Un-Connected (17 page)

I had an idea. Why didn’t the FBI buy the box
from an Otis alias because he certainly would not be seen by law enforcement
with the box in hand? They could work a deal themselves and see if they could
get their money back. The plan had several advantages to my thinking, one of
the most important being that they could read the thing, so if they lost it, they
would still have the data. It was going to be a hard sell because the buyer
would probably want to know for sure that no one else had read it. That was a
pretty tall order, so Jim said we would wait to see if there was any agency
agreement in that direction or at least some amount of consensus.

I discussed the latest information with Otis,
and he agreed with my assessment.

“The key would be the seller,” he said. “They
would have to be well protected but not appearing bright enough to know what
they had. They could advertise they had something the FBI was trying to get. That
it came off a crashed helicopter in the Phoenix area. That should be about all
they would need to do. The people that would be looking for it wouldn’t need
more information, and those that did need more information were not the buyers
they’d be looking for. Considering that these people were likely killing with
impunity, they would probably want to find an option cheaper than paying.”

It would be scary stuff for the seller, which
would not be me. Fort Knox didn’t have enough gold for me to be the seller or
even be in the same state when the deal went down if I had any prior knowledge.
I wanted some years of peace with my bride, and there was not enough money
anywhere to tempt me from wanting that.

The rhythm weeks came and went, and they were
OK after I got used to them. It wasn’t hard to make up for them before or after
the fact. Deb and I were doing great, and we were really beginning to hope for
a future. And I only had eyes for her.

We hit shore midmorning and got all our stuff
out of customs. Deb found the motel shuttle. We’d be flying out early the next
morning.  While checking in we got our guns back, and it worked as well as Otis
said it would. We didn’t want to be unarmed because only God knew what was
coming.  We got into our room, and we had quite a bit of time to spend.

We went to the hot tub first. Watching her at
the hot tub or putting on or taking of that swim suit is so inspiring and
nearly always a prelude to what concludes with a short nap.  Did I mention that
already? 

Well After that we decided to explore. I got
my fanny pack and she the backpack and off we went. We were supposed to be in a
safe part of town, but we didn’t want to take any chances, so we stayed on the
main streets.

We went to some gift shops and an art gallery
and were more impressed with the prices people were actually paying than we
were in the art itself. My taste in art is more realism and sometimes
romanticism. And whatever “Thomas Kincaid” is works for me. Deb’s tastes were a
little different, but they overlapped enough. We found things we both liked,
but nothing we couldn’t live without. So after several hours we made it back to
the motel intact and without buying anything, which surprised me, but we were
glad.

I was tired so I grabbed her and dropped us
onto the bed.  Then I just lay there holding her.  When she could tell what I
was doing she relaxed.  I held her for a long time and eventually went to
sleep.  When I woke up she was sleeping in my arms. 

Later that day a heavy foreboding anxiety
attack swept over me. I had been concerned for Otis and the others because
whoever sent the last guys might want revenge or try to save face. Now this
anxiety for him just bubbled up from I don’t know where.  Deb sensed my moods
with amazing speed and accuracy. And she asked what was wrong. I couldn’t tell
her any more than what was happening to me, but the fear was for Otis and his
family.

So I called Otis, and I casually asked what
was going on.

“Not much,” he said. “We’re trying to decide
some of the same things we talked about before you left. Some things have
changed and some not.”

 He asked where we were and what we were
doing.

“All is well except Deb hasn’t been as nice
to me as I thought she should be.”

He laughed.

Then I got into it.

“Really, what have you done? Did you make the
building more secure?”

“We covered all the windows that were shot
out and bricked them over front and back. The only glass left was in the front
and back doors.”

I asked him if he had opened the truck stop
and changed any personnel policies. I told him I felt more people should be
there at all times or had they improved security.

“In fact, we have.” He answered. “We put
additional and better motion sensors out by the street. Once we had all the
improvements done we opened with a big banner out by the street advertising free
drinks for one afternoon.  We have two people working up front at all times and
one more in the back on the security monitors except third shift. We have an
alarm out front for vehicles that come off the street. We have new monitors
just inside the front door to show any vehicle that turned in off the street
and other monitors showing different parts of the parking lots and all around
the building.”

They had improved their perimeter alarm
system on the other three sides off the road so if someone walked in, they
would know about it when they were about one hundred yards out, and they would
be on the monitors immediately.

They were still serving meals and still doing
other things pretty much the same, though the opinions were pretty evenly
divided about whether or not to have the restaurant open to the public. Nearly
everyone wanted it open for family and maybe a few friends. But if they put up
a secure window for fuel payment and locked the doors to all but family, they
would not have any traffic inside, and it looked to him where they were headed.

“Why all the detailed questions?” Otis asked.

“I am afraid for you and yours. The people who
had been sent in before didn’t expect any serious resistance and got careless.
It won’t happen the same way again, and the people who sent them may be shamed
into revenge. I had an anxiety attack over you guys. It rarely happens but it’s
often an accurate precursor of some kind.”

Otis just listened and didn’t say a word.

“Jim said the last guys were well-trained
ex-military. The FBI was probably aware that you sold off helicopter parts. They
want the black box badly. The next guys may not want parts of the helicopter
but parts of you. They had to be really embarrassed. Then there could be
foreign country buyers who would love to one up the US government. There are a
lot of potential problems.”

When I finished unloading on him and he was
still silent, I asked if he was there.

He answered in the affirmative and didn’t
answer for a while.

“Tilly had premonitions sometimes, and she
was usually right. She had one last night. She saw people shooting and coming
in both doors. I don’t know what all that means except I’ll be here tonight. We’ll
recheck everything and redouble our efforts to be safe. You get here in one
piece. I can’t wait to see you.”

And with that, he was gone.

“What do you think he’ll do?” Deb asked.

“I have no idea but he’s had two warnings. I
don’t believe he’s ignoring them. He probably was acting on Tilly’s concern
before we called, but maybe he’s acting on mine too.”

 “Do you think I had overreacted?”

She shook her head
no
.

“We haven’t talked about this stuff for a few
days, Deb. What do you think about the whole situation?”

She was slow to start but did want to tell me
how she felt.

“I’m relieved Jim had given us some cover,
but Ben’s picture is still out there, and there might always be potential for
trouble,” she said. “Not so much from police or FBI now, but the killers are
still out there, and they probably aren’t buying any of the changes. Their
desire to get Ben will not likely be any less.

“I’m afraid for Otis, too. Those guys who
died there were serious killers. They made a mistake and paid for it. No one
else who’s sent there will make the same mistake. They’re probably going to
come in angry and want to prove something. I think they ought to close the
truck stop at least for a while. Maybe tear it down and move back off the road
to build another one. I don’t know, but they are too exposed to trouble right
there. For the local folks they’re fine, but not for thugs from out of town.”

I asked her if she wanted to rethink moving
there.

“No, we’d have to be careful wherever we went,
but Otis’s family would help us look out for trouble. The land would give us a
lot of space from any road if we wanted it,” she said. “It would be possible to
have a family compound in the middle of acreage and have sensors up that would
tell us if anyone is closer than a mile. It would be pretty awesome. I want to
have a place where it’s just us for at least a mile. And be at least a mile off
the road. Even if we had a mile-long dusty driveway, I would rather have that
to feel safe.”

I kissed her on the forehead. “Ok, I want it
too, and I’ll try to get it for you.”

We went to bed early and got up early. We
went through security and were at the gate an hour early.

We had a good and uneventful flight.
Uneventful was welcomed these days. Stress had really drained us, and we could
feel it coming back now that vacation was over.  We went to the motel, checked
in and dropped off our luggage.

Then we headed out to the truck stop. It did
look safer with all the new brickwork. Once inside we noticed it was darker but
more security measures were evident. Otis et al were taking this seriously, and
we were glad.

We ordered lunch and talked to the many
well-wishers coming by. We were almost done when Otis showed up.

“Good to see you guys. Are you still
married?”

“So far, so good.” I replied.

“I just about left him on the French
Riviera.” She said.

“That happened to me about thirty years ago,”
Otis said. “That wasn’t Tilly’s favorite stop.”

One of Otis’s grandsons came by and asked how
I was feeling and laughed real loud all the while eyeing Deb.

“Deb and I like the improvements you’ve made.
How many people do you have here at all times?”

“During the day we have several, but don’t
think the daytime will be when they call next time. If they do, they will find
about ten or so. Some of the younger ones are learning auto repair from Will,
so the shop is seeing more activity than it probably ever has. And we have
alarm buzzers out there. We put a travel trailer out by your semi. It has
separate sleeping quarters and bathrooms on each end so two couples can sleep
there well. It has improved walls, and there is an alarm out there also. If the
people inside see trouble coming, they can easily call for help. We have some
concrete barriers set up several places so those coming out of the trailer can
be well protected. We have three inside stocking, cleaning, and making
improvements.”

“We hope that is enough, but we have some
pretty serious cover and firepower. We have a few of the full auto rifles the
first guys gave us close by. We have really improved our video and perimeter
alarms. When someone comes off the road especially at night, we get a good look
at them a minute or two before they get close to the building. We have electric
locks on the doors, and the new safety glass will be much harder for them to
shoot out. We should have several minutes before they get inside. In that time
we should have help from the trailer people and the shop.”

“Wow, you have done a lot. Has there been any
discussion about being closed at night?”

“Yes, but we are the only truck stop for
quite a ways in both directions, and our fuel sales at night are still pretty
strong.  Oh, I about forgot. We are keeping at least one repair guy in the shop
24-7 now so he can get a gun and we can get help from there at night too.”

“So that would be at least six at night.”

“Yes, I hope that is enough.”

“Me too! Deb and I will take our turn. How
does the trailer rotation work?”

“Each person does three or four nights every third
week. We just got started so it will likely change, but we didn’t like moving
every night. We will see.”

Deb and I signed up for our turn. “That would
average about four to six nights a month. That isn’t bad. It shouldn’t be too
hard on any couple.”

Betty was there, and she had volunteered to
take us around to the different places they believed would make good home sites.
One looked really good, but it was a little closer to the foot of the
mountains. Betty agreed with the location, but she said the closer you get to
those mountains, the more snakes you will have.

Deb was not interested in that, but she did
ask what kind of snakes.

“Nonpoisonous and poisonous. If you bring
some nonpoisonous ones like the King Snake to your house and let them live
around it, they’ll keep the poisonous ones away.”