The CIA Doublecross Pt. 04

A nice looking guy approached and asked with his eyes if he could cut in. I smiled and handed her off, "Here you go, protected one."

I turned around, looking for Marsha and saw only Joel, who was smiling at me. We found a beer apiece and watched our four women enjoying their partners. "Joel, old friend, the ladies look like they can take care of themselves."

"Yes. Hope those fellas know they could get a quick knee in a tender spot for misbehaving. By the way, Bruce and Heather Harrison came in a few minutes ago."

I turned carefully and picked up the well dressed group near the main entrance. There looked to be four or five, including a couple of beefy guys whose dance disguises weren't hiding much.

"Chatting up the locals, just like we are. Do we introduce ourselves?"

"I've met them once or twice at events. Let's wait until a casual moment offers an opportunity."

The musicians took a break, and we had a woman on each arm again. Ellie and Kate were whispering, although the noise in the big room would mask anything they said. I asked, "Well, cousins, did you survive that? Looked pretty good from here."

"Scott, it was fun! No false moves and they know how to dance!"

Kate kept an eye on the Harrisons, and when it looked like Heather was headed to the bathroom, grabbed Ellie and followed. Joel and I kept our backs to the others in the Harrison party, trying not to draw attention. Marsha took Meg's hand and said, "We are going to circulate. It's casual enough for us to introduce ourselves."

I laughed and said to Joel, "We are the two lonely bachelors, holding up the wall? Must be time for another beer."

By chance, Bruce Harrison arrived at the drink table as we did. Joel said a quiet hello and introduced me as the cousin from California. "Scott, this is Bruce Harrison. Bruce, my cousin Scott from California, who is thinking about moving here. Are you and Heather still happy about your decision to come west?"

"Joel, this country is growing on us every day. Heather and I couldn't be more pleased to be here."

He added, "And to have wonderful neighbors, such as you and Kate." I could tell that part of Bruce's success with the Mob was his ability to be Mr. Sincerity on demand.

Joel kept talking. "Bruce, as long as I've got you for a minute, we were wondering if you and Heather would mind if my guests and their guides crossed your property on the way to the national forest property to the east. There are some Indian artifacts hidden back in the woods they would like to explore."

Bruce was cool and collected. "Joel, I don't think there is a problem with that. Can you give me a day's notice when you are ready, so I can be sure we aren't working the animals in a way that would interfere?"

"Sure thing."

Joel and I wandered off with our fresh beers, leaving Bruce with his bodyguards trying to look like cowboys.

We had another round of dancing with our pretty women, and said we were fading. The two young ones pouted, claiming the night was just beginning. I thought they were serious until Marsha put an elbow in my ribs and said, "We're outa' here."

On the back porch, there was moonlight. The dancing clothes were hung up and two men had four women hanging on them. Weapons were still distributed around, and we could see the motion detector camera readout on the kitchen wall behind us through the window.

Kate said to Ellie, "I think these men would be making a move on us if we didn't have more important things to worry about."

I pulled Marsha and Meg close and said, "I guess I have to worry about both of these hellions. Might save my life one of these days." Joel got the other two in his arms and started kissing and fondling.

The two of us looked at each other, thinking how nice the rest of the evening might be under other circumstances.

Ellie chuckled and said, "Yes. If we all come back in one piece, I might ask Joel to import Ace for a celebration."

With some handplay, we found our beds. Ellie and Meg were tucked in tight tonight with Marsha and me.

In the morning sun, I was very hard, but fortunately it was Marsha's backside that was getting prodded. She reached behind and squeezed hard, "This is to behave. Tell him to forget that afternoon of bliss in Sandpoint."

I groaned, which brought three different hands to my erection, along with threats. From the doorway, Kate's voice said, "Will you look at that? Three against one. He is not getting any right now, is he?"

I rolled us all out of the bed as they nodded. Damn. Kate looked terrific in a short robe, so I settled for a rush that took her against the wall. The stiff shaft in my shorts pressed her in exactly the right place.

"Stop, horny devil! Save that energy for the trail!" We went down the stairs exchanging kisses, "Kate, you are the hostess with the mostest." Her smile said the widow appreciated male attention.

Around the breakfast table, Joel said, "We planted the trail ride to the east idea with Bruce last night. He asked for a day's warning before crossing his property."

I jumped in, "All the women should come along. We can get Mark to station one or two guys here, and we will tell the Harrisons there are farm hands around if they wonder about activity over here."

Ellie added, "Everyone should have a rifle in a saddle sheath. We will tell the Harrisons they are for protection from bears." She smiled, "Chances of a bear coming after a horse and rider in daylight are close to zero, but easterners probably don't know that."

Meg and Marsha stood behind me, pulling hair. "This is scary, Mom. Can these guys really protect us?"

A beep sounded on the porch and Meg ran to answer. "Mark wants a secure phone conference. Says to fly someplace with good cell coverage and make the call."

Ellie said Marsha and Joel and I should go. She and Kate would do trip planning while we were gone. Meg would stay to handle any more messages.

Joel decided to make the quick flight to Salmon and arced the plane in a sweeping turn to the east, flying over part of the route we would be taking with the animals. In less than an hour, we were on the ground, with a good cell signal on the encrypted phones.

"Mark, we are over in Salmon on a beautiful day. You are competing with a fishing opportunity."

"Devils. We need to discuss next steps. The higher ups really want a successful prosecution out of this one, and told me to advise all hands to pay attention. No screwups!"

I kept my tone light. "Mark, you know as well as I do that field operations need your fine hand. Bring your waders and get back here."

"Scott, you and Joel are building up serious punishment points..."

I handed my phone to Joel. "Brother, we are heading out in forty-eight hours with six riders and our animals. Going east across the Harrison property, and then into Nez Perce tribal lands before the treaty was abridged. and it ended up as national forest. My part time ranch hands will keep an eye on things. Okay to hide that radio setup in the barn?"

"Roger that. Just as well to have the women out of the crossfire if things heat up. Keep at least one of your beacons lit all the time in case a helicopter has to find you."

"Got that. Anything more?"

"Yes. Tell Scott if he catches a trophy fish he is fired!" Click.

I smiled at Joel, who said, "I'll check in with the ranch."

I could hear Kate answering. "Hi there. Any objection to our trying to catch a couple of fish for dinner before heading back?"

"If you told your brother that, he won't talk to us for a month!"

"They have him tied down six ways to Sunday on this Mob business. Tried to get him back out here. No luck."

"If you don't get those fish, you are in trouble with me!"

"Yes, Ma'am, fish in our net in moments."

It wasn't moments, but within an hour, we had several one pounders and were finding ice to pack in the cooler with them. Back in the air and looking down, I could see traces of logging roads everywhere.

"How much company are we going to have in the backcountry? Looks like a lot of dirt roads."

"Yeah. There are cabins around the lakes and reservoirs, but the rest of it is pretty quiet. Ellie will find us a nice route."

Something was nagging at the back of my mind, and when we returned to the farmhouse, I suggested a run to Marsha. "Fine, we are both out of shape. Let's get changed."

A few miles up the trail, I gasped to a stop next to a small grassy meadow and said, "Need to talk about something."

"Kiss first. When are you attacking? It's been too long."

Marsha pressed her sweaty self against me and wiggled her hips. "You are an evil woman. There aren't any motel beds out here. You can have it over a log and that's about it, unless you don't mind your bottom in the dirt."

"No dirt and no log. I can be patient. What is more important than sex?"

"There is something about this Harrison business that is bothering me. If Mark was DEA, I'd assume it was standard takedown, but the angle for the CIA seems off. What do you think?"

My girlfriend was lounging on my thigh, cap pulled down over her eyes. She reached for my hand to nibble on my fingertips. Something was going to get very hard if she kept that up.

"I guess you and I don't trust Mark when he tells us a simple story. There is always more. Always a complicated angle. What is it this time?"

I was looking at her chest and not concentrating on Mark's new round of deviousness.

"One thing for sure that would get the agency excited is if there are terrorists involved. What else? You are supposed to have woman's intuition available."

I very cautiously advanced a hand toward the tip of her nearest breast. She turned over, trapping the hand. "You are thinking devious yourself?" She worked herself on top and leaned into a nice long kiss. Resting her head on me, she hummed and suggested, "Foreign infiltration of this New Jersey crowd? Some sort of merger?"

"Maybe. Jihadi oil revenue is down and headed lower as they lose oilfields. A search for new revenue sources makes sense. But the cartels and their Mob friends sounds like a bad mix if we are talking a linkup."

"Remember back in California, you asked me for the most paranoid idea?"

I didn't get to answer right away because her lips were mashing mine.

"Wench. How can I concentrate with you up there?"

"Behave. What about this? Bruce and Heather are ambitious and bored. And not getting anywhere as rich as they planned. They see that the cartel folks and the ISIS folks are trouble all around. In other words, likely partners under the right conditions. They tell the higher ups that gambling, dope, sex and muscle are all going out of style. They have handouts that propose a new approach. Voices around the table say it looks very risky. Others say it raises the ante on weapons. Bruce takes a very deep breath and says the risks are high but the rewards are big. He offers to lead an experiment, and says if it fails, he will be a casualty."

"Marsha, I am as limp as a noodle. You've scared all the starch out of him. Let's walk back and fill in some blanks."

Strolling downhill, hand in hand, I wished we were not talking about bad people and bad behavior.

Marsha squeezed my palm, "Lover, do you suppose Bruce is the idea guy, and Heather sorts them out?"

"You think she is the dangerous one?"

"At the dance, she didn't pay any attention to Bruce, but was working the room and keeping an eye on us. That is one independent woman."

"Let's offer to do a barbeque dinner. Kate and Joel have been doing all the kitchen work. We can bounce ideas off them and do trip planning."

In the kitchen, she frowned and said, "Make yourself useful. Peel those potatoes and cut them into chunks to boil for potato salad."

"Yes, mistress, I am your slave."

Kate wandered in and threw me a hip. "What's this? A new sous-chef?"

"He had a bright idea that the two of us are doing barbeque dinner. Is there meat, or should I send him to town?"

"There is always steak in my freezer. I'll get a couple out. I think I can find ripe tomatoes in the garden and maybe some beans."

At five o'clock, I was poking the fire with Joel at my side. "Marsha and I were talking about how this Harrison business doesn't seem to add up. Especially since your brother shouldn't be involved in a domestic drug bust."

"I was noticing that too. When Mark uses that zipped lip business, it usually means he is up to more than the obvious explanation."

"Marsha and I learned on the Chinese caper that he is mostly ahead of the bad guys. Of course, the Sheriff and the Youngbloods ended up with all the action at the end. I have a funny feeling about this pack trip. We better be prepared for anything."

Joel and I worked at keeping the atmosphere relaxed during dinner, which we ate outside on a warm evening. The women were antsy, anyway, and asked when we were leaving.

With everyone looking his way, Joel said, "What about morning after tomorrow? I can call Bruce tonight and ask if that is ok." Heads nodded, and while Marsha and I cleaned up, the others sat at the kitchen table and made lists. Tomorrow was going to be busy, gathering food and gear, and arranging it in individual loads for the animals.

Later, I was lying in bed, freshly showered, with Marsha's head on my stomach. Ellie and Meg were on one side of the foot of the bed, with Kate and Joel on the other.

I said, "Joel, we've got four women to look after on this trip. Think we can handle that?"

Four sets of eyes were sitting up, staring at us. "Mom, they are getting uppity again."

With a lot of laughing, two males were prodded and pounded by four females before sleep took us all.

Not very long after, Joel was tapping my shoulder in the dark, saying, "Come look at this."

Through the window on the other side of the house, we could dimly see not one but two of the Harrison's horse trailers turning onto the highway, headed south. "What do you make of that?"

I looked at him, "The conspiracy side of me says Bruce needs to get something off his property before we make our way through in another day."

Meg nudged between us. "Maybe I should give a heads up to Mark on the radio?"

"Yes. Do that. Joel and I are going to mosey down closer to the road. Women guard the fort."

Hidden in some trees a few yards back from the road, the scene before us was dark and quiet. At one o'clock in the morning, there wasn't any traffic on the highway. We were both armed, but not planning on any gunfire unless absolutely necessary.

"Scott, marijuana isn't a very high value cargo for these people. They have to be moving something worth millions, don't they?"

It was peaceful on the Harrison property across the way. We turned back up the ranch road. "Good point. These could be test runs, of course. Trying to see if they attract any attention."

We were silent the rest of the way to the house, thinking about games the Mob might be playing deep in Idaho.

Meg was on the porch. "There is a response from Mark already. Just says to continue with Plan A."

I carefully kissed the tip of her nose. "Looks like you are going riding, daughter."

Placing her hands on my shoulders, she applied her lips to mine. Quietly, she said, "You will need further instruction about sitting the horse."

Taking up the tease, I responded, "Perhaps your hips will show me the proper motion?"

My ears were seized and yanked viciously. "There is only one person who shows your hips what to do!"

The two young ones hugged and wiggled, laughing at the hardness in my jeans. Joel and Kate were in a clinch, everyone letting off middle of the night tension. Ellie was against the doorframe, lonely but smiling as I caught her up and walked to the kitchen. "Granddaughter is not to be ignored. Our guide and defender."

It was too warm for anything hot, so we settled for beer, sitting in the dark so light did not show across the road.

After a comfortable silence, Joel said, repeating Ellie's thought, "We'll each be armed with a rifle or shotgun in a saddle scabbard. Easy to pass off as bear protection. Inside the loads, we'll bury heavy duty items and our beacons. We'll look like a family camping trip into the national forest."

Between one thing and another to worry about, there wasn't much sleep the rest of that night, or the next. The radio was shut down and carefully hidden in the barn. We were up in the dark on travel day, giving the horses and mules an early feed and water. I wasn't very hungry but soft scrambled eggs just the way I like them went down easily. Marsha nudged with a look, "Ready for this?"

I gave her a fake smile, "Just an agent in training, Ma'am, thanks."

The Indians had their suede trail tunics on, with chaps and boots. The well used Stetsons gave them a fabulously professional look. Even Bruce and Heather would be impressed. The animals snuffled as saddles and loads went on, behaving well with experienced hands working the tack and talking quietly to them. The sun was just peeking over the far ridge as Joel led our train down the road and across to the Harrison gate, which had been unlocked for us. I was fifth in line, with Meg bringing up the rear as she had on the first trip. No one spoke. A combination, I thought, of being alert for trouble, and mulling over questions about what schemes were being planned by our opponents.

We were halfway to the ranch house when Bruce appeared on the porch with a friendly wave. We drew up as Heather joined him. "Good morning," she said. "You look well organized. How many days on the trail, do you figure?"

Joel spoke, "Good morning. If this fine weather holds, we'll spend four nights out." He turned to look at Ellie. "Our guide is a descendent of Nez Perce who occupied these lands for generations before the white man. She may help us discover some artifacts."

Ellie added, "By custom, we aren't allowed to disturb anything. And the Forest Service forbids it as well."

Joel nudged his horse and we moved forward. "Our thanks for being generous with permission to cross your ranch."

Beyond the farthest Harrison gate, we were on National Forest land, heading uphill into a grove of trees. I moved up the line, saying quietly that there probably was perimeter surveillance and to voice only normal trail conversation. In an hour, we reached the top of a rise, and Joel stopped for a water break and load check. Close behind me, Meg's voice said, "Nice out here. You are sitting your horse well." I couldn't tell whether this was a tease, but gave her a hug, anyway. Marsha was frowning, so she got a hug too. Kate and Ellie were frowning, so hugs were necessary for them as well. Joel was filling a water bucket for the animals and asked, "A hug for me, Scott?"

Ellie had her topo out, and we gathered around. "The idea is to follow the terrain to the northeast toward the high point between the Salmon drainage and the Payette drainage. There were regular Indian trade routes in this country, although the main east-west corridor was along the Clearwater to our north."

"We might find traces of old trails?"

"Yes, but not likely. Indians followed game trails when they could, so hard for us to tell which is which. If we are lucky, there will be some ravines with caves or rock overhangs that show fire sign."

Back on the horses, I felt myself sinking into the same easy unthinking rhythm of the trail as our first time out. My mind was adrift, but the one in the tough young woman behind me wasn't. She caught up and poked me. "Pay attention. Read the trail and the terrain. You have to earn your keep out here, not just in the damn computer!"

I stared back at her, thinking of the courses Marsha and I had discussed. "Teach me."

For the next hour, I got a quiet lesson. Reading the ground like an animal. Always on the lookout for prey and predators. Thinking about where human enemies might hide in ambush.