Brothers (AU,CC,MATURE) COMPLETE - 5/8/14

Finished stories that feature the characters from the show, but there are no aliens. All fics completed on the main AU without Aliens board will eventually be moved here.

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mary mary
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:40 01/03/14

Post by mary mary »

Carolyn: I think Marlene will find everything in due time...hope your family arrived in time for all of the festivities... :D
Alix:I think the big BBQ happens next chapter...it's been so long since I wrote this that I've forgotten just how things do come together. I can promise they do though. :D
Natalie: I think I tie up all of the loose ends, if not just ask questions and I'll answer them eventually. Have to wait and make sure I don't give out any of the story before it's time. :)
Eve: I shall do my best to clear it all up...solve all mysteries, and promise to never write another fic that is this involved with outside characters. :wink:

I hope everyone had a great New Year and I wish all of you the best of the rest of the year as well.
*~*~*~*~*~*

b]Chapter: 40[/b]

Our five young riders were just heading in from the direction of the river where Liz had found the evidence of the explosion and Michael had taken numerous pictures to add to their collection of evidence against the man they were pretty sure was responsible for all of this.

“Liz, just how much do you know about this Dr. Shellow in the Helena office of the FDA?” Michael asked as he tried to adjust his behind one more time in the saddle he had been in for what seemed like forever. Three of the four chose to ignore the action but not miss congeniality or should we say joviality.

“I don’t know him at all Michael and why don’t you just lean back and relax and rock with the motion of the horse?”

“Liz, I have been rocking my nuts off all day and I’m damned sure that rocking them more is only going to sterilize me for life. Don’t ever invite me on one of your excursions again. I’ll take my vehicle and follow you at two mph but I’ll be damned if I ever take another ride like this.”

Liz’s three companions joined her in hilarious laughter as Michael put his weight on his feet that he had firmly planted in the stirrups, gigged the horse in its sides, lifted his ass, and then took off like a bat out of hell and he was positive it was hell he was going to be rid of shortly.

He could see the ranch in the distance and knew the horse could take the last mile easy enough; at least he had his weight off his ass. The other riders joined him and soon Liz and Lois were out a good hundred feet ahead of the rest with Chief and Banner in seventh heaven as the girls gave them their head and let them run free. Max and Clark could only admire the scene before them and even Michael gave a little grin. Yes, they did love this life, no doubt about it.

When they got back to the corral Michael dismounted and led his animal into the side of the barn where he found the other four already putting saddles away and getting ready to curry their horses. Michael started to do the same with his animal and then his company cell phone went off. It was Jesse.

“Michael, we’ve had a little breakthrough with the help of Tony Sklar’s secretary. It seems that Charles Shuman wasn’t the owner of the real estate company in Billings but only a figure head. This girl has put Doug Shellow with Sklar after Sklar’s meeting with Shuman and since we have Shellow in custody under a John Doe we need to be more careful with our girls because we don’t have a clue as to what their plan was. Shellow slipped a mickey into Sklar’s drink in a public restaurant and caused the man to drop dead on the spot. We are dealing with dangerous drugs here and just as dangerous men.” And Jesse went on to expound on the news they were able to obtain then he said, “Be careful.”

“Damn Jesse, sure; I understand. We’re still out at the Evans ranch and just got in from the site where the bridge blew up. I took numerous pictures and will e-mail them off this evening after Liz and Max go through them with me and help me identify each one. Nothing else is going on is there?”

“No Michael, everything else is the same. Just be careful. I think the man or men we are dealing with may be serial killers Mike. Just be careful and take care of our girls.”

“Will do boss, hello to the wife and I’ll e-mail you later.”

“Fair enough Michael. Later.” And the two men hung up then Michael got back to the business at hand, currying a horse. As he stood next to the horse he was combing the others were within ear shot and he decided to share.

“Hey guys, that was the director. They have Doug Shellow in custody as you already know but they also picked up that Sklar’s secretary today as she exited the Sklar office and she’s managed to connect some dots. This Charles Shuman that has been buying up ranches around here apparently had something to do with Sklar’s death. Now we have a New York mobster who is this Sklar’s uncle and one other, a New Jersey wise guy and God knows who else is involved in this mess.”

Max and Clark looked at Lois and Liz as they worked and wondered just what the hell they had gotten into besides investigating a blown up bridge.

“Michael, this Charles Shuman is connected to Missoula breeding where I work. I don’t know how but he’s been out there quite a few times. Maybe just checking out animals or something but he’s been there. He’s a real sleazy looking type too. He dresses way too sharply to be messing around in a corral if you know what I mean. Creepy, that’s what he is.” And Lois gave a shiver as she continued to work on Chief.

The other four stood almost perfectly still as they watched and wondered, ‘what in the hell is going on?’ As they finished up their jobs and put the horses out for the night Lois remarked...

“Don’t ship those bulls to town yet.” With that remark the other four nodded in agreement and left the barn together.

When they turned up at the main house carrying their saddle bags Maggie took one look at them and almost felt guilty telling them about the barbecue that was being held down at the meeting hall tonight. Almost!

“After you five get cleaned up dinner is going to be down the lane. All the hands got together and planned a barbecue, get together, get acquainted meeting so don’t go getting comfortable. We’ll be down there with the rest waiting for you.”

Clark looked at Max and nodded…

“Okay Maggie, we’ll be there shortly. Just don’t expect us to be the entertainment for the evening because I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Maggie laughed as she got a really good look at Michael.

“Michael, you don’t have to stay any longer than dinner if you don’t want to. Maybe you’d just rather soak in the Jacuzzi. There’s one out back and there’s one in your bathroom.”

Michael grinned…

“Thanks Maggie, I think I’ll survive. Just don’t expect me up too early for breakfast.”

“Amen…” Was echoed by four other voices as well; they’d had very long nights and now a very long day and they were sure another very long night would be in order and they sure as hell didn’t need a barbecue to interfere with those unspoken plans. But they would be good sports about it since none of the other people around knew that this had been a fact finding mission, with a little fun thrown in of course, so off they went in different directions for showers and clean clothes; not very fast but they went just the same.

*

Back in the city of Missoula Kyle, Luke, Dwain and George had scoped out the house while they cleaned and found no devices anywhere which gave them a comfortable feeling about Steve and Julie. They most likely were exactly what they seemed. A young couple working their way through college and trying to care for an elderly parent; they could actually start eating and talking business at the kitchen table and relaxing while doing so.

*
Jesse made one more phone call before rejoining his wife and filled in Kyle and the other three. Kyle didn’t know where that put the four of them but they would continue to watch and learn what they could. It seemed the major players were all out of town at the moment including their young female doctors.

Kyle was almost certain that Jonas Barnaby was in on something and the Captain was acting a little strange as well but there wasn’t anything Kyle could pinpoint. So the evening went on and Luke, George and Dwain went to work leaving Kyle home to fend for himself. He took his computer and started researching the data banks for recent foreclosures, who bought the property and what the disposition of that property had been. He had come up with some very interesting information.

When he had finished his computer studies, e-mailed Maria the data he had collected to add to the director’s files then he intended to have a nice long chat with his wife; that was one thing he knew he was going to do for sure and life went on. Wondering and waiting; it just seemed like a way of life.

*

Back in the Helena office of the FBI the team moved Dr. Doug Shellow to an interrogation room where they hoped they would be able to talk some sense into the man. He was definitely going down for the murder of Tony Sklar, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind about that. They had the method, the means, the opportunity and the instrument…he was guilty dead to right. They just wanted the names of the participants in the deaths of the Evans couple, the information on the virus attacking the cattle and who the people were that were in on this statewide conspiracy.

Shellow was not talking without a lawyer and until he had been booked on a crime a lawyer would not be necessary…

“Doctor Shellow, we are holding you in protective custody, no one can know you’re here.”

They then decided to move Shellow to a cell and the man looked sick…he was still listed as John Doe.

“I want to make a deal.” The agent nodded

”We’ll talk later. I don’t know what kind of a deal you’re looking for but we’ll see what we can do for you, in the meantime you’re here in our protection.” The agent filled out some paper work and fed it into the computer, dragging out the process for as long as he possibly could, trying to make the prisoner as uncomfortable of his situation as he possibly could.

“Now Mr. Doe I’ll take you back to your cell and then you can follow the rest of our inmates, have your lunch and if I were you I don’t think I’d make myself known to anyone. Tony Sklar’s uncle just left the state with the body. Did you know Sklar’s uncle is New York Mob?” Shellow gulped but didn’t want to give anything up…

“Would it be possible to get something besides the prison food that is served?” Doug was tired of the one pot meals with the bread tossed on top. Surely they could do something better than that.

“Sorry pal, that’s as good as it gets. We never have served pheasant under glass; no one has ever learned to fix it. I guess you’re stuck with pork and bean soup and beef stew. “

“Well, that stuff you call beef stew doesn’t resemble any beef stew I’ve ever eaten.”

“Nothing I can do about that. It is what it is. Well, here you are. I’ll come and get you later and we’ll have a talk. Enjoy your lunch. You are free to tell anyone your name that you want to but if I were you I think I’d keep that a secret as long as possible because when these people find out that you are responsible for poisoning the cattle on their ranches you’re going to be a dead man even if Sklar’s uncle doesn’t find you.”

The agent didn’t seem too concerned about Doug’s dislike for the proffered cuisine at the small holding facility, it still had to be better than the state prison fare which he was sure Doug would be sampling none too soon..
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mary mary
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:41 01/09/14

Post by mary mary »

Eve: I'm not so sure you can actually arrest someone under "John Doe" but I think you can hold them incognito for a while. Sometime they'll hold someone if they can't identify them...just something I made up I guess... :wink:
Natalie: I think Shellow has some serious problems along with the idea he's entitled. The only thing I can see right now is that he's entitled to a long time in prison. :x
Carolyn: That chili sounds awesome. I'll bet the trip to exchange presents will be just as enjoyable as it would have been with the whole group. Enjoy! :)

*
Chapter: 41

The five riders met up in the kitchen with Michael who felt like he’d just gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson. Liz felt very sorry for her old friend even though he was being a really good sport about things.

“Well, what do you think they have planned for us tonight?” Liz asked Max as they walked hand in hand down the asphalt road leading to what Maggie had called the meeting hall. This definitely was more than a ranch, it was a small community.

“Max, the only thing missing here is a church.” Lois added as she hung onto Clark’s arm.

“Oh, that’s what the meeting hall is used for on Sunday. A lot of the hands meet and hold service. Jose’ officiates for them and Maggie plays the keyboard for group hymns. Actually it’s very nice.

“We have a helicopter that we use for emergencies and quick trips but we haven’t used it since Mom and Dad….” And Max trailed off not wanting to go any further, Liz squeezed his hand in understanding and leaned into his shoulder. Everyone continued their walk in silence after that.

Soon they entered a very large room that was decked out with long picnic tables, benches and a buffet table. There were large platters of freshly barbecued beef in various cuts and Michael was fascinated right along with Liz and Lois. If you wanted steak, top round, rump roast or just sirloin, T-bone, ribs, and even chicken it didn’t matter; it was there and loads of it.

There were barbecued beans, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes covered with spices, potato salad, macaroni salad, corn on the cob and all of the condiments to go with everything. There were pastries that would put the finest bakery to shame and every sort of homemade bread and rolls imaginable. Max and Clark couldn’t have been prouder and they knew without a doubt that these two young women were the honored guests.

Clark and Max made sort of a reception line and introduced the girls and Michael to everyone in the place, even the ranch hands who had already met the girls but not yet Michael made their way over to greet all of them and then the festivities began.

The children ran around and played like all children do and the parents never once interfered with their fun, it was their night also and quite a few of the older ones were enthralled with Liz and Lois when they found out what they did.

Surprisingly enough, Michael hung around long enough to have a dance with Maggie before taking his leave and suddenly he felt an overwhelming happiness for his two friends. They fit in with this group just fine and it was perfectly obvious that these young men were just as happy as he was, then he smiled, ‘that’s not possible’ he thought and then he laughed out loud.

“What are you laughing at Michael?” Maggie asked,

“I’m thinking about my wife Maggie, and life is good.”

Maggie smiled with her new friend as she watched the two young couples together and then she realized why Michael was thinking of his wife…it was a beautiful sight.

There was slow dancing, line dancing and even a square dance thrown in for fun. Everyone was having a great time and along about midnight Liz had to admit that she was really getting tired and could hardly hold her eyes open, Max just nodded and smiled; he understood perfectly.

He made his way over to Maggie and Jose’, who were now visiting with some of the other hands, and told them that he and Liz would be taking their leave now and then he told everyone in the immediate vicinity that the party was wonderful. He took Liz by the hand and with a wave to the room headed out the side door of the building.

“Max, that was wonderful. Do you do this often?”

Max smiled, pulled her closer into a hug and said,

“Liz, this was for Lois and you. They wanted to get to know you so they held a meeting. All in all I think it went very well.” Liz looked up into Max’s eyes and couldn’t believe it,

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope, they wanted everyone to know you so they held a meeting. They’ll do this for a birthday or Thanksgiving but very rarely do they have something like this just to get together. After all, it’s pretty close here and they don’t really have to open the meeting hall for a shindig so to speak; they all know each other and now they know you.” Liz smiled, ‘how nice’ she thought.

It wasn’t long before they were back at the main house as Liz started calling it and headed up the front staircase to Liz’s room.

“Liz, if you’re too tired to share your bed I can sleep in my room…” Max didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as Liz turned around on the step above Max and leaned in for a nice big juicy kiss….

“The hell you will.” And that’s all she had to say. Max braced himself and reached down and lifted Liz into his arms as he made his way to her room just as fast as his legs would carry him. He had been waiting for this all day and it couldn’t happen soon enough.

When he got to her room he just opened the door, walked in, kicked it shut with his foot and headed right over to Liz’s bed without a second thought. This was heaven, absolute heaven and he helped Liz out of her clothes just as she helped him; then it got very quiet…quiet except for moans and sighs and the rest of the night was wonderful, over and over again it was wonderful.

Back at the meeting hall Lois had caught Clark’s attention as he was speaking to Chase, the cook she met on the cattle drive, and she gave them a huge smile.

Clark didn’t like talking business on a fun night out but he had to let the men know that they were postponing the transfer of the bulls for a little while longer and then Lois approached the two men…

“Hi Chase, I just have to tell you that the barbecue was delicious. I’m surprised that I can walk I ate so much.” And the two men laughed.

“Thank you Lois, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Lois, did you need something?” Clark asked with concern.

“No, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to head back to the house. I’m getting awfully tired but I didn’t want you to worry when you couldn’t find me.” Lois smiled…she knew Clark wouldn’t let her leave alone but she didn’t want Clark to feel he had to leave with her either.

“No you don’t Lois, give me a minute and I’ll be right with you.” And with that Clark motioned for Jose’ to come over,

“Jose’ please thank everyone for us and let them know I’ll see them tomorrow. Good night and everything was wonderful.”

With that Clark waved his goodbye to the room just as Max had done and he and Lois were on their way. The conversation on the way back to the house was very close to the conversation that Max and Liz had on their way back and soon the house was very quiet once again; except of course for an occasional groan, moan, whimper and sigh.

All was good with the world for one more night except for Michael Guerin, he couldn’t find a comfortable place to put his body no matter how hard he tried; all the feathers and soft mattresses on earth wouldn’t help…There was also moaning and groaning coming from his room as well but of a different nature.

*
Very early Sunday morning Liz woke up with a terrible pain in her back and couldn’t for the life of her figure out what was going on and when she tried to turn over and stretch out she was trapped. It took her a minute to figure out that Max was practically lying on top of her and had her literally pinned in a most uncomfortable position, so uncomfortable that she had to laugh.

After their last round of making love they both wound up just sleeping in the position they finished up in, that being Max on top of her. Her sudden laughter woke her lover up and he could only grin as he moved over and allowed her some breathing room.

“Good morning sweetheart, you look a little pained.”

Liz smiled and swept her lips over Max’s quickly as she adjusted herself then finally got up and sort of limped to the bathroom. Max felt awful…

“Liz, are you alright?”

“Yes Max, what a great reason for a cramp.” Max smiled but he wasn’t pleased with himself at all.

“Can I help you in any way?”

“No Max, I’ll be back in a minute. Just need to brush my teeth and I’ll be there.”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course, but don’t you dare waste that prominent extension you were sporting a minute ago.”

“Never, and if I lose a little of it I’m sure we can find it again.”

“Great…” and that quickly Max was right behind her nibbling on her neck as she wiggled in time with the action of her tooth brush.

It didn’t take them long to get back to bed and pick up on the action that had caused the pain in Liz’s back in the first place. The sun had just started to peak over the horizon and all was good in the Evans mansion.

*

It was about 9:00 a.m. when the four sleepy heads finally appeared in the kitchen. Michael had been there helping Maggie with pancakes for the past 45 minutes and gave a nod to the four late arrivals.

“Good mornin’ sleepy heads…enjoy the party last night?” He asked with a knowing grin. Although Maggie did drop the news in general conversation that the two young couples hung around until quite late.

“Yes.” Lois and Liz said in unison as they headed to the cupboards to retrieve plates, silverware and napkins before settling in. They’d been around the kitchen long enough now to know the routine.

Clark and Max headed to the refrigerator and pantry respectively to get juice and eggs, and made their way over to the center island to start mixing contents for scrambled eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Maggie just smiled at all of them; none of them hardly speaking but working in unison to get things done. How nice it was to see all of them together. They made wonderful couples and Michael felt the same way.

Maria was going to love visiting here and he knew she would be visiting as soon as this was all settled. He only wished they didn’t have to go back to Missoula today, he just didn’t have enough time here and he knew Liz and Lois wanted to stay. Work, the bane of his existence; and he smiled.

They all decided to attend the religious meeting in the meeting hall before heading on back and they were all very impressed. A few of the ranch hands had taken turns reading script, no sermon was given of course and Maggie had chosen several hymns and printed them out on the computer the day before and passed them out as they entered.

All in all it was very nice and Liz and Lois made sure to tell everyone that they enjoyed both the barbecue and the service that had been held at noon and the little community of ranch hands smiled and thanked the young women and Michael for visiting them. ‘Someday, maybe they will be a permanent fixture’ Maggie thought. She could only hope.

Liz and Lois both had an epiphany as they left the small building used as a meeting hall…they needed to bring a minister out here and build a church. Damn, if they had their way they would have a whole town built up around this mansion…who knows, it could happen, maybe. Stranger things have happened; right?
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:42 01/24/14

Post by mary mary »

Eve: No, I don't think the young men have had it too great since losing their parents the way they did but I do believe they are making up for lost time. :)
Carolyn: :D I think you just may have something there! :wink:
Natalie: Here you go, forgot to update last week and it was just an oversight on my part...sorry. :)
Alix: I don't know if Michael is going to be happy or ticked off at Maria for keeping this secret to herself right now but under the circumstances I think it's for his own good. She has no idea where he is or what sort of danger he's in so the last thing he needs is something to interfere with his line of thinking. Hope you enjoy this part, it's just a catch up chapter this time but there's more fun down the road...I think. :wink:

***


Chapter: 42

Back in Missoula Dwain made his rounds of the Missoula Animal Research Center and then he checked the security cameras. This was the first night he had been left on his own since arriving. He copied several minutes of film on each camera and then put them on a loop and made his way into the main offices. He needed to see if there was any information he could find that would tell them another way this disease got to these cattle and he thought maybe the answer was in those files.

After he was comfortable that he had everything working on a loop he proceeded to search. First place was the secretary’s office…he gingerly lifted the corner of her desk calendar, it seemed to be a little dog eared in that area, and found the password to several computer programs.

He sat and read for a considerable length of time through boring messages and correspondence files and then he discovered some accounting files. These files were mostly sent to the accounting firm handling the billing and accounts payable but then there it was, inventory receipts from Andrews feed. That had to be it. The virus was coming from the feed sacks to the research center as well as directly to the ranchers via feed. This proves their theory…Liz had found the virus in the sample picked from the delivery of the feed from the feed store. They were shipping it to the Animal Center as well as selling it directly to the ranchers in the sacks of feed.

Dwain copied the files over to a flash drive which he would later e-mail to the main office of the FBI and the list of evidence continued to mount as dots continued to be connected. You can now add Jim Andrews as a definite to their list of conspirators.

He would suggest to Jesse that Maria take a look at the account of the feed store and Jim Andrews’s personal information as well if they haven’t already done so.

Another one down thought Dwain and suddenly he didn’t feel as though his time at the animal center was a total waste. It took a little time to get used to the place and to have people get used to him but now it was paying off.

He made his way back to the security center and took the cameras off the looping program he had put them on and then started another walk through that would now be on film and would take away any suspicions of him missing from film. Dwain had a slight spring in his step this time and he smiled as well. Life was good.

He made his way out to the holding pens and made a quick call to Michael to let him know what he had found at the animal center: he didn’t think the Evanses should be moving any bulls at this time and Michael assured him that that had already been decided.

*

George was not as lucky at finding anything incriminating at the lab, although he was concerned about the security of Liz’s lab. It seemed that the only lock was a simple key in lock to the entrance of the lab plus of course the locks on the front and back doors which were both dead bolts, but even they could be worked if given enough time. There wasn’t anything of any consequence to speak of, he had searched the computers, file cabinets and all desks in the place and except for the pull out bed in the senior execs office, spare sheets and pillows stashed in a cupboard, all seemed to be pretty standard.

“I wonder who he’s ballin’?” Thought George with a grin, ‘I don’t think it’s Liz, she seems to be pretty much locked in to that cowboy of hers.’ And he continued on with his rounds.

*

Luke showed up about a half an hour early for his shift and was getting a sandwich from the coffee shop to munch on later since he wouldn’t be getting a break this evening and he noticed Joe in deep conversation with one of those two ‘dudes’ from the restaurant that he and Kyle tried to avoid a few weeks back.

“I wonder what in the hell they have to talk about…that guy is from Billings and his partner is in Helena. Why would Joe want to have a private conversation with that guy and it looks very private too?” And Luke just ignored the two, pretended as though he never saw them, grabbed his sandwich and left.

*

“Joe, I don’t know what to tell you. He got a phone call, grabbed his coat and took off. He said he’d call me when he knew more. That’s it.”

“Who called him?”

“It was a female, sounded young. All he said was he would meet her at the office and he took off.”

“The office…that’s it?”

Chris Sevright didn’t know what to tell the bartender, why the hell did he care anyway?”

“That’s it…that’s all I know.” And with that Luke stood up, paid the check and left Chris Sevright sitting there wondering why the hell Joe the bartender had called him here in the first place.

*

In the meantime Kyle was enjoying his evening on a throwaway cell phone with his wife. Getting caught up on the pictures Ava had for him and some serious phone sex, which hardly came close to the real thing but was a whole lot better than nothing.

Kyle had been in bed for a few hours before Luke came home and then a couple hours later their cohorts showed up within minutes of each other. When Kyle’s alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. the two security guards were sitting at the kitchen table discussing what Dwain had discovered in the secretary’s office and Kyle got in on the conversation.

“Yeah, I e-mailed all of the information in to Jesse already and I have the flash drive here as hard evidence. I’m sure he’ll know what to do with it.” Dwain added as George interjected his thoughts…

“Well, there’s nothing at the labs except for the lack of secure locks on Liz’s doors. Anyone could break into that place and take any number of dangerous drugs or abscond with information that wouldn’t mean a whole lot to any of us but in the right hands could be disastrous as hell.”

“I agree,” said Kyle, “and anyone could sneak in and put something in there without any problem too. I doubt the woman had a distrustful bone in her body until this experience; it certainly changed her way of thinking.”

“Just how well do you know her Kyle?” Dwain wanted to know.

“Well, we all grew up together, in the same town, same grade, same grammar, junior high and high schools. She and Lois went off to college together and even barrel raced, in college as well.

“They were a couple of characters if you want to know the truth. My wife and Michael’s wife were also a part of that group as well as Whitman’s wife.

“I don’t know how we all wound up working in the same field. Well, we actually don’t all work in the same field, but you know what I mean. This mess just seems to have brought us all together.”

Kyle couldn’t believe that he was in Missoula, Montana investigating a cattle conspiracy. It just seemed unreal to him, but then Jesse knew what his background was with the two women involved and it was good to have someone who cared for them personally as well as professionally.

“So Maria is part of their clique so to speak as well as Ava?” George asked.

“Oh hell yeah, when you saw one you could bet you would see all five of them. Different as night and day but they complemented each other. I think Liz was the most outgoing of the bunch, well her and Ava. They were the instigators of the shit they got themselves into and they did pull some shit.

“Well, you guys need some rest and I need to get to work. Tell Luke what you found out last night and I’ll see if I can find out anything on this feed store guy at work.” Kyle grabbed his holster from the drawer where he stored it, pulled his gun from the back of his dress pants, he holstered his weapon and was off.

George and Dwain finished their coffee and cereal, rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher and headed to their rooms. It had been a long night. Soon the house was quiet again, and Kyle made his way into police headquarters with a new agenda on his plate…Jim Andrews.
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:43 01/31

Post by mary mary »

Natalie: I think our crew are looking forward to some fun in the future but not this chapter. Damn! :)
Eve: Yep, they were all friends and then managed to go their separate ways but kept up with each other. It seems that Liz and Lois are the only ones of the group that didn't marry within the group though, but they're doing okay. So Far anyway. :wink:
Carolyn: Thank you for the forgiveness,,,I could go into a long dissertation but forgiveness works and thanks does as well. The gang is moving right along here and hopefully next week we'll find some more interaction with our favorite friends. I can't promise though because it's been a long time since I wrote this thing so each chapter is new to me too. :roll:

On with the show!

*
Chapter: 43

Jim Andrews was sitting at his kitchen table having his breakfast when his wife sat down and decided to join him…

“Jim,” she started and Jim immediately knew she had something serious on her mind… that was the only time she started a conversation with his name. He smiled.

“Jim, you need to get rid of that truck that’s been sitting in our barn. I want to start an antique business with Marcy. You know Marcy? She’s married to Lloyd Flowers from our church. Anyway, we’ve been talking about this for quite some time and we’ve decided that if we use our barn we can start out by taking antiques in on consignment and then, when we’ve grown enough and made some money, we can start investing in our own merchandise. There are a lot of things being discarded since the ranchers have been losing their spreads and I think we can sell this stuff on e-bay even. Can you do that for me?”

Jim Andrews almost spit a mouth full of coffee across the table at his wife, almost, but not quite. He needed to talk to Charles Shuman and he needed to talk to him fast. When Angela decided to do something there was no turning back and it looked like she had been thinking about this for quite some time.

When Jim Andrews arrived at the feed store he immediately put a call in to Charles Shuman’s office and was told exactly what everyone else had been told, “Mr. Shuman is out.”

“What do you mean out? Didn’t he take his cell with him?”

“No sir, he didn’t. It’s been ringing in his office since last week. May I take a message?”

“No, let me talk to Chris.” Jim Andrews was livid.

“Mr. Sevright is in Missoula sir. Would you like his number?” This secretary was the most proficient person he had ever come across in his life for avoiding issues or the most inefficient assistant he had ever come across. He decided proficient was the word.

“I have his number…thank you.” And with that Jim Andrews hung up.

In the meantime Chris Sevright was getting ready to leave Missoula when his phone rang. Looking down at the caller was a mistake. He should have turned the phone off the minute he left Joe back at the Joker restaurant.

“Hello Jim.” He answered.

“Hey, where’s Shuman?”

“Jim, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t know and that’s the honest to God’s truth. Everyone is looking for him and all I know is some girl called and he left the office. This was last week and I haven’t heard from him since. All I can say is ‘no news is good news’ at this point. I’m sure everything is alright.” Chris was trying his best to appease Jim.

“Everything is not alright. You need to get rid of that truck in my barn and get rid of it before my wife goes out there and starts exploring. She wants to start an antique business in that garage and it is her garage as much as it is mine and so help me God if anything happens to her the world isn’t big enough for you two to hide in. Do you understand?”

“Jim, I understand perfectly but I really don’t know where Shuman is. Is there anywhere else you know of that we can store that truck?”

“I haven’t a damned clue where you can store that truck. I didn’t tell you to put it in my barn and I sure as hell don’t know what to tell you to do with it now but I can tell you that if my wife discovers what is in that truck a lot of people are going to be sorry as hell.”

“I understand Jim. Can you hold her off for a couple of days and let me try and get hold of the boss. I honestly don’t know where he is. I only hope for all of our sakes that he’s okay.”

“Let’s put it this way Chris…I think we’d all be better off without him. This thing is one major FUBAR! Do you understand me? I agreed to let you lace some feed and that’s all I agreed to. Now I’m mixed up in murder and God knows what else. Get the damned truck out of my barn!” Jim Andrews was livid and bordering on incoherency, almost and by now Chris Sevright was ready join him. ‘What the hell else can go wrong?’ he thought.

*

Back in Washington D.C. Jesse Ramirez had his office doing double time trying to get all of the pieces put together. Marlene Dubchak’s interview had shed some light on a lot of what was happening and it was decided, after some extensive studies, that Lou D’Mateo was nothing more than Tony Sklar’s uncle in the greater scheme of things. They were still trying to figure out what Vinny had to do in all of this and the surveillance was continued on him.

Maria had managed to get the real estate business and the cattle virus tied down to Charles Shuman but the office was still unsure about Tony Sklar’s involvement in the virus.

They were following Chris Sevright all over Missoula and were wondering how the bartender fit into all of this when an e-mail came in from Michael.

‘Boss,
Kyle made the suggestion that Liz’s office is not secure as far as incoming specimens are concerned and I agree. That is the best way to get to her even though we have the major scientist in custody. She’s just not safe. We need to get someone in here to screen everything that comes in or get her out of here without bringing suspicion to all of our suspects. I’m open to any and all suggestions here.
Michael.’


Jesse read the e-mail and stood there flabbergasted. Kyle had already told him what he thought and, although Shellow was in custody, the main characters were still running loose and had no idea the FBI was on to them and the conspiracy nor did they know that the FBI knew they were most likely out to get rid of Dr. Parker and maybe Dr. Lindstrom. What a nightmare…how could they keep these women safe and still remain undercover?

The Helena lab was listing Shellow as on emergency leave due to family matters and they already had five extra agents working undercover in Missoula. There were agents running into each other all over Billings and none of them seemed to know what the other was doing. This was a nightmare.

*

In the meantime Max and Clark had their bulls penned up and were ready to start shipping their regular cattle off to market. The trucks would be ready to roll by midweek and all looked good. The bulls didn’t seem any the worse for wear in the pens and all was quiet at E~N~S except for a couple of lonesome cowboys.

“Clark, what do you say we go into town for a couple of days and oversee the shipment?”

“Ah Max, come on, let’s be honest. We want to see the girls and that’s the crux of it all. So, let’s just get these “steaks” loaded for market and go enjoy ourselves. We can take a list with us for everyone, pick up anything they might need and take care of two birds with one stone.”

Max laughed at his brother, nodded and agreed.

“Okay then.”

And they went up to the main house and told Maggie of their plans and asked her to get a list ready from everyone, they’d be leaving on Thursday afternoon…Maggie’s smile was as bright as the sun at that news and she kept on breading chicken.

*

Charles Shuman didn’t even notice that Marlene was absent from the office; he had been poring over files for what seemed like forever and then he found a folder marked personal and he sat there wondering what he would find.

He decided to call Chris on his cell to check in and make sure things were going well in Billings. He deleted all of the messages from his phone deciding that he would talk to whomever he wanted to when he was ready to talk to them and not a minute before.

“Hey Chris, Chuck here. Is everything going okay on the home front?”

“Is everything okay? Are you nuts? Joe Watson, the bartender at the Joker wants you badly…Jim Andrews’ wife wants to start an antique business in that barn; you know which barn I’m talking about and half the town of Billings is looking for you. Where in the hell are you anyway?

“I don’t know what to tell these people and Jim Andrews said if his wife goes out to that barn and looks into that truck we are all in a world of hurt. And, speaking of hurt, he also said that if anything happened to his wife the world isn’t big enough for you to hide in. And if I was you I would believe him, you can bet he means what he says. I wouldn’t try taking him out either, I’m sure he’s got that covered, this man is no fool Chuck so you’d better get your ass back here and start cleaning this mess up.”

“Well, isn’t this just wonderful. I’ll see you in a couple of days and tell Joe and Jim to relax. Some things have come up that are just as important as all of this. As a matter of fact, maybe moreso; take it easy." And with that Charles Shuman hung up on his associate.

*
Liz’s phone went off just as she was locking the lab up for lunch and she had to smile as she checked caller ID…

“Hey sweetie.” She smiled, shivered with delight and smiled again.

“Angel, we are going to be there some time Thursday. Is that okay?”

“Max, you know that’s okay. I am so excited. Is there anything special you’d like to do?”

“Nope, just see you.” And Max smiled at the sudden warmth that started in his nether regions; he could think of all kinds of things to do.

“Great, I’ll talk to you tonight, won’t I?”

“Of course, I just couldn’t wait to tell you.”

“Oh, that is so nice; I’ll be waiting to hear from you then. Bye.”

“Bye Angel, til later.” And they hung up smiling into their phones.

*
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"Age is just a state of mind"...I think that's mine? I could be wrong! I'm old, so sue me.
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mary mary
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:44 2/6/14

Post by mary mary »

Eve: I'm sure nothing bad is going to happen to our favorite characters...not while I'm here anyway. :wink:
Carolyn: Kyle's a pretty smart cookie here, let's hope he keeps it up. :)
Natalie: I think the entire FBI force is going to come down on this bunch before long! :P

*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter: 44

“Maria, what have you found on this Tony Sklar besides the fact that his uncle is New York Mafia?”

“That’s it Jesse, but here’s something interesting. This Charles Shuman, who is one of the major players, has been playing footsy with this Joe Watson, the bartender Luke saw with Shuman’s associate.

“I don’t know all of the ins and outs yet but the phone calls and the numerous messages make a major link.

“It would have been very easy for the bartender to get an associate in a busy bar to deliver a couple of drinks to a table without being noticed and it’s a great cover for maintaining a low profile while still being able to keep an eye on the population so to speak since this place seems to be so popular.” Maria finally stopped, she was actually out of breath and really needed the ladies room, and quickly. This did not go unnoticed…

“Maria, is everything okay?”

“Yes Jesse, I’ll only be a few minutes!” And she took off on a dead run.

‘Hmmmm, I wonder if she’s told Michael yet? Probably not, it’s their news I just hope nobody else notices.’ And Jesse got a little twinkle in his eye and hoped they could settle this thing quickly so Michael would be able to join his wife and share her little surprise in person.

When Maria returned to Jesse’s office he asked, in all sincerity…

“Maria, is there anything I can do to help you?”

Maria smiled, she knew Jesse was familiar with pregnancies and also knew there wasn’t any reason to either confirm or deny her condition, they would just leave it at that.

“No thank you Jesse, I’m fine, honest.” And she gave her boss a smile.

“Well all right then, is there anything else to report?”

“Nothing really, we could go over old news and see if any new ideas pop into our minds.

“That Dr. Shellow is one piece of work. I don’t understand him at all, we have all of the incriminating evidence we can possible get on the man and he’s holding out like he has something we don’t know about.

“Of course he could confirm all of our suspicions but we will get our answers one way or the other. It would be so much easier with his help though.

“Oh well, back to the research. If I find anything new I’ll be back in.” And with that Maria left Jesse’s office.

*

Kyle was seated behind his new desk in the detective’s offices when he noticed Barnaby being summoned into the Captains office and wished he could be a fly on the wall for that conversation. He picked up his coffee cup, took a sip and got back to his computer search of looking into property transfers at the county court house.

“Shut the door Barnaby and have a seat.” The Captain had a folder in front of him, one that had been pulled from the files in the vault of files down stairs,

“Do you know what this is?” The Captain asked his lead detective.

“I haven’t a clue…how would I know?” Barnaby wasn’t being a smartass, just honest.

“Well, it seems our new detective out there is very interested in this file Barnaby and it makes me wonder. Why the hell does your investigation into an accidental death out on a remote ranch interest a new detective? Is there something I should know about this “accident” Barnaby?” The Captain was starting to feel a little testy…

“What do you mean he’s “interested” in this case. How do you know this?”

Barnaby was starting to feel very defensive.

“I know this because it was missing from the file and I found it laying on the table with the other folders he was supposed to be filing. It has recently been opened and reviewed. The punched holes in the top are very dog eared for something that was supposed to have been investigated, closed and filed.

“Now is there something I should know about this Barnaby? Are we in for some sort of investigation by a higher authority, because if we are I sure as hell would like to know about it?”

At this point the captain wasn’t any too happy with a lot of what was going on in his office and he wanted some answers.

He was very sorry he hadn’t questioned the added bonus his parents received from that Charles Shuman. The man was just too smooth for his own good.

Jonas Barnaby looked at his Captain and wasn’t quite sure how he should reply. He definitely didn’t want to incriminate himself so he decided to just play dumb…it was his best defense until something definite came into play.

“I don’t know why anyone would want to take a look at that file Captain. It was an accident as far as I could tell.” Barnaby managed to maintain enough decorum that the Captain almost believed him.

“Alright Barnaby, if you say so. Let’s just hope you’re right for your sake.”

“Yes sir.” And Barnaby left the Captain’s office and headed out the door past Kyle’s desk.

Barnaby took his private cell phone from his pocket and tried to call Charles Shuman, who still wasn’t taking any calls and then he called Sevright…they had to do something and do it fast.

The next person summoned into the Captain’s office was Kyle…

“Valiant, have a chair.” Which of course Kyle did.

“Don, you have been working down in the file room right?”

“I sure have, did I do something wrong?” Kyle asked.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I do have a question though. I found this file laying on top of the folders with the current files and wondered if you were looking at it.” The Captain handed the Evans’ file to Kyle and Kyle took it and had a look.

“Yeah, it was there among the others and I looked at it along with quite a few others. It gave me some insight as to how you guys work around here. Is there something wrong?” Kyle didn’t exactly lie he just told a little fib about the file laying around…he had actually searched it out.

The Captain looked at the young man and shook his head no before answering…

“No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that, once a case has been filed it’s usually forgotten. This should have been filed a long time ago.”

“Well, maybe someone had to add to it or something and didn’t put it back. It was just laying there with the rest of them.” Of course Kyle had copied the entire folder. He thought he put everything back just the way it was…he also wondered what had sparked the Captain’s interest.

“Okay Don, that’s all.”

“Thinks Captain, talk to you later.” And Kyle left the office wondering how the Captain fit into all of this shit...another player, damn! Was the whole town in on this?

*
Josh Zeigler, Tony Sklar’s attorney, called Marlene Dubchak on her home phone taking the chance the young woman was at her apartment and was very happy to find that she was.

“Miss Dubchak, this is Josh Ziegler.” He introduced himself.

“Hello Mr. Zeigler, how nice to hear from you. I’m not at the office anymore. Since Mr. Sklar is no longer with us I feel I have no right to be there.”

“That is why I’m calling Miss Dubchak. Would it be possible for you to meet me at Judge Scoffield’s office at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow?”

Marlene was suddenly afraid; what was wrong now.

“Of course Mr. Zeigler, is everything alright. You do know that Mr. Shuman, Mr. Sklar’s Billings associate is at the office going over things don’t you?”

“No Miss Dubchak, I did not know that. We will have that taken care of immediately. Thank you. Will you be at the Judge’s chambers to meet me?”

“Yes of course, may I ask why?”

“Of course you may. It’s for the reading of Mr. Sklar’s will and I would advise you to keep Mr. Shuman away from the office and also all files after the reading of the will. I will have the authorities there in a matter of minutes to have him physically removed but you need to have the locks changed Miss Dubchak.”

“Mr. Zeigler, I don’t have the authority to do that.”

“You will after tomorrow Miss Dubchak.”

“UH, Mr. Zeigler can I bring someone else with me to this reading?”

“Of course Miss Dubchak, I will see you tomorrow.”

And with that they hung up and Marlene immediately called Agent Albert Sloane and Josh Zeigler called Judge Scoffield to get a writ and remove Charles Shuman from Tony Sklar’s office.

Tony left specific instructions that Shuman was to be kept away from all the main office business files should anything ever happen to him. Josh didn’t understand but he would do his best for Marlene Dubchak. She was a fine young woman and a very smart one as well.

“Albert Sloane here.” Agent Sloane didn’t recognize Marlene’s home phone number.

“Al, it’s Marlene. I have a favor to ask of you. Mr. Sklar’s attorney, Josh Zeigler, just phoned and asked me to meet him at Judge Scoffield’s office at 10:00 a.m. for the reading of Mr. Sklar’s will and I don’t want to go alone. He also told me to have the locks changed on the office and that he was going to have Mr. Shuman ejected from the office in a matter of minutes. What’s going on Al? I’m getting very nervous about all of this.”

“I’ll be right over Marlene and relax. Of course I’ll go with you. Now give me your home address just to make sure I’ve got it right.”

Marlene gave Albert Sloane her home address and then Agent Sloane in turn called his boss Agent Baker and relayed what he had just been told.

“What do you think is going on Al?”

“I haven’t a clue except there’s a will to be read and Marlene was instructed to change the locks on the doors. I think maybe she might have just inherited the place.” Al told his boss.

“Well if that’s the case she could become a suspect in Tony’s murder along with Shellow, although I doubt it. Or she could be in an awfully lot of danger from the rest of this corporation…Charles Shuman for instance. I don’t think he’s going to like this one bit.” Baker answered.

“Oh you know he’s not going to like this at all. I’ll take good care of her you can count on it.” Al assured his boss and continued…“I’ll guard her with my life.” And agent Albert Sloane meant every word he spoke.

*

Just as Charles Shuman was ready to open the personal file folder of Tony’s the front door opened and a few men walked in flashing badges and announced themselves.

“Mr. Charles Shuman?” they asked,

“Yes and you are?” Shuman was getting miffed at the intrusion.

“You have to vacate these premises immediately sir. Here’s a court order from the county of Lewis and Clark issued for your immediate removal. Please come with us Mr. Shuman. We will get your jacket for you; please leave everything else the way it is. We will padlock the door after we leave so you will not need the keys to the premises. Let’s go.”

And with that Charles Shuman was escorted from the building of the Real Estate offices of Tony Sklar where his tail was immediately picked up by the FBI.

Agent Baker had notified the agent to follow the man as soon as he heard from agent Sloane. He was ordered to never take his eyes off the man for one moment. Charles Shuman left the officers who had ejected him from the building and made his way to his rental car where he immediately drove to the hotel to pack his belongings. “What the hell was that about?” He said to himself as he made his way to the airport.

The next morning at 10:00 a.m. Marlene Dubchak, Agent Albert Sloane, three other people Marlene had never seen before and Josh Zeigler made their way into the county courthouse to Judge Scoffield’s chambers.

After all of the niceties had been met, all introductions were made they got down to business.

The Judge gave Josh the floor and Josh proceeded to read the will and have it registered into the permanent records with all pertinent people present.

Marlene Dubchak had inherited all of Tony Sklar’s holdings and Tony’s three servants had inherited all of his personal property which included his home, his automobiles and a few valuable art pieces.

To say that these people were in shock was an understatement and then the judge gave Marlene the key to the padlock that was on the front door of the office. Marlene held out a shaky hand and smiled as Albert Sloane placed a protective hand across the small of her back. She gave him a trembling smile and then Josh Zeigler got her attention.

“Marlene, you need to have the accountant go over everything in that office and then contact me and I will come over and take care of transferring all properties into your name. Do you understand? Unless of course you would rather get another attorney.”

“Oh God no Josh! I’ve known you since I started working for Mr. Sklar, I would never do that.”

“Fine Marlene, just give me a call when the accountant is ready for me. In the meantime you be very careful.”

“I will Josh, and thank you so much for your help. I’m sure Albert here will be all the protection I need.” And everyone smiled. No one but Marlene knew who Albert really was and Marlene was smart enough to keep that information to herself.

*
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"Age is just a state of mind"...I think that's mine? I could be wrong! I'm old, so sue me.
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mary mary
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:45 2/13/14

Post by mary mary »

Eve, Carolyn and Natalie: I'm going to say thank you because I've got to hurry off to an appt. Catch with more words next time. :D
\
*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 45

John Blanchard picked up Shuman’s tail the minute he left Sklar’s office and followed him to the airport and soon found a handy parking spot in the short term parking then called the office to let them know where to pick up the SUV and entered the airport just as Shuman was checking in his rental. Blanchard followed Shuman to the ticket line that would take them to Missoula.

Blanchard was surprised that Shuman was headed to Missoula instead of to Billings but he went along with the program and when the ticket clerk was about to tell Blanchard that the plane was full Blanchard pulled a badge and shook his “No” and was immediately issued a seat.

Before boarding Blanchard made a call to Helena headquarters to let them know where they were headed and Baker told him to keep an eye out for the other five that were already In Missoula and to ignore them. The Missoula office had no idea that a crew from D.C. was operating in the Missoula area and Blanchard agreed to keep their identity safe.

Baker made a call to Michael immediately when they got off the phone and told Michael that it looked like something big was going down and filled him on the court order to remove Shuman from Tony Sklar’s office.

Michael made up his mind that Liz was not going back to the lab until all of this had been settled and then he made a call to Lois’ cell and told her to knock off as soon as possible and to get home. He’d fill her in later.

Lois understood and finished up her examination on Connie and put the cow back in her holding pen with all of the other pregnant cows and called it a day.

Michael drove Liz home while Lois drove the corvette and the three friends met at the apartment wondering just what the hell was going on.

*

Charles Shuman’s plane landed in Missoula at 1:20 p.m. and he immediately headed for the parking lot where he was picked up by Chris Sevright. He had called Chris while Blanchard was talking to Baker. Blanchard thought he would have to rush to get a vehicle but he noticed one of the local agents was waiting for him in the parking lot.

‘Thank God Baker thought to call for backup’ he thought to himself.

Come to find out Baker hadn’t called at all…the agent was Sevright’s tail so it worked out great he merely hitched a ride with his fellow agent.

The two men followed their charges right straight to the Joker’s Wild and parked. Blanchard looked at Martin, Sevright’s tail, and motioned toward the two in confusion.

Martin told Blanchard that he thought that Joe, the bartender, was a much deeper player in this scheme than any of them realized…Blanchard nodded in understanding and the two men got out of their car and walked into the coffee shop unnoticed by the three men deep in conversation at the back table.

As far as anyone was concerned the two men just stopped in for lunch like any other business men. Blanchard surely wished they could plant a bug without being seen but that would be too risky at this point. He made a mental note to contact the main office and have someone get in touch with Luke and have him do a plant at the bar and then ordered a business man’s lunch as did Martin.

Joe immediately started in on Sevright.

“Where the hell have you been Chuck?” Joe wanted to know, he was just on this side of strangling the man.

“There was a problem in Helena with Sklar, he dropped dead of a heart attack in a restaurant and his office manager/assistant called me in Billings and wanted to know what to do about the office. I flew up there to see what I could do to help her?”

Joe Watson didn’t like the sounds of this at all; Sklar was a man in his late 30’s or early 40’s and was very conscious of his health.

“You’re sure he had a heart attack?”

“Yes, it was on the news. He was having lunch and dropped dead on the spot.”

“Who was he having lunch with?” Joe still wasn’t convinced.

“The news didn’t say one way or the other. Just that the paramedics were called and he was pronounced dead at the scene.”

“Uh-huh. Where were you when this happened?”

“I told you I was in Billings.”

“You’re sure about that are you?”

Chris Sevright, Shuman’s partner, started to doubt Charles Shuman’s whereabouts the longer Joe Watson questioned him. Was he in town when this happened or not? But then that girl called and he flew out immediately so he must have been.

Joe Watson looked at Chris and nodded toward the door.

“Chris, you can head on back to Billings now. I have some business I need to take care of here with Shuman.”

Chris didn’t know what to do. He worked for Shuman not this bartender. Just who the hell was he anyway?

“Go ahead on back Chris; I’ll talk to you later.”

Chris got up to leave and Blanchard and Martin watched as the man left the restaurant.

“Well, you catch the bill Blanchard and I’ll take my leave. I’ll get the local office to send another car around for you and it’ll be out front when they leave. Maybe we should send two cars…I think someone should follow this Joe. What do you think?”

“I think we need to report in as soon as possible but I think this Joe Watson will be in the bar in another hour or so and we won’t need to wonder what he’s up to at that point. I’ll most likely follow Shuman back to Billings if he follows his usual M.O. He’s sort of predictable that way. I don’t think he’s all that bright. Now that bartender, that’s another story. The director needs to know of this new development.”

“I think he’s already been brought up to speed on the bartender. I don’t know who is working the area besides us but someone is.” Martin said matter of factly.

“You’re probably right but just the same give him a heads up.”
Blanchard wasn’t about to blow the other agents covers, not even with the local FBI. It was hard to tell who they could trust anymore.

And with that Martin left to follow Chris who was headed back to Billings just as the two agents suspected.

Now it was just Shuman and Joe the bartender…

“Alright Shuman, just what the hell have you done and you’d better be honest.”

“Well, first things first. There’s that truck in Jim Andrews’ barn that needs to be moved and buried. Buried deep.”

“What do you mean the truck needs to be buried? What the hell for?”

“Well it seems Andrews’ wife wants the barn to start an antique business and we need to move the truck and bury its contents somewhere deep.”

“Man, You. Are. Nuts. Where in the hell can we bury a truck? Do you realize how big of a hole we need to bury a truck in? And where can we bury this damned truck without being seen anyway?”

“I don’t know, maybe we can do it at night.”

“Bury a truck that size at night; why don’t we just drive the damned thing to another state and take the parts to a junkyard? That makes more sense than it does to bury it. What exactly did Andrews have to say in the first place?”

“I’m not really sure; he talked to Chris when he was trying to get hold of me. Chris said that Andrews said that the truck had to be moved because his wife wanted the barn and not a damned thing had better happen to his wife.”

Joe looked like he had been smacked in the face…

“He actually threatened Chris about Angela?”

“Yeah; it sounded that way.” Shuman had just wished he hadn’t said that to Joe, Shuman liked Jim Andrews and knew that Joe wouldn’t tolerate threats. Look what he was trying to do to Doctor Parker and Joe liked Doctor Parker. Shuman had heard him say this many times…and now Joe felt that Jim was an enemy. SHIT!!!

“Now, tell me the truth about Helena and Sklar. He was the owner of your business; did you find anything in his files?”

“No, just as I was about to open a folder marked personal I was evicted from the premises by the local sheriff’s department. I have no idea what that was about. I left on the next plane to come here.”

“You were physically ejected?”

“Yes, and I have no idea why.”

“Well maybe it’s because you had no business being there. Was this secretary there when this took place?”

“No. I hadn’t seen her since Sklar’s uncle showed up.”

“Why is that?” Joe asked, kind of afraid of what the answer might be.

“Well, Lou D’Mateo might have mentioned that Sklar didn’t have a heart condition when Marlene offered her condolences and she got a scared look on her face and left.”

“In other words she felt she had to run for her life, is that it? And just what do you mean Sklar didn’t have a heart condition? What did you do Chuck?”

“Well, Sklar tried to hire Doug Shellow to take all of us out and wanted Vinny Santori to slip us all a mickey. When I got hold of Vinny he told me of Sklar’s plan so I contacted Doug who told me to get the hell out of Helena that he would take care of the situation, that it was nothing but a big mess.

“Vinny told me to lose his number and that’s about it. I flew back to Billings and the next thing I know Marlene is asking me what she should do about the office and I headed back to Helena. Then the local sheriff’s department shows up and throws me out.”

“Jeeeezus Criminy! You are, without a doubt, the biggest idiot I have ever met. Did Doug kill Sklar?”

“I’m sure he did.”

“And where is he now? And why were you ‘thrown out’ of Sklar’s office.”

“I don’t know why I was asked to leave the office and I don’t know where Shellow is. He’s not answering his phone; I called the Helena FDA and they said he had a family emergency. I have no idea where his family members are located and how many there are.”

Joe didn’t know what the hell to do about all of this mess…he did need to move that truck though and he needed to move it fast.

He needed to get hold of Simon Henderson immediately before Jim’s wife decided to go out to that barn. She had no idea what was in that truck and he’d like to keep it that way. He didn’t need to be making any more enemies or adding any more bodies to the list he already had to deal with.

Maybe Liz Parker would just pass up the “roofie” incident and the association with the Evans men was just that, association. He didn’t feel comfortable contacting Barnaby at this time. He only hoped, although he wasn’t sure, that the “roofie” incident was closed. No one knew of his and Shuman’s partnership and that was fine with him but now this pansy ass Sevright got some insight as to the association and he wasn’t real happy with that sudden revelation either.

‘Shuman has too damned many secrets; I wonder what else he isn’t telling me?’ And Joe signed for the check as he left the coffee shop and headed to the bar.

Luke had already placed a camera high up on one of the shelves in the lounge area with a powerful microphone and only hoped it would shed some light on the new situation that seemed to be developing. Alex and his team would be able to define all voices by process of elimination and he was hoping for a lot of conversation. The director had given him a heads up the minute that he found out about the meeting between Joe and Chris.

*~*~*
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:46 2/22/14

Post by mary mary »

Carolyn: It really is encompassing a whole group isn't it. LOL But we are winding down.
Eve: You mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I must have had a tough time keeping track of all the characters...you have no idea. I had charts, a spread sheet and notes everywhere. I shall never, ever do that again, I'm too old for that crap. If I ever do another fic. it will be strictly characters from the series, I promise. I doubt I ever do though but never say never, right?
*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 46

Max and Michael made their way back to Missoula the minute they heard the girls had been ordered to stay away from their jobs. They had all the faith in the world in Jose’ and the rest of their regular hands and had no intention of leaving Michael alone to defend their girls.

Liz and Lois had both put in for vacations with their employers and both were reluctantly granted of course. The women were more than key employees; they were the reason for both companies continued success. Each woman had contributed an enormous amount of knowledge and energy to the companies they worked for.

Max and Clark didn’t even wait until the next morning, they packed their bags and left for Missoula that evening and arrived at 11:00 p.m. Liz and Lois were shocked, grateful and elated at the sight of the brothers as the two men stood in their doorway looking sheepish as hell.

“We had to come.” Was all Max said as he grabbed Liz and stepped into the apartment, hanging onto Liz, with Clark hot on his heels. Lois stood there with a shocked look on her face which was slowly being replaced with a huge smile and then she wrapped her arms around Clark’s shoulders and melted into his embrace.

Michael watched on from the living room where he was currently watching the late news on the TV from his makeshift bed on the couch. Liz had offered to sleep with Lois and he could have her room but he was insistent that he bunk on the couch for safety reasons.

He had seen the Evans’ pickup pull into the apartment complex parking lot from the window over the kitchen table and he knew immediately what was going on with that. He would have done the same thing if it had been Maria. And then he smiled…a great big smile, and waited to say hello before leaving. This could be a good thing or a bad thing…Michael wasn’t sure which but he knew he couldn’t change the minds of these two men even if he tried. From the looks of their bags they were going to be here for as long as it took.

“Hey guys, good to see you again. I’m just going to head across the hall. Liz, Lois, you know what to do if anything suspicious goes on. I don’t care if the entire town of Missoula is here; you get on that emergency line I gave you. You don’t have to say a thing, just hit call button one and I’m here.

“Max and Clark, see this,” Michael showed them the phone, “each one of them has one of these and I’m not kidding. We have no idea what we’re up against at this point and we are not taking any chances with anyone’s lives including yours. So stay alert but relax and we will get this resolved. It just takes time. Are you guys on board? “

Michael was as serious as he could get and both men understood perfectly. They nodded to the man they now considered their friend and Michael started to fold his blankets and grabbed his pillow to ready them for the linen closet. Liz headed to the kitchen to make some tea for all of them and then asked…

“Is anyone hungry?” Michael laughed as did everyone else and then Max answered…

“What do you have?” Now Clark and Michael were right there with him and Lois just shook her head and joined Liz in the kitchen.

“Do you want breakfast or a snack?” Liz asked.

“Make it easy on yourself Liz. We aren’t going anywhere anytime soon so just fix whatever you want to. We’ll help clean up.” Liz nodded as she started to open cupboards and the refrigerator.

Lois was setting the table for five when she looked at Clark and spoke…

“Okay you two, just what the hell are you doing here anyway? You weren’t supposed to be here for a couple more days.”

“We’re here to stay until you’re safe. You won’t come and stay with us so we are going to stay with you.” Clark answered.

Michael just shook his head…Clark was right in a way. They really weren’t safe anywhere but at least here, it was more confined, the players were more easily identified and he had a whole lot more backup should he need it.

“I see, and now Michael can watch over you two as well as us.” Liz said, never realizing just how true that statement really was since Joe Watson had been watching the Evanses for a very long time.

“Well, maybe yes and maybe no. We do know how to take care of ourselves Liz. Honest.” Clark was starting to get just a tad bit short with the little brunette.

“I realize that, but we are more or less confined to this apartment; right Michael?”

“Yeah, sort of; we really don’t want to make it look like we suspect anything.”

“Well then, since we put in for vacations, why don’t we take one?” Lois asked.

The other four looked at Lois in surprise…that might work.

“Where would we go?” Liz asked. “We can’t just up and leave the horses.”

“Then let’s take them with us. How about we take a trip somewhere in the motorhome? We can all fit, maybe, if you don’t mind being a little close.” Lois said…and three men looked scared to death, they surely hoped she wasn’t serious. One look gave them their answer. She was!!!

“No Lois, huh-uh, no way in hell! You can fly to Hawaii and I’ll go along, shit, I’ll even have Maria meet us there but there’s no way I’m going away in that motorhome with four other people and two horses. Forget it lady, just forget it. Now, it’s here or somewhere nice but not a tour in a motorhome with two horses and four other people… just forget it.”

Michael was on a roll and Max and Clark silently breathed a sigh of relief.

“How about we go visit the folks for a while?” Liz asked.

Michael gave it some thought before he put the skids to that idea…

“No Liz, we might just put them in danger too. We have no idea just how big this thing is and how many players are involved. No, I think it’s best we just stay here and make the most of a bad situation. Look, you have your friends here and no one knows that they aren’t just spending your vacation with you so hunker down and deal with it. When this is over we can all go out to the ranch and have some real R&R. What do you say?”

Liz smiled as she started piling plates with bacon and eggs and Lois buttered the last piece of toast and placed the plate on the table for the three men. She and Liz each had some tea and toast as the men ate and then they agreed as Lois said...

“Okay.” They would stay put.

Michael left for his apartment about 1:00 a.m. after he helped put his bedding away and Max and Clark helped clean up the kitchen and then they all headed for bed. It had been a long day for all of them for many reasons and safety was uppermost on the list.

Joe Watson was getting ready to clean up the bar along with Luke and then started his nightly inventory when he asked Luke how things were going.

“Just great Joe. It’s a great place here, I really like it.”

“Good. You did find a place to live right?”

“Sure did, as a matter of fact it’s one fine place too; one of the waitresses over at Sophie’s managed to rent her mother’s place to me and three other guys and I love it. I never see the others of course since our work schedules are so different but it’s nice to be able to live in a place with more than one room and a bath. Especially one as nice as that one is.”

Joe smiled; he knew exactly which place Luke was talking about.

“You say you have three roommates?”

“Yeah, but like I said, I don’t know that much about them. You know one of them I believe. He’s been in here a few times, works over at the P D with that Detective Barnaby that comes in all the time before heading home. Don is his name. Don Valiant. Seems like a nice enough fellow for as often as I see him. Usually on Saturday afternoon when he’s doing his laundry or coming in from his weekly grocery shopping. The man has some strange tastes that’s for sure…although I did have to tell him to keep away from my Oreo’s. That’s cause for divorce in my book.”

Joe laughed, “So you like Oreo’s?”

“Oh yeah, the only cookie worth eating.” And the two men kept washing and drying glasses and putting stoppers back on bottles. So far Joe liked Luke and wondered why he would settle for Missoula, Montana of all places.

Joe would have to ask Barnaby about Don the next time he was in and he kept on readying the bar for the next night’s business.

*

Earlier that day Charles Shuman landed in Billings and picked up his own vehicle in the long term parking lot while a black FBI unit sat in waiting for Agent Blanchard.

Agent Martin was still sitting in on the surveillance of Chris Sevright who hadn’t done anything more than go back to the office he shared with Shuman. What he was doing inside was anyone’s guess but agent Martin was sure it didn’t involve trouble. The man seemed to be annoyed with Charles Shuman and that suited Martin just fine. Sevright was guilty of a lot of things just by association but Martin didn’t think he was a dangerous man by himself.

Each agent followed their own assignment as instructed regardless of how innocent the suspect seemed and of course there wasn’t anything innocent about Charles Shuman. They could pick him up right now on multiple charges but they needed everyone and as long as they kept themselves out of trouble they would continue to follow and to gather evidence.

Maria, in the meantime, had put Joseph Watson into the FBI’s computer data base and was getting some very interesting information; very interesting indeed. And she smiled as she printed out her reports and headed to Jesse’s office…first making a stop at the ladies room.

She patted her stomach and told little baby Guerin that she’d had just about all the fun she could handle for one day and the baby seemed to settle down. Sometime they only needed some one on one attention, just like a man.

At least Michael wouldn’t be threatening her with buying a puppy anymore. At least she hoped not…God! What a thought, and she smiled once again as she continued on her journey to Jesse’s office.
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:47 3/5/14

Post by mary mary »

Natalie: I'm working on it honest...it's winding down, seriously! :)
Carolyn: I was in Dallas over the week-end and my granddaughter informed me that she not only reads my stuff, she wants more. I laughed at her and spent the biggest part of today copying my stuff over to cd's for her. As for the fic. I think it's winding down and I did find a couple of unfinished stories that I might work on some day...we'll see. :)
Eve: I took lots of notes on this one...honest. And if it confused me I can just imagine how confusing it must have been for you but it's getting to the end, honest. :wink:

*~*~*~*~*
Chapter: 47

It was very quiet at the apartment complex the next morning, all of the inhabitants, including their visitors, had taken advantage of the fact that Liz and Lois were on vacation. They had all had a late night the night before and were feeling sort of weary over the entire ordeal. Liz couldn’t wrap herself around the fact that someone would want her dead. ‘Surely whoever was doing this had to know that she had turned any evidence she had found over to someone else.’ It made no sense to her at all.

Max could feel her uneasiness as he held her close and he gave her a little squeeze…

“It’s going to be alright Liz. Please, relax love, you’re being well protected. Michael isn’t going to let anything happen to you and neither am I.”

Max needed to talk to Michael about getting a gun. He and Clark were very adept at hand guns as well as rifles but it never dawned on him that he would need one anywhere but out on the range.

What Max didn’t know was that Liz and Lois were also qualified with hand guns and they had their very own weapons should the need arise. Michael was also totally unaware that the girls actually packed when they went riding. They had never intended to use their weapons on another person in their lives; the thought had never occurred to them but if push came to shove they wouldn’t hesitate.

Liz merely scooted closer in to Max’s chest and hugged him as she agreed with an “mmm hmm.”

“You don’t sound very convinced.” Max replied.

“Look Max, I know that Michael is here to protect us but we don’t even know how many people we need protected from. So far we have Doug Shellow making viruses, we have Charles Shuman and his partner seemingly running things but I’m not convinced about that.

“We know that Detective Barnaby covered up your parent’s murder but we don’t know why. As for the rest of them, hell the whole town could be in on it.

“Look at Kyle, Luke, George and Dwain. They’re all out there investigating just about everyone in town. Jim Andrews is supplying feed to ranchers that is killing cattle. He’s got two guys that apparently don’t know jack shit picking up bad feed sacks in your barn and that’s just the top of the list. It seems endless and here I am on vacation, in my apartment. Hell, at least they could let us go somewhere fun.”

Max had to laugh, what else could he do. What she said was so true but it would be nice to take a little side trip somewhere besides the apartment. At least it would be nice for her, as for him he liked where he was just fine and he bent his head and kissed her nose just because he could.

Over in the other bedroom a similar conversation was taking place…

“Clark, I’m so sorry about your bulls. We will be successful with the breeding but you just might have to postpone your roundup next year by a month or so.”

Clark smiled as he held Lois close,

“Lois, the least of our worries right now is the mating of my cattle. Let’s just take one thing at a time and put those things in proper perspective. We can’t be mating bulls when people’s lives are at stake. And speaking of lives I think I need to talk to Michael about getting us some hand guns. Max and I are very qualified with hand guns but God knows I never dreamed we would need them here in town.”

“Clark, you don’t have to get weapons from Michael. Liz and I have guns and trust me when I say this; we do know how to use them.”

“God Lois, what are you doing with guns?”

“The same thing you and Max do with guns Clark. We spend a lot of time out there riding and we come across dangers just like anyone else. We’ve never shot anything but a few rattle snakes but we were successful.”

Clark just shook his head…they are a pair to draw to, and he gave Lois a nice little hug and smiled.

Michael was starting to stir as well in his own apartment and decided he should check in at headquarters before going across the hall to make a nuisance of himself. They’d all be glad when this was over for more reasons than one.

“Good morning M’ria” His smile was so big it was a wonder his face didn’t hurt.

“Michael, what a great surprise…how are you? Is everything alright? We just talked not 10 hours ago.”

“Of course it’s alright, I thought I’d call and say hello before I talked to Jesse. I guess I’m just lonesome…I miss you M’ria.”

Maria knew better than to allow Michael to know how much she truly missed him, it would just make him feel worse so she tried to lighten the mood some…

“Ah, you woke up with a ‘woody’ huh?”

Michael laughed, “Well that too, but that’s not all of it.”

“I know Michael, and I miss you too but it won’t be much longer. Things are starting to look up around here and I think I might have made some headway this morning on that search of Joe Watson, the bartender. He’s into something Michael…not sure what yet but the man has ties over ties over ties. Something is really fishy with him and I’m not sure just what yet but we’ll get it all put together soon.”

“That’s great news M’ria but that’s not taking care of the pain in my gut every time I think of you.”

“Shhh, Michael, I don’t want to talk about that, it only makes me feel worse. You know that I miss you too so let’s just keep this mornings conversation on business and tonight we’ll get some other things taken care of…Okay?”

“Yeah babe, but I’m still lonesome.”

“Yeah, me too…now talk to Jesse.”

“Fine, be and old stick in the mud. Talk to you later.”

“Yep, and tell the cornball Hi.”

Michael laughed, they didn’t like using names over the lines anymore than anyone else even though the lines were “secure”. It still wasn’t a good idea and seems that Ava’s nickname had sort of stuck with Liz. It was a great cover.

“I’ll do that, now put the boss on.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too M’ria, till tonight.”

And the next thing Michael knew he was talking to Jesse and filling him in on what he knew so far and Jesse was reciprocating. Doug Shellow still wasn’t cooperating but he was being held in “protective custody” until they had a good handle on the other players.

“It seems that the copies of the files Kyle sent corroborate Liz’s evidence and this Barnaby is in this up to his ears. I have no idea who else in the PD we are talking about but Barnaby is definitely on our pick up list.

“We’re still checking up on the Captain and it seems the only thing so far is that his parents seem to have been paid over and above all of the other ranchers for their spread but that’s it on him.

“This Joe Watson is fishy, we’re not sure what his tie in with Shuman is, he’s managed to keep his hands clean but something doesn’t look right there.

“Tony Sklar was nothing more than a glorified real-estate agent that hired the wrong man…at least that seems to be what we are able to prove so far. According to Shellow he wanted to take them all out and Shellow figures he acted in self-defense. That remains to be seen, but he’s still not talking.

“Dwain has pretty much sewed up Jim Andrews with the breeding grounds as well as his participation in poisoning the cattle and as far as Liz is concerned, we still don’t know what they think it will gain them by offing her but stay close.

“This Vinny Santori is a puzzle, I think he got out of Dodge in time to save his ass and Sklar’s secretary inherited the whole real estate business from Sklar but I don’t think Shuman knows this yet but agent Sloane is hot on her ass and I’m sure she’s going to be safe, at least from the bad guys in the game.

“Well that’s about it so far. As soon as we get more on this bartender and are satisfied that the Captain is on the up and up we’ll move in.

“Now do you have anything new to report?” Jesse asked, after filling Michael in on everything they had so far.

Michael smiled at the report Jesse had just presented, the only thing he wasn’t aware of was Sklar’s will….

“Well the Evans’ men have moved in with our two girls for a while and I’m not sure that’s good or bad. Liz is uptight about spending her vacation in her apartment but I think Max will take her mind off that for a while. Let’s hope so anyway.

“The men suggested they go somewhere fun but I think we should just stay put in case things get bad for Kyle and the rest. We think we’ve got a handle on all of this but you never know just how many more there are.

“There were the guys who drove to the Evanses to pick up the bad feed and I have a tough time wrapping my mind around that. I can’t imagine they knew what they were after when they did that but I still think we should keep them on our list of suspects. Then there are the two employees at the feed store, just how innocent are they?”

“I see where you’re coming from Michael and I agree. We’ll do some background checks on the two truck drivers and the two employees at Jim Andrews’ feed and see what we come up with. Tell our young women to sit tight and play some scrabble or something. Maybe they can go somewhere when this is all over. Let’s hope it doesn’t take too much longer.”

“I’ll tell them to hang tight Jesse and take care of my little one too.”

“You know it Michael. Stay tough.”

“Yep, Later.”

And the two men hung up.

*~~*~*~*~*
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:48 3/13/14

Post by mary mary »

Carolyn: LOL...JD was never into "Roswell" (she was 12) when it aired otherwise I'd have her finish these incomplete fics...she does have a degree in journalism, it would be great practice. :wink:
As for this fic, well, it is winding down, honest.
Still fighting the peeling off old skin from my sunburn but I'll survive. :D
Eve: Hey, glad to hear it and when I got your e-mail today you said you were at the hospital, are you ill? Or was there another reason? Curious George here... :)
Natalie: This chapter really has the boys' eyebrows raised...LOL :P

*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 48

In the office of Cattle Unlimited one Chris Sevright was getting pretty disgusted with what was going on, if he was going to be arrested for something he had to know what the hell for…and he wanted some answers right now; the only thing he was really aware of was the cattle virus.

“Okay Shuman, you’ve been keeping enough secrets around here so tell me what the hell is going on. Why does this bartender suddenly appear and seem to have some sort of hold on you. Just what the hell am I missing here?”

“Because he is a major player and has as much money in this operation as Sklar did and right now he probably controls 100% because Sklar is dead. I was just about to discover some important information in Sklar’s office when I was forcibly removed from the premises by the local PD. I don’t know what that was about yet, but I really didn’t have time to stick around to find out. Right now I’m not sure about this any more than you are.”

“What do you mean the bartender owns this place? What the hell do you own?”

“Oh for God’s sake Chris, I just work here the same as you do. Sklar didn’t really know about all the underhanded shit that went on but the bartender pulls most of the strings. I basically follow orders the same as you do.”

“Nah, I’m not buying it. I don’t think the bartender had the Evanses blown up. I think that was you…the cover up was just too sloppy for a business man, one with good sense anyway.”

“What? You’re telling me that was screwed up? It had to be done. Philip Evans was on to the virus. He knew it was planted.”

“Hell yeah it’s screwed up. This could have been handled a whole lot easier with a whole lot less mess. Shit man, you could have been out of the country by the time they found out what was going on. Now look at you. You’re tied up in Murder, intentionally obstructing justice, obtaining property using illegal methods and God knows what else and you’re taking me down with you and I had no idea half of this shit was going on. No Charles, I don’t believe Joe Watson knew anything about this shit. How did you get tied up with him anyway?”

“I approached him about relaying information about ranchers in trouble through the bar. A bar is an excellent place to pick up information. The next thing I knew we were in business together.”

“Did he know about Sklar?”

“Yes and no. He thought Sklar was a name I paid to use for the real estate business, that’s all. He had no idea he was the money behind all of it. He thought I had the money.”

“Well shame on him, he’s even dumber than you are if he didn’t investigate this place any better than that.” Chris was on a roll and the FBI was listening in on the entire conversation….

“Well, you see, this place IS in my name, sort of. Well it is and it isn’t. I’m not listed as the legal owner. I’m a DBA for the larger corporation (DBA, doing business as) but if you check the county records here in Billings, I’m the owner of the cattle company that is buying up the ranches.”

“And Joe Watson bought into all of this phony ass bull shit.” It was a statement not a question.

“Well yeah. He’s a bartender with a lot of money. His father died and left him a huge settlement. He needed some investments and he chose me.”

“Dumb shit!” And Chris ended the conversation saying he needed some air.

Chris left the office under the surveillance of his assigned agent and agent Blanchard stayed behind listening and watching. The boss was really going to get some mileage out of this news. They still weren’t privy to what Maria had found but it was time to get into some files in that office and find out just who these people were paying and what for. Maybe a court order allowing access to more detailed information into bank records would help.

Blanchard used the fax machine in the utility van he was currently sitting in to send a message to Jesse along with a voice recording of the surveillance tapes they had just listened to.

Jesse immediately thought about contacting a Circuit Judge to see what his chances were of getting a court order to get hold of Charles Shuman’s bank records and then he thought…”Marlene Dubchak”. Why not just look at Sklar’s records first and see what information they could obtain from those.

“Maria, get me Agent Baker on the phone.”

“Sure boss, you want to talk to Miss Dubchak?”

“Maria, sometime you scare me.” And Maria laughed; she knew he’d need her for some more information when she discovered what Joe Watson had been up to. Apparently Jesse hadn’t had a chance to look at her report yet.

“Jesse, I put some information on your desk earlier that would suggest you take a look at the files in Sklar’s office. I’ll bet Marlene knows exactly where everything is in that place. The man thought an awfully lot of her to have left the entire corporation to her.”

Jesse smiled…

“I haven’t had a chance to look at anything this morning to tell the truth. Don’t let anyone near this place until I finish talking to Agent Baker.”

“Okeeee, dokeeee” and Maria pressed the intercom button to the off position and called agent Baker immediately and then transferred the call.

“Agent Baker, Director Ramirez here…would it be possible for Agent Sloane to get Marlene Dubchak to allow us to have a look at their office files. What we’re really interested in is finding names of payees on checks. A Photostat of these would be great. We’re looking for payoffs actually. Do you think she might give us a look at those without a court order?”

“Sure she would, she has no secrets from Sloane, I can tell you that right now. I think I smell romance in the air if you want to know the truth. She hasn’t been to that office since Shuman was asked to leave; I think she’s still trying to wrap her mind around all of this.

“You know we’re talking some pretty big bucks here and I’m positive the woman had nothing to do with any criminal activity and I don’t believe Sklar did either. Well up until he decided to get rid of everyone involved in his company if we can believe Doug Shellow. That’s about all the information we’ve gotten out of him so far…and I’m not so sure we can believe anything the man says at this point.”

“Hmmm, well see what you can dig up for us okay. We would rather do this without shaking any trees in Shuman’s office if we don’t have to. There are still too many loose ends. Maybe this will help.”

“I’ll get right on it Director…we’ll get this solved, I have no doubts.”

“I don’t either; I just don’t want to lose any more lives.”

“I understand. Talk to you later.” And the two men hung up. Jesse took this opportunity to read Maria’s report and it was very interesting, she had surmised everything Jesse was thinking and he smiled. She’s going to have my job one day. And that really brought a smile to his face.

Agent Baker got in touch with Agent Sloane immediately and asked if everything was going okay…

“Of course it is…no bad guys on the horizon so far but I’m not so sure Shuman knows that Marlene is now his boss. She would like to attend Sklar’s funeral, which is in two days. His Uncle held the body until everyone from out of state could get there. I don’t think it would hurt to allow her to go; what do you think?”

Baker thought for a second and then agreed that she should go but Sloane had to go along. Of course he agreed without hesitation. Then Baker continued…

“Well the Director wants us to get a look at Sklar’s files, mainly cancelled checks. We’re looking for payoffs. One time only checks. We’re hoping we can get the information from Sklar’s files and not have to arouse suspicion by taking Shuman’s records. It’s too soon for the director…he’s sure there are more people involved in this and he would like to do this covertly if possible.

“We’ll get right on it; tell the director we will fax everything we have for the past two years. How’s that?”

“Sounds about right. They only have to keep records for three but this conspiracy didn’t seem to start until about eighteen months ago so I guess two years is a good cutoff.”

“Great, I’ll tell Ramirez to watch for the fax.”

“Talk to you later Baker.” And the two hung up.

*

“Michael, we need to go out and buy groceries and I’m getting sick of looking at this place.”

“Doesn’t anyone deliver?”

“No Michael, people don’t have their groceries delivered; at least I don’t”

Michael smiled, Liz was ready to climb the walls and nothing Lois or their two guests did seemed to be able to calm her down.

“Okay Liz, we’ll go grocery shopping but you need to be very careful who you talk to, to be aware of who is in the immediate proximity of you and when choosing anything fresh make sure it’s safe and do everything I tell you to do if I think you’re in danger.”

“Michael, don’t you think you’re getting just a little paranoid here?”

“No Liz, I’m not paranoid. We’ve got the PD, the bartender, the feed store, the delivery guys, the real estate people, the FDA and God knows who else tied up in this thing and they haven’t hesitated to eliminate anyone who seemed to get in their way so just promise or I go buy groceries.”

“FINE!!! Lois, do you still want to paint this place?”

Lois looked around at three startled faces and started to laugh.

“Yeah, why not; we’ve got plenty of help and with tall, dark and handsome over here we probably won’t even need to drag out the ladder.”

“Liz, you said groceries.” Michael tried his damnedest to sound ferocious and strict …

“The paint store first Michael.” And Michael Guerin actually groaned out loud, ferocious hadn’t worked at all. Maria was the same way…he hated to paint walls; a canvas was not the same as walls.

So off they went to the paint store. All of them piled into Michael’s rented SUV. It was the least known of all the vehicles at their disposal so to the paint store they went.

*

When agent Sloane told Marlene what he wanted from her she explained that their bank records only showed bank transfers. What he needed was copies of Shuman’s accounts payable journals. They were itemized with all of his monthly expenses and the bank transfers reflected the totals on these journals.

She was able to provide an in depth journal of expenditures and the allotted funds for each transfer based on these expenditures. Sloane was so happy he could fly.

There it was, all of the payments to the ranchers all of the “One Time Only” transactions that were listed as operating expenses, which he knew they could easily identify with the copies of bank transactions they already had and the repeated payees at various intervals. There was even an entry for V S, New Jersey and Sloane shook his head.

Sloane was so happy he actually lifted Marlene off her feet and hugged her almost breathless, and then they looked at each other; really looked at each other and they smiled. Life was good in more ways than one.
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"Age is just a state of mind"...I think that's mine? I could be wrong! I'm old, so sue me.
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mary mary
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Re: Brothers A/U C/C Mature Chapter:49 3/19/14

Post by mary mary »

Carolyn: I don't think either granddaughter has ever seen Roswell although Sam is familiar with it. Sam has read quite a few of my fics but JD has just started on them. This one is getting close to the end as you can see from the way the chapters are winding down so we'll see how it goes. I don't believe either girl is surprised about them but as I explained to JD at the beginning of the month when I saw her that if you aren't familiar with the show the fics can leave a lot of wondering because,when you write them, you don't have to be so descriptive with the characters. She didn't seem to mind but she's a little prejudiced, I think. :wink:
Eve: Although computers are a great help in anything we do someone still has to feed them the data in order for it all to come together...thank you for sticking with me. :)

Chapter 49

Michael stood off to the side of the national hardware store and watched his two friends look at paint chart after paint chart, which he had done so many times before, and he took it all in. Max and Clark stood there fascinated with what was going on in front of them…it was perfectly obvious that these men had never chosen paint for walls before in their lives and it was almost comical…almost! This was not what he had planned for his day, although he really didn’t have any other plans, but this was definitely not upper most on the agenda whatever it was.

“Lois, how about this one?” Lois shook her head ‘no’ and then voiced her opinion as to why…

“Liz, it’s nice but that would mean that we’d have to change the color scheme in the kitchen and that would really cost some bucks if we had to go changing appliance colors and all.” Liz thought for a minute and then had to agree…

“Hmmm, I see your point. Max, what do you think? Clark, do you have any suggestions?” Liz looked at the two men while deep in thought…

Michael immediately got the attention of the men from in back of the women and stood there shaking his head “NO” fiercely…Max and Clark caught on immediately. Apparently Michael had been suckered into conversations of this sort before.

“I don’t know Liz; I can’t see anything wrong with what you’ve got.” Max added diplomatically…then Clark added.

“Max is right Liz, the colors you already have look great.” And then he added a big smile just for the hell of it.

“Well you two aren’t any help. Michael?” and Liz turned to see her friend looking at some sort of unrecognizable tool on a shelf, “do you have any suggestions.” She asked a very engrossed Michael…

“No Liz, I can honestly say I don’t. Colors are more of a personal nature. The person living with them should do the choosing.”

Liz only nodded her head in agreement, deep in thought, as Lois continued to look around at more paint colors; Michael nodded to the two men and kept as far away from the two shoppers as he could get without putting them in jeopardy.

*

Luke had just finished fixing himself a sandwich when Dwain and Dennis both made their way into the kitchen.

“Good morning you two: you don’t look any worse for wear. Anything exciting going on in your neck of the woods?” Luke asked as the two night shift security guards helped themselves to some coffee and he watched as they deposited a few dollars into the ‘grocery collection’ jar on the counter since yesterday had been payday for each of them and then they continued to make their way to the kitchen table.

“Not much, how about you?”

“Well, other than being questioned about my new ‘living quarters’, which I think was innocent enough, nothing since seeing Joe with Barnaby.

“I’ll probably find out something this evening; I need to make sure the surveillance equipment is working. I haven’t had a chance to check in with Billings on the subject.

“I wonder how Kyle is doing. Joe asked about him too. I told him I never see the man except on Saturday and Sunday afternoons because of my work schedule. I guess this is normal conversation between two co-workers.

“Tonight I think I’ll turn the tables on him and see what he has to say about his private life so to speak. I never hear him talk to anyone about a wife, a girlfriend or family. I just wonder what he has to say. I think, after last night, that he might be open to some conversation. It’s been all business up until last night. You know, inventory, customers, cleaning out the register and making a night drop at the office. Stuff like that. He’s never even mentioned any of the waitresses or their associates. Strange man really; not very talkative at all when you get right down to it.” Luke thought about it for a minute and decided this idea was a really good one.

*

Agent Sloane had faxed copies of the A/P journals from Sklar’s office to the central office of the FBI to the attention of Maria Guerin as per the directors instructions and Maria sat down with one of her better accounting assistants got to work. The girl was a genius at spotting unusual data and with the track record of Charles Shuman she didn’t feel the girl was going to be too long in finding bogus entries. How they got past this Marlene was beyond Maria’s comprehension.

What Maria was not privy to was that Marlene wasn’t the one checking over the accounts. Her job was to handle the books of the main firm; Tony Sklar took care of that part of the business.

Although Maria had not asked Stephanie to make comparisons with Joe Watson’s accounts, as incomplete as they were, Stephanie remembered some of the amounts from the transfers on his banking records and pulled those files as well. There were too many similarities to not make a connection and so she noted these numbers as well as Sklar’s numbers. It seems that the two men were transferring similar amounts to this cattle company. Interesting.

When Maria had her report ready for Jesse she made certain that he stopped his “messing around” in other things as Maria liked to put it and concentrated on what her staff, mainly Stephanie, had come up with. Jesse was impressed. They really needed to get hold of Watson’s records.


Back at the hardware store Liz and Lois were still up to their elbows in color charts when Julie came by with an arm load of halogen lamps and had to stop and have a look.

“Liz, Lois, what are you doing here. I heard you were on vacation, since I haven’t seen you in a couple of days I asked about you.” Then the waitress looked around at where they were and was shocked as she exclaimed… “What? You took a vacation to paint? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Liz had to laugh and Lois just stood and waited for Liz to reply. Michael didn’t know what to think and Max and Clark both waved him off.

“Well, we’ve got some company for help and it needs to be done, so I guess, YES! We’re going to paint our place on our vacation. How have you been?”

Julie nodded her head in the affirmative, indicating she was fine, nodded to Max and Clark who she well recognized, and laughed.

“Well, good luck you two but I think I’d find something a whole lot better to do than to paint walls on my vacation. See ya’.” And she was off that fast.

“Who was that?” Michael wanted to know, more as curiosity than a fear of danger.

“You remember Julie…she waited on us.”

“No, I don’t think I do. But it’s a good cover story…this worked out great. Now come on, I’m getting hungry.”

Liz looked at Lois who nodded as she picked up a pretty shade of goldish-yellow and headed over to the clerk behind the counter…

“Hi. I’d like a gallon of this in flat, a quart of the same color in high gloss enamel and a gallon of ceiling white.”

“Lois, what are you going to do with that?” Liz wanted to know.

“Paint my bedroom. We aren’t going to spend a day in the hardware store and leave empty handed…I’m buying this and then changing everything in my room to match. I’m tired of the “dorm” look Liz.”

Liz grinned as she went back to the charts and walked away with a silvery gray looking color and a grayish lilac coordinating color and smiled as Lois nodded. They were on the same page after all…bedrooms first.

Liz waited for the clerk to finish up Lois’ order and then she placed her order as Michael stood and shook his head. They were going to have to paint the public rooms of the apartment white after looking at the difference in their bedroom choices, and he smiled. Max and Clark just stood there and nodded; they knew exactly where Michael’s mind was.

After the hardware store the group headed to the grocery store and the men followed the two women up and down every aisle in the store. Every so often Liz or Lois would ask Clark and Max if they wanted anything special, knowing that Michael would just throw his stuff in the basket, and every once in a while Max or Clark would put something in the cart as well.

None of the men had any intentions of these two paying for the groceries but that argument was best left for the checkout counter. Let’s just say that Michael and a government credit card won out over other protests and it was settled amicably.

Off to the apartment complex once again; food and paint awaited the five young adults as Julie gossiped with one Jonas Barnaby about using your vacation to paint your apartment. Barnaby actually laughed. ‘Well, we know where they are anyway.’ Barnaby thought to himself.

*

Barnaby stopped in at the Joker on his way home, a habit that was becoming more and more frequent by the week, and had a talk with Joe the bartender.

“Hey Barnaby, how’s it going these days?”

“Can’t complain Joe…the honey do list is getting bigger and bigger and I need a “Pick Me Up” or a “Calm Me Down” before heading in that direction. I haven’t figured it all out yet but I’ll have JB neat.”

“Right you are. Hey, how’s that new guy working out for you? Valiant? Isn’t that his name?”

This caught Luke’s attention right away but he kept his distance…the equipment should pick up everything these two would have to say and the place was still quiet. That lull between dinner hour and cocktail hour was always used to ready things before the rush in a place like this.

“Yeah, he’s doing great. The guys all seem to like him and he’s a very personable fellow, knows his business and no job is too small for him. He’s great on picking up facts that we might have missed because we’re too used to it all I guess. He’s very thorough and mindful of his fellow workers. It doesn’t make any difference if it’s the janitor or the Captain they’re all treated with respect. I admire that in a man…” And Barnaby trailed off.

He knew Joe was pumping him for information but he didn’t have any to give; he continued, “Don comes in, he’s pleasant, does his job regardless of what he’s asked to do and goes home. He minds his own business and doesn’t complain or ask for favors. It’s like he isn’t even there sometime; he just sort of disappears into the woodwork so to speak.”

And then Barnaby got a sudden chill, what was the guy really looking for? But he didn’t mention this to Joe, they already had enough trouble and Barnaby didn’t want to be shaking anything up but what he had just said scared him; what’s the guys story anyway.

Luke kept himself busy with the few customers that had come in before heading out to dinner or just unwinding after work and was excited about the conversation going on at the other end of the bar with Joe and Barnaby. God he wanted to be a fly on the wall. What the hell was Joe up to now? He’d just have to wait until he got home to find out what was going on, if anything. He was assured by Alex that everything was going through the surveillance equipment properly but he still wanted to know for sure. God this was nerve wracking.

Barnaby didn’t say anything to Joe about the two doctors painting their apartment either. He was getting a very uncomfortable feeling about this whole Shuman thing and wanted as far away from these two as he could possibly get. Maybe he could talk the Captain into a vacation like the two women had taken only he wanted to get away, far, far away.

*~*~*~*
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"Age is just a state of mind"...I think that's mine? I could be wrong! I'm old, so sue me.
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