Anna's Mystery Plan Pt. 05

Her hand held mine, and guided me to a seat beside her. Karen was on the other side and the resemblance of mother and daughter was obvious.

Before Anna could begin, the thumping noise of a helicopter came to the room from the outside openings. At the other end of the table, Annie had a laptop open and said, "IFF shows it is a Water Department helo. Must be from Owens Lake."

Anna nodded, her voice firm and definitely in command. "First, let me tell you how pleased the family is with the courage you showed yesterday. A major lapse in our communications allowed enemies to localize you. Luckily, I was able to respond immediately and destroy their vehicles but not before the three young recruits launched an attack. Your actions were impressive. We try to minimize fatalities in these intramural fights, but you had no alternative."

She paused for comment. I spoke up, "Talia deserves credit for getting that grenade launcher ready so rapidly."

"She certainly does. You will be happy to know we rescued the Camaro and its cargo. The forensic analysis is being done right now."

Anna heard my stomach growling and asked Annie, "Can we feed this band of fighters some food?"

Turning back to the group, she continued, "I am sure you are curious what happens next? What is Anna going to do about the disruption to her plans?"

There was silence as she smiled and looked around the room. Annie was placing platters of sandwiches on the table, along with tea, coffee and soft drinks.

"Our current opponent's base of operations is in Arizona and their resources are stretched to operate this far north. And they have been warned that after yesterday's unprovoked attack, we will use deadly force if there is another incident.

"Chelsea, your pickup will be a good addition to Andrew's fleet of period vehicles. You yourself, if you are interested, could accompany the rest of the group north to San Francisco and become one of their band."

That earned Chelsea hugs and kisses from Carolyn and Sophie, who were sitting next to her. Karen smiled across at me and Anna squeezed my hand under the table. It occurred to me that adding Talia and Chelsea was bumping our group from reserve status to something a lot more active.

I rapidly discovered that Anna's main purpose in the visit to Darwin was to press the flesh and reassure her young charges of her interest in and support for us. No real information was being transferred, leaving me irritated. I could tell she knew this by the way she played with my hand under the table. Before she rose to go, I got a whispered, "Later," in my ear. I maintained appearances with a hug and a smile. More hugs around the room and she was gone.

Chapter 16 - Headed Home

We sat there silently, picking at leftover food and wondering, not for the first time, what next. I was thinking that a nap would be nice when Annie appeared, a sheet of paper clutched in her hand.

"Anna has arranged for you to be flown to San Jose from the Lone Pine airport, which is about an hour away. As soon as Andrew returns, he will escort you to a new vehicle for the trip to the airport. Your belongings have already been transferred."

That got everyone up and moving around. Talia came over for a hug and quick kiss. "Not a lot of news, eh?" she said in my ear. Her muscled hip felt good under my hand. I gave her a low growl, to which she said, "Easy, tiger."

Andrew bundled us down yet another dim corridor to a door which opened into the remains of an old mining tunnel. Rubble and tools were strewn about in an effort to disguise its current use. In bright sunlight at the entrance stood a very dirty seven passenger SUV.

"I'd just as soon drive you, but Anna has us on alert and we need the whole staff here. There are weapons in a case behind the rear seat, which I hope you have no reason to use. Leave the vehicle at the front of the airport office and someone will take it away quickly. Lock the weapons case and cover it with the blanket it is sitting on. Your identification is "Peterson, party of six."

I directed Talia and Chelsea to the front seats, taking the rear for myself, with Karen, Sophie and Carolyn in the middle. With the weapons case within hand's reach, we proceeded north to the Death Valley highway and turned west. No sign of anything but weekend tourist traffic. I wondered if Anna had followed up her warning to the Arizona people with something tangible, like taking out a surveillance plane.

The rest of the journey home was routine even if our nerves were still on edge. In the plane, I made a sign for no talk about who we were or what we were doing. As far as I could determine, the plane and its pilots were from a commercial charter service in San Jose.

At the airport, Karen told me her car was in long term parking. With generous squeezing, we all made it inside. I had Sophie in my lap and Talia and Chelsea on either side. Their fingers yanked at my hair, low voices threatening violence if I misbehaved. Nevertheless, my right hand wormed its way upward and underneath Sophie's bra. The smooth curved flesh was what I needed to be thinking about, not Anna, or guns, or three dead bodies in the desert.

Her voice hissed, "There are five of us now. Punishment will be severe."

Great minds thinking alike, I soon had three women kissing, tonguing and nipping at me. Carolyn stayed in the passenger seat, applying pinches and smiling at our pile. This kind of tension release was right up my alley. A little voice asked how I was going to keep five hot women happy in bed.

Karen drove to the old house. "I thought you would like a swim. There is a big hole at the new place, but the finished pool is weeks away. A very nice couple has an option on this house, waiting for a mortgage commitment, but we still have occupancy."

I busied myself making drinks and finding munchies as I watched a debate go on at poolside. It seemed there was a shortage of swim suits. With frowns and fingers pointed at me, they stripped to nothing and plunged in.

When I strolled out with the tray of tall fruity drinks, I could see the struggle in their eyes over the young male voyeur. A struggle that was over before it started as hands reached for my plastic glasses.

"I'll go away, if you wish."

Sophie's voice was sharp, "Dummy. Lose the shorts and get in here."

My dive brought me up into Karen's welcoming arms. "Hi."

"Hi yourself. Had enough excitement for a while?"

"You don't suppose Anna sent us into that battle deliberately? Another one of her tests?"

Bodies joined in a close circle. As I had in the desert, it was a quick decision to share everything.

I pulled Chelsea to my side. As the oldest of the group, she was probably feeling a little out of it. The body was tough and welcoming to my hand, which I ran up her back into her hair.

Karen responded, "No, I don't think so. She needs us for new assignments and sending an untrained and unprepared group into a fire fight would have been a very dumb move."

Talia, who had her own special relationship with Anna, repeated, "Yes. Dumb move."

Continuing the leadership role they had ceded to me, I said, "Let's take the rest of today to decompress. Tomorrow, Carolyn and Sophie need to show up on campus. Talia and Chelsea should check in with Anna in the morning to see if there are instructions for them, and for the rest of us.

"I think our major priority is to step up the defenses around the new house. I know the basics of earth moving equipment, but it would be nice if Anna had a contractor who could help and keep everything undercover and off the record."

Looking at the group, the body language was much relaxed from a few hours ago. I smiled and said, "I'm just the young kid here with all this feminine talent, so whenever I get out of line..."

Sophie was right, five sets of hands did more damage than three. I took it all with a smile, applying gentle counterattacks on tender places. Winding down, we found towels and robes and gathered in the kitchen. Another round of the drinks I had made would be dangerous, but necessary, I decided.

Karen took me away, saying, "I will bring him back in a few minutes." This was greeted with hisses.

Pushing me into her bed, she pulled up a blanket and curled against my chest. "Anna relayed video from the desert. I was scared to death."

"So was I, but as they say, a man with a gun gets you moving."

"The two of us are so proud of your leadership. It took guts to deal with those bodies."

"Talia was amazing. We did it together."

"Anna is grooming the two of you to be her newest field generals."

"Does a field general get any more information than she is handing out lately?"

"I'll do my best to get her to open up. We better go back."

Curious looks in the kitchen meant I needed to say something. "Karen told me she was scared for us when Anna sent video of the firefight. Said her son is not supposed to make her worry."

Clapping started. In the middle of it, Talia smashed me against the wall and said, "You hear that? No more scaring Mom!" The torrid kiss that followed said more as the clapping got louder.

Karen suggested we take dinner makings to the new house, so everyone could get a look around. Talia was still by my side, giving me hip checks and hot looks. I got a headlock and pressed tight. "You are a terrible tease. I have to treat you like the others. Give me a break, please."

Her direct voice in my brain was breath taking. "Yes, I have to tease the guy who turns me on like no one else ever has. Are we teamed up?"

We stepped apart, fists up and bumping. She said so the others could hear, "If you don't stop hitting on me, there will be consequences."

I decided on a little fun, and broadcast to all of them, "Yes, I think I like your consequences!"

The whole group broke up in shouts of "Yes, consequences!" as we squeezed in a car for the ride to the new house. Karen sat in my lap."You did that in the desert, didn't you?"

"Yes, it worked for almost a hundred yards. Surprised the devil out of me." From the back seat, Talia said, "Me too. I was in the house, loading the launcher, and it sounded like a loudspeaker in my head." Her hands pulled on my hair. "Your son's new power saved our butts in that fight."

Her arms locked around my neck, Karen said, "The incident in the desert was very public. Undoubtedly captured on satellite imagery. Intel folks of more than one nation have been analyzing the byplay for two days now. I think some of Anna's cover has been blown and we need to be very careful. Her pride is hurt and we may not get much information while she is distracted."

Minutes after arriving at the house on the hill, Talia and the other women were in the spacious back forty, blowing off steam and nervous tension from Karen's little speech.

"Jeremy! This has to be a soccer field!" She somersaulted into my arms, her black body a blur in the dimness. "Under the soccer field will be the new command center!" My lips attacked here and there. She kissed back, "You are a menace, but I'm stuck on you."

Circling the kitchen table while simmering curry smells filled the air, we sipped our beers. Chelsea said, "I went to community college classes on botany and landscaping. What if we submit a plan for revegetation with native plants as a cover for some digging?"

I leaned over the table with a high five. "That's a fast change, from motel manager to head gardener." She smiled and responded, "I have already messaged Anna about a 100% new identity. The woman who ran that place in the desert will never be seen again."

The silence as we absorbed Chelsea's new direction was broken by Talia saying, "Getting rid of Talia the agent is more complicated. I'll work with Karen and Anna tomorrow."

Full of spicy dinner, conversation died and bodies barely made it to the king size bed we had inherited from the previous owners. A quiet peaceful end to a wild several days.

(Cont'd in Part 6 - Preparations for Combat)