Anna's Mystery Plan Pt. 08

My disappearance had been so short, Josh had not noticed. He was pleased to have me in his office. "We have lots to discuss."

"Before we get into that, Josh, I have important news myself." His face got more and more unhappy as I described Anna's situation and our latest plan to include him in the work at our new house.

As I finished, he gave me a thin smile, "You have certainly got yourself into a mess, young Jeremy."

"Yes Sir. I only hope you agree to be a small part of our effort to settle this breakaway business. I'll even promise to keep up my coursework!"

"I should say something like you are nothing but trouble."

My hopes were dropping when he added, "I'll follow you in my car."

Once we arrived at the house, he was a quick study. I cycled the new door for him using the compressed air reservoir, and he was impressed.

"Very nice and well disguised. You think I am capable of overseeing the completion?"

His eyes were laughing at me and I knew it was time for drinks. We sat on the patio, where the new pump was now humming and a robot skimmer working. His talks with the project officers in Washington had been partially successful. They had agreed to let Josh and me concentrate on unresolved design questions, and bring one of their regular development companies in as a joint venture partner for the heavy lifting.

I commented, "Doesn't make life less complicated, but takes a big load off. Are you satisfied with the arrangement?"

He gave me a standard Professor look, "Better than it could have been, and less than perfect."

We both smiled. "You have a little gap while they settle details. Let's see if we can't get Anna out of trouble before you are needed here again.

I arranged a circle of chairs on the patio and introduced each of the women to my brilliant professor. Karen pointedly kept the conversation away from our situation and the meal was excellent, especially given that everyone's mind was elsewhere.

Dessert and coffee ran into twilight and as he stood to go, Josh asked for one more circle of the hillside.

I told him what Rupert had said about the high ground and he nodded. "Yes, except this isn't World War I with machine gun nests, fortunately."

Back at the house, we shook hands and he said, "I'll look up Jeff in the next day or two. He doesn't actually need supervision, does he?"

"No, not at all. He has been a fantastic help. Broke all sorts of county rules for us. Karen makes sure he is well compensated."

When I returned, Karen had convened a Council of War meeting. "We need to be prepared to be shot at or worse. More than a month ago, they were ready to inflict casualties on us, and things have gone downhill since then. By tomorrow or the next day, Anthony will have positioned personal combat clothing and protection, along with a supply of weapons and ammunition. Remember, we are going out there for reconnaissance purposes, not to start a war... Questions?"

Talia dragged me toward the bedroom, telling the others, "Come, we need to talk."

I found soda and glasses and followed. They had ditched the dinner clothes and wore football jerseys converted to sleepshirts. There was all the naked flesh a guy could want, but sex was not in the air.

Chelsea pushed Carolyn and Sophie into my arms and took a place behind them. "Jeremy, don't worry about us. We are not sheep. We are ready to be as tough as needed. We did it once before, and we can do it again."

It was getting dark, but I could see Karen nodding. Talia had her hand on my thigh and squeezed.

I said, "Chelsea, you know about the surveillance equipment. Please take charge of finding out how much of it still works. We should have new perimeter defenses installed as a first order of business."

Reaching for Karen, I dragged her across bodies to my side. "Are we going to use the motel building, or what's left of it, for housing? What about making it a decoy and putting ourselves out under the trees?"

She snuggled into my side next to Talia, closed her eyes, and mumbled, "Good questions."

I looked at the others, who had gathered under duvets and also had closed eyes. Chelsea wagged her finger at me and closed her eyes. The military behavior was over for today.

***

At the crack of dawn, a fist was rapping gently on the glass patio door. It was Rupert! I jumped out of bed and ushered him in. "It's good to see you. What's up?"

"I am now in charge of logistics for the northern sector. We are transporting you to the desert motel in an hour. Can you be ready?"

Chelsea was at my shoulder, insulting him. "Useless bum. I remember when you drove up in that heap, asking for a job!"

He grabbed her for a hot kiss and a swat on her bottom. "Horrible boss, making me do the toilets every day!"

One of the small speedy helos was shut down on the hill. I realized Rupert was now his own pilot. I asked if he knew a Professor Greenberg. He did, and was aware of the arrangement with Anna, so I provided the details of Josh's willingness to keep a lookout for the house and underground facility.

"Smart thinking, Jeremy. Better not to get him too tight with us, but be able to recruit if necessary."

Others arrived for hugs and thanked him for looking out for us. An eight o'clock departure was agreed and he departed rapidly in the helo.

We were in the air at five after eight, in a large Marine helicopter with the same sergeant as before. I realized some special deal was involved. Probably should not ask questions for which I was not going to get answers.

Nearly two hours later, we touched down in a large empty space adjacent to a railroad yard near Redlands. The sergeant said, "Welcome to Colton Yard. Someone will come for you," and the helo lifted noisily away.

This time, the pile of our stuff was substantial. I went around with hugs and kisses and said to relax. "Waiting is standard military issue." Several voices said not to be a wiseass.

In less than an hour, a box truck with markings on it for "motel services" drove up. Talia poked me, "Pretty smart idea? Go in by vehicle? May not track us?"

Before I sorted that, Anthony emerged from the passenger seat and introduced me to the driver. "Jose is one of us, but also works for this company. He borrowed the truck from the company today to help move a relative."

Jose shook hands and clapped me on the shoulder, "You are my cousin, Jeremy, trying to restart a motel in the desert?" I introduced him to the women, saying, "This is my cousin, Jose, who is helping us get ready to reopen the motel. I told him you were experienced housekeepers."

This produced unhappy looks, which Anthony softened by telling them that Anna was very appreciative of their willingness to occupy a forward recon site, and they should ignore insults from young males. He went on to describe the contents of the truck, which included our military clothing, weapons, ammunitions, electronics, and provisions for a week. He added that two pickups, one old and one new, would show before we arrived at the site.

Moments later, one of the small helos dropped in and moments after that, he was gone.

Jose helped with loading our stuff into the truck and said, "I hope you don't mind being in the back for a while. It is good camouflage and should not last more than an hour. We will rendezvous with the pickups in Victorville."

I asked Karen to take the passenger seat in front, but she pointed to Chelsea. "The motel manager should be in front." Talia stood close to my back, threatening a chokehold for any more bad behavior. I gave her a quick boost to the truck bed, telling her to find one of the battery lanterns since there were no windows. In my personal rucksack was a pair of short range radios. I gave one to Chelsea and the other to Karen. The rest of the women lined up and demanded the same body boost into the truck that Talia got. The hand in their bottoms produced hisses, but they landed, standing up, with smiles.

I sat on a duffel in the dark with only the battery lantern for light, and thought about how to organize our arrival. I had a sudden thought and crawled to the others who were spread across convenient seats.

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen..." I began. More hisses and violence followed. When everyone was close and calmed down, I said, "We can't count on being left alone out there. Lots of folks, like the country sheriff's deputies, have a legitimate reason to keep an eye on the place and ask questions of strangers. Even our opponents might make a pass by. So we need a cover story. It seems to me that the insult your male assistant made might be useful. What if the reason we are there is to reopen? Chelsea gives us complete plausibility. With the right clothes, we can be the housekeepers and actually fix the place up while doing our recon work. I don't think you will have trouble treating me as your male slave."

I paused. Talia said "Damn." Sophie said, "Fuck." Karen asked, "What about no Hispanics on the staff?" Carolyn closed in and nibbled on my ear. "Brilliant idea, slave!"

I laughed and suggested, "The manager will have a good reason for hiring gringos, won't she?"

Talia's toe attacked my backside, "Who is calling me a gringo?"

"Actually, you are the resident agent of the new owners, who are from Panama and can't get visas because of their shadowy connections. The rumor is that anyone who crosses Talia isn't heard from again." I grabbed the toe for a lick.

A giant wrestle was still going on when the truck slowed and turned off the highway. Karen's phone buzzed. She inquired if the trucks were there.

Chelsea answered, "Yes, two trucks and some young guys. Jose says we are keeping you closed in until they have left. He was so cute, he said, 'I am not showing beautiful ladies to young toughs!' "

Talia struggled in my arms until I gave her a hot kiss. After going limp, she whispered, "You have sooo many beating points!"

I scissored her and pressed the head to mine for a silent talk. "When we get loose, grab Chelsea and fill her in on our latest scheme. If she likes it, then I think you should ride with Jose the rest of the way as his navigator, and see if you can recruit him to be our resupply guy. I will put Karen and Chelsea in the new pickup and take the old one myself with whomever is willing to beat up on me."

She twisted away, mumbling "Devil." The next thing I knew she was behind me, pulling hair and saying very quietly, "I love you."

In ten minutes, Jose was opening the doors and we helped the women down. It was the deserted end of the Victorville railyard. We could all have used a snack and soda, but a quick check showed agreement that we should stay out of any establishment that might remember a group passing through.

Chapter 27- Reviving the Motel

Arriving at the dilapidated structure, we pulled in back out of sight of the highway. I was surprised to see it unchanged from the time of our departure. Surely, the basin and range people had been here. It suddenly occurred to me that they might have boobytrapped the site and I jumped out to warn the others.

Several hours later, we had checked the premises and part of the grove. The bodies were gone, as a careful digging revealed. I also searched for beacons or other devices designed to reveal the presence of activity. Since we had decided on the cover story, this didn't bother me much.

Jose was a great help. Chelsea decided that two new refrigerators, a new stove, and two backup generators were required. He agreed to find the right sources and bring everything back as soon as it could be arranged. His boss was also part of Anna's family and could arrange a leave or other story for his new activities. He gave Chelsea a hug and departed in the box truck.

Talia and I sat in the middle of a large pile of electronics, making an inventory list and deciding where to deploy the various sensors. Given sensor capabilities on both sides, it was clear that if BR people got close to us, they would discover the recon mission.

I asked Talia, "We won't be undiscovered for very long if they do a search of the area. Do you suppose the effort to find out what is in their truck convoy is going to come off?"

Karen spoke from behind me, "I was wondering the same thing. Why don't we provide Anna with a status report and ask that question?"

Chelsea used her special powers to make the connection and nodded her head several times.

When she finished, everyone was gathered around to hear the news.

"Elders on both sides are negotiating. The other side is willing to discipline their rogue youngsters, but doesn't want violence and thinks Anna should make a concession or two. That is being debated at the moment."

Chelsea added, "She likes our cover story and said to keep on as we are doing. The forward recon mission is still on the table but waiting for what happens on the negotiation side."

We looked at each other, wheels turning. A tense situation that could go any number of directions. I looked at Karen, "Concessions? What do you think?"

She responded, with a thin smile, "Anna has the upper hand, but going to war with them solves nothing. She knows they need economic relief. Jobs, land, etc. I suspect her council will be discussing what to trade and how to prevent this from becoming just the first of a series of blackmail attempts."

Talia was at my side, where she seemed to spend a lot of time. I got her standard poke in the ribs. "Well?"

A quick move had her in my lap, arms around each other. Sophie hissed, "No young love!"

I frowned, "We need to place all these sensors and get them connected and working. We also need the large tarp erected under the trees to block light from showing at night. Someone needs to worry about a temporary kitchen until we have the new equipment in place."

Talia kicked my shin and told me to keep on being the supervisor while she prowled the grove with sensor boxes. Carolyn hugged me from behind and whispered she was jealous of what we had going. Talia stopped and gave her a ferocious stare and then laughed as they embraced. I left them to girl talk.

By darkness, a lot had been accomplished and we were being fed a decent meal under the tarp with battery lights to see by. Midway through the meal, Chelsea stood and walked away. When she came back, there was a smile on her face.

"Our side has decided to offer Imperial County. Valuable agriculture and also border activities. Very little contact with our family on the north and west sides."

Karen asked, "The rest of it still to be settled?"

"Yes. Probably several days. There is a requirement from our side that the truck convoy be withdrawn immediately."

Talia whispered in my ear, "Damn, I was looking forward to chasing around in the dark with you!"

I leaned back with her on my chest. "I'll chase you."

(cont'd in Part 9)