Bjjonesmylife. Book 2

Monday I was back at KCC. Patti was still out, using another week of her vacation with Kate. They were off this week looking at lighthouses in the south. I approved the time sheets and payroll.

I met with Mr. Bozman for a dorm update. Then we went to physically look it over and met Bob Jackson from the board so he could update the full board. They had an executive meeting later this week.

Bob asked how my body was from the accident. “Sore, but better every day,” I replied. Then he said, “The insurance adjuster will be here this week to look at the Suburban. The dealer has a P.O., just stop by and finish out the options you want so they can order it.”

Marcy and Roseanne had flown to Warrington to interview for the new MAAR site. Jason had taken most of the week off. The load was all on Roseanne to see if she was learning the processes and could start picking up some more of the work load. Roseanne and the clerk were going to have to do the job.

The fishing season was getting into high gear and hunting was next. Jason wanted time off to do both.

The papers were still hammering the county. Homeland and the FBI were still doing daily press briefings.

Jeff Justice’s funeral was yesterday and there was even media there with a live report. There are times that the media can be the worst vultures. I felt sorry for the family. The whole thing was going to stink for a long time. The accident investigation was still ongoing; if they would close it and let everyone move on, it would be a big help.

Lorrie sent me a text; one of the many I was getting. I needed to be at the shopping center Thursday morning to sign the contracts and do the press conference with Lowes Home Centers – the new tenant for the shopping center.

Ching Lee had already sent out an invitational notice to the local papers and media for the event. She had worked with the Lowes PR team putting it together. They were going to be open for business in 30 days.

Their contractor was going to be there starting tomorrow making the changes they were paying for. Our contractor was there today ripping out the heat pumps that were junk and doing the prep work to install new ones. The contract for the blacktop work was out on bids.

This was most likely the best time for this to happen. Even though the center was grandfathered I was sure that some outfit would come out of the woodwork to try to stop a big box store from coming into the county. There were several groups that fought every one that tried. One of our aces was that their new building was an existing building, versus getting approval to build one that size.

Every county agency was being audited to find out where the federal airport funds had been spent. Agency heads and administrators were hiding deep. I doubted that anyone from the county would willingly step into a public mess now.

The county commissioners had a Wednesday night meeting this week. Jason, Jenny, Lorrie, Marcy and I were going to the meeting just to make a presence in case there were airport issues. Jason suggested the move and he wanted us to meet with the county commercial enterprises liaison before the meeting.

Jason and he were members of some civic organization and were on speaking terms. Jason thought inviting the man to the press conference Thursday might sooth the county stance.

The Lowes legal team was going to hit the county business office for a business license with the shopping center address as soon as it opened Thursday.

Jenny, Vicky and Ching Lee had been working on a PR release for the press conference on Thursday. They had been working with the Lowes’ PR people to come up with the number of full time employees, inventory tax the county would get from the new business along with all the benefits to the county.

Another text from Jenny; this one said she had an appointment with her doctor on Friday morning. I sent back that I was going with her. The clinic that Jake had used in Japan had sent a lot of paper work with all the tests and results that had done to his semen and I would hand deliver it.

They must have performed every test known to man on it and him. The paperwork was all any doctor would need if our experiment was successful, an accompanying letter stated.

The girls were still talking about baby showers this morning at breakfast. They were even more excited today than yesterday. Jenny and I were both relieved.

Before noon Lorrie sent me another text reminding me that we were to look at the Bombardier tomorrow afternoon at Easton. The Bombardier sales group was flying it in at 3:30 and she wanted us to be early to see it land.

Most of my work was finished after lunch. I broke one of my own rules and opened my personal laptop. I pulled up the camera feeds from Frost Borough and watched the happenings in the office for a few minutes. Then I flipped through the various feeds watching each camera carefully.

East Coast had been there and added additional cameras and upgrades to the server package while Courtney was in Rochester. I picked up the new cameras right away. I just went down the list by the way they were numbered and looked at each one. I repositioned some of them to where I thought was a more beneficial angle.

I then went to the system at Rochester. I watched the office proceedings more closely. Sly, Becky and couple more of the dayshift were in the office. It was easy to see that Sly was in charge on this shift and giving more computer training to one of the new hires.

I wondered how the pecking order was decided. Courtney was boss until she could select the best of the new hires. She did not know she was staying until she picked one after the two week mark and then a week more after they were in the role.

I went to the cameras there and looked at them. I found all but one of the day shift on foot patrol or in patrol cars. Then I went back to the cameras and check the positions on most of them. East Coast was still there finishing up changing all the dorm locks. They were going to make several more trips to install the tag scanners and final cameras in the guard houses.

I went back to the office camera. Sly was still working at the computer training. Since I was using the company laptop I had access to the JBG chat.

BJ: “Hi Boss, how are you doing today?” I sent.

Sly: “I am fine but don’t you have the roles reversed?”

BJ: “From what I am hearing you could fill the job as soon as you get all the required paper.”

Sly: “All in good time then I guess. How is the body; I hear the belts gave you a good work-over?”

BJ: “Ah, someone is keeping you informed, I like that.” I turned on the camera and invited her to view it. When she accepted I unbuttoned my shirt almost to my waist. I still could not wear a bra or the vest. Then I pulled the laptop in a position so she could see all the bruises that were now purple, yellow and black, and then back to my face.

Sly: “Ouch, nobody is going to be playing with those for a while. What are you doing at work that has to hurt?”

BJ: “Looks a lot worse than it is. Do you feel the people there are far enough along that I can pull the six of you out?”

Sly: “Things are going well. All the technical training and hands on testing will be completed mid week. I think they are where they need to be.”

BJ: “Ok, I will confirm some other things with Courtney. Plan on coming home on Thursday; one of the unmarked cars is staying, you are driving the other five back. Plan the route back and send it to Cindy for approval. ”

I sent a text to Courtney that I wanted a private video conference tonight during the nightly meeting.

Edit by Alfmeister

After another restless night we went to breakfast at the Hop. It was not as good as the breakfast that I made on Sunday morning, but it hit the spot. I had waffles, one egg, a sausage patty and orange juice.

Jenny ate for two again. I kept the smile to myself but it may have been because I hurt so much that the flutter seemed stronger. I noticed it before she started giggling. I rubbed her tummy and pulled her close as I could stand so she would not wake anyone.

I made sure that my group pulled both Dan and Ellie May to interview. The interviews went off without a hitch. We had good candidates again; the final selection was going to be tough. We ended the interviews in time to go through them and rank them in order of preference.

Then Jason and Roseanne called the twenty of them to report for drug testing on Monday at the contractor we had hired. The testing site was open from 5 AM until 9 PM. That gave them plenty of opportunity to make it. We would have the results by noon Tuesday and make the final offers by the end of the day. Then we could move on to the next group, and that included the part-time people.

Our flight was wheels up at 8:00 and we were back on the Island at 10:30. Everyone was still up; they were waiting on us. The garage at the end of the house was all set up for a private party. Mom, Dad, Lisa, Joey, Corry, and their boyfriends, Jason, Roseanne, rest of my mates and Jeanna were there.

Marcy said, “We needed a break from all the stress of this week. There is nothing better than a party with one’s best friends and family. Besides, it’s summer – you always have a party just for fun.”

Hot dogs, hamburgers with all the fixings, Lisa had made a crock pot full her famous bake beans, and all the summer crabs you could eat. Lisa had even cooked some of Joey’s rockfish catch. The coolers had several kinds of beer, wine coolers and sodas. We had a nice family party.

Sunday morning I was up early. The night’s sleep was a little better but still rough. I quietly went through my morning ritual. Jenny was in a light sleep and starting to wake up. Before I left the bathroom I left the test kit with her toothbrush and mouthwash. Those were the first things she did every morning like clockwork.

I worked in the kitchen getting things ready to go on the stove. I was working on homemade hash-brown potatoes this morning. I cut the potatoes up nice and small and did the same with an onion. I threw the ingredients into an oiled pan and added some parsley flakes and other seasoning and put on a lid to let it slow cook and simmer for a while.

The sausage patties went on the griddle next; they would take the longest to cook of the rest of my Sunday menu. Bacon was the next item on another griddle and it was always a challenge. Marcy, Lorrie and Vicky liked it chewy. Jenny, Chin Lee and I liked it done well, almost ready to be made into bacon bits for salad.

I mixed the ingredients for waffles as the big coffee percolator started doing its thing. By the time the fresh coffee smell had everyone up, everything would be ready.

I stirred the potatoes and flipped the sausage, pressing down on it hard to force more of the grease out of it. I flipped the bacon and put several bacon presses on part of it to hold it flat and help make it crispy.

A stack of plates and silverware on the table with napkins and six coffee cups by the coffee maker made everything almost ready.

The bacon came off the griddle to be replaced with eggs. Those that needed to be cooked hard went on first. I heard the coffee cups rattling as I poured the mix on the waffle maker and closed the lid.

I put the bacon, potatoes and sausage on the table as I finished up the rest of the eggs, some over easy, some scrambled and stacked the waffles on the table.

All of us were fixing plates. The girls were picking spots at the table. I always had the same spot at the head of the table. Jenny still had not come in. I knew what she was up to; she could win any contest that had a gargling competition.

Jenny came into the kitchen with her hands by her side, hiding something in her right hand. She looked over the table at me and said, “Daddy.”

The girls looked at the front door to see if Jason had come in and saw no-one, and then back at Jenny.

Jenny looking straight at me said, “Daddy is what you would be called if things were normal. The first part of the plan has worked so I hope you have a sound plan for the next part. I’m pregnant.”

Mouths and forks dropped and surprised looks were an understatement. I walked around the end of the table and opened my arms as Jenny and I met.

We were both crying. I was holding her tight. She was saying over and over, “We did it, I’m pregnant.” I moved us back, sat in her empty chair and pulled her into my lap.

When we stopped crying joyful tears she asked, “How did you know?”

“You have been eating saltines at night and morning a lot, your stomach has been getting unsettled on the planes lately and you have been eating for two lately. That flutter you have been feeling in the night has been getting stronger,” I said.

“How long have you known?” she asked. The look in her eye was very serious.

“A little over 3 weeks, when we did the deed the last time things looked different; that is why I changed the method. I did not say anything because I did not want to get our hopes up and be wrong. You are 2 weeks past on this cycle. You could be 8 weeks along,” I replied. “I think there is a tiny baby bump.”

Vicky asked, “There have been no men. What do you mean you changed the method? Who is the father?”

Lorrie perked right up, “That’s what that tank is in your closet. Artificial insemination, you have been trying for months and kept it a secret.”

“Yes, that is how it was done and all of you have to keep our secret for a while longer. There are test that have to be done before we can tell anyone. Then we have to decide how to tell everyone.

I hated to keep it a secret from you but we didn’t know if it would ever work. You know I cannot have a child. Mindy is sterile and both Dad and Mom so desperately want grandchildren, and Jenny and I both want children. This is the only way that I can share in the experience.

I love all of you, we love all of you. I hope you understand. If you should decide later that you to want a child as part of our family we know it can happen now,” I said.

“Who is the father?” Marcy asked.

“My brother donated the semen to make this possible. So the baby is true family by blood. There is enough for a lot of children and it can be stored a long time if we store it right,” I said. “That has to remain a secret forever.”

“The food is getting cold. Let’s eat and then we can talk more about family and try to answer your questions,” Jenny said. “I’m hungry.”

I watched as Jenny devoured two plates of food before she leaned back in her chair.

“That was good. What are we planning to do for lunch?” she asked.

“You are supposed to feed it just enough to grow and be healthy and not be a line backer the day it comes out,” Lorrie said. “For you it’s some light exercise till lunch time.”

“I want to be a fly on the wall when you tell all the folks,” Ching Lee said.

“Oh, you are not going to get away that easy. We are going to do this as a family. We need you for support. Well, maybe protection too or a witnesses to testify at the murder trial,” Jenny said.

We talked for another hour before we went over to the gym. We spent a while in the office trying to plan for the next unknown from the county.

Then we worked out in the gym. Jenny may have a valid excuse to gain weight but the rest of us did not. We worked out hard; she worked out with light exercises. No more heavy weight bench and fight training for a while.

If any of my mates had any resentment about Jenny being pregnant it was gone by the end of the day. Talk now was about a baby shower, a nursery and breast feeding. Then there was the discussion about a boy or girl and names.

Edit by Alfmeister

A Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers. Spend time with family and friends for each moment is precious. Be safe and enjoy the spirit and good cheer that the holidays bring. Jack

I had a rough night. I hurt like hell; the EMT was right about that. I even went over to the gym, worked out and spent plenty of time in the hot tub and ice treatment to stop the swelling.

I was bruised from the top of my left shoulder across both boobs and my upper stomach and hip. The shoulder strap and seatbelt had done a number on me.

I drove one of the unmarked cars to KCC and was doubly cautious. I did stop and pick up several different papers at the new 7-11. The front page of all of them was about the accident. There were statements from Jeff’s family and friends and speculation from all directions. Duke was blaming everyone, including me.

Bob Jackson was in my office almost before I got the seat of my chair warm. “Are you OK? Looks like one heck of a crash?”

I unbuttoned the uniform shirt. I was not wearing a bra – not that I did that often – and I always wore the vest, but this morning I could not even stand having the bulletproof vest on.

As the black and blue shoulder and breast came into view he said, “Oh my God. Why don’t you go back home; things are slow, the day shift can handle it?”

“I have several meetings – when they are finished I will. I am also off tomorrow. The Suburban is back in the maintenance yard and the gate has a security lock on it, you have a key. There is a tarp over it to keep the media from having a field day. Call the insurance company; it is totaled. I want to order another one as soon as I can,” I said.

“I noticed the unmarked car. Is that what you are using at the other colleges?” he replied.

“Each college is going to have at least one unmarked in their fleet along with one Suburban for the director and marked cars as needed,” I replied.

“I will call the dealer and issue a P.O.” he replied. “Put that one there on lease to us until the new one comes in.”

At noon I made the trip home. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1:30 – some of the interviews had been moved to later this afternoon and early evening – that would let us leave Saturday night.

Jason, Roseanne, Mark, Cindy, Jenny, Vicky and I were on the flight. An overnight bag was all that was required. We were all carrying concealed after yesterday. Who knows what might come out of the woodwork now?

We arrived at the Island Airport just in time to be in the middle of a channel 34 news team follow-up report. The feds were doing daily updates to keep the issue in the news cycle. This was their chance to strike a little fear into local governments about how DHS grants were intended to be used.

I knew of several cases where the guidelines were being stretched way past the limits to allow the funds to be used for other wish list purchases and not the intended security items. If they dug deeper than just the Airport authority they were going to have a field day.

Naturally channel 34 did not miss the opportunity for an interview. Friday was a busy day for Lorrie’s JBG flight group. A third of the Florida vacation rentals were swapped out on Friday, the rest on Sundays and Mondays. I was sure that there would be footage of JBG planes on the channel tonight.

Hanna Page was the reporter for channel 34; she had been at the accident scene last night along with several more.

“BJ, how are you today after such a horrific accident last night?” she asked.

“Plenty sore and bruised, but getting better I think,” I replied.

“Have you received any communication from the state police on last night’s accident?” she asked.

“No they haven’t called. Not a word,” I replied.

“I see you are leaving town, so they have not placed any travel restrictions on you?” she asked.

“No, no restrictions. We are going to do interviews for the new security team at Warrington College – part of the JBG security group,” I replied.

“Island Airport is getting fuel supplied this weekend. You have been supplying your own fuel this week. Is there going to be a conflict with the airport authority now?” she asked.

“The authority has been struggling to keep up with the needs of its customers for a while. We have been pushing for a while for the authority to make a decision on the runway extension with no success.

We have a jet coming that we are going to have to base at another airport because of the runway. This is no way to run an airport. If the money had been used for its intended purpose, there would not be these issues,” I replied.  “Our fuel truck is here to stay.”

“Won’t that be counter-productive to getting improvements to the airport?” Hanna asked.

“Repaying 20 million plus penalties to the feds is going to be counter-productive to the whole county,” I replied.

The pilot started the turbine on the right side creating enough noise to end the interview. The copilot was standing by the loading ladder pointing to his watch indicating that we needed to get in the air.

“We have to go. Nice chatting with you Hanna, we will have to do this again,” as I reached to shake her hand. I joined the others walking to the plane.

Two hours later we were walking into the meeting room at Warrington College for the first of the six interviews we were going to conduct tonight.

At 8 we finished with the last one for the night and made our way to supper and then the motel. Jason, Mark and Cindy each had their own room. Roseanne and Vicky were going to take one bed and Jenny and I the other.

As we readied for bed I told Jenny that I could not participate in any play tonight but if she wanted to, go ahead – I would sit and watch. She was disappointed but when I took my shirt off all of them understood why. The bruises were much worse looking tonight than they were this morning. They did not hurt any worse; they just looked that way.

Edit by Alfmeister

As the air bags deflated the light returned. The Suburban had air bags everywhere, in the doors, dash, and the overhead. My feet were higher on the floor than normal. I looked down to realize that the engine and transmission had been shoved back into the passenger compartment and buckled the floor back and up. Even though the engine was no longer running, I turned the key off.

I tried to move but found it impossible. The seatbelts had ratcheted so tight that I was having difficulty breathing. I struggled to get it unlatched and it finally gave way.

A voice asked, “Are you ok? The ambulance is on the way.” I turned to the voice and was looking at a State Police officer.

“Help me get the door open; I want to get out of this thing,” I said. We tried everything to get the door open but it would not budge. Finally I took a glove and brushed the remaining glass from the window channel. I worked my way around until my upper body was outside and sitting on the window opening of the door. The trooper put his arm around me and the other under my butt and together we slid my legs out.

He held onto me as I checked out my legs to make sure I could stand. I could hear the sirens coming. I check myself out to make sure everything worked.

I looked at the Suburban; it was obviously totaled. The front axle had been ripped completely out and was back against the rear one – that one was turned sideways. The roof was twisted and buckled as was the body.

The Tundra was impaled on the abutment all the way back to the firewall. The cab looked like it was mashed from every direction.

The trooper was still holding onto me, “I was several cars back. I did not see it all but it looked like he was trying to run you off the road. Do you know him?”

“I have never seen him or the truck before,” I replied. “I need to call my family and tell them I am OK and have them come get me.”

By some miracle my cell phone was still in the holder. I called Jenny first, “I have been in a bad accident. I think I was targeted. I need a car; bring me one of the un-marked ones. You will see the accident between Q-town and C-ville. Be careful.”

The EMT wanted to check me out. Before I went with him I said to the trooper, “There is a shotgun in the back of the Suburban – I need to maintain custody of it.” My pistol and other gear were still on my belt.

After the EMT was finished he said, “I can not give you anything for pain so you may end up at your doctor’s office for pain meds. You are going to be one sore puppy for a few days.”

There were a lot of police at the scene now – both state and the sheriff’s office. The discussions had taken a new tone and were intense. One of the deputies and the trooper came to me.

“Are you sure you do not know the other driver?” the deputy asked.

“No, I have never seen him or the truck before. Why? Who is he?” I replied.

“Jeff Justice. He is the county commissioner’s son. He is on his way here. It may be best if you go sit in the trooper’s car until your people get here. This is going to be tough enough as it is after the last few days.”

I did as he asked until Jenny arrived. Not only did Jenny arrive, but there was Marcy, Vicky, Ching Lee, Lorrie and Jason in tow. After tearful hugs and expressions of love we began the task of cleaning out my personal things and putting them in the unmarked car.

Several news teams arrived while we were cleaning out the Suburban. Marley Kendall walked over without the sound or camera men. They were shooting general footage of the scene. She asked if I would make a statement on camera.

“No, I think it would be inappropriate at this time,” I replied. We said a few more words and she went back to her crew.

The college laptop was destroyed. It had impacted with something and was broken in two. The JBG laptop was intact. My foul weather gear and extra clothes were no worse for wear. My shotgun and tear gas equipment looked OK. I was sure glad the gas equipment had not ruptured. That would have been messy.

A rollback was loading the Suburban on its bed with the winch when Duke arrived yelling and screaming. His son was still on the guard rail covered by a tarp. They were going to do a reconstruction of the accident because of his death. They had taken hundreds of pictures of the Suburban and used several cans of paint, marking all kinds of things on the ground.

I called the security desk at KCC and told them the Suburban was on its way on a rollback, they were to cover it in the maintenance lot and to lock the gate with one of our security locks.

Traffic west bound was backed up for miles while the county was setting up a detour route. They were turning cars around, letting them get to the detour route. The tractor trailers were being worked by the accident.

I would like to have taken a better look at the pickup but Duke was hysterical. I was sure I would have been the same way. They asked if I could stay until they had finished.

Jason stayed with me and the girls went back to the gym. We had a long talk. He had several bottles of water in his Suburban and I was glad to have one; my thirst had returned. Jason filled me in on all of today’s events at the office. He fired up his laptop and we looked through the applications that I would have done at the office if I was there for the afternoon meeting.

He and I picked out the next 25 candidates to be interviewed for Rochester. Then we picked out the 25 for Johnson Tri County; they were next on the list for staffing.

At 8 they were finally finished and told us we could go. Jason left in his Suburban and I in the unmarked car. I told him I was going to stop off at the pharmacy to get some OTC pain meds in case I needed them.

At the pharmacy I picked up some Advil, aspirin and Tylenol in one isle and in another a pregnancy test kit. It was time to find out for sure if Jenny was pregnant. I would leave it on her side of the vanity for her to find when she brushed her teeth Sunday morning. We were flying to Warrington on Thursday as soon as I got off work – to do interviews – and returning late Saturday night.

We planned to do the interviews at a faster pace than before. We were going to split up in teams so they would go faster. More than 75% of this group was ex-military.

With the reduction in forces causing so many to leave the military, there was an opportunity to get good people that were well disciplined and could follow orders. Another big plus is that they would need little personal defensive training.

Edit by Alfmeister

I was at my desk at KCC at 7:30 flipping through the emails one after another. Many of them were updates from Mr. Bozman on the progress of the dorm replacement. Apparently he did not trust the contractor because he was now including a series of photographs documenting each day’s progress along with daily man hours and materials usage.

Bob Jackson came in with several different morning issues of state newspapers. There were plenty of pictures of yesterday’s county news with pictures. The fuel truck and I were in a few on the back pages, but the Feds removing the boxes of records made the front pages.

Bob said, “If you keep kicking people in high places you are soon going to need your own security detail, but I love it. They think they can do what they want and are immune. Someone is going to pay dearly for that mess. At least the girls got some fuel to keep going.”

“I wish it was over; this thing is going to get real nasty before it is,” I said.

A few minutes later I received a text from Marcy, “I have a fuel retailers license in my hand and Robbie called to say the State Ag Department was there certifying the meter. Jason says that covers all the bases and we are legal for everything.”

“Good, I was worried we had missed something,” I replied. I spent two more hours on emails and planning for next year’s security groups training.

The rest of the day was normal: meetings all afternoon. I needed normal for a while.

With the day over at KCC, I left to go home and begin another one. Things were hopping from all directions at the gym. It took three people to answer all the phones. Every news outlet on the east coast had a different angle on the commissioner’s story. Then there were terrorist theories out there.

As I made the turn at the overpass from 213 onto 301 I passed a Toyota Tundra pickup that was sitting on the shoulder. It caught my eye because it had huge tires on it and one of those roll bars behind the cab filled with lights and all full of mud from off-roading; a true redneck truck if I ever saw one.

The truck pulled out behind me; it was not that unusual any more with the aggressive enforcement of the state’s no texting and cell phone use while driving.

I was in the right lane going well over the speed limit; everybody did on this stretch of road. The Tundra passed me balls to the wall then after it got a hundred yards or so ahead, slowed down and stayed ahead of me for a mile or so.

Then as we got to an isolated area between Cville and Q-town it started running erratically like it was going to quit or the driver was jigging the accelerator. I moved over to the passing lane to pass it. Whatever was wrong with it stopped and it ran beside me.

Half way between the two towns there is a branch that floods when there are North Eastern storms or tropical storms. The dual bridges are old very old and built during the Great War when 301 was a major materials supply route to Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York. There was one for north and one for the south bound lanes.

The bridges were concrete with large concrete sides and big abutments. The normal shoulder narrowed to just the two lanes. A hundred feet from the bridge the Tundra slammed into the side of the Suburban and stayed there. It was forcing me into the concrete abutment head on. I tried to counter steer to force both vehicles to the right and through the bridge.

The heavy Suburban started to move the Tundra to the right, and then the driver turned the truck hard to the left again and forced me back onto the path of the abutment.

The old bridges still had the original guard rail system to keep cars out of the branch. Fifteen feet back from the start of the abutment there was one of those triple twisted cables that went through a series of I beams secured into concrete that stretched from bridge to bridge anchored into the abutment.

At the last instant I chose the guard rail instead of the abutment. I yanked the steering wheel to the left to miss the abutment. The driver of the Tundra must have never considered that I would do that and both trucks moved to the left.

As the wheels of my Suburban hit the grass it seemed like we picked up speed as the wheels slid; I had been hard on the brakes. The Tundra hit the abutment head on with a deafening sound as I slid towards the guard rail.

I saw the driver of the Tundra flying through the air, careening towards the other side of the branch. “No seat belt,” I thought as if it mattered. I watched as his head and body became impaled on one of the I beam posts of the guard rail on the other side, just as the Suburban hit the guard rail.

They say your life flashes before your eyes as you face death. It had happened to me several times in the sandbox when I thought the shell had my name on it as I was flying through the air from the concussion.

I saw Grandma and Grandpa Jones, also Crystal and Betty standing on the other side. They were in a haze, dressed in the purest white I had ever seen. I wondered if Jenny was pregnant and if I would ever know now. I told all of them I loved them every morning; I was glad of that now.

The Suburban hit one of the posts holding the cables. The back of the vehicle lifted as if to go end over end. Something broke and the Suburban lurched ahead as the airbags began to deploy. Something stopped the forward motion again. There were horrible metal tearing sounds and glass was flying everywhere. Then things went dark.

Edit by Alfmeister

At seven we met the fuel company on the airport access road. We had four jets that would hold all the fuel that was on the refueling truck and there were several refills needed on the tarmac. Several more were scheduled to return today; that would finish out the first tanker. Lorrie had shifted around planes to make flights – with no fuel at the island – a complicated matter and all of our planes were nearly empty.

We had an audience as soon as the fuel truck rolled through the opened gate, several with cameras. The Carolina Aviation fuels salesman went through a complete training program with our guys and me. He described what every knob, switch and pull lever did and why. He had a notebook that belonged in the truck at all times and one for our files.

After the hands on, he had another book with the refueling procedures on every jet we owned and leased. Each one had colored pictures of where every valve position needed to be on the plane and also on the truck. Our two guys and I each refueled a plane using the guide with the salesman looking over our shoulder. He insisted we use the guide and offered information to clarify a particular instruction or answer a related question.

The truck ran out of fuel on the plane I was refueling.

The tankers followed us to the gym. After they were put on planks to keep them from settling into the ground – if we had a downpour – there was another hands-on demonstration on how to refill the fuel truck.

The process was started and 300 gallons pumped in, then all hoses were disconnected and another person started and ended. The process repeated until we had each done it three times and we all felt comfortable with it. I would most likely not refuel a plane or refill the truck but I wanted to know the procedure in case we had any problems.

As a transportation driver in the Marines I had ferried fuel many times. The setup in this truck was much easier. Probably that was because this was a new truck with all the latest filters and all the valves were air operated. I needed sunglasses; the stainless steel tank was so polished.

Before the end of day we had used 10,000 gallons of Jet A getting all the planes back full and the county airport authority was out 15 thousand dollars. Lorrie ordered another trailer of fuel to replace the empty one.

The icing on the cake was when our fuel truck had to refuel the County EMS chopper. They had not received a notice that there was no county fuel at the Island airport and they had had a very busy morning. Once they had landed, by regulation they did not have enough fuel onboard to take off again.

Again the news team was at the airport following the fuel story. Various stations had been in and out all day. The news team recorded the shouting match between the county divisions and then us refueling their chopper. They even recorded our mechanic refusing to take any money for the fuel.

Robby had called for permission to refuel the chopper. I told him to do it and take no money, and to tell them, “The community needs the chopper on duty more than we need the money.” He was to just run a ticket and write on it ‘Donation to Queens Anne County’ with the chopper N number so Marcy could account for the fuel. A meter ticket was done on every plane refueled for accounting. With Marcy every nickel needed to be accounted for.

I did not tell him that we could not legally refuel the chopper and take money until later. Even though the fuel truck was brand new and had a North Carolina state meter inspection sticker, it could not be used in Maryland to sell fuel until the meter was Maryland inspected. A gallon in North Carolina is the same as in Maryland but the powers to be did not see it that way. I was not going to give the county any reason to nail us.

After lunch the appointments started, with the Feds first. Marcy had told all employees that no one was to answer any question or give interviews unless Jason or Jenny was there with them and all questions went to the public relations department, and that was Ching Lee and Vicky first.

Unless I was requested to be in the question sessions, I stayed out. The FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, The Maryland State Police – all questioned Lorrie at length; Jenny and Jason were both with her. They were followed by the county prosecutor and two county sheriffs’ department detectives. I wondered why they were even questioning us at all. The problem was within the county system or external as in a terrorist threat or the developers had started a new tactic to try to close the airport.

Jack Rush, our chief pilot also did pilot training as a sideline on the weekends or when he was not flying for us and he also recertified our pilots for instrument rating. I wondered what the makeup of his students were. I left a message for him to call me. Pilot training had tightened up considerably since 9-11. As a passing thought I wondered if his students needed a second look.

Wednesday and Thursday I needed to be at KCC; I had several meetings and I was to meet with Richard Bozman to monitor the progress of the dorm rebuild. Richard had gone out on a limb and I wanted to stay on top of the progress since I had hired him and he reported to me.

We were on the news again tonight on several different networks. The county was in the hot seat so that made them an easy target. One station ran with the fuel truck arriving and the training. They made a big deal that I was out there and refueling planes. The other Washington station had the chopper incident and they were headlining both repeatedly.

The county was also in the news. The clip and commentary was on the FBI and Homeland carrying boxes of records out of the county finance building and records from the commissioners’ offices. There were no county officials to be found to take reporter questions.

Edit by Alfmeister

Saturday went close to plan. East Coast personal worked 16 hour days installing the camera in the critical areas and updating the door locks. The maintenance department moved things around to suit our equipment needs.

The night in the dorm room brought back old memories. They were very similar to some of the rooms I had stayed in while in the service. They were small, musty, and dusty with worn out hinges and rickety bathrooms. I wondered how the 4 couples were going to survive for six weeks in them.

We had pizza delivered on Saturday night. I walked a beat with two of my officers for the exercise. They were to walk as a pair after dark for a while. I had been sitting or standing most of the day; it felt good to stretch the legs.

I knew my partners appreciated the company. They were not afraid of the dark, just unsure how to deal with the city distractions. As we walked and talked I kept pointing out things to notice and be aware of, such as how shadows allow people to hide in them as well as bushes and other placed distractions.

It was on this walk that we passed over the spot where I had killed the attacker. There was still a painted outline of the corpse on the sidewalk. I knew they had seen the copy of the story from the Rochester paper. It had been cut out and laminated, along with other news stories about JBG and our personal, and was in the pile in the meeting room table.

I stopped for a moment and looked around. Across the highway, there was a group of three or four gathered under a street light at one of those foul weather bus stops shelters. The two with me noticed where I had stopped and then realized why.

I pointed out more things to look for in this area. I explained that a fence was going to be put up to eliminate public access to the college from this area in order to force everyone to use the controlled entrances.

I spent a while in the new office with the new night shift supervisor. I knew my being there made him nervous. I also know on slow nights it was a boring job. I talked with him for a while until one of the patrols reached one of the check points and called in. I emphasized how to note in the night log each time they had reached a check point. If things ever went sour the time logs could be important. I also showed how to do other work and still keep an eye on the camera monitors.

At 11 Jenny, Vicky, Marcy, Ching Lee and I met in the meeting room for a general discussion about today and a sample of coffee from the new office sized coffee maker we had purchased.

We called it a night and all of us gathered into my and Jenny’s room. We always showered together. We were still able to pair up in the small showers. Some blankets on the floor would have to serve in the place of mats for some intimate time together tonight.

We hugged, kissed, and made out. With the toy box at home, we did the best we could with what nature provided. We finished in a tangle of legs and arms, all crossed up.

Pleased, exhausted, and relaxed we separated from the tangle and went to bed with our partners. Ching Lee and Marcy to one room, Lorrie and Vicky to another and Jenny and I together. Monday thru Thursday we slept with a different mate. Friday was group orgy night and after the orgy I slept with whoever wanted me. Saturday and Sunday was with our first mates.

The small beds in the dorm made it a close night but we always held each other close. It was something that we both seemed to need and tonight was no different. We cuddled with my right arm under her head, my breast against her back and my left over her middle.

When Jenny and I were together we slept most of the time like this. Tonight I woke up when I felt the flutter in Jenny’s stomach, before she started giggling in her sleep. I rubbed her tummy, kissed the side of her neck, pulled her close and we went back to sleep.

Sunday we fine tuned the operation, double checked all the video and security computer systems and evaluated the personal on the job. Jason left early in one of the unmarked cars to check out the commercial hunting guide service. He was to be back late Monday.

We did the same thing on Monday between video meetings. I went on line and approved the KCC pay roll and checked my KCC emails. The rest of the executive staff was doing the same thing with the JBG accounts.

Cindy and Mark were fine tuning the turnkey office materials list. There were a few things that needed to be added for Warrenton College. The interviews for there were next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We were going to have to open a college security office every two weeks to have them all in place and operating by the middle of August.

Roseanne would have folders of applications for her and Jason to review when he returned on Tuesday. There were help wanted adds to approve before they were posted on our web site and sent to the local papers in the respective area.

Lorrie has narrowed the mega businesses that wanted to rent the shopping center down to two. Tomorrow night in our meeting we would decide whose offer we were going to accept. Both were very good, in fact better than we anticipated. It boiled down to which one wanted us to spend less in improvements.

The airport fiasco was growing, according to the texts from the clerks. Several groups of federal investigators from different agencies had been to the gym already today wanting Lorrie, Jason, Jenny, or me. They had all made appointments for tomorrow afternoon. The county attorney and the sheriff department had made several frantic calls wanting an appointment.

Lorrie had called an independent fuel truck and fuel supplier last thing Friday evening. They responded first thing Monday morning and had a small rental Jet A fuel truck and two tankers of Jet A coming to the island on Tuesday morning

The fuel truck was going to be operated by our jet mechanics to refuel our planes. The tankers were going to be parked in the open lot between the new covered parking area and the hotel house. When one was empty the company would bring another full one and pickup the empty one.

The delivery drivers were going to do OJT training of our guys.

The two tankers and fuel truck were going to be full when they were delivered; a total of 18000 gallons. We had to pay them when they arrived for the fuel. The price was a dollar and a half cheaper per gallon than the Island Airport. That was one more reason we were flying home Monday evening instead of on Tuesday; I needed to write the check and I wanted to be there to inspect the trucks and sit in on the training.

The jet was going to be waiting for us at Rochester International at 7:30 PM to carry us home. It was a quiet flight home. We were all deep in thought or sleeping.

Edit by Alfmeister

Saturday morning at 5 – things were humming. The 20 were in the meeting room getting the handouts with the directions and GPS units. Marcy issued the company credit cards that had arrived by special messenger yesterday and explained the record keeping that was required.

The four couples who were going to stay in Rochester each took a personal car while their mate drove one of the company marked cars.

The North six had left yesterday at noon, each driving an unmarked MAAR rental car that had just came from the up-fitters. They had everything that an unmarked police car had, including the 900 MHz radios; they could talk car to car while driving. Marcy had pulled the cars from our DC sites and they had DC tags. All but one would come back with the North six. Each site would have one unmarked car.

They had met up with Courtney and her group at Harrisburg and spent the night in Hazleton. They were leaving first thing this morning and were going to pick us up at the Rochester airport.

Mark and Cindy were piloting the rental truck with all the office equipment.

The North six were going to stay indefinitely. The six of us, plus Mark and Cindy, were flying back on Tuesday.

Courtney insisted that she wanted them there as long as she was, but recommended that they stay as long as possible to help train the new office people. They had become whizzes at the computer systems, including the tough time keeping system. They were going to get the same pay package as the twenty employees, and also the out of town allowance.

We saw the caravan off then I made breakfast for Jenny, Vicky, Ching Lee, Marcy, Jason and myself. Jason was going to help set up the office then he was going to check out a hunting lodge and commercial hunt group for a moose hunt in the fall. If it was up to his expectations he was booking a hunt for himself, Dad, the Judge and Joey.

I never expected that Joey would get the hunting bug. She had been going to the gun club with Jason since the weather had warmed up and had gotten very good a busting clay targets with ease with a 12 gage.

The first time she had practice shooting with a rifle big enough for moose and elk, she came in with the side of her face bruised from the recoil but she was smiling and proud of it, and especially proud of the targets with hits in the bull’s eye.

Joey also had a fish at a taxidermist being mounted. Her first rock fish out of the bay was a keeper. Dad, Mom and Judge Slaughter were doing more fishing than ever since Joey had moved in with them. They went every weekend and one night a week after dad got home from work.

By the time Dad got home, the boat was already in the water, fueled, bait was cut and waiting on him with a cooler full of drinks and beer and if it was on Wednesday the Judge would be there too.

I sat and watched Jenny go back for second helping of bacon and scrambled eggs. Jason noticed also, the expression on his face. Jenny caught the exchange of expressions. “I can’t help it; I’m hungry, besides BJ makes the best scrambled eggs. I will work if off in the gym later.”

Two hours later we were in the air and arrived at Rochester at 10:30. The North girls were on time and in security uniforms; it was easy to see that they had vests on under their short sleeved shirts. They had on very little makeup and their hair was in a pony tail under one of our security baseball caps.

Even though they were not old enough to be issued a hand gun, they had a tazer and pepper spray in its place and a pair of cuffs. I had to admit they looked sharp. I was glad they had agreed to take the defensive training course.

At exactly noon we drove all 27 security vehicles onto the college grounds. East Coast arrived a few minutes later. Their 10 people started to install cameras based on the list we had worked up for them.

The maintenance group helped us unload the truck with the office equipment. The North six helped Marcy, Vicky, Ching Lee, and Jenny do the plug and play. They would be taking the rest of the afternoon getting everything hooked up and running. As soon as the servers were running, getting the cameras running on the monitors was the first priority.

Courtney, her three people from Frost Borough and I divided up the 20 and made a complete tour of the campus. It was a heads up training tour on where and what to be looking for when patrolling an assigned beat.

We drew the beats out on paper and timed the route. We also assigned check off points that the officer was to call in at reaching. Normally I would not have done that but after I had killed the attacker I felt it was necessary with inexperienced people. I hope Courtney and her people would drive the procedure into a working routine while they were there.

The spouses that were staying were over to the dorm setting up their living quarters for the next two months. After the beat walks were done I was going to break the groups up to allow everyone the chance to do the same before dark. Those that were going to work the 11 to 7 shift were going to be sent to nap or at least rest.

Jason and Jenny were meeting with the college HR group to finishing touches on the paper work.

The local district police chief and several in his command structure made an appearance. I called Courtney, Mark and Cindy and Jenny in to sit in on the meeting where we discussed protocol on when and what needed to be turned over to the local law enforcement and enforcement guidelines.

He and I were both happy when they left. He was happy that the college had finally gotten a security group that was serious about security.

I was happy that he had said that his department would work with us in any way they could or we needed.

Edit by Alfmeister

The outburst by the HLS and FBI men and the fact they both stood up startled Duke.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Eric Roberson HLS, this is Marty Coeburn FBI and Frank Love CIA. You had someone tampering with your aviation fuel deliveries and failed to notify HLS and the FBI as required in National Security Alert Bulletin 1-13-12.

NSAB 1-13 requires any unusual occurrences with fuels, electric or water to be reported to HLS immediately. It was based on intercepted chatter from terrorist groups that plan to begin disruption of utilities and supplies,” he said.

“Is there no one in your organization that reads HLS bulletins? If I remember correctly QA County Island Airport is designated as an emergency standby facility and received one of the HLS grants for upgrades to the fuel farm and lighting after 9-11,” he said. “And there has been an annual grant since then.”

Jason – who had been alerted by one of the staff and was now standing in the door behind all the commissioners – responded, “Yes, the county did receive a 10 million grant from HLS. I was the outgoing commissioner when the funding was received. The funds were put in a special account connected to the contracts for the improvements. I heard a couple of years later the contracts had been cancelled and the money transferred to other feel-good projects of the new commissioners.”

Eric asked, “Where have the annual grants been going?”

“I have no idea, my term ended in 2001. Duke and several others hold those positions now,” Jason replied.

Duke and Clarence both looked like they had seen a ghost. They both exited almost in a run after, “We will have the Sherriff’s office send you everything they have so far.”

“They can run but they are not going to be able to run far enough to get away from what is going to come their way. Back to our original discussion, we need eyes and ears on Rochester campus and you can supply the perfect cover in more ways than one,” Eric said. “Can we work together on this?”

“You know I have served our country. I know that the fight is coming here. If JBG can help slow them down, we are all in. You have two months to work however many people you want into our system. I do insist that they go through our training to fit in with our people,” I said.

Jason came back in after they left, “You know our airport troubles are most likely just beginning after today. Homeland is going to come after the county with a vengeance over the funding diversion and falsifying the certification, and the county is going to spread it around.”

The rest of the day was filled with meetings with Cindy and Mark. Then I had a meeting with the Rochester employees. I needed to know what their plans were; get some scheduling started and also how long Courtney and her three would need to be there.

There were ten employees who were going to work eight days straight, take four off and commute back. There were eight that were going to stay and only come back once a month; they were the four couples. They flat out said that if they could find suitable housing they were going to move and take full time positions.

That left two employees who were going to work five and come back every weekend. Luckily, the four couples were not part of the full timers I had hired for KCC; they were on the list for part time and it would be easy changes to remove them.

I wanted to feel them out to see who was going to be the take-charge leader. I needed a supervisor for this group and then I needed a director for when the staffing was filled out.

Mark, Cindy and Jason had been finalizing the applications from Warrington. Dan and Ellie Mays had made the cut without any influence from me. They were in the first group to be interviewed. Jason, Cindy, Ching Lee and I would be flying down to do both groups of interviews.

The finalist would be flown here for training. Hopefully we would have the big plane by then to bring all of them at one time. Holiday East was giving us rooms with two beds for 50 bucks a night, including taxes. It was one heck of a corporate rate. They would be 2 to a room, like it or not. The hotel would be used for the spill-over from the horsey house.

The final meeting of the day was with the six of us girls. I filled them in on the Homeland request and my offer. I explained that in the end we had little choice. Homeland would most likely infiltrate at some point on the hiring, hack our systems and cause us all kinds of grief if I had flat out said no.

On the up side their offer of assistance may come in handy later with the county. I was sure the county was going to come after us with claws. They had already shown their hand with the noise complaint and fuel problem.

I asked Eric before he left if I could get a complete report of the investigation on the fuel problem and be kept in the loop; I wanted to know if the county was yanking our chain.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “You work with us and we will work with you, the line will be at classified things. I will see that you get on the alert bulletin list.”

Friday was spent loading the rental truck with office and computer equipment. Everything was checked and double checked. The 20 Rochester employees were sent home at noon to allow them to pack and get personal things in order.

Shortly after noon Eric called, “The airport problems are going to hit the news in a little while. I just wanted to prepare you for the media blitz that is going to happen. By the way, Kathryn and Ty will pay Rochester a visit to see how their trainees are doing mid week. I understand that you have housing accommodations they can use for a couple days.”

I sort of laughed, “If you are going to send them back to the basic dorm rooms, it is. Do you want to have them fitted for JBG uniforms?”

“No, they are looking the place over, putting together a plan just like you did. I hope they do not find trouble like you did,” he replied.

At 3 the news crew was out front. Marley Kendall came inside and asked for several interviews. She was a regular in the gym from the beginning and knew all of us personally. She wanted Lorrie, Jenny, Jason and me. Apparently the feds had gone for broke with the press release against the county.

It was misting rain outside. I let Marley, the camera man and the sound tech come up to the office to do the interview in front of all the big screen monitors with the continually changing data. It would be good for PR, I thought.

Marley started with Lorrie after she gave a brief overview of our flight operations from the FAA, the airport website and ours, “How is the airport not having fuel for a week going to affect your business?”

Lorrie Explained the extra flight time and cost.

Marley said “JBG is the largest commercial operation at Island Airport; how much fuel do you use?”

“Ten thousand gallons a week, sometimes more,” Lorrie replied.

“If my information is correct from the earlier interview with the county, the county makes about fifteen thousand a week off that fuel sale. Is that correct?” Marley asked.

“Yes” Lorrie replied.

“So they not only hurt your business, they hurt the county taxpayer – with no profit and that is a lot of profit – yet the expenses go on?” Marley asked.

“That is the way it works at my business,” Lorrie replied.

Marley turned to Jenny, “Ms. Coles, you are listed as Vice President heading the legal department of JBG and you are Chairperson of the Governors Criminal Taskforce; is there going to be a conflict of interest in this case?”

“No, this is a federal case not a state case. I am one of the owners of JBG hence the title. We have a corporate legal team that handles the day to day legal matters,” Jenny replied.

Marley turned to Jason, “Mr. Coles, you were the out-going commissioner when the federal funding was received. What happened to the funding?”

“When I left office the funding was in a special account. The contracts for the work had not been finalized. It was up to the new commissioners to approve the contracts and authorize the work and make payments at various mile stones in the construction phase,” Jason replied.

“What do you think happened to the funding?” Marley asked. Then she added “You were on the inside track until then so you should be able to make an educated guess.”

“I am not going to comment on speculation. I am sure that a federal audit will disclose all the facts,” Jason replied.

“BJ, where do you think this will end up and how much damage is going to be done to JBG?” Marley asked.

“It is not going to have any long term affect on business, just a major inconvenience. The real damage has been done to the taxpayers of the county. The funding is going to be paid back to HLS, plus interest. There will be heavy fines and jail time. That’s what would happen to me if I falsified the reports for ten years and cheated the government out of 20 million dollars,” I replied.

“From inside the JBG command center this is Marley Kendall with an exclusive report on the QA County Airport investigation and possible terrorist attack.” “Thanks guys for letting us do this inside and dry”

Edit by Alfmeister