The evening conversation was lively; Lorrie was going to make an appointment to get everything checked out, and after a clean bill of health – let the fun begin. There would be a lot of questions, but all of us were happy, and this time there would be no secrets. It was a fun night.

I was up early – way early – the first thing I did was to call Sherman, and said; “Hold the box, Ching Lee will personally pick it up this morning and go over some information with you.”

The second thing I did was to call Eric, and said: “Do you know anything about a heist of explosives from a mining company in Canada in the last year, maybe a little longer?”

“Not off the top of my head. Why do you ask?”

“No particular reason, I bought my guys a new bucket and we are filling it with data and trying to verify some of the crumbs that are falling out on the floor. I was interested on how much explosives went missing in the heist?”

“Yeah right; and you are interested in buying a slightly used bridge from San Francisco to say Hawaii, because that is one long stretch of a tale that I would never have imagined coming from you?” Eric replied.

“I would call the wimpy triplets and ask them to help you but I am afraid you would hurt one of them. I will check into it for you,” he replied.

I knew that Robert could find the information but I wanted to see if I could pique Eric’s interest enough for him to make a personal visit to find out.

I drafted a letter for Ching Lee to take to Sherman and send to the college president. Cindy was going to tweak the copy to the college president for me:

Dear Mr. Wagner,

As part of the JBG continuous improvement and customer satisfaction program, your college had been selected for this year’s security audit. This audit will cover our personnel, policies, goals, access our equipment needs and replacement schedule.

Technology and it’s effectiveness in the security business improves almost daily. Should we find that some of the technology will improve security or response of our personnel, it will be installed as part of our contract at no cost to the college.

Some of the existing personnel are scheduled for required recertification at our training facilities in Maryland and with the extra audit personnel on site, this is an appropriate time to complete that training.

We will have a number of technicians and security personnel conducting this audit. The audit may take up to two weeks. This group of personnel will strive to do their work in a manner that will not disrupt any college classes or other college activities. Much of the work may be done after hours.

Thank you.
BJ Jones
President of JBG

I warned Ching Lee that she should not have the conversation in Sherman’s office, due to the possibility of the office being bugged, and suggested that they talk in his Suburban with the radio playing.

That brought another thought into my mind, that the office there should have a bug sweep and the phones checked. I wondered if I was getting paranoid again.

I made it to KCC on time – even with the delays – just in time. Chief Dustin and Major Ashley followed me in the door.

“County prosecutor says there will be no charges; self defense and the Good Samaritan law apply,” Major Ashley replied.

“I’m glad and sure Matt will be relieved. My shrink had a good session with him and scheduled a couple more,” I replied then I added, “The first time you have to kill is always tough, and hopefully there won’t be any more.”

“I have supervised a lot of officers over the years and been lucky that I have only had to deal with an officer killing someone one time. The officer was a long time getting over it,” Ashley replied.

The chief had a call and left. Major Ashley and I talked a while longer. I opened my portable office and gave him an envelope that Jason asked me to give to him. I had told Jason of our conversation about the pending retirement.

The envelope had a completed application that only needed a signature. Jason and Major Ashley had been friends a long time and worked together on special projects when Jason was chairman of the Governor’s criminal task force.

I was leaving today at two; Bob Jackson, Phil Jameson and Robin Parsons were coming to the gun club. Bob and Robin were going to run a few rounds through a Glock then a round on the skeet course.

After that was done Robin, Dad, Jason and Bob were going deer hunting. On the south end of the airport property there was a stand of loblolly pines and scrub that also joined the farm that we leased. Altogether, the area was probably 50 acres. There were a lot of deer in there but Dad never seemed to be able to kill any.

They were getting immune to the airport noise and were wandering closer to the runways in their feeding habits. Deer on the runways was bad news and we had put up a lot of 10 foot chain link fence to keep them out. But there was a lot more that needed doing.

Chain link fence was such a nuisance to deal with all the various activities going on and would have required dozens of gates.

I went through the shooting at the gun club with them. I wanted to see how well versed Robin was with firearms before I let her go hunting with Dad, and I wanted to have confidence in how she handled gun safety.

I was impressed with the handling of the Glock and how well she did on the trap and skeet course with a course gun. The course gun was one of the rental guns a person gets to shoot with. Everybody used them and you never developed a feel for them.

Phil watched intently and I was surprised that he did not want to try a few shots.

Good or professional trap shooters had special made guns that cost thousands of dollars, with special barrels, stocks, cheek pads and trigger pulls. They were time tested and modified to the point that they were like an extension of the arm.

If she went goose hunting with the men she could easily out-shoot them; she was that good. I asked and listened to the type of gun she deer hunted with at home in Kentucky. We were unable to use rifles in the county as she had done at home; here it was shotguns with slugs or 00 buck shot.

We went to the hunting supply section of the club to get her outfitted. First was the Maryland license; Warren was the clerk that asked if he could help. “She needs a resident license and use 1001 Summers Rd as the address.” I replied as he started the paperwork.

As soon as that was completed it was to the camo section for some pants, shirt and boots that could handle bramble and briars to protect the body. Then Robin got the required reflective hunting vest.

Finally we went to the gun section to pick out a good gun that fit her arm length. They had a good selection of slug shotguns with scopes; Robin chose a Mossberg 500 slug special with a scope. I had the gun transferred to the JBG security account so there would be no paper work.

After a few practice shots to sight in the scope, the hunters went to play in the briars. I took Phil with me to the office to work out in the gym.

Back at the office there was a small party going on. Joni and Victor had returned from the cottage in the mountains today. Allie had been staying with Alica in the Horsey house. One of our clerks carried her to the private school and picked her up in the afternoon. The original trip to the mountains had been postponed because of an emergency.

As soon as Allie saw me, she came running, “I’m going to have a mommy again. I’m so happy.”

At the table Joni extended her hand to show the big engagement ring she was sporting. Congratulations were extended all around. A January wedding was planned.

Our adopted family was departing one at a time. Three of the North six were in college and already had jobs secured with the agency. The other three were seniors in school and were going to KCC next year with their excellent grades and – I was sure – scholarships. Patti was getting married in just a few weeks and now Joni; and I was happy for them.

Edit by Alfmeister

Proof read by Bob W.