
enlisted the help of a Landscape Architect, and both Eric and
I had seen and approved the plan. Now, Sam was implementing
it, section by section so that the whole place wasn't torn up
at the same time.
Mary had finally found a cook she could work with. Her name
was Barbara, and she'd been classicly trained at the Culinary
Institute of America, and had worked at several trendy
restaurants in San Francisco. This was her first job as chef
for just one family. She'd joined the staff while Eric was
gone.
Mary no longer wore her uniform, now dressing in "business"
attire. She had added full-time help to take care of the
work she used to do herself and ran such a tight ship that I
had already asked her to "ease up" on her new people.
The minute we got unloaded, Eric and I both changed into
shorts. It may have been winter in New York, but here it was
still nice and warm.
Dinner that evening was a family affair, Tina, Annie, Kevin
and Eric's parents Karl and Ingrid.
There was a lot of catching up to do, everyone letting
everyone else know what was going on in their lives. It
sounded to me like everyone was busy and happy.
We spent most of Sunday out by the pool. That's what I love
about Southern California, sun most of the year, usually warm
enough to enjoy, and with the glass windbreaks up, it was
very pleasant.
We talked some, mostly about how Eric's changed work status
would allow him to spend more time with me at the office. He
wanted to jump right into things, but I convinced him to do
it gradually. To him, that meant joining me after lunch
instead of first thing in the morning.
The rest of the day, we read, dozed, or just lazed, holding
hands.
Whenever I'd been away from the office, it was customary for
Bill to fill me in on everything that was going on as soon as
I got back. He sauntered in, coffee mug in hand soon after I
arrived.
Before he could get started, I stopped him. "There're going
to be a few changes around here," I told him. "I think
you'll like them.
"Eric's status with Micron has changed. From now on, he's
going to be a consultant to them, which'll only take a small
part of his time. He's going to spend the rest of his time
working with us and Lundborg Rush."
"Hot damn!" Bill enthused. "Finally! How in hell did you
convince him?"
"He volunteered. You know I promised never to pressure him."
"Can he help me too?" Bill asked.
"I don't know how this is going to work yet. Let's play it
by ear for the time being. He'll be here after lunch, so how
about waiting until then for my briefing?"
"That'll be fine," Bill said. "I'm really excited about
this."
"So am I," I told him.
As soon as Bill left, I called Bob, our head of Security and
asked him to come to my office.
Bob had been around for many years and was as loyal to me
personally as anyone in the company.
We chatted for a while, then I got down to the nitty gritty.
"It looks like the Milton brothers may be up to something
again," I told him. "I don't want to be blindsided again, so
I think it's time to find out everything we can about them."
"That'll be a snap," he said.
"What I want to know may not be that easy to find out. I
want to know EVERYTHING about them, public, and more
specifically, personal. They're smart and they play dirty,
so I want all the ammunition I can get."
"We can do that too," he answered.
"That's something else, I don't care how you get this
information - legally or otherwise, but I want to know who
they sleep with, when, and even if they fart out loud. Most
importantly, I don't want to get caught doing this, and I
don't want anything that we do to be traceable back to us."
He thought a minute. "I think I have the perfect man for the
job. I know about him from his reputation in the
'business'. He's damned good, but really expensive. He
works out of Chicago."
"I don't care how much it costs. I just want results."
"It may take a little time."
"I know, and the meter'll be running. Use cash only, and
I'll see that you have all you need. This is strictly
between you and me. Nobody in your department is to know
anything. The only person I might, and that's a big might -
tell about this, is Eric."
"Do you have any idea what we might dig up?" he asked.
"Not a clue. They may be crooked, but live the lives of
Saints. I want to know, though."
He pondered for a few minutes, again. "Here's how I'd like
to run this operation," he said. "I know of a guy who can
act as the go-between. He doesn't know me, but I know a lot
about him. He's a straight shooter. I'll give him the
details of what we want, and he can pass it on to the guy in
Chicago. Information will flow back through the same
channels. I can set it up so that I'm totally insulated, and
consequently you will be too. Do you want oral or written
reports?"
"Both," I said. "Let me know about anything important
immediately, and follow up with a written report."
"If they do their job right, there'll be a ton of
information. Do you want me to sift it for you?"
"I'd like to see everything, but a summary would help too. I
know these guys, you don't. I may notice something you won't
recognize as important, so I want to see everything."
"I'll get right on it," he said. "With a little luck, we can
get started by this weekend. Can you get me a door key to
your car? I'll put the reports under your seat so I'm not
running in and out of here."
"I'll have one made for you by tomorrow, and slip it to you."
"From now on, our communication will be through the envelope
in your car or by phone," he finished up.
"I really appreciate this, Bob," I told him.
Next, I called Charles, not Chuck, not Chas, not Charlie and
told him that I needed $100,000 in untraceable fifties and
hundreds, quietly. He wanted to know if I wanted to use
Corporate or Personal funds. I told him Corporate, and he
agreed to deliver it to my office by Wednesday. Charles
didn't ask questions.
Eric and I met for lunch. He'd been at his Micron office all
morning setting things up to run without his constant
attention.
When we got back to my office, Bill came right in.
He found it necessary to kid Eric a little. "I knew you'd
end up here," he told him. "It was only a matter of time."
"You guys seem to be having so much fun I didn't want to miss
out," Eric shot back. "Understand one thing, however, and
that is that you're not going to pay me a dime. Not now, not
ever again under any circumstances."
"OK OK," Bill chuckled. "Let's get down to business."
Bill reported that sales of the new Computers was increasing
in direct proportion to the number of cheap monitors that
were reaching the stores. That was the hangup, and was in
the process of being fixed.
Our third quarter financial results were in, and we'd had the
most profitable period in our history. "Everything's working
like it's supposed to," Bill said. "With the tax loss that
Annie's Chateau Properties is throwing off, our cash flow is
utterly unbelievable. We're going to have to do something
soon. We can't let it just sit in the bank."
"Maybe we should pay down some of our debt," I suggested.
"Why?" Eric asked. "You've got the cheapest money there is,
and interest rates are rising."
"I think we ought to go shopping again," Bill put in.
"I guess you're right," I sighed. "Got any more prospects?"
"We're working on it," Bill said. "But, that brings up
another problem. What are we going to do with more people?
We're busting at the seams now. Have you made a decision on
the new office building yet?"
"Tina expects to have some cost estimates this week," I
said. "If they're within reason, I see no reason why we
can't go ahead with it. It'll take a year to build, but I
think we can survive until then."
"The sooner the better," he answered. "That's all the news I
have."
"We've got a couple of items," Eric said. "First is a
request from Sarah Thornton. Her brothers might be acting up
again, and she would like to have the evidence we've got on
them. She feels that if she can hit them with some specifics
about the stuff they pulled, she can keep them in line. As
Dave said, it'd be in our best interest to give it to her."
"I've got to disagree," Bill said. "That stuff is dynamite
and could get us in a lot of trouble if we let it out."
"You don't know Sarah like I do," Eric chuckled. "Using what
we give her, she'll find out more than we ever could've. I
can personally assure you that we'll be fully protected."
"I'll take full responsibility," I added.
"OK, I'll get it for you, but I still don't approve."
"Next," Eric continued, "although this doesn't directly affect
Metalco, we thought you'd like to know what Lundborg Rush is
doing. We made a pretty good deal with Micron. We swapped
them a little stock for all of the equpment they gave us, so
we won't have to pay for it, and with them owning part of us,
we think we'll have their business for as long as we want it.
"That's not all. We're taking over production of their Games
and Educational software, and getting another 20 copiers
that're included in the stock deal. We feel that this is
just the beginning, so we've ordered another 60 new, high
speed copiers. It's gonna be my job to sell all that
capacity."
"Sounds good to me," Bill said. "I just hope you guys hurry
up and hire your own people to run it. I need the ones
you've borrowed back!"
"That's our priority," I said, "and adds to our need for more
office space."
We discussed other matters for most of the afternoon. It
felt good to me to see Eric involved in everything.
On the way home, Eric had some ideas. "We need to find
somebody to run Lundborg Rush. A good administrator,
somebody who can run everything. All the departments are
working well, but there isn't anyone to pull it all together."
"I agree," I told him. "It'd be nice to find somebody like
Bill."
"I don't even know where to start looking."
"Talk to Metalco's Human Resources. They can help you write
up a description of the type of person you're looking for and
put you in touch with some good 'Headhunters'."
"I'll do that."
- - - - -
Ever since Annie's much publicized incarceration, Georgia had
been calling constantly, more abusive than usual. When she
called at home and cornered me, I hung up on her. When she
called the office, Nancy screened my calls and always told
her that I wasn't there.
She'd also been calling the girls. They didn't give me
details, but told me that they refused to talk to her.
So, it wasn't a surprise when Annie and Tina requested a
"meeting" with me, alone, to discuss "Mom".
It had to be something serious, so we "met" at the first
opportunity that all three of us were available at the same
time.
"There's no reason to drag Eric into this mess," Tina
started. "We need your help."
"What's up?" I asked.
"I got a letter from Mom," Annie said. "We won't talk to her
on the phone, so she's writing now. You're not going to
believe this, but she's coming here for Thanksgiving."
"You don't have to see her unless you want to," I told them.
"She's NOT staying here."
"You don't know how crazy she is," Tina said. "I can only
imagine the scenes she'd create if we locked her out."
"I can live with that if you guys can. Have you tried to
talk to her? Tell her that you don't want to see her?"
"I doubt that'll work," Tina said. "We're not as miserable
as she is, and she wants to change that."
"Are either of you willing to give it a try?"
"I'll try," Annie said, "but I'm not optomistic."
"You know I'm neutral when it comes to your mother," I
reminded them. "I don't want you to be mean to her, but I
don't want her to disrupt your lives either. You never know,
someday she may get the help she needs."
"About the only way that'll ever happen is if we have her
committed," Annie cracked.
"Give it a try. Call her." I urged. "If that doesn't work,
we'll think of something. I have to admit that it took me a
long time to get to the point where she couldn't get under my
skin. Do what you can. I'm here for you guys regardless."
I gave them a hug and assured them again that we'd think of
something.
Later, when I told Eric about it, he suggested that we bundle
everybody up and go up to the Lake place for Thanksgiving.
"I'm certainly more than willing."
"No, goddamit, she's not going to make us run. She doesn't
have the power to do that. If we all ignore her, what can
she do?"
"She could make a lot of noise that might bring you some
pretty bad publicity."
"I doubt she'd be taken seriously, all that ranting and raving
doesn't make her very credible."
"It still could be messy, particularly for Annie and Tina,"
he said. "I'd hate to see them have to go through something
like that."
"This may sound strange, but I'd almost rather have a
confrontation than allow the bitch the satisfaction of making
me run. We'll wait and see what happens next."
"You realize that a confrontation wouldn't solve anything
either," he pointed out.
"I know, dammit."
- - - - -
Tina was ready. Her Architects were ready to make a
presentation and had preliminary cost estimates ready.
When we were all assembled, she introduced the architects,
two young men, then went on to explain how they'd proceeded.
"Using the Taliesin design concept, we've 'filled in' the
structures. The interior layout is based on talks we've had
with all the department heads here to maximize space
utilization as well as provide a pleasant, open, working
environment. Those departments that interact the most are
grouped together, and every one has room for expansion."
The architects took over. Damn, they were young, but
serious, all business, and I also noticed, one of them was
cute as hell.
They displayed floorplans for each of the eight separate but
connected structures, explaining that the few interior
partitions were tentative and subject to further approval,
and gave us each reduced-size portfolios of their plans.
Then they got down to dollars.
"Using current construction costs for this type of structure,
we've come up with a total cost of $290 million. Because of
the unusual topography, site preparation and restoration
will, we estimate, run another $60 million, but that includes
the 4,000 car underground garage. Landscaping, if any, is
not included."
Everybody had questions, and they were fully answered. I was
impressed. Cost breakdowns were distributed to all of us to
add to the portfolios.
"I had no idea it was going to be this big a project," Tina
commented when the Architects had gone.
"You've done a wonderful job, Tina," Bill complimented her.
"I hope you follow it all the way through."
Annie had a pocket calculator and was punching in numbers
like crazy. "The building we're in here is paid for, isn't
it?" she asked. I nodded. "Because of the prestige location
and the quality of these offices, we can get top dollar. I
figure that the net rent, after expenses, will amortize the
cost of the new building in about 17 years, using an interest
rate of eight percent."
"Not bad," Eric commented.
"Not bad at all!" Bill added, then turned to me. "You know,
Dave, with the talent and brains in your family, we're going
to own the world in a few years."
I looked around the room at them, beaming with pride. When I
got to Eric, he mouthed, silently, "Alexander".
"Well, what are we waiting for?" I asked. "Sounds like a
good deal to me."
The next couple of hours were spent going over the steps that
would be taken to make it a reality. First, however, would
be an announcement to all Metalco employees which would take
the form of an Email to everyone the following morning.
Following that would be the public announcement.
We were on the move again.
That evening, Tina wasn't home for dinner. When I inquired,
Annie explained that she was celebrating with the Architects,
Rick, the cute one, in particular.
The Taliesin drawing of the new building was put up in the
lobby of the Metalco building. Reaction was mixed. I got a
laugh out of some of the comments, in particular "Looks like
a dirt pile", and "It looks like we're moving into a bomb
shelter."
Overall, the response was favorable. The location wasn't as
much an issue as Annie had predicted.
The local paper ran a large article, including a drawing of
the structure. The architectural critic gave it a rave
review, pronouncing it a "Masterpiece of understatement".
- - - - -
Annie had called Georgia. Even though Annie had pleaded with
her, Georgia was adamant. She was coming to town.
Annie then told her that neither she nor Tina wanted to see
her, and wouldn't. Georgia countered that with "I know where
you live, and if you don't let me in, I'll create the biggest
stink you've ever seen."
The four of us discussed the situation. "That'll be easy to
handle," I said. "We'll put 24 hour security on the gate,
and they just won't let her in. She can raise all the hell
she wants, but there won't be anybody around to notice."
"The whole place is fenced, isn't it?" Eric asked.
"There's the stone wall across the front," I said, "and
chain-link fence on the sides down to the edge of the bluff.
The only way she could get in would be to scale the cliff and
I don't think she'd do that."
"But, can it be climbed?" Tina asked. "You don't know Mom."
"Check it out for yourselves," I suggested. "In my opinion,
it would take a professional climber. We could put a guard
on it if it'd make you feel better."
"I'm beginning to feel like a goddam captive, again," Annie
said. "It's not right that she can make us feel like
prisoners in our own house!"
"This is ridiculous," I said. "What could she possibly
expect to accomplish? If she did, somehow, get in, we'd just
have her thrown out. I know she's a very disturbed lady, but
why would she go to all of that trouble?"
"You forget, Dad," Annie reminded me. "She's miserable and
likes to spread it around. She's nuts so it's impossible to
predict what she's going to do."
"When is she arriving?" I asked.
"She said she's flying in next Tuesday, and plans to stay
around for a week," Tina said.
"Then," I said, "starting Tuesday, we'll have the place fully
secured. She won't get in, and that's that. Enough of this
bullshit."
Later, talking with Eric, I told him "Well, the bitch has
succeeded. She's got us running scared."
"Do you think she's a real threat, that she might hurt
someone?"
"All she wants to do is scream and yell, vent her
frustration. We're happy, she's not. I can't see her doing
anything more than that."
"What if she's really nuts? I've seen her in action, and to
be honest, she scares the hell out of me."
"She's harmless," I assured him. "With the security we'll
have around this place, there isn't a chance that she'll get
in."
"I hope you're right, but I'm still nervous," he said.
For the next few days, I think I was the only relaxed one in
the whole household. Tina and Annie were tense and edgy.
Eric acted like there was a disaster about to happen.
I tried to cheer everyone up, but wasn't very successful.
Monday was business as usual. In midmorning, I was walking
from Annie's office back to my own, when I saw her.
Georgia was standing by Nancy's desk with a big smile on her
face. "Caught you, you cocksucking sonofabitch," she growled
ominously.
"Call security," I said, quietly, to Nancy.
Georgia turned. "Touch that phone and I'll rip your eyes
out," Georgia screamed at her, brandishing her long
fingernails. Nancy froze, looking from me to Georgia.
Eric, hearing the commotion, stuck his head out of my
office. He didn't move any closer, just watched.
"Go ahead, Nancy," I said softly. "She won't hurt you."
Nancy put her hand out to reach for the phone. Georgia
lunged, but so did Eric. He landed on top of Georgia,
pinning her to Nancy's desk. Georgia kicked and tried to
scratch him, but by this time, I had her hands held down.
Nancy jumped clear and ran into my office, no doubt to call
security.
Gradually, we eased Georgia off the desk, making sure that,
between us, her hands were pinned so she couldn't inflict any
damage with those claws she had. All this time, Georgia was
screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs.
Offices emptied, and other guys came over to help us restrain
her. Security arrived, handcuffed her and led her away,
still shrieking.
With adrenaline still pumping, Eric and I walked into my
office. As soon as the door was closed, he took me in his
arms. "Still think she's harmless?" he asked.
The phone was ringing. It was security. "This woman claims
to be your wife," the guard said.
"She's my EX-wife," I told him.
"Do you want to press charges?"
"Absolutely. Throw everything you can at her."
Nancy was curled up in a chair, obviously still petrified.
Eric was asking her if she was OK.
"Do I get 'combat pay' for this?" she cracked. At least her
sense of humor was intact.
The door blew open and Annie rushed in. "Is everybody OK?"
she wanted to know. We all nodded.
"At least we'll know where she is for a while," I said.
"Small consolation," Annie spat out. "Then what?"
"She'll get cooled off," I said. "We'll double security at
home. Maybe we should all work from there tomorrow."
"OK, but I don't trust her," Annie said.
Before we got home, security was in place. There were guards
at the gate, and several others patrolling the grounds. It
was like an armed camp. I had to admit, though, that the
morning's incident had me pretty nervous too.
Dinner that evening wasn't exactly a festive occasion.
Conversation, of course, centered around Georgia - when she'd
get out of jail, and what she might try next. Kevin was
there, and tried to lighten things up.
We were finishing dessert when there was a loud crash. As we
involuntarily rose, there was another crash and the whole
house shook. We rushed in the direction of the noise which
seemed to have come from the front part of the house.
The hood of a U-Haul truck was sticking through what had been
the front door. It totally blocked the entrance, so we ran
for the nearest side door.
When we got outside, the truck was swarming with uniformed
guards, but there wasn't any sign of the driver.
The guard who seemed to be in charge walked over to us
carrying a woman's handbag. He took out the wallet, and
found a driver's license. "Georgia Rush," he said, holding
it up. "A pistol fell out of this, and we left it on the
seat for the police."
"Have you seen her?" I asked.
"Somehow, she just disappeared," he answered, as the other
guards surrounded us.
"That's it!" Eric roared. "We're all outta here." He turned
to the guards. "Cover us while we get to the garage," he
ordered.
"You drive," Eric told Kevin as we hurried around the house.
It was clear who was in charge.
We piled into my car, the biggest. Eric and Kevin in front,
the girls and me in the back. The guards surrounded the car,
guns drawn, while we backed out, then we flew down the
driveway and onto the street.
"Let's go!," Eric barked at Kevin who was taking the curvy
street like an Indy driver.
Soon, we were passing police cruisers, lights flashing, going
in the opposite direction. Eric was on his cell phone
giving instructions. When he finished, he turned in his seat
"To be on the safe side, I put together plan 'B'," he told
me, smiling.
"Where the hell are we going?" I asked.
"To the Lake House up North," he said. "Everything is
arranged."
"Thank you," I said softly. "This is one time when I was
completely wrong."
"We're all OK, and that's all that matters," he said.
When we pulled up outside the hangar, we all got out. Eric
and I walked away from the others.
"You didn't plan this all today," I told him.
"No, I got started last week," he said. "A contingency plan,
just in case. Sorry I had to keep you in the dark."
"Does everybody know about this except me?"
"Kevin did from the beginning, but I only told the girls
about it today after the 'incident'."
"I love you," I said, putting my arm around him. "We're
gonna freeze our asses off up there," I added, chuckling.
"Don't think so," he laughed. "Our winter clothes will be on
the next flight along with some security people. Everybody
else was already packed, and I packed your stuff."
"You thought of everything."
"I tried to. You are the most important people in my life,
and I don't want anything to happen to you, any of you."
Another car pulled up. It was Ron and Jason. When the
hangar doors were opened, they moved their car inside. Eric
moved mine in too. When he came back, he was carrying a
thick envelope. "This slid out from under the seat," he
said. "Want me to put it back?"
"No," I said. "It looks like we have a little bedtime reading
material."
He looked at me with a questioning frown. "I have a few
secrets too," I told him.
The other two pilots arrived. "Ron's flying one, Jason's
flying the other," Eric explained. "Since the landing's
kinda tricky, they didn't trust the new guys to fly by
themselves."
When we were airborne, Eric made an announcement. "It's time
to relax, everybody. Let's make the most of it and have some
fun!"
"I feel ike a fucking fugitive - again," I told Eric.
"Not as much fun, though, we're not squished in the back seat
running from the cops."
"That was kind of fun."
"Never a dull moment around you!" he said.
As instructed, we braced for the landing. It was abrupt but
smooth, the reverse thrusters almost deafening us.
Eric and I got the Assault Wagon out of storage while the
pilots bedded down the plane. The rest stayed in the airport
shack to keep warm. There was a lot of snow on the ground
and it was freezing cold.
The pilots were the only ones with jackets, but the rest of
us had grabbed blankets from the plane and looked like a
tribe of Indians as we got into the wagon.
When we got there, the house was as cold inside as the air was
outside. Since I was the only one who knew how, I lit the
furnace while the other guys got a fire built in the huge
fireplace.
The house had been 'winterized' with all the above-ground
plumbing drained. I didn't know how to turn it on, so
called the caretaker to come and get it going.
Huddled around the fireplace, I asked Eric if he'd worked out
sleeping arrangements.
"We get the master bedroom, of course," he said. "Annie and
Tina get one of the other bedrooms, Kevin gets the other.
The rest of the guys get the loft."
"How many are there?"
"Tonight there'll be the four pilots and the four security
men, then, after that, just the four security guys."
"Do we really need security up here?"
"I don't know, but it's better not to take any chances. They
won't go on patrol until in the morning."
The pilots left to go pick up the next load. Soon after,
there was a knock on the door.
"Mom can't be THAT fast," Annie laughed as she went to open
it.
The caretaker got the water running and the water heater
started. He asked me to let him know when we planned to
leave so he could drain everything again. He also said that
he'd be available to take care of anything we needed.
It was warming up and the blankets came off. The girls
explored their bedroom, and Kevin found his. I was ready
for a drink, so opened up the bar. Annie and Tina explored
the kitchen and announced that there was enough food in the
freezer and the pantry to take care of us for a month, if
necessary. "But, we don't have a turkey," Tina mourned.
"That's coming," Eric assured her, "along with probably
enough food for another month. Mary's taking care of
everything."
With drinks in hand, Eric and I snuggled in front of the
fireplace. Kevin sat across from us. "What do you think the
security guys'll think about us queers?" I asked.
"They've probably already been briefed," Eric said. "If
they're straight, I hope they brought chastity belts,
though. Four always horny pilots..."
"Are all your pilots gay?" Kevin asked.
"Yep," I told him. "They all used to be F-15 jockeys in the
Air Force. Best pilots around."
"I know Ron and Jason," Kevin said. "They sure don't seem
like they're gay."
"Do we?" Eric asked him pointedly.
"Hell no! I'm sorry, guess I lapsed into some stereotypical
thinking."
"No offense taken," Eric laughed. "Just gotta keep you on
your toes."
The second load arrived, with a surprise. Barbara came along.
"OK, Houdini, where's she going to sleep," I teased Eric.
Barbara overheard me. "Don't worry about me, I brought a
sleeping bag, and I'll find a spare couch. I only sleep a
few hours every night anyway."
"You didn't have to come," Annie said. "We could have
handled it, but I'm sure glad you did."
The place was a beehive. Luggage was being put away, and
Barbara, with Annie and Tina helping, was getting the the
tons of food she brought organized. I relaxed by the fire
and watched. For a bunch of fugitives, we were going to be
living pretty damned well.
I looked over the group. Eric was everyplace, laughing,
teasing. Ron and Jason were in the kitchen, helping out and
keeping the ladies laughing. The other two pilots looked
like they didn't know what to do with themselves, and the
four security guys seemed totally lost.
The activity died down. The security team went up to the
loft after telling us that one would be on duty after the
rest of us turned in.
The rest migrated to the sofas around the fireplace. Tina
joined Eric and me on one, Kevin with his arm around Annie on
another, and Ron and Jason, being almost family, on another.
The two new pilots hung back until I beckoned them to join us.
"Might as well get used to this crazy family," I told them.
"You're going to be seeing a lot of us."
When the noise in the kitchen stopped, I called Barbara over
too. "We don't stand on formality around here," I told her.
"We're pretty much isolated up here," Eric explained to the
newcomers. "No TV, no radio. All we've got is the phone.
We do, however, have a killer music system and a ton of CD's."
"What're your plans?" I asked Ron.
"As soon as it's light, and warms up a little, we plan to be
on our way back. There's a weather front moving in tomorrow
afternoon, and we want to be out of here before it hits.
We'll be on call to come get you whenever you're ready."
"I wonder if they've caught Mom yet," Annie said. "I know
she's nuts, but I didn't thing she'd ever go that far. The
idea of that gun in her purse makes me shiver."
"We'll find out more in the morning," Eric said. "Metalco
Security are the only ones who know where we are, and
they're, for sure, not talking."
It was getting really late, and I, for one, was ready for
bed. I got up and Eric followed. We said good night to
everyone and headed for our bedroom.
There was a fire burning in our bedroom fireplace so we
undressed with only the firelight. In bed, Eric commented,
"Not enough light for any 'bedtime reading'. You're holding
out on me. Got some hot stuff?"
"It might be," I told him as I felt his hand grip me.
"Don't think we need it tonight," he commented as I began to
harden. "But what is it, anyway?"
"Those Milton brothers make me nervous, so I'm finding out
everything I can about them, and I do mean everything. This
is the first report, and since it's written, it probably
isn't anything earth shattering. If it were anything hot,
I'd have gotten it verbally."
"Who's doing it for you?" he asked.
"You don't want to know who's doing it, or what they're doing.
I don't even know myself. It's being handled arms-length so
there's no way it can ever be traced back to us. I'm pretty
sure that not all the methods they're using are exactly
legal. I just felt it'd be safer to have as much ammunition
as possible should we ever need it."
"Now you've really got me curious."
"It'll wait until tomorrow," I said. "I think there are a
couple of other things that need attention right now."
"Think you can keep fairly quiet?" he giggled as he moved
down my body.
"I'll try," I laughed, as his mouth slid over the head of my
dick.
All thoughts of the Miltons and our current perdicament
dissolved as he went to work on me. Having his long dick
throbbing in my hand heightened the sensations.
There was no fooling around. It was one of those times when
lingering wasn't called for. I tried to muffle my vocal
reaction, but don't know if I succeeded when he quickly
brought me to a shattering climax.
As soon as I was capable of movement, I returned the favor.
He was ready, and almost totally silent as he writhed and I
drank every drop.
The smell of fresh coffee awoke me. It seemed barely light,
but when I glanced at the window, I knew why. It was
snowing, hard.
Eric was still sleeping peacefully, so I got out of bed
carefully and slipped into some clothes silently.
When I opened the door into the great room, all I could see
was white. From the looks of the deck, it had already snowed
more than a foot and was still coming down.
The pilots were seated around the table, grinning. "Looks
like you're going to have to put up with us for a while,"
Jason commented.
"Looks like that storm got here a little sooner than you
expected," I answered.
"Yeah, and there's another one right behind it, even bigger,
according to the weather service."
"Might as well relax and enjoy it," I said as I poured myself
a cup of coffee.
"It'd be a little more comfortable if we had more than one
change of clothes. We've all decided, this morning, that
with all the shit you get us into, we're all going to leave
three or four changes on the plane at all times," he said,
laughing.
"Are the planes OK in this kind of weather?" I asked.
"Do you know how cold it is outside at 40,000 feet?" Ron
asked.
"Not really," I said.
"About sixty below. This is the tropics by comparison.
They're fine."
"According to the airport, they're not even going to try to
clear the runway until the next storm passes," Jason put
in. "That may be days, and even then it'll take them a while
to get it cleared enough for us to take off. We need every
inch they've got."
"Would you like breakfast?" Barbara asked.
"I think I'll wait for Eric," I said. "Where's everybody
else?"
"The kids are still sleeping," Ron said, "and the security
guys are out checking out the territory. I believe it's
called 'reconnoitering'."
"My, such big words so early in the morning," Jason teased
him.
The other two pilots, Rich and Joe, hadn't said a word, just
watching and listening. I decided to do something about
that. "Hey guys, loosen up," I told them. "As you can see
from these two assholes," indicating Ron and Jason, "we're
pretty informal. Relax, we're family."
"We'll try," Joe said. "It'll take a little getting used
to. Where I was brought up, the hired help stayed in the
background."
"Not with Dave," Ron said. "He's a regular guy, and not only
is he my employer, but I consider him a good friend."
Eric wandered out, looking barely awake.
"Damn, it looks cold out there," he said, wandering over to
get some coffee and sit next to me.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Jason jibed.
Eric's response was to stick his tongue out at him, which
even got shy Joe and Rich laughing.
"Well, what's the plan?" Eric asked. "Looks like we're
snowed in."
"Maybe somebody ought to call home and find out what's going
on," I suggested.
"I'll do it," Eric said, perking up.
The only phone was over by our bedroom. Eric dialed,
listened a few minutes then came back. "Only local calls,
outside lines are down. Anybody got a cell phone that works."
"Mine does," Jason said. "It's on satellite." He handed it
to Eric.
He punched buttons, was evidently put through to Metalco
Security, then listened. After a while, he gave whoever it
was the number of Jason's cell phone and hung up.
"Not much news," he said. "They haven't nabbed Georgia yet.
The police have taken the truck out of the front door and
impounded it, and repairs to the house are underway. They've
tightened up security around the house and put a concrete
barrier in the driveway so no more trucks, or anything for
that matter, can get through."
"They check out the gun?" I asked.
"Unregistered and no fingerprints," he said. "I think that's
kinda strange. They're going to call us if there are any
developments."
"Hey," Jason said, "you wouldn't happen to have a snomobile
stashed around here anyplace, would you?"
"Sorry, no," I told him. "We usually only come up here in the
summer. I think the caretaker's got a snow-cat, though. Let
me call him."
Since the regular phone worked for local, I gave it a try. I
got him, and he was chuckling. "Wondered when I'd be hearing
from you," he said.
Laughing too, I told him "We've got just about everything we
need except transportation."
"The roads won't get plowed for another day or two, at
least. I've got a couple of snomobiles, want to use them?"
"Could we?" I asked.
"I'll have my kids bring 'em over, and bring along some extra
gas," he said.
"I really appreciate that," I told him.
I went back over to the table. "The caretaker is sending a
couple of snomobiles over. Maybe somebody should tell the
security guys so they don't shoot 'em."
"I'll let them know," Ron volunteered.
"By the way, does anybody know how to run one of those
things?" I asked.
"I used to have one," Rich said. "Nothing to it."
Eric and I dug into breakfast.
"You guys'll probably want to run into town and do some
shopping," I said. "I don't know what kind of stores they
have, but who knows? You all have Company credit cards. Use
them."
I turned to Barbara. "Do you need anything?"
"I could use a few things, nothing major," she said. "I'll
make a list."
"Jason, do you have a charger for your phone?" I asked.
"It's our only link out."
"It's in the plane," he said. "Shit."
"We have satellite phones too," Joe said, "and I've got my
charger with me. I can keep everybody charged up," he added
with a leer.
"I'll bet you could!" Eric commented, dryly.
The brats slowly came out of hibernation, and after hearing
the latest and getting something to eat, went outside to
"explore".
Eric and I decided to be lazy - sit in front of the fire and
watch the snow fall. It was so peaceful.
The security guys came in and reported that they'd found a
vantage point where they could watch the whole area, and
would be manning it in shifts around the clock.
The snomobiles were delivered, and the four pilots headed for
the resort down the road to shop. Jason left his phone with
Eric.
Eric reminded me about our "bedtime reading", so I got the
envelope out.
Whoever had prepared the report had done a very professional
job. First was a summary of findings, then a log of the
activities of both Edward and John. Evidently their phones
had been tapped because incoming and outgoing calls were
included. Those were headed with the number called, if
outgoing, the duration of the call, and a brief summary of
what was said. Following that was a note stating "full
transcription available."
Their movements were all logged. Where they went, who they
saw, and a surprising amount of detail.
"You've got some real pros doing this," Eric commented as he
read along with me. "Must be costing you a bloody fortune!"
I didn't pick up on any real "meat" from it. It appeared
that the Miltons were just a couple of old men who didn't
have much of a social life. Nothing suspicious and certainly
no lurid conduct.
"How dull," was Eric's only comment. I agreed.
With nothing better to do, I scanned the report a second
time. This time I picked up on something that piqued my
curiosity. Edward had met a "Tony Rizullo" for lunch.
Rizullo had been identified by his license plates when he
left the meeting. Somehow, somebody with a name like that
just didn't fit with Edward. As WASPish as he was, what was
he doing meeting somebody like that for lunch?
I made a note in the margin to have "Tony" checked out. When
I mentioned what I'd found to Eric, he agreed that it was
kind of odd.
Jason's phone buzzing broke the silence. Eric answered and
listened.
When he switched it off, he gave me the latest. They'd caught
Georgia. More aptly, she'd caught herself. From her hotel
room, she'd called the police to report that her purse had
been stolen. It hadn't taken them long to pick her up. She
then had gone literally berserk when they arrested her, and
after booking, would be given psychiatric evaluation
immediately. They were only able to charge her with lesser
crimes, so she'd be eligible for bail as soon as the
examinations were made, assuming that she was declared sane.
I pondered the news. Something wasn't right here. Georgia
did some strange things, but I didn't think she was nuts in
the true sense. Depressed, maybe, but not clinically
insane. But then, she attacked Nancy at the office
yesterday... I really wasn't sure. To drive a truck into
the house didn't make any sense at all!
The troops filtered back in. The kids had to change into dry
clothes, and the pilots had new ones to put on. It was the
cocktail hour.
"We cranked up the hot tub," Jason announced. "Since it was
empty, it might be ready to use in a few hours."
They wouldn't be flying for a day or two, so joined us for a
drink.
Annie and Tina were relieved to hear that their mother was in
custody, but wanted a private chat with Eric and I.
"What do you think'll happen next?" Tina wanted to know.
"I don't know," I admitted. "At least we know where she is
at the minute, and if they let her out, we'll have somebody
following her all the time, so I think you can relax."
"That's sure a relief," Annie said. "Maybe they'll find out
what's wrong with her, and maybe she'll get the help that she
so desperately needs."
"That'd be nice," Tina said, "but don't plan on it."
"What do we do now?" Annie asked.
"Actually, I think it'd be safe to go home," I said. "But
we're snowed in. We won't be able to get out of here for at
least another day or two, so I suggest we just make the most
of it. What do you think, Eric?"
"I agree. We can go home as soon as there's any way out of
here, but, in the meantime, let's have fun."
That out of the way, we rejoined the others. The dinner that
Barbara was cooking smelled mighty good.
With the danger lifted, everyone relaxed. The booze flowed
freely, and the mood really changed.
Dinner was fun again. Even the guards, with a little
cajoling, joined us.
Then the goddam cell phone rang again. Eric got up and moved
away from the table so he could hear. I watched him. His
brows furrowed and he kept shaking his head. Finally he
called the security chief over and gave him the phone. Then
he beckoned for me to join him.
We went into the bedroom and behind a closed door, Eric told
me what had happened. He wanted me to know first and decide
how much to share with the others. What he had to say
shocked me to the core. We discussed developments and
concluded that we should tell everyone everything. It was
only fair.
When we came out, the security chief was waiting for us.
"May I make an announcement?" he asked me. "It regards
security, not what happened. That's up to you."
"I think you'd better," I told him.
Eric and I sat down at the table again. There was silence.
The security chief stood at the end of the table. "I have an
announcement to make," he started. "Due to developments at
home, we're going on full alert. I assure you that this is
serious, and every precaution will be taken. I must ask all
of you to remain indoors at least until morning, and then, if
you decide to go out, you'll be escorted by one of us. I'm
sorry about this, but it's necessary and we'll appreciate
your cooperation."
The other guards rose from the table and followed him to the
loft. Two of them quickly came back down, this time carrying
automatic rifles.
To be continued.
--------------------------------------------------------------
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