Aztec Treasure Ch. 61-70

We stopped at the Point Iroquois Lighthouse and took the tour, which was fun. We kept going south, stopping for the night at the Bay Mills Resort and Casino. Lance had explained that the Native Casinos had plenty of hotel rooms but weren't subject to State laws and didn't exchange registration information with the Feds. Maritza didn't care because our suite had a whirlpool tub and a fireplace.

Our last group activity was to tour the Locks on the St. Mary's River that separated Lake Superior from Lake Huron. Maritza was fascinated by the big ships going through. We said our goodbyes to the Manchester group; they were a lot of fun, but we'd see them soon and do the whole tour. I promised we'd visit Manchester when Lance had his Steel Brotherhood cut. The prospect stayed to drive the minivan, and the rest of us headed out on our Harleys to Interstate 75.

Lance and I had talked about it; we couldn't go north, as the Alphas didn't want a record of us crossing the border. We hadn't gotten the all-clear to come home either. I didn't want to repeat the same path, so we decided to head south towards Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan.

We spent three days riding exploring the tourist towns on the eastern side of Lake Michigan before Brenda got a call saying we were safe to return. We were eating breakfast at the Little River Casino Resort near Manistee, about halfway down the east side of the lake. To get home, we'd either continue south through Chicago or backtrack to Sault Ste. Marie.

That was when the Prospect caught the line heading across the lake on the map. "What about the ferry?"

It was one of the best ideas of the whole trip. We made it to Ludington in time to take the SS Badger, a big passenger ferry, for the four-hour cruise across the lake. Maritza loved it, the boat had shopping, food, and drink, and it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We braved the cold and ate our lunches on the ferry's top deck at the end of our ride. It left us in Manitowac (south of Green Bay) in Wisconsin.

We all wanted to get home, so we only stopped for gas and dinner. We arrived just before sundown, the gate opened for us to head in. I didn't miss the FBI agents parked by the entrance. "What is going on with the Feds?"

Chase answered. "Unload and get Maritza to bed. Then we can talk in my office."

I didn't miss that Spider Monkey's home was dark, with crime scene tape over the door.