Roswell Fanatics

Carolyn: I remember when we bought our first home...I painted on my vacation. It was one of the most exciting times of my life and it's when I allowed my three youngsters to HELP if you can believe it. They actually didn't too badly, they were 4, 5 and 6...I allowed them to paint the insides of the closet doors (sliding closet doors that no one would ever see) which we removed and put on saw horses in the garage for them. They had a ball and told everyone who would listen, strangers included, what they were doing. Great memories. This vacation, forced as it is, is also about having fun in a way.
Natalie: So happy to hear from you as always...stay close, it's not long now.

Chapter: 50

“Jesse, come here and look at this!” Maria was practically shouting to the director as she ran to his office with her latest discovery. “Isaiah Shore” And she plopped down her new report on his desk almost as hard as she had hit his door…

“What the hell has gotten into you Maria?” Jesse practically jumped out of his chair as his head investigative scientist barreled her way into his office.

*
Back in Missoula Max and Clark Evans wore varying shades of Lilac, silvery gray and gold respectively and Liz and Lois matched to perfection. They had paint from one end of themselves to the other and Michael Guerin sat in front of the living room TV watching one hockey game after the other in the pretext of “protection” which Liz told him was bullshit and she was going to tell Maria. Michael just smiled and continued to eat chips with an exaggerated flourish and continued to watch TV.

Jonas Barnaby sat at his desk watching “Don Valiant” with a puzzled look as Don aka: Kyle worked diligently on file after file. He still hadn’t been assigned a partner nor was he sent out on any assignments no matter how small. Filing and sorting seemed to be all that he was entrusted with and the Captain watched as Barnaby watched; confusion and admiration crossing their expressions occasionally. Neither man knew what to make of this new detective.

*

Luke had gotten home fairly early in the morning but was so keyed up about the conversation between Barnaby and Joe that he really couldn’t get into a sound sleep and was up and wandering around the kitchen restlessly when his two cohorts walked in from their late graveyard shift…

“What has you up so early?” Dwain asked…

“Can’t sleep. Barnaby was in before the crowds started and I’m dying to find out just what the conversation was all about.” Luke answered his fellow agent.

“Well, let’s just put in a phone call on that secure phone of yours and see if Alex has anything for us.” George suggested and Luke pulled out his cell phone from his sweat pants pocket and held it up. He pushed speaker and then dialed.

“Hey, Alex Whitman here…what’s your pleasure?” Alex had no idea who was on the other end since this was a foreign number to him.

“Hey Alex, Luke here. The tapes from the bar last night, have you had a chance to have a look?”

“Hey Luke, as a matter of fact I just finished with them…nothing really interesting, Luke questioned Barnaby about Kyle, aka: Don, and Barnaby didn’t have anything interesting to say at all. But, after he told Joe about Don doing nothing but filing and sorting he got a really serious expression on his face, like he had just discovered something important but whatever it was he kept it to himself.”

“Hmmm, that’s interesting. We might have to inform Kyle to be extra careful around these people. We really don’t know how many players we’re dealing with here.” Luke interjected after some thought.

“I agree. I think all of you should be careful, that place seems to be crawling with suspects if you ask me. Did the director talk to you about Captain Shore?” Alex asked…

“No, what about him?” Dwain wanted to know…

“Maria found his name on a couple of interesting documents. It could be important and then again maybe not. She’s still digging.” Alex informed them…

“Great, just great! Is there anyone in this town we CAN trust?” George wanted to know.

“Yeah… Michael, you four, Parker and Lindstrom and apparently the Evans men; other than that I think I’d watch everyone else in that town.” Alex offered.

“Shit!” And Luke hung up.

“Well, what do you think?” Luke asked the other two.

“I think I’m going to bed. Until we have more information from headquarters I don’t think we have enough to go on as usual. There was a delivery from the feed store today and I’m not so sure I’d trust the driver as far as I can throw him but that’s about as much as I’ve got to add.” And with that Dwain bid them all ‘good night’.

*

Back at FBI headquarters Maria continued her search on the now suspect, Captain Shore. The only things she found so far were the sale of his parents ranch to Shuman and then the deposit of a tidy sum of cash deposited to The Captain’s account and then regular transfers to another account under the name of the Captain’s parents and him. Why would his parents have his name on an account when they are both alive and well?

Even if he is the sole beneficiary of their estate, such as it is, you would think that they would not have his name on an account that would be taxable with him added to it.

None of it made any sense to her and she continued to dig. She just had an uneasy feeling about this part of the mystery that was Charles Shuman, Tony Sklar, Joe Watson and all the rest of the Missoula “gang” as Maria dubbed them.

*

Charles Shuman made a call to the Helena office of the Real Estate Co. only to get a voice mail from Marlene.

“The offices of Tony Sklar will be closed pending the closing of escrow naming the new owner. Please leave a message and I will be glad to return your call as soon as possible.”

Shuman looked at the phone as if it was a foreign object, shook his head, and left his name and number.

“Marlene, it’s Charles Shuman here. I haven’t heard from you in over a week now and I was wondering if there is any possibility of you being able to release any funds to the Missoula office. We are running out of operating capital quickly here and I need to know where we stand.”

Marlene looked at Albert Sloan and smiled…

“Should I call him back and tell him he’s fired? The place is mine you know.” Marlene asked then she looked at her agent pensively and Sloan answered with a serious look on his face.

“I think it would be better for all of us if he thinks things are going to be okay. We are still investigating him and I don’t think it would be a good idea right now if we made any changes. Let him think that you can’t get into the office for a while. If our investigation is correct Joe Watson is his silent partner and he can get money from him.”

“Joe Watson? Why does that name sound familiar? I believe his name has come across my desk a couple of times but I can’t remember why. Maybe I just overheard conversations where he was mentioned…I just can’t place it.”

Sloan smiled; the woman amazed him with her memory and her knack for pinpointing things…He just wondered how legal this Shuman/Watson deal was in reference to the company Marlene had just inherited; it wasn’t Shuman’s to make a deal with in the first place but the legalities of it all was going to get real hairy if they didn’t soon get this settled.

“Don’t think about it too hard Marlene, it will come to you. Now let’s go get something to eat. You can call him back or not, it’s your choice. He doesn’t need to know that you got his message if you don’t want him to.”

Marlene smiled at “her agent”, as she liked to call him, and she grabbed her jacket and keys as Albert Sloan led her from the office.

*

Back in Missoula, in a nice apartment complex, four young people headed for the shower all at the same time, two bathrooms, and Michael smiled as he continued to watch Hockey and munch chips.

“YES” these men were just the ticket and Michael pumped air. Michael liked both of them and they were definitely well suited to Lois and Liz. Maria was going to love them.

His heart swelled as he thought of his wife and he wanted to talk to her so badly but not during work hours. What he wanted to discuss would have to wait and then he grinned broader, yes he would just have to wait.

***

Carolyn: I looked up "Crisis" and will tune in Sunday. I watch TV on Tuesday evenings and all my friends and family know better than to call between 8 and 10 on Tuesday evenings, NCIS...LOL. Honest! But I will add Sunday evening to my schedule now. I loved Mulder and Scully and so did my husband. I guess I've always been an alien buff and I don't know why.

This chapter our little group had to get out for some fresh air and that proved to be a little exciting for them...let's see how it goes.
Eve: You are much more polite than I am...I never asked, I just assumed they would help because I would have helped without being asked. Oh well, we do live and learn. I'm glad the site is back up too. I've been having problems posting at RH, owe them about 5 chapters so far but the site isn't down. I'll try again today...if I don't have any luck I'll just forget it. Anybody over there wants to read this they can come over here.
Natalie: It just seemed right to give Marlene someone too...she's been a key player in providing so much information and she was a real sweety so Sloan had to make it nice for her don't you think?
Chapter: 51

Captain Isaiah Shore called Jonas into his office and wanted to know how the new man, Don Valiant, was doing and Jonas told him just fine. No complaints from anyone and it seemed that all recent cases were up to date and filed as well. The man definitely knew what he was doing and the Captain sort of frowned at this…just how well informed did the man seem to be? But Jonas was too engrossed with his own problems to take notice of the Captain’s concerns and he moved on to his own business.

Kyle continued his reading. Something he had recently taken upon himself to personally look into. “Misdemeanors.”

As he filed he noticed that many of the ranchers complained of fences being torn down, which appeared to be purposely torn down, and neighboring cattle were infiltrating their herds and after carefully comparing these complaints, they were filed as just that ‘unfounded complaints’. These same ranchers had problems with the virus infecting their herds.

Those ranchers who had not filed complaints but their animals were infected just the same were the same ranchers who had lost their herds and property. And the same company had purchased these places for pennies on the dollar as Kyle’s investigation into the county recorder’s office clearly showed.

Kyle discretely made copies of these files and e-mailed them to Maria at the D C headquarters. Charles Shuman’s name was on every purchase and the Captain’s parents were listed among those properties, although they did not have any cattle listed. The selling price was astronomical compared to what the other ranchers had received. This was very interesting indeed.

When Maria received the e-mail she immediately got to work running comparisons with the data already compiled and found, that although the Captain did not receive any money directly from Charles Shuman’s company he was the one who had ordered Jonas Barnaby to the Evans’s “accident” scene to investigate on a Sunday. This was unusual as it was confirmed that Jonas Barnaby had every Sunday off to spend with his elderly parents.

Then the comparisons that Maria had run to verify the money being deposited to Jonas Barnaby’s personal bank account, over and above his usual salary, far surpassed anything the man could be earning even with a side line on Sundays. These payments coincided with the Evans’s accident as well.

Then, if that wasn’t enough it was also plain that the money that had been distributed by the Sklar organization to Shuman also coincided with large withdrawals from Joe the bartender’s Money Maximizer account.

The F B I was positive that Sklar was not aware of the virus but Doug Shellow insisted Sklar wanted all of these people taken out and by taken out Shellow made it perfectly clear that Sklar wanted them all murdered. This would be a tough one to prove since the journals clearly identified all of the payoffs as legitimate business expenditures and, it was decided, Marlene was definitely in the clear.

Deposits made to Jim Andrews’ personal account were also verified to the withdrawals against the accounts payable journals that Marlene Dubchak had provided to the head office of the F B I as well as withdrawals from the bartenders account.

Doug Shellow was already a closed case as far as his cooperation in this conspiracy and Vinny Santori seemed to be a weak link so far. The only thing they had on him was a payoff prior to the bridge exploding and his trip to Montana. This yielded them no more information than the fact he had participated in the explosion somehow.

The two drivers for the feed company that had “exchanged” the load of feed Max and Clark had hauled back to their ranch seemed to be just that, delivery personnel. The two clerks in the store earned little more that minimum wage and that is all that their bank accounts reflected so they seemed to be legitimate as well. As for Jim Andrews, he was in this up to his ears as far as the virus was concerned.

When Maria presented her current findings using a large spread sheet Jesse was beside himself.

“Maria, I think we’re about ready to close in on this group. Thank you. Without your expertise with computers and sorting through the mountain of paperwork we might have been here for years.” And Jesse smiled as Maria looked her boss over.

“You’re welcome but it’s just not acceptable Jesse. When this is over I want two weeks away with my husband. Words are very cheap Jesse and save the praise, we all work here, all of us.” And Maria emphasized the word all.

“You’ve got it Maria…anything else we have in the fire can be dealt with by others. I’m sure you know of someone we can count on besides you in your absence.”

“Well, I should hope so Jesse, we all earn our pay you know. I wouldn’t be able to do all of this by myself…everyone out there does their part and you know it.”

“Yes Maria, you’re right. Now see if we can get something more on this bartender. We really need to have a more solid case against him other than just knowing he’s putting money into Shuman’s pocket so to speak.”

“Well, I think Luke is going to have to come up with something regarding that. Can’t we bug his home maybe?” And Maria grinned…she knew they had to have a damned good reason and a written “permission” slip so to speak from a federal judge and since this thing involved many public servants it just didn’t seem to be the wise way to go.

“You know better Maria. We’ll get him.” And with that Maria excused herself and left the director’s office. She had been feeling much better the past of couple of days but didn’t even want to think about it…it could be just a reprieve while the little one geared up for something else to attack it’s mother with, anything for attention. And then she actually giggled out loud at that thought.

*
Back in Montana a group of weary young adults were actually getting on each other’s nerves and Michael was included in the self-imposed imprisonment.

“Michael, we’ve got to get out of here. If only to take a drive out to the ranch and see the horses, or maybe go for an afternoon ride. I can’t take this anymore.” Liz was beside herself and Max and Clark were about to tear their own hair out. They weren’t used to sitting around doing nothing.

“Okay, let’s go out to the ranch. Pack a lunch and I’ll go get my gear.”

“Michael, I know what kind of gear you’re talking about and we’re all going to be packing this trip, so hurry.” Lois added with some finality.

Michael smiled knowingly. Lois was right, they couldn’t take any chances.

So Michael went across the hall and grabbed his holster, put it on under his Levi jacket, picked up his wallet and this time his clip on for his badge, then he headed back across the hall. If there was any trouble today there wouldn’t be any problems identifying who he was.

Liz and Lois had a couple of side arms each and offered Max and Michael their choice when they discovered that the two young men had brought their own weapons with them. The four of them looked at each other and nodded as Liz and Lois chose their preferred weapons, situated their shoulder holsters under their jackets just as Michael had done ,and Max and Clark followed suit. They were ready to leave.

In the meantime Joe had hired a couple of out-of-towners to keep an eye on the girls even though everyone was convinced they were just on vacation and he had given specific instructions to the two men that if these women looked as though they were going anywhere at all out of the ordinary to take them out. He didn’t bother to tell the two men that a drive to a ranch and a horseback ride was perfectly normal for these two…big mistake all around these men were city slickers and horseback riding was “not normal” for them.

Our five young adults all piled into Michael’s rented SUV and headed out to the ranch to visit their sorely neglected animals and Michael ‘made’ the vehicle behind him without any problems at all. They seemed to stay two car lengths behind them and made every move a tail would make without any problems at all and Michael was making it very easy for them.

When Michael pulled into the ranch and made his way down the lane toward the barn, stables and the corral the vehicle slowly proceeded down the road and that’s when Michael made their presence known.

“Guys, we’ve been followed and I think we might meet up with some trouble so stay alert. When we get out of range of the corral we all take our jackets off and show our weapons. If anyone is stupid enough to give us any shit don’t shoot to kill but stop them. We want answers and this might be just the break we need.”

“What if they have rifles?” Max asked…

“I don’t doubt for one minute that they do. We need to come up with a plan. We have to be far enough away from each other that it will be impossible for them to get all of us and I’m sure that’s what they want. I know if it was my plan that’s what I would want. No witnesses and I think this Joe is just that kind of a person…He’s covered his ass quite well so far and we need to nail it so now that we are aware of these two characters and we’re on horses we have an edge.

“They have to be on foot and can’t be too far ahead of the ranch if they want to keep us in sight. Let’s just split up…I think that’s the best way to go and we’ll see if we can locate them before they locate us.”

“Okay, but Michael, if they intend to shoot me and I see them I’m shooting first and asking questions later.” Liz had no qualms at all in protecting those she loved, including her horse. Michael smiled and Max just shook his head. End of discussion.

And so they all saddled up and Michael, Clark and Lois headed out toward a small group of trees that sort of bordered the fence surrounding the ranch while Max and Liz took off at a slow trot toward the hills surrounding the farthest point of the ranch. None of the riders were really concentrating on fun and conversation was minimal as they kept a vigil on the outlying surroundings.

Michael, Clark and Lois sort of had their animals at a leisurely walk when all of a sudden Chief reared back, whinnied and came close to unseating Lois who managed to clamp her thighs tightly around her animal allowing him to take charge.

He headed straight for an outcropping of young saplings and damned scared the shit, literally, out of two men crouching for dear life behind a small tree.

If it wasn’t so serious Michael would have laughed as he came to a halt and dismounted in one smooth move, it even impressed Clark.

Gun drawn and badge clearly displayed he held the two men at bay while Clark was right there with him gun drawn and pointed. Lois did laugh as she patted her huge horse and drew her own weapon. Laughing or not she was in no mood for this…

“Please don’t give me a reason to pull this trigger. I have my orders to take you two alive but trust me; I have no qualms about shooting someone who wants to hurt me or mine. Are we clear?”

The men had no idea what the hell was happening and then Lois, putting her index and middle finger into her mouth, gave a shrill whistle and Liz stopped dead in her tracks and Max followed suit.

“I think they have the culprits Max, let’s go back.”

And turn they did and went at a full blown gallop toward their friends. They were both shocked when they arrived to find the two men being held at bay by three guns and Liz figured what the hell and drew hers too. This was fun and Max grinned…”Just like in the movies huh?” And Michael roared as Liz smiled big and broad.

Michael made a call to the director and informed him that they had two hit men in a field outside of Missoula and would like helicopter retrieval ASAP.

Jesse smiled and said to watch the sky; help was on its way and Michael relaxed while Lois and Liz played with their pistols like two characters out of a western and then they all heard the familiar rattle…then the horses started dancing and both girls turned at the same time, aimed and shot the snakes head clean off. They turned in sync and had their weapons trained on the two men just as fast as the blink of an eye…Max and Clark grinned and Michael turned his attention back to the two men while stifling laughter, God what a circus…

“You guys really are lucky I’m here. I think they’d shoot you just for the hell of it.” And then he did laugh when Lois said “Damn straight Guerin.”

About that time they heard the rotors of a chopper and waited until the vehicle was on the ground and completely quiet before approaching. Two agents of the F B I exited the large machine, presented their badges, introduced themselves and hauled the two men who were cuffed to each other into the confines of the chopper. They cuffed the men separately, waved to Michael and took off.

“Well, can we have our ride now?” Liz wanted to know and all five young people remounted and took off for the hills. Liz was the first to speak…

“I hope those guys give up the person that hired them. This shit is getting old.” And they all agreed as they continued to ride in silence.

*****

Natalie: I agree...it has to be rough on these people who have their loved ones doing this type of a job and the fact that Maria is pregnant and can't even share it with anyone makes it doubly bad. Thank you.
Eve: Thank you so much and your fb made me remember an incident with my own horse many years ago...she spotted a Charlais (Not sure of the spelling here) grazing in the trees and stopped dead in her tracks. I couldn't figure out what her problem was and thought maybe there was a snake or something. She was shaking like a leaf and backing up, scared to death. I finally got off and led her around the trail until we were well past the offending cow and got back on. The poor thing was terrified of white cattle, I guess she thought it was a ghost because there was definitely other breeds of cattle in the area that didn't bother her at all. Long time ago, good memories.

Carolyn: Hey, I watched "Crisis" on Sunday and was surprised to see "Scully" in blond hair but it really looks nice on her. Interesting show too but coming in so late in the season is very confusing. This thing is moving right along and I'll have something for you in a few weeks...something old, something new, something borrowed and so on and so on. We'll see.


Chapter: 52

*

Back in the capital of Montana two men were printed and booked under John Doe’s, being held for attempted murder. When their information was loaded into the computer back in D C the information retrieved was endless. These two were based out of New Jersey and all known associates were mob related.

The only way they were going to get any kind of leniency in this situation was to come clean. They hadn’t been paid beforehand and they were sure they weren’t going to see a dime of anything until the job had been completed.

They never dreamed in a million years that a damned horse would be the end of them…and those two women were nuts. When this information was relayed to Jesse he had to laugh…

“Don’t pay any attention to them about Liz and Lois…characters yes, killers no. Just get the information.”

“If you say so director.” Then the attention was back on the two hit men sitting before them.

“Alright you two; let’s start with your names.” And then agent Baker pulled up a computer printout of their rap sheets.

"Okay, Cicero Simini, aka Ci Ci Simini. Known associate of the Fervanti mob and Miguel Morena, aka Micky also of the Fervanti mob. The rest is all here as well so let’s just move on shall we? First off, who hired you?”

Agent Baker wasn’t wasting any time. This damned investigation just kept getting more involved every day.

“We don’t know and that’s the truth. We were contacted by phone and were given all the specifics via e-mail. You are welcome to all the information we have and you have no proof that we intended to kill anyone.” Ci Ci barked out and Agent Baker laughed.

“Are you for real here buddy? You were caught in an outcropping of trees with high powered rifles aimed at two riders on horseback. Are you insane? And then, to top it all off, you just told us we could have all the information you have. Come on, get real here.”

Micky looked at his partner and shook his head in disbelief.

“He’s telling you the truth; we got the information on the doctors from an e-mail. Where they live and pictures. We were told to take them out and that’s it. We didn’t so there was no murder committed. We’re cooperating and that’s what you want. What kind of a deal do we get on this one?”

“None. Attempted murder is attempted murder whether for hire or not. You two knew this going in. The pay must have been a real gem to take you out of Jersey. I guess it’s a lot easier to do a drive by than it is to corner two female doctors who have done nothing more than contain a cattle virus that would have put a serious crimp in America’s beef supply. Do you know that is what their crime is? They provided healthy beef at a reasonable price for the American people…” Agent Baker was really getting wound up now.

The two men just sat and stared at each other, they’d never asked “why” on any of their jobs, maybe they should from now on. That is if there ever was a from now on.

“We really don’t know who hired us and that’s the truth. If you check out the folder in the vehicle we were driving you’ll find all the information we have.” Moreno was being as honest as he could be and Simini just sat and kept his mouth shut.

Baker left the two men in the interrogation room and went out to make a phone call. He got hold of Michael right away.

“Hey Mike, these two took this contract over the phone and received their information through e-mail. They said there’s a folder in the car they were driving and it has everything they know in it. Break the damned window if you have to but get that folder, we’ll have D C trace the e-mail address and find out who sent it.”

“Okay Baker, I’ll get back to you within the hour. It will take me that long to get back to the highway. Hang tight I think we’re finally getting somewhere on this. I don’t think Shuman hired these two but it’s possible. He really can’t be that bright with all the other shit that’s going on.”

In the meantime the tail that was on Jim Andrews followed him home and watched as the man made a side trip to one of the barns before going into the house and all he did there was shake the lock on the door…’Wonder what’s in there?’ the agent thought to himself. ‘The man doesn’t have any livestock and they keep their vehicles in the garage. Maybe we need to have a look and see what the hell is so interesting that he has to check on things out there.’

Agent Owens made a quick call to the Helena office and reported what he had just observed and suggested that they get a search warrant to go along with all of the other business that was going down. Agent Baker agreed and then asked…

“Are there any windows in the place?”

“Yeah, but they seem to be blacked out. Do you want me to have a look when they’re all gone? There’s only him and his wife that I know of. Our research says no family near so I can only assume they’re alone out here.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea…if you know of anyone in the service that can get in there without leaving a trail I’ll send him with you.”

“I can do it boss, honest…just a simple padlock. A hammer should do nicely, then I can lock it back up and no one’s the wiser.”

“Great, just don’t get caught. If there’s something in there we should know about the search warrant will be waiting for the rest of the take downs.”

“Don’t worry boss, I’ll be careful.” And with that they hung up.

Joe Watson was busy washing glasses and stocking the bar when Luke showed up for work that evening. Luke gave him a warm smile as he donned his apron and started making short work of his area making sure that he had all the lemons, limes, orange slices, cherries, olives and other condiments needed to mix the various drinks that were ordered on a nightly basis.

“Hey Joe, have a good evening?”

“Not bad Luke, how about you. Keeping those Oreo’s well hidden?”

Luke had to laugh…

“Yeah, I’ve got them in my room. I was tempted to hide them under my dirty clothes in the hamper but then, when I thought about it, I figured that I wouldn’t even want to eat them.”

Joe had to laugh at the man, “Those cookies must be something special, I’ve never tried one to tell the truth.”

His mom always made cookies and they never bought any at the store…he shared this news with Luke and Luke was floored…

“Do you mean to tell me you’ve never eaten an Oreo?” And the look on Luke’s face was priceless…

“No Luke, I never have; but I’m damned sure going to get some if you’re willing to hide the things in with your dirty shorts.”

And both men laughed as did Alex back in D.C., about that time Luke got a customer and Joe kept on stocking and stacking.

Our five riders all made it back to the highway and Michael found the rental car doors unlocked, praise the Lord, and retrieved the folder as Liz held his horse’s reins. He carefully folded it all into a neat package and placed it in the inside of his jacket that had been thrown over his saddle horn. He mounted up and said…

“I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. Let’s head back to town.” And his fellow riders all agreed. It had been a long and harrowing day and they were ready to throw in the towel too so to speak.

“Let’s hope this folder throws some more logs on the fire because this shit is getting old.” Lois barked out in frustration.

Clark smiled and patted her leg as he passed and then they were all off at a nice jog trot…no one saying a word to anyone.

*~*~*~*~*

Natalie: I think it will...

Carolyn: LOL..I liked Scully with red hair too but that was many years ago and it's just my thoughts but I think lighter hair keeps the obvious wrinkles a little less obvious... B.S., I know.
It's been a lot of years since I've had to hide the Oreos... Annnnd, the something old is up and running as you well know. This one is about ready to wind down as you can tell, it's been a long ordeal for me as well as you but thanks for sticking it out with me.

*****
Chapter: 53

When they all got back to the apartment complex Michael went over to his apartment and made a call to headquarters and left a message for Jesse. Then he copied all of the data in the folder and e-mailed it to Maria before heading in to take his shower.

He put the folder into the secret compartment at the bottom of his paint supplies. He didn’t feel safe mailing anything in this town so in the meantime he would just hang onto it . If anyone could find out where this information originated from it would be Alex.

He also sent a copy to Agent Baker in the Helena office and then he went into his bathroom and drew a bath…he was too tired and weary for just a shower, he wanted to soak all the bad stuff away as Maria called it and he smiled. The thought of his little pixie made him smile big and that was a good thing to quote Martha Stewart.

Across the hall similar feelings were being felt as Liz drew a bath and Max raised an eyebrow, Liz grinned…

“It’ll hold both of us Max honest. And I just want to sit and soak, that is, I want to sit and soak with you.”

“Well, if you think we’ll fit in there together then let’s sit and soak.” And Max was all for it. He didn’t think he’d had a bath in a tub since he was four years old.

Lois heard the water running in the bathtub across the hall when she entered her bathroom after getting a soda from the fridge and took a good long look at Clark. “I wonder” she thought to herself as she eyed him up and down and then she started to run the water in her tub as well. Clark raised an eyebrow and Lois grinned…

“Just think how cozy this is going to be Clark.” And he raised both eyebrows now and wondered if she’d lost her mind but it was worth a try. A nice hot bath did sound nice and a nice hot bath with Lois sounded twice as nice. “OH YEAH!” And Clark started to take his boots off just as quickly as he could.

In the meantime Dennis had put the security tapes on a loop again after the local P D took the burglars away and started to examine more of the information in the company computer besides invoices.

Now he would work on e-mails and communications. The secretary/receptionist was a very efficient young woman Dennis discovered. She copied all office correspondence into the computer and saved it to a file. “Good Girl!” Dennis thought to himself.

He retrieved another flash drive from his pocket and started copying files over and soon discovered that he needed two more flash drives before he was finished. ‘There’s a hellva lot of B S going on in this company, no doubt about it’; he was glad he wasn’t the one that had to sift through all of it.

When Dennis was finished he put the flash drives into his pocket and made his way back to the cameras, took them off their loops, and again made his way through the corridors to prove he was diligently doing his job for the cattle company.

While Dennis was passing the holding area for the pregnant cows he thought he saw something moving out there and slowly made his way through the interior of the building leading to the holding area.

There he found two men trying to reach a bale of hay and he flanked them and came up behind and surprised them, they men hadn’t been told of any security guards.

He held the two at gunpoint and made a call to the local police in order to not throw suspicion on who he really was and then discretely took photos of the two culprits with his cell phone as he waited; he would e-mail them off to the D C headquarters as soon as he could.

“What the hell do you two think you’re doing here at this hour and what are you doing messing with that bale of hay?”

Neither one of the two would speak and that was just fine with Dennis. Kyle would know what to do about them in the morning if the night shift didn’t let them go before Kyle reported in. Talk about not trusting the system, this was a nightmare.

When the local P D showed up Dennis gave them a rundown on the two perpetrators and then released them into their custody.

“Boy, you two take the cake. What in the hell did you think you were doing back there in those holding pens? That’s where they milk the bulls and impregnate the cows for God’s sake.” Crowley had learned a lot about that holding area while he was tailing Dr. Lindstrom.

Simon Henderson and Curly Stewart just sat in the back of the police car and kept quiet.

Officers Adams and Crowley had drawn night duty this month and couldn’t believe these two…

“Well, don’t you have anything to say for yourselves?”

Curly, who had just about all he could handle for this damned feed store spoke up before Simon could give him a good swift kick…

“Jim called us and asked us to get some of the hay that was spread out in the holding pens…we don’t know why but this is the second time he’s had us messing with feed. Once we had to drive to the Evans’s ranch and pick up an order of feed and replace it with different sacks. I think the man’s nuts.” And this time Simon did kick him.

Crowley gave Adams a look that said they’d better call the Captain. They had no idea what was going on but something big was happening. Crowley wouldn’t have given it a second thought if he hadn’t had a watch detail on the doctor who worked here.

When they got back to the office with their two perps Crowley left Adams in charge while he made a call to the precinct captain who happened to be out. His wife said something about his father needing him and he left immediately. Crowley left a message and returned to the two men they had just picked up and watched as Adams took down information before locking them up for the night.

The two men gave up nothing but their names and that was it. What a nightmare. Adams did include the backseat conversation they had with the two on the way in to headquarters but nothing else was revealed.

The next morning Dennis met up with Kyle before turning in and brought him up to date on last night’s intrusion on the research center and Kyle made up his mind it was time to bug the Captains office. They usually didn’t like to do this to their own but sometime they had to; especially if that person was a suspect in an ongoing investigation.

When Kyle got into the office he picked up a folder and headed into the Captains office without even looking at anyone else, the place was vacant. He made his way over to the corner of the Captains desk, slid his little device well beyond the corner of the inbox sitting there and proceeded to pick up a post it note and jotted something on it…stuck it on the Captain’s blotter under a bunch of other papers and left the office…Barnaby didn’t miss a trick and Kyle knew he was being watched so he just nodded at the man when he left, leaving the office door open behind him.

“Is there something we can help you with Don?” Barnaby asked Kyle.

“Oh no, just a note on a file that seems to have interested the Captain. I’ll talk to him when he gets in. How’s it goin’? “

“Pretty decent, and you, any problems?”

“Nope, I’m cool man. Things are going just fine although this has to be the quietest town I’ve ever worked in.”

Barnaby laughed, ‘if you only knew Kid…if you only knew’.

“I guess it would seem that way. We do have excitement sometime, but I like quiet.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way of life. Well, back to the files, even they’re boring if you want to know the truth Barnaby.”

And Barnaby laughed even harder this time…

Kyle was looking for the files on the two men brought in last night and couldn’t find a damned thing when he noticed Adams and Crowley making their way to Barnaby and discussing something Adams had in his hands. Barnaby made a bewildered sign, rubbed his hand through his hair, and then he said he’d take care of it. Adams handed over the file and Kyle checked the computer’s login sheet for the night before. There he found that the two ‘burglars’ Dennis had told him about had been logged in as John Does. ‘Well how about that’?

Captain Shore showed up mid-morning and Barnaby immediately made his way into the Captains office and shut the door.

“Cap. that kid Don left you a message on a post it this morning, is it there?”

Captain Shore rooted around the papers on his desk and came up with a yellow post-it note that said, “Captain, I have that file that you asked me about again. It was lying on the table in the file room and I know I filed it myself. Don.”

“Here it is Barnaby, the kid said someone had the Evans’ file out again and he wanted to make sure I was aware of it because I asked him about it when it was left out before. What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know Cap. but Jim Andrews’ delivery guys were picked up burglarizing the breeding grounds last night and we’ve got them booked in as John Does. They aren’t talking but Adams said that they were talking in the squad car and Curly said Jim sent them over to get a sample of hay, Simon kicked him, Adams could feel the movement through the seat then they clammed up.”

“Ah, I don’t need this crap this early in the morning…bring them up to interrogation.”

“Will do Cap. Doris said your dad’s in bad shape, is everything okay?”

“Not really Barnaby, it’s a damned shame a person has to retire and then wind up in a hospital. We’ll see after all the test results are in just what the problem is. Mom called last night and I went over and got him. She’s with him now and she’s not in much better shape from worrying about him.”

“I can imagine. Well, we’d best get busy and find out what the hell those two were doing. Should we call Andrews in and see what he has to say about this?”

“No, not yet. He might not even be involved. We’ll see what we can get out of those two first and then question Jim.”

“Okay.” And with that Jonas Barnaby left Captain Shore’s office and headed down to holding to bring the two burglars up to interrogation. Kyle watched on, hoping the bug was working. He’d call Jesse on his lunch break; he didn’t want to call any attention to himself needlessly.

In the meantime the two hit men that Michael had picked up out on the ranch were being interrogated in the main office of the Helena F B I headquarters again after the files Michael had sent in had been received and gone over. The men swore that what they had told them already was all they knew about this and so they were shipped off to D. C. for security purposes.

Jesse had Alex devoting all of his time and energy to those same files and Alex was running his program searching all data bases to find the origination of the original message. Whoever sent this was smart, so far he had been through three separate addresses and finally Joe Watson showed up.

He had routed the information to Simini and Moreno through an address to his parent’s address, then to the nursing home address and finally to the two hit men.

Alex thought it would have been smarter to use the cattle company or the real estate company but he guessed the guy felt safer using familiar addresses assuring he was the only reader of the message besides the recipient. They had him. Alex couldn’t wait to get the news to Jesse.

In the meantime the forensic labs in the D C office had found a partial print on the unexploded cap Liz had sent in via Ava and now they had Santori dead to right as the person responsible for blowing up the bridge on the E~N~S. Jesse added this to Maria’s spread sheet along with the e-mail sent from Joe’s house and he was beginning to smile like the cat that ate the canary. Of course without his staff of scientists, researchers and agents he would be nothing.

In the meantime all of the soaking was going along famously, just absolutely famously!

Eve: So glad to hear from you and doubly glad you enjoyed the last 2 parts...I think you'll like this one, it's sort of the wind down stages now but I think it's has some moments...
Carolyn: Well, it sounds like you enjoyed your holiday with the family even if you did have to take a rest...Glad to hear it, and a good rest never hurt anyone, even a hot bath is good.
Roswelllostcause Bless your heart, that's a lot of reading, although If I've got a good book (not that I rank this in with a good book) but...I'll read it in a day and then walk around like a zombie for two days...and thank you, thank you for the Barnaby heads up. When I was writing this thing the name Barnaby popped into my head and I couldn't figure out why but this guy had to be Barnaby. Now, as for your age, sweetie, my oldest granddaughter will be 30 in Sept. so I have a few years on you and if you're like her I know I'll like you.
***

After the good soaking away of a bad day the four young adults in 4-B decided that going straight to bed was a very good idea. In truth all the ‘good soaking’ had tired them out just about as much as all the excitement out on the range had.

Max crawled in beside Liz and nuzzled against her neck, leaning in on his left elbow and he smiled as she wiggled her way closer to him and then he had a serious thought he had to share…

“Liz, when this is all over and we know everyone is safe and where they belong will you marry me?”

Liz held her breath for just a second and only a second before saying….

“We don’t have to wait Max.” And Max breathed a sigh of relief before replying.

“Well, when do you suggest this happens?”

“Well, there’s no waiting in Vegas.”

“Liz, I don’t want to get married in Vegas. I don’t know what I do want besides you but I do know what I don’t want and it’s an Elvis Chapel wedding.”

“Okay… so do you have any thoughts on the subject at all?”

“No. Haven’t you ever thought about when you got married what it would be like?”

“No, not really. I guess I’ve always been too busy with other things than to daydream about a wedding and of course there is the fact that I’ve never wanted to marry anyone before either.”

Max leaned in and kissed Liz’s forehead very tenderly and then smiled down at her, pulled her even closer, before saying…

“Liz, will you think about it?”

She smiled, what’s to think about as long as Max was there that was all she needed.

“I’ll think about it Max. But, just what do you have in mind about all of this…I’d like your input here. Apparently this is something you’ve given a little thought to.”

“Well, maybe a little. My folks got married at the Cathedral in New York where my grandparents were married and my mom always said that she thought it would be nice if we, Clark and I, were married there as well.”

Max suddenly got very quiet and his eyes sort of filled and blinked before going on…

“Do you think you would like that?” He continued. He hadn’t given the idea a lot of thought either but now that this would be on his and Clark’s shoulders alone, without their parents, they had to think about it on their own.

“Yes Max, I think I would like that very much. That’s what we will do then. I guess that means we have to postpone this for a while then and give everyone time to adjust to attending a wedding in New York. “

Max smiled and then placed a tender kiss on Liz’s lips this time, thinking that would just seal the agreement but Liz had other plans regarding sealing the deal so to speak. Soon they were very busy sealing the deal Liz’s way and Max couldn’t have been happier.

*
Across the hall one Dr. Lois Lindstrom was just rousing from a very exhausting sleep as Clark Evans watched from his perch on the chair at the side of the bed.

He had been up for hours thinking about all of the events that had taken place in the past month or two and was very bewildered to say the least. If he had lost Lois yesterday he wasn’t sure his heart would have been able to take it. He didn’t even want to think about it, it was just too depressing a thought.

Lois continued to sleep the sleep of the dead and Clark smiled pensively…then he made a decision, he wanted her more than life itself, he only hoped she felt the same way.

He finally got up and left his love sleeping there all tangled up in hair and blankets and made his way to the kitchen where he put a pot of coffee on. Michael was sitting in front of the TV with his laptop sitting on the coffee table where he was busily typing away.

“Good morning Michael, I see you’re up early.”

“Well, I went to bed early for a change and I just had a few more loose ends to get off to headquarters before starting in on anything else. I don’t think we need any field trips today, as boring as this place is getting to be I think we’re better off staying put.”

Clark smiled and then chuckled at the man he was becoming very friendly with…he was a good guy to be around besides the fact that he was here to protect his girlfriend.

“I agree Michael, I don’t feel like repeating yesterday’s activities any time soon either.”

Michael nodded his assent and kept on typing.

Over at Joe Andrews’ spread Agent Owens watched as Angela Andrews took off with her friend in the other woman’s automobile and then Agent Owens exited his vehicle and left it parked out of sight as he made his way to the outbuilding while carrying a small ball peen hammer.

One tap on the padlock and the lock was released. Agent Owens slowly lifted the mechanism and opened the door just enough for him to get in and then pushed the door closed behind him.

Inside he saw this huge panel truck and made his way to the back where another padlock was in place. He gently tapped that lock and looked inside…DAMN!!! There were the ruins of a van, and not a very old one at that and it looked like the thing had been hit by mortar blast. He snapped several picture and relocked the truck, the barn and took off.

When he got back to his vehicle he called Jesse personally. “Boss, that barn has the remains of a blown up van inside…I think it’s the final nail.” Agent Owens was breathless…

“The search warrant will be issued immediately. It’s a sweep Owens. Get Michael and head on out to the feed store and pick up Jim Andrews. I’ll give the rest of the crew their instructions immediately. I do believe we have an air tight case against all of them.”

Then Jesse got busy getting in touch with Kyle and telling him to get in touch with Dennis and George. “Go arrest Jonas Barnaby and Captain Shore.”

Then he contacted the agents in charge of Shuman and Sevright and ordered their arrest as well.

The agent in charge of Vinny Santori in New Jersey received the same order and then Jessie contacted Agent Baker and told him to allow Shellow to lawyer up and put him in custody under his own name.

It looked like a clean sweep. They already had the hit men hired to kill Lois and Liz, Sklar was dead and it would all be sorted out in the end.

“Maria, can you come in here a minute?”

“Sure Jessie, what’s up?”

“Where would you like to meet Michael? I’m sending a plane to Missoula to pick up all of the major players in this conspiracy and dropping them off at the Helena office. Would you like to take the trip to Missoula just for a ride?”

Maria smiled, rounded the desk and gave her boss a great big hug, a smooch on the cheek and then she said.

“Tell that pilot to give me an hour and then you call Michael and tell him I’m on my way.”

Jessie smiled, “you have more than enough time Maria. It will take us that long to get the pilots ready, register the flight and get ready for takeoff. I promise they won’t leave without you. And Maria, since Michael will be meeting the plane I think you should surprise him. I’ll see you at the airport.”


Maria actually skipped out of the office on her way to get her purse and F B I director Jesse Ramirez laughed at the sight. ‘They deserve a vacation after living through all of this.’

*

Dennis and George walked into the Missoula Police Department dressed in business suits looking like the agents they were and the desk sergeant looked shocked when they presented their badges and asked for Don Valient, he had seen them at Sophie’s in their security uniforms and was now in shock. Was Valient in some sort of trouble?

“What the hell as he done?” The man asked…

“Just point us in his direction will you?”

And so the desk sergeant did as requested and not three minutes later the men joined Kyle and Kyle stood and pointed to the Captains office as he headed over to Jonas Barnaby with his cuffs dangling from one hand and his badge showing in the other.

Detective Jonas Barnaby almost looked relieved and then Captain Isaiah Shore bellowed from his office…”NO!” And then the precinct office was in an uproar.

“Jonas, you have the right to remain silent…” and Kyle continued with his speech as Dennis and George made the same speech in the Captains office.

The agents nodded to the detectives sitting behind desks and any other people present as they lead their suspects out the door. Not one explanation was given to anyone.

Down at the Joker’s wild Luke walked up to his fellow bartender, handed him a package of Oreo Cookies and then presented his FBI badge and promptly arrested the man.

Agents Owens and Guerin converged on the Andrews feed store and took Joe Andrews into custody while the same scene was taking place at the real estate company across town with Shuman and Sevright.

Back in New York Vinny Santori’s mother stood in the doorway of her home crying as her son was led off in handcuffs. “Why did he do this?” She wondered. She had been preaching to him since he was a baby about the pitfalls of this business. Apparently he hadn’t listened.

In Helena the F B I office was buzzing as they brought Dr. Doug Shellow in and informed him that he could get a lawyer anytime now that all of the players had been identified and arrested, had he cooperated this would have all ended sooner.

Doug stood there in disbelief…he was acting in self-defense, they had to believe him.

Agent Sloane relayed the good news to Marlene over breakfast, in her kitchen, and she smiled. It was going to take a magician to sort through this entire mess but when the ink was finally dry Marlene was going to be one very wealthy young woman and nothing pleased her more, except for the fact that she was in love with an FBI agent. Yes, that was much better, but the money was nice.

*

Michael had informed Clark before leaving the apartment as to where he was headed and what was going down and Clark couldn’t have been happier…

“Aren’t you going to eat something Michael?”

“Nah, when something like this is going down I try to hold off on food…if it gets ugly I don’t need anything trying to crawl back up out of my stomach.”

Clark laughed and told his new friend to be careful…

“Oh no Clark, we never say that to anyone… never be careful. That’s a bad term.” And Michael was serious; Clark could see this in his eyes…

“I take it back buddy, God bless.” Michael nodded and left.


Back in Helena Doug Shellow was talking to the arresting agents trying to convince them that he was acting in self-defense, but they didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah, those cattle were really threatening weren’t they?” Baker asked and Doug just slumped down into his chair and waited.

In the meantime the Washington D.C. airport’s private hanger was filling up with various government employees including one very tired looking little blond with three large suitcases being hauled by the Director of the F B I no less.

The men got really tickled at this sight and Maria paid absolutely no attention to them at all. She boarded the plane, found a seat and buckled up. They couldn’t get her to Missoula fast enough to suit her.

A couple of U S Marshals boarded the fairly large plane along with several F B I agents and the director. They were airborne in no time at all and Maria was beside herself with excitement.

The plane was routed to a very private area of the airport in Missoula where quite a few F B I agents and many men in handcuffs waited.

Kyle, George, Dennis, Luke and Michael would all be staying behind to gather their belongings while the rest of the agents would accompany the suspects back to Helena, which was where most of the agents were headquartered.

When Maria disembarked Michael was in deep conversation with Kyle and Kyle noticed her first. He nodded his head toward the stairs leading to the steps of the plane and when Michael saw his wife he almost passed out.

You couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face with a hand grenade it was that pronounced and then Maria saw him and she just broke down and cried. This had been one long assed assignment and she was so glad it was over with she could only cry.

She took off on a dead run and Michael just stood there with his arms opened wide; she collided and hung on for dear life.

Michael hugged, kissed and then hugged some more and every man on that tarmac smiled.

Michael gave a wave to the other agents and personnel and picked his wife up and literally carried her back to his rented SUV.

“Kyle, get her bags.” Kyle smiled and Michael was off that quickly.

“Is there somewhere we can go that’s private Michael?” Maria asked…

“Oh yeah. I’m so glad you’re here, I wanted you to see this place so much and now you’re here I don’t want to see anything or anyone but you.” Maria had to laugh at her husband…

“You’ll get over it soon Michael. How’re Liz and Lois?”

“They’re fine. I’m staying right across the hall and you’re going to love their boyfriends Maria. They are truly just what they needed and I think they know it. And wait until you see where they live, and the people that work for them are all great people. Maria, I like it here.”

“I can tell Michael. Maybe we have some decisions to make.” And Maria felt certain that some important decisions would be made when Michael found out her news.

Carolyn: Well, I think the bad guys have all wound up in a place where things are going to get sorted out...I hope!
Eve: LOL...since I'm no judge let's just say the FBI is going to give it their best shot. I believe some are more guilty than others in this conspiracy but we'll let the powers sort through it.
Roswelllostcause: You sweetie you. Liz takes her parents into consideration this chapter and keep in mind, although this has been going on a couple of weeks, it's only been about 8 or 10 hours since Max's proposal, but that's all made clear this chapter, I think.

Chapter: 55

Lois woke up about an hour after Clark had left her room and she was just a little taken aback that he wasn’t there. As soon as she made her way to her bathroom she heard her bedroom door open and smiled.

Clark made his way into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind, and nuzzled her neck.

“Good morning beautiful, sleep well?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I missed you when I woke up. Is everything alright?”

“Yes, Michael had to leave and meet a fellow agent in order to make an arrest. I guess they found enough evidence on everyone to finally make arrests and turn everything over to the state officials. Apparently mom and dad’s van was in the feed store owner’s barn. I can’t believe this, we’ve known that man all of our lives. This is absolutely mindboggling Lois and to think they wanted to kill you as well was enough to make me sick.

“Lois, I don’t think I’d be able to take it if anything happened to you. Would you consider giving up your job and living on the ranch, as my wife?”

“Of course I would Clark, how soon would you like this event to take place?”

“This afternoon?”

And Lois laughed…”I think we need a little more time than that Clark. I have to give notice and we need to get your bulls taken care of and there are a lot of loose ends to tie up before I can move. You notice I said move didn’t you? We can get married anytime you want to but we need to be realistic too.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind moving out to the ranch?”

“My God no! Why would I?”

“Well, because Max lives there too.”

“And so do a lot of other people Clark, we could probably go for weeks and never run into each other if we didn’t want to.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far Lois but we could have our privacy. It seems you and Liz are very compatible and I don’t see any trouble with that arrangement but Max and I thought we should discuss it with you two in case you want your own places. I would be more than glad to build one for you.”

He was so sweet and then Lois looked at him and finally registered what he had just said…

“You mean Max and you have discussed our living arrangements Clark?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say really discussed it but it did come up in conversation once.”

“Hmmm, I see, well okay that’s cool. We can talk about it some more. Let me get dressed and I’ll fix breakfast and oh, by the way, I love you Clark.”

“I love you too Lois and I’ll fix breakfast while you get dressed. Do you like pancakes?”

“Of course.” And Lois smiled as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Clark before he left her bathroom, then she got a huge smile on her face as she thought …’I’m getting married.’ And she smiled even bigger.

Michael put his fingers up to his lips indicating that Maria should be quiet as he led her from the elevator and moved her toward 4-D. Maria nodded and mouthed “LIZ” and he nodded back and let them in.

“Michael, this is really nice. Did you pick it out?”

“Nope, this is the way I found it when I got here. I think it might be a safe house or something because it was move-in ready with linens and everything. I didn’t ask but I think it might be.”

“Well whoever did this place had pretty nice taste. It doesn’t look like a furnished rental place at all.”

“Enough about the apartment Maria come here.” And it suddenly got very quiet in 4D while across the hall four young people were discussing their rapidly changing marital status in life.

After a couple of hours and a little nap thrown in Maria nestled into Michael’s chest, took his hand that was resting over his eyes and moved it to her belly,

“I have something to share with you Michael.” And Michael looked absolutely stunned and then he smiled. His heart swelled and he hugged his wife to him and held her like some fragile little doll…

“When did you find out?”

“Well, I haven’t been to a doctor yet Michael…I was sort of waiting until you could go with me. It became apparent a couple of days after you left and I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. I kinda’ like it like this.” And she all but crawled up his chest this time. Michael wrapped both arms around her and kissed her very soundly, not passionately, but soundly and both Michael and Maria smiled with happiness.
*
Meanwhile in Helena the F B I headquarters was humming with activity. Jesse introduced himself to the locals who were not aware of who he was and then he told Agent Baker that this conspiracy was a top priority for the state and Baker agreed.

Agent Sloane walked into the office just as Doug Shellow was being brought up from holding and Doug turned ash white. He recognized the man from the restaurant and then Shuman and Sevright made their appearance on their way to interrogation and Shellow looked at Baker and said once again, much louder, ‘I need to talk to someone’.

“You had your chance Dr. Shellow. We told you we had all the evidence against you and you refused to talk to us now you can talk to your lawyer as you requested.”

Shuman looked sick and Sevright still wasn’t sure who all these people were but he felt like he would find out soon enough. He just kept looking at everyone totally bewildered by it all. Each man would be questioned individually and all the pieces would fall into place, Jesse knew this for certain.

Jesse decided to question Chris Sevright and Vinny Santori himself. He wasn’t too sure just how much of Sevright’s association with the major players was criminal intent or just association with the wrong people. Jesse was certain that Vinny had handled the blasting caps that blew up the bridge but that was all they could prove at this time, where Vinny was when the bridge was actually blown was yet to be determined.

When Joe Watson and Jim Andrews saw Dr. Shellow neither knew who he was and this was noticed by Jesse and Baker. That was not a total surprise to Jesse but Baker was a little taken by surprise. Shuman was the one that gave the virus to Andrews and Watson only he knew that a biologist was involved.

That is why Jesse was here, to weed out the really bad guys from the pawns in the big scheme of things. They were all guilty of something but each one had different degrees of involvement.

Jesse still was not sure just how much Vinny Santori knew about his involvement in the bridge incident but he was sure to find out soon. Vinny was due to arrive with his agent via a commercial airlines any time now.

All the pieces seemed to be falling into place and so far it looked like Joe ‘the bartender’ Watson was really the big guy and Charles Shuman was one damn dumb ass who was responsible for one hair brained idea after the other.

*

Across the hall from Michael Liz was now questioning Clark about Michael’s disappearance?

“What did he say Clark?” Clark answered as he stirred the pancake batter and Liz whisked eggs while Max set the table.

“Not a whole lot, he had to go, the arrests were in place and it was time.”

“Do you mean this is over? Thank God!” And all four of our young adults smiled.

“Well, shall we discuss wedding plans then?” Liz asked out of the blue and Lois just looked at her and smiled.

“What’s your take on it Liz?” Lois wanted to know and their respective fiancé’s just looked at them in disbelief, they hadn’t even told each other, had they? Or were they missing something here?

“Well, Max said that his mother always wanted them to get married in the same Cathedral that she and their dad had been married in and so were their grandparents. I don’t have a problem with that and I know mom and dad won’t. Well Dad maybe, but it wouldn’t make any difference where it was going to be held. He’ll get over it.” And Lois laughed.

“Yeah, my folks won’t care where it takes place either.”

About that time the apartment door opened and nobody bothered, Michael had his own key so they just kept on talking, then Lois continued as though nobody else was there…

“How do you think Maria will take it?”

And Maria smiled and said…

“Why not ask her” And both girls stopped talking and turned toward the voice and yelled in unison…

“Maria!!!” And Max and Clark both stood and smiled. They knew immediately that this was Michael’s wife and both men were very happy for their new friend. They knew he was lonesome and now this was a double reason to celebrate. This meant the protection detail was over and they were all happy about that.

After all the hugging, squealing and dancing around was over Liz introduced Max and Clark as their fiancé’s and Michael raised an eyebrow. A lot had happened since he left this morning. After that announcement had been made there was more squealing, hugging and dancing around and now three men stood and wondered just how long these three women were going to be at it before they would start acting reasonable.

Michael finally interrupted the festivities and said…

“Hey, you two are on vacation and there are four other agents that I’m sure would like to join all of us out at the ranch to meet and greet before heading back to D. C. What do you say, is it okay with you two?” Nodding toward Max and Clark.

“Absolutely alright with us, just give us time to make a call to the ranch and get everyone filled in and get a grocery list. How long do you think you’ll be staying?” Clark wanted to know.

Maria looked at Michael and informed him they had two weeks before they were expected back at headquarters and then Michael got on the phone with Kyle. All four of the undercover agents were back at ‘the big house’ and Kyle asked the other three if they wanted to head on out to the E~N~S for a couple of days before taking off. They all agreed.

“Michael, we’d love to go for a couple of days but then we need to head on out. Ava will have my balls for dinner if I vacation without her.”

Michael looked at Max and Clark…

“Is it okay if Kyle’s wife and baby daughter join us? Maria and I can wait for him and Dennis, George and Luke can follow you guys out.”

“That’s fine. Ask Kyle what kind of baby food he needs and will pick some up for them. We’ve had some experience with baby needs with our ranch hands. Just have Kyle give us a list and we’ll pick it up when we go shopping.”

Michael smiled; yep these guys were alright in his book.

Michael relayed the message to Kyle and Kyle wanted to know if these two were for real…

“You have no idea Kyle. What does Ava need?”

“Angela is on strained food, infant sized diapers and the rest Ava will bring. I’ll get on the phone with her now. We’ll only be a couple of days. I swear.”

“No Kyle, make it a week…Ava will need that much time with Liz, Lois and Maria. Trust me.” And Liz, Lois and Maria all stood and nodded at their friend.

“Okay then, I’ll get on the phone right away. I’ll ride over with Luke, Dennis and George and you and I can wait for Ava and Angela. How’s that?”

“Sounds like a plan Kyle, see you in a bit.”

In the meantime Clark was on the phone with Maggie getting a grocery list and giving instructions for two more couples and three single men and one baby girl. Maggie was beside herself and wanted to know if they could have another “meeting”. Clark laughed and told her that sounded great. He nodded to Max and confirmed the number of visitors and then they got busy packing.

The only ones missing were Isabel and Alex but they would have their turn very soon…

Since Lois and Liz were going to be gone for almost two weeks they packed all the food from their refrigerator and Maria went over to Michael’s and did the same. Michael had to pack his personal affects and Kyle would bring Maria’s with him since they didn’t wait for her luggage to be unloaded at the airport.

After all the people were assembled at Liz and Lois’s place they started packing stuff down to Max and Clark’s truck As Lois and Liz headed out to the ranch to pick up their horses, couldn’t forget them.

Then, before they headed for the grocery store to pick up Maggie’s list along with Kyle’s… The order was outrageous to say the least, Liz asked,

“Max, do you want to put some of this stuff in my truck?”

“We’re good Liz, go get your horses.” Max smiled and leaned over and kissed his girl goodbye and he and Clark headed to their truck to start loading up.

The girls were so excited they could hardly sit still.

Dennis, George and Luke were following Clark’s truck and Dennis looked over at Luke and said…

“Did you bring the Oreo’s?” Luke laughed…

“Nah, I gave them to Joe before I arrested him. Speaking of Joe, I wonder if anyone is going to open the bar? You know it’s not right to leave the place unattended like that.”

“Luke, that’s not your problem and you know it. You were there as surveillance and nothing else…don’t worry about it.” Dennis said as he kept on driving.

“Well, you know it’s not right don’t you. Just leaving like that.”

“Luke stop it. Every employee in the place knows what went down and I’m sure it’s all covered by now.” George voiced his reassurance. The thing that was bothering George was leaving those two kids with that big house again. That was going to be a hard thing for him to do, to just move out like that.

And so the conversation went the whole way to the E~N~S and the bottom line was they were leaving; their jobs demanded it.

*~*~*~*~*

Carolyn: Well we're finally here, can you believe this thing has been around a full year? Well, I guess when it's compared to some of these fics that not such a long time. It's been fun and I hope you've enjoyed.
Natalie: Just a peek at the very last, at least I hope that post worked. Thank you for all of your kinds words and here's the end finally.
Eve: It certainly did turn out to be a party...and if my efforts worked there should be a pic. for you.
Roswelllostcause: I don't know if the real FBI would have been that concerned about the people they left in the lurch or not but I thought they should be... Anyway, here's the end for you. Let's hope it works out for all concerned and thank you so much for reading.


*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 56

Up in Helena Jesse was seriously considering writing an opera the men were singing so loud. The only one keeping a tight lip was Charles Shuman but the evidence was piling up so high Jesse was beginning to think that it would take a lifetime to convict him of all his crimes.

Dr, Doug Shellow and Vinny Santori managed to bring the hammer down on Shuman like a pile-driver and Captain Shore was definitely getting his share of trouble along with Jonas Barnaby. Things were really coming together for the F B I and Jesse would definitely let Agent Sloane know that Marlene had been a key player in finding answers.

Liz and Lois managed to get to the ranch and load up their horses in record time. They didn’t bother to fill the water tanks this time because they would take advantage of the water at E~N~S. This was going to be more than a week-end and Lois would be able to help with the bulls. They were so excited they could hardly stand it.

The entire trip was taken up with conversations about upcoming weddings, visits with Maria and Ava…if they should have a double wedding or one at a time…who would get first choice on the maid of honor or should they use the same one and the talk went on and on.

Clark and Max had George, Luke and Dennis following them and the trip to the Grocery store was interesting to say the least. The five men converged on the market, each taking a cart and loading up everything Maggie wanted, everything they wanted and everything they thought everyone else would want.

Luke was very concerned about all of them moving in on Max and Clark and both young men spent the majority of their time trying to convince the other three that there was plenty of room and not to worry.

In the meantime Maggie had managed to find a baby crib in the attic, the same one that Max and Clark had used as little ones and the suite she had help getting ready for Kyle and Ava was beyond beautiful.

Having met Michael, and him holding a special place in her heart, she gave him and Maria the main suite at the top of the stairs. She knew Max and Clark would be bunking in with Liz and Lois so she readied rooms at the other end of the mansion for Luke, George and Dennis. All would be finished by the time the guests started arriving due to the fact she initiated help from the other women on the ranch.

They were all excited about the company and discussed having another meeting while they worked; they all hoped that Max and Clark would like what they had done and Maggie assured them that her young men would definitely be pleased.

Jose’ saw to it that the stable was ready for the young doctors and that the parking space alongside the huge barn was ready for the fifth wheel the girls hauled with them. When Liz and Lois drove in with the horses they knew exactly where to go with the rig and Jose’ was waiting with a huge smile and a couple of ranch hands to take over for the girls. They had a lot more luggage with them this time and Jose’ smiled, understanding that their stay would be longer.

Lois was the first out of the truck this time and gave the ranch foreman a big smile and a huge hug to go with it and then she shook hands with the other men as Liz made her way around the truck to take her turn. Jose’ was beside himself with happiness.

“Are you two staying a while this time Liz?” Jose’ asked.

“As a matter of fact we are…we’re on vacation for a week and a few days Jose’. We have an awfully lot to share with you. And the mysteries behind the feed, sick cattle and even the blown up bridge has all been solved. We are now free as birds so to speak.” Liz continued her conversation with Jose’ while they unloaded the horses and got everything out of the truck and trailer and with the help of all the hands they made it to the back of the mansion in one trip.

Lois and Liz both hugged Maggie as they came in and then explained all of the groceries they had with them…”since we’re staying for a while we didn’t want the food to go to waste.”

“My Lord, I wish I would have known I would have made the grocery list a lot smaller with Clark and Max.” Liz and Lois both laughed.

“Maggie, you will probably use every bit of the order along with all that we brought with us, Michael cleaned out his refrigerator as well. We are talking grown men with huge appetites here so just enjoy. Where should we start unloading this stuff because more is on the way?” And Lois started moving toward the walk-in refrigerator that she had discovered the last time they were here.

By the time Clark and Max showed up with their three visitors Liz, Lois and Maggie had all of their stuff stowed and were ready to start on the bags, sacks and boxes that the other men were hauling in.

Introductions were made and George, Luke and Dennis were practically awe struck at the size of this place and Lois and Liz just stood back and smiled. They were each thinking the same thing, there’s no way that they needed another home…this would be plenty big for anyone,

Later that evening Michael showed up with Maria, Kyle, Ava and little Angela in tow and everyone was excited to meet all of the newcomers…especially the baby, she was the star of the show and Ava just beamed. This was going to be so much fun.

Liz, Lois and Maria were in seventh heaven and none of the men had a chance of any attention where this baby was concerned.

By this time Maggie and Jose’ had been filled in with all of the events that had taken place in the past few days by Michael and just who all of these men really were and they were all taken aback. Maggie couldn’t believe that Michael wasn’t really a painter but Maria assured her that he definitely was a painter, only in his spare time though. “Maybe someday, if he ever becomes famous he can quit his day job”, and Maggie laughed.

“It’s too bad he can’t quit his day job now Maria but we need men like these watching out for us. It is just too bad that Mr. and Mrs. Evans aren’t here to meet all of you. They would be so proud and pleased with their sons.” And Maria had to hug the middle aged woman standing there in her jeans and apron trying not to cry.

“It’s okay Maggie, I understand. I worry about Michael all of the time but I know he takes his job seriously and will never intentionally put himself or anyone else in harm’s way. None of these men would, it’s just a way of life for them.”

Michael walked by and overheard his wife and just reached over and gave her a hug on his way to the kitchen with something Maria couldn’t make out.

After all of the men and women had themselves settled in their various rooms and little Angela had enough of the doting adults they made their way down the two staircases and congregated in the large dining room and prepared themselves for a huge feast.

Lois and Liz insisted that Jose’ and Maggie join them and then Max stood and raised a glass.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you here for your help in solving this dastardly crime against my family and our fellow ranchers.

“I would also like to announce to all of you here, our extended family and our new friends, that Clark and I have asked our two lady doctors to be our wives and they have accepted.

“We haven’t had a chance to make any definite plans but the weddings will take place in the Cathedral that our parents and grandparents were married in in the state of New York. You will all be invited of course and arrangements will be made for anyone on this ranch to attend if they so desire and thank you again guys, you’ve been wonderful.”

Ava, Maria and Maggie were all in tears and Lois and Liz were speechless if that was possible and then Michael stood…

“I haven’t known these two men very long but Liz, Lois, you have got to know that I think this is the best decision you have ever made. You couldn’t have done better if I had done the choosing for you.” That brought some laughter to the table and everyone agreed with Michael…
*

In the meantime the Helena F B I forensics ran the truck and the van parts that were inside and Jesse made a call to the ranch to alert the agents. “The drivers of that truck work at E~N~S,” and Michael was instructed to make arrests ASAP.

Michael pulled Clark and Max aside and asked where Milburn and Allison hung their hats, hoping they weren’t family men and Max said they stayed in the bunk house during roundup and then moved on.

“What’s going on Michael?”

Michael frowned as he motioned for Kyle, Luke, George and Dennis to join them.

“We have two more players to apprehend, they’re out in the bunkhouse; or so we hope.” Michael announced and then Clark motioned for Jose’.

“Jose, have Milburn and Allison left yet?”

“No Clark, they’re out there helping with the bulls.”

“Let’s go guys.” And all five of the agents plus Clark and Max headed out to the corral.

The cowhands had no idea what was going down and when Max spotted the two men working side by side he pointed them out to Kyle and then motioned the two over to where he and the rest were standing.

“What’s up Max?”

“Allison, I don’t know what in the hell we ever did to you to have you do what you did but these men would like to have a word with you. Come on with us.” Milburn and Allison both got these sick looks on their faces and were hoping this wasn’t happening, but it was.

When the five agents got outside of the corral and they were certain it was safe Kyle flashed his badge and George and Dennis provided the cuffs. The two men were read their rights and then Clark nodded to the big silo… “Max, go fire up the chopper and take them to Helena, I don’t think I want anymore excitement around here, we’ve had enough.”

“Right you are Clark. Kyle, you let the Helena office know we’re bringing them in and Michael, you tell Liz I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Will do Max, and be careful.”

And that was the last of the bad guys as they knew it.

And so the weeks passed, the girls gave their notices at work and then both young doctors were contracted out by the state to work at E~N~S to do studies off site for the state of Montana.

A special lab was built for Liz and Lois had her own stable and holding pens to run tests, milk bulls as Liz called it, and her work in the field of animal husbandry was becoming known nationwide.

The weddings took place in New York as the Evans men wanted; Liz was married first and then two months later Lois had her turn. A private jet flew the ranch personnel to New York for both occasions and an entire floor of one of the largest hotels was booked solid. All in all life at the ranch was wonderful and there were many visits made by quite a few F B I agents and their families as the years went by.

Children grew and married and Liz’s dream of a small village materialized with a church and several more homes constructed as life went on.

Max and Clark Evans couldn’t have been happier and shared housing was never a problem with the two couples. As a matter of fact it seemed that it was always meant to be.

The many players in the cattle virus conspiracy were all convicted in varying degrees for severity of their various crimes, some more serious than others but convicted they were and the Missoula Police Department was under close scrutiny by the state for a very long time, which was totally unnecessary but watched just the same.

And so our story ends on a happy note with all the Evanses running cattle and living happy lives.

(OH, and any similarities to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.)