With This Ring

 

By

 

Retta Michaels

 

Preface

 

Notes From Retta:

 

Dear Reader,

 

In a lot of my writing, I've never felt the need to write a preface. With this story, I want you to know what to expect. For me, the story is a mixture of a whole lot of truth and a whole lot of fiction.

 

For me to explain it, I must sit and tell you what my conceptual plans were for the novel

 

IN LIFE, we are not given a set list of directions and plans how to complete it. Some people don't like the unknown, so they don't take any foreign steps into different territories. With others, they know no structure.

 

Rather than having a nameless character out there who could sue the fuck out of me for even inferring they're a member of the mafia, I chose to go personal and use my own name. It's a lot less messy and a lot more friendly for my lawyer.

 

I am not a member of the mafia. I will not say I do not know a lot of the family members from several cities, but I am not a member myself.

 

I will state at one time I was with a man named Gino who headed a crime family. He's since passed and this story has been released with permission and editing done by his son who is still a dear friend of mine. (Thanks Dave.)

 

The names I've used in the story besides my own are ficticious. The names have been changed to protect everyone. Where names weren't important, I have not used them.

 

I have given enough references to who the person is so if you can read between the lines, you can see who they are. With that said, I will not say more about the characters.

 

 

 

The story is made up. It is totally ficticious. None of the incidents happened, and nothing of the sort ever occurred. If you choose to believe it did happen, and if you choose to believe it's true, then that's on you. I will state now if I receive an email asking me if such and such part is true, I'll be polite and refer you to the Preface and leave it at that.

 

The reason I'm writing this preface is because I want people to know when I write, I write fiction with an air of the style of writing used by the National Enquirer or the Sun. There's an air of truth in there someplace, but it's actually fiction. If you choose to believe it's truth, then do so...I've got about twenty acres of swamp land I'll sell you  and someplace on that land is a complimentary Iphone. If you can find it, it's yours.

 

With that said, I'll now state the characters of this story will probably be used time and time again. I think I've found a niche in this style of writing. I'll tell you now, it's done in the style of Mack Bolan “The Executioner”, James Bond, or Scarface.

 

“With This Ring” is the first book of the saga. It shows how someone can go from leading a normal life wanting to lead a normal life to being thrown into a complex cast of characters which require him to be more and more of what he doesn't want to be.

 

I hope you enjoy the story.

 

 

Disclaimer:

 

If you are dumb enough to believe this story is true, please stop, shut off your computer, and go to the nearest mirror to repeatedly slap yourself back into reality. You'll thank yourself afterward, I assure you.

 

IF you are below the age of 18, please don't read the stories on here. Your presence jeopardizes those of us who do so legally.

 

Personal Disclaimer:

 

People, places, events, and locations in this story are fictitious. If you believe them to be true, please go to the first paragraph up under the disclaimer section and do so thrice.

 

Now, please enjoy.

 

With This Ring

Chapter Fifteen:

 

As soon as the plane touched down at KCI, I was on the phone telling them we'd be there in a moment. The smile in his voice was evident he was happy to see me as I was to be back in the city.

 

When the plane taxied up to the private hangar, the steps wheeled over and as soon as we stopped, they were opening the door for us to disembark.

 

Robert smiled at me and did the tired teen walk of stiff legs and rubbing eyes.

 

“Hon, we're here. You ready to eat?”

 

“Yeah, dad told me we were going to eat a lot.”

 

“Oh yeah, did you ever go on rounds with Michael?”

 

“No, he didn't let me do anything with him.”

 

“Well, this time it's different. What I need for you to know is the inter-city rivalry is going to be strong tonight. Some things might get said which are insensitive, but as soon as they're said, I'll really be on someone's ass  over it. IF you hear anything I don't, you be sure to let me know.”

 

“Why they going to say anything?”

 

“Because when we held that trial over here and Gino didn't get his man, it was a huge blow to egos. When I finally got the guy, it was a huge boost to us. Me getting St. Louis under us and gaining that territory where the one battle probably will take care of the problems is a huge thing.”

 

“They're not going to look at my dad as being good.”

 

“No, they're not going to look at Michael as being good. From here on out, we are your dads. In Kansas City, we're to be seen as your dads or this thing will explode all over  you.”

 

“That's stupid.”

 

“Hon, think of it this way. You can either drag your dad's bad memories with you clear into New York where they really won't be seen as good, or you can drop them and make your own which are good. It's entirely up to you.”

 

“No one's going to bug me over it?”

 

“They better not. IF they do, I'll be all over them like you wouldn't believe.”

 

He nodded and said, “Where are we going now?”

 

“We're going to Gino's. We'll do the tour there and then, we'll get in the Rolls and go touring while the guys in the limo follow.”

 

“Why don't we just ride in the limo?”

 

“Several reasons. First of all, I hate it. Second of all, running around with a bunch of goons looks like you're pretty weak. And, it gives them something to worry about.”

 

He smiled.

 

“Hon, if you look at it, a bomb can take out a limo just fine. It doesn't matter if there are ten guys in it or forty. They're all scrambled hamburger when they tow it off.”

 

“Gross.”

 

“Yeah, thank God we're not eating any of that tonight.”

 

He smiled and said, “We going to eat good food?”

 

“Yeah, but let me give you a pointer I did with Steve. When you're tasting, take a glass of ice water and you put the water in your mouth or an ice cube and you hold it there while you're tasting. It'll keep your mouth from getting scalded.”

 

“Food will be that hot?”


“Yeah, you'll be eating right off the grill or off the stove at a lot of places.”

 

“Oh man! Good food and lots of it!”

 

Steve smiled at me and I said, “Pace yourself, it's going to be a long night.”

 

During the limo ride we talked about where we were going. We turned into the alley to go towards the back of the house. The car hit the incline going into the garage and I braced myself. Steve, yelled and Robert screamed. When the car lurched, his butt went sliding off the leather seat.

 

“What the hell!”

 

“Hon, it's a built in safety thing so we're not ambushed.”

 

“That's crazy!”

 

I smiled. “They're not going to do it different than that, so get used to it. The first few dozen times it happened to me, were insane because I usually had open drinks in my hands or between my legs. They went flying and it was a mess.”

 

“Tell them to change it.”

 

“Hon, you'll learn something. If something is give as a direct order from a boss, it's not going to ever be repealed if it's a safety issue.”

 

“This one is nuts!”

 

“Not when you think about it. Now come on, let's go over and get on the elevator so we can tour the house.”

 

We got on the elevator and when it stopped at the first floor, I hit the light switch which brought up soft lights. Robert was looking around with his mouth open. “Cool!”

 

Steve said, “You weren't kidding about a castle.”

 

“This is just the first floor. If you look, you'll see it's not that big.”

 

“Not Big! You could put our whole house in this room!” said Robert.

 

I smiled. “Come on, let's go on towards the front so I can give you the tour from the front door.”

 

“Dad! This room has three fireplaces in it I can stand up in!”

 

“He saw that someplace at someone else's house. He thought he had to have it.”

 

Steve said, “Biltmore.”

 

“No, when I came on the scene construction stopped. Enough was enough.”

 

Steve smiled at me and I said, “It's a joke. I know what you meant.”

 

We got to the front grand hallway and I said, “That's the stairway. It's big, and you can ride a motorcycle up and down the thing, but it's not advisable.”

 

“You've done it?”

 

“Let's say someone did once and every bone he's had since then has been broken at least once. Thank God your aunt didn't stay with him.

             Over here is the dining room. As you can see, it's on the scale with the house. It's small and not as big as the one across the way, but it's still huge.”

Steve walked to the kitchen and said, “Oh man, this is awesome.”

 

“See! I told you!”

 

“Hon, you talked and talked and talked and I had no idea. My God this is a man's kitchen!”

 

“And now, go over to the sink and then walk to the fridge. See, it's perfect steps. Now, go to the stove. Not a half step in it. He measured things and then remeasured because when a person is carrying a heavy stock pot, they take smaller steps. Perfection down to the smallest detail.”

 

“If we had this kitchen, I'd not want to eat out.”

 

“We're going to have it, but look at this.”

 

I took them down the hall way. “This is the walk in cooler. It's the same as a fridge, but just room sized. This one here is a walk in freezer. This one is a wine cooler/cellar and the last down here is for cut flowers. Then, we get to the back where I'd love to have a deck, but by the time you run clear down here you're worn out. And look where the entrance is for the back dining room. If you're cooking up there in the kitchen, it's a good seventy foot walk.”

 

Steve nodded and said, the scale of things doesn't get to you because it seems homey, but that hallway is forever long.”

 

“Each one of those coolers is fourteen feet across.”

 

“Man! The electric bill has to be immense.”

 

“Not! You're forgetting who has the power company under them.”

 

Steve smiled and said, “That's why you want Robert to have his own power production.”

 

“Yeah, if you don't have to answer for it and you're paid to supply them, then it's a lot better.

             Let's take the elevator up to the second floor and then you'll see the bedrooms.”

 

We rode up and when we exited off, Steve looked at the hallway and said, “That elevator looks like it was made to be there.”

 

“It was a window dumbwaiter system. If you looked at it from the hallway, you'd see a door and if you opened the door, you'd see a chair with a guy sitting there and his whole entire job was to take things off the dumbwaiter and deliver them to the rooms whether they be breakfast, or laundry.”

 

Robert said, “Man! That's all he did all day?”

 

“Yeah. Boring as hell if you asked me. It'd be like solitary confinement. BUT, what we did was we took that out and we put in the elevator for Mee-maw. The guy who had the dumbwaiter job got transferred over to something equally as boring and just as well paid.”

 

“What was that?”

 

“He's the lifeguard for a swimming pool no one swims in except me.”

 

“Huh!”

 

“Yeah. Gino had the swimming pool built with the conservatory because he wanted it to look good. I'll show it to  you and you're going to really be blown away.”

 

Steve said, “If you're saying it's nice after downplaying this house, I'm not sure what to think.”

 

“Think Caesars Gardens at Caesar's Palace and you'll have it in mind for what you'll see. It's insane the money he let me spend.

             First of all, let me show you the bedrooms and then I'll let you know which one you absolutely can't sleep in.”

 

Steve looked down the hall and said, “All these doors are bedrooms?”

 

“No, some of them are bathrooms. You'll get the pattern. The reason there are doors to the baths is because Gino's daughter thought it was beneath her to see a servant go in and draw her bath. So, they built doors to the bathrooms from the hall over it.”

 

“That's a bit much.”

 

“Nothing's too much for his little girl who left home and never came to visit.”

 

Steve said, “Your voice tells me you're less than impressed with her.”

 

“She's not my family. Dave can be made to put up with her, but not me. I doubt if she ever calls the house here, but if she does, she's to know she's not welcome. She got what she was after and we've recovered.”

 

I showed them the bedroom. Robert saw the white and gold one and said, “Oh man, I want this one!”

 

“It's yours.”

 

Steve asked, “I'm going to ask, but that's all real gold, isn't it.”

 

“Hon, what's not gold is gold leaf. What you see that looks like marble is marble. No expense was spared. If it looks real, it probably is in this house. If you see, up there in the curtains, those are real diamonds.”

 

“Jeez! I never even noticed.”

 

“When the sunlight hits them just right, they make a prism effect. He saw it once someplace, so it had to be in this room.”

 

“All of them are different?”

 

“Yeah, but ours is the most spectacular.”

 

“Where's it at?”

 

“Come, I'll show you.”

 

We went across the hall and I said, “When you go in, you just think of a king's hunting lodge and you'll see what I mean.”

 

“Oh man, I'm thinking already.”

 

We went in and Steve's breath caught. “Oh man! Are those real?”

 

“All of them. When you wake up, it's lions and tigers and bear....oh my! If you look up, you see rafters  and pheasant, grouse, turkey, partridge, and a cougar up there crouched. Over there is a wolf, ass, bison, gazelle, and God knows what else on the walls. ”

 

“And you don't have nightmares in this room?”

 

“I was the one that thought it up. He had all these down there in the living room and I wanted it to be a bit better down there. This is what I got for the trade off.”

 

“Man, this is impressive.”

 

“That bed there is real.”

 

“It is?”

 

“Yeah, the castings for the swans were specially made. The Gold is over Silver which is over Nickel, I believe. It's heavy as hell and it'll take a crew of guys to move it. ”

 

“Jeez”

 

“Come on, you've not seen the bathroom.”

 

“I'm almost afraid to ask.”

 

“It's only believed when seen.”

 

We went in and his breath caught. I said, “The stones for that waterfall are real. The weight of them had to have the floor reinforced with I beam steel. The marble tiles on the floor here is custom. If your shoes were off, you'd feel rounded edges instead of square. Underneath they're heated so nothing is left to you possibly having cold feet. Over there behind those rocks in the waterfall are the spray heads coming out. The water is preset and motion activated so when you step in, they automatically turn on.”

 

“Oh hon, this house is awesome.”

 

“As I said, the replacement value of it would be through the roof expensive.”

 

“I bet!”

 

Robert came into the bedroom. “Oh man!”

 

Steve chuckle, “The kid saw all the livestock.”

 

I laugh and said, “He probably wants to know when we're going to eat.”

 

 We turned around and Steve saw the commode. “Is that real?”

 

“Yeah. Hand carved and the swans match the bed.”

 

“Had to have cost a fortune.”

 

“I didn't ask. He didn't tell. He just wrote the checks and I spent the money.”

 

“He let you have anything?”

 

“He got to show it off and everyone loved it.”

 

“I'd say! and this was all that long ago?.”

 

“Yeah. There's not much up here to see except the third floor. It's servant's rooms and they're not as nice as this.”

 

Robert asked, “Can we see the swimming pool and then go eat?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Steve said, “You never brought your swimming suit.”

 

I winked and said, “You'll see what the rules are about that.”

 

We rode the elevator down and when we got to the basement, I said, “Over here are the doors. They weren't there but the smell of chlorine was really getting into the house.”

 

I walked over and the doors automatically slid open. The lights in the pool area all turned on and the fountains kicked on. The guys followed me in and as soon as Steve and Robert saw it, they just stopped.

 

Steve said, “That's all Gold!”

 

“No! It's gold plated. The fountains are all copies. That's Poseidon and the water heads they spray are all specially made. They used to spray just straight streams, but if you got hit with one, you sure knew it.”

 

“Hon, he gave you the city because of this room. He knew you had the tastes of royalty and needed the budget.”

 

I smiled and said, “He never bitched.”

 

“He was too busy paying the bills!”

 

Robert laughed and said, “It's cool! Look, it's a slide!” He took off and I said, “Hey!”

 

He stopped and I said, “About another six feet and you would have gotten wet. It's all motion activated. Look to your right.”

 

He looked and said, “Oh man!”

 

Steve asked, “What's he seeing?”

 

“Kids area.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Let me go deactivate the autos and we' can walk around.”

 

“You really went all out.”

 

“The guy out at Caesar's Palace was real kind in showing me things. He got me turned onto motion activated automatic things, so I used them. I went over to a panel on the wall and pulled the control switch for the pumps. The fountains and all the pumps got shut off.”

 

We went walking and Steve said, “The pool rule up there. You made it?”

 

“That's the only rule. Clothing is not an option!”

 

“What about running?”

 

“The granite and marble in here is treated to be skid resistant and not be slick when wet. It was hard because it can't be shiny like the rest when it's done.”

 

We went over and I showed him the kids area. “This is all real?”

 

“Hon, you have a Merry Go Round, a dolphin ride, the boats, and the water whips. All of them are made so they can be wet and kids can have fun. I'd love to have one of those boat style mini ferris wheels in here, but getting it in would require dismantling the roof.”

 

“There's enough to keep them occupied.

 

“Come on, I'll show you what all we have.”

 

We walked towards the fountain. “Robert saw the slide built in. He didn't see the backside of it. This is the jacuzzi which can seat forty people. The water is heated and pumped so it never gets too hot and doesn't ever get cloudy. Those tiles there are all marble and there are three levels down. You sit up at the top and it goes waist deep. IF you go the next step down, it's just below your nipples. The next step down is your neck level.

             What you don't see is a high powered suction like a lot of jacuzzi's have. People have drowned with them, so we never had one. What you have here is the jets coming in and the water being heated. Over under the fountain, you'll see the overflow goes out to the swimming pool. The intakes are over there on the pool side.

             Built into the wall are the dressing rooms. They're nothing more than marble bathrooms built into the hillside. They're heated and the lights in it are infrared so the marble isn't ever cool to the touch.”

 

Steve just walked and shook his head. “Hon, this is amazing.”

 

“Yeah, all of the fixtures and all of those little hooks where you can put a bathrobe are gold. Up there in the roof, you'll see the real sky. During the day time, you can lay out here and get sunburned just like outside except you can do it in December here.

             From the street, you don't see a thing except bushes. We made it so we'd never draw a crowd.”

 

“What about all those houses seeing in.”

 

“Gino was really paranoid about that. He seemed to think they could see in. I'll tell you you get out there so far and you can't see a thing. Just the same, he bought all the houses, so they're people who are working for us.”

 

“Amazing.”

 

“Yeah, let's go over to Mee-maw's house and then we'll get going.”

 

We went over and the air changed as soon as we went into her basement.

 

Steve asked, “Did I just feel the air change?”

 

“Yeah, over there it was all heated even the basement. She didn't believe in heating a basement. She said she'd get heat when she got to the pool...nevermind the fact Gino had it arranged and it was all free.”

 

Steve laughed. “Hon, she wasn't going to waste.”

 

“No, but here's what I had to do so things would be good. You see those walls?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Because the moisture would come in here heated, it'd hit the cool air and we'd find the walls just wet. The floor would be slick, so what it took was the walls getting painted with swimming pool paint and the concrete getting treated with the sandpaper paint which was a real mess. Still, things were a problem because it'd get to the floor joists and would drip. That moisture caused mildew and it's just a real problem.”

 

“What did you do?”

 

“Come here. I'll show you what I did. IF she ever knew, she never let on, but it was the only way I could do things.”

 

I took him over and behind her elevator was a hard wired dehumidifier of industrial proportions.


Steve laughed. “That thing probably draws as much power as the furnace!”

 

“Yeah, but she got what she wanted and I got what I wanted. We were both happy.”

 

We got on the elevator and rode up. As soon as we entered, Steve said, “Oh man, this is way different than the other house.”

 

“Yes, and it's the way the Hannibal little house is decorated with the exception of the kitchen which is like that one over there.”

 

He nodded. “This is nice.”

 

“Yes, and I think it'd be perfect for your mom and Dave.”

 

“Mom would love it.”

 

“I know.  What we've got to do is get her over here.”

 

Steve nodded and said, “Hon, if I don't get Governor, I think we should move here. I'm in love with the house and think it's all awesome what do you think Robert?”

 

Robert smiled and said, “My bedroom here is more awesome than I've ever seen one. That pool out there is enough to get me and my brothers and sisters to never leave it. I vote we just stay here.”

 

I laughed and said, “Hon, we'll be here a lot but we do have to run the cities and get you trained.  Let's go so we can go do rounds?”

 

Robert asked, “What time is it?”

 

“Probably seven or so. We'll have about three hours of rounds and then, we'll be back home fat as a tick.”

 

We went down in the elevator and I took us over to the Rolls. “This Rolls was once the proudest possession I think Gino ever had. He built all this and still didn't think he could afford one. I told him to get one and he thought he couldn't. To him, it was something only the rich people drove. He failed to realize he was rich.

             When I went to college, we bought him this one since I had put so many miles on the last one. ”

 

I opened the door and said, “The way it goes is once he got one, he then was afraid to drive it. I drove it and he'd get upset that I never had my guards. So, what he did was he put in a homing transmitter that beaconed out wherever it went. On the garage door, you'll hear a slight tone when it opens. It tells the guards we're leaving and they should already be on the move.

             What you never saw upstairs are any servants. They stay out of sight until that alarm happens and then, it's like a fire station with an alarm happening. What you'll see if you look is by the time we make it to the end of that alley, that limo will be rolling out of the garage at top speed.”

 

Robert laughed and Steve said, “You've got them choreographed down.”

 

“I've tried sneaking away so many times I finally decided to see how much of a lead I had on them.”

 

“You were a typical teenager.”

 

“Yeah, but he loved me and put up with so much bull it was incredible.”

 

I hit the garage door opener and drove out. When I got to the end of the alley, Robert said, “You were right! It's on us now!”

 

“They know we're headed to Bates, What you'll see is them beat us there.”

 

“How!” Steve asked.

 

“You'll see. We have one way streets. Since I follow the laws, they'll beat us because they'll pull that limo up going the wrong way.”

 

Steve laughed. “They're paid to protect you at all costs, huh!”

 

“Yeah. I value them now, but it wasn't always that way.”

 

“Why?” asked Robert.

 

“Let's see. I went to college and there were four guys there guarding me. Try to meet someone with four guys bigger than the football team's guys lurking over you.”

 

Steve laughed and we pulled up in front of Bates. The limo was facing toward's us. The guards were all standing out in front.

 

“Hi guys! Glad you could make it!”

 

“Rhette, you should let us know.”

 

“I had to see if your response time was as good as ever. You're on top of things.   Whatever you do, let the kid live, but you protect him with your lives. Steve here has a weapon under his left arm. He's licensed to carry, but just the same, you protect him as if you were protecting me....by keeping a twenty five foot distance.

             We'll be in the kitchen, so you might want to have someone out back.”

 

“Thanks Rhette. You're working with us better.”

 

“I'm trying now. I've got these guys which mean the world to me.”

 

“I told Gino we needed to get you a dog.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Steve said, “If you'd had a dog, you would have protected it like you are us.”

 

I turned to the guy and said, “It's a shame, but I never knew what I had until it was gone. Now I don't want to lose what I've got. I'll work with you guys, but you best protect them.”

 

“We will.”

 

We went in and Steve started moaning from the smells. Robert said, “I can eat as much as I want here?”

 

“Yeah, but we've got a lot of stops. Save room.”

 

I went over and hugged everyone. As soon as Mr Bates got through helping a customer, he turned to me and gave me a huge hug. “Baby! How are you!”

 

“I'm well and you're looking awesome as ever.”

 

“You're filling me full of shit.”

 

“No!”

 

He laughed and said, “You look different.”

 

“I'm older and have had a lot of plastic surgery. A lot of water under the bridge, but I'm back.”

 

“And welcome more than ever.”

 

“Guess what?”

 

“What!”

 

“I made this my first stop because I've got to give you the good news personally.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You're now able to be in. We're allowing everyone to come in.”


“Really!”

 

“Yes. I'm going to be running things and that's the first thing I did was allow women and minorities in. I think it's bullshit they wouldn't let you in before, but that's now changed.”

 

“Honey, you've made my day!”

 

“Well, I know if it had been permitted, Gino would have allowed it. He never had the option. Things have changed and I'm now making the decisions, so guess who got it changed?”

 

He laughed real big and said, “My boys have the kitchen hopping. Someone said you wanted vegetables grilled. They never told me how many, so I've got them all cooking them until you tell me to stop.”

 

“Stop! I just wanted enough for breakfast omelets! Jeesh, you've probably made enough for my whole life time!”

 

He laughed and said, “No, I'm playing a joke. They told me.”


I hugged him and said, “Oh man, I know the way they cook back there. That thought was frightening. Remember all them fucking fried turkeys?”

 

He laughed and said, “I swear they didn't mean to throw them at you!”

 

“It was funny looking back, but at the time, I sure wasn't happy. Getting turkey grease out of my hair was hell.”

 

We went to the back and I started hugging everyone. I stopped and said, “Robert, Steve, these people are the best family members you'll ever meet. They'll remember your face and once you're family to them, it's not likely they'll ever let you down.

             This guy over here saw me with a flat tire. He drove twenty three miles to the next exit and back to the past exit and up just to help me. That is the kind of family these guys are.

             When you're here, you're a part of their family. Hug them, love them, and know you're home. If you feel like cooking in here, beware. They'll work you just like you're family.”

 

Mr Bates let out a huge laugh and said, “Baby, you're not changed. You're still my pet.”

 

I hugged him and said, “Let's get my boy fed. You're not going to believe how much he'll put away.”

 

He laughed and said, “I had to open a restaurant to feed mine at that age.”

 

“Oh man, that's got to be a chore. Thank goodness they're all old enough to have made it through.”

 

“Yes, and look out front. All those waiters are my grandkids.”

 

“No!”

 

“Yes! There's sixteen of them. We brought them in and they all make more than I ever did in tips.”

 

“OH, I've got to go out and meet them.”

 

I took a strip on a stick and started munching. “Baby, I've got two huge sacks of those for you. We've got the original and the spicy.”

 

“Mmmm, oh man, that's spicy. Did you ever get brave enough to make it like I wanted it?”

 

“They won't eat it. My boys say they've ate hot stuff before, but you like it too hot.”

 

“It's only green chilis. If I used something hotter, it'd be good, but the green chilis are nice if you don't leave any seeds. The heat is in the seeds.”

 

Steve came up munching on a strip on a stick. “Hon, these are wonderful.”

 

“Tell him. It's his sauce. You see this how busy it is out here?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It's that way every night year in and year out. For him to have a family moment, he's got to advertise so he can have help those nights. It's insane. He'll have to put it on the schedule to die.”

Mr Bates laughed and said, “I scheduled it, but they called me in to work!”

 

Steve laughed and we went around hugging Mr Bates grandkids. What's interesting is when my name got mentioned, people stood up and started applauding. Steve gave me a look which had tears in his eyes. He turned and hugged Mr Bates who was also misty eyed.

 

We did the rounds and when I got back to the kitchen, I saw Robert munching away. “Man, these ribs are good!”

 

Four of Mr Bates sons were all laughing. “He's just like you Rhette! We don't know where he's puttin' it!”

 

“Oh man, I tell ya! We started a buffet at home because he eats us out of house and home, but still he's eating a lot.”

 

Robert said, “Can I take some of these home?”

 

“Hon, you have to ask Mr. Bates. You see my sacks, so I think he will. BUT, the deal you've got to make is to tell everyone this is the best bar b que you've ever eaten.”

 

Robert smiled and said, “Deal! Because it's true!”

 

Mr Bates laughed and said, “Robert, here is a bag for you. You take what you want and you put it in. When your bag gets to rattling, you know it's time to come back for a refill.”

 

Robert laughed and said, “I'll be your bag boy!”

 

Everyone laughed and said, “You just don't be a stranger.”

 

Steve came over and was munching on a scorched onion. “Even the onions are good.”

 

I nodded and said, “That's why I wanted the veggies from here. They put them over the coals and just let them cook until you know they're done. It's the same with everything.”

 

We took the bags and I gave Mr Bates a hug. “Friday, we're having an induction ceremony and a memorial service. I'd like for you and your boys to be there. I want them all to be members of my family.”

 

He smiled and said, “I'll be there and I'll have them there. You're making things right and I'm so thankful for it.”

 

“Hon, you're my people. I can't let you down.”

 

He hugged me and said, “I feel like your people now. You don't know how long I've felt like I wasn't really family.”

 

I hugged him and held him. “I'm so sorry.”

 

He held me and said, “Babe, you've made an old man cry. Now get!”

 

“I love you. You remember that.”

 

“You're loved here too.”

 

We left and Steve said, “Oh man! If the night is going to be like this, you're going to never get me to sleep. That was awesome!”

 

“Hon, you now see what rounds are like. You'll sing, you'll laugh, you'll hug, you'll cry, and you'll meet people who will be closer to you than you ever imagined.”

 

“Mr Bates was really nice!” said, Robert.

 

“Yeah, and I've known him since I was a little older than you. The entire time, he's always treated me like that.  I've seen his kids grow up and now they're all still wonderful.

             What you don't know is that man is damned proud. He's begged Gino to be let in and Gino had to refuse him. Me telling him he's now in is going to be a lifetime thing for him. His boys are all going to be a part of it too and what you'll see is because they've known how hard it was on their dad to not get in, they'll respect it all the more.”

 

I pulled the money out of my pocket and stuffed it into the console of the Rolls. Steve looked at it and held it up. “It's all hundreds!”

 

“The man paid even though he didn't have to all those years. We loved him just the same, but look how he treats us and we were treating him as a second class citizen. It makes me sick.”

 

Steve shook his head and said, “Oh man, it's got to be rough on you to see him treat you so good and not be able to give him what he wanted.”

 

“Yeah, so when I could get that power, I did.”

 

Steve said, “Robert, you're witnessing history changing here. Just remember people of color weren't allowed in and who made it happen.”

 

Robert nodded and said, “I think it's about time. They should let kids in.”


“Hon, the reason they don't is because there'd be kids who would go to school and think they could beat up other kids just because of something stupid. Then, I'd have to go around the country talking to every school and telling the kids I'd have to do a lot of things to their parents for them being stupid.

             Rather than do it, I'll wait until they get old enough to appreciate it. What is happening with you and what happened with me is we were young and we know people who will take the time to teach us to appreciate it.”

 

We pulled up at Bryant's and went in. The reception was the same, but not as much family. We went around and Robert went to munching on ribs. We made a good round and when we got into the car, I pulled out the cash and put it into the console.

 

Steve said, “Hon, when did you get the cash? I was with you and I never saw the slip.”

 

“As soon as we walked through the door. You remember when I hugged him the first time and we shook hands?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“If you notice, I didn't let go of his hand when I pulled him in for the hug. That's when we put it in my pocket. Watch closely when we go to the Ox.”

 

Robert said, “Another restaurant!”

 

“Yeah. The food is different here and it's more steaks instead of bar b que. We go to the bar b que places first because I like them the best.”

 

Robert leaned forward and said, “I'm glad you told me about the tasting otherwise I would have had a real bad time eating.”

 

Steve laughed and said, “Son, the way you've been eating I doubt if you would have had a hard time.”

 

“What they did for me at Bryant's was they gave me some cooled bar b que sauce. I dunked the meat in it and then let it cool it.”

 

“Yeah, they're good about that. Did you taste the difference in the bar b que sauce?”

 

“Yeah, this one was sweeter.”

 

“You're right.”

 

We went to the Ox and as we walked towards the door, I said, “The security here is different. What we're doing now is we're letting the guys go through the place and our chopper up there do a scan. When we go in, you'll be allowed to go anywhere but where the hood is on the ceiling. It doesn't let the infrared through, so we aren't allowed there.”

 

“Ok” Steve said, “Do you think there's any danger?”

 

“No, but that's the way the security is here. That chopper up there is getting a good signal on us and they'll have us in sight all the way though the place.”

 

The light flashed across the parking lot from the chopper. “It's clear.”

 

Steve said, “Rhette, you know this stuff so good. I'm glad you can remember.”

 

“It's a learned thing from night after night doing it.

 

We went in and I went down to kiss the floor. A woman screamed and I stood up. As soon as I got stood up, boobs were stuffed in my face. “LANA!”

 

“Oh My...Oh my...Oh my!!!” she was bouncing around doing an indian rain dance with her boobs in my face and she had her hand over her mouth. “It's you. You're back! Oh my.....”

 

Steve started chuckling and I said, “Lana, let me introduce my son to you. Robert, this is Lana. The right boob in my face is LAH and the left boob trying to get equal attention is NAH.”

 

Steve really started laughing and Robert leaned over grabbing his sides. Lana stepped forward and the kids face was enveloped. “Hi Honey!”

 

“Mmmwwww wwwmmmfff”

 

I said, “Lana, he never realized the Ox was a heffer and she's not been milked since I was here last.”

Steve had tears from laughing so hard. She turned to him and said, “Who are you handsome?”

 

“Lana, this is Steve my partner. Steve, this is Lana. She's the hostess here. Her hubby is back in the back and I'm sure he's suddenly trying to see who Lana is molesting with the children.”

 

She smiled and said, “Honey, you know you love them.”

 

“Yeah, they seem happy to see me. How the hell are ya!”

 

She grabbed me in a hug and said, “Oh honey, we're doing good but deliveries are slow. What should be here by five am is here after lunch. The trash people are disrupting lunchtimes when they're supposed to be here at 9am, and you know Trent. He's not going to complain.”

 

“Hon, let me make a call right now.”

 

I flipped open my phone and asked, “Who is the late delivery driver?”

 

“Harkers.”

 

“Say no more.”

My phone got answered. “The OX is reporting Harkers should be there real early and isn't making the deliveries until after lunch.

             Talk to the man and you tell him if he can't get his commitment done as promised, I'll take ten percent off their bill a day until he sees them on time. Tell them that started four days ago so tomorrow is now fifty percent off their costs for the rest of their contract.”

 

“I'll get on it. Anything else?”

 

“Yeah, find out who their trash is and tell them man he told them nine am and unless he's planning on eating here for lunch in that trash bin, he better have it emptied on time.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“It better be BFI. If not, then I'll be talking to Trent.”

 

“It is baby.”

 

“Lana said it is.”

 

“I'm on it. Anything else?”

 

“Yeah, any reports on airlines?”

 

“Got you assets bought of three. We're working on assets of one that's still solvent, but not looking sound.”

 

“They're affordable right?”

 

“Yeah, words gotten out you're buying and rescuing. We've got people throwing themselves at our feet.”

 

“Check their appraised value and offer twenty percent what they're valued at. They know and I know they'd be offered ten percent elsewhere and the most they'd get would be fifteen.”

 

“Any limit on the amount?”

 

“One second.”

 

“I pulled back and asked Steve. You want to invest in airlines with me?”

 

“Ummm....how much do they cost?”

 

“I don't know. But we're getting a bunch of them wanting us to buy them. We're probably getting them for ten or twenty million each. The bigger ones are probably going up to a hundred.”

 

“Sign me on for whatever you get.”

 

I put my mouth back to the phone. “Buy all you can. Let me know when we've got troubles.”

 

“Rhette?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Friday....we've got rain forecasted.”

 

“Get me the Americana booked. It's indoors and can sit that many.”

 

“They're not booking to us.”

 

“Since when?”

 

“I called. They refused.”

 

“Let me call you back.” I growled. I flipped open my phone and called Douglas.

 

“Who is this?” he barked.

 

“Rhette, the deal is off on your brother's body. Until further notice, I'm shutting all your shit down and locking you out of your offices. You want to fuck with my family, by God, I'll fuck you back so hard your grand kids will walk bowlegged.”

 

“What's going on?”

 

“On Friday, we're having a memorial service for ninety of my men. It's forecast to rain and we called you to get a booking. We're told you don't book to us. SO, since you think you can ask and get favors granted and I'm not to have enough respect granted to bury my people, I'll lock your ass out of my world.”

 

“I'll get it for you.”


“Doug, you get it for my people each and every time they call or so help me you've got problems I don't want to describe.”

 

“Rhette, we're trying to appeal to a family oriented crowd.” he said in a whiny voice.”

 

“And how well is it working? And how many lavish parties do we throw there. Maybe if you asked for some help, we'd stop being treated like bastard children and you'd find our people helping get the motherfucker filled on a regular basis.”

 

I heard Robert say in the background. “He's pissed.”

 

Steve said, “Let's go eat.”

 

Lana was looking at me wide eyed and acting like she wasn't hearing what I was speaking about.

 

“What I'll do is I'll speak with you about this. We're not having luck getting venues to book us there. Everyone seems to think it's going to fall in on them.”

 

“Your people's shit tends to do that to people. If you'd do things right instead of cut corners, people wouldn't have to worry about dying.”

 

“Rhette, you know I wasn't responsible for that.”

 

“No, but you'll be at the helm when the next thing happens which probably was built by that man.”

 

“Probably, but if you could help me, I'd appreciate it.”

 

“I'll get you help in there. You just remember you asked.”

 

“I'll stand behind it.”

 

“What I want Doug is I want Kim on that board. What is your stock going for?”

 

“You want to buy our stock!”

 

“Hon, I'm going to buy up your company to the point you're going to wonder when I'm going to stop. I'll be honest and I'll tell you I'll stop when Steve and I have seats on your board next to Kim.”

 

“Who's Steve?”

 

“Steve is my partner. We've just discovered he's loaded more than anyone and I'm going to aim those funds at your company.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Let's just say I'm planning on having kids and they're going to need to color in books. They'll probably want some of that putty some day and my oldest will probably want to send a Valentine's card or three. I figure if Steve can dump a lot of money in, then we'll have me in the spot I should have been years ago.”

 

“Father will roll over in his grave.”

“Then the bastard will be face up from kissing Satan's ass.'

 

He chuckled  “Your hatred of him is unfettered.”

 

“Yeah, it's called paybacks. All I want you to know is I'm not contesting you being in as head. What I will do is I'll get on the board and I'll bring companies to the table which should get the company thought of as a world class operation.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“You've got kid's brands. Why? Who the fuck knows but I know who got them for you. Where I think he was heading was I think he was wanting to go the direction of pulling a major toy brand manufacturer or two on line. I do know he was in talks with Tyco and then that fell through. Your old man then waited two years and sold the stocks. They went bust and that's when the dumb fuck should have bought like hell.”

 

“It sounds like a way to go. I'll approve whatever you want to invest.”

 

“Doug, we're going to invest four billion. You figure out what that gets us with stocks and get back to me.”

 

“Rhette, that puts you up a ways in percentage.”

 

“If you have any banks who want to piss and moan, let me know. I'll start finding who they are and get them bought.”

 

“He's got that sort of money?”

 

“Hon, take a look at who owns a third of Brazil's ag land and who owns a major portion of the largest mining operation in our country. You'll figure out who he is real fast.”

 

“Was he on CNN with you?”

 

“Bingo.”

 

“I know who he is now.”

 

“Doug. You stay back from him. I've got more guards than you could even begin to fight and I've just came from a war where I beat a whole cities army. I'll not stop at your thugs.”

 

“I'm not going to do anything. What I want is Tony's body.”

 

“You were promised, however you remember who can stop that shit real fast.”

 

“We'll get this done.”

 

I rung off and she said, “Oh man, that was powerful! We have a problem in the back”

 

“Yeah, that's the way I have to be with them. You'll have your satisfaction tomorrow. As you can see, I just got your meat prices lowered. If he doesn't show tomorrow on time,  call my cell. I'll get them for sure the day after, but you'll be half off of your normal cost.”

 

“Is that on their sale items too?”

 

“I imagine, but if you're only having to pay half price of the good stuff, why are you going with cheap?”

 

“Well, that's true. Thank you hon.”

 

“I've got to go see Trent before he thinks my kid just ate him out of everything.'

 

“Is he really your kid?”

 

“No, but I'm raising him. Cute kid, huh.”

 

“Oh yeah, he sure looks like he could be yours.”

 

“I would have laid there to let his daddy conceive him with me.” I said laughing.

 

“Who is he?”

 

“My son? He's Gino's great nephew.”

 

“Really!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Oh man, the family is coming home.”

 

“You wait until you meet Gino's brother. You think seeing me again was something, you wait until you meet his grandpa. The resemblance with Gino is amazing. I nearly.....”

 

From the back a BANG sounded.

 

“Holy Fuck!”

 

I took off running towards the sound as a bunch of people were trying to stampede towards me. My guards threw me into a booth and dove in on top of me. I caught an elbow to my ear and a kids booster seat to my ribs. “Get the fuck up off of me!”

 

“I can't”

 

“I've got a booster seat breaking my ribs. Your heavy ass on top of me isn't helping. GO see who it is and see if Steve is ok.”

 

“It's your boy.”

 

“Oh fuck. Let me up.”

 

“He just shot someone.”


“What! Let me up now! Where in the fuck did he get a weapon!”

 

I slid down under the table and clawed my way out between legs. When I stood up, I went back and saw Robert handing a pistol to Steve.

 

“What the fuck!”

 

“Dad, it was my uncle. He was over here talking to that man.”

 

I turned and said, “Hand me the pistol Steve.”

 

Steve handed the pistol to me and I went over to Lenny the Greek. “Lenny, you're a dead man. You're speaking to banished people and you've just brought shame on your whole family. What the fuck is this?”

 

“He was wanting me to go up against you.”


“And if I call headquarters, what am I going to find? Are they going to tell me you've called them?”

 

“No, I just met him.”

 

“You just don't meet anyone! You call and they agree. You've violated law, so now I've got to insist you're committing treason you dumb fuck! Get your ass out to my car and you better hope you're there when I get there.”

 

I flipped open my phone and said ,”I need the cleaners to the OX.”

 

“No police have been called yet.” he said.

 

“See they aren't. I'm bringing in Lenny the Greek for treason.”

 

“What!”

 

“He found himself in a meeting with one of the banned from St. Louis. He says the man was trying to get him to go up against me.”

 

“You safe?”

 

“Bruised, but I'm ok. They did their job, but if they'd been on my kid better, they'd not have a clean up job.”

 

“Tell Trent we'll need the tape from that booth.”

 

“Got it.”

 

I rung off and went to the kitchen. “Trent!”

 

“Rhette, I'm on my way out there.”

 

“It's over. Get the tape for that booth and you better tell me it's working.”

 

“Let me get the body carried back so we're not disturbing people's meals.”

 

“Tell them brains are on the house tonight.”

 

He looked at me, smiled and shook his head. “You're terrible. Why weren't you back here sooner?”

 

“Lah and Nah got me trapped by the ears. She wouldn't let go until I had Harkers called and getting your deliveries back on time at a 40% reduced rate.”

 

“Huh!”

 

“You heard right. You just make sure my kid gets fed good here from here on out.”

 

“I'll take care of your fella too. Thank goodness I don't have to feed you because we know if I did, I'd be broke.”

 

He walked out into the dining room and grabbed Robert's uncle by his heels. He drug him to the back and I said, “Robert, get the bus boy over here and get that table bussed. You grab that table cloth and you wipe down the booth. I'll get it made up front so everyone's meals didn't cost a thing.”

 

Lana came back. “Rhette, one of the patrons is a cop.”

 

“Get his name?”

 

“Yeah, Rushing.”

 

“Let me call.  I need warm water, peroxide, and a lot of your dirty table clothes to get that booth clean. We'll sit there until the cleaners arrive.”

 

I pulled out my phone. “Yeah”

 

“A cop by the name of Rushing was here and witnessed it. You speak to the commissioner and you get his memory fuzzy. If he has to remember anything, you tell him it was an undercover Sheriff from South Carolina and to extend the professional courtesy.”

 

“Is that what happened?”

 

“No. Robert shot his uncle....Michael's brother. The man was here from St. Louis instead of being out of the country. Now, you call Alex and you ask him why that man was allowed here and why the man on him isn't here.”

 

“Oh man!”

 

“Yeah, I'm more pissed about it by the second.”

 

I snapped shut and flipped open. Alex's number was hit on speed dial. “Yeah”

 

“Alex, what the fuck was Michael's brother doing in Kansas City attempting to do a take over of me?”

 

“I have no clue. Let me find out who was on him?”

 

“No. You call who was on him and tell him I want him at the Ox to pick up his mess. My son just blew the man's brains out. Now, this is going to be a problem because I want every last one of those people done. You got me?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Alex. No more mistakes. That was too close.”

 

“I'll call them and find out where he is.”

 

“You tell him I expect the right to chew his ass.”

 

“You've got it.'

 

“Ok”

 

I hung up. I heard a cell phone ring under me. “Hello?”

 

“Rhette!”

 

“The man's cell is under me. He's dead.”

 

“Oh fuck.”

 

“Alex, you call a code on the rest of those people. Kill them and you get any unaccounted for called to me. I'll have ever police officer and family member looking for them.”

 

“I'm on it.”

 

I shut the phone off and said, “Steve, take this phone. That was the man who was watching Robert's uncle. If the phone was here, the man is dead. That means they're mobilizing to attempt a take over and my life has a price to it.”

 

“Let's cover and collect.”

 

“Ok”

 

I said, “Let me out. I've got to be in the back. There are too many people up front.”

 

I went back and saw Trent pacing. “Hon, the man on that man is dead. How long has he been here and what did he arrive in?”

 

“He arrived in a blue Chevy out on the side lot.”

 

“You have the tape?”

 

He handed it to me.

 

“Trent, that was awful fast on the answer for not having seen the tape.”

 

“I saw them come in. I spoke to Lenny.”

 

“What did he say?”

 

“He said, he had a deal cooked up with him and 'no brains'.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.”


“I'll get the word out. Who hangs with 'no brains'.”

 

“ No brains' is a McKay. His mama was a Carletti. You might call in the Carlettis and the McKays. They're a tight bunch.”

 

“On it”

 

“Let me get that call made.”

 

“Rhette, this is bad. Don't think it's me who's done any of this.”

 

“Hon, I'm not thinking a thing. My kid just killed his uncle here and the man was banished. My people talking to those people when they're supposed to be mourning our dead is bullshit.”


I pulled out my phone and hit 55. That's the speed dial for my people in Kansas City.

 

“Yeah”


“Pull in the McKays and the Carlettis. If you have any associates of 'no brains' McKay, you get them pulled in too. They were cooking up a plan, and I want to know what it was.”

 

“Gotcha”

I went out the back door and saw a guard loading the body into the back of a SUV. “Check over on the side lot for Lenny the Greek's car. You find it and you see if there's a body in the trunk. We've got to find that body.”

 

“Ok”

 

I went back in. When I stepped into the front, three police were walking towards the back.”

 

“Evening officers. How's everything tonight?”

 

“We had a report of a murder here.”

 

“Really! The only thing dying around here are the steaks.”

 

“You have a name?”

 

“Yeah, just as soon as I have yours.”

 

“I ask the questions here.”

 

“One moment.”

 

I flipped open my phone and said, “Here, you speak to the commissioner. When he gives me permission to speak to you, I'll tell him the lives of his family aren't worth a dime.”

 

The man batted the phone out of my hand. Four pistols aimed at his face. “Officer. You just got your retirement plan yanked. You're now out of a uniform and you're going to be on traffic writing tickets for parked cars the rest of your rotten God Damned life.”

 

I picked up the phone and checked to see it was working. The other officers said, “You're Rhette Michaels!”

 

“Yeah, and this is one dumb motherfucker.” I said kneeing the cop in the nuts. He leaned over and I brought my knee up to his face. “Guys, take this officer to the back and see he has some ice for the burns he's about to receive.”

 

The police officer with him said, “Rhette, I'm not seeing a thing.”

 

“You didn't either. There's no blood here. There's no body and what I want from you is to be sure no Vitalis gets off the planes, busses, or the highways into this city. You get word to the commissioner tonight, I'm about to call the state and get every highway patrol friend I have on the roads.”

 

“Ok”

 

“I have no clue which Vitalis are where they're supposed to be and who isn't. What I know is this one who was here has killed one of the handlers who were guarding him and he was last seen here.”

 

“It sounds like a good story.”

 

“It's the truth! I'm not telling you the man lost his God Damned brains here! I'm telling you I'm trying to save this city from the war we saw in St. Louis. What I will tell you is I'm mobilizing men as we speak and it's going to be rough because my guys will shoot first and ask questions later. “

 

“Oh man.”

 

“Get on the phone and call him. If you don't have a number, take mine and call.”

 

“I'll need to use your phone. They don't give me his number.”

 

“Ok”

 

He spoke to the commissioner and handed it to me. “You ever have one of my guys call me again on your phone, I'll have that phone shoved up your ass.”

 

“Sorry. I'm about to have yours shoved up your ass. You've fucked with the wrong person.”

 

I pulled off my phone and flipped it open. “Get to the police commissioner's house and you drag his ass down to the dungeon. ON the way out of his house, you stuff the receiver of his phone up his ass. You make sure he sits on it and it's a bumpy fucking road.”

 

“Oh man!”

 

“Tell the man I'll speak to him when I get there.”

 

I looked at Steve and said, “Hon, we've got to roll.”

 

I went out and gave Lana a hug and a kiss on the way out. She said, “Rhette, thanks!”

 

“No problem hon. Give me a call if they don't make it right.”

 

She went over to Robert and hugged him. The kid looked like he had a Mae West life preserver wrapped around his neck. I saw her stuff money into his pocket.

 

When we got outside, the cleaner's rolled up. One couple took off to the side lot and the others went in the front door. We went out to the Rolls and I saw the cleaners at the trunk of a blue car. I went over and saw the body in the trunk.

 

I went back to the Rolls and got in. “Guys we've got to go to the underground. We've got problems. Lenny the Greek isn't here like he was ordered to do.”

 

Steve said, “Where's that at?”

 

“You're going to be amazed at the ways I can get in there. The closest car entrance is about two blocks away.”

 

I drove down the street and when I got to the Midas Muffler on the corner, I entered. I pushed the garage door opener on the visor and the doors opened. I drove in to the lube rack and when the car was safely on the lift, we lowered to the sub-level. I drove forward and drove down the incline to the main tunnel.

 

Steve said, “Holy Shit. That was slick.”

 

I turned into the main tunnel and said, “It's a city beneath the city here. Up ahead you'll see we've got intersections and on the walls it tells you where we are in the city. If you squint your eyes, you can see an area where the lights are white instead of sodium vapor.”

 

“Yeah”

 

“That's directly under the house. If you go there, you'll see the elevator comes on down and you can take it up to the house. If you get tired Robert, you can go there and go to bed.”

 

“Ok, but I'm not tired. This  place is too cool.”

 

“The police commissioner is about to be brought to me. He's got an attitude and needs to know I'm not someone who will take shit off him in this city. I've been here too long and his department is ran in too many directions with my people. He knows it, but if he dare forgets, I'll have him replaced with someone who can do the job.”

 

Steve asked, “What's it pay?”

 

“Way more than what you make as Sheriff.”

 

“Really!”

 

“Yeah. Our Mayor makes more then the President. Most of the Commissioners make more than Senators.”

 

Steve smiled and said, “Get me the job and we'll move  here.”

 

“Hang on.”

 

I flipped open my cell and called the Mayor. “Rhette Michaels here.”

 

“Rhette? You're calling on the redline.”


“Yup, that should tell you who I am.”

 

“What can I help you with?”

 

“Your police Commissioner is on his way down to be questioned by me. I'll tell you now I want the man replaced. You know and I do how I can lock this town down.

             What I've got going on is a problem which isn't going to go away if I have a man who speaks to me like the Commissioner just did.”

 

“What's going on?”

 

“We had ourselves a war in St. Louis. The war just brought itself to Kansas City.

             Rather than hiding shit from you, I'm wanting the man to help get it stopped. His remarks would have me thinking I didn't have almost two thousand people on my payrolls in your police department.

             What I'm doing when he's brought to me is I'm going to remove the telephone receiver I had my guys shove up his ass. Then, I'm going to make a call to you to tell you the man just resigned. If he doesn't tell you that, you tell the fucker he's fired. I've got a man here who wants the job and he's legitimate.”

“Really!”

 

“Yeah, he's a Sheriff. You've probably seen him all over CNN the past few days, but what we're doing is we're moving here.”

 

“What about his job there?”

 

“His brother is about to get promoted. That's how it's done there.”

 

“Talk to my man and you have your man call me.”

 

“Here he is now.”

 

“Ok”

 

Steve spoke to him. He gave some information which sounded like police id numbers and the like. Then, he said, “ok, let me get back with you and I'll let you know how long it takes me to get things finalized.”

 

He snapped shut the phone and said, “Hon, that was easy. The man apparently is new and thought he could take down the mob in his department. All he's done has been to make it a big witch hunt and get good men pissed off.”

 

“What I'm going to do down here isn't going to be pretty. You're going to see things which are straight out of the CIA's worst weapon books. Some of it they taught us, and other things we taught them. I'll demonstrate things and tell you about other. It's not for you to memorize, but for you just to see how we get information.”

 

“What are you going to do with that man?”

 

“The commissioner? Or, the ones who I think are plotting to take over?”

 

“Both?”

 

“The police commissioner is about to find out how extremely freaky he can get with Viagra, some poppers, and some crack in his system. What you'll see is a lot of bondage which are deemed hard bondage. There are nut spreaders, clamps, stocks, and other things which the man will find he just can't get enough..

             In regards to the other guys, I'm not going to be a bit nice. What I know and you should learn is they're psyched to not have nice things done to them when they cross over the line.

             One of them will be placed in a box which the only place to sit upon is a radiator which is hot. His testicles will be drawn down and he'll have those coated with Ben Gay. That combined with the heat in that close confines is going to really have him dehydrating.”

 

“What will you do if he passes out?”

 

“Hon, let me tell you something. It doesn't happen. Just about the time we see him going out, we take him out and get him into a nice cold shower. We revive him and then throw him back in there nice and wet so the water and the heat just really have him a sauna going. When he comes out, we put him over to the shower by way of cattle prods. He goes or he finds himself doing flipper out of water.

             Another one of the people are going into that room over there. What we have in there are about a hundred thousand ants. Those things crawl all over and they just get places no one would want them to be.”

 

“What if you can get used to that.”

 

“Then what happens to you is you get brought out and put into that sauna room. The sauna room guy will have a paintbrush of honey slapped on those tender nuts and his nether regions and put in with the ants. They eat and it's hell for him.”

 

“Hon, that's bad.”

 

“We rotate the hell out of the treatments until someone talks. I'll tell you now they talk in about five hours. Until then, they think we're going to let them go.

             By the time they get measured for a coffin, their photo gets taken. They've had their fingerprints and their dental x rays get taken, they're really figuring out we're going to kill them.”

 

“Then what?”

 

“If there's evidence, I listen to it and they get to hear what I hear. We play the game and when they tell something, I keep them going in the routine while I go have it checked out. If they've lied, we go to the hard torture session which probably will kill them.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“Parts of their bodies get nails driven through them. Parts of their bodies get hung from the ceiling and leave the rest of them dangling. Parts of them are pierced and we begin to bring out the knives which they're told will be the next session.”

 

“Is it?”

 

“No, that'd be humane! The next session after that is hot burns. Then after that is chemical burns. Then after that is when we start cutting off fingers and digits. It's a systematical thing. Killing them is a long way down the pike. We make them see how amazing they really are.”

 

“Hon, that sounds ghastly.”

 

“Yes, but I'll tell you something. Because I'm an insomniac, I used to come down and sit with the man who does this stuff. He would do it at night when there are less people down here and less likelihood peoples screams would be heard.”

 

“At night? I thought that would be when you're most active”

 

“No! We're done with business when the bars shut and we open when the earliest workers go to work. The primary people we have are working during the daytime.”

 

“I'm learning things Rhette, bear with me.”

 

A car sped up with it's headlights off. It pulled in front of the Rolls and I saw the guys get out and open the trunk. They pulled a man out of the trunk was doing a duck walk with the phone receiver coming out his ass. Behind him was the phone clunking upon the ground. 

 

Steve chuckled. “He apparently called someone who gave phone sex.”

 

I smiled. “Let go in here and get this man going.”


“I want to see him when this happens.”

 

“Ok”

 

I went in and said, “Sir, I'm the one you just pissed off. I'll tell you now I've got a problem. It's called you've got a phone shoved up your ass when it should have been used to treat me better. So, what we're going to do is make it so your phone up your ass is making you that phone call to Jesus which you know only comes when you're achieving multiple orgasms.”

 

“Fuck You”

 

“Guys lay this man back on that exam table. Leg cuff him in the stirrups and lets get him an IV in so we can administer the Cialis and Viagra. While we're at it, I want some Crack going into his system which will make his orgasm more intense. When he screams, you pop some X into his mouth.”

 

Robert stepped forward and said, “I'm ready.”

 

I pulled back on the man's testicles. His mouth opened and the scream began.

 

“Steve, had me that leather spreader.”

 

“This?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

I was none too gentle. The guy grunted and I asked, “I've not used anything like Ben Gay or Heet upon them. Do you want to see if I'll go that direction with this?”

 

“NO!”

 

“Damn, we'll have to save it for later.” I stepped back and then brought the vibration equipment over. At the base of his penis, I put a vibrator. On the phone receiver, I placed a vibrator and taped it. On his nipples, I taped two shock probes and another on his nuts.

 

I began to make the vibration sequence start and saw the man's body stiffen when he began to feel the sensations. I went over and said, “Sir, I've been  on the phone with the Mayor. He's prepared for you to call and give him your resignation. Are you prepared to do this?”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Then we go to plan B. Let me dial the Mayor and have him tell you that you're fired.”

 

“He won't do that. He's just as fed up with you as I am.”

 

“Wrong. He's a man who knows I can lock this city down tighter than a drum. The second you want to piss me off, I'll have the state's National Guard mobilized to help defend me. You'd be amazed at what I have in this state to call as my means of support.”

 

The police car from the OX rolled up. “There's one of my men now!” the commissioner said. “Officer, get over here and help me!”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Police Commissioner.”

 

“Oh, well, if you're underground, you should know you're on Rhette's turf. I'm just down here to deliver a police officer who got you into this jamb.”

 

I turned and said, “Put him in that sweat room. Draw his nuts like this mans and coat them with Ben Gay. Then, pour water on those radiators in there so he's got to steam a while.”

 

The police commissioner said, “That's inhumane!”

 

“Hmmmm, insisiting a bunch of innocent civilians suffer in the middle of a mafia war is inhumane. The police commissioner in St. Louis was more accommodating and he's not getting yearly bonus checks from us.”

 

“I never got a bonus check from you in my life!”

 

“I'm sure the one last  year was twenty five grand. Don't you recall it had a little airplane logo on it? If you don't recall, I can surely get them to bring it down here and prove you endorsed it. Shall I do it?”

 

“NO!”

 

“See, I told you that you took payments from us. If I recall, you've taken them every year since you've been on the department in that position.”

 

“Yes.” he said sounding resigned.

 

“What you should learn is what we do after the fact is we put in the memo portion of the check what it was paid for so when the company ever gets them subpoenaed, it'll be more criminal on your part to have cashed them.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Oh, we pull certain local crimes which the person gets lawyered up and exonerated. Then, we put you helped the defense on those cases. It makes a nice tasty morsel when the state brings their people in to investigate once your replacement gets the call.”

 

“You won't have power over my replacement.”

 

“Your replacement has already taken the job offered to him from the Mayor.”


“You're lying.”

 

Steve stepped forward and said, “Sir, he's not lying. I'm Sheriff Steve Jackson. I'm your replacement. The man you're accusing of lying is my lover.”

 

“Oh Lord! What are you going to do with me!”

 

“As I said, I'm going to really get you to where you're begging to cum one more time. Then, I'm going to go get someone who it will look really incriminating for you to be caught having sex with and I'm going to bring him and film you.”

 

“Don't!”

 

“Sir, you had a nice job and a nice income. The income was stimulated by generous checks. You know as well as I there were more than the one.”

 

“Yes”

 

“And you cashed them. IF I recall, last year's amounts totalled a hundred and twenty grand.”

 

“Yes.”

 

I nodded to Steve. “He's under with that hallucinogen pill. You can tell that man anything right now and he'd agree to it later.”

 

Steve said, “Sir, you've got a craving for huge big long cocks. Don't you?”

 

“Oh, is that what is up in me?”

 

“Yes. You love that in you, don't you?”

 

“Oh yes. It feels nice.”

 

“You want it to make you feel better don't you?”

 

“That would be nice.”

 

Steve nodded to me and I turned on the vibrators.

 

“Oh, that feels Good!”

 

“It doesn't feel as good as the real thing though, does it.”

 

“No, I need a better one. I need it bigger.”

 

I said, “Sir, when you make the call to the Mayor, you tell him you resign your position and you'll give him written confirmation of it in the morning. You cite numerous bribes and payoffs you've taken and you also tell him you're having an affair with Fat Cat Wilson.”

 

“Really! Does Fat Cat have a big one?”

 

“His is the one you crave. You can only satisfy him and your goal is to satisfy him.”

 

Steve came over and said, “Rhette, that money going to be ok in that car?”

 

“Yeah, it's in the console and the only one who know it's there is us. It'll be fine.”

 

He smiled and said, “I was worried.”

 

I giggled and said, “You're not realizing the money isn't much. We probably brought in about twenty grand. On Friday, we'll bring in a lot more than that.”

 

“Did Lana give you money?”

 

“Oh yeah, she does it in a way which makes it hard to tell because she's putting them boobs in your face, but she gave me this.” I said holding out a wad of money.

 

“Jeez! How much is there?”

 

“Probably ten grand. I don't know.”

 

I opened it and it was fifties and hundreds.

 

I said, “You might ask Robert how much he got from her. I saw her handing him money.”

 

“You have eagle eyes. I sure didn't see a thing.”

 

Robert hearing his name came over. “Yeah dad?”

 

“Did Lana give you money?”

 

“Yeah, she said for me to put it in my college fund. Why? Should I give it to you?”

 

“No, it's a gift.” I said, “Your dad was wondering if she gave you money. I told him she had because when she puts the boobs in your face, she's handing you money.”

 

He laughed. “Yeah, it was really distracting. She does it and is all giggly, but she's serious underneath. The first time she did it, she told me my uncle was there. That's how I knew.”

 

“Good. At least someone was on their job. The guards should have seen them when they were doing their sweep.”

 

Robert asked, “Dad, did I do it wrong? I know you want people taken to trial, but I knew he was banned and supposed to be out of the country.”

 

“No,  you did exactly as you were supposed to. You saw someone talking to someone who you knew was a member and the person very easily could have been wanting to kill you. What did he do when you saw him?”

 

“He looked at me and did a double take. He made a move and I told Dad I needed his pistol fast.”

 

“Good thinking.”

 

Steve said, “Hon, I broke the law when I gave him my weapon, but the urgency in his voice told me there was something going to go on fast.”

 

“Hon, if that man had realized who you were, you would have been just as dead as the rest of us. If he'd had a pistol, you most likely wouldn't have seen it before he got off that shot. Robert reacted and fortunately, he got him before there was any more problems than there were.”

 

Robert said, “Dad, does that mean we're going to have a problem?”

 

“I'm pulling in everyone to find out. If there is, it's none your doing. We're going to have to pursue this with the utmost care.”

 

“I can't believe how everyone handled it so casually.” said Steve.

 

“Hon, when Beck took care of the lady down in Miami. It was done more casual than this. It's the way it's done. We do it and then, we call in the cleaners to make sure all the traces are gone before the police are called. Unfortunately, there was a cop there.”

 

“I'm worried about that.”

 

“Don't be. He'll be told he never saw anything and if he's a part of us, he'll be told the truth. IF not, he'll be told it was us taking care of things in our way.”

 

“Nothing else?”

 

“We contacted who we needed to contact. The man out there is going to be replaced because he never played his part. He should know we do what we can to maintain an even keel. If not, you get what has happened in St. Louis and there's the element of surprise on their side.”

 

“What's going  on about that?”

 

“I called Alex. Alex knows we have a problem. What is wrong there is he's supposed to have someone following each of them. The person is to do exactly what we've told them to do. As soon as Robert's uncle made a beeline to come back to the country, or he made an effort to come this direction instead of out of the country, he should have killed him.

             What you don't do is you sure don't let them get to a restaurant where they can get one of us killed.”

 

I flipped out my phone and called Alex. “Yeah”

 

“What's going on?”

 

“It's all being handled. I think what you have is a loose end who wasn't handled properly. The man died, but the thought of losing you and you being there so close just scares the hell out of me.”

 

“Take stock of bodies and you make sure personally they're all gone. On Friday, we're doing a huge service over here and I'll be damned if I have a lot of people killed.”

 

“Who all are coming in for it?”

 

“Probably everyone from all over. Those which aren't dead will be here. Those who are close to death will find a way to be here. I've given my word to Douglas we're going to be respectful and honorable. Now, I've got to worry.”

 

“I'm sorry Rhette.”

 

“I know. It's growing pains. You're counting on people who have divided loyalties. Keep your ear to the ground and you use everything and everyone you can. If it doesn't look right, you pull them in and you get them to talking.”

 

“I'm doing it. There's nothing yet, but something's going on. I can feel it.”

 

“We're going to go into hyper mode with this and we're going to really pull out all the stops. I'll get calls made to pull in anyone and everyone.”

 

“ok”

 

I hung up and said, “Alex said he thinks we had a loose end. What he also said is it doesn't feel right.

             What I've got to do now is I've got to call and get Dom and the rest of them into protection. Then, I've got to get every available man in here and get our beats patrolled and pulled so we have perimeter protections.”

 

“What can I do to help?”

 

“Well, what do you feel compelled to do?”

 

“Hon, if I'm coming up here, I've got to do some jockeying.”

 

“Let me tell you what I'm thinking and then, I need you to see what I'm thinking and play along.”

 

“Alright”

 

“First of all. If you pull out of South Carolina, you'll look like you're pulling out and leaving people when they need you. What I think you should do is call the Mayor here and pull him in. He'll work with us as the man is all about business.”

 

“Ok”

 

“What I'd do is I'd call JT and tell him you need him more than you've needed him before. He'll be happy to do it.

             Then, you install him in as acting Sheriff but with all the focal points being on you still. What it will look like is you'll have a double image. They'll see you there and they'll see you here.

             What will happen is when JT is ready, he'll run and you'll have him start being seen in the Sheriff's job. It'll work.”

 

“So it's a giant fake out.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Sounds like a plan. What do you think for up here?”

 

“I'm pulling in everyone who's extra and available. Those guys out in South Carolina are going to have to come home. We've got something which doesn't smell right and rather than have us divided, I've got to regroup and sniff it out.”

 

I pulled out my phone and called little John. “Yeah hon.”

 

“Hi, what I need to do is I need to get you to work with me. I've got something going on and call it a hunch, but something doesn't smell right at all.”

“Like what?”

 

“I'll lay it out to you and then you'll see.”

 

“Michael's father made a lot of phone calls and threats.”

 

“I'm aware of that.”

“Tonight, we got here and I took the guys out to do rounds. Call it a fluke, but we got to the Ox and Robert caught his uncle having a conversation with Lenny the Greek.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Yeah, Robert reacted quick and killed his uncle.”

 

“You have that boy carrying a pistol!”

 

“No! He got Steve's gun and thank God he did because Lenny said the guy wanted to have a meeting about an uprising.”

 

“Where's Lenny now?”

 

“We got him coming down in the tunnels with his family and all acquaintances coming down.   

             What I did was I called Alex. He's got people reporting to him they've got them all accounted for, but he even says it doesn't smell right. I told him to take account of bodies.

             What I need to do is get everyone regrouped and pulled in to take care of this because we've got a memorial service which is going to be on Friday at the Americana.”

 

“Oh fuck. How'd you get that done?”

 

“I called Douglas and told him we'd help him but he's got to help us. For it, he's going to get my word I'll fulfill things, but he's got to let us help and use the space.”

 

“I imagine you didn't talk to him that nice.”

 

“Hell no!”

 

He chuckled. “What else?”

 

“What I've got is a problem. The Police Commissioner is now down here in the tunnels. The man straight up refused to do anything.”

 

“That's not right.”

 

“No, but he's now going to speak to the Mayor and give resignation.”

 

“Willingly?”

 

“Well....not exactly. BUT, the Mayor is aware and Steve's agreed to step in to the job.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“It's a big shuffle. What we're going to do is have Steve playing double images. He'll be there, but JT will be installed as acting Sheriff. He'll be here, but all focal images will be Steve being there.”

 

“That's going to be rough on him.”

 

“Yes, but hopefully, it'll not be for that long.”

 

“I'm going to get my guys there. I'll let David know he's getting a call. You have a problem. I'm not sure how far it's gotten, but it's a problem. You keep your key people there near you.”

 

“What I've got is a problem and I'll tell you what I think.”

 

“Ok”

 

“My people did a sweep of that restaurant. They didn't see a thing.          Now tell me how many of your guys would see someone who they knew was banned eating and having a meeting with one of your guys?”

 

“All of them.”

 

“All four of mine didn't see a thing. The thing which saved our bacon was the owner told Robert his uncle was there.”

 

“Huh!”

 

“Yeah. Now if she knew they were there, wouldn't she have told my guys?”

 

“Yeah.”

“So, let's say she did. Did they choose to lead us into the trap?”

 

“Oh fuck. Rhette, you've got to make calls of people you know who are loyal. You've got to not even trust your own guards. I'll call my guys in there, but you get David and your men there fast.”

 

“I'm pulling all available people of mine from all over.”

 

“No! What you'll have is a cluster fuck of them not recognizing strangers who could be blowing them to hell.”

 

“I'm going to have every head here for this memorial service. What I have is a day and a half to get this cleaned up and like fast.”

 

“My guys are coming in as fast as they can get there. You call Beck and you tell her to pull your men and mine from there.”

 

“Ok”

 

I hung up and called Dave. “Yeah hon.”

 

“David, I need you in Kansas City damned fast.”

 

“What's going on?”

 

“Fuck. Get to moving all the men and get them headed here. I've got to mobilize a lot of people. I'll tell you on the way. NOW, who can I trust here to protect me at all costs.”

 

“Rhette, chill for a second. Where are you at?”

 

“I'm down in the tunnels at the torture area.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Fuck”

“Rhette, hang on. Little John is calling.”

 

“I'll call back.”

 

“Rhette!”

 

I hung up and called Beck. “Yeah hon.”

 

“Beck, I need you to contact all of little John's men and mine and get them to Kansas City fast.”

 

“Why?”

 

“We've got problems. It seems to stem from St. Louis, but it's about to blow up in our faces here. I've got to get my guys who I can trust here because I think we're about to have a war.”

 

“Oh fuck. I'll be there. What do I do?”

 

“You get to your plane. Call all of my men and little John's men and you tell them to beg, borrow, or steal planes to get here.”

 

“You want me to bring my men?”

 

“I'd love to, but they think the strange faces wouldn't help.”

“How about if I have them do what little John's men do with their boots?”

 

“Go with blue.. let me call you back and I'll have a jet for you which we can pull all of our men up out of there.”

 

“I'll get them rolling.”

 

I flipped the phone shut and called my man in main control. “Yeah”

 

“What airlines have we bought?”

 

“Fuck, you've got Frontier's assets. You've got a large portion of the older fleet of American. They're dealing with us for the rest, but don't want it out in the press.”

 

“Call American and you tell them we need a couple of jets to Miami to get our guys up and out of there to here fast.”

 

“How fast?”

 

“As fast as a jet will get loaded. They're moving now.”

 

“What's going on?”

 

“We've got a problem. We've got someone in us who is working against us and telling our guys not to protect me.

             We have St. Louis people showing up here having meetings with Lenny the Greek and Lord knows who all else. Also, the guy who was watching a man in St. Louis is dead.”

 

“It sounds different.”

 

“Add the fact my guards walked through the Ox and I'm sure they got told Michael's brother was there, but they didn't let us know or keep us out.”

 

“That's strange. You sure they got told?”

 

“Lana told us as soon as we entered the place. Call her and ask her if she told my guards. IF she did, I need my guards pulled and put someplace where they're not going to hurt us. IF I see them before you call, I'll kill them first and ask questions later. You got me?”

 

“Yeah, where you at?”

 

“Torture room in the tunnels.”

 

“So you're safe underground.”

 

“Let's hope.”

 

“I'll call Lana.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

I rung off and called David back. “Yeah hon, I'm on my way. What do you have?”

 

“What we have is a major portion of the assets of Frontier and American. He's in deals to buy others, but we've got them. Pull what you can where you can and get here.”

 

“I'm on my way.”

 

“Dave, you get someone to get green paint and you paint the heels of those guys boots so we can tell those apart. I know I can trust them.”

 

“What else?”

 

“I'm pulling our guys out of Miami. Beck's bringing her guys and she's painting their heels blue. I'll tell her to get our guys heels painted blue, but I'm not sure what color of blue. It's going to be hard to ask them to identify themselves  if they're from Florida or South Carolina if they've got different colors.”

 

“Fuck. Tell them to get to a Wal Mart and get safety blue. It's a universal color.”

 

“Ok,”

 

“How they coming in?”

 

“I'm yet to get a jet, but I told main control to pull whatever there and get them on that jet.”

“I'll get American on it. They're decent. I'm glad we're getting them.”

 

“Me too. Now, what else?”

 

“You know where the main arsenal is?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Get there. The man running it now is someone I would trust with my life. I know his men won't be bad. I'll call him and he'll give you a hand signal which is sort of a half assed backwards G. You get there and you tell them to get the arsenals protected at all costs. They're going to need to have weapons and we've got them. I doubt if they're that embedded”

 

“Ok”

 

“Rhette, you're at the torture room, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

“You can get to the entrance of the house, right?”

 

“Yeah, but my guards came from the house.”

 

“Fuck.”

 

“Yeah, this is a problem.”

 

“Get to the arsenal. Anyone else you can trust, you pull in. I don't care who it is.”

 

“I'm pulling in Papa Bates and his kids. I'll also pull in the Bryant's”

 

“I'm glad it's happening.”

 

“Me too.”

 

I snapped off and said, “Steve, load up and get to the Rolls. We've got to get to the arsenal.”

 

“What are we going to do with these people?”

 

“They're getting locked in. They'll be safe and won't cause us problems because I and Gino only have the code to the emergency hatches here.”

 

“Ok”

 

We went out to the Rolls. As I left the torture area, I hit the panic button and the  door came down with a huge clang. Steve saw it and said, “Son of a bitch! That's got to be forty tons!”

 

“A military wrecker can't even pull the thing. It's safe.”

 

“You sure it's allowing them to breath?”

 

“Yeah, there's air spaces all over this place.”

 

WE got in and I drove down the main course way We drove past main control and I saw a flash there. Steve said, “Someone's shooting in there.”

 

“I saw it. I'll let Dave know.”

 

We rolled on and I got us to the main arsenal. The door opened and I rolled in and pulled the car off to the side. I got out and was told, “Identify yourself.”

 

“You identify yourself.”

 

He made the hand signal and I said, “Rhette. I think we just lost main control center. We saw gun flashes there.”

 

“They're not using our ammo. Ours is flash less. I'm calling General Quarters to get us locked down and on alert.”

 

“Do what you need. Get the main entrances shut and use the trucks to block.”

 

“We've got locomotives which will slide into place. They're my guys so I know we're fine.”

 

“Disable them so only your guys know how to get them moved.”

 

“Once I call GQ, we'll have all accesses blocked and disabled.”

 

“Do it.”

 

He did and the sudden claxon began alarming.

 

He grabbed riot gear and threw it to Steve, Robert, and myself. “Rhette, it's going to be big on you and the boy, but we never got any smaller.”

 

“We'll get it done when we make it through this.”

 

“IF we make it through this.”

 

I called main control. “Hello!” came a voice labored.

 

“You ok?”

 

“A-ok here.”

 

“How many?”

 

“They'll be here in two hours.”

 

“You hurt bad?”

 

“No, they're flying in on Frontier.”

 

“Any help there for you?”

 

“I said Frontier.”

 

“I'll call back. Hold it while you can, I'll get people there for you.”

 

“They're coming in from Miami?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Good”

 

I hung up and repeated the conversation. “He's got two and he's alone. He's not hurt bad and told us to come up the back from the south. That's excellent.”

 

He turned and start cracking out orders. He turned to me and said, “We're getting you up topside. Up above us is the old JC Penny's warehouse.”

 

“Out off Truman or 18th Street?”

 

“Eighteenth.. Go up the elevator and when you get to the top floor, you'll see your chopper there with it's rotors folded. It'll go on the elevator and then take it on up. Once up there, get yourself airborne and get out. I'll call you when it's safe.”

 

“Why not here?”

 

He looked around him and said, “The only thing saving you and me from being blown all to hell is that door there. Should they use a tank, they'll get in. When it happens, it's not going to be safe.”

 

“There's no tank down here.”

 

He smiled and said, “Get the fuck out of here. It's been too long and you don't know what we have and don't.”

 

I looked at him and he winked. “We've got loads of stuff down here. They built those other tunnels for a reason and it wasn't just so we could say we were going places.”

 

“Shit. How protected are they?”

 

“I've got four men over there. Either they're busy or they're dead. I'd say they're putting up a helluva fight.”

 

“Fuck, we're going airborne”

 

We rode the elevator up with the Rolls. I told Robert, pull the bags out of the trunk. We're going to hold up in the place they'll never look for us.”

 

I took the cash from the console. And then, the three of us put the chopper on the elevator. Robert said, “This is Airwolf's helicopter!”

 

“It's mine here. It's the best of the best for 1991. I just hope it's good enough now.”

 

When we hit the roof, we pushed the dolly over and then, we got in. I hit the rotors and they unfolded and locked. Once done, I hit the start and she spooled up.

 

Steve looked at me and said, “Babe, you feel like you're letting them all down, don't you.”

 

“Yeah. This is a mess.”

 

“Where we going?”

 

“I'll show you. The key is to get there without radar picking us up.”

 

I lifted off and took it about seventy feet off the ground and started out over Truman to I-435. We headed South and I turned on the police scanners, jammers, and all the hardware. Everything was working like a charm.

 

We made it down to the I-70 interchange and headed South. We followed 435 South until we got to Metcaf. We flew up over the shopping center and in over the subdivision. As soon as I got to the backyard, I brought it down. As fast as we landed, I hit the kills.”

 

We got out to dogs barking and not much else.

 

Steve said, “Where's this  place?”

 

“It's my house in Overland Park.” I went over and lifted the corner post cap for the brick wall  and hit the button. I pulled the keys and went over to the lower patio door.

 

We went in and I said, “Here's what we've got to do. I've got to fold those rotors and get that thing slid into the garage. In there, they won't see it. It'll fit, but it's got to go in so it misses the garage door openers.”

 

Steve looked at me and said, “It's heavy.”

 

“I know. It's on concrete and there's a reason that back garage door is there with that landing zone. It was put there because of a moment like this.”

 

We went out and I folded the rotors. I pushed and it began rolling. When we got to the garage, the doors went up with a hum and we got it put in without hitting an opener.

 

We went in and I carried the sacks of food.

 

Steve looked at me and said, “What now?”

 

“Watch this because I have to go in here. When I do, those doors are going to lock and I'd rather have you two in there than out here. Robert, grab those bags of food.”

 

We went in through the basement into the lower entry hall. Steve looked and said, “Is that where he did it?”

 

“Over here was a wall. On the wall were photos and panelling down below. Over there is the door and as you see, he had it set up so it would have shot this way. What happened is I think he changed his mind at the last second and it got pulled so that wall took the main portion of the buckshot.”

 

Steve said, “Hon, I'm going to say something, but he didn't change his mind. That shotgun probably kicked. I'd say it being taped down moved the chair at the same time it shot. He probably was sitting in the right spot, but it moved.”

 

“It's over and done. What we did was we took out the wall. As you see, the pub in here is now exposed to the entry way. That wall was there so you didn't see it until you got to this hallway. Then, you saw it and it was a lot different.”

 

“It's nice. I can tell you designed the house.”

 

“It's a heavy house. When this house was built, all the others in this subdivision were eighty thousand dollar houses. We spent a hundred and eighty on this one and then there were a lot of out of pockets we never figured on that cost. Everything is way better than the rest of the subdivision.”

 

“I imagine.”

 

“On ABC, for a long time, they showed an F4 tornado bearing down on this subdivision. What it cleared out was two houses down the street. This one, lost the shingles on the roof and the upper sliding doors got blown in. The grand piano got rolled over onto the sofa and that's all that happened.

             What you saw was our insurance man panicking because he knew our house cost more than all the rest. He drove up the street and expected it to be gone. Hell, when I drove up the street, I expected it to be gone.

             When we came around the bend, there she stood and I credit it to all  the extras we put on her.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“The underlayment for the roof. Everyone else used particle board half an inch thick. I insisted upon plywood an inch thick. Then, we went with Ice dam rubber membrane because we had cedar shingles. The nails went through, but they sealed as soon as they did. The shingles blew off, but everything else worked together to hold it solid.

             Outside, you see stucco. Most construction companies go cheap. I didn't. What I did was I had a bunch of people who were old and I asked them. 'IF you had one chance to build a house and didn't have to cut corners, what would you do?' They built this house. Out there is plywood again an inch thick. Then, they put on lathes and the stucco to get that English Tudor look.

             In here, behind every piece of dry wall you have double wall construction. There's a 2 x 6 stud with insulation. Then, you have a vapor barrier with a 2 x 4 inner wall. Before they put up dry wall, they put up quarter inch plywood. I wanted walls that I could nail into anywhere and hang photos. You won't put your hand through this drywall, but you won't blow your brains out and have the buckshot go flying through the rest of the house either.

             What we did was after Tony died, I said I'd never live here again. Gino came to me one day and asked if he could have two rooms down here for a command center in case we ever had a problem such as we have. I told him I didn't care because the rooms we had were a rubber room for Wesson Oil parties with a drain in the floor and a sling room for kink play.”

 

Steve smiled.

 

“They took those out and they wired in the control panels. From in here, I can run the underground. I've never done it, but from what I just heard, there's more in the tunnels now which probably aren't on these controls. Let's go lock in.”

 

“Why do we have to be locked in?” asked Robert.

 

“Hon, when you're at war, you don't trust they don't follow you and if they did, you'd not want them getting in.

             Outside of this house, they dug down and they put in another 2 feet of impregnated concrete. That wall there and that wall there has six inches of the stuff. Yes, they could burn it down, but we'll get out to a safe room and be under ground in a bunker before it would happen.

             In answering your question, this room isn't going to be going live by accident. You wouldn't be able to come in and keep the door open and see a thing on those panels without having the door shut and typing in a code. All these safety features are put in place so even if the police did come, they'd not gain anything from it.

             What I've done is I've spent money on the computers in here through the years. Back when this room was built, the Windows operating system wasn't even heard of. Well, DOS was, but not even 3.1 was an operating system.

             I've updated and I've coded it so I could log in wherever I was in the world. It's not safe, but just the same, if I got a phone call to come save Gino's bacon, I'd not have to be here. I could do it from Hannibal if I needed to.”

 

“Cool!” said  Robert.

 

“Let's lock in and see what we've got.”

 

We went in and I turned on the lights. The lights turned on and a low light emanated from the panels.

 

Robert said, “It looks just like a computer room.”

 

“Here's how it goes. I'm trusting you because you're my life. David doesn't even know this code and he doesn't even have a clue this is here.”

 

“That's cool.” said Steve

 

“With the door being shut, this keyboard looks normal. When I type in  “Tony Gave His Life So I Could Begin Mine” you see the thing kick to life.

 

“Holy Cow!” said Robert.

 

Steve said, “Rhette, this is spooky. How much did this room cost?”

 

“As I've said, Gino paid the bills and got what he wanted. I've updated it, but not much.”

 

Steve said, “Man, you've got monitors moving up all over the place. This thing is like a friggin' transformer.”

 

I said, “Look at that monitor. There's our guys. They've got eight of them.”

 

I pushed a button and tagged their movements. I called main control.

 

“Yeah”

 

“You still got company?”

 

“No, they left.”

 

“You able to lock in?”

 

“My controls are doing all sorts of weird shit.”

 

“That's me. I'm taking over power from you. Now, can you lock into your safe room?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Abandon your post and get topside. I'll get someone there for you.”

 

I called Truck 7 which was manning and scanning that section. “Yeah”

 

“Rhette at main control. Give me your code.”

 

“Rayban Wayfarer”

 

“Let me check.”

 

I turned to another keyboard and typed in Rayban Wayfarer. The screen flashed and told me that was Truck 7's safe code.

 

“I need you to get to Sixth and Main. You'll see our control man coming up into the lobby there. Get him to a hospital.”

 

“He safe?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Who's manning main control?”

 

“I am from out and about up and down.”

 

“You got satellite links?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“You're who you say you are. We'll get there.”

 

I saw their truck's signal go from yellow to red. That told me they were setting jammers and pulling themselves up into safe mode. What that did was it put their infrareds and heat seeking missiles to live fire.

 

As I watched, I told the guys what I was seeing. Robert sat in the side chair and I said, “Don't touch any of those controls unless I tell you. If I tell you you're live, then you're going to see the screen in front of you light up and you'll be playing a war game with live ammo.

             In the lower right, you'll see your magazine. Don't waste your shots. It's not a friggin' video game where you get more. It's 50 mil rounds and one of those will get the job done.

             The heat seeking rounds  you have are in the upper right. I think you're at 24 with those. You will have SAMs but don't fuck with those unless I'm telling you they've launched. If that happens, I'll most likely be over there. Alright?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Steve, man that keyboard. Don't misspell a thing, but we'll be going through  codes. You misspell a word, it'll knock out their power and their controls. You effectively just took out our man in that spot. It's you who keeps him live and it's you who takes him out.”

 

“Ok”

 

“As you can see, my seat is done up with all sorts of buttons and controls like a chopper. That's for the drone. It gives me sensory and feel just like I'm there. That steering wheel gets me a truck topside and mobile. It's steer by wire and satellite.”

 

Robert said, “Man! This is crazy!”

 

“Hon, we put money into these things for one reason and that's to stay alive. If you live, you fight another day. If you die, then they win.

             Most of my phone calls will be over the live speakers. We have patches all over the country. I'm going to be calling a lot of people tonight.”

 

I dialed and got Dave. “Yeah”

 

“This is Rhette, I'm in my location with main controls under me.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your dad had it built. Let's just say I'm watching what main control has, but I've got a lot more at my fingertips than them. We've got 8 guys it looks like. They're down walking instead of in a truck.

 

“Where?”

 

“L6 going towards L5.”

 

“There's a new tunnel off there. They've got amphibians there which are armored.”

 

“Why would they go amphibian?”

 

“Maybe everything else it too fortified for them.”

 

“What's the code for that gate?”

 

“Rolex Yachtsman”

 

I looked at Steve and said, “One second.”

 

Steve typed it out and I said, “We're there live. The control is working. They're at the gate. I'm jamming.”

 

“Good. What's happening?”

 

“They're turning back and I'm aiming my site at them. They're shooting at the ceiling and trying to take it out. I'm retracted.”

 

“Good. You can play cat and mouse until they get it, right?”

 

“One second. Let's check. I'm still live. I've got one thing there they won't know about.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“Hang on. Let me see if it works. The space is bigger than it usually is and this thing isn't designed to pan that direction.”

 

I pressed the fire and the round went to the right and ricocheted off the wall. It landed at their feet and then exploded. “They've just been made with a dye pack. We now have bright yellow enemy.”

 

“Amazing!” came Dave's voice. “All eight of them?”

 

I counted. “Yeah. They're trying to get their clothes off, but it's able to be seen with black light. We'll be able to tell them out of a crowd.”

 

“Is that all of them?”

 

“I can't tell you that. Let me look at my monitors. Just the same, if they make it past the gate, we're still fighting.”

 

“You jammed it, it's not opening. There are a hundred six inch thick bolts that just shut that gate.”

 

“Can it be driven through or shot through?”

 

“Not easily.”

 

Steve tapped my shoulder.

 

“Hang on, I've got movement at I-9.”

 

“Fuck, that's down town.”

 

“Three of them. They've got a 4 wheeler. They're using lights, so I can see them a distance off. Let me see if I can aim my cannon at I-12 and get that far.”

 

“Man, I don't know what you got there, but you've got my back.”

 

“I'll show you should we make it through this.

             Get your men at the main arsenal to put a truck out and get behind them. I'm not seeing any other movements.”

 

“Do you have heat seek down there?”

 

“Not in that corridor and I doubt if it'd turn a corner that sharp.”

 

“See if you can get control of  Zupan Regulator.”

 

Steve typed it in and it came up for me on another monitor.

 

“It's live.”

 

“You're on the corridor approximately at I-19. If you shoot, it should take them out at that distance.”

 

“Let me get off a round and see.”

 

I fired and watched the other monitor. The flash was instantaneous. I hit another round and the same happened with the second 4 wheeler. I hit a third and saw the guy jump clear about the time the explosion happened.

 

“Two are gone and one jumped free right before the blast. He's not moving, but he's not gone.”

 

“The explosion probably has him gone. I'll get them out there in a truck.”

 

“Hang on. He's up.”

 

“Hit your cannon and see if you can get him.”

 

I took aim and from that distance, it was a bit of a reach. I fired and he fell.”

 

“He's dust. The splatter on the wall tells me he's gone.”

 

“Yeah! What do you have left?”

 

“The eight at that intersection. They're staying there and it seems like they trying more frantically to get into that gate.”

 

“Do you have any other things in your bag you can do to them?”

 

“Another die pack, but the last one nearly tore me off the ceiling.”

 

“Use it if they start to move.”

 

I watched for a few seconds and said, “Dave, I've got phone calls to make. What do you know?”

 

“Lana told the guys they were there. That means the guys in the house are bad. Are they in that eight there?”

 

“I can't tell. The light isn't telling me a thing.”

 

Robert came up and said, “The guy is the one there was on me all night. See the sauce there on his left arm towards the back on his shirt? He wiped that on when he was at Bates.”

 

“We've got a guy that's rather sloppy. He's one of the eight.”

 

“Odds are they're all there. They probably think we're onto them and they're trying to get in there because they don't know of all the others. That one there was built eight months ago. We used more men on it because it's a straight shot down to the river with a hidden dock.”

 

“Do you think they're locked in and that's the only way they know in and out?”

 

“No. I think whatever they're after is probably there. If they told an outer group to meet them there, any other spot would probably get them shot.”

 

“It's a fucking shame I can't see beyond that point.”

 

“You can. Let me think. GO live with Black Thunder Marine”

 

“Black Thunder all one word or two?”

 

“Two”

 

“Ok”

 

Steve typed it in and it came up.

 

“Let me get my bearings here. It's night vision. What am I seeing here?”

 

“You should be seeing boats and a warehouse. The movement will be light green if there's any.”

 

“I'm not seeing movement at that point, but it's not real clear.”

 

“Let's try Pallet Stacker”

 

Steve typed it in and it came up. The brightness of the screen compared to the night vision was amazing.

 

“Hang on, I just got blinded here.”

 

I looked and saw nothing. I saw boats on racks and a door.

 

“I see boats on racks and a door.”

 

“Jam that door. It's Rolex Troubadour.”

 

“Spell Troubadour?”

 

He did and Steve hit enter.

 

“I'm live and I'm jamming....it's jammed.”

 

Dave said, “ok, what we've just did was we sealed both ends of the tunnel. If they're in between, you'll see movement real fast in that night vision. If there's no one there, then we've got a problem getting those doors back open.”

 

I laughed. “You counting on the men in there to unseal them?”

 

He laughed and said, “That didn't come out as I meant it. Sorry.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Steve tapped my shoulder.

 

“Hang on a second, our eight are trying to move.”

 

I fired the second die pack and it got about five of them.

 

“They're good and pissed now. They're popping caps at me like you wouldn't believe.'

 

“My truck is getting ready to come out. Do you have anything you can get there towards them to hem them in?”

 

“Dave, I'm in areas I've never been down there. You have that knowledge.”

 

“Try  L-3 and see if you can gain that range.”

 

“I'm seeing that direction. I see I've got a 50 mil there. How many rounds do I have?”

 

“Twenty. Don't ricochet it and hit our truck though.”

 

“You really should have made those walls the same as the others down there.”

 

“With those new machines, it's not possible.”

 

“Ok, but it's really hard to get a shot and not hit on down the block.”

 

I took aim and right clicked. “I've got a magnification on this. Let me blow it up and see if I can get them to thinking I've got guys there.”

 

I saw a guy step out and took aim. I shot and he went down with a splatter on the wall.

 

“We've got seven now. I'll keep them pinned and pick them off as they step out.”

 

“The truck is going to roll on by and throw a stun grenade. They'll be coming at you so cover them.”

 

“I'm ready. I see the truck rolling in my other monitor.”

 

A guy stepped out and I aimed. I shot and he went down on top of the other guy.

 

“There's six left now.”

 

“You're doing good.”

 

Another stepped out and aimed something my direction. I aimed and tapped my mouse. A hole hit him center in his chest and tore a mess clean through him.

 

Robert said, “Man!”

 

“Five left.”

 

David chuckled and said, “I take it that one did a lot of damage?”

 

“The kid approved of it.”

 

He chuckled and said, “I heard.”

 

The truck was nearly upon the intersection. I saw the stun grenades lobbed and they thundered on past. It was hard to see with the truck in the way, but I saw the flash behind it.

 

“I saw the flash, but the truck was blocking.”

 

“Go to your camera of the intersection and see if it's still live.”

 

I went and saw the world at a crazy angle.

 

“I'm seeing a crazy angle, but I have part of the door and the wall. There are three down I can see. I see legs of another, but that's it.”

 

“We're going to bring the truck back and do a clean up with a machine gun. Tell me if you see any of them move.”

 

“I'm ready.”

 

I could feel Robert's breathing behind me. I saw the legs in the picture move.

 

“The legs moved. The other three are still down. I'm still missing one.”

 

“See if the one is moving out of your sight.”

 

“They're trying to belly crawl. Ok, truck back in picture. They're cleaning up.”

 

Dave said, “Hang on Rhette. I'll tell you what I'm told.”

 

“I'll do scans everywhere else while they're doing that.”

 

I did scans and saw nothing in the tunnels. I went to the underground warehouse and saw the locomotive parked at the entrance. A black truck of ours was parked behind it.

 

“Dave?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Call and see if we have a black truck at the underground warehouse entrance?”

 

“You can't get a reading on it?”

 

“Not that far underground I can't.”

 

“Ok”

 

He came back on and said, “Clean up is done. I'm getting an answer on that truck”

 

I waited and did scans of trucks around the city. All the rest seemed to be in their right patterns.

 

“Rhette, he said to give a call to Truck 12. He doesn't think they should be there, but it's the only one he doesn't have a bearing on.”

 

“I'll call them. Is it a newer truck?”

 

“Not new new, but newer than the old ones yeah.”

 

“I can disable it if I need to.”

 

I called Truck 12. No answer came back. I did a log into the controls of the truck and saw it was still running.

 

“Dave, do they leave the trucks still running when they park them like that?”

 

“No”

 

“Do you think they have a problem there?”

 

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

 

“I've got a visual and there's nothing moving on that locomotive and all the way up that corridor except for that truck being there. I can't see the cab of the truck, so I don't know.”

 

“I'm sending them down to check it out.”

 

“Let me see if theres anything I can pull up in the warehouse further back.”

 

I pulled on out into the warehouse. Nothing seemed out of sorts.

 

“Dave, I'm going to shut that truck off. You tell the guys if it's rigged to explode, they need to be clear. What I can see is they're a good fifteen miles away, so there's not really much which is a problem.”

 

I reached over and shut the truck off. Nothing happened.

 

“The truck is shut off. I'm going to restart it.”

 

I restarted it and nothing happened.

 

“It's restarted without anything or anyone moving. That's strange.”

 

“Go outside to the entrance of the warehouse and see what you've got.”

 

I went out and saw semis backed up to the interstate.

 

“Semis backed up to the interstate. Nothing out of sorts.”

 

“I'll call and get a read out of what trucks are there. We should know real fast if there's anyone in line who not supposed to be there. It'd be stupid for them to be there when they can't get in.”

 

“Dave, ask our man on the way if they have the enable for the locomotive with them?”

 

“Yeah, he said they do.”

 

“I can take that locomotive and run it if they get it running. What I'll do is take it up the warehouse and get it far enough away that if we need to ram anything I can.”

 

He laughed and said, “Man, that'd be the shit.”

 

As we talked, I continued to do scans.

 

“Dave, we need to put infrareds and motion sensors down there. It would really tell us where there was movement”

 

“I'm thinking on it. I also want to go with those hydraulic stops. I think it's the best way for us to go.”

 

“Steve really liked the gate at the dungeon. I think you'd have his vote on putting those up.”

 

“What gate?”

 

“I'll leave it in place until you get there. It's something your dad and I did as a safeguard to keep them in.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“In case we found ourselves under attack when we were interrogating someone.”

 

“I'm not understanding.”

 

“There's a pocket door which is a slider. When you push the trip on it, it takes a 80 ton weight and slams it shut.”

 

“How does it open?”

 

“Slowly. There's an old screw cog in there which ratchets the door back open. The locks on it are from an old ocean liner's water tight doors. They're bronze and heavier than hell.”

 

“See, you know more about some things than me. I wasn't aware of it.”

 

“Well, this control room is one of those things too. It's coming in handy.”

 

“What we need to do with it is get it up to date. I think I know where you are, but for the sake of your safety, I'll leave it be.”

 

“Hang on, they're to the locomotive now. Tell them to enable the locomotive before they go to the truck. If it's wired, I'd rather nudge it with the locomotive than with them getting blown all to hell.”

 

“Let me tell them.”

 

I leaned over to Steve and said, “Roll those screens again and check all the entrances. Now would be a good time for them to try another way in because they'd know we were a good distance away. I'm not totally secure there's not a control panel someplace else.”

 

We flipped through the screens and I watched. A buzz came over the board and I looked for the alarm.

 

“Dave, I've got an alarm at the Press Room door.”

 

“Can you see who it is?”

 

“No, do I jam it?”

 

“See who it is.”

 

“Hang on, let me see.”

 

“This is main control. What is your business?”

 

“I need down there.”

 

“Security clearance and password.”

 

“Open the fucking door.”

 

“That's neither the password or your authorization.”

 

“Mayor Bradley and I'm looking for Rhette Michaels.”

 

I shook my head and said, “One moment.”

 

I called Bradley on my phone. “Hello?”

 

“I've got someone saying they are you trying to gain entrance to my underground.”

 

“I'm at the Press Room door.”

 

“Well I know it's you, but I'm not there. I'll get someone topside to go pick you up.”

 

“Ummmm....”

 

“Mayor Bradley, if you're going ummmm, I'd say you're in some deep shit. Is that the situation?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Anyone with you?”

 

“No”

 

“You wired for sound and action?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Explosives?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Who did it?”

 

“I don't know. Two guys”

 

“Let's get someone there. I'm jamming that door. I'll get you safe, but I can't let you in there. They don't know I'm talking to you, so that's good. I think if I call a truck to you, they'll be alerted. What were they driving?”

 

“Blue Chevy”

 

“Fuck”

 

“You know them?”

 

“The man who owns that car is dead. I now know why they didn't bring in th man's family and the people I requested.”

 

“What am I going to do?”

 

“I'd say they don't have a directional on you. You being stopped that long wouldn't keep you alive. What I'll do is get a jammer chopper over you, but we're going to lose phone conversation. What it will do is it will jam any frequencies and phone calls from coming through to detonate it.”

 

“It's not on a timer?”

 

“I doubt it. They couldn't gage how fast you walk and where you were going down there.”

 

“I was told to go to main control.”

 

“Let's get you jammed and then we'll get those bastards.”

 

I got on the phone with Dave “Dave, we've got a problem.”

 

“What?”

 

“The Mayor is at the Press Room door. I've jammed it as he's wired to explode. Two men broke into his house driving the car from the Ox. It tells me they didn't go get the others called in they were supposed to and we've still got cannons rolling loose. Up here topside.”

 

“What do you suggest?”

 

“If I radio a truck to go pick him up, they'll be alerted. The best I can do is jam and keep him outside topside. If they think we're holed up down there, they're at a disadvantage. What I think they'd do is use the elevator and send in a clean up crew from the house.”

 

“Shut down the circuits for the house. Lock off that elevator from your panel and keep jamming him. If they were smart, they would have brought him in that way.”

“They don't want us to know it's the house guards.”

 

“I know, but if they're out and about, they'll not get back in the house.”

 

“We've got no one patrolling there. I'll need to do that.”

 

“Get a crew over there, but don't have them up in the house.”

 

“Ok”

 

I looked at my map. I saw Truck 3 was in the general vicinity

 

“Truck 3, this is main control.”

 

“Yes”

 

“Patrol the block around clay pigeon Do not let anyone into the donut.”

 

“One moment. My partner says I'm to ask for a code word.”

 

I turned to Steve and said, “Up on that screen, what is the code word for Truck 3?”

 

“Hot Shoe.”

 

“Your codeword is Hot Shoe.”

 

“We're reading each other. Don't let anyone into the donut. Patrol it and do what if we see anyone?”

 

“If you see anyone going in, you call and you shoot to kill. It's most likely going to be a blue Chevy which is Lenny the Greek's. He's gone missing for speaking with a banned man from St. Louis. I ordered him to be at my car to go in for questioning and he disappeared.”

“Anyone went to his people's house?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“I'd do that. Them people aren't smart.”

 

“I know. 'No Brains' McKay could be in with him on this.”

 

“As I said....”

 

“It's going to change. Right now, we're trying to stop all things from happening. The main one is to keep people from getting to the house or any house on the block for that matter.”

 

“We'll get it done.”

 

“I'll let you know when the order is rescinded.”

 

“Over and out.”

 

I tapped Steve on the shoulder and said, “Keep that truck's movements up and monitor their radio chatter. I want to see if anyone else speaks to them.”

 

I looked up 'No Brains' and Lenny the Greek's address. The dossiers came up and I read them.

             One interesting thing came up and as soon as I clicked on it, I found a whole veritable list of family members. The main one I saw was Michael's cousin was married to Lenny's brother in law. The cross correlation with 'No Brains' is the family had mother's who were sisters.

 

I dialed the phone and got an answer on the first ring. “Hello?” came an elderly woman's voice.

 

“Hi, this is Rhette Michaels. I'm looking for Lenny the Greek.”

 

“No one here by that name.”

 

“Listen, you play with some other motherfucker. I've got your whole family tree pulled up in front of me. I know who you are, I know who your sister is. I know your daughter is law is Michael's cousin and I know the plan you people have hatched.

             People are dying tonight and I'd like for it not to be you. It will be the second you hang up the phone. Now, you get me his location and you stay alive. You fuck with me, and I'll personally fly over your house and drop a shit bomb on your door step which won't go out when you step on it. You got me?”

 

“Who the fuck did you say this was?”

 

“Rhette Michaels ma'am. I'm head of Kansas City and St. Louis. If you want more lineage than that, I'm sorry, but you've got to be shitting me to think you've got it coming.”

 

“Your language is atrocious.”

 

“Ma'am, I dont really give a right fuck if you think it is or not. You're going to think more than that is bad about me if you hang up that phone.”

 

“What do you want? I'm an old woman.”

 

“With some heathen fucking kids and nephews. I want to know where they are and I want their cell phone numbers.”

 

“You should have it since you're so smart.”

 

“Ma'am,  I see your husband is in my organization. Are you aware we're letting in women now? I'll tell you one thing and it's sure not going to happen with you. You piss someone off who makes those decisions and it doesn't happen.”

 

“Here's the phone number.”

 

She gave it to me.

 

“Thank you. You take my number here and you call me if he should come home or call you. I'll be frank with you and tell you he's got a death warrant on him for treason. I'll tell you he met with a banned member and you know what it gets him.”

 

“Did he know the man was banned?”

 

“Ma'am, it's all over about what happened in St. Louis. The trial news went around and everyone's celebrating the victory. My celebrating was cut short because your son and nephew decided to get involved in a take over plot. Now, I'll tell you he's going to be brought up for that.”

 

“You'll try him?”

 

“I'll try him for all the good it will do. Everyone knows he was at the Ox with the man and he told us in front of a bunch of witnesses what he was there for. He also affirmed he didn't have permission to be there. Need I say more?”

 

“He's a dumb ass. Don't blame it on me for what the boy does. He's always going to be something or do something.”

 

“What I need for you to do is to get everyone who is innocent and you get them to load up and come down to the underground warehouse out on I-435. It's the only entrance we have open which isn't sealed because they're trying to do this take over.”

 

“You'll spare us?”

 

“I'll spare the innocent. BUT, if you arrive in the car with that dumb ass, I'm not sparing shit including the bullets which go into your car.”

 

“Do you want me to get him for you?”

 

“Ma'am, I'd love for you to do that, but I'd also love to have the whereabouts of 'no brains' McKay.”

 

“I'll call his mom. We're sisters you know.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I'm sure she'll want to be a member too. We've thought they should have women a long time ago.”

 

“A lot of people did. Fortunately, I'm the one in power now to make those decisions.”

 

“What do you want me to tell him when I get ahold of him.”

 

“If you get ahold of him, you beat the dog fuck out of him for being so stupid. If there's anything left for me, you give me a call and I'll get someone over to pick him up.”

 

“You still want us to come to the warehouse?”

 

“Yes. I don't want you being anywhere near where they pick him up since I think he'll get stupid.”

 

“I don't think so. He can't even make a vest bomb right.”

 

“Tell me about that vest bomb. What's wrong about it?”

 

“Why? Did he put it on someone?”

 

“Yeah, the Mayor.”

 

“Tell the Mayor to slide it up over his head and just slip out of it. It's a real bomb, but he never made it so it'd stay on people.”

 

“Thanks for telling me. I'll see the Mayor gives you a commendation for that.”

 

“No problem. If you need someone to make bombs for you, I'm the person. I did it back in the war.”

 

“I don't think we do that anymore, but should the need ever arise, I'll give you first shot at it.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I'll hang up and you give me a call when you've got him beat down enough.”

 

“Ok”

 

I hung up and Steve said, “You let her in and I'll end any association with you.”

 

I shook my head and said, “Honey, why they let them in, I'll never know. They sneak past and all I can say is we really must have a way of needing them.”

 

Robert said, “The woman sounded like Ma Bobarker... she should have been spayed.”

 

I was chuckling and said, “Wait until I tell the Mayor this one.”

 

I called the Mayor and he said, “Yeah?”

 

“Mayor Bradley?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I'm going to tell you good news and bad news.”

 

“Oh Lord.”

 

“The good news is you're going to live. The bad news is you have to give a commendation to the man's mother who made the thing.”

 

“Why?”

 

“She is the one who's going to save your life.”

 

“Ok”

 

“What you do is you lift that vest up over your head and you pull it off like a polo shirt. Her son is a dumb fuck and didn't make it so you couldn't slip out of it.”

 

“You're telling me you have them working for you too?”

 

“Oh yeah. I don't know who hires them, but I do know who I'll have firing them.”

 

“I'm out of it. What do I do with it.”

 

“My advice is to take it to a trash dumpster and put it in it. We'll have someone come along and take it someplace where we can get rid of it.”

 

“Can I leave it here?”

 

“I'll send someone there to get it. What I need for you to do is I need for you to let me have someone come pick you up and get you where I can speak to you.”

 

“Can I just go home?”

 

“Mayor, I'd prefer you not do that. I've not caught the dumb fucks who did this to you and if they've been in your house once, I imagine they'll feel free to come back.”

 

“Let me call the police and get them to protecting my house.”

 

“Would you mind not telling them about this? It's going to really bad having them think we're all stupid like that. It'll get someone killed if they think the next one will be.”

 

He chuckled and said, “Do me a favor and get me the mother's name and I'll get her a commendation or something.”

 

“Sir, here's what you do. You get the commendation printed up and then, I'll pay for the meal. You take her out and you present her with it and she'll think it's the best thing ever. I'll tell you now she's not the brightest bulb in the package either, but I made a deal with her I'd take her if she gives me her son.”

 

“What you going to do with her?”

 

“Fuck, I don't know, but I've got to do something. I might have her out changing papers at a target range or something.”

 

He laughed and said, “If you do, I've got a few I'd like to suggest. One of them is with the name McKay.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, and her sister.”

 

“Sir, we're talking about the same people.”

 

“Oh man! Let's just have them do us a favor and test the ability to hitchhike out of town.”

 

“I'm afraid I can't do that. She might head to St. Louis and there's enough stupid people there.”

 

He laughed and said, “Let's send them out to a cornfield and see if we can call an ear of corn and get it to answer.”

 

I laughed and said, “Sir, you wait right there. I'll get you took someplace safe.”

 

“Ok”

 

Truck 7?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“I need you to go to the Press Room door. There you will need to pick up a passenger. We need him taken out to Overland Park. I'll get you the address when you get closer?”

 

“What the fuck is clear out there?”

 

“A safe house. The person whom you are picking up has had a rough night. He needs to sleep, but some of our brightest didn't help him none too much.”

 

“I'm feeling like a taxicab tonight.”

 

“I hear you, but you're the only one in position.”

 

He laughed and said, “Lucky me.”

 

“If you're tailed, let me know. I'll send you to bumfuck so you can target practice. Your passenger would probably appreciate it.”

 

We rung off and I called Mr Bates. “Hello?”

 

“Mr Bates, this is Rhette Michaels.”

“Hi!”

 

“I need your help. We've had some problems and I need you and your guys to come be my personal security.”

 

“What's going on ?”

 

“As you know, we stopped by your place tonight. As with any other night I do rounds, I made your place first. So, after your place was Bryant's and then the Ox. At the Ox, my son had to kill someone.”

 

“Oh Lord!”

“Yeah, but my security had been through the place and they amazingly never saw anything even after Lana had told them the guy was there.”

 

“You've got bad security.”

 

“Yes, that's why I need you guys. I know I can trust you and with them, I don't know if I can trust any of them.”

 

“My boys and I will be right there. Where are you at?”

 

“You remember the house out in Overland Park?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That's where I am.”

 

“You going to get us in the gate?”

 

“Yes, I'll call down there now and get them to let you through.”

 

“NO! Wait until we are there. If the security are in on it, they'll notify those men and you'll have a mess. If he does it when we're there, then you've got people to protect you.”

 

“Thanks for looking out. I'll be looking forward to you being here. My guys and I locked into the safe room with nothing but bags of your bar b que.”

 

“You poor thing.” he said laughing.

 

“You hurry and I'll be waiting.”

 

“We'll be there.”

 

I rung off. Steve asked, “We about to come out of hiding?”

 

“Hon, we've got company coming and armies on their way. I think it's safe to come out when they start landing at the airport.”

 

“No, you need to run operations and oversee everything.”

 

“It'll look like I'm a puss being in here.”

 

Robert said, “Dad, I can run it. You can go with Dad.”

 

“No, because if I leave you here alone, you'll have all sorts of wild girls over and it'll be non stop party party party.”

 

He smiled  “Your nuts.”

 

“Well, it helps.”

 

He said, “Dad, what we forgot was having something to drink in here.”

 

I looked around and said in my best Tweety voice, “I tawt I tawt of evryfing!” I slapped my forehead and said,. “Now you tell me I didn't. Well, we have to call off the war as there's no diet Coke.”

 

He laughed and Steve smiled. I said, “Hon, over there in that wall, if you push it, it'll pop open is a refrigerator. I think you'll see party supplies.”

 

He went over and I said. “To the left side....now push.”

 

The fridge popped open.

 

“Man, I was expecting a little refrigerator.”

 

“Hon, this has to be command central for up to several days. Rather than having it look sloppy, I hid the fridge and microwave. Over to your right, next to the door of the fridge is the microwave. You push pop it and the door folds down.”

 

Steve smiled at me and said, “Hon, you're too much in the details.”

 

“No, it's got to look like it's nothing special when that door opens and this is a regular room.”

 

He said, “Where'd  you hide the door to the bathroom?”

 

“To the right all the way. You push pop it and it'll open.”

 

He went over and bumped the wall. The door popped and the light turned on. “Man, this is nice in here!”

 

“There's a bed to the right which folds down if you want to sleep.”

 

He came in and said, “There's only one. I'll let Robert go to bed.”

 

Robert said, “Da-ad!”

 

“Hon, it's way past your bedtime. You know if you don't get to bed, you'll be cranky in the morning.”

 

Robert smiled and Steve continued, “We're going to be in St. Louis tomorrow and you know you don't want to be cranky with your mom. So, just go and do it.”

 

Robert looked at me and I said, “Hon, it's only going to be a nap. You know the Bates guys are on their way and we've got to do more things. So, just take a nap. Alright?”

 

“You'll wake me up when they get here?”

 

“No, I'll wake you up when anything is happening or if we need to go somewhere.”

 

“What's Dad going to do?”

 

“He's going to stay up with me. He'll have to get some sleep sometime too, but we'll arrange it.”

 

Steve said, “I'll sleep on the flight to St. Louis. It'll probably be a couple of hours.”

 

I nodded thinking to myself it'd only be about forty five minutes, but if Steve wanted to see it that way, it was fine with me.

 

Robert went to bed and Steve came over to hug me. “Hon, am I being a slug under foot”

 

“No. I kind of like you being here. It shows you what my word looks like.”

 

“It's impressive. I was expecting primitive and got an amazing eye opening experience. You've got state of the art in ways I've never even thought.”

 

“In ways, it's better than military installations. We try to surpass them so when we recruit military guys they're impressed. If we don't, they think 'ho-hum' and that's not good.”

 

He nodded. So is why you were down on yourself over that bad helicopter?.”

 

“Yeah, it was ridiculous. IF someone had expected me to operate that way, I would have told them 'no way'.”

 

“I understand more now. I think seeing you with them at the house was something different. Yes, even then on a camp out, you provide more than I expected, but these facilities I'm seeing are impressive.”

 

“What you see isn't totally safe. I'll tell you something which will blow you away. Each year, we have probably five kids which end up down in the tunnels. They make their way in, by way of air ducts up, which is really really scary because some of those have drops of forty feet to a concrete floor below.”

 

“Oh man.”

 

“Yeah, What we do is we try to go around and put bars over the top so no one can get in, but it's still something we've not gotten totally done.”

 

“You could have all sorts of wildlife coming down.”

 

“No, here's what you have, Ok?”

 

“There's built in ladders into those air shafts. I've been up them because I'm small, but the walls are corrugated pipe and 18” in circumference. It's a tight fit through the shoulders, but I can fit. A kid can fit fine.

             An animal can't grab the ladder and will fall on down. We see it occasionally with squirrels and sometimes a dog, but not that often. I think they see it's cool air and it pushes them away.”

 

“Interesting.”

 

“Kids are a different story. They'll get out and go running to friends who then want to go see. It's a problem because we've got to get there to seal up an opening before they get back there.”

 

“You thought about putting something over the openings to disguise it”

 

“Hon, they're all over the place. For every five hundred feet of tunnel we drill, there should be an air vent. If there isn't, we have to have an air handling system.”

 

“You've got one.”

 

“No, what we have down the center of that tunnel is a air system which blows on the walls so the moisture evaporates. It's good air, but that's what it's there for. If it ever shut down, you'd see a real cave begin to happen.”

 

He nodded and said, “You've got a good set up. I'm impressed.”

 

“I'll tell you something. IF Dave ever went to the high speed rail concept and gets the tunnel to St. Louis dug, the underground storage out there would be amazing. I do know the brewery there would pay out the ass for pipes going through it. So would a lot of different places which need a lot of cool storage.

             Over here, I can immediately think of the candy factory with their chocolate pumping through. They need it moving at all times to be cooled, but not solid.”

 

He nodded and said, “So you could make it a commercial operation too.”

 

“Yeah, I'll tell  you what our concept of high speed rail is, so you know though. For us, it's not a bullet train. That's super mass transit. We'd have maybe something the size of a car, or a van which only hauls a few at a time.

             The thing there is the cost. I think if we went with electric drive motors, it'd be awesome.”

 

“How would you get it so the state wouldn't insist on having rights over it”

 

“That's the problem. As soon as we go interstate with it, the feds will want control. As you know, they want control and then, they want to subsidize it or tax it. I'll tell you now this is a thing where we're doing it to save ourselves money. It could be possible for us to take it on a larger scale, but it wouldn't work after the novelty of it wore off.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Do you want to go five hundred miles an hour in a car? Yeah. Do you want to go five hundred miles an hour in a car and stop at every city between here and South Carolina? No. That's what people would find wrong with it. For that, they'd go to airlines still.”

 

“I'm getting what you're saying.”

 

“BUT, I'll tell you if we offered high speed rail for freight down there, they'd use it. The price of fuel for a semi going from St. Louis to Kansas City now is probably several hundred dollars. For us to hook a trailer on to a tram which gets it there super fast would be something we could do for probably twenty dollars. Now, if you think about it and see the potential for that nationwide, you'd have a real nice opportunity.”

 

“I'm seeing what you're saying. What's the drawback?”

 

“The drawback is loading and unloading. The drawback is storage at the ends. It's not safety because there's not any cross traffic. For the human transport, they could either go under or over in the same tunnel.”

 

'What do you mean?”

 

“Look at it this way. A tunnel is 32' in a circle. What you see down there, is a part of the circle. We have a level beneath the street which has a lot of the cities infrastructure in it. The city appreciates it because we provide the new piping and we maintain it so no one ever sees the underground...not even the power and gas people.”

 

Steve said, “So what I need to ask is if you have a power company in St. Louis which produces power way cheaper than in Kansas City, could you act as the broker between the two and sell the power from one to the other?”

 

“Interesting concept because the two are under me. I guess feasibly I could do that because it'd be different than their transmission lines above ground, but I think they'd just do it between the two.”

 

“Do they?”

 

“Both act as independent entities.”

 

“Which is stupid. You told me you're putting all those turbines in at St. Louis and yet, you'd do the same in Kansas City because the two are independent of each other? I'm sorry, but if I have two kids and they've got something, I'm not going to buy them something twice. They can share and that's it.”

 

I smiled and said, “Let me talk to them and see what we can do. It might be a thing you're going to have to look into buying some electric companies and get 'er done.”

 

He laughed. “Hon, I'm not used to the idea of having money.”

 

“I know. What you have is legal money which is legitimate. Me, I've got it illegitimate. There's a huge difference.”

 

“What would help you get legit real fast?”

 

“Let's see, if you would invest with us in things, we could partner and have things in our names jointly. No one would be able to tell how much of the corporation either of us owned and what we could do would be I could invest heavily and you not have to invest heavy at all.”

 

“What if I wanted to invest heavy?”

 

“That's fair, we can do it. The goal I see is I've got to get what I've got under the table on top. Once I have it, we're fine.”

 

“Let's swing the deals like that and just absorb everything into it.”

 

“We can do that, but what we have to do is we have to do it with a federal government who is seeing us buying out businesses and looking like we're the new owners. Yes, in reality, we're buying from me to pay us, but the accounting is going to be really screwy.”

 

“I think they'll turn their heads. You might ask little John what he thinks and see who he has he can call.”

 

“I'm supposed to be getting those phone numbers and start doing those things myself. That's the complaint I have with this way.”

 

“I'm willing to help, but I want  you to know I'm not going to be in control of things.”

“Why not?”

 

“It's your doings. I like it as it is.”

 

I laughed. “Ok, but I like us working together.”

 

“I do too, but us together wouldn't be a good team. You have your way of doing things and I do too. You get hell bent on doing something and a lot of times I go along just so we don't argue.”

 

“Maybe it's not a good idea. I just want you to feel comfortable coming along with me.”

 

“That's fine. I like doing it because you don't make me feel like I'm your lackey or trophy.”

 

“I'd not do that to you!”

 

“No, but I sort of thought that would be how people look at me. They don't.”

 

“They shouldn't. To me, it's like if we were going out as a family unit. No one should be looking at you differently, or at me differently. We're a unit and we go out and do things like rounds.”

 

“I don't know how you did it every night.”

 

“It got old quick. Now you can see why I wanted to pull Gino away from it. To me, the fakeness of it and the constant showmanship and never having quiet intimate times was pure bullshit. With him, he'd go from daytime business to it and there'd be no off time.”

 

“I can see what you mean now.”

 

“I begged for one day a week and he couldn't give it. Then, when I got out and went to college, I asked for one weekend a month. Then, I begged for one day a month. What I got was once in a year and a half and it's when I came here.

             Either he couldn't or wouldn't shut it off for me and that's when I knew his decision had been made.”

 

“Do you think he even knew?”

 

“Other people tell me he did. I think what they saw was him coming into to a place....”hug hug, kiss kiss, how's Rhette? I don't know, I sure miss him.” and them thinking it was him being serious. It's social talk. It's something to fill the void so it's not the same old boring bullshit.”

 

“Hon, your feelings are hurt.”

 

“Yeah, they're hurt! BUT, I'm not going to raise my kid that way. He had someone raise his kid until the kid could be of age to come out and do it with him.”

 

“Oh man.”

 

“David loved Gino, but he had to really be hurt by him. I think the daughter was hurt to the point she doesn't want any part of it. So, she hurt him back.

             What she did was she put David in with Gino when she was doing that hurting.”

 

“You care, that's what's interesting.”

 

“Hon, I viewed them as a step mother does a child of the man she loves. With the way I was raised, there were no steps in a family. IF you were married, there was an on and an off and that's it. With my step dad, he's my dad. Not my step dad.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Most people choose to label. Where I got hurt was I wanted that unit and not all of them wanted it. David sure as hell wanted me out for a long while, but now, he's wanting me back.”

 

“Is that what he meant?”

 

“Hon, I'll tell you once and then you're to never bring it up again. David made the phone call which got my probation revoked out of my plea bargain. It's because of him I went to prison. ok?”

 

“Oh man, and you're not mad about that?”

 

“No, so let it drop.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“You know the way my life was. I sure know the way it was. For me to say it was one thing when it wasn't is b.s..

             I look at David making that decision and me having to go and dry out. In doing so, I didn't get AIDS, and I met Kevin. Now, do you think I'm bitter?

             I met the man who probably made my world more complete. I know he sure made my mental state a lot better.”

 

“I'm not sure how I would take it.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Couldn't you have gotten all it on your own?”

 

“The question you should be seeing is I wasn't. You don't get the answers to life's questions at the bottom of a bottle of Maui schnapps, Jose Cuervo, or Crown Royal. It's not at the bottom of a bottle of Bud and it's not at the bottom of a bottom of Champagne. Believe me, I looked!

             Instead, I got some really fucked up decisions and the relationship which put me in prison started right in this house.”

 

“Oh man, I forgot Chad was here too.”

 

“Yeah, but now you're seeing me thinking and doing rather than doing and seeing how much I can damage while I'm doing it.”

 

“Is that how you saw it?”

 

“No, but that's the way it appeared. It was like a bullet. I'd penetrate and then just do my ricochet racer routine until I killed something. Then, it was onto the next.

             Now, I'm content on doing what I can the best I can and making a lot more favorable impression along the way.”

 

“What do you think of those who look at what you do with disdain.”

 

“Hon, there are always going to be people who look at others and judge. The rich look down on the poor. The poor look down on the retarded and all of them look at each other and look at the rich man as a haughty self centered arrogant fuck when they're doing the same thing. To me, it's hypocritical.

             What's interesting is when you have all of them so outraged about something they're focusing as one united. That's what happened on 9/11 and whether it was done deliberately by our guys or not, our leader lassoed it and ran it into the fucking ground.”

 

“I don't think so.”

 

“Let me demonstrate to you. I'll say one word and you tell me what you think. Al Queda.”

 

“Terrorists.”

 

“You were trained well. Our media did the training and they had our nation learning more about a terrorist cell than anything. It got to the point I got sick of the brainwashing. I'll tell you what I saw.

             In the late 1980's George Bush Sr had a son who was over Lincoln Federal Savings and Loan who got his hand caught in the six hundred million dollar cookie jar. A lot of his buddies, cronies, and probably himself were looking at some hard cold investigations for the whole thing. SO, he heard of a plan hatched by Sadam Hussein to take over Kuwait.

             Would it have mattered on a global scale of things if Sadam had done it and succeeded? No, but to divert a nation so he could pull everyone's hands out of the cookie jar, he went to war. You can call it what you want, but low and behold no one went to prison over the whole mess. In fact, said son became Governor of another state.

             So fast forward. You have a man who dreams of being more than someone who rode in after Clinton. He saw the budget swung to where the bills were paid and we were going to be fiscally sound with social security and said, “We can't have that! I must do something! So, low and behold, something happened. Did he do it? Did he not?  I don't know. I do know he sure as shit didn't do it with Mafia's help and how he hatched a scheme to do anything other is pure chance.”

 

“Why didn't you do something?”

 

“The gravy train is rolling! Our companies are turning out and making profits. Now we're on a downturn and what we've got is an economy in the shitter once again from a Bush being at the helm and a Democrat being called up to take it.”

 

“You could be wrong.”

 

“I could be, but I won't be. Do you think we can afford another 4 years of doing nothing with our economy in the shitter? No. That's what you'd get if a Republican came in and that's why it'll change.”

 

“What if a Democrat goes in and can't do anything?”

 

“Like Jimmy Carter did? Well, then we'll have to see about getting an American in the White House, won't we.”

 

He smiled and said, “Hon, it can't be done. Someone's going to find out about you and that's not going to settle well with me.”

 

“Let me tell you something and you listen good. Over in the Paseo, gays went in and revitalized it. At Lafayette Park, in St. Louis, Gays went in and revitalized it. In almost every slum in this nation, Gays went in and revitalized it.

             Our nation is in the shitter. You may not want to see it because you're singing the George Bush mantra chant, but the price of food rose 40% in one year! The price of gas rose 300% in one year!

             He can say he doesn't have a magic wand and isn't a fairy, but something sure as shit made it go up!

             Now, let's switch gears. In the 80's we had 26% unemployment and people were hurting like hell. You may not call it a depression because Georgie boy doesn't want to say it, but on a hurt index, people are screaming pretty fucking loud. Now, when was it that way before?”

 

“I don't know. When?”

 

“When a strong leader pulled up to the curb. FDR did it. Yes, we went to war with him, but that shit was well on the table without him. Also, it happened when Kennedy pulled up to the curb.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Financially, our nation was in the shitter both times. When FDR pulled up, we had no federal income tax. Our economy was down and we had to foot the bill in some way. He made the tax and although I don't like it now, I think it saved our country.

             When Kennedy rolled up, you had War War War...and more friggin' war and an economy which just couldn't move. Eisenhower lost out because he went around like Bush thinking a smile would buy him continued followers. Well, it didn't. What it did was it took someone who was young, handsome, and willing to say, “Hey, there's a lot of cracks, but I'm willing to plaster.” So they did. Unfortunately, he died.”

 

“You say that because you know something.”

 

“Nope. All I'm saying is he shouldn't have did what he did.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Dare a President of ours go out to Las Vegas and put up a huge wall and say NO MORE! And see how fast one of the casino owners doesn't find a way to put a bullet in his head.”

 

“So you're saying the mafia did it?.”

 

“I'm saying Kennedy was doing a lot to everyone. He went in and shook everyone up. On a scale between one and ten, I'd say he was at the top of the scale. He was like an epileptic shaking a hornets nest in the middle of an earthquake. He pissed people off and they didn't like it.”

 

“Like who?”

 

“Let me look at my monitors and then I'll teach you history. Obviously, you weren't into economics.

             Here's what you had. You had a bunch of men all running our currency and doing it like today. He said NO MORE and was doing what he could to get us back on the gold standard where our dollar was supported rather than being victim to the stock market.

             Then, you have a bunch of war horses who thought Korea was cool, but Vietnam was stupid. It's better to fight those you know than going in with a ball bat and trying to make a few home runs in the loony bin. Everyone was afraid of the man over there, and they didn't want him to go in there.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because it'd be like taking the military in and fighting the mafia. Who are you fighting? Are you fighting the ones you know? Or, are you fighting the ones you don't know. Look at where we are and look where we have connections. Look at what would happen if my son sees a threat?

             It's something you just don't do is go to war with an enemy you don't know.”

 

“I understand that now.”

 

“You should. Your leader is back over there and he's killed the one man that had the lid on things. That's why Saddam was left there and now you have a dumb motherfucker who thinks he'll just walk out and it'll not be bad. I'll tell you now with what's been done to those people, it'd take a nuclear bomb to clean up the mess and make it so we aren't threatened anymore.”

 

“Won't happen.”

 

“It will. I think before it's over, Bush will have pissed off Iran and he'll have pissed off enough that it'll be a toxic parade of bombs until peace truly reigns. They're not going to care about the little man and they're not going to care about anything but themselves. Those who have tunnels and bunkers will live and those who have the most put back will live, but those who don't won't.”

 

“Do you have enough put back?”

 

“Here? Let me show you my warehouses! Let me show you my city? The opening of that warehouse door and all the rest like it can get that city underground in thirty minutes. You saw the blast doors and you saw how I can jam them.”

 

“Those doors aren't going to take a five hundred mile an hour wind.”

 

“No, but we'll not be hit with a direct hit. I have confidence in it. Whiteman is over there. It's where their missiles are aimed and by the time the winds roll, it'll be about an F4 here. We've withstood it before and we will again.”

 

“What about the fallout?”

 

“What about it? Look down there. You see that warehouse? That warehouse goes back forever. Most of the movies from Hollywood are in there. More things are in there than you'd imagine. Someplace in there is a hundred and sixty some box car loads of canned tuna. There's another area next to that where the canned meats are so much you'd eat in there with nothing but a can opener for the rest of your life and your kids, but probably ten more lives.”

 

“So you're prepared.”

 

“I'm prepared and I'm ready. The inventory rolls in and out every day. They move in new and take out old. I think I can rebuild a world with ...... I flipped a switch and showed him a monitor.....all that lumber. There is enough there to house a city of a hundred thousand.”

 

“You have it all?”

 

“Hon, do you know why we never went in to help Katrina victims?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Look at the color of the people. None of them were our people!

             Now, what I see is it being a total waste. I see is us having those people and us helping them help themselves. It starts with us getting them jobs and it starts with us going in and raising those levies up above where they were.”

 

“Can you do it?”

 

“See them stop me! What are they going to do bring out the military and say, “No, you can't make that city safer!”?  I doubt it. You may not know, but you sure never heard about them raising the levies higher. What you heard was them repairing and life is supposed to go on until it happens again.”

 

“I understand, but that's the way the Government is. They don't fix it all for everyone.”

 

“Oh, but they do! Let something happen to the President's house down there and do you think the feds would pat him on the hand and say, “Oh you poor thing, here's five grand....go fix it back up.” No, they'll call it a national travesty and they'll have that place fixed up to the tune of several hundreds of millions of dollars....nevermind the place never should have cost that much, but he's suddenly got a bunker and a place to go underground with enough space he'll be living topside once again when the war is over.

             He'll have safety when those down there are drowning in a hurricane.”

 

Steve said, “You're pretty cynical about things.”

 

“Steve, look at me. Do I have a plan for Kansas City in case of trouble? Yes. Did I do it myself? No. This was here long before me and will be here long after me. What it is, is a plan. It took action and it took people working. Yes, people saw profits, but I'll tell  you it's possible to have it done in other places. In areas where there's not a possibility of an underground, there's still an ability to have a safe silo or something.”

 

“Do you think?”

 

“Hon, at the port, there's got to be storage where a hurricane can't hit and damage the contents inside. It's due to national security and it's the best paying thing on the place. What you won't see is us building a bunker basement under that silo and having enough space to shove everyone.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. It's called planning. You plan for the worst and you hope for the best. If you do it the other way, nothing gets done. That's why our economy is the way it is.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“No one saves for a rainy day anymore because A: they can't afford to because McDonald's doesn't pay enough B: the credit card companies have you thinking you deserve instant satisfaction, and C: the wherewithal of people just isn't about saving. The only way they do it is if it comes out of their checks before hand like they have with the 401k

             Now, if the government were so concerned, they'd have it set up that way. Do they? No, because they're on the treadmill with all the other rats with the money.”

 

I heard the ding dong of a low door bell sound. I answered the phone. “Yes.”

 

“You have five car loads of visitors, should I let them in?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I wasn't aware you were in. I'm not showing it on my board here.”

 

“Sorry. Must be a mix up. I'll also have a visitor coming who has a military style truck. Let him in when he arrives.”

 

“Ok”

 

“They're here. I've got to shut this down. Check to see if that truck is still moving, would you?”

 

Steve turned around and said, “It's coming up on Metcaf now.”

 

“They'll be here in ten minutes then.”

 

I hit the switch and the room transformed itself into a normal computer room.

 

Steve said, “That's impressive.”

 

“It's all there if you take a look at what's hidden in the walls. You don't see it because the built ins make it not seem like there's three feet beyond.”

 

I went over and opened the door. “See that thickness. That's the concrete. You don't notice it that much, but it's there.”

 

“What's across the hall?”

 

“Laundry and then storage. Back there is the Christmas room. I should get that taken home, but I haven't.”

 

“Leave it here. We'll use it at the house in town.”

 

We went up to the front door and I turned on the outer lights down the driveway. I opened the gate and saw the cars pull up. I went over to the garage and opened the door. With the helicopter in it, there was still room for six.”

 

I went outside and directed them where to park. They pulled in and we got the cars in.

 

As everyone got out, I hugged everyone. “Thank you for coming.”

 

Mr Bates came over and said, “You asked and we got here.”

 

“I appreciate it. Now, what I've got to do is explain what's went on and where we're going with it.”

 

“Ok”

 

We went in and everyone sat on the sofas. I began, “Guys, here is the deal. As you know, I'm getting you in. That's not a lie. It will happen. We're allowing women in, minorities, and gays.

             For me to be a part of a group which doesn't allow me in isn't likely going to ever happen with me around. You should know it and you'd best believe it.

             What we are if you didn't know is an organization which believes in trust and honor. It takes loyalty and it takes a willingness to follow directions and work.

             You, Mr Bates, have been a part of us in heart and spirit for a long long time just by being our friend. I say “OUR” because I met you through Gino and I know what the man thought of you. He loved  you and he really hated the fact he had to say no time and time again.

             What he had to do was face the facts his power  was limited...mine isn't...well, it is, but what you'll soon learn is I'll be head of the United States in short time.”

 

Mr Bates said, “Little John is giving it to you?”

 

“I'm earning it, but even his power was limited. He had to answer to Italy. He's fed up with their style of management and he's found me which is his loophole so to speak.

             What I am doing is I'm pulling you in under me directly instead of under Kansas City. There are reasons for that which I will lay out in due course. However before I get there, I'm going to tell you what I expect of my managers.”

 

I looked over and Steve's eyes were glistening.

 

“For management, I expect you to train under me and then, go into cities and build up a base. Through us now accepting minorities and women, our base will grow.

             Through our codes, we're going to expect the best of our people. That means no dead beats ride on our train. It means dads who can't support their kids don't get to hide up under us. It means single moms get support from us and we get them jobs....good paying jobs. Everyone works and everyone builds up their own esteem and reputations.

             I'm sure you all grew up like I where the only opportunity for minorities was working with the government. Those guys had the nice houses and they had the wives who dressed to the gills in the nice clothing. They had the respect of their neighbors and they held onto those jobs because they knew the hell went through to get them.

             You, Mr Bates, got out of that trap. I call it a trap because it's racist as hell. You know it and I know it. You stood up and you took the reins and got out to build something which all of us look at  proudly.

             I say all of us because you're not just a testement to blacks, but you're a testement to business owners nationwide of all colors simply because your place is a national landmark. You didn't franchise and you didn't do it any other way except by owning, and working, and managing.

             The reason I'm talking to you here is because I know each of you guys have worked your asses off for your dad. I know the chances are unlikely he's going to die soon and although you're making livings which are reasonable and nice, I'm looking for managers. You've learned the style I want. You've ran with it and if you're inclined, I'll take you and train you so I can get you into cities where we'll grow this the way I want it grown.”

 

Mr Bates looked at me and smiled. Tears streamed down his face as he said, “Oh man! You just made me feel so good!”

“Sir, others see it. I'm not just flapping my jaws. Yeah, I love to flap them around some steaks you guys cook, but I'll tell you what I've got coming at me.

             In the past week, I was given all of Missouri and took my guys to war over in St. Louis because we had some factions over there which resembled Kansas City about twenty to twenty five years ago. We won, and we prevailed. Now I've got Alex over St. Louis.”

 

“Really!” Mr Bates said laughing.

 

“Yeah, I trust him. Those I trust are going in spots I need managers who will listen.

             What I've got coming at me is not only was I given Missouri, I was given a major section of Florida and a portion of South Carolina. You may not know it, but we have the docks out at San Diego. That's not a secret as we've used it to grow us into Las Vegas.

             What I've got coming is Texas and Arkansas. I've got Ohio coming too. I've placed managers in cities, but I'm now to the point where I need to find managers. What I've not been given is Louisiana.         I think that omission was made because it's a state which they just don't seem to get a lot of cooperation. I think I could place any one of you guys there and have success because you know work. You know management and you know how to treat everyone equally.

             What I started to say was this is what I expect of managers. When I put them into position, I require work. I'll lay out Dayton, Ohio to you and you'll see.

             We're going into Dayton with a guy that probably will do good. It's going to be hard because we've got a police presence there which is really strong. The county police there is strong and military just loves the police there. It's a veritable spot of certain failures. BUT, what I've done is I've empowered him to go in and cultivate the minorities and women.

             Will it work? oh hell yeah because those two groups know police. They know the drugs are wiping out their children and they know the only way out for their kids is to go to prison and then come home in disgrace.

             I'll tell you now if I go in and start throwing schooling at them, they're going to hit it and they'll raise their kids to know something other than the streets and drugs.

             I've told my manager there he's expected to grow that city by 40% a year for five years. Then, he's got to get me a hundred percent improvement over the next five years. That's only 20% a year. I think he can do it. In the next following ten years, I want another 100%. Does that sound far reaching?”

 

Mr Bates said, “No. It sounds simple...too simple.”

 

“I'm not putting on them what they can't bring me. I want them to know the success and feeling of coming in and telling me they've got their roles exploding.

             It'll be hard because once that snowball rolls, it'll roll fastest the first few years, but what I think will happen is you'll see us with our schools in there and they'll be signing on to get into them.

             For me to do it, I'll explain you my principle for the schools. As you know, colleges and trades love to have a curriculum which gets them money and gets graduates out the door. What they don't look at are their failure rates.

             For a nursing school, the success rate is a paltry 10%. That means if all of you guys went to school, only one or two of you would make it. How would that make the rest of you feel when you've paid nearly ten grand for that schooling? Like shit.

             What I'm doing is I'm going to go in with corporate backing and I'm going to hand each and every one of you the get in free card. Then, I'm going to give you your housing and bill money for two years...not just one. Then, I'll put you into one of my schools which slows it down so you learn and you pass those classes. You learn to study and you learn how it feels to make good grades.

             What I expect in return is you to go to work for one of my hospitals for five years. That's it. No repay, and no loans you pay for the next 20 years. It's done.”

 

The guys eyes lit up.

 

“THAT when you look at it gets me a 4% failure rate. That means if I put you in, only two of you are statistically going to not make it. BUT, where I think you guys would all make it is you know the management and you know work. It takes buckle down attitude to get something accomplished. You already know how to do that.”

 

Mr Bates stood up and hugged me. “Rhette, let me fill you in on something. On the way over here, my boys were all saying we'd not get let in and the police seeing all our cars rolling in would think we're up to something.

             When we got here, they said the guard wouldn't let us in. Then, we drove through this subdivision and they were talking about how everyone really had it nice out here.

             What you don't know is I've been told time and time again they'd never let me in and it's a pipe dream I'd never see happen. All through everything, I said it'd happen.

             Tonight, when we saw you, I think  the guys were thinking it was another 'ho-hum' visit where I got my hopes up and they'd have to explain to their kids grandpa is a fool.

             THEN, you told me you were getting me in. You don't know it, but suddenly these boys all saw me as accomplishing my dream and suddenly Marlon and Ty were talking about wanting to get in too.”

 

He said, “Guys, you're now having him tell you he thinks we're management material instead of soldiers and peons. He's throwing open the doors and saying he needs us.

             For me, it says he's making this into something I've never seen before. It's not only about the Italians, but it's about us being able to step up and be something which can stand for something and mean it.”

He hugged me and said, “Rhette, I'm going to tell you something which only my kids know and very few others do. Back when the Black Panthers were organizing, I tried.

             In that group, I got told I was a fool. They wanted to have something which were militant, but they didn't want business owners and they sure didn't want to educate us. They wanted us to achieve their purpose and that was it.

             I'll gladly stand beside you, behind you, or wherever you want me because I saw what Gino was doing and I knew he'd take people someplace. If it can ever be said I loved another man, I loved him because he saw no colors. He saw me as a man and he helped me in ways very few of my own did.

             My boys know because they heard me talk about him. They knew because when he died, I felt like a part of my own family died.

             Through it all, I looked for you. I wondered how you were doing because I knew you'd be lost. I know you loved him and it was your love which made me feel different towards gays.

             My boys will tell you when they had friends who were gay, I supported them whereas others wouldn't. Folks would ask me why I let them come in my restaurant and I'd simply tell them their money was as green as anyone else's.

             Now, you're handing back the favor and continuing things without knowing any colors, without knowing sexual boundaries and letting me know I'm as good as anyone.”

He turned to his kids and said, “IF you want in, you stand. I'm standing and I'm telling you this is your chance. If you never believed in anything else I've brought to you, you best believe this is the one time it matters.”

 

All of them stood up. I walked over and hugged each one. I pulled Marlon over and said, “Marl, you saved me when you didn't have to. Your kindness that day is what I think of when I think of the people of Kansas City. You want in?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You interested in management?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ok, I'll get you a spot. I don't even have the state yet, but you're my guy for New Orleans. To me, it's yours. We'll get that state later tonight and we'll get you in and running it.”

 

I walked over and said, “Those of you who want management, step forward.”

 

Six stepped forward.

 

I went down the row. “Baton Rouge,  Galveston, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin.”

 

They looked stunned.

 

“Guys, what I need you to do is to get ready because this is going to be a whirlwind of a ride. Most of those cities have us there. I'll get you in and we'll get things growing. What you're going to need to do is get over to Quincy, Illinois and we'll get you suits.

             When it's time, we're going to go there and I'm going to hand you the cities. It's going to take politicking like you've never seen before. I'm going to want you out there slapping hands, shaking them, and rubbing elbows with everyone. I'll get you phone numbers of the influential and I'll get you introductions made the likes of which you're just not going to believe.”

 

I stepped back and pulled my wallet out. “Here is a card. This isn't professional and it's not normal, but what I'm doing is I'm going to show you how simple it is to be brought in.”

 

I turned and said, “Steve, would you and Marlon help Mr Bates to his knees.”

 

Mr Bates said, “I'm not that old!”

 

“Well, it's not the getting down that's hard. It's the getting up.” I smiled.

 

He smiled and said, “As good as I feel, I'll make it up!”

 

I handed him the card. “You've got to read it, and you've got to memorize it. I'll get you copies and I'll get you rings.

             The rings, guys, go on your left hand and on your pinky. It's a traditional thing, but that's where it goes. As you can see, mine is on mine. It's never came off except when I went to prison and the one Gino gave me got stolen. I know who has it, but he's been told if he ever sells it, he'll be killed. It's his curse and he'll live with it.

             Mr Bates, I need you to read the card and then, kiss my ring. It's a significant humbling experience because when Queen Isabella sent Columbus forth, she gave him a ring. He wore it and he kissed hers. You're going forth into a new journey of your lives and doors are now opening.”

 

Mr Bates read the card and as he did, he visibly was moved. The tears and broken words from sobs were many. He kissed my ring and hugged my hand.

 

“Thank you!”

 

“Thank you. Of the times I've done this, no one has shown me it's meant so much to him. I know you're living the words already.”

 

He turned and took Steve's hand and said, “Marl, I love you, but you've got to be a member in order to help me up.”

 

I chuckled and said, “Steve, step back. I'll help him.”

 

Steve smiled and said, “I'm not a member.”

 

Mr Bates looked at him with shock and I said, “It's not a requirement for me to love him.”

 

He smiled and I helped him up. He hugged me and then, he went over to Steve and hugged him. “Son, you just told me a lot about the way he loves someone. I think this is wonderful.”

 

Marlon knelt and he read the card. He kissed my ring and I helped him up.

 

We did this with each of them. When we were done, I said, “Guys, I'll tell you now I don't take much stock in that pledge and oath. They're  words and either you live them, or you don't. To me, you're not much if you don't, but we have guys all the time who fall and forget their words.”

 

The door bell rang. Steve went down to open it and brought up my driver and the Mayor.

 

Mr Bates saw the Mayor and went over and shook his hand. The Mayor looked surprised and I said, “Sir, Mr Bates and his family just became members. I'm expecting you to throw everything you can at his business. Show some neighborhood revitalization and make it so his neighborhood is the best on his street.”

 

He nodded and I said, “Steve here is your new Police Commissioner. He's got all the credentials you need and he'll get your department into shape.”

 

“I'm surprised. You're so young!”

 

I looked at him and said, “Me? Or Steve?”

 

“Well both of you!”

 

I said, “I'm not young. I might look it, but there's a lot of miles on this frame. Steve there isn't as young as he appears either. His ability to smile and love has kept him young.”

 

Steve chuckled and said, “Sir, if you'll let me have the job, I'll be the best you've had. I'll get the pride and finish of the department up and you'll have things which you've not had before.”

 

“I just want you to show you're hard on crime.”

 

“It'll take money, but I've got it if the city doesn't. Let me spend and I'll get you results.”

 

“Whatever you need, you spend and if you don't have enough, you ask for it and I'll get it for you.”

 

Steve said, “One thing I'll be doing is changing a lot of things where the people on the streets see us out there better than ever.”

 

I went over to Mr Bates. “The reason I've brought you here is because I can't trust my own guards. It's bad.”

 

“That's what you said. My boys and I will do what is needed.”

 

“Right now, what I need is I need you to stay here and stand guard. When I move, we're going to go and we'll roll in a mass. How well armed are you guys?”

 

That question brought out the artillery I saw 44 magnums and some really heavy equipment. “My God fellas! That's some serious shooting!”

 

Everyone chuckled and I asked. “You all know how to use them?”

 

Mr Bates said, “They know. We've practiced a few times.”

 

“Good. I don't want any of you killed, but after what happened earlier, I'm going to ask you protect us....me, my son, and Steve.”

 

Everyone agreed.

 

“When we have our memorial service on Friday, I'm going to be introducing you to everyone. You'll be in there shaking hands with a lot of people you've only read about in the papers. All of the powers that be will be there and I've got to show a lot of might.

             What I'm meaning to do with you is to show we're stepping forward and getting away from the color barrier. I'll have Beck up here and she'll show them women are not just included, but they're going to be leaders too.

             You've not met her yet, but Beck is my head of Miami. She  has saved my life already and is more than capable of following directives.”

 

I paused and said, “Guys, what I want from you is silence on some things. I'm not breaking my word to you, but what you'll most likely see is yourselves being introduced to city leaders who you'll be replacing. It's embarrassing, but that's the way it goes when you have leadership changes.

             I'm telling you upfront because I don't want you to feel embarrassed and thinking I lied. What I'm doing is I'm keeping things low and I'm letting this memorial service be a significant memorial service as to how the past is being put to rest and the new is going forward. ok?”

 

They all shook their heads.

 

I saw Robert come in carrying his sack of steaks. “Look over there. The kid gets up from sleeping and what did he grab?”

 

Mr Bates laughed and said, “Tell him he's got as much of it coming as he'll ever want.”

 

Robert saw us and came over. “I like it!”

 

“Yeah, but you need to get your hands washed so you can shake all these men's hands. They just became members.”

 

He smiled and went over to hug Mr Bates. “Congratulations!”

 

Mr Bate hugged him and said, “I'd like to introduce my sons to you. They'll be here and whenever you need someone to help you with anything, you feel free to call them.”

 

Robert went over to one of the younger guys and bumped knucks with him. “What's your name?”

 

“Aaron.”

 

“Aaron, how old are you?”

 

“Fourteen.”

 

“What I want to ask you is a question which is going to be hard to admit, but how well are you doing in school?”

 

“Ok”

 

“Aaron, bring your grades up and you start getting all A's. You are going to me my attorney when I head up New York.”

 

I looked surprised and Ty came over and hugged me. “That's my son.”

 

“H's mine. He's doing this on his own. I'll tell you now, that boy there is going to be heading this organization in twenty years. He's training now for New York, but I'm going for twenty and that's it. He'll be in my spot. It's those kids who will be our leaders.”

 

Robert came over and said, “Dad, I want him to get into Harvard. Will you get him the best so he can study and get the grades?”

 

“Yeah, and when the time comes, I'll pay for his schooling and get him in.”

 

“I've got that money, I just want him to be helped.”

 

“Ok, but look around you because all of these guys are going to be going places.”

 

“I know, but something just tells me he's going to be my right hand.”

 

“I know. I've had those feelings before. That's why I gave Marlon the jewel of the South. I love all of these guys, but it's Marlon who got to me.”

 

Mr Bates came over and said, “Rhette, I'm going to ask you a few favors.”

 

“Name them.”

 

“If you'll allow it, I want to have a piece of the action which you've not thought about I'm sure.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You're going into the airline business, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Let me cater the meals.”

 

“Oh man! That's a great idea! What we'll do is we'll get you equipped so you can do the flash freezing which you'll need. I'm not sure what they pay for the meals now, but we'll get them on the planes. We'll also get you some napkins printed up so they'll be with the meals and advertise your business.”

 

He smiled and said, “You're giving me too much.”

 

“No, you just got something because you thought of something I've not thought of yet. How are you equipped for serving massive amounts of those meals?”

 

“We can do it. I know we can.”

 

“What you need to know is we'll have to have both a good sandwich meal and a good light meal. What do you have in mind?”

 

“He turned to his son and said, “Tone, would you come over?”

 

He came over and said, “This is my son Antone. I call him Tone.”

 

“Hi”

 

He stuck out his hand and I shook it.

 

“Tone, I was just speaking with Rhette about us getting the meals on the flights his airline is going to have. He wants to know how we're equipped for serving massive amounts of meals.”

 

“Dad,  I don't know. How many do you think they'll have?”

 

I answered, “I don't know, but I imagine it's going to be a lot. These flights will be international, so we'll have to not only have the meals, but flash freezing capabilities and a way for us to store them all over the world. I'm thinking with the number of planes we have, we'll have to probably have at least a hundred thousand and day.”

 

He looked shocked. “Dad, that's way out of our league.”

 

I turned to them and said, “Here's what we'll do. We'll get you guys a bigger facility and we'll get you some of the equipment you'll need. What I want you to think about is bottling that sauce so we can get you to doing that commercially.”

 

Mr Bates frowned and said, “I've had a lot of people who wanted to do that.”

 

“And what's held you back?”

 

“We have no say in it. They want us to sell our name and then put whatever they want out there.”

 

“You're not hearing me. I'm telling you we'll get you the equipment. That means you are the one who makes it and packages it. The only thing I'm going to insist upon is you formulate it so it can go into a plastic bottle. I'm old enough  to remember the bottoms coming out of Miracle Whip jars and us kids stepping on them out by the trash can.”

 

He nodded and said, “It's a done deal.”

 

“What else I'm going to do is I'm going to ask you guys to think about the whole picture and think about some sort of salad dressing. It's going to be tough but I'll tell you why.

             When you have a cook out, your bar b que sauce goes into competition with everyone else's. Yours is good and I'll freely tell you that, but a lot of others are good too. What I want to see is you having not only the chance for one of your bottles being on that table, but two. What is best is you finding something women love because they're the ones who shop for groceries.”

 

Tone smiled and said, “Dad, mama's recipe she has is the first thing I'm thinking of.”

 

I said, “That's a sell job. I'm sure she's not going to want to sell it.”

 

He smiled and said, “That's where you'd be wrong. You don't know how many times mama's said hers is better and she could sell a ton of it if she had the chance.”

 

“Well, that's where I'm wrong. The key there is you guys and she have to decide upon a bottle which both the salad dressing and the bar b que sauce can go in which is identical. It's about feel and that's what I want them to see.”

 

Tone asked, “Were you for real about letting in women?”


“Yeah.”

 

“So if I bring my wife, can she be a member?”

 

“Yeah! All of your wives can.”

 

Robert came over and said, “Dad, is it ok if we go down and play some pool?”

 

“Hon, it's your house just as much as mine. Feel free to do whatever you want down there. The lights are over on the wall by the dart board.”

 

Tone looked at me and said, “He's not  your son, is he?”

 

“No, but he's mine. We're getting adoption papers signed tomorrow.”

 

He smiled and said, “That kid has an intense look in his eyes I've seen with someone before, I just can't place it.”

 

“His real dad ran St. Louis.”

 

“Ok, Michael.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You still took him after what Michael did?”

 

“First of all, I gave my word to Michael I'd raise him up and train him to head New York. Second of all, he didn't do anything to me, Michael did. The kid's good and I'm proud of him.”


He nodded and said, “You're allowing kids in?”

 

“Not normally, but for him, I made the exception.”

 

“I know I'm going to be hounded about when my kids can join.”

 

“You tell them if Robert had his way, they'd be in. I just have a problem putting pistols into kids hands and thinking they won't use them all too often.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“It's not that I don't think they're leadership potential because I do. I think any of your kids could be our leaders. It's that we have to teach them to manage and lead people.”

 

“I'll do it.”

 

“What I'd like to see you guys doing is going out and onto basketball courts and showing the younger generation it's not about popping caps in someone's ass which gets you respect, but it's about being responsible in more ways than that.”

 

“I'm hearing you.”

 

“I'm not pointing at anyone specifically about the deadbeat dad thing. I'll tell you that now. What I think is we're doing a huge disservice to our kids by bringing them up without dads. I think those dads are doing a huge disservice to themselves for not following through with the parenting roles they should be doing.”

 

Mr Bates said, “I know what you mean. I've told my boys from early on that if they wanted to date, it was fine with me, but the second they thought about doing things sexual, they better be prepared to support any kid they bring into this world.”

 

Tone said, “I've brought my boys up the same way. It's hard because some of them have friends who are out there doing just that. Now I can point and tell them that kid won't get in because of what he's doing.”

 

“Don't get me wrong. It's not that I won't let them in. What I'm saying is it's about loyalty and honor. If they don't give it to their own blood, how can I expect them to give it to me? I'm asking for more than child support for eighteen years. I'm asking for them to lay their lives down when they're called.”

 

“Man, you need to speak to schools about this.”

 

“Yeah, I'm the last one they'll want there. If they would let me in for the leadership, they'd stop me from going because I'm a sex offender.” 

 

He shook his head and asked, “That one kid did that?”

 

“He was fine with everything in regards to us. It was Division of Family Services which prosecuted it. Just the same, I'm glad the experience is behind me.”

 

I turned and went over to the Mayor. “Your Honor?”

 

“Call me Brad.”

 

“Ok, I need to ask some questions.”

 

“Ok”

 

“In regards to Steve being over the Police Department...he's not going to be involved with anything which makes him put up with Judges who are crooked. I'll tell you now the second he gets offered a bribe, I'll have that person doing it brought in front of me.”

 

“I think you have everyone wrapped up in regards to that.”

 

“Ok, he's got issues at home which need resolved in regards to it. One thing you'll need to know is he's going to be doing this part time until he gets things lined out back home. We've given our word and his brother is going to be taking over his position, so I want to leave a clean slate.”

 

“That's understandable.”

 

“Another thing. He's going to be running camps here like out in Arizona where the inmates wear pink jumpsuits and do roadside and neighborhood cleanups. Have the street department be getting him some high wheel mowers and some Weed Eaters. We'll get a trailer and provide the Port- a- potty.”

 

“We've got one of those.”

 

“What we're going to do is we're going to be doing it out there and we'll get it going here. It's legal and precedents have been set, so we'll run with it. If it works out, we'll be starting it in St. Louis too. I think it's time the gangs start cleaning up neighborhoods they destroy.”

 

He smiled. “It's going to take a lot of money.”

 

“I've got a paint plant down there in the underground which can provide paint. I'll get some of our gas companies to provide gasoline. Other than that, we're going to start making crime punishment high profile.

             I'll tell you now I'm an ex-con. If there had been a deterrent when I was thinking about doing the crime, I'd have thought otherwise. However, when I was inside, I would have gladly went out and worked to alleviate the boredom. Hopefully, it will get some of them on the right paths.”

 

He shook his head and said, “I would love to think it'd work, but I don't know.”

 

“Sir, you're failing to see something. Steve's going to be over the department. The man he'll have out there on that wagon is going to be one of the officers on my payroll. IF he sees someone who has leadership skills or is a decent person who got in a bad crowd, he'll glean that person and get them over so I can recruit him. If they join, I'll make it so you never have to worry about that person again.”

 

He smiled. “Rhette, you know I've never had a problem with you guys. When there have been problems, you got it took care of promptly. This latest thing I know isn't your doing. You're taking care of it and although it was scary for me, you were there and helped me out.

 

“What you'll see is us going more high profile. Under other people's leadership, we've not been above board. I run one of the largest corporations on the planet and I can't show my face except in shadows. When I'm through, you're going to wonder what in the hell happened because we're going to be so above board, everyone is going to want to be a part of it.”

 

He nodded and said, “What's going to change?”

 

“Hospitals. Insurance. Management and Schooling. We're going to be buying hospitals and we're going to be training a lot of different professions. I'll pay the money so I can get people.

             Before, it was about squeezing everything we could out of people and not giving back to the community in ways which weren't seen. Now, I'm going to be looking for people and hiring off the streets.”

 

Steve said, “He's buying airlines right now. I own some of the biggest lumber and mining companies in the country. I didn't know it until I inherited them, but I'll throw them in with him so he can have someplace to hire people.”

 

The Mayor looked surprised. “You inherited this and didn't know you had them?!”

 

Steve said, “My dad was secretive with his investments. The only thing I knew about the lumber was the forests around our plantation were sold to that company. Each of us kids got checks for our land having the trees cut down, but I never knew.

             In regards to the mining, we found out we had land in a lot of places which we never even knew. We called to check on who were owners in the corporation and learning we have a major ownership in the mines. I was planning on running for Governor on a platform to clean up things and imagine my surprise when I find out I own a lot of major strip mines!”

 

The Mayor said, “I imagine that'd be a shock.”

 

I laughed and said, “Shock! We were panicking! So, this opportunity happened and we're going to run with it.”

 

Steve said, “Sir, what clenched it for me was coming to the city. I see a utopia of what I come from because it's cleaned up and not full of crime and corruption. I can work in this environment and not have to worry about which drug lord is going to be stepped on when I do my arrests.”

 

“It's pretty much stopped here. Rhette's people nixed it.”

 

“Sir, what nixed it was Gino's guys getting accused of the first drive by shooting in this city. The press was proclaiming it was an underworld hit and we tore the place up looking for who did it.

             When we found out it wasn't us, we made it real clear we'd be stopping it. It gave us a jab in the eye, but at the same time we understood why everyone was thinking it was us.

             Imagine if you had someone out there who came in and got the press down on you for something you didn't do, wouldn't you do a sweep and see if you were in the wrong?”

 

“Yeah.”

“Well, if you knew it wasn't you, then you'd make sure whomever was responsible got what they had coming.”

 

He nodded and said, “Honestly, the first thing I thought when you said I'd do what it took to clean it up, the first thing I thought was I'd call David and get him in to help me get it cleaned up. It tells you how much I depend upon you guys.”

 

“And we'll always be there. Now, what we're doing is we're coming above board and we're going to be a boost to the economy and our citizens.”

 

The Mayor asked, “If you buy the airlines, will your corporate headquarters move?”

 

“I don't know. I've not thought about it. I imagine if we did come here, we could be persuaded to moved if the conditions were right.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Find me a place in the city proper which isn't going to be in a blighted zone and I'll build a headquarters. Get me some tax deferrals and that'd be icing. I'll bring it here.”

 

“Where would you like it?”

 

“Hell, a dream headquarters would be the old Union Station. If I had someplace like that where I could sell it to people to move here, it'd be great.”

 

“You know you'll be doing some downsizing with the companies not needing multiples of staff.”

 

“I realize that, but what you don't know is rather than deal with all those unions, I might use the assets and start a new company.”

 

“My advice is to not. You'll lose all those slots for those flights all over the world and have to rebid for them. If you merge them all, you could change the name of the company and not have the problem.”

“I'm still dealing with unions.”

 

He smiled and said, “Welcome to above the board corporate headaches!”

 

I smiled and said, “Well, I'll throw it in David's direction. He's a whiz when it comes to things like that.”

 

“Now you know why I depend upon him so much. He knows more about running this city than I do. I can call and he gives me a name of the person to contact. I've got a Rolodex up there in my office which is not on the person's name, or their position, but based upon what problem I have. It's the strangest  way of ever doing things I've ever handled.”

 

“Well, I've yet to start mine, so I might take notes. It sounds like you're onto something.”

 

He laughed and said, “Mine is full and it's just for Kansas City. Running a whole country would be a nightmare.”

 

“Not really. I can have multiples of ones like yours and just have them under each city. They'd be dealing with my heads, but if my heads can't get problems resolved, I'll make a call and you best believe if I'm making the call it's an issue which isn't going away. I'll get someone new in there.”

 

He nodded and said, “You've got complete cooperation here.”

 

“I'm glad. You work with me, I'll work with you. One other thing and then I'll get you home safe and get guards on you.

             As you know, I'm over KC Power & Light. What we're going to be doing is having Steve buy it. Our reasons are many, but like you said with the airlines, we'd have multiples and can operate one giant one and sell the power from it. I've just spent a whole helluva lot of money in St. Louis' generation plant. They're going to have excess clean power to run probably Kansas City, Chicago, as well as themselves.

             Rather than fuck with them, we'll buy them and get it all under one umbrella where we can do it more efficiently. What I want from you is a complete public endorsement when it happens.”

 

“I've got stock with them.”

 

“Does that makes it a problem?”

 

“Not really, I'll profit well. It's just a surprise and I'd like to let you know what I've got with them. They might capitulate and fight you.”

 

“Sir, right now under the board, I own probably near fifty percent of the company due to loans and other financial dealings with them. I'll be selling those shares to Steve and I so we can swing the deal. I'm sure I can get on the phone and pull in other shares from other large holders without having a huge fallout. It's a mere technicality to me. “

 

“Why are you doing this then?”

 

“In order to go above the board, the under the board operation has to look legitimate. If we come out of hiding, it's got to be with a purchase. We can't just show up and have people wondering where the hell we came from.”

 

He nodded and said, “Man, I never thought of that. It has to be a dilemma for you.”

 

“Yes, but it will make it more easier to get my profits from one source to another. We can then do write offs and those sponsorships with the schools.”

 

He said, “Are you thinking about starting from scratch on the schools or is there something I could do?”

 

“I really don't know. What is there now is a one year or 9 month training curriculum in a lot of places. I'm wanting to take it to 2 years so we can slow it down and get people to studying and the things taught to sink in more so their tests will be passed.”

 

“I'm not familiar with it.”

 

“I'll give you a brief run down on how things go. In order to study to be a nurse, you have to get into the school and then, you've got to run a marathon for nine months. I had a friend who graduated and the only way she did it was she and I and a group of her fellow students all sitting and studying every night.

             Imagine if I gave you a list of all the bones in the body on Monday and tell you to memorize them for a test Thursday. You can miss ten questions and fail the test.”

 

“Oh Lord”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“BUT, when you take the test on Thursday, you're then handed a list of the muscles and told to be ready for a test of all of them on Tuesday.”

 

“Man!”

 

“It doesn't stop there. You get into the pharmacology portion of it and it's like 30 drugs a week they have to memorize. In doing so, you have to have the spelling perfect, and the generic names and the latin names. OF those, you have to have all the side effects, what they do, and what they don't mix with. It's insane!

             For me, I could take the course now and pass it, BUT I had a lot of the stuff in college and knew how to learn it so they could learn it faster.

             What you don't realize is nursing school is worse than a war's survival statistics. You walk into a room with a hundred people and only ten of them are going to make it to the end. Luckily, the six girls I studied with all passed, however, what I did was I went and got them some information which most people don't think about.   

             Down at the state library, they have all the test the state gives for licensure, merit, and certification. You being a citizen can go down there and study them, but not photocopy them. HOWEVER, you are within your rights to go down there and write them out in long hand or on laptop computer and use them to study.

             Luckily, someone I know was turned onto that fact for his bar exam so I knew a tank of gas and an afternoon would get my girls through.”

 

“Oh man, that's awesome! I didn't know that.”

 

“Yeah, in Missouri, it's the Wolfner Library at the Truman Building in Jefferson City. If you ever have to take a test for anything, you now know where to go.”

 

He smiled and said, “It's cheating, but it's legal cheating.”

 

“Yeah, because for the nursing exam, there are three tests. If you memorize them, you've got a perfect score! It doesn't matter because your license is a license, but it helps boost your ego when you know you've aced it instead of wondering if you've spent all that money and flunked.”

 

He nodded and said, “Let me talk to the local schools here. Maybe we can get them to sign on board.”

 

“I doubt it because their goal is to get as many student through there as they can. They don't get paid to have two year classes. They get paid to shove them through and have them retake the class.”

 

“You mean those people pay to take the class, and if they flunk the test, they've got to retake it?”

 

“No. If they flunk the test three times, they've got to re-enroll. That's the state policy. However, notice I say the state is dictating policy for them to re-enroll them, but they're not dictating to the schools to have a success rate.

             When I advertise my school, I'll run ads all over the place with that success rate and dare the students to compare to the competition. Hell, for that matter, I'll probably have the competition's success rate in my ads so they can't lie about it.”

 

“You doing it with just nurses?”

 

“It started out with them, but I've got the St. Louis Police Commissioner agreeing to let me get him police officers in the same manner.”

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, we had a talk and he's going to allow me to get reformed felons into the class. It'll work.”

“That's a leap of faith.”

 

“No, because if you so much as were prosecuted for a bad check, you've probably got a felony in this state. Nevermind you've gotten your finances in order and now have went 25 years without a problem, it'll still hold you back.

             I'm trying to get it changed so it's 7 years and then it can't hold you back, but in Missouri, it will always hold you back.”

 

“That needs to change. I don't tell many people this, but my wife had a felony for a similar reason.”

 

“Yes, as do many. There are statistics out there which say 70% of the male population of the United States have felonies. Those guys can't get decent paying jobs except with forgiving companies like Burlington Northern Santa Fe.”

 

“They hire them?”

 

“The woman over personell there says if she couldn't hire them, she couldn't fill her quotas of hiring the numbers she needs. She goes back five years and as long as they can pass a drug screen and their testing, she'll hire.”

 

“Man! Those are damned good jobs.”

 

“Yeah, but a lot of family men won't work for them due to the demands of the hours of the jobs. It's real hard to tell your kid you can't be there for his birthday party because daddy has to be on a train. Those things roll 24/7.”

 

He nodded and said, “Let me use that info because I know someone who needs a job. He's single and can't get anything.”

 

“Tell him to go to BNSF.com and apply. There's a school over in Johnson County Kansas, which trains them and has about 20 jobs for every graduate. If he can get in there, he'll get a job. I believe it costs 9 grand or something like that. You tell the kid if he's interested, tell him I'll pay for the school.”

 

“What do you want in return? His membership?”

 

“I didn't mention it because it doesn't matter.. If he chooses to join, it's his choice. If he chooses to go through life knowing someone made a difference in his, hopefully, he'll pass along the favor some day.”

 

He smiled and said to Steve. “I'm liking him more and more.”

 

Steve nodded and said, “Now you can see why I'm not required to be a member. He knows I'll be there and just the same, he's doing things like this all the time.”

 

“Really?”

 

Steve came over and put his arm around me.“He dreams up these things to help others like you wouldn't believe. The money isn't an object. His payback is helping people.

qHe bought a fleet of helicopters for his guys just because he found out they were using equipment which had a flaw. No one complained, and no one else knew there was a problem, but as soon as he found out, they were replaced.”

 

The Mayor smiled and said, “You've got a budget which will allow it. In this city's operations, we have to limp along.”

 

“Don't. Morale sucks when you do and if you show people you care, they'll give you a hundred percent. If they think you don't care, you'll find their eye is on the door to leave.”

 

He smiled and said, “You know people.”

 

“I know how I'd feel if I were in that spot. I'm not going to request something of someone which I wouldn't do myself...or put up with myself.

             Early in this life, I drove cars which were other people's problems. I learned to be a mechanic because of those cars, but I also saw the amount of money I put into them and realized in three years of buying parts, I could have bought a new car. That's when things changed.

             Now, I own one of the most expensive cars on the road simply because I want a lifetime car. It's not because I want a status symbol, but because the quality is there above everything.”

 

Steve added, “I'll say something in regards to that. He bought the car the first day we knew each other. We drove it home from Florida and in the time we drove it, he had me sold on it. I couldn't afford one, but he bought me one...no strings attached. Not only did he do it, he bought all of the members of mine and his families.”

 

“Hon, do you realize you just said you can't afford a Rolls? You're now rich enough you could probably buy the company.” I said giggling.

 

Steve smirked and said, “It's hard to take the poor out of the boy when he was raised that way.”

 

The Mayor smiled and said, “I like that. I know it's hard taking the poor out of someone's thinking. My wife says the same thing.

             Each night, before I go to bed, I wipe off my feet. Nevermind we've had carpet in our houses for the past 30 years, I'm still remembering when I was a kid and the floors were dirty.”

 

I nodded. “I understand. What you'll be interesting in hearing is when I was in prison, the floors were notoriously dirty. I got the reputation of being moved to a cell and moving everything out before I moved in and scrubbing the thing down from ceiling to floor. Then, I would buy wash cloths just to wipe the floors down several times a day in my cell.

             One note of pride is when they did tours for the kids, they'd bring them to a totally stripped down cell without anything in it and then, they'd bring them to Kevin and I's cell to show them what one could do as a top of the line model. We color coordinated all of our stuff so you saw towels on desks under things and towels used for seat cushions and everything. BUT, the one thing I would do was make everyone take off their shoes at the door. My floor stayed clean.”

 

“My mama was a good housekeeper, don't get me wrong. It was that with 8 kids, our floors were just dirty a lot.” The Mayor  clarified.

 

“I  understand. We're planning on having kids and probably will have a lot of them. It's going to be rough because I like a tight ship. I know kids have to be kids, but I also know if your mama had put her foot down and had you take your shoes off, the gravel and grit wouldn't have come off your shoes.”

 

“My daddy wouldn't have ever allowed it.” he said. Something in his eyes told me there was a lot he wasn't saying there.

 

“I understand. My real father was that way. He'd bitch and carry on about the noise in the house because his recliner was his throne. I learned to clean house like hell before he got home and go to my room to avoid it.”

 

He smiled and said, “You talk like you know how I was raised.”

 

“It's a person's eyes and their speech which give it away. All you had to do was make the one comment and I knew. The only thing I don't know is if it was a belt or worse.”

 

His speech faltered. “Worse.”

 

“Mine too. Thank God my mom divorced him.”

 

“At least yours got out. Mine said she was staying for us kids and then, she stayed because she was too old and afraid of not being able to make the bills for retirement.”

 

Steve asked, “She here in the city?”

 

“No, we're from Ada.”

 

“Small town and small town police.”

 

“He was the police.”

 

Steve flinched. I said, “Steve, it's a common secret in all too many towns. There usually one on each police force. The guy goes out and fights crime and then, he goes home and beats the wife and kids. We had one in Hannibal who did it regularly to the point finally his kid beat his ass back and broke the man's bones.”

 

“The kid get arrested?”

 

“Fortunately, enough people sided with him...teachers, clergy, and the like. The police knew it would have gotten blown up they were covering for him. Instead, the kid grew up and joined the military. He's now out in San Diego with the Marines.”

 

“You keep in touch?”

 

“Hell no! The kid was about as homophobic as all get out. He tried to throw me out of a pick up truck for falling asleep on his shoulder. I woke up with him holding me over the edge accusing me of going queer on him. When that truck stopped, so did our friendship.”

 

The Mayor said, “Wonder ever what happened to him?”

 

“He's in the Marines and I see his photos on the web all over gay sites.”

 

“Really!”

 

“Yeah, but I don't give a shit how old I get, I'll remember the friendship and the sight of that pavement rushing by and not give him a chance again.

             Well, we need to get you home and have guards placed with you.”

 

I turned to the Bates guys and asked, “Who wants to go to the Mayor's house and guard him for the evening?”

 

Several came forward and I said, “The guys who are after him are some real dumb fucks. My advice is to not shoot them because they'll scream like a bitch and draw all sorts of heat.

             Just shoot up into the air and they'll run. They're not killers.”

 

They smiled and said, “Can we catch them?”

 

“Yeah, if you do, give me a call and I'll have someone pick them up. It's going to be a long night for me. I'll be up.”

 

Steve said, “Hon, you need to get some rest.”

 

I said, “Honey, if you want to sleep, go in there and go to bed. I've got a plane coming in and the rest of this to get quelled. The worst is over, but we've got to get to the bottom of it.”

 

I went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to get a bottle of water. “Would anyone else like anything?”

 

One of the Bates guys asked, “Where's your bathroom?”

 

“Over there in the tower, you'll see a door. It's the bathroom up here. There's one downstairs in under the grand piano. All the rest are in the bedrooms.”

 

He went over to the tower and when he came out, he said, “Awesome bathroom!”

 

I laughed and said, I had the idea someplace and decided to use it. It gets the most comments about this entire house. Everyone loves the house, but the bathroom is what gets them.”

 

Steve asked, “What's it look like?”

 

“Go take a look. It's an outhouse in house. I did the whole thing to remind me my grandparents didn't have plumbing for a long time and no matter how old and fancy I thought I was getting, just a couple of generations ago, we didn't have indoor plumbing.”

 

Everyone went to take a look and I heard the toilet flush a couple of times. Steve came back in smiling and said, “Hon, I want one. That's amazing!”

 

I laughed and said, “We'll figure out a place to put you one. It's not real hard. It's just a wood barrel over a toilet with a high rise tank which is where you pull the chain from. The other antique stuff in there is done up so you think that pump faucet is from an old farm. That sink, I found in Gino's basement. He gave it to me.”

 

“Really! You knew him when you were building this place?”

 

“Yeah, I met him and we were friends. I went over and fell in love with the house and Me-maw. The downstairs there was much as it is now, but the upstairs was my folly because I talked him into it.

             That bed though has his feather mattresses from his marriage on it. That's the one thing I couldn't change. Everything else, I did while Tony and I were together.”

 

“How'd Tony deal with that?”

 

“I'll tell you a secret there. Tony did his thing during the day working for his dad and I did whatever I pleased. He never asked questions and I never volunteered information.

             To me, at that time, I was Gino's decorator and friend. There wasn't anything going on and most of the time, Gino was doing business  himself. My company there was Me-maw.

             The elevator got put in because I saw her struggling to climb those steps. I figured some day she'd be old enough she'd probably have to be taken care of there, so I wanted to make it so she didn't feel like it was a hardship to be in a wheelchair.”

 

“Did she ever come out here?”

 

“No, I regret that, but she didn't. Gino did a few times, but it was after Tony died. He loved this house and said, my touch was all the way through it.”

 

Steve smiled and said, “This house is beautiful. You mixed an old English feel into a lot of updated things.”

 

“I tried. It was hard because a lot of things were custom built for this house. That front door down there is one. As you can see it's heavy wood and it's curved to match the tower. It wasn't so hard getting the outer storm door to be bent because the factory did that, but it had to be custom built.

             Those windows over there are all custom built. That's solid wood and those frames are sixteen inches deep and six inches thick. Finding those pieces of wood were a chore, but  Gino made a call and got them from some old warehouse they were tearing down.

             The fireplace there is the one thing I'd do over. It's the old kind where most of the heat goes up and out instead of in. You can build a roaring fire and freeze to death in this room. Rather than do it, it's been refitted with gas logs so we could have a nice fire and get heat.

             As you can see, the smoke from the fires we built make it look like it's still real.”

 

“You could put in a fireplace insert.”

 

“No, I like the open hearth look with the flames being in the open. Yeah, we'll probably have to watch the kids with it, but I think they'll learn and we'll have some cozy times here to enjoy too.”

 

“You want the kids out here?” Steve asked.

 

“No, we'll raise them there, but I wouldn't mind using this place as an office of sorts. It's well guarded and you know I'd have things at my fingertips, so it's usable.”

 

Robert asked, “Dad, do I still get the island?”

 

“Yeah, it's yours. We'll still be going out there, but if we're living here, it'll be a vacation home or something for us to go for the Summer.”

 

Steve smiled and said, “Hon, we'll figure things out.”

 

“I don't want to give up our goals and dreams out there. Maybe we won't get you into the Governor's mansion, but it doesn't mean we can't campaign for JT or someone.”

 

His eyes lit up and said, “Do you think so?”

 

“You've got to talk to him about things. I'd not recommend talking to him tonight, but tomorrow, I'd have a talk with him. If he's receptive, I'll don my dress and go out politicking.”

 

He smiled and said, “I'll be there too. I think it'd be good to keep the goals alive, but have him do it. Do you think he'd do it with Kevin and he as partners?”

 

“JT's rather out in the open. I think he'll probably run without secrets. It could be a hardship on him.”

 

“We'll work with it. I think the economy is going to be a help in getting him elected.”

 

“We'll work on things. What I'll have to do is get Dom over here. He's got to be prepared to get the city under him. I stepped in tonight, but that's a given because everyone already views it being under me. I can't let people thinking I'm back. It'll suck me in like quicksand.”

 

My cell phone rang. “Hello?”

 

“We're fifteen minutes out.”

 

“Ok, I'll be there.”

“No, you stay where you are and call shots for me. I'm going in there and I want to know what I've got from your control center.”

 

“Ok, but I don't like it.”

 

“Rhette, please do it.”

 

“Ok, I'll be your eyes and ears but do you know how helpless I'll feel if things go bad?”

 

“Think positive. I know and most of those guys know those tunnels like the backs of our hands. Me probably more so because I know shafts which get me into areas no one else can get.”

 

“That sounds comforting. What if there's an ambush?”

 

“You already told me there's no one in that section. Those doors need unjammed and the only one who should do it is either you or I. I don't want everyone knowing how we go about doing it.”

 

“Ok” I said with resignation. “Let me ring off and I'll go get my op center back up.”

 

“You can't operate it from where you are?”

 

“It's hidden. The room looks normal until you type in a code. Then, it all goes into action and changes.”

 

“My dad had a hand in it?”

 

“Oh yeah!”

 

“I think I know where you are, but nothing was ever mentioned to me.”

 

“You probably do. We'll talk privately sometime.”

 

“Ok”

 

“I'll ring off and get there.”

 

“Give me a call when you're ready.”

 

“Ok”

 

I rang off and said, “Steve and Robert, we need to go lock down. We're going back live.”

 

I turned to Mr Bates and said, “Guys, we're going downstairs and locking into a safe room. I'm going to take your dad with me so he will know what's going on and understand more about the way we do things. It's not I don't trust the rest of you, but the room is only so big.”

 

The agreed and said they'd stand guard.

 

Mr Bates followed and I got a bar stool from the pub. I drug it into the room and said, “You sit here and things should be fine with you there.

             What you see in this room has to stay in this room. Your boys will ask, but it's for safety and security of our whole organization no one knows what is in this room.”

 

“Ok”

 

“I'm entrusting you because I know I can. This door has to be shut in order for it to activate. Once we go live, that door won't open until things are back to normal.”

 

I shut the door and as I put things into motion, I told him what was what. I did not tell him the code I used to enable it.

 

As things began opening up and going live, his eyes got wide. “I've seen things like this in movies, but this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this in person!”

 

“A lot of money was put into this room. It has it's own power source. If a tornado were to hit and power would be out, we'd still have generation and links. In there is a bathroom and a bed if you need to use them. What we'll be doing is going to be pretty boring, but I've already quelled a lot of the rebellion down there.”

 

I looked over the screens and saw the locomotive had been moved. I made a call and asked, “Who moved the locomotive?”

 

“We did.”

 

“Do you realize if that truck had been full of explosives you could have collapsed that whole tunnel?”

 

“I never moved the truck.”

 

“And the vibration sensors on a bomb wouldn't have made it go off. That wasn't a smart thing. I would have rather moved it remotely. What's done is done, but I don't like it.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“No problem. It's just the possibility you could have underestimated the opposition.”

 

“They're all dead.”

 

“Please don't tell me you went in there without reinforcements.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“David is going to be so pissed. He's bringing back an army to do it. What you've done just made the move of those men useless.

             What if you'd been facing a lot of men?”

 

“We were armed.”

 

“And you could have handed over those arms the moment your ass died. I'm not pissed, but I'm pissed.

             David's on his way there and he'll be irate. You figure how you'll handle him. It's beyond me.”

 

“I'm glad you care.”

 

“I do, but jeez. Who were they?”

 

“Four were from your house. I don't know who got to them, but the others weren't anyone who knew much.”

 

“I doubt if my house guards knew anything much either. They're not privy to those sorts of things. Let Dave do the sweeps of the areas behind the jammed doors and we'll have this thing put to rest.”

 

“I didn't do those.”

 

“Thanks God you didn't because I'd have been all over you and Dave for you knowing the ways to get in there. I don't even know those ways yet.”

 

“You don't!”

 

“I've not been back here. There's a lot of those tunnels I've never seen. I'm just now learning my control panel here operates them.”

 

“You shouldn't have flown the chopper to that location.”

 

“How do you know where I am?”

 

“There's a transmitter on it.”

 

“Who authorized it because I sure didn't. That chopper is to have been left exactly how I left it.”

 

“I don't know who authorized it, but it wasn't hard to locate it. All of our air force knows where you are now.”

 

“Dave doesn't even know where I am.. Won't he be proud to hear this place is now open knowledge.”

 

“I'll get the guys told to forget what they know.”

 

“No, you have them brought to me. I want to know who authorized that transmitter. This is bullshit. It's like some fucking Keystone Cops movie.”

 

“Rhette, you're safe.”

 

“Bullshit. I'm safe because they didn't get to the air force. HAD they, I'd be a dead motherfucker right now.”

 

Robert said in the background. “He's pissed.”

 

“You damned right I'm pissed! We've got shit on those choppers which could taken out this house!

             When this is over, I want every one of those choppers grounded and those pilots all brought in. You hear me! .....

             Fuck it, I'll order them in myself. This is insane. Whoever authorized those transmitters jeopardized my life as well as everyone of my family and the men who are here with me.”

 

“Who's there with you?”

 

“I've got support. They're new recruits and the best I could have. Don't worry about me unless you're in on this.”

 

“Rhette, you're going over the line there.”

 

“How do I know!”

 

“If you don't, then know I'd die for you and especially for David.”

 

“I'll trust that, but do you see how I suspect everyone is right now? Any of you or your guys could be a part of this. You never know.”

 

“I know my men. They don't associate with anyone else because they answer to me. Dave and I've talked and he authorized the way I deal with them. They think they're special because I treat them special. To me, they're the elite forces which guard what is most important here.”

 

“I agree there and I appreciate what you do for us. It's just I suspect everyone. It's not you, it's just me. ok?”

 

“I understand as I'm that way about everyone else in our organization. You and Dave have utmost power, but under you two, I don't allow my men to associate with anyone else.

             IF they do, they know that moment they're neutralized. It's not a question of what it was about, it's a question of security. They're not to even answer the time of day to another motherfucker in this place. They're to walk on and ignore him and to report to me when and where it was so I can get you or Dave to give the person a watch.”

 

“I appreciate it. Make sure they know they're to speak to me. I'll tell you now I'll have people all over my chopper to find out who it was who installed that transmitter. When I find out who it was, I'm going to go from there and get  who authorized it. I'll tell you now, no one and not even Dave will be above the ass chewing which is going to come from this.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“You should. How would you like to have a location which is to be utmost top secret of yours to be broadcast all over the fucking city?”

 

“I'd be damned mad.”

 

“This control center cost more than money. It was so secret not even Dave knew because Gino knew it was to be used in case Dave chose to go another way. I trust him, but that was then and this is now after the trust was developed. “

 

“I understand. It would be a war which I wouldn't want to fight. My loyalties are divided there.”

 

“I understand that. Thankfully, we won't ever be there. However, don't always trust even those who are above you.

             With Dave and I, there's not a problem, but Robert knows about this room and should he ever rise up against me, I'll put a bullet in his head myself. To me, the power is with those who are at the top. I completely defer to little John and he knows it, but when the power swings, I'll be with whomever.”

 

He said, “Any ideas who it might be?”

 

“When it comes out, it'll come out. I know things, but I'm not to divulge it at this time.”

 

“I trust that. I have my own thoughts and it's because of what I've seen lately.”

 

“Tell me what you've thought.”

 

“That power will either be you or Dave. We don't move troops to cities and we've been doing it. It tells me one of you two are amassing power and territory.

             I'm confused because if it were a normal transition, a meeting would be called and you'd all be told. Then, word would trickle down. That's how it was with John going over to little John.

             What's confusing is if it were you, I think David would be here running the city. You show up, so it leads me to believe it's Dave.

             What I do think is the war in St. Louis and the way things have went are going to be common knowledge through the whole organization, so the power switch needs to be sooner than later. What happens after that is anyone's guess, but the way we're mobilizing and have been building up ordinance is telling me it's been going on for a while.”

 

“I can't really tell you when it will happen. It could be tonight, or it could be five years from now. They might be doing things to let everyone get used to the idea.”

 

“You just said “They”, that told me something.”

 

“And I could be throwing you off on purpose. I'll tell you it could or couldn't be happening. Your theories are with merit, as you're seeing what I know is happening. What I do think is I'll talk with Dave and we'll see about bringing you into the loop.”

 

“There you go with “We” again. Are you both getting it?”

 

“I'd hope if one of us did, the other would know he was a part of it just as much as the other. I know I can trust him that much and I certainly know he should be able to trust me.”

 

“That's what is confusing. It's never been done before where a junior man was pulled up over his boss. IF it were to happen, I think the security of every ranking head in this organization would feel threatened.”

 

“Probably deservedly so. You never know.”

 

He chuckled. “You're good at this verbal chess game.”

 

“I was trained by the best. That man never lied, but he never fully  let you know what he was going to do either. I'm hoping you find Dave as equally frustrating because if he isn't, he should have taken notes.”

 

He laughed and said, “Dave is king of the game. He puts pieces of the puzzle out there for you to guess like you do. When it's completed, you find out it's a Rubik's cube instead of a jigsaw puzzle.”

 

“I know. That was Gino in a nutshell. Well, I need to call him and tell him you'll be meeting him at the entrance.”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Certainly not at that place where the locomotive should be! Shit, the truck is still there so it tells me there's something there. You leave traces yourself.”

 

He said, “There's something there, but it's not a bomb. It's a message.”

 

“Take the message and move the truck.”

 

“It's written in a man's intestines.”

 

“What does that say?”

 

“This isn't over.”

 

“Well, they should think different. Get me the videos of those cameras and tell me which direction they headed. Did they come in? OR, did they leave out the main entrance?”

 

“HE went back into the underground warehouse. HE were wearing all black with enough clothing on to very easily have changed into something else.”

 

“Did you follow him?”

 

“He went back to an air shaft. It led up and out over by Higginsville.”

 

“That give me a clue as to who it is. He'll be gotten and I'll bring him in. One man on this planet bragged he knew the entrance out there so loud I know it's him.”

“Who?”

 

“Bryon Peterson. I was in prison with him. He taught me how to box. He's a psychopath who dreams of being a skinhead, but likes it up the ass too much for that.”

 

“Interesting.”

 

“Let me think of it and I'll give you his social security number.

             He was in my cell and was told he was going to be arrested over a case of mistaken identity. I made calls and got him off of it because the person's social was different. Hell, the person's name was spelled different.

             He's about 5'10” and has light brown hair, pale blue eyes, and looks like Peter Graves when he was young.”

 

“I've got a mental picture.”

 

“His body is like Matt Damon, but he's got a bubble butt from hell.”

 

“Interesting what you remember.”

 

“Oh, I remember a lot about him. I could go on and on, but it's all psychological. He hates women and he hates blacks and one thing I definitely know is he doesn't know I'm a part of this.”

 

“I imagine you kept that knowledge under your hat.”

 

“Except when me and mine were threatened. Gino was called three times while I was in there and that's it.

             Bryon would routinely brag about knowing that entrance and said something about his mother's house being half a block away. I could be wrong about this, but I don't think I'm off the mark. I'll tell you now if I saw the man's walk on the video, I could tell you it was him in a heartbeat.”

 

“Does he walk like a guinea?”

 

“Exactly! That's him!”

 

“It's not just an up and down gate. It's more of like a guinea which is fast and up and down at the same time. It's almost like he's skipping, but not.”

 

“That's him. I'll tell you now it's him when he's walking and is happy. When he walks and it's not happy, it's like there's a weight on his shoulders. Kevin has the same gate, but not as bad.”

 

“Who's Kevin?”

 

“My brother in law.”

 

Steve smiled and patted my hand.

 

“Don't know him.”

 

“Dave does. Dave pissed him off the first meeting and I doubt if they'll ever be close over it.”

 

“His loss.”

 

“No, it's ours. That man could be better than a lawyer for us but instead because he was in prison for murder, Dave seemed to think he should offer him work in that field. It flat out pissed Kevin off.”

 

“Ooh, major stubbed toe.”

 

“Yep, but Dave never waited to ask me. He chose instead to go on and discuss it with him. When I got back, Kevin was so pissed he was ready to leave immediately.”

 

“You had him over here a while back.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You disappeared rather suddenly and Dave said it was because he pissed someone off.”

 

“You must be close to Dave to be told those things.”

 

“Let's just say Dave and I grew up together.”

 

“I have a feeling I know who you are. How do you feel knowing something else you've not mentioned?”

 

“What could that be?”

 

“Your sister coming back to live here.”

 

“Whoa dude! Really!”

 

“Dave and I are really going to have to talk. He should have told me you were here and you were in with us. There were suspicions in this it could be your dad.”

 

“What about my dad?”

 

“If you don't know, your dad is good at not letting people know things. I guess there are parts of your family whose traits carry down.”


He laughed and said, “My being in this position is due to Dave's blessing. Our friendship couldn't even be known by our dads.”

 

“I understand. Did you get to meet your Meemaw?”

 

“Once. She gave me a look and then told Dave to get me out of the house.”

 

“Oh man.”

 

“She wasn't pissed. It was more like she knew Dave would face hell if I was seen there and to get me gone before he had problems.”

 

“What I can't understand is why they let it carry on that long. I know I had a twin and he died a long time ago. IF he were alive, I don't think I would allow anyone's word including my father's to come between us. It's a bond which is just too close.”

 

“My dad was banished.”

 

“For a stupid reason. You can no more dictate to people who they can love and can't.

             It seems foreign to me Meemaw would have even allowed it, but she did. I realize we live in different days and times. If Steve ever told me I couldn't speak to one of my children again, I'm afraid he would be told to get fucked with strokes so long he'd choke on them.”

 

He chuckled and said, “Oh man!”

 

“I have a question out of curiosity. How long have you and Dave been close?”

 

“It's interesting actually. We were in the same college. Our dorm rooms were on  the same wing and one day, he came in and saw photos of my family. The look on his face was pure hate.

             Until then, we were close and I asked him what was wrong. He told me I was obviously the bastard son of his father.”

 

“Oh”

 

“He then said his dad had a lot of nerve having his picture taken with me. I asked him who he was and he told me. I told him my last name was the same but my dad's name was Dom and he'd lived in St. Louis all my life. We compared notes and I found out his dad's name.

             It was interesting to find out about each other. After that, we became fast friends.”

 

“Oh man. I bet. I know I need to cut off for a second.”

 

I turned to Robert and said, “You ready to tell me an apology?”

 

“Why!”

 

“That man in the arsenal is your uncle.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your mom's brother.”

 

“I don't have an uncle.”

 

“Hold up a second, you weren't told?”

 

I pulled up the microphone again and asked, “When was the last time you spoke with your sister?”

 

“Oh fuck, probably twenty years ago? When she started around Michael, I had to decide whether I could stomach him or follow my own path.

             I knew if I went that way, Michael would make it so I was nothing. I knew if I followed my friendship with Dave, I'd have something eventually.”

 

“How'd you stay close to your dad through all this?”

 

“My dad and I had a talk. He knows I'm working here but he doesn't want anything with either family. He's banished in this one and Michael never recognized him although he was married to my sister.    In all that time, I've spoken with my dad, but only on occasions have I had any contact with him in St. Louis.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It was better that way. I love my dad, but for things to be better for everyone, it was better I wasn't around. So my dad and I bought a fishing lodge together at Bagnell Dam We'd made times we'd go be together there.

             He never asked about my work over here and I don't think he even knows what I do here. I do know if she's coming over here, he's going to be heartsick.”

 

“Things happen and things change.”

 

“You're saying something there.”

 

“Let's say I think your sister is going to be happy now. She's met someone who will love her like she's never been loved before and she already sees that developing.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Let it be a surprise. I think when everything comes out, you're going to be amazed at how things have transpired.”

 

“In what ways?”

 

“Lets say I learned of your dad and never knew he existed. When I asked Dave about him, he feigned ignorance which I'll speak with him about.

             I know why he did it. He knew if I looked into it, I'd be suspicious of you. I'll tell you I'm not and I think it's time for broken fences to be mended.”

 

“You mean?”

 

“I mean without Michael in the picture you should get back in contact with her. Wait until tomorrow to call because it's late, but let's get her over here. Where are you living now?”

 

“A townhouse out in Shawnee.”


“What I'm going to do since I inherited all of Gino's properties is there's a house down at the other corner from mine. You get ready to be moved into it.”

 

“That's a huge mansion!”

 

“You're family. It needs to be that way.”

 

“If I'm reading between the lines wrong, tell me, but you gave her a house there didn't you?”

 

“I did as well as your dad.”

 

“Oh!” he said with a broken voice. I could tell he was about to cry.

 

“What's your name?”

 

“Robert. Everyone called me Bobby, but I go by Bob now.”

 

“Bob, you have a family now?”

 

“No, you'll probably find out I'm gay.”

 

“Not an issue. You and your partner, if you have one, come by tomorrow. I'll give you the keys. Just know it's a lifetime arrangement and that's how long you'll have the house.

             IF others don't like it, we'll have a sit down and get the past where it belongs.”

 

“How's my dad doing?”

 

“When was the last time you talked?”

 

“About four months ago.”

 

“Man, you should be closer than that.”

 

“It's difficult. I couldn't say anything nice about the way things were, so I didn't. What I do know is you all had a war over there and a lot of my men died.”

 

“A lot of them lived which was a miracle because I'm told tactically speaking I set things up wrong.”

 

“You were in it?”

 

“It was my doings.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Michael was being Michael. Rather than doing what he was ordered, he was doing what he damned well pleased. It was my direction to go in and make him understand otherwise.”

 

“Oh man!”

 

“When this all comes out as to the way things are going to be, you'll be told more. I imagine a lot will be told at the memorial service because I'm going to lay it out as it happened.

             What I will say is Michael got a traitor's grave as did all of his men who died. We killed every last one of them.

             None of my men should have died had I done things better. I think what was bad was I had ego and hope Michael would change his mind.”

 

“What do you mean ego and hope.”

 

“Hope he'd change his mind and ego in wanting to take him out where he started things.

             If I'd done it better, I would have had men on all the rooftops in an ambush so as soon as they exited their trucks, it would have been a slaughter.”

 

“I don't know. I wasn't there.”

 

“IF someone had been there who would have told me I was screwing up, it would have helped. Instead, everyone was green or so absorbed in following orders they died.”

 

“Don't blame yourself. Little John was there, wasn't he?”

 

“Yes, but he was green too. It's the first war we were in.”

 

“I'm going to say something and please don't think I'm being a smart ass, but that was a battle in this war. This here tonight was the second battle.

             In both situations, you handled it well. Tonight, you used your resources. As near as I can tell, you used things to your advantage the way they weren't designed.

             That control center out there has to be well equipped and what I'm not understanding is who has updated it because I know I'm responsible for this one here.

             I had thought this one was the only one until I was told you were out there and we had no one in our main control room.”

 

“Who told you that?”

 

“Let's just say I've got a monitor here keeping an eye on locations.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Security purposes. I know if someone wanted to take control here, they'd have to take that spot. It should be better fortified than it is. Until tonight, I don't think we thought they'd make it this far.”

 

“Well, when this is done, I want that control room to have three different lock throughs in order for it to be breached. I want at least eight inches of steel plate put up in front so if someone wants to attempt to take it out, they'll have to use more gun power than they can get down there.”

 

“IF they wanted in, they can get in by boring down.”

 

“Not likely. Do you know what it is under?”

 

“No, I know the vicinity”

 

“Let's just say you'd need severe federal clearances to get in there to bore down. We routinely set off alarms up there tunneling down here.”

 

“Who chose that location?”

 

“Gino. I was there when they measured it and was there when they were measuring the tunnels in that location for height so we could know how far we had to dig down to be under it.”

 

“How'd they get it done?”

 

“Let's just say we had some brave souls who went out in the middle of the street and drilled down. They threw up a telephone sign and drilled. No one was suspicious and no one got arrested.

             When they came through the roof of the  tunnel, it was hard telling them they were here because the radio technology back them required us to use radios to the mouth and then back to the man on the drill. What you don't realize is back then, there weren't these special frequencies we use now and all of it was out in the open. Anyone listening could have heard the chatter.”

 

“Oh man!”

 

“Yeah, it was some real prehistoric stuff. We didn't start getting advanced until the money started rolling in from Seattle and San Diego.”

 

“So that was the turning point for the whole thing?”

 

“Yeah, until then, we had a budget of probably two hundred grand a year. Then, it went to two hundred million. We had an option of fortifying ourselves or investing it topside. Gino chose to get professional about things and you'd be amazed at how things changed.”

“I know. I've worked for some contractors in some military installations and none of them are as advanced as this.”

 

“Well, we're still lacking. Hopefully, we'll see we're really needing to do some things to change.”

 

“I've told Dave that, but we've never been threatened down below so he let it be.”

 

“Well, that's going to change. Us using a locomotive to block the tunnel down there is pure folly.”

 

“I don't know, those are pretty sturdy.”

 

“Bullshit. Go on the internet and take a look at train wrecks on YouTube. Any kid in the country who looks at that shit can tell the trucks on those things are their strength and the weakness is the upper part.

             If you use air bags to lift it and then pull the trucks, you can low boy the son of a bitch and get it moved. We've got rail tracks and any person who had any rail sense would know to go get a locomotive and air bag it up until she was up far enough to roll it under. “

 

“You're right.”

 

“In the future, we're going to invest heavily in hydraulic rams which will be up at all times. They'll stop a tank and not give. I'm installing them in my driveway back home.

             What I think is we need some roll downs for the entrance down there so it's not seen in from the warehouse. If it's not seen, it's not noticed and curiosity doesn't get the better of one.”

 

“I'm not arguing.”

 

“In this down here, we've got to have more roof cams which have more fire power. Me having to go three blocks down the street to shoot someone at a major intersection is also bullshit. I did it, but all I can say is I'm thankful I discovered I had the ability to blow up the picture and get a good shot.”

 

“I just installed those. It's good when it works, but I had no way of testing.”

 

“I understand, but having walls which ricochet shit is going to change. Also, I'd like so silencers on those rifles. The element of surprise is totally gone when people can hear ten miles away something is happening.”

 

“I heard the shooting, but thought it was either them or someone discovering them. I never got a good location on you until I started asking for you on the radio and they all told me you had set it down out there. I put two and two together after I saw what was done and knew you had to have a control room.”

 

“I've got a lot out here you don't have there and it better be operable.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Someplace in this city is a drone helicopter I can fly which has complete live ammo and missiles.”

 

“It's there. I change those every so often to keep them fresh. I like the way it's disguised in having it look like it's an elevator shaft on that building. No one is the wiser.”

 

“I'm trusting Dave trusts you completely for you to know about that.”

 

“He does.”

 

“Then what you're going to need to do is to train who will be taking over the city.”

 

“See, there you go again. You dropped a morsel and now I'm going to wonder who it is.”

 

“Well, who it is has no idea what we have here. I'm pretty out in left field with what we have here Now because of what I've seen on these monitors I've learned a lot.”

 

“You'll be shocked when Dave pulls his moves out there on the coasts then.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Our security is going out there too. The investments the man has made is absolutely horrendous in costs. All I can say is we're three steps ahead of the military with underwater assault equipment.”

 

“Let's hope. If we ever have to go up against them, this will be a stealth war we'll have to win.”

 

“Oh, we will. They're just now getting to power weapons underwater. He's using laser technology to fire under water and slice open hulls....well, anything they aim it at is what they're cutting with it.

             He's got the range on those things maxed at thirty miles, but they can pull it back to where they could be in a harbor and just lay open everything without an explosion one.”

 

I looked over as the amazed expression on Steve's face was one which nearly made me laugh.

 

“Hopefully, we can get it sold to them.”

 

“Not for a long time. He wants them to think it's not possible and then when we need it, it's ours. He said if it ever should come to pass they need us, we'll be well paid for those services.

             What I do know is we tested it on some of their underwater screens they have over near Jamestown and really fucked with their minds. They think someone was down there in diving suits and jacked with stuff.”

 

“Oh man!”

 

“Yeah, I'll tell you how accurate the stuff is. They tested it on chain link being drug behind a freighter.

             What he insisted upon was not only shooting the thing and hitting it, but also shooting the thing and not having it shoot past but so many feet. That's why when we did that fence at Jamestown, it messed with them because a laser powerful enough to cut through would have sliced open ships. This didn't.”

 

“So that's where you're meaning we're several generations ahead.”

 

“ON that, but our propulsion technology in those cans isn't water jet like they're now starting to do

             We're using pulse which is a whole other ball of wax. With jets, you get a silence which can be measured and you can still locate it.

             Pulse is a transmitter which doesn't carry sound much distance. We borrowed their hull technology and then went with pulse which doesn't carry any registrable noise outside of the unit itself.

             What's great about it is there's no engine room and the generators to operate it are only about the size of a gallon paint can.”

 

“Hold up! You're telling me you've got power generators which are that small?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How much power output and what's the source of fuel?'

 

“You ready?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Water.”

 

“What's the power output?”

 

“I think he said they're in the area of 20 kilowatt.”

 

“How much to power a whole city?”

 

He laughed and said, “Rhette, ask him. You know that research and development isn't a part of my area.”

 

“You know all this?”

 

“Because he tells me. I'm telling you because if you don't know, I'm sure he'll show you since you're here.”

 

“I'll be there, believe me! I'm paying major dollars for conventional generators. If I'm developing something better, I sure as shit should know so I can save my money!”

 

He laughed and said, “It's your call, but do you know what would happened if you used those over there?”

 

“Yeah, I'd be a rich motherfucker!”

 

“No, you'd have them stolen. They're light enough to be taken off grid and carried out.”

 

“You're not getting me. I'll protect the damned things.

             I could put one of those in every city in this country and provide their power cheaper than they do themselves. They'd be paying me and it's all profit.”

 

He laughed and said, “Talk to him. I'm sure he's not going to tell you no. Hell, it's your money he's spending.”

 

“Oh man, I'm going about this wrong. I was planning on buying up power companies to get things done. Now, I don't have to do that. I can suck up their money to the point it's cheaper for them to shut down their own power plants.

             What's the downside of this? I'm assuming they're on a submarine to cool the fucker because it generates too much heat.”

 

“You're missing the picture. This sub is smaller, faster, and lighter because you don't need an engine bay or fire tubes.. He said we've tested the thing for radiation leaks, for carcinogens, and a person can sit this thing on their laps and it will put out those amount of power.

             Now, I wouldn't want to touch those leads on that thing but to me, it sounds like it's a super car battery which has water as it's power. What happens to the water afterwards isn't something I know, but I'm assuming it makes oxygen and hydrogen. What they do with the hydrogen is beyond me, but I imagine it's used. I don't think he'd let it go to waste.

 

“They probably cook with it and raise the thing. I'm not sure, but it's pretty damned flammable. I used the stuff in college with a friend of mine who did art projects out of plate steel. He etched the steel with the stuff because it was something which wouldn't do anything he didn't want with it.”

 

“You know more about it than me.”

 

“That's not saying much. Those people he has there are brains. I'm just glad we have them.”

 

“That kid he's got is a brain. The others just listen to him and follow what he tells them to do.”

 

“I know it's a kid, but I've not met him. I don't know the age or anything.”

 

“It's someone we've got and are really treating the whole family good. I know he's kissing that kids ass and the kid gets whatever he wants.”

 

“I imagine.”

 

My cell phone rang. “Hello?”

 

“I thought you were calling me when you were set up?”

 

“No, I thought you were calling me when you were there?”

 

“I'm at the airport. How are things down there?”

 

“Good news and bad news. You're going to be pissed either way.”

 

“Ok, tell me what.”

 

“You brought all the guys for no reason. Bob has already done a sweep and has found nothing except a threat in a truck saying it isn't over.I know who the person is so we'll get him and it'll be over.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“A guy I know named Bryon Peterson. He lives out in Higginsville.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You heard me.”

 

“What's his issue?”

 

“I don't know. I know he doesn't even know I'm in the picture, but the way he got in and the way he walked told me everything.”

 

“Well, I am upset because he shouldn't have went in there without a lot of back up.”

 

“I'm upset about it, but I've a question for you and I want a straight honest answer.”

 

“Oh boy.”

 

“Oh boy!”

 

“What part are you pissed about?”

 

“Let's see.....I've got a stack of post-it notes telling me reasons I should have a talk with you which will let you know my feelings are hurt.

             I have one post it note which is so infuriating I'm just beyond the piss off of the century. Others are less in magnitude, so I'll start with the big one first.

             Who put the fucking transmitter on my God Damned chopper telling everyone where the fuck I am?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You heard me. Every motherfucker we have in the sky knows where I am. This is supposed to be a secure location and I'm telling them all where I am because my chopper is transmitting it's location.”

 

“Oh shit!”

 

“Yeah, just be thankful I'm still alive and that those guys aren't a part of the rebellion because you'd be talking to a corpse right now.”

 

“It wasn't me. I don't fuck with your things.”

 

“Well, yes and no on that, but just the same...”

 

“What do you mean yes and no on that?”

 

“You have Bob out there putting new missiles and ammo on my drone, so you do know I've got it.”

 

“I know about it, but that drone can be flown by four different operators who I know.”

 

“Well, you get me my own which no one but you, he, and I know about. That one is unsecured now because four people know about it.”

 

“Rhette”

 

“Oh, I'm on a roll. We'll get to the bottom of things, but you know Bob and I have had an enlightening phone call.”

 

“How pissed are you?”

 

“I'm not. My feelings are hurt, but I can understand why you did things. I've not let the cat out of the bag about anything, but he does know his sister is moving here, but he doesn't know his dad is coming.”

 

“You tell him about her?”

 

“Yes. I also gave him the house at the end of the block. Why didn't you do it in the first place? Why wasn't I told you knew about Dom? Why wasn't I told you had a cousin and what you were up to?'

 

“Rhette, I'm sorry.”

 

“I am too. I know why you did it, but I think you should have given me more credit than you did. Fortunately, I'm the sort who believes in mending the fences.”

 

“I know that now, but how was I to know you weren't going to say, “Once banished always banished”

 

“Because he's family! Damn! All it would have took was you to say, “Rhette, just talk to the guy.” and you would have known I would have gave him anything in the world. Jeez, he's identical to your dad!”

 

“It's uncanny. I've seen pictures.”

 

“I heard about that.

             Now, what I want to know from you is about these power generation units he's told me about on those submarines?”

 

“Man he's worse than a woman with his mouth.”

 

“Ooh, I hope Rose is sitting next to you to give you the black eye you deserve on that one...that was sexist as all get out and you know it.”

 

He laughed and said, “She's sitting next to me giving me the evil eye.”

 

“And you deserve it. BUT, once again, I wasn't told by you a fucking thing.”

 

“There's not been time.”

 

“Dave, I'll tell you what. We're going to make the time. I'm being told shit and it's not settling well with me. I realize it's a lack of communication, but that shouldn't be between us.”

 

“I know, but we're going in different directions and I've been doing a lot  of things you need to be brought up to speed on.”

 

“I'd say! Fuck, I feel like I'm on a tricycle and you're driving a fucking Indy car right on by! If it weren't for his mouth, I'd not have a clue!

             Be thankful he trusts me and I like him. Otherwise, I'd be telling you he'd be dead when I had him in gun sights.”

 

“ I'm thinking that myself.”

 

“But you're not because he's apparently your best friend as well as cousin. You're going to let him be and you'll deal with it because there'll come a day he and I'll talk and I'll be full in the loop. What's good is he's going to see I know shit and I'm not telling him. He thinks either it's you or me who's getting promoted but doesn't have a clue.”

 

“Who told him?!”

 

“He's not dumb. He can figure things out. He's head of security and although no one tells him things, he's seeing our guys going different directions and we're fighting wars there. It doesn't take much to figure out we're on an expansion roll and he's needing to be brought into that loop.”

 

“We'll do it, but I'm not sure how he'll handle his dad being over the city.”

 

“Dave, he's a soldier. He'll tow the line and he'll be proud because it's blood.”

 

“You think?”

 

“Trust me. There's love there even though I think your family is rather dumb when it comes to things.”

 

He laughed and said, “Oh you were around Meemaw too much.”

 

“What did she say to you about you bringing him to the house?”

 

“When he was there, she told me to get him out. Then, later, she told me to keep it from my dad and to never ever let him know about it. She said she loved my dad, but the man was as bullheaded as my gramps about the way things should be.”

 

“I'm surprised she didn't ask you more so she knew.”

 

“I think she knew. If she did and dad found out, it'd break his heart.”

 

“Hon, his heart needed to be broke to get them back together. I'm sorry, but Gino was a fool when it came to his loyalties.

             I'll tell you now that if Steve ever told me to not speak to my kids, I'd tell him a thing or two...believe me. Then, I'd make it obvious I was going to do as I damned well pleased in front of him to show him he was stupid.

             And then, dare have my child tell me I can't speak to another of my children because I don't care how old he is, he'll get the ass beating from the old school. I'll use my bare hand on that bare ass!

             And to think I'd ever be in a situation where my grandson showed up and I couldn't have him around!

             Oh man! You want to talk about the mega explosions which wouldn't stop it from happening. Do you know what it put her through?”

 

“I'm only beginning to understand.”

 

“Dave, you should have come to me. She should have come to me. Jeez, everyone was keeping secrets and I had no idea this was going on.

             You know I could bitch at him and get what I wanted. Why the fuck you all didn't do it is beyond me.”

 

“Rhette, I didn't like you all that well then. I viewed you as being on his side in all things.”

 

“What gave you a clue I wasn't?”

 

“When you left. I saw the way it made him and a part of me wanted to step in and make he and I close again, but we weren't close.”

 

“Dave, I'm sorry about what he did to you. I wish I were there because I'd made things different.”

 

“I know it now.” He said with a break in his voice.

 

“Fuck, I'm sorry hon.”

 

“This is going to sound strange but you're younger than me and yet, I feel you loved me like any step mother would have done. By the time you were around, I was old enough to be accepted by him and by the time I realized the value you had with him, he's dead and I'm now seeing you as that role for the first time. It's strange.”

 

“I love you because you're a part of him. I love this whole family because you're a part of him. I don't know these people, but I just want your family to be united.

             I know it will work and I'm knowing it's going to put the alignment of the stars back in order and it's going to be better than ever. It's going to be the way it should have been.”

 

“You realize if Dom were in the picture, you wouldn't have a thing.”

 

“It wouldn't matter. I'll tell you now I think you should have it and yet, you're insisting otherwise. What we'll do is we're going to pull you up and out of thing and you're going to be right by my side in this.

             I need you and you definitely need me because you're as bullheaded as your dad when it comes to some things and as secretive in other..”

 

He laughed and said, “I can hear my dad laugh now.”

 

“I can hear your grandmother laugh now and as much as I hear her laugh, I hear her tell me to tell you a few more things, but that includes Las Vegas.”

 

“What about Las Vegas?”

 

“Look to your right, what do you see?”

 

“Traffic going by.”

 

“ok, look to your left, what do you see?”

 

“Rose”

 

“Duh! Put a ring on her finger already. Life's not getting shorter and does it matter?”

 

“We talked about that. She's ready and I'm ready, but we've absolutely got to be certain the boys are.”

 

“Hang on a second.”

 

I turned to Steve and said, “What do you want most for your mom? Her happiness? Or, are you wanting her to be faithful to your dad's memory?”

 

“She wasn't happy with my dad and there's not a memory she should have which can't be made better.”

 

“Did you hear that you dumb ass?”

 

He laughed and said, “What does JT think?”

 

“JT wants his mom happy. I don't have to ask because I know. So, when are we taking the flight out there so I can be dressed in a dress and being her bride's maid?”

 

He laughed and said, “Rhette, I want you on my side. She said she would love to have you on that side with her, but I want you there on my side so she's asked a friend of hers if she'll do it.”

 

“I won't press the issue too hard, but my jet flies pretty fast and if we time it good, we can be out there in South Carolina to do things tomorrow afternoon and then, we can be in Vegas by about 9pm. Vegas time. Do you need a ring?”

 

“Not as soon as I get to Meemaw's. I've got a ring set that was Dad and Mom's.”

 

“Oh man! You're going to make me cry now.”

 

He laughed and said, “You're a little softy.”

 

I heard Rose' chuckle in the background.

 

“Let's plan this. When do you want to do it?”

 

“Let her decide. It's got to be special for her.”

 

“Ok, put her on.”

 

He handed the phone over and said, “You talk to him, he's bullheaded.”

 

She laughed and said, “Yeah hon.”

 

“When do you want to do this?”

 

She chuckled and said, “He wants to officially ask for my hand with the boys there so they have a say in it if there's concern. I think it's the best way for it to be.”

 

“Can I pencil in tomorrow night?”

 

She let out a huge laugh. “Hon, let's make it a June wedding so both houses are complete and we can have it on Jacksonland.”

 

“Ok, that sounds nice. By then, I'll have the guys measured for matching suits and we'll make this a huge occasion.”

 

“I want it small.”

 

“Damn. I was thinking about all the family I could invite of mine and all of those who we could have which mean the world to us.”

 

“I'm sure that would be fine, but I don't want to go overboard.”

 

“Can I pick the caterer?”

 

“If you want dear.”

 

“He's sitting here. I'll let him know.”

 

“Where are you at?”

 

“In the control room of my house in Overland Park. I've got Steve, Robert, and Mr Bates here with me.”

 

“Bill Gates!”

 

“No, Mr Bates who has a bar b que place here in Kansas City. He makes the best everything.”

 

“I've heard of it.”

 

“Oh man, if Robert's not eaten it all, I'll bring you some. Even cold, the stuff is just awesome.”

 

“Dad!” I heard from the background.

 

“Tell him he doesn't have to share, we'll go there sometime and I can taste for myself.”

 

“We'll be up here for Friday. Are you guys going to be here?”

 

“I imagine. It sounds like a pretty solemn occasion.”

 

“It will be, but we're going to have a lot of people here. You might have to go out and borrow a dress from me back at the house.”

 

She laughed and said, “Hon, I'd tell you to wear it, but I think you need to make an impression to remember.”

 

“Yeah, it's going to have me nervous as all get out, but I've got my security guys and I'm going to also make it a day things start for us.”

 

“That sounds nice. It'd be a way of telling everyone at once.”

 

“I'm not sure about what little John wants to do.

             It was brought to my attention it's going to be spreading like wildfire about St. Louis and we're now in control of an ever spreading territory. It could be a threat if they're not told. It's a situation of being damned if we do and damned if we don't.”

 

“I understand. In times like that, I think it's wise to go with what is best.”

 

“I understand. Me too. I'm not ready for it, but I'm going to have to be ready some day. It might as well be sooner.”

 

She chuckled and said, “I like how you think. You sure don't let things slip by without getting them taken care of.

             Speaking of that, Steve and I have some news which is going to seem a bit surprising.”

 

“What is that dear?'

 

“Here, I'll let Steve tell you.”

 

I handed the phone to him and turned to Mr Bates. “I need to formally ask you if you'll be so kind as to cater David's wedding in June.”

 

He smiled and said, “So he's going to do it?”

 

“Oh yeah, they're going to do it. He's going to propose when Steve and JT are present so they can have a say in it. We know that answer, so what we'll do is count on it being.

             Also, Dave's going to bring her to the restaurant probably on Friday so be prepared to be knocked out with a southern belle which she is...

             You'll meet her before then, but officially, it'll be when she's tasting your bar b que to see if it's good enough for her wedding.”

 

He smiled and said, “I'll make it special for her.”

 

“Can I ask you a favor?”

 

“What's that?”

 

“Would you filet a Kansas City Strip steak so thin you can bar b que and then shape it into a rose? You can present it to her as the official Kansas City Rose.”

 

He smiled and said, “Marlon's the man for that. That boy can do anything with  a knife. The challenge will give him something to be challenged with.”

 

“If we can get them done right, I think it'd be neat if we could have them for the wedding. She said she doesn't want many there, but I'll tell  you now we'll probably have several hundred. She's failing to realize all of the people who are going to want to be there.”

 

“What I'll do is I'll cook for a thousand. That way there's leftovers everyone can take home.”

 

“Then you might cook for eleven hundred because that boy over ther is going to want enough leftovers to feed an army the way he goes through things.”

 

He laughed and Robert just smiled. “It's good!”

 

“Damned good. Just wait until I start taking you to all the good places I know to eat. You'll be amazed.

             We need to get Mr Bates over to Alton to Fast Eddies so he can see that place. I'm really excited to see what Mr Bates could do with a Fat Eddie burger.”

 

Mr Bates said, “I've been there. That man's place is awesome. It's a bit cramped, but I like how he has things.”

 

“I love the man. He's like you. When I go into his place, it's like going home.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

I took looks at the monitors. “Ok guys, I've got to call Beck and see where she is.”

 

I dialed the overhead phone. She answered, “Hello?”

 

“Hi hon, where you at?”

 

“In a plane flying towards you.”

 

“The need to hurry is over I think. Dave's on the ground with his guys and heading to the tunnels. What we're going to do is we're going into heightened security yellow, but not red.

             What we'll do when your guys hit the ground is we'll have you all go over to the Americana and we'll get it buttoned up. On Friday, you'll be introduced to all the heads. It's going to be a moment where you'll have your proudest moment in our organization.”

 

“I need to get John up here.”

 

“Give him a call and tell him to come up in your jet. We need to get you a super knockout outfit and get him a suit which will really be a credit to him.”

 

“He's got one which is amazing on him.”

 

“Good. Tell him to bring it, but tell him to also pack you guys some clothes which are casuals. I'm sorry I wasn't thinking about it sooner.”

 

“Hon, it's called you were doing what you could to save your ass. I've seen you in more stressful moments in the past week than I've seen most people in my life. You handled yourself very well and I'm damned impressed.

             I'll tell you I don't know if I was supposed to say anything to John, but I did.  I told him what I thought and he said he knew you were good from the way you handled things.

             I'll tell you I was impressed by everything, but St. Louis put the icing on the cake with me. When you called about Kansas City, I knew it was bad.”

 

“Hon, I was panicking. They were in the tunnels. I'm just now learning what we have down there and what our technology is. If they'd gotten to some of that stuff, we'd be in a world of shit.”

 

“Be thankful they weren't that knowledgeable”

 

“I am, but what we've got to do is tie up some loose ends.”

 

“If you don't mind me asking, where did this come from?”

 

“One of our guys who was supposed to leave the country didn't. Instead, he came to Kansas City and was orchestrating a take over with some of our dumbest. It goes to show you're only as strong as your weakest link.”

 

“I'm learning. Thankfully, my guys down there are doing great. You really made an impression on them.”

 

“Well, I'm sorry I've not been there again, but as you can see it's a lot to handle.”

 

“You've got to delegate more.”

 

“I know, I've got to do it, but it's finding people I trust. It's hard when some of the ones who were guarding my person and the house were involved up here.”

 

“Oh no!”

 

“They tried to set me up, but fortunately Robert saw his uncle in a restaurant having that meeting.

             If he hadn't, I'd probably be dead. He saved my ass on this one. Fortunately, we picked it up and ran with it.”

 

“How's he doing?”

 

“Wonderful, I'm so proud of him. You'd be amazed at how he's picking up things. Tonight, he picked one of his leaders. If you'd seen it, you'd just been amazed. He's the one who did it.”

 

“Oh man, you know I'm considering myself an aunt to him.”

 

“I'm happy. I'm sure he won't mind.” I said laughing. “You should have seen him with his first lady tonight who was giving him the sexual greeting.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“We have a lady restaurateur here who has a set of jugs which won't stop. When you're my height, you hug her and one goes on one shoulder and the other goes on the other. Well, she hugged him and did the same thing.”

 

“Oh Lord!”

 

“He handled her excellent, but I was embarrassed for the poor kid.”

 

She laughed and said, “Hon, I think he probably appreciated it more than you. I think he's going to be quite the ladies man.”

 

“Me too. Let's hope he chooses as excellently as he doing with his leaders. If he does, he'll do himself proud.”

 

“Hon, I've got to get off the phone. These damned fumes from the guy's painting their boots are getting to me.”

 

“Go into a different section of the plane.”

 

“I'll go up to the bar. We're on a 747 with the sky lounge.”

 

“Don't let the guys hit it too hard.”

 

“They're not. I told them water and soda as we needed our fighting faces on when we land.”

“Good.”

 

“Hon, before I get off, let me tell you I'm so proud of my guys. We did a call out of our men and they came running.

             What I told them was we were loading a jet at the airport and when it was full, we'd be leaving. I did make sure to let them know I wasn't holding it against them.”

 

“Good”

 

“Before I get off here, I'll tell you now I sank that damned boat.”

 

“I'm sorry I wasn't on top of the more.”

 

“It's understandable. Your hands are full. I also got your brother a place to live.”

 

“Oh man, I've got to call him.”

 

“He's doing good. He met with Burton and they're going to be doing a lot of things.”

 

“Hon, I'm really proud you've picked it up and taken the initiative.”

 

“That's why you gave me the city. If I wasn't going to lead it, I shouldn't have taken it.”

 

“Well, you're getting my appreciation.”

 

“Thanks hon. I've got to get off here. If not, you'll see me walking out looking like I'm stoned.”

 

“Tell the crew to make an announcement to have the guys wet cloths and put them over their faces. It sounds like you'll all be doing bad when you land.”

 

“I'll get it done. I'm glad you take care of the details. I should have thought of it.”

 

“You will in time. Bye hon.”

 

I got off the phone and turned and patted Steve's knee. “At least I did good when I picked her.”

 

Robert said, “Dad, thanks for giving me the compliments. I like her.”

 

“I'm glad. She's going to be up there some day. I hope to get her on up over that state or something.”

 

“She's got Miami dad, I bet if you also put her on the hospitals, she'll have a lot.”

 

“I know, but people like her are great at what they do. Remember to let them have their rein and they'll get you results.”

 

Mr Bates said, “You get down on yourself for your shortcomings, but I think it's because you set the bar too high. I used to be the same way and finally, one day I knew it'd work without me and it's when I realized I'd done my job excellently.

             You know, tonight when you asked my boys which ones wanted to be leaders for you, I was torn. I'll tell you it now because on one hand, I don't want to see them go, but I also know if I expect them to stay, it'll be holding them back.

             You've done things for me which have made me really proud, but I think that was the proudest moment. It told me I'd done my job well again.”

 

“I know. It's just hard not to micromanage things. I see mistakes and shortcomings because I know it should be managed better. Also, I saw things which told me we'd not made it safe enough for our guys down there. We're learning and I imagine we'll always learn and strive to improve.

             One of the things I've got to do is to make it so you feel better seeing your boys go off with me. When you hear me giving panic calls like I did, it has to make you think we're not good.”

 

“Hogwash! I'll tell you something. I'm looking at those monitors and I'm seeing a world of difference between what was once there and is now.

             Gino took me down there once and it made me claustrophobic The tunnels were terrible and low. I looked at them and kept wondering when the place was going to cave in. He had on that smile of his and really didn't have a dime to make the place better.

             I'll tell you now, the man was proud of what you gave him. If you want to know why he gave you the city, it was because of what you did. You take a look at those tunnels and you take a look at what there is and you take credit for it. You got him the money to do everything.”

 

“He told you that?”

 

“Gino and I were close. He'd come in for lunch and there'd be a lot of time for us to talk.”

 

“I didn't know that.”

 

“I know. But, one day, he came in and had that billfold you gave him which was the expensive one. He pulled it out and told me, “You know, last week, he talked me into getting a Rolls Royce. I never thought I'd be able to afford it, but take a look at this billfold.

             He gives me the best and has made it so I can do so much more than what I had. I look at things and think of the things he gave to me and all I can do is wonder what I can give him.”

 

“All I wanted was his heart.”

 

“You had it in the way he could give it to you. Tonight, you did the same thing he did and you did it without question.”

 

“What?”

 

“You see those men down in that tunnel? You chose to expend them and save the rest of your men. He had to either choose you, or he had to be a leader and take his men in the direction he knew they needed to go.

             I hate to tell you this, but you give David a lot of credit. Dave is weak when it comes to matters. He lets things slide which are the little things. You take care of details and together you make a great team.

             What you don't know is you're the total leader instead of a half like David. David can run businesses and he can build things up like that, but when it comes to going into a battle, I think you see who will go and who is always going to be a little too late.

             Without telling me, I know Robert killed a man tonight. I know you feel bad about it, but I also know he's going to be a leader who will follow you and learn both the business and the muscle side of things.

             I'll tell you now, I never once had to pay you guys a dime and you sure don't see any of your guys in my place throwing muscle. Don't offer it because I won't take it, but I'll tell you now my boys know both how to run it in their sleep and they know how to flex that muscle to keep it going.”

 

“Thanks. I think you're a bit wrong about Dave, but I understand.”


Steve said, “Hon, I'm going to say something and you probably won't like what I have to say, but that's fine.

             You are the leader Gino was. Yes, you're a bit better about things it sounds, but I know and I'm prepared for the day when you tell me you're not going to retire.

             I think you see Dave doing it and I'll tell you now it's because his heart's not in it and it wasn't. Yes, he ran it and he also did so with the phantom menace over his shoulder which wouldn't have given him the power to do things he normally wouldn't have done.

             You told me once when you were insecure about things, you would do things asking yourself how Kevin would do things. Then, you'd do them that way. It gave you strength and courage to pull up the bootstraps and get it done.Dave did the same thing, but I see him handing it back over to you because he's wanting out.

             What I also see is you live it, breathe it, and do it. Maybe you were taught it and you're now doing what you were taught. I'll tell you now if you didn't love it, you wouldn't have offered me the help when you saw I need it out there and you wouldn't make the calls you did. BUT, when you were needed, you wouldn't have gotten on that plane to run back into it like you did.

             I'll tell you now I looked at you leaving and thought to myself I wasn't losing you, but that you were answering the call like an old fire horse does when it hears a bell. It's trained to respond and it's in it's blood to do so.

             IF you don't do all you accomplish, do what you can to go out there and do your best. Realize your shortcomings aren't always going to be there because you're learning. I realize it and I'll support you on what you do wherever you go.

             Like Mr Bates, I know I have to let  you go so you can do what you can. I know you're coming back and maybe that's what Gino was thinking if he let you go.”

 

I got up and went into the bathroom crying as I'd just realized what David was saying when Gino was wanting me as he was dying. It wasn't that he was wanting me, but he was realizing his time had run out. The sadness I felt at that moment and the sense of loss I'd felt were overwhelming.

 

Steve came in and hugged me. “Hon, I didn't mean to make you cry.”

 

“It's not that. It's something I needed to hear. I'm learning babe. It's the things I'm learning which are sad and I know I've got to take this in a different direction.”


“What do you mean?”

 

“You're supporting me so completely and yet, you're giving up dreams. You're doing that in order to see me have mine. It's not fair.

             I'm seeing the other side of the coin of what Gino did for me. He knew I could do this, but he wanted me to be myself. I did it and Lord knows I stumbled.

             You don't realize it, but I went into this thinking I could go home at night and have the family. I thought I could shut it down and have days when I wouldn't have to do this. Now, I'm seeing it take over our lives. It's not supposed to be this way. You've got to have your dreams and I don't want mine to encroach upon you.”

 

He continued hugging me but pulled back and put my chin in his hand. “Babe, do you know how much I love you? You don't know you're my dream. You don't know how long I've lain in bed at night and just wanted to hold someone. You don't know how long I stared at my life and told myself I was nothing without being handed my dad's leftovers.

             Now, I'm learning I'm a learned man just like you. My calling is to be in law enforcement, but for each of us to feel a part of things, we have to feel vital and we're growing.

             Tonight, the opportunity was made and I'm gladly stepping into it. Yes, I'm a bit nervous, but I also know it's going to be an opportunity which is being more than a Sheriff in which my daddy once was.

             I'll tell you now, I'm in love with the idea of being a Governor, but I'm not sold on it. Yes, you did me a great service by publicizing me and making me famous for what I do, but I was doing what I do. I'll still be doing it, and maybe it's JT's dream to go on into the governorship, but if not, then maybe it's someone else's who  we can support and get them their dream.”

 

I looked at him and asked, “So you're not feeling let down?”

 

“Hell no! Look at what I've got! I've got the man I love and I've got an opportunity and I've got a kid out there who I already love and possibly even more, but if there isn't, I'll be happy. Hell, why would I feel let down?”

 

“I just wanted you to do what you wanted to be.”

 

“I know and for it, I love you. We'll make it, but maybe this is what we need is to take stock and let go of what we don't need and see what it is we really need.”

 

“You're not upset about not living in South Carolina?”

 

“Hon, I'll tell you something. Those nights I laid in that bed hoping and wishing for someone, I told the Lord I'd do what it takes to be the man in that relationship no matter what it took.

             You're not telling me it's not ever going to be our home. You're telling me it's someplace you want to be, but we'll live out our lives there some day. I can't say I'm not going to be ecstatic living here because this house and this life is amazing to me.

             I don't even know this city, but I'll tell you something. I feel something here which is electric. I don't even know this city, but I'll already tell you now I know I'm going to love it and I'm going to cultivate that love into a long lasting love affair which is going to have me at the end of the run being able to drive down the street saying, “This is my town and this is the place I raised my kids and it's good.””

 

I smiled up at him and kissed him. “Babe, you know what. This moment has made me love you all the more than I thought I could.”

 

He smiled and said, “It's honesty. It's us being able to communicate and tell each other we're not perfect, but we're being as perfect as we can be for each other.”

 

“My God this is powerful.”


“I feel it too.”

 

“Well, let's go out there because they're probably worried I'm having a breakdown over what was said.”

 

“It wasn't a breakdown. It was a repair. Now we're better than ever. Don't look at these moments as something ever bad.”

 

We walked out and I went over and hugged Mr Bates. “Thank you. It's what I needed to hear.”

 

He smiled and said, “You've learned something.”

 

“I've grown in this moment and I'm feeling like a butterfly which just shed it's cocoon. They'll probably hand me the country on Friday, but I'll tell you now it was what everyone in here said which made me feel worthy.”

 

I went over to Robert and said, “Hon, we've got to talk.”

 

“About what dad?”

 

“You and Aaron are going to go to the same schools. I'm taking your childhood away from you and although I know you think you're ready, I'm not. I want you to be a kid. I want you to grow up knowing you're going to be something powerful, but I want you to cultivate those around you into strong bonds which are amazing.”

 

“You don't want me?”

 

“Yes I want you. God I want you. It's going to be that we'll be there for you, but I want you to have your family. I want for you to step into it and not be thrown into it. ok?”

 

“I'm not getting what you're saying.”

 

“Hon, in the past few days, you've been subjected to so much which is grown up. Jesus, you've saved my life and I'm now realizing I'm training you to be a pit bull instead of a person. I've got to get you some education which is going to really be intense, but advance you to the levels you need to be.”

 

“Dad.”

 

“Hon, listen to me. Look at your dad over there. He knows what I'm telling you. Mr. Bates knows what I'm saying. What I'm going to do is I'll ask Ty if you and Aaron can have special teachers to teach you on a level which is sort of pre-college instead of school.

             I'm not telling you you're going back to life as you knew it. I'm telling you we've got to take a step back and get you more ready.”

 

“You don't think I'm good enough?”

 

“Hon, listen to me. I think you're perfect. It's me that I'm scared of. You've seen the worst of it and not the best. It's got to change and what I want is for you to understand the management of it instead of the muscle. I can train you to fight and you'll think it's about fighting. I can train you to manage and you'll think it's about managing. It's about leading and that encompasses a lot of things.

             What I'm saying is I'm realizing I'm not the best teacher to teach you because I'm not even schooled completely in what I need to know.”

 

“Dad......you're not telling me I can't have it?”

 

“No! I'm telling you we've got to go to school. You're going to get teachers who will teach you how to run things and you're going to get your classes which you'll need too. You need to learn American history, not mafia history. Yes, the two are intermingled and you'll learn it because I'll study up and tell you. BUT, I'm sure not the one to teach you English, Math, and those things.”

 

“Ok, how are we going to do it?”

 

“I'll tell you how. Your Uncle is going to teach you security. Dave is going to teach you management. I'll teach you muscle. Steve can teach you law and politics and your grandma can teach you true things like how to be a gentleman and to love with not only your heart, but your mind.”

 

“Can I still do things with you?”

 

“Yeah, but I want you to do things with Aaron and things with your brothers and sisters. Who knows, you might want to pull up some of them.”

 

“I imagine.”

 

“Well, know this. Blood is thick, but bonds are stronger. Your family is like my own, but it's stronger because I've bonded with them. I think Dave knows the same with your uncle.

             With blood, he sees them as I do my brothers. I'll tell you now I let my brother down and as much as I want to build up the relationship with him, life is just going too fast. I've got to change some things so the people around me know I love them and not be so selfish as to expect them to be all for me.”

 

Mr Bates said, “Oh man, you're learning child. You saying that just told me you're really taking your lessons to heart.”

 

“Yes, and it's hard. You talked about when I see shortcomings and although some of them are positive because I'm learning, I've got to learn how to let go and let live. It's damned hard.”

 

Steve said, “Guys, I'm going to tell you a story about that.

             One night, I got a phone call to go to a grocery store as a man was shoplifting food. They caught him red handed. I got there and when the man took the meat package out of his pants, I saw nothing but skin and bones.

             Now, me hauling him off to jail is what the law said for me to do, but what I did was I went back in to the store and  talked with the manager. I had the man go back to the back and lift his shirt. That manager was so sad about what he saw, he immediately dropped charges and took the guy over to the deli and made him some food.

             What I did was I waited and as the guy ate, I asked him what he was doing in our town and what he did for a living. He said he'd came down to work on a shrimp boat because he heard it was good money. The problem was it was a slow year and no one was hiring.

             We got to talking and I asked him what he liked doing and he told me cooking. We spoke with the manager of that super market and found out he would hire him to cook in that deli and have his meals free.

             What happened was the manager was kind enough to let him sleep on the floor in the back. A few nights later, the store was getting robbed and he called me to tell me he was in the back and the thieves were out front. I hustled over there and we got them.

             The manager was so happy about it, he spoke to the owner and the owner came in. They got along great and the owner agreed to put some money into the man's dream. He built up a restaurant of sorts and now it's a place where you can go and eat the hell out of crabs, and shrimp and when I go in there, I'm treated like a brother instead of someone who could have taken them man's freedom.”

 

I went over and hugged Steve. “That's the crab shack”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Hon, I never knew.”

 

I turned to the guys and said, “Mr Bates, that man is what you are to steaks to seafood. He serves food in quantities which just makes you feel like you're family. It's a fun atmosphere and I never knew that story when we went.

             I'll tell you what. That place has alligators out back which are some well fed motherfuckers!”

 

Steve laughed and said, “Hon, they're pets!”

 

Robert looked at him and said, “PETS!”

 

“Yeah, they've got them named. There's Ralph because that's the sound he makes when he grabs onto your foot. There's BITSY because that's all that's left of you when she's done. And there's Beatle because of that song Help!”

I started laughing and said, “I'll tell you what. This is the way it goes. You get done with your food, you go outside and you throw the scraps over the railing and you just see a big swirl in the water and it disappears. It's damned scary!”

 

“We gotta go there dad.”

 

“We'll take you. You'll have a good time.”

 

Mr Bates said, “How do they do with rib bones and steak bones?”

 

Steve said, “I imagine they'd disappear damned fast.”

 

“What I'll do is I'll start sorting them. I used to do that for a bunch of people to take for their dogs, but there was so much and they came so infrequently, I had to throw them away.”

 

I asked Steve, “What are the laws against taking a gator across state lines?”

 

He smiled and said, “Hon, you can't do that.”

 

“Well, it'd be a helluva draw for his restaurant. No one else would have one!”

 

Steve said, “Hon, it's colder up here.”

 

“Sweetheart, I'm sure if it brings him more business, you'd see that damned gator be in a room with it's own swimming pool and living life to the fullest.”

 

“You can't.”

 

“Ok, maybe I'll call the zoo out there and see how much I can get one for. I bet if I donate some money to them, they'll let me have one.”

 

He laughed and said, “That'd be skirting the out of state law, but it'd be a lot for him to take care of.”

 

I turned to Mr Bates and said, “Would you let me have some space if I can get one? I'll build the fucking pool and everything so it's got water which will stay decent. Hell, I'll see if we have a tunnel nearby and pipe the water from the river for that matter.”

 

He laughed and said, “Rhette, there's no space. My building is filled to the gills and  although there's space next door, I don't know about health code violations.”

 

“Let me think on it. What if I got the place next  door and put a hole through the wall and had a glass door which opened automatically. Would the health department find that a violation?”

 

“I don't know, the door might make the difference.  I imagine it would jack up my insurance.”

 

“Let's check. If your insurance goes up, I'll insure it myself. “

 

He smiled and said, “Ok, I know kids and men would love to see it. I think women wouldn't want it, but the kids would drag them in.”

 

Steve said, “Hon, with the amount he has in scrap output, I imagine it would take several and a big space.”

 

What I'll do is I'll see what the neighbors have fore sale. I think if we got him enough space, the business could expand over and we could go with a full building with a huge pool Just so no one gets hurt, I'll put up safety rails which are from floor to ceiling so no drunks decide they want to go wrestle the gators and end up getting them something which tastes like chicken.”

 

Steve and Mr Bates hee-hawed with laughter.

 

My phone rang on the desk and I turned around to hit the button to answer it.

 

“Yeah”

 

“Rhette, I've got Bryon Peterson coming in. We did a swab of his hands and found traces of human dna.”

 

“Ok, we'll be there. We need some people out to get Beck's guys from the airport and a nice nice place to put them. They're guests.”

 

Steve said, “Hon, make them do a sweep of the house and put her there. You've got enough houses on that block I'm sure we could get them all housed.”

 

Dave chuckled and said, “Rhette, I'll put them up there. That way, you can say your place is already taken. Save one room for little John as I'm sure he'd appreciate your place better than mine.”

 

“Have we gotten word out we're having that memorial service?”

 

“Little John said he would be calling everyone in.”

 

“Ok”

 

“Rhette.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I spoke with him about the hand over and he said he'd think on it. He agrees something needs to be done, but he's not so sure doing so at a memorial service would be appropriate.”

 

“Dave, I'm planning on it being more than a memorial service. It's one time we'll have all the leaders in and it'd get things done with.”

 

“It's his decision. I'd not blame him for wanting to wait. It's a lot of power for him to give up.”

 

“Ok, I'll settle for what he wants to do.”

 

“Have you checked your temperature lately? I was expecting more of a fuss than this.”


“Let's just say I've seen a lot of lights lately and one of them is to be more accepting.”

 

“Is Steve there?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“And he thinks you're being normal?” he said chuckling.

 

“He thinks he's more in love with me than ever. I think I'm more in love with him than ever too.”

 

“Ok, so he's a biased party.”

 

Mr Bates said, “Dave, this is Ben.  We've been having a lot of talks in this room. I can understand why he's made the changes. It's a part of growing up.”

 

“Oh kay, it just sounded strange.”

 

I laughed and said, “Dave, you know I could really be a miserable bitch to you and run out in a nurse's uniform and take your temperature when you say “I do” don't you?”

 

He laughed and said, “There you go, that's the Rhette I know.”

 

With This Ring

ab

 

 

                                                                                          

 

Retta's Notes:

 

Below is the famous recipe for the real person's bar b q sauce listed in this story. He was kind enough to give it to me one evening when we were visiting his restaurant. This is exactly as it was dictated to me.

 

 

For this recipe, you'll need a food processor and a mixer with a large bowl. Put the dry in the food processor and the wet into the mixer. It saves time.

 

Read my notes below to see what I do different.

 

1 cup Sugar

¼ cup Kosher Salt

2 TBS Celery Seed

2 TBS Cumin

2 TBS Cayenne Pepper

2 TBS Garlic

2 TBS Chili Powder

2 Quarts Ketchup

2 Cups Cider Vinegar

1 ½  TSP Liquid Smoke

1 TSP Lemon Juice

¼ Cup Mollasses

¼ Cup Worcestershire Sauce

1 Quart Water

 

Mix together sugar, salt, celery seed, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, and chili powder and set aside.

Mix together ketchup, vinegar, liquid smoke, and lemon juice and set aside.

Mix both dry ingredients and wet ingredient mixtures together.

Add in  ¼ cup molasses, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce, and 1 quart water and blend together.

 

Since then, when I've made the sauce, I've changed the ingredients taking out one quart of the ketchup and adding in a quart of tomato paste to make a thicker mixture. Rather than water, I add in tomato juice which wets it but keeps in the tomato taste.

 

Recently, I made Steve and I the sauce and added in about half a jar of grape jelly and added brown sugar instead of the white sugar. I cooked the ingredients down rather than letting it sit in a glass gallon jug and we were able to use it on my grill in the house.

 

Those of you who have seen photos of my house know the kitchen is homey in feel and the grill takes up nearly three feet of my cooking area. I cook a lot with the sauce and have come up with a lot of different recipes

             Steve thinks I should enter into competitions. I'm not telling him they're borrowed and bastardized versions of really great sauces I've come across through the years.

 

One of the sauces which is also a favorite of mine, since I'm on the topic is from a restaurant I loved which went out of business called York Steak House. If you remember it, you know they had some to die for deserts and awesome grilled foods. My favorite was the Honey Glazed Chicken. It's easy as nothing to make, but hell on the grill to clean up. Be sure to use plenty of Pam cooking spray when you make this.

 

York Honey Glaze

 

½ portion of Honey

½ portion of Heinz 57

 

It's that easy. You just grill the chicken and when you think it's done, you brush on the glaze and let it cook another five minutes. If it starts to blacken, get it off the grill because your fire is too hot.

 

Thanks Rod for the recipe. I've used it forever.

 

“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”,

Retta

 

RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

 

Copyright Notice – Copyright 2008 by RettaMichaels

 

               The Author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retains all rights. This work may not be edited, changed, or duplicated in any form, media [known or unknown], without the author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply.

               Retta Michaels does NOT give editorial consent in order for this story to be published. If it is deemed unpublishable, in it's context, permission must be granted before publication or changed occur.

 

Trademark Notice – Trademarked 2008

 

“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”, “ 'Retta”, “RettaMichaels”, “Retta”, “Rhett”, “Rhette”, “Vonn Michaels”, “VonnMichaels”, and “Vonn Michael's Stud Service Night Club” are all trademarks of the RettaVonnMichaels L.L.C.. None of these trademarks may be used, or authorized without consent.

 

Disclaimer: All individuals depicted in this story are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, characters, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.