Chapter 05

Life Goes On

Uncle Derfel stays for Christmas and the New Year, but he has to leave soon after for a job he has on. Studies and gambling continue after the Winter Break, which is a low key holiday due to security concerns.

Just before he leaves Uncle Derfel and I talk a lot about what we expect the enemy to do. We agree they’re unlikely to do much before graduation but they’re likely to hit us sometime soon after that, hoping we’ve slacked off. I ask him, “Uncle, do you have any people who’re about to retire from combat roles due to not quite being up to the fitness you need?” He nods yes as he gives me an odd look. “I’m a rich man now and I wish to set up my own house with its own staff. That means cooks, guards, drivers, etcetera. I’d rather pay a bit more to hire people who also fight well.” He smiles as he promises to have Major Erwin contact me.

Last week I noticed a property that’s for sale with strong high walls and gates. It’s on the edge of the urban area and they want only half a million for it, unfurnished. I buy it after talking to Mum and Dad. We move into it at the end of January, after Major Erwin organises some security guards, gardeners, housekeeper, cooks, maids, and two drivers. Most are retired Dragons and some are their spouses. He also organises a large upgrade of the security system for the whole property. It’s all done in a way to keep the work unknown to others before we move in.

I set Mum, Bron, Cadi, Mary, and Peg loose to decorate and furnish the new house at my expense. It makes them all very happy to be shopping while spending my money and not their own.

I mention I want a more up-market car to carry most of us so Erwin organises the purchase of an armoured car. It’s a flash thing that looks like a cross between a Hummer and a stretch limo, but not quite either. It has a high ground clearance, a big motor, a low centre of gravity, and it seats ten in the back. I get two of them and I have them painted a nice tan colour to blend in with the local scrub if we need to hide it. My normal car is now used by the staff, and they love it. For uniformity we all carry the same firearm and spare magazines: the Glock G20C.

After we move house I use my new car and driver all of the time. He’s a deceptive looking fellow, small and thin, but strong and fast. He’s got a lung problem that means he can’t keep up on a field operation now.

My accountant tells me to hire a good bookkeeper / office manager to run an office for me in the new house. So I do, Major Erwin has her checked out and she passes. She and her family live in one of the several units in the staff housing behind the house. I like the arrangement as I hire Maggie Manning. Thus it’s easier for me to see and spend time with Peg and Mary while it also brings them all inside our security screen.

The house also has an indoor pistol range. So we can all get in lots of practice without anyone knowing because it’s underground and below the main house. Our own gym and an indoor swimming pool makes the house just perfect. There’s little reason for us to leave the grounds now, except for school and work. That’ll make it harder on the kidnappers.

Senior final exams come up and are passed. Then it’s time to coast to the graduation ceremony. With more time on my hands I take Paul and the girls to the casinos more often, sometimes hitting two a day: one in the morning and early afternoon, followed by another in the late afternoon and evening, along with a nice dinner in the casino.

Between Christmas and the start of Summer Break we’ve no more trouble from the DHS. They pay up on our compensation claims: half a million for me which I use it to buy the house, and a hundred thousand each for all of the others involved. During this period I also add two million dollars to the company revenue to reach three and a quarter of a million dollars for the year to date.

In the first week of the Summer Break we take a private plane to Las Vegas for three days in the middle of the week. No parents, just us kids and Paul. The girls have a blast with the shows and the malls. They’ve money and want to spend some, so they do. I hit the casinos at a rate of two a day, and I rake in a hundred thousand in each session because these aren’t my regular casinos. Adding well over six hundred thousand to the bank account. I wait to the morning of the third day to bank the bulk of the money won.

While we sit in the private plane waiting area I watch arriving plane passengers through the glass wall, and I smile when I recognise a few of the DHS people arriving just as we’re about to leave. I hope they enjoy the flight and wasting their time to come here.

During June I win a bit over nine hundred thousand dollars at the various casinos. The annual total becomes four million, two hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.

Just after this Maggie is putting together some reports, and she has a close look at the figures. She calls me over and we have a talk. She always liked me and felt I was good for the girls, but she’s shocked to learn how rich I am from gambling.

Due to concerns about tax levels and expenses we cap my income and per diem at four hundred thousand in any one year. After the taxes and other expenses we’ve three million to distribute. Mum and Dad slowly shake their heads as they smile when they see their income reports of three hundred thousand dollars while Bron and Cadi grin for a week after seeing their annual summaries of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars each, and all for doing nothing.

Bron is very happy because she’s eighteen and she controls her own money now, while Cadi has another two years to go.

My cut is two million and one hundred thousand dollars plus the per diem and wages of four hundred thousand and my half million compensation to a total of three million dollars for the year. After buying the house and everything else I still have just over three and a quarter million dollars in the bank. This worries me, so I’ve a word with the accountant and we move two million offshore to a Swiss bank account by opening the account through their office in New York. Mum and Dad also open an account and transfer half a million to Switzerland. They’ve got just over eight hundred thousand from me and a fair share of their wages left in their bank accounts, so this isn’t a big issue for them.

The transfers trigger another round of visits from the IRS and FBI. I explain my ongoing concerns with the abuse of authority by the DHS and how I’m simply putting the bulk of my funds where they can’t hurt me by stopping the accounts. I even set up a system to allow the FBI to get transaction reports so they can see what goes in and out of it. This ends their concerns I may be involved with law breakers.

When we move into mid July I sit the family and our staff down together while I explain I think we’re now entering a new period of danger from the DHS and the people behind them. If I’ve read their strategy right they expect us to let our guard down now. I have to go out to work, so do Mum and Dad, while Bron and Cadi have to go to school. I explain I want Bron and Cadi to travel only in one of the armoured cars with a guard and driver who’ll even keep a watch on them at school when it starts. Mum and Dad have their own armoured car and driver now. Mum got to like being driven around and she wants it most of the time, so they’ll be OK. I ask Mary and Peg to travel only in an armoured car with one of us or to stay at the house - they moved in with me last week. All of them agree with me.

During this period Major Erwin hands me a list of casinos and hotels they know to be owned by people involved with The Group so I can target them with my gambling to reduce their revenue.

Big Trouble

A week after our talk I notice we’re being followed again and some others are following the followers, but I know they can’t be Uncle’s people because they’ve been around all of the time and I can’t spot them. I let Major Erwin know about the followers and I tell him my plans for the coming week. He smiles as he agrees with me about my plans.

I sit the family down to tell them about the tails while asking them to stay very close to the house and to take extra care. I also ask Mary and Peg to stay in the house for the next two weeks while I’m away in Las Vegas. They’re not happy about it, but they agree to stay safe.

The next day I ring up and make a booking to stay at a target list hotel in Las Vegas for the week starting Monday night and arriving late.

Early the following Monday morning I send Mark and Bob, my driver and ’in transit’ guard, out to fill up all of the car’s fuel tanks. The armoured car has five tanks but we usually only fill the one for around town because there’s no point in expending fuel just to drag all of the fuel around town. I also tell him to load the boot with the special tools Uncle Derfel left in the garage. Both my guards smile at that, so I think they miss the action. When they get back I’ve two bags ready and they’ve their travel bags ready as well. These are loaded in the boot of the car by Mark while Bob gets us some drinks and eats for on the road. I smile when we drive out the gate. Until now all of my gambling visits out of town have been by plane. So I wonder how they’ll respond to my going by car all the way to Las Vegas.

We figure it’ll be a ten to twelve hour drive going out Highway 40 to Kingman and then cutting up to Las Vegas. However, we like the idea of taking our watchers for a ride. When we head west instead of south we figure they’ll work out we’re not leaving via Sunport Airport and expect us to go to Double Eagle II Airport. They seem worried when talking on the radio after we pass the turn off for Double Eagle II Airport.

By the time we’re passing through Milan some more cars have caught up with us and we’ve four cars behind us. At Milan we lose the first car for a while, so I figure they need fuel. We keep driving along with our extra long range tanks as they keep rotating who falls out to fill up. We give them a break by stopping to refill at Flagstaff. We’ve enough fuel to go all of the way to Las Vegas but I don’t want them to know our true range, nor do I want to arrive there with almost empty fuel tanks. At Kingman we leave Highway 40 to switch to Route 66, following that to Route 93. When we leave Kingman they seem to be doing a lot of talking on the radio so we open up to push the speed a little bit more. Just north of Grasshopper Junction we pass some very odd looking road works while they’re still getting set up with barricades etc.

Bob grins as he says, “I think we upset their planned ambush here.” I nod agreement as we continue north-west. I don’t want them to hit us until we reach our ambush site. But we may not have that luxury.

The Trap Snaps

It’s been a long day and it’s getting toward the end of it when we pull up to stretch our legs while we look at the scenic wonders of Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. There’s a few cars in the car park when we stop. Mark backs us into a spot and we get out. We have a slow wander over to stare at the water for a few minutes while we talk. More cars pull into the car park and a few leave. When we turn to walk back most of the cars there when we arrived have left and nearly all of the new cars have people sitting in them or standing near them. Mark goes to the car a bit faster to open the boot to get a large flask out. He places it on the ground beside the boot and he opens what looks like a food hamper.

Bob goes ahead of me to open the door of my car. When he reaches it a dozen cars in the car park have their doors fling open while men pour out of the cars and more men head toward us from the sides. All three of us are hit in the chest with stun guns, but I feel nothing through the vest. We all whip our pistols out and open fire. We go for chest high kill shots.

The men charging at us are surprised when we don’t go down but open fire at them instead. Several are down with heavily renovated chests before they get their guns out. Mark has a helmet on and calls to me. I stop to catch and fit my helmet before I help him cover Bob while he slips his on. About a dozen men are now down and a lot of lead is heading our way from people in or beside vehicles. Mark yells again and I put my pistol away while I turn to accept his next offering. I smile when I catch the locked and loaded AA-12 semi-automatic shotgun with an attached thirty-two round magazine of 12 gauge ’double O’ buckshot, followed by a bag with spare magazines for it.

While I turn back to the car nearest us I hear Bob scream. I put a few rounds into the nearest car and watch three men drop from sight, I figure they’re now bleeding all over the inside of the car. The car panels may provide some protection from most pistol rounds, but they’re just like tissue paper to this baby. I yell, “Mark, see to Bob and get him into the car now!” I target the next car in line and give it three quick rounds while I hear Mark run to Bob. I hear a pistol fire from where they are while I pepper a third car, so I figure Bob is shooting while Mark treats his wounds for him, whatever they may be.

I turn to check our rear, then I put several rounds into a few cars and men down that way. When I turn back I hear full automatic rifle fire from the direction of the highway. Glancing over I see a couple of trucks with soldiers lining the sides while they fire at the men shooting at us. After a couple of more minutes the auto-fire stops. I stand there looking around while some soldiers are quick to move across the road to check out the car park and two medics see to Bob.

I reload the AA-12’s magazine and put the shotgun back into the boot as I place it in its carry bag. Picking up Mark’s unfired one I slip that in the carry slot that allows me to get at it from inside the car. By then Lieutenant Li has the body count of the enemy: twenty seven dead with another five wounded and all have DHS identification on them. Damn, they’re going through agents real fast at the moment.

The medics have Bob patched up: a light wound in his thigh that threw him off balance and down. They let him go with us.

We take care while we put Bob into the car and load up. When we’re ready they wave us out and off. Li wants us out of here so he can start cleaning up the site. No other traffic is moving on the road at the moment. When we near the state border we find several Deputy US Marshals holding traffic back as they wave us through. When a car starts to pull out to follow us the Deputy US Marshals stop it. Both Bob and I give it a careful look over.

A few kilometres down the road I say, “Check my count, please. I saw eight cars on our side parked beside the road while we left, each with four very healthy looking mean men in them.”

Bob answers, “I got another four parked on the other side.”

Mark adds, “And another four in the facing traffic, as if they’d been going back and forth before the action.”

I sum up, “Sixteen cars with four men each makes sixty-four in the second string. We better make that eighteen cars and seventy men since the boss and his second in command won’t be riding four to a car.” They both nod agreement while Bob gets on the encrypted radio to pass the information along to the rest of our security teams.

When we settle down for the last of our drive in to Las Vegas we hope the next trap is able to deal with such a big group.

At seven thirty in the evening we pull up at the hotel and I get out. Mark places our bags beside the car while Bob gets out to limp over to them. Bob and I follow the valet carrying our bags while Mark takes the car away to park it. Others will watch the car to see it isn’t interfered with. Mark is back while I’m still checking us into the hotel. Then it’s up to the suite to wait for the meals I ordered while at the desk.

Dave at the Mall

While driving to our favourite mall Ruby and I are discussing Ani’s concerns of the DHS and Derfel’s worry about The Group. We agree we don’t know enough to be able to make reasonable decision. However, we know both Ani and Fel are good at making the right decision based on very little information, so we decide to go along with their plans.

It’s a good thing we had the discussion because we’re both on high alert when we park and get out of the car at the mall. We’re only two steps from the car when a group of men in dark suits approach us and one says, “Come with us...” I don’t wait to hear any more as I drop and sweep his feet out from underneath him. Rolling over I pull out my gun to shoot the two men behind the one I’d knocked down while they pull guns out of their shoulder holsters.

Glancing at Ruby I see her crouched beside a car with two men on the ground beside the car. One is thrashing about while holding his throat and the other is moaning very loud. Ruby has her gun out while looking around as well.

I see a man in a van a few cars past her, but he’s sitting in the car with both hands visible while talking on a radio. He’s most likely calling for more help, but since he doesn’t represent a clear threat I’d have a hard time convincing a jury it’s OK to shoot him.

Ruby looks at me, smiles, and points past me. I turn to see a State Police cruiser pulling up. When they get out I yell to them, “Watch out, I think the man in the other van is with the kidnappers and is calling for more help.” They wave and talk on their radio.

During the next few minutes a dozen State Police cruisers drive into the car park and park in a circle around us while Ruby and I tell the first officers our version of events.

Of the five men who attacked us four are dead while the one who I knocked off his feet has a fractured skull and concussion, so he’s taken to hospital in a coma. The man I think is involved denies it, despite looking like a typical DHS clown. The dead all have DHS IDs on them.

I take the time to ring home to tell them we’ll be delayed, but I get no answer. This worries me so I tell the police officer nearest me. He radios my concern into base then he tells me they’re having it checked out.

I worry about the rest of the family because I know Ruby and I are fine while Ani can look after himself, but I’m not so sure about the girls. I’m just glad they’ve the most security guards with them. A little while later one of the police officers lets me know everything is OK at home.

We’d left home without a driver because we wanted some time to ourselves, I doubt we’ll be doing that again before this is all over.

Peg at Home

Having nothing to do while Ani is away is damn boring. Being fed up with what’s on the television I look out the window. There’s a van at the gate and the driver in it is arguing with the gate guard. Suddenly the driver slams the door open real hard and he knocks the guard down. The sliding door behind him opens and a man jumps out to grab the guard. I hit the panic switch on the wall near the window. I almost laugh at what I can see of the expressions on the van driver and his friend when the slightly open gate slides shut while the anti-crash barrier springs up out of the drive a couple of feet in front of the van. No way will they be driving in here now!

I look about the yard and I see the three yard staff running for the equipment shed, then my view is closed off because the steel shutters roll down covering the window. I’ve not seen the security system in action before but I know it closes the ground floor shutters before closing the shutters on the next floor, which explains why it took so long to block my view from my upper floor bedroom. The alarms and lights have been flashing since I hit the button, but I’m surprised no one’s come to ask why I hit it.

The public address system comes alive with, “Thank you, Miss Peg, we’re on the situation at the gate now and on full alert. Everybody please report to your combat stations.”

Because I’m not armed all of the time I’ve a support only role, so I head upstairs to the attic. I meet sis on the stairs and I wonder if my face looks as grim as hers because I know I feel as grim. In the attic we put on our combat body armor and helmets. Mary goes to the north-east corner while I head to the south-west corner. The maid and housekeeper are already there and in their armor ready for action. The four key windows are open and they’re looking out of them.

The windows are about eighteen inches by eighteen inches at five feet above the floor and about the same distance from the corner. This is so a person standing just back from the windows can look out both of them without moving. In the corner between them is a small gun rack with four guns: two .50 calibre Barrett sniper rifles and two FN FAL rifles. One of each is set up for use at night and one of each is for use during the day. The maid and housekeeper are our designated snipers while Mary and I are responsible for helping them scan their areas as well as reloading the magazines for them as required.

I stand beside Helga to watch the front wall while she checks the day use Barrett between glances at the side wall. The helmet radio clicks and Ingrid says, “Climbers on the east wall.”

This is followed by Helga, saying, “Climbers on the west wall.”

Mary adds, “Four coming over the north wall.” I can’t see anyone coming over the south wall yet: it’s the front wall along the road.

I jump when I hear the roar of the Barrett. I glance out the window Helga is using as a rest, and I see one man lying on the ground beside the wall while two more are looking around and a fourth is astride the wall as he looks about. The Barrett roars again, followed by the man on the wall flying backward off it. Just like you see Hollywood stunt men do when pulled back by one of those fancy powered ropes: he’s there then he’s not there. The two on the ground are jittery. Another roar and one of the men on the ground is slammed back against the wall before he falls. I keep glancing out my window and seeing nothing to report. Another roar from the Barrett, and then I look out to see the last man on his back about a yard from the wall.

Helga says, “Watch both windows, please.” I nod, and she walks off. I realise I’d also been hearing the other Barrett firing, but it didn’t really register at the time due to my concentration. While I keep glancing out both windows I watch both Helga and Ingrid move to the back of the house. Helga opens another window and they both take aim. They fire, almost in unison, a moment later they fire again, followed by Helga returning to the side window near me. She has a very tigerish smile when she says, “I like this Barrett! One shot and they don’t want to play any more.”

Watching the front wall I also get to see what’s happening at the gate. Two of the yard staff are near the gate to cover the area, the van is gone, and our guard is still on the ground near where the van was.