

THE INHERITANCE!
Part One

## 

## Book Six of the Luke Mitchner Series

by Michael M. Tickenoff

DEDICATED TO MY WIFE NADIA

Copyright © 2017 Michael M. Tickenoff

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author or his family.

# The Inheritance!

# Introduction

One Degree In The Beginning, Makes All The Difference In The End!

The release of my inheritance was a miracle. A long time coming, it had been nearly four years since my grandparents Stewart and Gladys Mitchner were killed in an airplane crash in the Canadian Rockies. Up until now, I did not have much to do with the legal aftermath of my grandparents trusts and long reaching investments, but it was no longer over the horizon; it had risen like a new born day. The real work in dealing with all the complex issues had arrived, while the mystery of wealth began to reveal itself.

I had no idea of the extent of my grandparent's involvement in charities, investments, enterprises and various global operations. I had been given a shadowy outline of the financial structures shortly after their deaths; but with the rising of the new day, the shadows were gone and everything was beginning to take form.

All this was nearly overwhelming for me; but I was not totally ignorant of the far-reaching consequences of the sudden inheritance and had somewhat prepared myself in dealing with its extenuating perplexities. Over the last four years, in and through my investigative and journalistic assignments, I had consulted with my personal friend and lawyer Dustin Arrow and together we had assembled a special team of trusted associates who would join us in the management of the multi-national operation. The only term I could find to describe this inheritance was gargantuan!

The team or group we assembled over those four years was named the MAVIN Team, an acronym for the three original founders of the group; Mitchner, Arrow and Vontempski, with International added to correspond with our outreach to come. The team consisted of at least eight associates with several standing in the background. Each associate had been personally invited into the group because of their special talents, unusual skills, and characters conducive to loyalty and honesty. Each member's attributes could be adapted and applied to enhance the goals of the group, benefiting the projects we might become involved with. Our goal was to become a finely tuned machine that in time would become a virtuoso of individuals—dedicated, hopefully unto causes to the good and the betterment of others.

We had sailed back to Hawaii from our South Pacific adventures, on our rebuilt fifty-five foot schooner, The New Song, and the remainder of our team had now flown in from the mainland. Dustin had arranged two nice rental homes along the Sunset and Pipeline beaches on the north shore of Oahu. About eleven months back, we had done some filming of the big waves season. However, this time, we were here for R and R, and business would be the name of the game from now on.

Each of us had been tested by life and its variable circumstances. A portion of our team had just concluded a long South Pacific journey to what is known as the Island of Obscenity. Then again, another adventure came out of that one: we had been involved in a rescue of five other sailing souls, leading us into a near death experience on the Island of Palmyra. There we had to deal with two threatening criminals and sharks of every sort. Even though we had taken charge of a portion of an ancient pirate treasure, we were nearly blasted away with a massive storm and a series of horrific explosions in the surrounding lagoons when they came alive from abandoned World War II explosives. We had barely escaped that tragic event, but lost one of our shipmates, Mike James—in the stormy explosion. We were faced with a Pacific cyclone which had blown us to pieces, and then we came to another ship. This one was filled with enslaved children and our boat The New Song became a floating orphanage and a part time Ark. All these things in my past were incredible experiences, but I thought that now would be a time of peace and quiet.

Little did we know that our unusual and fantastical adventures were nothing but minor scenes on the stage of a great play now unfolding before us. What was to come would over shadow everything we had experienced. Going back, I thought that the Green Bus journey and the Etroid disaster and my involvement with Brady Ivory Brewer or Bib the FBI wonder woman, was going to be the tops. But then there was the Pitt Stop puzzle mystery in the high desert with Wally Justin coming on the scene. Then, there was the greatest adventure for all of us with the Hearst Castle's lost treasure and the meeting with the Hearst Castle Security Forces, introducing our new relationship with the Kaamin twins, Crystal and Amber. These past stories would all pale in comparison to what would soon take place in the setting up and making the arrangements of this inheritance.

As much as we could tell in our preliminary investigations, we were looking at a portfolio of companies and holdings worth—and this was a low-ball figure, from 850 to 900 million! We did not yet know the full extent of our stock and bond investments on top of our initial estimates. In my description and references to this inheritance, I always refer to it as ours, rather than mine. I guess that due to the years of struggle in getting it released and having others come along and assist me, I just adapted the idea that we were working together in this one giant cause. I did not want to claim it as mine, that seemed out of place for me. This ideal began to work out much better than I dreamed. For those individuals that had come along in the last four years would become the loyal core of the MAVIN Team. In fact, it was necessary to outline a foundation and a trust fund that would handle this massive inheritance and all its holdings in case anything were to happen to me.

We soon came to grasp that we were going to have to expand our search for help in many areas. As we began to read the reports of what the Mitchner Holdings actually entailed, the idea of our group trying to manage this mass conglomerate would become daunting. The smaller industries and holdings we might manage, but the larger companies such as the manufacturing, the mining and our railroad interests were going to take some real study and the right person to run them, if we were to keep them. We would have to choose honest and worthy associates to do some of the behind the scenes research. What was interesting to me was that this group had almost formed itself over the last few years. This was done without anyone really knowing the extent of the Mitchner inheritance. Through one of our first unexpected experiences on the San Simeon coast line, we had come to know the Hearst Castle Security Force along with their operations and had united with them for security and advisory purposes.

Now, for the extent of the wealth that we would come to know, our imaginations would soon be stretched beyond all common reasoning, bringing us into a luxurious palace of opportunity. The choice of forming this group would prove to be a pivotal point on our compass of adventures. Yet, for me it became the family I no longer had.

There on the north shore, hidden away from the stress of the world, our meetings would begin to hammer out a blueprint for how we were going to manage all of these matters. We would soon discover by the means of our investigators that many of our holdings were going to surprise us. Not only were we to take over the various charities my grandparents established, but we would find ourselves the owners of assorted enterprises. These ranged from mining interests, industrial complexes, shipping and transportation businesses, commercial portfolios, two freighters, horse stables, a lumber mill operation, a truck dealership, ship yards, two California vineyards, a couple of smaller air strips and even an abandoned military base full of bunkers. Our researchers would bring to our attention many surprises: for example, part ownership in a Canadian soccer team, an air balloon flight school, and a fishing lodge in Alaska!

This first part of our official meetings were rather exciting, for everyday, something new was added to the list of discussions. This was great in one way, but it only added to the burdens of trying to figure it all out. What were we going to do with some of these companies? We just could not forget them, for there were tax liabilities and people's lives at stake. Each individual aspect of these holdings had to be treated with the utmost care. For we soon discovered that one small company might be tied into two larger ones. If we neglected the smaller one, this would affect the larger companies. One example was that we discovered that the Mitchner Corporation owned a fishing lodge in Homer, Alaska. With the lodge came two salmon trawlers, and with these two salmon boats we owned an Alaskan fishing license. This permanent license allowed our trawlers to fish a specific area in the Cook Inlet for a 30-day period during the salmon runs. This did not sound like much but that one license brought in several million dollars worth of fish and there were at least 20 families attached to the lodge, trawlers and licenses. How my grandfather came to own that single license was a wild story of its own. All these detailed holdings became complicated and it was evident that we were going to have to bring in people with greater expertise than our own. The hunt for these type of people had to begin, and it looked like we were going to have to begin making some investigative trips to see for ourselves.

We ran into further complications with the Mike James family. Mike had been killed in the Palmyra disaster and even though this was not our fault, we felt responsible in dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. This was going to take a special personal trip to California, or we would have to bring the James family out to us in order to figure or straighten all this out. Thomas and Julie, two of those we had rescued from their sunken yacht with Mike aboard, had managed to stir up a mess regarding Mike's part of the treasure, mainly concerning the rare gold links that Mike had accidentally located in one of the lagoons.

It was evident that I along with a few others were going to have to make a prolonged trip back up to Canada. This was going to be painful for me, for my boyhood home on the Mitchner Ranch awaited my return but I would be standing there alone, without my grandparents. Much of this work was going to take face-to-face meetings. Thus, it would be necessary to have Brookstone and his Hearst Castle security team along with us. Where all this was heading would be an on-going perplexity, even for the best of minds!

The first series of meetings for the MAVIN Team would be a marathon event for all of us. The very first point on the agenda was who would head the meetings. The group decided that this could be no one but me. Even though I thought it might do us better to have Dustin, an older and a wiser legal figure sitting at the head, the group decided that it was time for me to begin my training as the executive, and I bucked at this word or title. Once I took the helm, I began to express my basic ideals. There was not to be any holding back. If you had an idea, a doubt, or a suggestion you were to present it. It would then go up for discussion, no matter how tiny of an idea or doubt you thought to share. We agreed to disagree. I guess I would sum up these first few meetings as drawing up the blueprints and organizing our purpose and mission. We pretty well agreed that blueprints could be altered to fit the situation. In other words, we did not want to chisel things in stone. For we did not know where this entire effort was going to take us as a team. I felt good about this type of long-term thinking. For I knew by experience that things do change, and there are many times that you must think in new ways. The one thing we did not want to do was create a cell with a locked door on it for ourselves. We would be a flexible manifestation of ideas to meet on-coming situations. Later, this would prove to be one of our best decisions.

Everyone was staggered when I released the vast global holdings and our approximate financial standings. However, they were really blown away when I told them how much they would be earning annually. We would put no limits on the cost of our work once a project was approved. This meant that an effort or project that had been submitted by one of our team members would not be scrutinized to death by costs. There would be some oversight to our projects but we agreed to use our resources carefully. We would put trust into one another's personal abilities. I new this to be dangerous in a lot of ways, but it was also a means by which every member of the team would seek to protect that trust. It soon became evident that every member would certainly earn their handsome salaries—and how!

We established management teams within the group, necessary because there were those with specific skills in one area, and others with differing abilities that did not match with everyone else's talents. Teamwork would be vital to get the MAVIN Corporation up and running.

Dustin and his wife Nadia became the inner management team for all legal issues. Their work would overlap into research and financing. They could hire outside accountants or consultants to assist in research and in handling financial details. This was going to be one of the most difficult areas, thus we gave their team a great deal of leeway to conduct their work. Theo and Crystal became a working team. Crystal and amber were the twin sisters of the Kaamin family which made up the HC Security Force. Crystal would be Theo's personal secretary and assistant. She was another computer genius, well skilled and experienced in research, business and in management. They would continue running Theo's Surf and Water Sport Shop in Newport but handle personnel, as well as coordinate projects and travel affairs. They would assist Jay and Gretchen in the distribution and handling of the precious stones that had been recovered with other parts of the treasure, and they would go wherever they might be needed within the group. Gretchen was one of the two women rescued off the sunken yacht near the Island of Palmyra.

Then there were Jay and Gretchen, who had definitely become a team. Jay had a full array of skills and had slowly teamed up with Gretchen; they became a force in and of themselves. They would handle the diving equipment and any related duties. They would also manage all the antiques, any museum displays, and would be the guards and overseers of the golden links. It looked like they were going to sail The New Song back to New Port and live aboard it and this was fine with all of us.

Then there was Wally Justin. He was our loner; and for sure, another genius, inventor and a Herculean programmer, a man with a thousand very important connections. Then there was Timm Cogan. He was one of those we had rescued off the sunken yacht the Bye-Golly. We had pretty well adopted him into our sphere. He was one of those in-the-shadow characters we had come to know. We asked Timm if he would like to work with Wally as an assistant in product-inventions and research. Timm was a pharmaceutical engineer, and much the inventor, which was right up the path with Wally. Wally agreed to accept him even though he was not a MAVIN team member as of yet. One great benefit in bringing Timm into our confidence was that he was the owner of a very nice warehouse and production laboratory back in Honolulu. Theo and these two had already joined forces in several projects. One was the refinement of the sonar surfboard that Theo had invented. But there were several other far out inventions which were already on the blackboard. I think Theo found a team of his own in Wally and Timm, which was going to be interesting for them and for us.

Then we had the Kaamin family made up of the Hearst Castle Security Force, headed by Bobby Brookstone and his father and brothers. There was the respected head of this incredible family, old man Robbie Kaamin with his eldest son Bobby Brookstone, the head executive of the HC Security Force and the brothers: Jasper, Morgan, Mica and Jaden. Everyone in this family was a well skilled highly trained individual fully capable of handling every known mode of transportation, including business jets, air balloons, bull dozers and even small submergible crafts. They were more than experts in electronics, weaponry and in self-defense, and every one of them held some type of degree in engineering. This is what really caught my attention. Because just hearing that this family was a basic security business, one would not imagine that Jaden held a degree in the earth sciences; Jasper held degrees in mechanical engineering and history; while Mica was a certified gemologist and a stonecutter and Morgan held degrees in computers and electronic and mechanical engineering.

This was an amazing family in and of itself and the two teams would slowly learn to trust one another and merge into one awesome force. Many would come to learn, too late, not to mess with or try and get the upper hand with this family, as we had done.

Now Crystal and Amber had to be the softer and gentler part of this family. However, we also came to learn not to underestimate these twin lovelies. They might have been tenderhearted women, disguised in well proportioned bodies but their minds were sharp as diamond edged tools full of wonderment. Theo and I came to understand that these twin sisters had big brothers, and brothers that you did not want to have knocking on your door in the middle of the night, looking for their little sisters, Oh no, you did not want this!

Both Crystal and Amber were not only great secretaries, but could organize just about anything there was to organize. They were walking computers, playing with symbolic languages, codes and numbers like they had invented them, and in several cases, they did! Besides having more intelligence than we could deal with, these two women were witty and well versed in several languages and were well skilled in self-defense, as we had learned early in being acquainted. We came to learn that they had been used in several high level negotiations when a gentler perspective than their brothers' were needed.

The HC Security Force would become a vital influence within the MAVIN group. They were to be the main security and research/negotiation team. They would be there before the scene of each grand opening of a project and would handle any unsavory situation that might arise. I have to admit, and I speak for both Theo and myself, we stood as shadows in the light of all this talent. We would come to gain tremendous insights from all our associates and we realized that the old saying about attach yourself to others better than yourself in order to grow up, not down, was so true. We shined as long as we stood in the middle of this incredible collection of humans.

Then there was Amber and myself. She would be my personal assistant, secretary and researcher. In reality, she would become the better half of my brain, certainly in management. She was not only qualified as a near genius in computers, the hacker of hackers, a full on black belted protector and just a great person to have with you, but a rare beauty in her own way. We became a well oiled machine and worked together like a fine Swiss watch, in excellent timing. Going back to our first encounters at the HC ranch in San Simeon and the twins eventual parts in Theo's surf film, we had grown together. Not only in our business relations but in our personal views and feelings. I think that there were those that were a bit jealous, it seemed to be working too good for us. However, I was a better cook.

In addition there was young Jason Jenson, better known as JJ. He was the nephew of Dustin and our connection into the world surf and youth realm, another behind the scenes character. We had taken him under our wings and had big plans for him as soon as we felt he was ready; he might become a permanent fixture within the group. Then there was Max Colton; we called him our spy. For we knew he was a so-called FBI agent, a floater in service, but Dustin knew him to be a loyal person to any good cause. Even though we would keep him in the background for the time being, he would become our consultant into world and national politics. He would also be there to make recommendations of the legal issues we might become caught in or tangled up with. I was a bit stand offish about him but he did fill that needed gap in the team. No doubt, we had to trust one another's feelings and I left Max in the hands of Dustin for now.

Our time on the north shore was well spent and well needed. We did learn right off the top that there were unscrupulous people or groups out there that wanted to know our business. We would deal with this, sooner than we expected.

# 

# Chapter 1

# Our First Meeting!

Friends will hold your dreams carefully and accompany you on the journey to find the treasures of life!

Everything seemed to be coming together, in long anticipated harmony, long hoped for, something we felt we had earned. Even the north shore weather opened up its best days for us. Our full working team had been on the scene now interacting for a good week busy preparing as much information as we could for the first major meeting.

An early breakfast had been prepared with the large living room set up for the meeting. A long teak table which could seat 20 people if need be, took up center place. The head faced the floor-to-ceiling windows, displaying a cluster of slanted palm trees with a panoramic view of the bluest Pacific Ocean. Immediately behind this there was a continuous roll of waves which left creamy white foam reaching up the dark sands and washing over smooth volcanic rocks.

The release of my inheritance was a miracle. A long time coming, it had been nearly four years since my grandparents were killed in an airplane crash in the Canadian Rockies. Up until now, I did not have much to do with the legal aftermath of my grandparents trusts. The real work in dealing with all the complex issues had arrived, while the mystery of wealth began to reveal itself.

Once everyone was seated, I began to explain the reason for our gathering. Our main purpose was to begin to lay the foundation for the MAVIN Group; and we is it! Everyone seemed to get a little more comfortable as a laugh came forth with my nonchalant introduction.

"To begin with, I want everyone to listen carefully to Brookstone. He and his Hearst Castle Security Force are now our official security force. I'll let him explain right up front." I nodded the go ahead to Bobby Brookstone, who sat to my right.

There was no doubt, Brookstone had presence to his person. He stood well over six foot, wore a black eye patch over one eye that had been blown out by shrapnel, didn't try hiding his facial scars nor his missing fingers, this was just part of his being. No doubt, this man portrayed a special confidence and a well defined picture of experience. All these battle scars were earned in and through his world escapades, but few knew of them and he did not boast. He stood as a professional man of unusual intelligence, totally backed up by a multitude of confrontations and serious experiences. We had invited his Hearst Castle Security Force to join with us. Even though we had only eaten a half pound of salt with him, and the cement of our bond was not yet dry, we were pleased that his security force was on our side. This north shore meeting would soon reveal to the MAVIN Team if our decision was the best one for our futures.

Brookstone arose and without hesitation, looked each of us over with his one searching eye and began to lay things out for all of us. "I want each of you to fully understand what you are now a part of. This MAVIN group has just moved from a simple lemonade stand to a full fledged Bank of Luke on Wall Street!" This brought a chuckle to everyone and every ear was tuned. I liked how he got to the point and used a great metaphor to get there.

He went on, "At or during any of our meetings, there are to be no recorders, no electronic devices, such as smart phones or any other device that can transmit or receive electronic messages. The reason for this is simple: the information that we will begin to exchange amongst us can be worth millions to certain people, and even death to others. All of you are now in a different league. You must begin to take your positions and responsibilities with extreme caution. I could share many serious events with you, but only time will help you understand. We have been brought together under different circumstances, but the foundation of anything lasting always begins with solid commitment."

He let this first initial statement soak in before proceeding. "Each of you must come to this path of commitment for the good of all of us. As we begin this new journey, hopefully we will each commit to a lasting cause that will bring about unity among us and better times for all of us." He paused again and then pointed out the large window facing the panorama of the sea, "I want you to take a look out there and tell me what you see."

Everyone's head turned to look out the large windows.

The first to speak up was JJ. "I see some lazy low-rolling waves washing onto shore, a few paddle boats and some birds flying by—nothing to get excited about." Leave it to JJ, he was referring to the surf.

"What else?" Brookstone asked.

"There are a few people waiting on the beach for the surf to change and a couple collecting shells," Crystal spoke up.

"I see a fishing boat out beyond the last break, and maybe a few larger sail boats way out there," Amber said.

"All right, now let me tell you something about what is out there, just so you might know or be more aware of things around you." With this, he walked over to the window and pointed out the fishing boat setting off the furthest break. "Now, how often have you seen fishing boats anchored that close into the shore?"

After he had paused, he tossed out a tiny hint, "From now on, you are to always be more aware of your environment. A little research ahead of time would have alerted you to the fact that there is no fishing out there, at least this close in."

No one spoke up but everyone was looking at each other with a dumb 'huh' look on their face. He went on. "There are very few fish on the outer break. The reef is nearly flat with a slight slant rising up, which creates the larger waves when the currents are made higher and stronger by storms. But as far as fishing in this area, there really isn't any."

"So what the heck is it doing out there then?" asked Theo.

JJ immediately mumbled some of his sarcasm, "Even God isn't into that much detail. Is that really what you want us to do with our time?"

"First of all, that detail you speak evil of might save your skinny butt one of these days. Let me show you."

With this Brookstone took a hand-held device about the size of a cell phone out of his pocket, clicked it on and made some adjustments. A beeping sound began to be heard. He hit a few buttons and we began to hear a conversation of sorts. It was hard to hear everything that was being said, but it was evident that someone was talking.

"Now my friends, that is no ordinary fishing boat out there. That is a boat rigged up with distant listening devices that cannot only hear what we are saying inside this room, but also through video cameras, they can see through our windows and read our lips."

"Ahh, come on Brookstone, that is a bit too far out, don't you think?" JJ burst out again.

"JJ, my father used to say, 'Do not be an expert on a subject you know little about. And do not know so much that no one else can know anything.'" Brookstone used his one eye to stare this young know-it-all down and I thought there would be some trouble between these two in time.

Brookstone now in full command pointed out the window, "Back to my subject—be careful to listen. In fact, that is kid's stuff compared to what is out there nowadays."

"So who would be wanting to hear what is going on in this meeting?" Timm twisted in his seat to ask.

"Yeah, and who would know we are even having a meeting and who cares?" Gretchen said.

Brookstone looked over at Dustin and asked him to fill in the details.

Dustin cleared his throat and began, "As you know, I have been up to Canada twenty times in the last three years. Each time I went and began to plead the Mitchner case, I would run into a block wall and then find myself being followed and watched. I had certain people approach me and attempt to make deals. And on several occasions, I was threatened. It wasn't until I went with Brookstone and his two brothers that I became fully aware of the actual threat."

Dustin took his time, looked around and went on, "I guess I didn't connect nearly a billion dollars with people's lives and businesses which might be hung out to dry. It wasn't until Brookstone found listening devices in my room, and that my phones were bugged, that I realized that someone out there was seriously concerned with what I was doing."

Dustin pointed out the window and laughed, "The guys out there are not all that professional, but if you didn't know that they were extracting information from us, we would not even consider their professional standards. Now Brookstone, will illustrate a bit of precaution that every one of us must learn in order to stay safe and sound." With this, Dustin nodded back to Brookstone.

Brookstone hit a button on his device and suddenly we could hear a high-pitched squelch before it went silent. He moved to the side of the window and pressed a button and a long set of blinds rolled down the face of the window. "Their view is now cut off and their listening antennas are probably recording some of our alternative, pre-recorded conversations about fish and coco bean. In addition, the blinds will prevent any video recording of our lips being filmed and deciphered."

"Who are they?" Theo asked.

I turned to Wally, our top tech and electro geek and gave him the stage to proceed further.

Wally ran his thick fingers through his heavy black beard and with his deep rumbling voice, began delivering his insights. "Okay guys and gals, with this new spy-born age, with all the new fancy electronics, it is possible that anyone could begin a spy or information collection service. These guys are an industrial spy organization, out of Honolulu. They usually follow big business conferences and gather data and personal information to sell or trade for favors. They call themselves the Lucidation Data Systems."

"Come on Wally, how do you know that?" asked JJ. He waved his arm towards the windows and laughed, saying, "Ah you probably set this whole thing up. I bet that's a fishing boat you hired to get us all worried up."

Wally, the quiet giant, didn't have as much patience as Brookstone and became a bit irritated. "That is a good one JJ, but I'll guarantee this is no set-up. I did the research myself. You are observing a real encounter. This is not some half-baked surf gang sitting around the fire drinking cheap wine and singing Ku-mum-ba or whatever, waiting for a wave to come their way. Those are real people out there who've probably already got your mother's maiden name along with a record of your grades going back to first-grade."

Brookstone finished up with this last point, "Jason, once you become a part of the MAVIN Team, you'll learn that our own data collection services is the mother of all these upstarts. But for now it is better for you not to know who, what, or why. But we have far reaching ears and there is little we cannot get our hands onto, if we desire." To make his point, he smiled, then slid a few sheets of JJ's school records and near jail scrapes in front of him; JJ turned white and almost went into shock.

Brookstone quickly added, "These wise guys, like us, have a program that can read your lips from a mile away and decipher your words, and then it types them out."

"Gibbering Zonkos," JJ burst out with some indignation.

Theo had to speak up at this moment, "Please Brookstone, this kid is still a fledgling neophyte, he's all foam and no wave as of yet, be easy on his, well, his naivety."

Brookstone held his peace for a moment, then sternly expounded, "Maybe you can take him on a long walk and in simple surf language explain that it is not so easy for the ocean to swallow a ship of fools, it is its business!"

Whoa, I thought, this first meeting is going a bit tougher than I expected. Brookstone was no pushover. He was a serious man of reality and wanted everyone to know who he was, and how he felt. He held no punches back. I felt a little sorry for JJ, but it was time for him to grow up and glad it was Brookstone doing the watering...and the fertilizing!

Brookstone nodded over to Wally and asked him to add his say-so to the jab from JJ. "As of yesterday, we have planted our own listening devices onto the hull of that so called fishing boat. Morgan and Mica took a little SCUBA dive out that way and tagged the boat. So, we can listen to everything they say and hear. We'll also follow that boat to its mooring and if need be, watch them for a time."

At this point, I gave my thanks to Wally and Brookstone and explained. "I think that all of you got the idea now, even you JJ, that once you become a team player you'll have to become wise in many ways and intelligent in others. Now I'd like to get into the actual core of the MAVIN ideals."

"Oh, one second here," I paused, "from now on, Wally has created for us button devices that will alert its carrier to any bug or electronic listening device that might be in your area. It is a simple tiny button that will clamp onto your shirt or dress and will vibrate or send out a slight beep if it detects anything. He will hand them out after the meeting and show you how they work. I advise all of you to wear them wherever you go."

"Wow, an 'I spy' adventure," Crystal laughed.

"Of course," JJ blurted. "Will they work while we are surfing?"

"Sure thing, just don't smash them when you get bombed," Wally answered.

It was time to move on. I said, "First of all, we have been speculating for the last few years on what the Mitchner inheritance might be worth. Actually, as of now, we are not able to put an exact value on the entire package, but it is far more than we thought. In fact, as we dig through all the bits and pieces of my grandparent's holdings, we can only say that it is more than a fortune. We are estimating that the Mitchner fortunes are going to be around 900 million—and that is low balling it! This is not including some of the assets that have been tucked away in offshore banks. But three quarters of a billion dollars can work well for us if we use it wisely. Or, it could work against us if we're foolish on how we deal with it."

Stunned silence ruled the moment. As quiet utterances of "Wow" came forth and brought out the astonishment of the immensity of such wealth. I went on, "The initial team has been speculating on the purpose and core creed of what the MAVIN Team will stand for. Again, we are open to ideas and feedback regarding our goals. So far, the Mitchner, Arrow, Vontempski International group (MAVIN) team purpose is to simply help others when the need arises. We want to help the little people, those that might not be able to help themselves. However, I want to stress that we do not want to get involved in any political scene. Also, by this I mean that we are to try and be low key; not walking around handing out thousand dollar bills. There are a lot of situations out there where we can assist, and even change peoples' lives for the good. This team will work together, exploring various circumstances, if need be. We do not want to go political unless we are confronted with a political situation. Each of us will continue on with our lives as normal and as we move along, we will always come to learn about people, problems and odd circumstances."

I let this sink in a little and continued. "All of us have come from lowlier backgrounds. Not absolute poverty, but from the common class of working folks. This will give us a good idea how then to assist others, because we have been there and done that. We must learn how to make wise decisions, or decisions not of our own will be made for us."

Everyone's attention was up and running; they were riveted forward and listening intently. "This next week, during our meetings we will begin to compose our goals, our ideals and how we might go about helping others. I first would like to open something up to the group. Every member of the MAVIN Team will receive a salary, no matter if you already be well on your way. We can discuss this further as time permits, but Dustin, Theo, and I feel that for the younger or maybe not so experienced to the group might get $100,000 annually. While the higher skilled and older members would receive substantially more, which would be a fair wage."

Talking about hearing gulping, stifled coughing and feeling a shock wave rush into the room—had to be one of those memorable moments. Before anyone could speak, I moved on, "This salary will be yours to do as you please. If you want to hand out one-thousand dollar bills, that is up to you."

It was JJ again, "Is there even such a thing as one-thousand dollar bills?"

It was Max who spoke up on this one, "A 1000 dollar bill is now a collectors item. With the change to digital money and credit cards the government no longer prints large denominations. If you gave someone a large bill, most likely you'd have the FBI following you around and the owner of that bill might not find a place to ever cash it in. I also recommend that you get limited credit cards, in case they are ever ripped off, the thieves will only be able to withdraw a certain amount. This money thing is going to change how you do business and how you run your life."

Maxwell Colton was not yet a full associate of the MAVIN Team. We knew him to be an FBI associate and maybe even a CIA something, but Dustin and Brookstone felt that this would work in our favor. We could use him and his connections under certain circumstances as long as we kept our projects under wrap. I think that Brookstone had something on him, and this something, whatever it was, would keep Max under wraps. We knew that his being an associate would cause us some worry, but his valuable insights to the inner workings of the Government agencies, would and could work for us. Max was a clean cut, very handsome, man of various talents. He was more of an observer than someone who was always speaking his opinions.

I thanked Max for his input and went on. "But we want to stress something here. That is, we do not want to draw attention to ourselves. We are asking that our team remain incognito in all respects. We do not feel it wise to be driving around in a Rolls Royce or buying jets. We are asking that you consider living in a low-key manner. The one thing we do not want is to attract the unscrupulous hunters onto our trail. Of course, we don't want you to go round acting miserable, for you already have a head start on happiness. Just keep your new found wealth in perspective. Believe me, it could get all of us in trouble. However, in return, you will be working for the MAVIN Team. If there is a task that fits into your realm of expertise and you are asked to handle or research or deal with that particular situation, you will be required to fulfill your job to the best of your ability; and begin earning your wages. If additional help is needed in handling a task or a situation, you can ask for that help, and you will be authorized to hire or seek out help in fulfilling your work."

Everyone seemed to have half a smile and half a serious look tugging on their faces as I went on. "As a team that seeks to accomplish good, we are asking that everyone become aware of health issues. We want each of our team members to be able to run, climb, hike, bike, enjoy the outdoors, surf, and endure some hardships if they come our way. No drugs or alcohol abuse will be tolerated. If you do get into some kind of trouble in this area, we will help you to get right. For any addiction could lead you or our group into being threatened or compromised."

"We have already come up with a few projects that will be discussed later. Believe us, you won't get bored or find yourself sitting around doing nothing. Success is not just an idea or concept that will arrive by positive thinking, it takes a working talent and a real discipline to achieve. There must exist hard work! We are going to begin building a viable well oiled machine—so get ready." At that point I handed the helm over to Dustin.

He stood up and began explaining some of the ideas that we had been thinking over. "As most of you know, we have formed a corporation and within the MAVIN Group or Team there will exist several foundations. Within these foundations there will exist another level of trusts. All this will be set up into different departments, just like in a real working corporation. Because of the amount of monies involved, the Mitchner Enterprises are vulnerable to lawsuits and other legal woes. Thus, we have taken steps to departmentalize different aspects of the group's concerns and protect the entire operation. Sort of immunizing the overall MAVIN Group in case of one departments royal screw up. We really don't know what exists ahead of us but we know that we have certain individuals among us, with particular talents and exceptional skills. We were thinking to create different departments. Depending on your abilities, you might be in charge of your own department. There might be two individuals in a department and if need be, all the different departments could join in one task. These departments can request a certain amount of funds in order to proceed and accomplish the task."

Brookstone took a moment and inserted this thought. "Real quick here, look at this group as a fine running machine. A machine is made up of various gears and parts. These gears work with each other to accomplish a task. They are individual pieces but they all work together to create a final product. The MAVIN Team will be set up in a similar manner." He paused here, reached under the patch on his eye, scratched it with the stubs of two fingers, and went on. That little move was so well orchestrated that I don't know if he did it on purpose or not. But it surely emphasized the attention and serious points he had mentioned.

"I want all of you to pay close attention. I know a lot of this stuff might sound a little woozie to you and you might think this for now is a game but not so, my friends. Our Hearst Castle Security Force has been caught in some dangerous situations and we were able to assist one another through special communications. Each of you will be given one of these high tech phones," and he held up what looked like a regular cell phone. "Don't let the looks of this thing fool you, it is one powerful and tricky do-dad! These phones are called encrypted and unlocked quad band G-S-M cell phones."

"They are equipped with a special ATT encrypted chip, which scrambles and decodes messages sent by adapted phones. There are no back door codes or encryption devices that can break these codes. Believe me the bad guys would love to get their hands on one of them. We use these among ourselves. We are told that even the national security departments are unable to decode them. They are used among the Israeli high command. If anyone discovers that you possess such a phone, you might be hunted down and no matter what, if you are about to be taken, open the phone and swallow or destroy the tiny chip. Keep it hidden and never leave it lying around so someone can pick it up. With a press of a button, it becomes a regular cell phone but this little sucker will deliver a call from the deepest and darkest jungle in Africa to the middle of the Arctic. Oh, by the way, there is a destruct code, that when you insert it, you set the phone down or toss it somewhere and you have about one minute before it will blow into a thousand pieces. And yes, it will do damage if you're in the area, so insert the destruct code and run like hell!"

It was JJ again, he smacked himself upside the head and blurted out, "Zonko Buttonians, whatever you do, don't keep those suckers in your back pocket!" Of course, like it or not, this kid broke the tension which was building, as a low laugh floated around the room.

"Again, listen up here," Brookstone patiently held up another device to show everyone. "This little gem is called a Spy Personal Scope." It was about the size of a pocketknife. It had lenses at one end and he held it up to his eye as if looking through a scope. His head moved around looking at the walls and at paintings and lamps. "What this does is projects out a high intense beam of light and will reveal if there are any hidden cameras in the room. No matter how small they might be, or if they are shut off or turned on, this Spy Scope will detect them and the scope will display a tiny red light revealing where the camera may be hidden. When you use it, take your time and scan everything; TV, clocks, radios even paintings, lamps, air conditioners and overhead lights. Cameras can be hidden anywhere in a room. You might even use it in the hallway or in a bathroom to find out where the hidden cameras are or who might be watching you."

"Wow, this is like going to spy school," JJ exclaimed.

Crystal was smiling, looking over at JJ, "This device is for checking out for hidden cameras, not for watching how young ladies walk."

"Ah man, couldn't ladies hide a camera somewhere on their bodies?"

"Sure, but knowing you, you'd probably want to do a hands-on check out...right!"

Everyone got a good laugh at this one while JJ turned red.

"Okay kids, your attention here please." Brookstone passed the scope around while he got out another electronic gadget. "Now this is really a neat handy gadget." He held up what looked like a small transistor pocket radio. It had a small telescopic antenna, which pulled out, and he began to explain another strange device to the group. "This is sort of a double duty device. It will also detect hidden camera systems, but it also will reveal any and every bug or listening device in the area. These tiny red lights will blink any time a bug is located. Even inside the phones or anywhere in the room. You can also take it with you into a meeting or a bar or gathering and put it on silent mode. If there are any bugs in the room or on anyone, it will begin vibrating to alert you. This will keep you from saying something that might not be good for others to hear—or you don't want recorded. And by the way, you can also listen in on any cell phone conversation in the area."

"Humongously Cool, I love it," declared JJ. He was already making plans on using this thing in his favorite hang outs.

"I don't want to sound like an uninformed member, but are all these devices really necessary?" Gretchen inquired. "It's as if we are going into the heart of Russia and sneaking out their secrets or something."

Brookstone smiled and said, "I have no idea where you might end up, but believe me, these little devices just might save your skinny butts from a bunch of trouble, and you won't even have to travel to Russia."

Brookstone ended his little session by adding, "We got more toys for you but that will do for now. While we are here, practice using these things and ask my brothers or me if you need some help. Oh, by the way, we did hide a few little things that will listen and watch you, you might figure out if your rooms are bugged or if there are any cameras watching you. And just letting you know, this is all part of your training; so get serious folks."

Jay was even surprised at this little arsenal of gadgetry, but finally cleared his throat and asked, "What have you come up with in the names of departments."

Dustin spoke up to answer this question. "For an example, you Jay, might be teamed up with Gretchen as our antiquities and treasure heads. Then I and my wife Nadia might take the legal departments and accounting end of things, while Theo might be the general manager, which handles all major purchases and investments. Crystal might handle all travel arrangements and certain types of research, while Amber handles another type of investigation. The Hearst Castle Security will handle all our security and they will have their own departments within their security firm."

Dustin sipped his coffee and read down the list on his tablet. "Then we have our Wally, a specialist and all-around researcher, inventor and computer genius, he will head his own department and call it whatever he wants. Now getting to those that are not yet full members, they can be hired as consultants for now. As time goes on and they prove themselves, we will then bring them into the group. There is one thing that we wanted to bring out. This concerns JJ."

Suddenly JJ sat up with his eyes bulged out wondering what this was all about. Then Dustin went on. "JJ, we are asking you to get yourself into the university and consider a law career or something along those lines. We would like more help in this area and we feel that you are somewhat qualified in this area. We are only suggesting this and the MAVIN Team will pay your expenses."

No doubt, JJ was completely taken back by this proposal. It meant that he would have to give up much of his beach bum life style, and this he did not like.

Dustin went on tossing out little bombs to the listeners. "Anyone that is associated with the MAVIN Team is welcomed to attend college and gain a degree, all expenses paid by MAVIN. But please, no bragging or self exaltation; if you are going to puff yourself up, sharp people are automatically going to think you're a pin-cushion!"

It was Brookstone's turn to add to this landslide of information. "I know this might sound strange but the Hearst Castle Security Force has been involved in hundreds of obscure projects that have probably affected your very own lives. Let me emphasize to all of you, information and connections are vital in today's world. We were able to secure the Mitchner inheritance through our many connections and this will work for the good of all of you, if you become contributors. The MAVIN Team can accomplish great things, it has a tremendous future but things must be done right. Each of you know hundreds of different people. Some of these people might be smarter than others; some might have interesting families or belong to special groups. And, some might already hold positions and have great futures awaiting them. We are asking that you begin making a list of everyone you might know. Especially, if they hold some position of did in the past, or have an unusual talent."

"As an example, for JJ, when he begins the University, he would begin making all kinds of friends, keeping notes on who they are and what they might be involved in. This would be a cinch for you, JJ, just imagine all the incredible poker games you'll get into, just listen and remember people, places and things. You never know who might end up as president of these here States. Connections are everything these days and you'll learn this, as we get involved in various projects. Even if these projects are your own, you'll need people and connections to make things happen for yourself. Remember, knowledge is power and just a tiny bit of knowledge, even a first name, might save your life or have a door opened for you. But you first must have this knowledge. Wisdom is knowing how to use that knowledge; so grow wise my young friends."

Dustin took a moment and inserted, "As an example, for JJ again, he loves poker and I must say he is rather good at it. He has had the opportunity to sit down with some very interesting people. Do not discount the least opportunity to meet others and establish real friendships with whomever might be sent your way."

Everyone was pondering this when Dustin brought forth another example. "Now some years back, Luke here, lived on this very shore. He was young and lived with two of his surf friends. They worked in the Waimea Valley building all those stone structures that still exist there. Now one of his friends that came over with him was a Randolph Vanburg, who later decided to move to Maui. There in Maui, Randy became the youngest Hilton manager in the world. When Luke moved to Maui a few years later, this old friend was there to help Luke get established. Not only that, when Luke, along with some friends, thought to establish an off-the-wall travel agency, Randy and his wife Lori supplied them with more than enough bored customers looking for more than a swim in the Pacific. This is an example of how getting to know others, establishing friendships, and helping others can eventually come back for your benefit. So I leave you with this to consider, and you can begin your own data base of connections this very day." With this, Dustin sat down.

I took over, "We certainly have a lot to consider. This meeting is just the beginning, so get your brains ready to think. These are basic proposals for all of us to consider. Also, we will have to decide on a salary for both Timm and Max but this can be done later. I do have an immediate situation that we are going to have to deal with and soon."

"By now, all of you have heard the story of Mike James the deck hand that saved our lives back at Palmyra Island. You have seen the gold links and much of the treasure that has been stored away for now. We have to make a decision on what we want to do with Mike's portion of the treasure and consider his last requests. This is important and we should begin dealing with this as soon as possible. Let's open this up for some discussion after a short break."

Things were quiet for a time, as everyone poured themselves more coffee and refilled their water bottles. Gretchen decided to speak up, "I guess because I knew Mike from the beginning of our trip, and got to know him pretty well, or at least I thought I did, it might be good for me to approach Mike's family."

Everyone nodded their heads. Amber agreed to this and added that this was a good idea, but it might be wise to send Jay along with her. Jay was involved with Mike in a trusting manner, and it is always better to send two witnesses rather than just one.

The group tossed this around for a time and came to a decision. Gretchen and Jay should fly to California and personally pay a visit to the James family as soon as they could. This sad situation needed a personal touch and it should not be attempted over the phone. It was given to Crystal to make all the flight and travel plans and within a day, things were in motion for them to leave. It was also decided that the responsibility for the six remaining links was to be given over to Jay and Gretchen. The remainder of the treasure which still had to be cleaned and gone through would remain in storage for now. Things seemed to be moving along, this first step was just one step on a journey that would last for generations.

Brookstone asked Wally to begin some research on the James family so that Jay and Gretchen didn't walk into an unpleasant situation. Brookstone had already begun some digging on Thomas and Julie, and had handed it over to Wally for the final touch. So things began rolling, with plenty to think about and act upon.

It was JJ again, "Hey, I don't want to sound like I am money hungry but we are staying in some pretty nice pads here. It cost me a good chunk of bucks to get here and looks like we are gonna be around here for a few weeks. How are we paying for this and will this salary thing be there to help me pay for my flight home?"

There were a few laughs. Wally reached over and padded JJ on the back and said, "Who said you're going home my friend?"

JJ looked around with a worried expression stretched across his face. I shook my head and said, "JJ, and for anyone else that needs to know, your salaries are already in existence. One of our departments has set up banking, credit cards and debit cards for each of you in your own accounts. You can change this if need be, but we just did this out of convenience for now. Plus, we happen to have good connections with a California bank, and they have given us numerous good deals for our business. As far as payments on our expenses, we are well provided for. When we sold back those stone collections and pieces of art works to the Hearst Castle Security Force, we were paid handsomely. We are not hurting in the financial department as of yet. Then, of course we are soon to have access to the Mitchner inheritance and money will not be our worries."

"But since I am not a full fledged MAVIN member yet, what funds am I going to work with?"

"No problem JJ, as soon as you agree to enroll into the university of your choice, your agreed upon salary will begin," Dustin was smiling as he announced this plan to his nephew.

Now everyone really broke out laughing. JJ began his protest of being blackmailed but was drowned out in the best of humor.

However, he waited until the laughter died down and with a smile said, "I got this fantastic uncle. He has always warned me, 'Never expect help from hot air unless you're a balloon!'"

No one knew what to say, but everyone was looked over at Dustin who was JJ's uncle.

It was our Crystal again who spoke up, "No worries Jason, we need some extra help in the kitchen. Us ladies will pay you minimum wage, so you can at least have some spending money...until you get to school!"

I tapped the table with my spoon and declared, "Meeting Number One is now history!"

# 

# Chapter 2

# Trouble Right Out Of The Box!

To give good today is preparing a better harvest for tomorrow!

Efficiency is wonderful in the right hands. And for sure, there were no lazy hands among us. Crystal had confirmed reservations and within a day, both Jay and Gretchen were on their way back to California to visit with the James family. They arrived at Los Angeles airport around midday. Crystal had made contact with Mike's parents a few days earlier and set up a meeting with them. There was something strange about this first exchange; Crystal noticed a stern hostility. But she smoothed things over explaining that there were things to be given over to them from their son Mike. The real attention-getter was that they needed to discuss Mike's requested foundation and a grant program in his memory.

It was a cloudy day in LA when Jay and Gretchen rented a car and drove out to Westwood to visit with the James family.The GPS took them to a quaint and pristine neighborhood, a jewel for this part of LA Once they made their way through an iron gate, walked along beds of flowers and ferns, up a beautifully paved brick walkway, they were somewhat taken aback arriving at the door to be met with a cold greeting of obvious hostility by the James couple. After they managed to talk their way into the home and when the ranting died down, Mike's father Troy let it be known that they were going to use his law firm to get Mike's treasure back. Apparently, they had been contacted by Thomas and Julie and were told that the crew from the New Song had been the cause of Mike's death. The topping on this outrageous lie was that we had taken his golden links, which were worth millions. What Thomas had done was unspeakable. This had to be one of the lowest dirty accusations to confront the MAVIN Team so far, and thus we began our initiation into the world of misunderstandings and lies. Jay was thinking how we were going to overcome this fabricated story was going to prove difficult.

Mike's father Troy, was an average size man, a well-groomed business lawyer, wearing a thin mustache with the longer California style hair. He took on the appearance of someone accustomed to the outdoor life, like a sports jock. He was well built, tanned and had sharp blue eyes. It was obvious that this tragic event had taken its toll on him; deep lines of concern laced his face, while lines of grief had etched themselves out from his eyes. Beverly, Mike's mother was a bit taller than her husband, having the looks of a tennis player. Immediately, we could see where Mike got his handsome looks; however, evidence of their loss was written all over her face as well. The daughter Tanya was in her early 20's, well shaped with long brunette hair to her shoulders; beyond the sorrow lingering in her eyes, she was a pleasant looking young woman. We could see Mike's image stamped on her too. Both mother and daughter were wearing jogging suits, the common garb for that part of life in California.

Jay offered his hand to Troy but it was not accepted. Jay was more than patient with the overall misunderstanding, but it was Gretchen who made headway through the sad situation. As they stood there, she began to explain her personal relationship with Mike since their meeting in the Honolulu Library, and how he brought them together with Thomas and Timm. They followed everything very closely as she filled in all the gaps. Within a few minutes of her explanation, they had been invited to take a place in the living room. Gretchen wasted no time with this opportunity and had come prepared. She laid out several blown up photos of Mike raising the spinnaker sail with the Diamond Head volcano in the background with the sun setting. She had a nice shot of Mike hauling in a good-sized fish, fully in a state of joy. The decisive factor to the situation was when she produced a letter written by Mike, given to her to hold in case anything happened to him. The letter explained his mistrust of Thomas and Julie and that he had given the care of the gold links over to Jay and the New Song's crew. They were going to establish a foundation in his name and that all monies earned from his share of the treasure would be placed into the foundation. Grants and scholarships would be offered to doctors and researchers, with the stipulation that they apply their efforts and skills in finding a cure for the disease that Mike had, known as Upshaw-Schulman or Moschcowitz syndrome.

By the time they finished reading the letter, there were tears flowing from everyone. It was Mike's mother who took it the hardest, but wiped away her tears as she asked about this foundation idea.

Gretchen gently presented another collection of photos taken while they were on Palmyra Island. Mike was there, full on center and seemingly very happy with all that he was doing. The centerpiece of these photos was of Mike himself, holding up two large chunks of coral with several artifacts sticking out. Theo had taken some excellent photos of the soon-to-be famous links of gold. Truly these were magnificent artifacts of rare treasure. The James' family name would receive recognition in this discovery and have their share of the value. They were asked not to repeat any of this information until the treasure had been gone through and placed into safekeeping.

Jay explained the reasons for remaining silent about the Palmyra treasure, due to the fact that every power on earth would come running to claim it for themselves and an endless court battle would begin. Most likely, the government would confiscate every piece and the treasure itself would never be put on display and few would profit from its existence. This is why they wanted to first establish the Mike James Memorial Foundation. Once the foundation was up and running, with several trusts working, the government would not be so eager to get involved in a long drawn out court battle. The MAVIN Team knew several ways of heading off these types of troubles. One was to offer the Smithsonian Museum a portion of the treasure, including one link and several nice pieces from the Palmyra treasure; this would go a long ways in diverting court battles. As of now, there was no way to put an exact origin on the treasure itself, meaning that everyone on the discovery mission could claim it as theirs. But this was also good, for they could pretty well eliminate international claims against the treasure itself. Jay shared a tiny bit of insight here, "Part of our team had connections with several famous museums and these renowned institutions would be a great place to have the treasure displayed." Of course, Jay was referring to the HC Security Force connections and influence, including the famous Hearst Castle Estate.

Mike's father was no dummy and his lawyer-client relation skills got right to the point. "You're saying that the Mike James Memorial Trust would sort of become a front for the treasure...then?"

Jay had to smile and answered, "To tell you the truth, I did not think of that, but it does sound like a workable plan, not just for the treasure but for you and your family."

Troy smiled for the first time and said, "We might consider this, but some details would have to be worked out along the way." This was obvious lawyer speak.

Jay took his time and went on to explain the situation regarding Thomas Brewerton and Julie Warrenton. At present, there was an on-going search for them, since they had stolen the collection of the larger and rarer stones and disappeared. They had taken the best stones and flown off to Europe, this much was known so far. They drained their bank accounts, leaving Timm holding the debts in their chemical business in Honolulu. We could see suspicion of what we were saying displayed on their faces, but Jay opened his document pouch and extracted several official documents and laid them before the family.

"What is this?" Mike's father asked.

"Those are background checks on this Thomas character and several outstanding warrants for him. He has done some time in the Illinois State Prison system for forgery and grand theft larceny along with minor drug trafficking using different aliases. He went missing a few years back and disappeared off the stage until this situation came about to give a lead on him. The FBI is trying to trace his and Julie's whereabouts."

Troy was reading over the documents as Jay went on, "This is why we must be careful. We want the major part of the collection back to be the centerpiece for the museum displays. In all honesty, they are entitled to their share as we agreed, but not the extent of the treasure they have taken."

Jay was recalling our meeting on the North Shore, with Bobbi Brookstone making it known that a thorough investigation of Thomas and Julie be done immediately. Greed was at work here. They wanted to cause the MAVIN Team the worst troubles and at the same time get their hands onto those links. We suspected that some type of arrangement had been made between the James family and Thomas. Wally was soon digging into all of Thomas's past affairs and had hit pay dirt, and dirt it was for sure!

Timm himself was surprised at what Wally had discovered. Thomas Brewerton had worked for a financial institution and was caught stealing funds from various high end accounts. Then Timm began to remember certain things in their business relationship, realizing how and why Thomas had ripped him off. He was a full-fledged con artist and criminal.

The stuff hit the fan when Timm revealed a very serious matter to us. He said that Thomas had brought a two pound block of cocaine along on the By-Golly boat and had plans on selling it along the way for money to travel with. He informed us that Thomas had hidden this from the girls, and that was one of the reasons Thomas was so anxious to get back into the sunken yacht. Most likely, he had retrieved that block and brought it aboard the New Song. Timm was not very sure of this until he discovered Thomas and Julie's tapping into it while they were on their watch. This clarified to all of us the strange behavior of both Thomas and Julie, who were probably under the influence of whatever drug they were taking. He also overheard their plot to get even with Jay and the New Song's crew. Thomas would take a portion of that block, hide it somewhere in the New Song, and let it wait there. Then when the time was right, he would inform the authorities of its whereabouts, and the New Song along with all its crew would be arrested, also leading to the discovery of the retrieved treasure we had on board.

Ahh, but in every dark plot, there must come a spark of light. What won favor for Timm in our eyes, was that he had informed us of this scheme, so that we had swarmed aboard and located the planted stash. Now if, and when, the drug authorities came looking for a big bust, they would be baffled with nothing but a chunk of nothing. The New Song sat there in her anchorage, clean as a bell in the fog.

This incident really put us onto high alert. The treasure had been secured, most of the more valuable pieces were hidden inside the Tripper's hidden safes (our specially designed RV laboratory and traveling bus) while the larger pieces were locked in Timm's warehouse vault.

Jay's recollections were broken when Mike's mother asked, with some concern in her voice, "Are Thomas and Julie dangerous, or are we in any danger?"

"Not according to the records—but he is a con-artist. We did not see him exhibit any violence during our voyage with them, but it got close a few times."

"He seems to be a man who desires authority," Gretchen added. "Who knows what he might do to achieve power."

Jay gave some advice, "If he or Julie try to make contact with you or make any kind of a deal with you in any way, please stall them off and inform us. We have several official contacts working within our group, and we would like to keep this entire affair as low key as possible."

Apparently, Jay and Gretchen had gained the James' family confidence, for they nodded in agreement that they would contact us.

Gretchen knew her stuff. She carefully explained how the links would be valued, then purchased outright, but held for display in museums. All profits from shows, photos or documentaries would go into the Mike James Foundation. This foundation would be a registered trust, established with the initial purchase funds and then the funds would be distributed by its board of directors. This board would be the James family itself or they could appoint others to handle the foundation if so desired. They would receive payment for the links, but the MAVIN Group would take responsibility for possession of them.

Mike's sister Tanya, who had been taking all this information in, sat forward and asked, "This all sounds a little too far out for us, but let's start with the value of the links first."

"Sure, so far we are approximating each link to be worth somewhere from two to three million dollars. The gold value alone is about half that, but the real value, and it could go up from there, is in the intrinsic historical value. These links are from one of the most sought after treasures in the world. They have a written history and thousands of people have spent their lives searching for the evidence that this chain existed, no less having a link to it, no pun intended."

After getting over the initial shock of such wealth, Mike's mother inquired, "Who will put the value on these links to begin with, and who on earth would pay that kind of money for them?"

Jay tried answering this question, "The reason we are able to place an initial value on the links is that I grew up in a family of antique and rare art dealers. My parents have run a shop on Balboa Island for the last forty years and are well known in the area of rare treasures. My father was an antiquities evaluator and a rare arts historian who used to teach archeology and rare art at the University of California LA."

This was a surprise to the James family, Tanya was attending UCLA, majoring in earth sciences and history. "Really now, that is interesting. What is your father's name? If I might ask."

"Sure," Jay smiled, "his name is Jonathon Vontempski, but he has retired from teaching for the last eight years."

"I think I have heard of him," Tanya replied. While we talked, Tanya went onto her laptop and located Professor Vontempski's profile and professional credentials as a practicing professor, from the university system. After a time, we saw her nod her approval to her parents.

Tanya had her head down, crying a little. Her mother was standing next to her, holding onto her trying to bring some comfort. Jay began to speak again, "We know that all this must be hard for you to grasp and we can only offer our help if you need it. Our crew and team would like to extend our sincere condolences to you in this time of sorrow. In and through all this, we feel that good could still be born out of these sorrows. We would like to extend an invitation to you to come join us in Hawaii and see for yourself the New Song; take a look at the treasure itself. After all, Mike made you a part of it, and we want you to take hold of his best. He gave up his life for us and for others. We feel that his life was not lost for nothing. We would also like to have a memorial stone placed on Palmyra Island in Mike's memory."

The room was silent, then Troy asked how this might be possible. Jay replied. "No problem, pack your bags and return back with us in a few days...all expenses paid. We have two homes rented on the North Shore right now and there is plenty of space for you. If you want to stay in a hotel, that is easily arranged. Gretchen and I are going to Newport for a day or so to check out my boat the Serendipity and put it up for sale. For we are bringing back the New Song and will be living aboard it. No matter what you decide, you are going to be wealthy people now, you'll have plenty of funds to pay off those doctor and hospital bills. And Tanya, maybe you could take off a few weeks from school to escort your parents along the way. We have plenty of really good people to help all of you. I know that Mike would love to have you there with his friends. Please."

Mike's parent's Troy and Beverly, along with his sharp-minded sister Tanya, were taken back by this invitation to Hawaii, all expenses paid. We wanted them to see for themselves the treasure and to get acquainted with the New Song's crew. They were staggered with all this news. Even though the loss of their son Mike was a terrible blow, just knowing that he had accomplished something for others and that his life was going to make a difference for many, filled them with a healing pride. How big a difference for them, this family did not know at the time, but becoming a part of the MAVIN team's projects, would alter their lives.

Jay was no dummy in this matter. He knew that Troy was a business lawyer and might be able to contribute to the MAVIN Team projects. Better to have them a part of the team, rather than its adversary. With this idea, it was certain that the James family would become a vital part in dealing with the gold links. Our very personal visit to this family had turned the tables on what could have been an entangled problem. Instead, we gained three capable and sincere individuals into the MAVIN realm. With this exchange, we were also given insights to Brewerton's scheme to possibly take the treasure.

Tanya arose several times to bring out coffee and to answer her phone. Our five-hour meeting wound down and entered into the invitation to visit the islands with Jay and Gretchen. Gretchen assured them that within a few days they were returning to Oahu to join the group and report this exchange, "Our visit was part of a group effort and we wanted to get to know you, and for you to get to know us."

"Gretchen and I are headed down to Newport Beach and Balboa for a few days to check in with our friends and make a decision on selling my own sloop now moored in the Balboa Bay harbor," Jay added.

Troy asked how they should go about making reservations.

Gretchen asked them to email their names to an address that Crystal used in her business arrangements for the group. "We will handle everything from there. You will fly with us from either Long Beach or out of LAX to Honolulu. We will take you to our beach rentals on the North Shore and you will stay with us and meet our team."

This all seemed a bit impossible, and Troy being a lawyer had his suspicion aroused. Jay knew this and pulled one last set of documents out of his pouch and laid them before Troy. "If you have any doubt about who we are, please read these reports that were exchanged between us aboard the New Song, the Honolulu police, and the Hawaiian Coast Guard."

These documents and records did the trick. They removed any doubt that the MAVIN Group had made every effort to handle the strange events out at sea in both a legal and a humanitarian manner.

A special bond began to take form; Tanya and her mother Beverly were whole-heartedly aboard, but Troy the legalist still held back his seal of approval.

We finally arose and left them with our phone numbers to call if they had any further thoughts. Jay added that they should realize that because millions of dollars were at stake, there could be intrusions and monitoring by men who might have a watch on them. "What does that actually mean?" Tanya asked.

Jay gave a general answer, one that would offer them some light, but keep them from panicking. "Just be cautious what you say on the phone. Be aware when you go places, you could be followed. Try not to go anywhere alone. Do not allow strangers into your home, and be diligent with the information you now possess. You have just become multi-millionaires and could become a target for unscrupulous powers of greed."

As we stood at the front door, Troy and Beverly offered their hands to Jay and Gretchen, so that a warm exchange took place. Now Tanya hesitantly asked, "I have done some sailing with friends out of Seal Beach and crewed one trip down to Baja. Would there be any possibility in Hawaii for me to do some sailing while we are there?"

Jay had to smile. Here was an intelligent and well-intentioned woman, offering her abilities to them. He nodded and assured Tanya that he himself was the Captain and new owner of the New Song and would be needing a crew to bring her back to Balboa in California when their work was done in the Islands. He nodded a possibility to her, smiling at her parents as to say that this would be up to her parents. "Let's take one step at a time young lady." Jay patted Tanya on the shoulder as Gretchen opened the front door, and they stepped out into the afternoon light.

"We'll be waiting for your answers," Gretchen suggested. They drove away with the James family still standing in their front yard. It was sad in one way but there was a new hope given, and a new friendship waiting to blossom.

# Chapter 3

# Reporting In And Concerns!

Do not let ripples of concern alter your course, after making it through an emotional hurricane!

Welcome home they thought! They were both drained after their emotional exchange with the James family, and as usual, the freeways were jammed. The afternoon light was bouncing off the haze of low hanging clouds and the humidity was sticky. South and around they went on the 405 Freeway to the Newport Freeway bringing them to the coast highway and the Newport Peninsula turn off. The castle in the sky, or Luke's third story apartment half way down in the middle of the Peninsula, was still standing there. It looked like Theo's shop girls Cinder and Sally, had made good use of it, but it was still rather clean and orderly but definitely with a female perfume or tanning oil scent floating around.

Gretchen was impressed and went around opening the encircling windows to catch the cross breezes from off the beach side. The 180 degree view from this three-story unit was one of the best. They could see the bay on the east side, and the ocean and beach on the west side. Jay nodded across the bay, pointing out his 40-foot sloop, the Serendipity, tucked away among the celebrity crafts of the wealthy.

Jay had, through his father, managed to attain his slip way back when, prior to this tiny harbor becoming a favorite hide away of the rich and famous. The old famous movie star, John Wayne, and his gang were part of those stars that brought many Hollywood celebrities to this little harbor hidden along the California coast. Jay had been offered some great compensation for his slot and had even been threatened to give up his slip and dock area. These slips were highly prized, few and hard to come by. These society brats soon learned not to threaten or push this Jay Vontempski character around. Strangely enough, several of the nicer yachts who were demanding his place sprang leaks and had to be hauled out into dry dock, going on with a years repair. Humm, the harbor community wondered.

Jay checked the apartment for bugs and ran a test on the phone to make sure there was no surveillance. All was well and Jay began his report back to Dustin and the group. He explained the situation with the James family, that they would be returning with them and to make ready their accommodations. Jay also mentioned that he was putting up the Serendipity for sale and wanted to sail The New Song back from Hawaii. He went on to inform Dustin and Luke about what Thomas Brewerton was up to—that he had tried winning the James family over with lies and ridiculous accusations.

It was still early. They showered, changed their clothes, rested up for an hour and then rode bikes over to the Balboa ferry to the tiny island community. They peddled around and came to a street of unique shops in a quaint setting. These little shops didn't seem to be worth their weight in bricks, but their business dealings were famous from Europe to Australia. Jay grew up in this tiny island neighborhood and pointed out details that the tourist would never see. The bell, somewhere deep in the back of the Rarity Shop, tinkled as they entered through the ornate iron-work door. Soon, Jay's father, Jonathan Vontempski, came walking out the back polishing a brass bowl. "Well, well, look who has shown up to brighten our day."

"Sure thing Dad, it's sunshine number one, are you ready for us?"

"Who's us, you say?"

Jay moved over to his father and hugged him, then pretended to dust him off from the shoulders. "Dad, it is Jay, and I have a special friend with me," he turned and pulled Gretchen up alongside, "This is Gretchen Summerton, a close friend and a partner in a few new projects."

Gretchen first stretched out her hand to Jay's father's hand, shaking it gently. Jonathan Vontempski was a tall, handsome and sophisticated man, looking healthy and well fit. He was dressed as a professor who stood at the head of a large seminar, just casual enough to be comfortable, with the soft leather elbow pads and all. His hair was a white grey, thick and puffed out, nearly hanging down to his shoulders. It was his eyes that caught Gretchen's attention, grey blue, and she could swear there was some green dancing around in them. Those clear eyes locked onto her as if searching out her inner secrets. However, her eyes blazed back at him as she was watching his survey of herself. She had to laugh a little, knowing that his eyes were far more trained than her own. After all, his skilled eyes had probed and examined some of the richest treasures in the world. Regardless, she searched his face as he searched hers and at that moment, she knew that their lives would be bound together in unknown ways. She finally released his hand, "I am pleased to meet you Mr. Vontempski. You have some great sons out there."

"That is what people keep telling me, but they have not yet reached the expectations that I have for them." He said this with a tang of sweet bitter humor, if there could be such a thing.

"Oh really, what are those expectations, may I ask?" Gretchen shot a quick look over to Jay waiting as he rolled his eyes, knowing what was to be said.

"Why, yes Gretchen, it is so nice to hear someone actually inquire about my side of the story."

"Oh please, I would love to hear your side."

"It is simple. I just want them to visit me at least once every few weeks and bring along my grandkids!"

Gretchen had to laugh and said, "I don't know if I can help, but I'll try to make sure they begin fulfilling your expectations."

With this, Jay's father put his arm around Gretchen, looked over at Jay, and said, "You better keep this one, she is worth her weight in gold!" Gretchen leaned over, kissed Jonathan Vontempski on the cheek, and sealed the deal.

"Well, if you don't want her, I'll take her right now," Jay's father squeezed Gretchen a little closer and laughed.

"Come on, come on you guys, stop this conspiracy. You must have talked before we got here...right?"

Gretchen and Jay's father both laughed. Jonathan took up his professional stance, "Open up those eyes of yours, this one seems to have my best interests at heart, so be wise in your old age."

Instantly Gretchen flashed back on her many struggles with life and its tests. Remembering her nurturing family, her father's encouragements and her efforts to not just wander through life, but make it through college and attain her goals. She knew that a loving family, no less caring parents, was so important to one's future. She saw this in Jay's father, one who really cared and wanted only the best for his family. She had already seen many of these traits manifested in Jay over the last six months, even under the most trying conditions, Jay encouraged his crew and kept true to the mission. She was able to see where these attributes had come from; here was the source in Jonathan's person. In this moment, she felt an alliance come alive, and she knew better things were to come her way. She was smiling, for she saw herself walking through the front door of this shop leading two little grandkids and this old man bursting with joy.

"Old age! Hey, I'm still a young whipper-snapper. My eyes are still working just fine, or I would not have brought this extraordinary package along."

"Oh, so now I am just a package, you say," Gretchen stepped back and with a smile, let the father and son have their time together. She walked along the glass cabinets taking in the dazzling display of obvious rarities. The entire shop, from ceiling to floor was stocked with hundreds of exclusive works of art and antiquities. Everything from jewel studded samovars, finely tooled with ancient Chinese symbols, to rows of small jade carvings of animals. This was no ordinary collection and Gretchen knew the difference between an antique and a piece of fine art. She could have spent hours in here going over and absorbing all the history these hundreds of items represented. One incredible Moslem prayer rug caught her attention. It was hanging inside a glass display case with a price tag of forty-thousand dollars. She took a second look and then saw the rug's incredible workmanship. It had been woven with fine strains of gold, with a center display of one giant ruby, surrounded by an array of precious diamonds, appearing to represent the heavens. The rug itself was small enough to be rolled up and fit into one side of a briefcase. Jay got her attention saying, "That is no ordinary prayer rug, but it once belonged to the famous Sultan named Sulomon. He was one of the great Ottoman Empire rulers back in time. We've had several Moslems come all the way from Turkey to look at it. They'll be back trying to bargain it away, but they don't know my father. They have met their match with him but don't know it yet." Now come on, waving her over to have some Turkish coffee that his father had brewed up in the back workshop.

Just then, a charming shop bell tinkled and an elderly couple came walking in. Jonathan nodded over to them saying, "I'll be out there in a few minutes, just make yourselves comfortable and have a good look."

A rough growling voice slowly answered back, "No problems, old man, we just want to see what you might have for our bungalow on the bluff."

Jay's father turned his head as they went to the back, "That is old man Jacobs, and the little bungalow on the bluff is a three story mansion cut into the Half Moon Bay cliffs, worth fifteen million easy."

"Wow, I love those type of bungalows," Gretchen said with a smile.

"He has been in here several times now. I know he is looking at one of my rarest clocks. That thing is worth a fortune, just pocket change for him. Yet, he will try and bargain the price down to nothing, and this is what makes this business so interesting. The people I deal with are mostly antiques themselves and cannot even spend the interest on their accounts. So I try and stock anything and everything that might tickle their fancy, or should I say their bank accounts."

The voice came again from the front shop area. "Well, Jonathan, are you ready to deal with this old broken down clock from out of American history? Maybe you want me to haul it away for you. I won't charge you much for my labor."

Jay's father was smiling and excused himself and went out to deal with his customer. Gretchen proceeded to ask a hundred questions of Jay, about growing up here on the Island and how he got involved with the SEAL's. Then we heard the bell tinkle and Jay's father returned, smiling, "He definitely wants the clock, but needs to develop his arguing skills a little more first."

"Is it that the old Edward Crouch clock he's looking at?"

"Sure is. That is the one and he knows it's not just rare...but extremely rare."

Gretchen thought she had noticed an odd looking clock in the main display area and was curious to ask, "What makes that clock so rare, Mr. Vontempski?"

Jay rolled his eyes, as if saying, "That was the wrong question to ask, we'll never get out of here now."

Jonathan Vontempski seemed to go into a trance and began a detailed and an incomprehensible explanation. "I'm glad you showed interest. It is a fine marquetry long-case clock retaining its original caddy top. It has a five pillar eight day movement with anchor escapement and count-wheel bell striking each hour. The 11inch square brass dial with separate silvered brass chapter ring is enclosing a matted center with ringed winding holes and showing both seconds and date with finely made blued steel hands. The impressive paneled strap and scroll marquetry case with foliage is inhabited by birds and figures to both the trunk door, base and hood. The trunk door also is fitted with a brass lentil. The sides of the trunk has exquisite boxwood inlaid panels and ebonised moldings throughout the case. The hood is fitted with brass capped angle pillars with caddy extrusions surmounted by three brass Flambeau finials. The total height with the caddy is eight foot three inches, but with the caddy removed the height is seven foot, three inches." Jonathan's eyes were glittering with knowledge and he paused only for a second breath even though Gretchen had no idea what any of this meant. "The master, Edward Crouch was apprenticed in 1682 and lived in England but came to America in time, no pun intended."

"Very well. Okay," Jay cleared his throat letting his father know that time was running and they still had a long ways to go.

Gretchen took a tiny sip of the thick creamy coffee, nodding her approval to Jonathan, "Thank you for such a detailed lesson on this extraordinary clock, maybe next time you can teach me more. Mr. Vontempski, I am more than impressed at the quality of merchandise you have on display. I've been to many antique shops but this is way more than just an antique shop, it really does represent nothing less than quality and class. And I am curious as to what a clock like that would be worth."

He put his finger up to his chin as if pondering the price he was asking. "It's going for about 35,000, but I'll probably let it go for thirty."

Jay shot an impatient look at both Gretchen and his father, took Gretchen's arm saying, "Dad, we got to go now."

"Sure Jay. And yes young lady, and thank you for a fine compliment." Just then his smart phone played the theme From Summer Place. He smiled and asked to be excused, "This is an important call."

Gretchen was shaking her head at the price on that one clock. "There must be hundreds of thousands of dollars in art on open display. Isn't your Dad afraid of someone breaking in?" Gretchen was looking around at the displays.

"You might take a closer look." Jay began by pointing to the front windows, "Those windows are about two inches thick and bullet proof. The front door might seem just a door but it is a steel reinforced door made special in Germany. Not even a tank could get through it. With one push of a button or a word command, a steel frame comes down and closes off the entire shop. Then we have steel-sheeted walls for fireproofing. My Dad, who is somewhat of an inventor, has all kinds of secret alarms and, let's say, deterrents, in case someone did get in or wanted to rob him. In fact, many higher-end shops have had my father design similar security systems for them."

Jay pulled up a work stool next to Gretchen and after getting comfortable, looked around. "I grew up right here in this shop. We lived upstairs for a long time. There was just Theo and me. My mother passed away when we were in our teens. She died of cancer."

Gretchen's hand moved over and rested on Jay's arm. "I didn't know that, I am really sorry."

Jay's eyes glanced over at the stairway that went upstairs to the living quarters, as if looking to see if his mother was there. "We grew up with antiques. Heck, we even had antique bikes and the rest of the kids use to make fun of us until they found out how much they were worth—then they tried like heck to steal them. My mother and father started this shop years before Theo or I ever came along. They traveled the world and would ship back their finds. My mother ran the shop here while my father did his professorship at the university. Between his instructorship and this prosperous shop he became one of the most sought after art appraisers in the country. Even the old William Randolph Hearst would have my parents up to the castle to have my father evaluate his newly acquired treasures."

"So this is where you and Theo learned about rare art and antiques?"

"Yeah, we worked right here at these benches cleaning and trying to figure out how things worked. It was different for us from the other kids. All the history that went along with the various pieces kept our minds busy too. I guess this is why we've always been interested in treasure hunting and old things. You could say we grew up eating antiques, I can remember we once were caught using some plates we saw drying on the counter for dinner and my Mom flipped; they were plates valued at one thousand dollars each. They had come from some English Lord who got them from one of the famous English queens."

Gretchen laughed, "Typical men... So what if this plate has a gold edge with jewel encrusted flowers on it...huh. Just put those tacos on for two minutes in the microwave and get them over here, the game starts in five minutes."

Jay cracked up, hitting his hand on his knee, "How'd you know there was a big game just starting?"

"It's my genius at work. And I'm guessing that because you lived right here on the island, and next to the ocean, you were a part of the surfing and sailing scene, right?"

"Oh fair maiden, you got it right."

"When we got older, our father gave us a section in the side room of the shop for us to use on our own. Theo and I decided to do a Rock-N-Roll collection. We borrowed some money from Dad and hit the road, following the concert trail for a month. We tramped clear up to Seattle, where we ended up in a few scrapes, but did manage to get into a couple of estate auctions to buy a few neat things. One was a guitar from Jimmy Hendrix, and another from Muddy Waters. We had all kinds of odd things in there, heck, we had stuff from the Righteous Brothers, Janis Joplin, the Stones, Beach Boys, along with the Beatles and other stars. Our reputation grew, but because we were attracting some strange people to the area, the Island shop owners got upset at my parents. We ended up selling everything and shutting our little side shop down or should I say, side show."

Jay's father returned and sat down with us, "Is he telling you stories about their not so famous Rock-n-Roll museum? And how it almost, heck, it did have the police down here everyday." He shot Jay an odd smile, as though there was more to the story than Jay was telling. "Listen you two, I've got to take a drive and deliver several items across town. I want to get together with you tomorrow and we'll go out for some lunch."

"Sounds good, Dad. Do you know anyone interested in the Serendipity?"

"So, you are going to sell it? Your brother Theo filled me in on everything. Looks like you had a few adventures."

"To say the least."

"What we are going to do is sell the Serendipity and sail The New Song back from Hawaii. I need to sell it as soon as possible. It's a nice boat and we shouldn't have any problems with a buyer."

"I might have someone in mind. I'll let you know."

"Okay Dad, you go do what is necessary. We've got to check things out aboard the Serendipity."

Gretchen finished her coffee, carefully washed their 1000-year-old Turkish cups and set them down gently, then hugged Jays' father. "It was really nice meeting you and I really mean that. Your son here has told me so much about you, that it seems as though we have known each other for a long time."

Jay's father was still looking at the cups she had washed out so carefully and while nodding said, "I think you are a keeper—for sure!"

"Oh, by the way, Dad, as Theo filled you in on the Palmyra treasure and those gold links, we most likely will be bringing them back on The New Song. They're stashed away in Hawaii for now. We would like to keep everything in your basement vaults. We can't think of a safer place than that."

"No problem, but I get first dibs on anything you're gonna sell. I want to run those links through my Authenticator and see what it has to say about your lost link treasure."

"No problem. Have you made any improvements on that contraption yet?"

"Yes sir, and that is why I want to test it out against your authentication and appraisals."

"Sure thing. Also, we might be sending the James family, Troy and Beverly and their daughter Tanya your way, once we get the New Song back. They are Mike's parents, from Westwood. The daughter Tanya is attending UCLA and has heard of you through her professors."

Jay's father was getting ready to go out, digging around in a large safe, when Gretchen asked Jay "What was this thing the Authenticator?"

"My father is an inventor, as I mentioned, and has come up with a unique device that can detect if an antique is really that. It sends out an X-ray beam which penetrates the surface of the item without damaging it and sends back information on age, elements, workmanship, composite, and even offers an analysis for where the thing was made."

"You got to be kidding me."

"Nope, he's even got a patent going on it. It really is a fantastic invention, if he can work out the bugs."

"I guess, I wonder, if we might be able to use it on our pieces," she said.

"Possibly, but let Dad work things out first. This is going to be interesting; our learned abilities and acquired knowledge poised against a strange truth machine!"

"I heard that Jay, and yes, it will be interesting." Jonathan Vontempski pushed a few buttons on his latest smart gadget and the entire shop automatically went into lock down.

Jay's father said his goodbyes while hugging Gretchen. "Stick by this guy, he is in need of all the help he can get," with this he headed for his mini van.

# Chapter 4

# Arrangements And Return!

Companionship between human souls is GOD'S introduction to the universe!

The wind had picked up and the surface of the bay was rippling. It was turning out to be a bit of a stormy day with puffy clouds tumbling through the blue sky but still reflecting off the bay. Riding our bikes through the quaint island village, Jay pointed out different points of interest. We passed old movie star's homes, places where movies had been filmed, and Jay pointed out several high-walled structures once belonging to movie moguls long gone. No doubt, there was money on the Island. After a few shortcuts squeezing through an alley or two, Jay and I arrived at the waters edge where boat docks jutted out into the west side bay, where we were greeted by a row of floating yachts and sailboats, all waving their masts, clanging their halyards and flapping their flags in one joyous concert of the sea. The row of moored cruisers, luxurious yachts, and custom boats superimposed on us the feeling and sounds of a distinct seaside community. Smells drifted up, sound systems filled the air with twang, melody and rips, enhancing a lively atmosphere vibrating along the upper way and out across the bay. This background sound is what created its own environment, giving the bay and Island such a unique feeling.

Jay used his code to get into an entry gate and we walked our bikes down the floating dock. Several people waved to Jay, while I received some approving whistles. Old friends came alive, leaning at their boat's rail, giving us a hearty greeting. One couple yelled out an invitation to dinner; Jay gave a thumbs up, nodding back a maybe. We soon came to a larger permanent dock where the Serendipity was anchored. Leaning our bikes up against a cement pier, Jay stood back looking things over. I stood close, admiring this sleek boat. Jay began to point out its design. It was just under 40 foot, with a double width fiberglass hull, teak decking with top end masting and rigging. He had all the railing, rigging and masts completely designed, built, and reinforced down to each screw and bolt by the same company that built several of the trans-pacific racing yachts. Every part of the boat had been built to withstand extreme forces and harsh weather. The boat had been rigged for diving expeditions, well equipped with a dependable diesel engine which could and had moved them along at 10 knots when needed. The overall design of the craft was sleek, yet it was a working boat with nice living accommodations, able to sleep six guests and a small crew.

"Ahoy there Serendipity—Ahoy!" Jay announced our arrival, then helped me aboard. Jay looked around to make sure his best friend and boatman had been doing his job, everything looked in order. We could hear music coming from below deck. I bent my ear and listened, "Beethoven!"

"You're good," Jay gave thumbs up, knowing that Jocko, his top boatman, loved those old composers.

Jay gave a heads up down the galley hatch and soon a shaggy haired man came out of the shadows. "Whoa, blow me down matie! Where have you gone to? And what storm has brought you back to the Serendipity?"

Jay and his boatman shoved each other around a few times, then gave each other a good shaking hug while exchanging slaps and pushes. Then Jay introduced me to Jocko McDougal. With the look of a wily old judge with many talents, he examined me with the sharp eye of a hungry gull, smiled and gave me a hand that must have been made of hardwood and steel. He stood nearly six foot, built like a fire hydrant, but moving like a leopard on the prowl. His face was as wooly as his lightning-struck hair gone wild. Besides the battle scars trying to hide behind the thick wiry brows and heavy drooping mustache, the sun had taken its toll. His sincere smile revealed further evidence of past experience. I shuddered while considering views of explosive bar brawls which must have taken several of his front teeth along the way. For sure, this guy had to be a modern day "old salt" and pirate, I thought.

Jay saw my woeful look, and laughed aloud while patting Jocko on the shoulder. "Hey, don't let appearance fool you, this Mister McDougal is one of the best divers around. He has been on more treasure dives than anyone on the west coast. He also holds a few academic degrees in the ocean sciences, along with a good number of honors and accolades that many a good sailor would love to have. And yes, I admit, the wild life has not done his looks any favors, but his heart is pure, rare gold."

I took a second look, trying to see the academics in this sea dog, as they say. My eyes caught the light reflecting off a gold coin suspended on a chain around his thick neck. "I think I read an article with your name in it, something about a dive in the gulf of Mexico off the southern coast on the Spanish galleon, The El Cazador, back a few years. It was a special documentary about Mel Fisher and his diving company. I can't remember all of it, but you guys found a sunken ship going back to the mid 1700s."

Memories flashed through Jocko's mind as he reached up for the coin dangling on the chain. While nodding his answer, he said, "Yeah that was us, a rather incredible experience." He rubbed one of the scars laid out behind his mustache, "Until the Mexican government sent its water warriors over and pretty well destroyed the wreck, because they were so damn greedy for treasure, rather than the historical value. When they got rough and we ended up having one of our people shot, we decided to pull anchor and leave them with a slow leak in their hull. They had to radio for help, and guess what? The Mexican government radioed us to go help them! But we left them to work it out on their own, good ridden! So now there are two sunken wrecks there, one old and one fairly new!" Jocko said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on, I'll show you around my life," Jay took me by the hand and led me down into the heart of this welcoming craft with its obvious comforts and strengths.

After we had gone through the different cabins and spent a few extra moments in the master's cabin, Jay asked me if I could put a few pastrami sandwiches together while he had a talk with Jocko.

Jocko and Jay went up on deck and got comfortable. Jocko popped a cold one for himself while Jay took a mineral water, "I'm riding my bike today, don't want to get pulled over, you know."

"Okay Jay, what is on your mind? I can see it on your face. You'll never make a good poker player, maybe take a few lessons from that kid friend of yours, JJ."

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to sell the Serendipity. I am bringing back another boat from Hawaii, The New Song. It is a bit rough at the present, but I want you to come over with me and help us sail her back. Then I want you to completely refit her from stem to stern. No bars held back, she is to get the best there is, no worries about money, this one will be your showboat. Let everyone know what you can do. I mean the top-end electronics, all the latest gadgets, legal and illegal, all the best of radar and diving sonar and camera systems along with top-end security, satellite guidance and all that goes with it. You know, every thing needed for research and recovery. We want the best from stem to stern."

Jocko sat there partially listening. This kind of thing was nothing new to him, especially since he'd hooked up with Jay. I came up with a tray filled with several platters of sandwiches and a bowl of pickles, olives and chilies. Being real cool I set everything out on the deck table while they thanked me and dug in. Jay had to get Jocko's eyes and full attention off me before he proceeded. After clearing his throat, Jay said, "I want The New Song to be able to sleep ten, two per cabin and a nice master cabin. Beyond military communications, satellite, sonar and side scan radar, I want the best of everything, both for luxury and for downright hardcore work."

"Sounds like you got a nice project cooking, ah Jay?" glancing at me as he emphasized the word project.

"You might say that. And you are gonna be right in the middle of it. I'll fill you in as time goes along, but it's going to be a search and treasure dive in easy waters along the San Simeon coastline—lots of fun and a good way to test your showboat design skills."

"Does this have anything to do with Luke and Theo's treasure finds, up in that Hearst Castle smuggler's cove a while back?"

Jay smiled, "It might, can't say too much right now."

"Okay...When is all this going to happen?" Jocko inquired.

"Soon, my friend, very soon. We are going to be returning to the Islands in a few days. The Serendipidy is going up for sale this week, and you may be getting some prospective buyers. I'll keep you informed, or you can stay in touch with my Dad, and he'll let you know who might be coming this way."

"If you want to stay aboard and take the new owners out to give them the works, feel free. Or if you want to return with us in a few days, that is fine too. I'd like it if you stayed around for the new owners though."

"Hell Jay, I'd like to buy the Serendipity myself. But if you got other plans, that's a better way, I guess. I love this old boat, it's been good to us, don't want it just to disappear without my final say so. I think it's best that I stay aboard until you work out the last dot, too many strange things going on around here."

Jay knew that Jocko would want to stay but gave him the choice anyway, "Listen Jocko, just be patient, you'll come out smelling like a fresh patch of seaweed and be able to buy your own rig after we get this other project done, my friend. My father will handle the financial end of things. You take whatever you want and put my things in storage for now. If you need a place to stay, Luke's castle in the sky is available for you." Jay was pointing off to the peninsula where you could see one tiny roof reaching just a bit higher above the others, the only three-story apartment ever built on the peninsula.

"I guess the Balboa Yacht Association has put all you old timers on alert, don't blame you for selling out," Jocko sighed while expressing a silent goodbye to good old times.

"What are you talking about Jocko?" Jay turned to ask.

A breeze rippled the water when their attention was turned to the open bay where two smaller sail boats worked their way towards the main channel. One blew a horn for show while they waved their greetings. "Ahh, you know Jay, the Yacht Association is running all the old timers out of the bay and taking their slips away."

"What the heck you talking about Jocko?" Jay sat up, bothered by this underhanded declaration by his boatman.

"You know, it's the Balboa Yacht Association. They have joined up with the big time realtors and are forcing all the original boat owners out. They say a new club or association has taken over the Balboa Harbor holdings and expects everyone to be out of here within 90 days."

"Jocko I've never heard a thing. I've been out to sea for the last six months. Tell me more, this is all new to me."

Jocko shook his head, "Because I don't have my name on this slip, they won't give me any information. The best thing to do is go and speak with the Duffins, a few slips over. You know, your old friends, York and Fanny."

"Where's the old Sea Hag herself?" Jay was nodding to the empty slip just over the dock from them.

"That's another thing. Old Gracy herself began organizing the boat owners a month or so back. And without her saying a thing to me or anyone else, early one morning the Sea Hag had pulled out and motored out of the harbor. No one knows where the Sea Hag or Gracy went to."

"That doesn't sound like her. She would never take her boat out unless at least two of us went with her." Jocko sipped his beer and shrugged his shoulders in total agreement.

Jay looked at his diving watch, "This does not look good. We'll go find out what the heck is going on. Keep your phone handy and I'll get back with you. But in the meantime, do not allow anyone or anything to move this boat out of my slip. If need be, sink it right here before it can be moved."

Jocko gave a whimsical salute saying, "Will do captain, and will be eager to hear what really is going on." He walked us over to the rail and was more than eager to help me down onto the dock. In fact, he practically lifted me up, making sure I was more than safe in his grasp.

Making our way back up the dock, Jay scanned the area, forever checking his surroundings out. We waved to Jocko, gathered up our bikes and made our way along the main boardway which weaved itself along the entire bay front. Several people shouted their greetings while others just waved their hellos to Jay as they moved along the dock. We went over a few slips to visit with York and Fanny. Looking at the well-maintained motor cruiser, Jay pressed the gate button, alerting whoever might be aboard. Immediately, Jay saw a camera scanning us. Then, a large bald head soon appeared over the rail of this exquisite 60-foot power cruiser named 'Do Not Disturb.'

"Hold on there Vontempski, I'll get to the gate button in a second, " came a booming voice. The bald-headed shrimp of a man disappeared and you could hear him yelling at his wife Fanny that they had guests—to get her butt dressed and get the damn coffee on! Everyone for a quarter mile could hear them bantering back and forth for a few minutes until the gate buzzed and the lock released.

I looked over at Jay, asking if we were going to be safe. Jay assured me that all was well, no worries. We strolled down the dock to the gleaming white cruiser, where we saw a flag rising up the radio mast. It was their signature flag, which read, "Do Not Disturb!"

"Now that's interesting, just like in a hotel. Is this to tell us to leave them alone?" Gretchen asked, looking up at the flapping flag.

"Nah, that is the name of their boat. They put the flag up every time they don't want to be bothered by anyone, but this does not mean by us. They love me like a son."

Just then, a bald but tanned head popped over the rail and one old withered man was grinning at us, "Long time no see, salty dog. Where been thou treasure man?"

"Many, many places. Much water has washed us clean, so when you're ready, drop the elevator so we can come up there and tell you a tale or two of the big blue sea."

Immediately a motor was heard as the side of the boat opened to allow a flat platform to begin lowering down to the dock. Jay took my hand as we stepped onto the platform and it began to rise up the side of the hull. At the top, it came even with the highly polished deck of the cruiser. We stepped onto the deck of the Do Not Disturb!

"I'll be a flea bitten hound dog, it really is you, Jay. Thought for sure you got blown into Davy's Locker, but guess not...So where you's been, old friend?"

"Had to go out into the big Pacific and find me this fine woman here," with this he laid his hand onto my shoulder.

I was not prepared for any of this. For here was an old man sitting in a wheel chair with a huge grin taking up his wrinkled face. Old man York was bubbling over with delight and leaned forward, his wire-brush eyebrows rose like two birds flying north, then squinted at me, "So you're the one he rescued?"

I was taken back and so was Jay, "How the hell did you know that, old man?"

"Ho, ho, ho, this is old man York Duffin. He knows all and more."

"Come on old man tell us, or I'll never tell you about the treasure we found."

That must have done it. York's eyes shot wide open and immediately he invited us to sit. He called for Fanny, yelling to get that coffee over here. He was grinning, clapping his hands together as he moved around in his wheelchair, getting so excited that I thought he would have a heart attack. "It is time for treasure stories!"

Another surprise hit me. Fanny, York's wife, came out of the galley also riding in a battery driven wheel chair. Across her lap she was carrying a tray arranged with a thermos of coffee and a plate full of freshly baked coffee rolls. She pulled up to the deck table, set everything down, then kindly nodded to Jay and me, but shot York a bad look.

To myself, Fanny sounded like a name fit for a young sweet thing, but here was the other side of that name. A well-groomed woman, definitely carrying some age on her wrinkled body, with grey hair pulled back into a nearly perfect bun, her grey eyes sparkling at Jay. Other than the wheelchair, she seemed to be healthy and dignified. Her name might have been Fanny, but she looked like one tough cookie!

"Fanny, stop gawking at the best looking man in Orange County and pour our guests some coffee so they can get started telling us about that treasure they done found."

Jay put up his right hand as a halt sign, smiled and said, "Wait a darn minute here York, first you tell us how you came to know the rescue tale, while we enjoy these rolls and coffee. And thank you Fanny, it looks really good, and you're looking pretty good also. I wish I was fifty years older, I'd love to take you out on a hot date. What's your secret?"

"Oh Jay, you're so kind, but don't give me any tall sea stories about pretty old women...but it is good to see you. And wow, ain't this young thing you brought with you privileged, my special man and last hope." She smiled, "If I were fifty years younger, I'd ravish you until you begged for life!"

I was wondering where all this was going, while York was pressing buttons on a pad and slightly lifting the front wheels on his chair with his electronic thruster, so that the front was thumping the deck. "Okay, okay, enough of this slobbery stuff, I'll tell you what I know," York spoke up, not wanting to hear any more sweet talk between Jay and his seventy year old wife.

Jay leaned down and kissed Fanny on her sunken cheek, saying, "May I savor these moments of joy for they are the spice of my life and the taste of living," before he introduced me to her.

Fanny nearly burst out in tears, but yelled at York, "Did you hear that, you old dried up prune? This man knows how to win a woman's heart."

"Sure, sure, let's get the show on the water...please!"

"Now York, it's your turn. Go for it," Jay spoke as he lifted a sweet roll to his mouth.

"I talked with Jocko one day, and he had talked with Theo's workers, Sally and Cinder, at his surf shop. They hinted at something that had taken place out to sea with you, so I went to your father's shop. Jonathon told me he had heard something from Dustin, so I called Dustin. He was up in Canada doing some kind of fancy lawyering but his secretary seemed to be lonely, so I sweet-talked her until soon she was spilling the whole boat load of sardines to me. Apparently, Theo had been in contact with Dustin, Dustin told your father, your father mentioned the event to Jocko and then your boatman came over here one day and after a few cold ones, he related the entire story to us."

"So much for privacy," Jay snorted out, remembering what Brookstone had said about not letting people know too much!

"Now it's your turn, back to the treasure thing and those links."

"Links...ahh, sheeet!"

# Chapter 5

# The First Project Takes Form!

If you desire to extract a gold tooth from a dangerous snake,

beware, not of its bite, but of your own stupidity!

Learning that the discovery of the Inca links was known to a chain of people who loved to talk treasure was a bit too much for Jay. He fervently explained that if anyone knew of the links, they could be in danger. He pleaded with these old friends to seal up their awareness of such a find, "Please, many can be hurt if this information gets out to those greedy hunters on land. This is no ordinary treasure!"

Both York and Fanny understood what Jay was asking. York turned to Fanny and warned her not to be saying a thing to any of those crazy women on that gossip net thing she used. However, Jay suspected that it was York that would have to be harnessed to secrecy, not Fanny.

After a talk through The New Song events, including the rescue, the treasure of Palmyra, the two escapees—Bubba and Bongo, Mike's discovery of the links, the storm, the get-away and the final moments of Mike and the thieves before Palmyra blew, Jay finished up with the rescue of the kids aboard the sunken fishing trawler the 'Yoaky-Doky'.

Fanny sat in her wheelchair intently listening to this real life adventure. However, York was interrupting and asking a thousand irritating questions. Fanny kept waving him off, telling him to shut up and let the tale be told. Jay thought it prudent to prevent a wheelchair battle, so he began jumping over details, touching the highlights, and that was it.

By the time Jay finished up, the Duffy's were able to grasp the importance of silence. York and Fanny were both photographers who knew first hand that discoveries attracted the good, the bad and the ugly, but mostly the ugly.

Jay was eager to hear about the underhanded plot to get rid of the old timers from the Balboa Yacht harbor. He turned the treasure tale off and pressed York for details on what was going on here.

Gretchen elbowed Jay, getting his attention and casually nodded up to the main walkway where two dark skinned men were looking at them. "This is the third time they have walked by," Gretchen whispered just loud enough for York and Fanny to hear.

"That is what is going on around here," York nodded towards the two men now looking their way. "Those are the guys that have given us our sailing papers, and they weren't none the kinder to us and what this would mean to us."

"You're saying that these guys have talked with you about having to give up your slip?"

"Not just talked, but gave us orders. Along with a sly threat to get out," Fanny mumbled in anger.

Just then, the two men opened the gate and came walking down the dock. "Ooh-me-gommy-mommy," York said to Fanny. "Get ready folks, for some big bad warning."

Immediately both York and Fanny moved their wheelchairs side by side, into a united front where the elevator platform opening was. Gretchen and Jay sat watching to see what might happen. Jay wanted to get involved but it was not his boat or place to interfere, not yet.

The two men, wearing long billed yachting caps, Hawaiian shirts, baggy beach shorts and thick-soled sandals, were standing alongside the motor cruiser, trying to look like yachters. Before they had a chance to say a word, York in a heavy threatening voice said, "Okay you two, that is far enough. We told you not to bother us again and we meant it. You are trespassing into our home, that gate is my front door. We got the rights to punch a few holes in you...legally! Turn around and get the hell off my dock or I'll let fly this shaft into your ugly carcasses."

York pulled from a side pouch on his wheelchair a three-pronged spear gun and armed it. No doubt, that spear gun was nothing to mess with, but as the two began to laugh under their breaths, Fanny spoke out in what can only be described as a half-lioness and a half-cheetah screech. She became a warrior woman, "And if that don't do the trick for you mangy dogs, I'll shoot two of these flares, one down your throats and the other up your butts." From under her lap towel, she pulled out a menacing flare gun that had to be eighteen inches long, cocked it; now it was fully loaded!

Both Jay and Gretchen were taken aback by the defense posturing by these old geezers. Jay thought how those threats even scared him, and they were best of friends. Gretchen almost laughed, not sure of what she was witnessing, but when she saw the look on Jay's face, suddenly realized that these old timers were not kidding. The message must have gotten through. The two intruders backed up and headed towards the gate. York yelled out, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass!"

From up on the main boardwalk, a few yachters stood and watched this exchange. The two shook their heads and one stated, "You're making a big mistake, You only have 45 days left, so get with it, old folks." York raised the spear gun, but Jay reached out and grabbed it, "No York, don't do that. There is a better way to handle this. No need for you to get arrested for taking a shot at these guys."

"Hey, let them send me to jail. I need my teeth fixed and maybe while I'm there, I'll get a heart transplant and some new glasses."

"Oh shut up York, Mr. Big blow, don't you know that you got to be a different color and from another country before you can get fiddly squab from the American system of justice," Fanny barked out.

"It's diddly squat, dear, not fiddly squab," York yelled.

By now, all those that were watching had begun to clap, and both Jay and Gretchen were laughing. The episode looked like some kind of a stage show; but they also knew that this was serious.

Everyone was quiet for a time as they watched the two men disappear down the main boardwalk, then turn into an alcove and enter a heavy steel gate. "Wow York, why on earth would you go bonkers like that with those guys? They didn't even have a chance to deliver their message."

York didn't say a word but moved to the deckhouse wall, pressed a button and down came a fold-down platform which acted as a table. There in the wall was a 48-inch TV screen. York backed up his chair, pressed a wireless device and there appeared a video recording. "Now watch this. You know I am a photographer and a cameraman. I got cameras all over this boat. They are there to assist us, but also to guard us from intruders like those guys."

There on the screen, the same two men, dressed a little different, came walking down the dock. This time, they stepped onto the platform and stood on the deck. It was York who told them to get off his boat, and then from a distance, told them that they better learn how to ask for permission to enter his home. The two chuckled and began their spiel. "Listen up and listen carefully. The new Balboa Harbor Association is giving all you people ninety days to lift anchor and get out of harbor. You are no longer owners, renters or residents of any slip in the harbor. The east bay section of 95 slips will be the first to be cleared." The Hispanic-looking man took out a camera and began taking pictures of the different cruisers and sailing yachts.

"That is bullcrap," Fanny burst out. "We've been here going back to the John Wayne days. All of us old timers are grandfathered into our slips. In fact my grandfather bought one of the first lots on the Island for $250."

York continued with the video. The one other man, a lighter brown color, shook his head and firmly stated that none of that mattered. "It's a new ownership and a new contract, and you old ones are not part of it. You have no say-so. In fact, when the ninety days is up, Señor Alberto Gomez will have a tug boat in here to tow all of you out of the harbor, and then bring in the new slip owners."

York fired back. "Try it and you and your drug lord will find it easier to eat a nest of Amazon killer wasps, than to mess with us old timers."

Then York said, "Watch this now." The video had the two enforcers dead center and the quieter one moved his wind breaker apart at the bottom and you could see that he was displaying a chest holster with an easy to reach pistol on his hip. York paused the film right there and spoke, "Now that, Jay, is pure intimidation. To me and all the rest of us boaters we understand that this gesture is drug lord tactics. Some of the other yachters were pushed around and given a few blows. But we are worried about Gracy Tanger. She began to organize everyone and suddenly one night her Sea Hag boat set sail. It left the harbor headed south. We tried to contact her, but no go."

After the video had run, Jay sat there for a long while thinking about what he could do. He asked, "What would you have me do?"

"Well, Jay, there are about twenty-five of us at present and the only thing we need is a leader with some guts. We are willing to fight, to go to court, or whatever else it might take, but we ain't gonna just lay down and die. This island and bay have been home to many of us for decades, and we aren't about to give the island and bay away to drug kings and illegals."

Jay sat there looking down the boardwalk toward a few of the larger homes where the two men had entered. Like armed compounds, high cement walls stood rugged, plastered like an old adobe mission. The walls blocked any view of the inside. There was an upper patio deck where shaded glass surrounded the deck to keep out the bay winds. These few homes on the bay were something new. This attempted takeover involved Jay and his family personally. For if some gang could come in here and take over the island, the boat slips, and the control of the harbor, what else might they do? Jay decided to begin his inquiry. It was always prudent to gather facts and information about your task before committing your life to it. Jay smiled as he recalled something Luke had said, "Fish the river of inspiration before it runs dry, and you might catch an idea!"

"All right, York, get me the names of everyone to be affected, or who might care about what's going on. I want to know who we can depend on. Then, I want you to carefully ask everyone to write down the names, addresses, car licenses, how many people live in the walled mansions, and any other information that can be collected. Every little bit will count. In the meantime, I'll get hold of Dustin and the gang and we'll look to see what might be done."

"Facts are a criminal's worst nightmare," York said as he agreed.

"Once you get this information collected, send it to me in an email. I'll put a few of our researchers on it and we'll come up with a profile on who we are actually dealing with. Once we know that, we can begin making decisions."

"You mean we're gonna be like detectives?" Fanny whispered in all seriousness as her eyes scanned the docks.

"Sure thing Fanny, you got it. By the way, you two, I really like your camera setup, tell me more." Fanny took Gretchen downstairs to show her around while York came alive talking tech stuff, "I have the latest infrared cameras, high powered photographic night vision equipment, each one has a built-in telescopic lens, a sound collection program, and there are about twenty of them alone onboard. There are several in the rigging, on the bow, on the stern, on beams along side, upper deckhouse, inside, and even at water line. I can monitor everything around me for several miles with the touch of a button. I also have several underwater systems that I can drop into the water to observe things below. I check my hull and props with them. And I also see if there are any fish worth catching."

Jay was impressed that this elderly man would be so up on the tech scene. Then York opened a water-proof crate and lifted out a beautifully shaped drone helicopter. "This is the latest and the greatest. I and Jimmy Kobziff, down the way, have begun to play with them; they are really something else. I can fly this thing completely around the bay and over the island. It carries one of the most sophisticated cameras there is. Jimmy has connections and got a few from his buddy at NASA."

It was getting late. Fanny had invited us for a cook-out on deck but we had to get going. The time for action was short and a lot of information had to be collected about the Balboa takeover. We said our goodbyes and let them know we would be keeping an eye on them from Luke's apartment. Luke had a high powered telescope that he used to observe the activities on the Island, in the bay, and would look out at the surf along the shoreline, clear down to the wedge. Jay turned and pointed across the bay to the peninsula where a small roof line rose up one story above all the others. "That is Luke's castle in the sky; we're staying there for now. If you need, send us a flash with your signaling gun and if we are home, we'll get with you. You got my number, call if you need to. Get those names and facts to me as soon as you can. Feed a little to me in the next few hours and I'll get the sails filled."

They shook hands with those two ornery cusses and stepped onto the platform, then were lowered to the dock. Fanny with the biggest smile aimed at Jay, had the final say-so, "For sailors in a bad storm—it is a good worthy ship, and for a husband in rough times—a blessed and faithful wife!"

With those words, they went up to the main walk, York buzzing them through the gate. They retrieved their bikes and headed for the ferry. Gretchen was more than curious about how York and Fanny had both come to be wheelchair bound. As they peddled towards the ferry landing, Jay began with their meeting at a rehab facility in San Diego. York had been crushed under a falling mast during the annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race in a storm off the coast of Baja. Fanny had broken her back in a horse jumping competition. They ended up in the same rehab hospital, bitter and angry. Both their lives had been changed. Their careers had ended, but they found a new lease on life by meeting in that rehab facility. York was well off, they both loved the sea and Fanny owned a home on the island, so they were married and began a new life aboard The Do Not Disturb cruiser. Jay pointed to the grey stone house across from the Do Not Disturb, explaining that they use the home as a beach rental and live aboard the boat.

"Interesting," she said and was wondering what those last words of Fanny might have meant.

# Chapter 6

# Setting Plans Into Motion

When everything starts falling apart, think to the future

and immediately begin building something with the pieces!

The bayside ferry took them back over to the peninsula and soon they came to Theo's Surf and Water Sports Shop. The music was blasting out the door, the whole neighborhood seemed to be rocking and feeling it. Sally, one of Theo's twin shop keepers, caught sight of Jay and came out of the show-board room to meet him. "Yikes...sore eyes I do have for you because time waits too long for you to be there." Jay thought he understood what she said in her new age beach talk.

Then Cinder, the twin sister to Sally, came out, "It's the big Kahunna, the man of the seas and many treasures. How the heck you doing Jay?"

Trying to be nonchalant in front of all the shop customers, Jay casually replied, "Just fine, and greetings to the twin wonders. And may we step into the back room for a moment?"

"Whew-we, I do agree, please take me, sure thing," she laughed as she tapped Jay's arm, smiled at Gretchen, saying, "Truly kidding here folks," as they turned towards the back office.

One longhaired surfer blurted out, "Hey, that's not fair, I'd like that kind of service too!" Sally stuck out her tongue at the jokester as they entered the back office door.

Jay said, "This is Gretchen Summerton, a very close friend of mine, and he emphasized 'very close.' The gang is still in the Islands, we'll be headed over in a few days. Theo wanted us to stop by and see how all was going with you. He wanted to make sure you didn't sell the shop and move to Tahiti."

"That's nice, but we prefer Newport over Tahiti. And tell Theo that we are doing great—only gave away five of his best boards to our friends so-far, huh...and with those Baja storms, the surf has been roaring up this way, so rentals are way up. Oh yeah, that golden-flaked board that Theo built for the contest winner at Half Moon Bay is really a hit. We have had at least ten calls on it. Tell Theo to get back here and start building more of them. And put the shark repelling device in them, that is caught on too."

"Will do. But girls I want to tell you something. You were told certain information about the Palmyra treasure and some gold chain links we located. That information is classified. I mean top secret, no one is to know. Just by you knowing a little about it, you could be in danger. So drop it, forget it, you know nothing, is that understood?"

"Absolutely. What treasure? And never heard of any links or did you say binks?" Sally nodded.

"Theo should be back in a week or so. He told me to give you this," and Jay handed over an envelope with a bonus gift of $500 in it. "$250 each, just because you are doing such a great job. Keep it up and don't forget to forget!"

"No prob man," Cinder replied.

"Oh, by the way, looks like we're gonna be staying at Luke's place for a few days, you might want to come by and gather up those, well, your teaser things you got hanging all over the place."

Gretchen had to smile. These two surf queens were wearing T-shirts next to nothing. Their tiny bikini-covered bottoms must have been great advertisement for better sales. Even Jay had taken a few quick glances at these water queens thinking—dress code, huh. Somehow there had to be a risk in their dress code, but maybe not. Theo was like a big brother to them, and allowed this dress wear. But even Theo drew the line at thongs!

"How'd you know that Jay?" Sally smiled, knowing that whenever they stayed at Luke's place, they always left little things around, wanting to tease Luke when he came home.

A customer stood at the counter, clearing his throat, waiting to pay for body surfing fins, and they had to get back to business. We said our goodbyes, jumped onto our bikes and headed for the castle in the sky.

No doubt, Luke had a nice hideaway, looking down and across the entire area. They opened all the windows to get the snappy cross breeze and clicked on the digital player. Gretchen chose a soft mood station, put on some coffee and went around collecting all the female goodies blowing in the breeze, and got comfortable. Jay decided to walk around the third story apartment with the new electronic toys that Brookstone had given them, checking out for hidden cameras or listening devices, just in case. "Listen, looks like things are changing for our plans," Jay sat back relaxing while organizing his thoughts on all that they had learned.

"Tell me, oh master," Gretchen replied.

"What I am thinking is that you should be going back with the James family as soon as possible. Once there, you can set them up and do the tour, show them The New Song and take them with Timm to show them the links."

"That sounds easy enough, but what about you? What are you going to be doing?"

"I am going to call the team and present this situation to them. I think this just might be our first project off the wave. I am going to need some help here. I'll ask for Max and Wally to fly back and begin seeing what we can do. This might be dangerous from what I can tell, especially if we got the Mexican drug cartels settling in. I'm going to call my father and find out the island situation with home purchases and what is going on with the Balboa Yacht Association."

"That sounds like a challenge for the new MAVIN Group, but you might ask Brookstone to send along a couple of his brothers to add some security while you're taking pokes at the bad guys."

"You're right there. If you want to call Crystal and get the flight scheduled for you and the James family, go for it. I'll make my calls to Luke, Theo, and Dustin and see what they think."

After Gretchen poured two mugs of freshly brewed coffee, Jay went out onto the westside deck to make his calls while Gretchen got comfortable and thought to call the James family first. After the trip was agreed to, she then called Crystal to set up times and flights. Gretchen was impressed by Crystal's efficiency. By morning she had their open-ended round trip tickets, individual credit cards with $5000 limits, a rental van, the choice of staying with the MAVIN teem on the north shore or in a nice beach hotel. Timm and JJ would be at the airport to meet them and bring them to the north shore compound, that was the name they were calling it now.

The James family was a little reserved at the expediency of this trip. Troy James being a lawyer used his firm to double check these arrangements and found everything to be copacetic. Tanya had to arrange her time off from school, but everything came together faster than they expected. Tanya wanted to bring one of her friends to accompany her. They asked for an extra day to arrange their own affairs. Gretchen volunteered to help put things in order for them and her help was accepted.

Jay's phone call to the north shore compound was put on speaker while the MAVIN Team along with the Hearst Castle Security Force gathered to hear the latest from Jay. He went through the visit with the James family and explained their initial anger regarding the lies that Thomas had told them. He explained how he and Gretchen spent the day with them going over the documents, the photos and the story of Mike and all that had happened to him. Jay went on to explain his visit to his father's shop, and then the return to his boat the Serendipity and the bad news from Jocko. The story of the slow takeover of Balboa Island and the Balboa Yacht Harbor by possible Mexican drug lords came flowing out. He finished up telling everyone about their tactics and the threats he had seen on video taken by York and Fanny. This alone, assured that the MAVIN Team would move on this. Theo spoke up fervently, saying, "This is my home they are messing with. We grew up there, and there is no way we're going to let a den of thieves take over."

Jay also bolstered up this thought. "This too is my home. My boat has been there for ten years now. I grew up on the Island and my father's shop exists in the heart of this mess. I ain't going to let drug killers take anything!"

Fresh pots of Kona Coffee were brewing as the roundhouse discussion was held. Dustin explained to Jay that he and his wife Nadia, Luke and Amber, Theo and Crystal, along with Brookstone, had to make an immediate trip to Canada. That left Wally, Max and Timm, along with JJ and several of the Kaamin brothers. Tim and JJ would become the James family guides and chauffeurs. Wally and Max along with two of the Kaamin boys would leave as soon as possible. Everyone else would wait until the James family arrived. They would meet everyone, get to see the treasure and stay as long as they wanted. This was something that everyone had decided on. For their son Mike had been lost in a tragic event, but the way things had come out, the family was to be compensated and cared for. If things went right, they might become a working part of the MAVIN Team; time would reveal if this might be a good thing.

It had been a long time in its creation but the MAVIN Team was up and running. Jay asked Luke if they could set up his castle in the sky as head-quarters for the central look-out while the Balboa event was being dealt with. After all, right from the bayside deck and windows, the entire bay could be seen. If you set up Luke's telescope, they could have a near perfect point of observation and look right down onto the Serendipity as well as keep an eye on York and Fanny on the Do Not Disturb motor yacht. Luke was more than happy to loan out his apartment in the sky as long as they knew it had to be secured, and kept under the radar if possible. Jay asked that Max and Wally and maybe a couple of the Kaamin brothers be sent, and they would begin their investigations.

Theo asked about his shop and the twins. Jay assured that the girls were doing more than well and passed on the request for the new gold-flaked boards. Luke interjected, "Let the girls know you're going to be moving in for a time and hide all that girly stuff they always leave hanging around to tease me."

"Too late, but don't worry. Gretchen had fun collecting all of it and said that you are a lucky man Luke. For what other guy had four bikinis, a full rainbow of panties, thongs and bras hanging all over his place?"

"O man, I'm gonna ring those twins' necks," Luke groaned and they all said their hellos and goodbyes.

Gretchen was already sending over the names and information they had collected so far from Jocko and from York and Fanny, this would give the team a head start on trying to figure out what and who they were dealing with. They had a quiet dinner and a peaceful evening sitting on the upper deck watching the happenings down in the Bay.

The following day was bright and blue. Gretchen would head out with the James family and Jay would begin investigating the extent of the attempted take over of the docks. The next day right after lunch with Jay's father at The Village Inn restaurant, Gretchen got a first hand view of this father and son relationship. It was something to remember.

The time had come. Jay sent Gretchen off to help the James family get ready for the flight and extended visit. Gretchen gave her most sincere regards to Jay's dad, Jonathan, and then Jay walked her to their rental car. Jay had always been a little shy in the feelings department but had no problem putting his arms around Gretchen and kissing her goodbye. Somehow, her response was mixed with tears, which mingled with Jays. They had been together now for over half a year and had shared some life altering experiences. They realized they were going to be separated for a time and it would be a new experience. Jay was coming to understand how much he had grown attached to Gretchen. It had been many years since the death of his wife and maybe, just maybe, his soul was finding its way back to life. Jay stood in the parking lot, watching this unusual lady drive away, wondering what might become of their relationship.

Jay found himself in a melancholy frame of mind, but he slowly came out of it as he spent the afternoon with his father driving around the Island, making notes, and taking pictures of every piece of property that might have been purchased under suspicious conditions. They stopped in at all their friends' real-estate businesses as Jay began to grasp the extent of this south of the border take-over. Many of the Balboa residents were aware of changes but felt they could do nothing to stop them.

Several of the most expensive homes faced the Newport Peninsula across the bay. Two of these recent purchases loomed above the slips where York and Fanny's motor yacht was berthed. They had been purchased just a year earlier by The Colony Holding Company, an upstart company which few had ever heard of. A Mexican crew of skilled workers had been brought in to remodeled the homes, the walls redone and made higher, the upper stories with new wrap-around decks built onto them. It was not unusual for these renovations, but it was the secrecy that bothered the neighborhood. While perusing the area Jay had noticed the remodeled houses having shortwave towers affixed to satellite dishes as well as security camera systems scanning the yards and the boat docks.

A satellite overview of the two houses showed what seemed to be an underground parking area below the Spanish style patio. There was a walk-through gate between the two adjoining properties. No doubt about it, these properties were well secured, and in Jay's opinion, far more than necessary for this Island community.

Jay made sure that every bit of this information went over to Wally and Max on the north shore so they might have a heads up before their arrival.

One of the last stops was at an old family friend's office, Luxury Real Estate Broker, Louie Flynn. He was grandson to the famous actor Errol Flynn who once lived and owned a yacht in the Newport Harbor. Louie was the source of all sources for Balboa Island's secrets and gossip. He knew all the old timers and where they had their secrets buried. He once knew many of the famous stars who had lived and had their yachts anchored here. A tasteful variety of photos hung around the office—Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Shirley Temple, James Cagney, Mae West and John Wayne himself, just to name a few of those old time movie stars. Jay's father and Flynn almost went bonkers talking about the old days and the rough beginning of the Island. Jay just sat back and listened, enjoying every minute. After the nostalgia decreased, events of the last few years began. It was disturbing to hear of the foreign monies pouring into the area, buying up older famous landmarks, tearing them down and building new edifices to a different culture. "Hell, we got Chinese junks in the bay, a mosque being proposed for the area, and as you have seen, several Mexican fortresses, along with a Wong-Tong kick-ass club and a few Mexican street walkers," old Louie spewed out his frustration in seeing the original replaced with another culture, not even our own faceless modernity.

It was on their late afternoon coffee break when Jay thought he noticed the two men that had passively threatened York and Fanny observing them. He made mention of this to his father. "Oh, you mean those two Hawaiian looking characters? They have been tailing us for the last hour, ever since we were checking out those two new palaces on the bay after we left Louie's place."

"Those are not Hawaiian dudes Dad, those are Mexican strong-arms, and why didn't you tell me they were following us?"

"Just wanted to see what they might be up to."

"I wonder if one of the real estate offices put them onto our backs after we made our inquiries."

"Could be."

"I think we better be a little more careful here, strange things have been going on. And until I get a better understanding of what that might be, you better lock up real good."

They left the coffee house and walked along Marine Avenue, then turned onto Agate Avenue and came to Jonathan's Rarity Shop. Jay was making a few calls when the front door rang its little bells and sure enough, it was the two big bad boys who had been following them. They stood looking around at all the displayed goods when Jonathan approached them and asked if there was anything they might want to look at.

The shorter, barrel chested man shook his head, paying no attention to Jonathan, and continued to look around. Then he reached up to a glass cabinet and lifted out a ceramic vase of many colors, taking a minute to examine it. Jonathan stated that the man had a good eye, for this was a vase from the Suleiman dynasty, salvaged from a wreck off one of the Greek Islands, "Very rare it is, and in nice shape."

With a knowing smile, the barrel chested man held it out as if to hand it over to Jonathan but then let it fall to the floor where it shattered to pieces.

Jay heard the vase break and turned his head around the corner to see the two rough-necks just standing there in front of his father. His father said, "Well now, that little gesture just cost you $1800, my friend."

The two just stood there showing off their dental reconstruction jobs. The second man, who reminded Jay of a giant milk carton, square from foot to head, and having arms like an ape, pulled down his cap tighter and growled, "Hey man, we ain't your friend. And we can't help it if you're too old and slow to take the vase."

Jay had summed up the situation and had approached, but stood off to one side out of their reach, "So it is you ball busters again. Guess you are looking for some real trouble these days. I am guessing that your boss, Gomez, or whatever his name is, might not want to get the community riled up with your strong arm tactics. So it might be a wise thing to pay for the vase."

The first Mexican who had dropped the vase said in a mocking voice, "We ain't got no boss, but just warning you to stop asking questions. Leave off your visits to the bay front homes."

Jonathan was bent down picking up the pieces of the shattered vase when Jay replied, "Oh really now, and why would that be?" Jay had moved slightly towards the door but stood relaxed, his arms folded across his chest, looking casual.

"Cuz we are gonna own this island and this shop soon. Your kind will either be working for us or gone...maybe out to sea."

Jonathan saw the situation and he felt it was not in his favor to do anything, but he said, "Oh, so it is you who own those big nice homes on the bay."

"Sure man," barrel chest man snapped.

Jay knew what his father was up to, it was called stalling for time. Jay said, "Tell your Gomez boss man that we'll be over soon, to collect the $1800 for the vase."

This made both of them go stiff but instead of getting angry, they started laughing. One said, "Oh please señor, do visit, we'd love to have some fun with yous and your collector."

"No worries man, see you along the way," Jay had reached out for the door and opened it for them to leave. As they walked past, Jay waited for the right moment. Suddenly his left hand shot out and hit the barrel boy in the throat while his right hand slashed down onto the milkcarton man's neck. Both went tumbling out of the shop to land on the sidewalk. The barrel boy was choking, and his buddy was out cold, quivering with spasms. Jay leaned down and lifted from their belts two rather nice pistols and both their wallets. "Tell Gomez that we'll be over to collect for the damages!"

Jonathan was on the phone calling 911 to let the dispatcher know that two men were lying out on the sidewalk in front of a shop called The Rarity.

People came walking along and saw the two men struggling on the ground, asking Jay, "What the heck's going on? What's the matter with them?"

Jay stood there and simply replied, "I don't know. They were complaining that they had eaten at one of the new pushcart burrito stands and had stomach pains, asking if we could help."

As a crowd formed and store owners came out to see what was going on, Jay suggested to his father that they lock up for the day and go their way before they had to answer any questions. With this, Jay's father pushed the security buttons and the entire shop went into lock down. "Well, son, looks like things are going to get exciting around here again. Glad to see you are doing well and back in form. I think Gretchen has done a miracle in you." They departed through the back passage and headed for the Serendipity.

A siren could be heard making its way down Marine Avenue as they came to the Serendipity. "Ahoy there Matey," Jay called out to Jocko who was standing with a cold one in his hand, listening to the siren in the distance, not often heard on the Island.

Jay and his father stepped aboard and went down into the galley. "Take this stuff and lock it into the safe, if you would, Jocko," handing over two pistols and two wallets.

"Whoa! Back one day and you're already rolling the drunks on the Island," Jocko was laughing as he disappeared into the master cabin. He came back up in a few minutes asking, "Okay, there's got to be a good story with this little bundle of goodies, tell me Captain Jay, as I get a few cold ones out for us."

"Make mine no-caffeine," Jay's father requested.

# Chapter 7

# James Family and Getting Started!

Accomplish something good while waiting for serious news and time will be kinder to you!

Those 777 jets were like flying palaces—airborne into ultimate luxury. Two days later one giant steel-composite beauty brought Gretchen and the James family into the Honolulu International Airport. Timm and JJ were waiting with arms full of freshly made leis. They spotted Gretchen and waved them over. Surprised, Timm thought it would just be the parents, but they had their daughter in tow and with her stood another young woman, all smiles and ready to go.

"Aloha, Aloha. Well, well, what do we have here now?" Timm asked in an enthusiastic manner, putting the famous Hawaiian flower necklaces on each of them. JJ stepped up with a second necklace lei of even prettier colors, placing them over the first ones with a hug for the girls.

Gretchen introduced the James family along with Tanya their daughter and another young woman named Abby to Timm and JJ, who was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of two nice-looking young women. Immediately he began making sure he was the man they needed to know, and actually surprised everyone by displaying a long-hidden gentleman's role. Timm got JJ's attention and pointed down the walkway where the luggage was coming around on a moving ramp. JJ took the initiative, excused himself from the group as he asked the two girls to hold onto him and show him their luggage.

The trip around the Island to the north shore was interspersed with refreshing short rainfalls, filling the clean air with rainbows. The James family was warmly welcomed by the MAVIN Team, including the Kaamin family. They were surprised by the hardy welcome and the accommodations that had been prepared. Luke took the prerogative to introduce everyone, especially The New Song's crew, who had known their son Mike the best. Some sad moments came and went as the purpose of the joint venture was introduced over a fantastic lunch. Dustin explained that Luke and Brookstone and himself would be departing the next day, headed for Canada. They had to begin settling all the official documents and transfer of properties over to the MAVIN Group.

It took a bit of time for Troy and Beverly to finally relax as they came to realize that these people were Mike's real friends and soon grasped the full meaning of the MAVIN invitation. They were eager to see for themselves the golden links that would pave the way to the fortune they were to be given. It only took JJ and Timm a few exchanges before Tanya and Abby were strolling the beaches with them.

Dustin and Troy soon realized that they had common acquaintances through their law practices and another bond began to cement itself into the group's growing circle of friends. Dustin made a comment that the group was being tossed into the fire, without a warm up. The trip to Canada was going to be taxing enough for them, no less having to deal with the Balboa Island event. Their resources would be divided, but Brookstone assured everyone that this type of events would be the norm. It was one reason why we had to learn how to work as a group, think ahead, and be prepared for the unexpected. Everyone would be asked to do their best and the group would make mistakes along the way, but so far, we had a great team and plenty of resources to assist any and every effort.

A get acquainted walk on the white sand beach helped the new arrivals work off jet lag in the most peaceful environment. Plans to go into Honolulu the next day were made to get a first hand look at the links that Mike had found and see treasure pieces that had been recovered. They would also visit The New Song and see where Mike had lived and sailed. Of course, JJ had plans to take the girls surfing, and Timm wanted to take everyone out on The New Song for snorkeling and a sunset sail. Dustin's wife Nadia was a great host and made sure that Beverly was welcomed into the girls' circle. Later that evening, after an incredible meal on the ocean view deck they discussed plans for a memorial for Mike on the mainland, so his classmates and relatives would be able to attend. The MAVIN Group would pay for the costs and offered several suggestions for a memorial. The most uplifting point was the creation of a Mike James Foundation to be designed and set up by his father Troy, and Dustin. The funds from the sale of the links would go into this foundation and be dispersed by the trustees, the James family and whomever they appointed.

The links would be purchased by the MAVIN Group to be displayed in various museums throughout the world. Gretchen and Jay would take responsibility for the links and for a good portion of the treasure. However they wanted to share or display the treasure was up to them, making sure the treasure was insured and catalogued and secured. Both of them had experience in dealing with such antiquities and had worked with various museums.

Early the next day they were driving over the scenic Poly Highway, which divided the Island in half, dropping them down into Honolulu. Mica the warehouse guard had been notified and was ready for the guests. The vaults were opened and without any great pomp or ceremony, the links were brought out and laid on the work counter. Awe ruled the moment and silence held every breath in place as the light gleamed off the surface of the golden links. Gretchen broke the silence when she stretched out the links and began to show their real significance, pointing out the special engravings and designs carved into each link. There were three circles with strange pictures of what could be a body of water with fire on it, along with various animals and other odd designs on each piece. She explained that these markings could actually be telling a story about the links and where they came from. Just like the gold bars that the monks and priests melted down and marked with certain emblems, indicating where they were from and who had made them.

Tanya, seemed to grasp the meaning first and asked, "Are you saying that these symbols might be like a map to the rest of the chain or even more treasure?"

"Could be, but it will take a serious anthropologist and an archeologist familiar with Inca culture to unravel that mystery," Gretchen honestly replied.

No doubt, Tanya's eyes began to sparkle with possibility for her own future. Luke ran his hand over the links and said, "Do you realize that we are looking at about fifteen million dollars in gold and who knows how much in antiquity value?"

"Wow," Abby shook her head, sighing in astonishment and awe.

JJ spoke out one of his odd bizarre facts, "Do you know that Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire?" This little fact put the antiquity thing in perspective, but the whole idea seemed rather distorted. Leave it up to JJ.

"Where do you come up with these twisters, JJ?" Abby asked with a twinge of disbelief in her voice.

"This guy might appear to be a surf bum, but deep inside him is a genius trying to find its way out. That's why we're sending him off to become a lawyer, so he might use his smarts for higher purposes," Dustin added his own twist to the conversation.

"Hey, hey, who said so?" JJ snapped back.

Theo tapped JJ on the head, as he walked around the table.

Brookstone immediately brought the chatter back to the subject, emphasizing why it was necessary to remain quiet about this treasure. "To know of its existence would have an army of thieves dancing around this place day and night. I guarantee that none of you are safe having the knowledge of this treasure, so you must be silent about it. Please understand this," and he looked at Abby in all seriousness.

Then Timm brought out several steel boxes and unlocked them, displaying many of the jeweled ornaments and various objects that they had removed from the coral. It was the box of rare stones that set off the most excitement. They dazzled and gleamed every color. No doubt this was a magnificent treasure.

Everyone was excited over this display of history and wealth, but there still lingered the shadow of what it had cost everyone to attain. Theo dug his hand into the box and took out a handful of precious stones of every shape and size. He let each person hold them in their cupped hands to feel this ancient treasure. As the stones were passed around, he explained that these stones alone were probably worth an easy five to seven million dollars.

"What are you going to do with them?" Tanya inquired.

Gretchen explained, "Many of them will be fitted into some of the amulets and gold bracelets and brooches, increasing the price of those objects. Some of these jade carved animals are missing their eyes which will be replaced with smaller stones. This will add to the displays in the museums."

After the James family had been dazzled by the treasure and got an idea of what they were getting into, the group headed down to the Ala-wai Yacht Harbor near the Waikiki Beach.

Timm had been staying aboard The New Song and had made it ready for an afternoon sail and an evening dinner cruise. The Waikiki Hotel's light show sparkled alive at dusk, but it was the tropical Hawaiian sunset that took the breath away. One good jib sail moved them along at perfect speed, while Crystal and Amber, along with Luke and Theo, served an on-deck meal. It had to be one of those perfect moments for all; yet, Beverly went to the bow on her own and everyone knew she was crying, knowing that her beloved son had also enjoyed this very same gathering of people. Mike's father Troy excused himself and went forward and joined her in a sacred moment. They stood there silhouetted in a fabulous sky arrayed in soft glowing colors to mourn their loss. The girls got out their guitars and played some soft tunes that floated over the rising swells. Several other boats sailed on by and called out their greetings and best wishes, never knowing the tears flowing from Mike's parents on the bow of The New Song.

The next few days were busier than ever. Timm and JJ, along with the Kaamin brothers, Morgan and Mica, took the James family gallivanting around the Island while Luke, Dustin, Theo, and Brookstone, along with the girls, readied themselves for the long trip to Victoria, Canada.

JJ was in his element. Every night he held a poker fest. He began with simple games, slowly teaching Timm, Tanya and Abby on the essentials of poker, but everyone else seemed to join in this extra curricular activity. Troy was an old time player and found himself right in the middle of big-time hands. We had to warn JJ not to take Troy for all he was worth, but just have some fun; no need to get over-serious here.

Max and Wally, along with Morgan and Jasper, had taken off for Los Angeles, then headed down to Newport to meet up with Jay. Gretchen would follow in a few days after the James family was settled. Meanwhile, the twins, Amber and Crystal, had been doing the deep digging on the names and associations that Gretchen had sent them earlier. Within a day or so, Max and Wally were well informed and had a good idea what lay ahead of them in the Balboa Island event. Old man Robbi Kaamin was enjoying the activity, taking long walks and enjoying the incredible weather and would stay around until his son Jaden would fly back to the San Simeon ranch with him. He had taken a liking to The New Song's mascot, Salty Dog, the rescued dog from the sunken tuna boat. They would go out together and it looked like he would end up taking Salty to the ranch with him, an excellent future for that poor dog and her pups. Each son wanted one pup, and so The New Song crew agreed to ship him home with the Kaamin father. Dandy the cat had disappeared, but we were thinking that maybe Julie took the cat with her and if so, good for it and for them.

The time came for the MAVIN Group to divide and go their way. Dustin, Luke, Theo and Brookstone would go with Crystal and Amber. Dustin's wife Nadia would follow up later, fly to Seattle and take the ferry crossing over to Vancouver Island to Victoria. This was where the first part of the big time legalistic settlements would begin. We would start at the top and slowly work across, starting in their court systems. This would begin releasing the Mitchner holdings to the MAVIN Corporation—hopefully.

The team came to understand that Steward and Gladys Mitchner had investments and holdings going back fifty years; there were many behind the scenes people entangled in these investments. However, before visiting them, we wanted the legal inheritance papers signed and all properties and investments secured. The first and final exchange started in Victoria, the capitol of British Columbia. Our first few meetings with a number of legal firms were stiff and challenging for me, but Dustin and Brookstone were no easy marks when it came to business. In fact, I saw the JJ poker face come over Dustin when negotiation began with one of the old English type lawyers. I came to count my blessings when I saw Brookstone set his dealings into motion as I began to realize why and how the legal system had tangled up my inheritance into endless red tape. Yet, between Dustin and Brookstone, we watched the government lawyers twist and turn like turkeys being cured in the wind as each document was presented to them. Not one jot had been left undone. After a few hours of badgering, pushing, twisting and cajoling the lawyers relented. It was as if a log jam had broken open and the waters began to flow free. Theo and I stayed in the background while the big guns continued their exchanges. It was the second and third day of meetings that really heated up. For many of the smaller companies, the bankers and investment firms became belligerent and pushy about ownership and stock shares. They were held back and told that their turn would come, but first we had to secure the Mitchner Holdings. Outside of the actual property owned by the Mitchner family, there were at least thirty different organizations and firms involved. On top of all this, the charities that my grandparents were supporting had representatives there who wanted to speak with us personally, outside of the legal hearing.

I came to realize that Dustin had been tangling with these judges and lawyers for several years now, without much success, a most frustrating time for him. However, once we joined the MAVIN Team with the Hearst Castle Security Force, things began to change. Now I understood why. The big shot attorneys had not seen Brookstone until now. For the last year or so, they must have realized that there was something on our side pulling ropes and moving the legal blocks around, but they had no idea who or what it was. This was Brookstone and his Hearst Castle Security Force calling in some of their favors, which began to change the dynamics of the story. Brookstone was an intimidating character. Not only in his excellent negotiation skills but also in his appearance. When we first met him, I thought he had been through a war and I was not far off. He had been caught in a bomb assassination plot in the Middle East and had been damaged, but lived to tell the tale. His one glass eye spoke volumes, while his face had several scars, and he did not hide the fact that he was missing several fingers. This man looked as if he had just got off the battlefield. I am sure that the old English style judges and fancy dandy lawyers thought they were facing Buffalo Bill and Rambo in one person. I felt that this one man army, Brookstone, helped move the procedures along, because things progressed, real quick like, in our favor.

Once Theo and I were introduced and they knew I was the Mitchner that would inherit the Mitchner Holdings, I became a target, and the lawyers tried their best to drag me into the fray. Dustin told me what to say and what not to say. In fact, there were several meetings that I was not allowed to attend; it was deep lawyer do-do and they did not want me getting mixed up in it. Dustin assigned me and Theo to go to the capitol library and do as much research on the Mitchner Holdings and the various charities as we could. "Make ourselves useful," became the phrase for me and Theo.

Long back when, the Mitchners had settled on the northeast slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, in northern British Columbia, near the Peace River Valley watershed, which offers its residents extreme seclusion while guaranteeing every survivor a harsh winter and a natural selection experience. Heavy snows and harsh winters would trap them, or at least make it difficult for them to travel. After several years of this life style, the Mitchners found it advantageous to move to a milder climate within Canada. Their investments had grown and the many businesses needed a more hands-on approach, so they moved onto the west side of the Rockies into the Frazer River Valley, where they had access to the international airport, shipping ports, train transport, and they could cross into the States within an hour of their ranch. The city of Vancouver was nearby, as were many of their holdings and some of the charitable organizations.

I had grown up in this scenic area, living a rugged outdoor life. My grandfather and I became fervent anglers. No river was left unexplored and no season passed without hauling in the best salmon. As I grew older, my grandparent's businesses and charities began to take over their schedule, so travels to distant places became a constant interruption in our family relationship. I became interested in fishing the regional rivers, sailing the rivers and coast, and then began surfing. I came to know the southern California surf scene and hooked up with Theo and his surf gang.

When I was a youngster, being somewhat alone, my grandparents kept me busy. My grandmother encouraged me to read, and I had come to enjoy writing. I began to write short articles for outdoor and kid's magazines and when the surf scene emerged, it offered a perfect opportunity for me to travel and begin my publishing career. With the help of Dustin Arrow, one of Theo's older friends, I was encouraged to get into the University of California at Los Angeles and pursue a journalistic career. Dustin, who had become a lawyer, explained, "Since you're not sure where you are going, and you have a talent with words, get into university and follow the writing on the wall."

I went to the UC Los Angeles where Dustin and I became close friends, Dustin becoming my editor and publisher. Being a lawyer, Dustin always had investigations to make and events to be researched. Another opportunity came about: I became Dustin's right hand man in many of the national and international events. I remained a part of the surf and water scene with the Mitchner Ranch as my family link. Soon, Theo and I were joined up with Jay, Theo's older brother, and became serious SCUBA divers. Eventually, Theo started up the Newport Surf and Water Sports Shop. Along with these endeavors, Theo applied his talents to creating interesting inventions, one of which was the new sonic surfboard. We were experimenting in the sale of this incredible new technology.

The weather in the Frazer River area was often harsh, but for seclusion and peace of mind, there was nothing like the Mitchner ranch. It would be inconvenient for the group to go from Victoria back to the mainland, then travel east to the ranch and then back again. We decided to cover as much legal court business as we could while we were on Vancouver Island. We would then ferry over to the city of Vancouver and begin visiting and dealing with companies and holdings there. Dustin figured that in this manner, we could stop off and visit with some of the smaller holdings on our last leg of the trip.

It became obvious that someone within the Mitchner Enterprises was stalling and had spread many meetings over the entire west coast of British Columbia. It appeared that someone was attempting to scatter us and cause confusion in our attempt to bring the Mitchner enterprises together. Brookstone realized that something was going on and countered the maneuver by having the Kaamin twins, Amber and Crystal, reserve an entire floor, including several business halls and twenty of the best rooms, at the Fairmont Hotel, one of the nicer business-oriented hotels in the city of Vancouver.

They sent out personal requests to each of the company executives and invited them to attend a three day seminar on the new Mitchner business structure. So there would be no mistakes, Dustin suggested that the invitations would be personally delivered. This turned out to be a good move. The twins were given the task. Brookstone thought that these nice looking messengers would get the attention of the executives within each business. Amber and Crystal would survey the area, ask a few questions and take photographs. This would give the MAVIN Team a good idea of whom they might be dealing with. Those personal, one on one visits, always produced a portfolio of information, not seen on the net, or by any of our other business partners.

It took a few days but we learned that it was one of the investment brokers who had attempted to scatter the group's meetings all over the southwest coastline in order to give him time to set up a united front against the new MAVIN organization. He was soon scratched out of the picture.

After three days of court red tape and bureaucratic procedures, we covered our bases, crossed every T, bribed every sticky palm, turned our backs on the capitol, and took the ferry over to Vancouver. After setting up shop in the Fairmont we realized that it would be better to have the charity organizations kept separate from the business and industrial holdings. We were amazed at the number of charities represented within the Mitchner Estate. Each one had to be investigated to some degree, to see if they were who they said they were. We handed this job over to Crystal and Amber, who seemed to have a soft touch but with a sharply honed ability to cut the bull to get the job done. I think many of the charity representatives thought the two ladies were going to be pushovers, easy marks for bigger takings. But these self made executives were typical men, blinded by beautiful smiles. However, they were soon to realize that unless their charities could show something other than self gain—they were out.

Within two days of this conference, several of the charity representatives were banging on our doors, trying to have special conferences with us men. It seemed that some of their financial activities had gone unchecked, the original grants from the Mitchner family had been taken advantage of, and our two sharp sword executive jewels, Crystal and Amber, wasted no time in eliminating the cunning sharks. We just shook our heads and said, "Whatever they have decided, it's done. If you can prove those women to be in error concerning your financial improprieties, you can submit a request for review. But we are confident that there are no mistakes on their part."

Some of the men realized that they were dealing with a younger group of people than my grandparents. We kept ourselves low-key and this had created a pushy attitude that somehow we were nothing but Nobodies! I had to learn how to deal with some of these men of society when they tried every tactic of intimidation to persuade me to make allowances. Amber had prepared me with documentation on outrageous improprieties that had been going on for years. William Schroeder (Mr. BS himself), a short but well-built German man, head officer for "United Rights For Indians" got hot and began to make accusations against the MAVIN Team's decision. After listening to his outrage, I pulled out a complete financial record of Schroeder's personal holdings. I thumbed down the list and came to the purchase of a fifty-thousand dollar fishing craft. To begin with, this purchase had been made with The "United Rights For Indians" money. I went on to read down a list of over 100 purchases made in the last six months against the charities funds. Several charges were researched; Shroeder had been supporting local brothels with his twice a week visits, and some of the worst drag bars were frequent stops on this little man's agenda. I looked up, after reading off some of the charges to see a red-faced man, ready to explode, demanding to know where we got this information. "Mr. Schroeder, we are surprised that the government itself has not investigated you," and I tossed in, "Does your wife and family know about these charges?"

"Why, you young punk snots, you don't know who you're messing with!"

"That might be true but I think it might be wise for you to sell the boat and begin repaying the charity its funds. Or..." and I held up the papers, "these documents might find their way to the local newspapers, and a copy might end up on the desk at the Bank of Vancouver where your wife works." Every infraction was listed. Oh how sweet facts are, I thought. "And by the way Mr. Schroeder, darkness is cheap, it is the light that costs."

I thought he might explode. Fists ready, eyes bulging out, and I could detect a slight tremor zipping across his face, but he stood in shock. I went on, "I think that the Native Americans who have been ripped off enough by government and by society itself, might become perturbed at someone who has been spending their money on female derrieres and a private high-end fishing boat."

He huffed and screamed out vindictive insults. I sat back and waited, until saying, " Mr. Schroeder, stupid is...when a rich man throws his golden spoon down and breaks his toe. You have just broken your entire foot."

Needless to say, Schroeder nearly broke the door down as he exited the office. Immediately, the adjoining door was flung open and both Dustin and Brookstone came barreling in, clapping and wowing me. "Good job Mitchner, good work, you are getting the hang of things really quick. We might ask you to attend school with JJ, we could use someone like you in our department."

I was taken aback that they had been listening, and yelled, "Go back to work, you're gonna handle the next ten complaints." I threw the whole stack of documents at them as they laughed their way back to their office.

I will say that the research that Amber and Crystal did saved us a lot of trouble in the long run. If the Canadian government wanted to investigate these shadowy charities, they would see that we had nothing to do with them. I realized the value in research and having facts at hand. I didn't realize it at the time, but this "Inheritance Tour" which the girls began to call it, was going to educate me in the reality of the business world and its not so pleasant dealings. It might have seemed unfair, but fair was fair and we wanted to keep it that way. The Mitchner trusts and reputation had to be protected; this was part of our job. My attitude was now going to go through a major transformation.

Everyday there was something crazy that came our way. I had to deal with such a scheme, with a vibrant charity called the Rocky Mountain Environmental Salvation Union. Two representatives were sent to me by the twins. These two, one large man and his female companion who was a nice looking woman, I will call Bonnie and Clyde, were more than bold, they were demanding crooks.

Research had revealed deep discrepancies in Bonnie and Clyde's bookkeeping. It was not that they wanted more funds from the Mitchner Trust, but they wanted to become part of the MAVIN Group. They had heard of us through the court lawyers and felt we would be the perfect means to get their fingers into many American business interests. I was amazed at their proposal; they thought they would be great contributors to our cause. They came prepared to present a full head-on business merger. The only thing was, our research showed that this charity was being used to disseminate unknown funds to gambling and drug operations. The charity was a money laundering entity, and they wanted their way with us. They dangled forth a handsome number, a few cooperative banks we might use and were rather open on where their funds came from and where it eventually went, too. Oh yes, some of the funds did go to accomplish projects around the Rockies, but these also were projects associated with the Canadian mafia and criminal organizations.

We learned that anyone could use a tag to attract people, getting them to contribute to a shadowy cause. We were not out to stop these groups or fake charities, but we were going to take every step to prevent our MAVIN Team and the Mitchner Trust to be caught up in them. These representatives made sure I understood that there might be consequences in our refusal to their presentation. If it were not for our MAVIN Team along with the Hearst Castle Security Force, I would have been intimidated, but our experiences with the HC Security Force reassured me that if we wanted to use intimidation to advance our causes, we were capable of such a tactic.

Then, there were the companies funded by my grandfather that were supposed to be contributing a portion of their income back into the Mitchner Trust, but since my grandparent's death, they figured they no longer had to. This was both Dustin and Brookstone's headache. However, they notified each offending company that their contracts and loans would be terminated unless back payments were made within sixty days. Oh boy, did shit ever hit the fan. Even the insurance company for my grandparents' accident had reneged and were not sure who to pay. This was soon remedied by another legal firm that Dustin had hired to deal with memory lapses.

I don't know how Brookstone and Dustin did it, but they found a major player that was scamming the Mitchner Holdings: the Western Wheelwright Iron Works. They had the contract to build and repair most of the Canadian railroads locomotives. This was a vital aspect to keeping the railroad functioning. Yet, within a week, the company's assets dried up, their ability to meet payroll suddenly came to a stop and all hell broke out. I do not know how this took place, but I will say it was amazing to have half the Vancouver business legal firms banging on our doors and demanding that we do something. Things got bad when the British Columbian government regulators stepped in to make demands on the Mitchner Holdings. Dustin and Brookstone stood back while high-level lawyers pounded out the bumps in this company's obvious scam. The Mitchner shares in the company were sold for three times their value in order for us to recoup the lost revenue. We were happy to get out. It was even nicer to know that our locomotive team was powered up and sent on its way. I was learning, and one thing was that I knew that certain people had talents and skills far beyond my own...and I was thankful!

Never did I suspect that business would be so dirty behind the scenes. Every time we opened the door, another skeleton would come bursting out to dance a 'try and catch me' jig! It was refreshing when we did find good and honest people fulfilling their word. We decided to reward each of these companies and businesses by offering further incentives and special help with connections and counselors. We would invite them to a nice casual dinner to get to know them better. For those were the type of people we wanted to be associated with, to assist them in furthering their expansions and helping them to refine their product lines. The response to our wanting to help would pay off way more than we thought.

In and through all this hands-on experience, Brookstone wanted us to have further insight to human nature and the business world. He devised an interesting means to teach us. There were certain bids and contracts we had to read and choose from. I, or Theo, would sit in the office with a contractor who might be making his offer. We would indicate that there were other bids sitting on our desk. We would tap a few printouts which had a soda can sitting on top. The can would be placed directly over the bid price from the competing contractor. During our exchanges we would excuse ourselves from the room for a few moments. This is where it got interesting.

The visiting contractor knew that the other bids were on the desk. So when I got up and left the room, he would stand up, lean over and try to see what his competitor's bid was. The only thing that he did not know was that the soda can just happened to be sitting right on top of the bid numbers. Of course, the sneaky contractor would reach over and pick up the can to get a better view, and all truth poured forth. The can had an empty bottom and it was filled with ball-bearings so that as soon as he moved it, bearings would go rolling in a thousand directions. We might wait a minute before returning into the office, to give the person a chance to leave on his own, but we had others giving the greatest explanations on how this happened. But these little games by Brookstone really taught us about the characters of men in the business world.

On one occasion, a man was so ashamed at what he had done, he was crying. Others just cursed us for being tricky and cunning, and a few just shook their heads, admiring our audacity. The few we chose from were honest enough to ask us what we expected them to do; everyone is tempted in some way, they thought, why not make it pay?

Through the endless meetings, with what seemed to be hundreds of executives, representatives, companies, and ordinary entrepreneurs we were finally getting an idea of the extent of the Mitchner Holdings. Brookstone and Dustin created a chart displaying each company. This chart or profile listed just about everything there was to know about each company and investment. It was hard to understand how my grandfather could have become so diversified with so many companies, businesses and investments. This was an on-going discussion and certainly a mystery.

It seemed that the more valuable investments were in mining, lumbering, shipping, rail freight, trucking, and warehousing. Then there were odd holdings or part ownerships in resorts, restaurants, lodges, as well as a splattering of real estate properties all over the world. Heck, we even owned a couple of lighthouses, a game reserve in Africa, and a small ex-internment camp with an airstrip, to the south of the Mitchner Ranch.

We met so many people who loved my grandparents and told us nearly unbelievable stories of their adventures with my grandfather Steward. I did not realize the full extent of the friends who he helped get started in some business or another. There were knife makers, gun shop owners, fishing tackle stores, a small canning company, several prospecting outfits. My grandmother had another whole reach of friends and people who she had sponsored. We met one elderly Chinese couple that had been loaned money by my grandmother because she loved their crispy rolls. This old couple, Lufong and Suflay Wasong, now owned about 50 push-cart eateries with half their community's unemployed youth running them, all doing well. These types of little businesses, we left alone. Several ideas began to form with all the little companies.

Theo thought it would be a great idea to establish a Mitchner Foundation or charity. Instead of all the little companies sending the Mitchner share to some bank, why not have them deposit the funds into a Mitchner Foundation. Then through this foundation, grants and loans could be made back to those smaller businesses, if they wanted to expand or further themselves with other product lines. In fact, they might all join the charity or trust and administer it on their own. Everyone thought this would be a good way to cut down some of our time in overseeing each business. We would bring this up to the group at our next meeting.

These holdings went as far as South America, Peru, Chili, Costa Rica...mostly coffee farms. We had part ownership in several clothing villages in Viet-Nam, auto parts in Japan, opal mines in Australia, several farms in Mexico, fishing lodges in Alaska, and several park resorts and motels across Canada. There were some heavy equipment rentals in Iceland and car dealerships in Europe and even in Israel. Then there were the tiny home operations that had been sponsored by the Mitchners in Africa and in some of the Asian countries.

We came to learn that we owned two smaller inner island freighters. They were registered in Canada and in time would become a great asset to us. Still though, we were puzzled on how my grandparents could have come up with the money to invest the way they did.

Auggie, the Mitchner Ranch partner and manager, an old timer going back to the early days, explained how it all began. "Stewart and I were both young and were prospecting in the Rockies when we were caught in a heavy blizzard. We joined our two camps and resources into one and miraculously survived the two-week storm in a cave, which became one of our gold mines. During that time, we allowed our suspicions to be put aside and thought to search for gold together. This union turned out to be the beginning of our lifetime friendship. Sure enough, we filed at least five gold claims. Two of these mining claims turned out to be rich ones. We kept everything low key but in time we had to expand our operation, today that one gold mine is still producing. We took the proceeds, using Steward's business savvy to invest in all kinds of small businesses and bought shares in upcoming concerns. I was assigned in developing the ranch. It took years to put it all together, but as you see, it did happen. As our investments began to pay off, Stu, began to buy up real estate and invest in railroad stock, shipping and other mines. We even sponsored other prospectors to search for their dreams; we came to partnership with some incredible discoveries. During the war several of our rare metal mines became like banks themselves. That was an amazing time."

Auggie Minto went into detail on these early operations and touched on how they decided to diversify their holdings, thus, all the small businesses and enterprises. "Heck, I almost have forgotten many of our holdings.Guess that is where you, Luke, are going to have to pick up and figure it all out. I am getting too old to deal with it, I have more than enough," Auggie rambled on as he waved his worn ranching hands around.

We went on to learn that Auggie and his wife Florentine, or Flower as everyone called her, had one daughter in a long-term care facility because she had sustained serious brain damage in a car accident. He had lost two sons, one to the Iraqi war and the younger one to the Afghanistan war. His life and place was on the ranch, and asked the new Mitchner Foundation to make sure that his daughter Rose, would always be taken care of. He negotiated positions for the seven ranch families that had been around for years. I remembered these ranch hands, knowing that my grandfather had given them their jobs for various reasons. It was honorable of Auggie to make sure the ranch hands and long friends with the Mitchners, were watched over. This was fully agreed upon and written into our basic charter. I grew up with some of this knowledge, but never figured that I would have to be making decisions around them.

There was something new everyday. The associates of the Mitchner Holdings came from far and wide. Once the word got out, we were inundated with every sort of proposal and concern. We took each one of these individually, no matter how small they were and tried our best to accommodate each business. The history of how these enterprises had come to know my grandparents, Stewart and Gladys, was interesting. The Mitchners were more than fair and were always willing to help others. This was one of the reasons for their success. It was not until we got into the large holdings, such as the railroads, mining and port shipping did we have to hire outside consultants to walk us through the financial entanglements. Finally, after several weeks of these meetings and establishing new friendships, we decided to head for the Mitchner Ranch and finish off our first outreach for the MAVIN Group. This had become a marathon time of learning, and we truly had earned our certification in being educated in the activity of human nature—achieving our degrees in the business of money and wealth.

# Chapter 8

# The Mitchner Ranch

The honor of a great family is founded with respect for one another...and also for the less fortunate!

Everyone in the area simply called the ranch the Mitchner Place. It was nestled into a beautiful valley, bordered on the east by a high rugged cliff or raised plateau, that seemed to be a foundation holding back the Rocky Mountains. The cliff ran for 30 miles, north and south, eventually butting into a spur range coming off the Rockies. The ranch was tucked away among dry inland forests with a semi-arid climate. The range and canyon districts were well known historical landmarks for the entire region. Several tumbling creeks weaved their way through rolling hills and vast stretches of natural forests, gathering to create the Chillawack River, which ran alongside the cliff until it made a turn towards the southwest, eventually flowing into the great Frazer River.

The ranch itself was a 2000-acre pie-shaped spread of fertility and awesome beauty, nestled along the northern edge of the Frazer River Valley, encompassing a variety of natural features: numerous dry valleys, dark mountainous forests, roiling creeks and vast alpine meadows.

The area had a unique history. It had been a stop off along the Caribou Trail during one of the Canadian gold rushes of the mid and late 1800s. For the great cliff had several giant cuts which led into multiple canyons. Gold prospectors would follow the cliff and turn up one of the many canyons and head up into the Rockies. There were several known gold mines in the area and Auggie would later explain to us how he and my grandfather had filed claims in this area that had paid them well. After the gold rush was over, the beauty of the land could not be left behind, and so the Mitchners purchased the entire area, buying up the abandoned claims. It slowly developed into a working ranch where Auggie Minto and his wife Flower, along with my grandparents, built their homes and slowly branched out. Along with this ranch, they made long-term leases on surrounding areas, where most of the Mitchner cattle were raised. Several smaller homes were tucked away into the forests along the leased areas. Some of the original Mitchner cowboys and their families lived in the hideaway forests, becoming like guards on the Mitchner holdings.

I didn't know this, but off to the southwest on the other side of the river, tucked away in a smaller valley, we owned a small airstrip. Way before my time, during World War II, the Canadian government had created several Japanese interment camps, and this was one of them. Later, the Air Command had used it as a training facility. It was nothing fancy or huge, but it was perfect for smaller planes to come and go. The area ballooners had used it a few times to stage balloon shows. It had one very large hangar, constructed with redwood beams shipped from California during the war. The unique thing about this ex-military port was that it had several underground bunkers. My grandfather and a few of his old buddies kept their small planes in the hangar, while the bunkers had been used for storage, now locked up for years. Brookstone was enthused over this. He said this was one of the best things so far.

Across from the main ranch buildings, a hot springs gurgled forth from the great cliff. Auggie and my grandfather knew the value of these mineral waters and developed them so that anyone might use them; it was one reason they built in this area. There was a small fish hatchery on one smaller tributary to the Chillawack. Two huge barns were set back to hold most of the hay and grain harvest for the cattle. There were a variety of other buildings where game birds were raised for the entire area, and then there was the Mitchner bunkhouse, fit for sultans.

There existed an excellent machine-blacksmith shop out back along with a slaughter and smoke room with large walk-in boxes. The ranch had at least seven long-term families living on it along with other full time workers and helpers. All in all, it was a beautiful area to grow up. My own parents had been lost at sea in a boating accident and never got to see the full development of this area but I knew they would have loved it. Now, my grandparents were also gone, and all this was part of the Mitchner Holdings and the MAVIN Trust.

The long drive east to the ranch along Highway 5 brought back memories of younger days with my Canadian friends and my grandparents. Old landmarks fired memories of school events, fishing trips and get-togethers. These nostalgic recollections began weighing on my heart. I had been a part of this land, and it was going to be strange to visit my old home and not see my grandparents there.

It was almost a regional festival for us on our arrival, for my dear old friends and companions in life, Auggie and Florentine or Flower, the long time partners and caretakers of the Mitchner Ranch, were waiting for us. Other ranch owners along the way had seen us pass and called ahead, reporting our whereabouts. The long drive entrance gave us an overview of the rolling hills stretched out to the west, spotted with grazing cattle and romping horses. Several of the hillsides had been planted with millions of seedlings that would be sold to the territorial stations for reforestation, especially after forest fires had ravished the mountains and hills.

The morning fog had lifted and spring flowers were blooming in the rock-lined flower beds. More guests began to arrive and others came out of the barns and bunk house. Everyone was eager to see and greet the new Mitchner owner and the management team of strange people from California. There was a natural apprehension about anyone from California, a feeling that had created great doubt about the future of the Mitchner Ranch. The girls were delighted upon seeing several horses tied to the porch rails. It was almost as if we had come to an old ranch that had one foot in the past and the other in modern technological times.

I had asked our team to dress accordingly—outdoorsy and simple. Heck, I was even wearing a worn cowboy hat. Amber laughed at my transformation. She said that I should have a six-gun or whatever they call it in the movies—a hog leg, strapped onto my leg, to make us look official. I told her not to laugh, for most of our cowboy hands would most likely be wearing pistols.

It was not only a working ranch but also a well known environmental passage for native creatures; we were on the edge of the wilderness. Certain climate conditions would bring bears, including grizzly, black and the Kermode bear or spirit bear, found only in British Columbia, out of the higher mountains. This entire area was a haven for deer, elk, moose, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, beavers, muskrat, coyotes, wolves, wolverines, badgers and cougars. Joking around, I told Amber that Big Foot was often seen roaming the hills, and this suddenly opened up her eyes. I went on to explain how the warmer area attracted eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, ducks and all kinds of smaller birds; she was impressed. Not so much at all the different birds and animals, but that I actually knew something about them and could remember their names.

I told everyone to keep an eye out and they would see some of the animals and birds. Sharp-eyed Crystal was first to notice a tall steel tower off in the distance and she sarcastically asked, "What kind of an animal is that over there?"

Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at. I laughed and said, "That is the Iron Monster. The Mitchner Ranch is the headquarters for the Mitchner Holdings. My grandparents were not so old fashioned as to leave modern technology out of the scene. It was a transmitting tower built before satellite technology existed. It still serves a purpose for shortwave radio buffs and for our cell phones. There were several hi-tech satellite dishes and a full backup power station for emergencies. They could pretty well carry on business and stay in touch on a worldwide basis through their internet enterprises, which they owned a good part of. Other ranches in the area shared the cell tower."

The Mitchner Ranch also had a survival supply house for everyone who might need supplies. Now and then, a harsh winter storm would lock down the entire area, so it was always nice to have more than enough supplies on hand. The Mitchners along with Auggie had established a survival compound for all the farmers and ranches in the area.

When we stepped out of the rented SUV and everyone started waving their hats and yelling their greetings, I knew I was home. I knew most everyone there and they had seen me grow up, and I had worked alongside them. The last time I had seen them was when I had returned with Dustin and Theo to attend my grandparents' funeral. They had been buried up the hill in the Mitchner cemetery. Auggie, who was near blind now, came down the stairs, twisting his long grey mustache, and gave us all an honorable and sincere greeting. Everyone else, including the ranch wives, lined up to shake our hands and at the same time look us over, wondering what our intentions might be.

Auggie Minto was a real old time cowboy, never one to deck himself out with something new or fancy. His great-great-grandfather was once a sea captain (Minto) who sailed up the Frazer River to deliver over fifty gold prospectors. He was planning on loading up with lumber and smoked Salmon, but got the gold fever and left his ship for others. He spent several years in the Rockies, marrying a Native American Indian woman. We could see the Native American features in Auggie. There he stood with his wife Flower, half Native American herself and half French, with the ranch hands gathered around on the long front veranda.

Auggie took the time to introduce some of the major ranch hands to my companions. There was Jessie Vanderhoof the ranch foreman, his brother Hudson Vanderhoof the security manager, Joesy Okanagan, with a real Aboriginal name, Timosh Na-Dene a bearded Russian man, our ranch blacksmith, Mattfey Chinook a preacher for the Tsilhqot Indians, Juan Pérez a top tracker and hunter, Gunther Robson the ranch's main veterinarian, Jon Yoho the ranch poet and head mechanic, two twin brothers, Francis Drake and Johnny Cook, expert fishing guides, and a tall lanky Indian-looking cowboy, gun and all, called Rainbow Okanagan, who oversaw the lumber milling projects.

They kept on coming up, but it was the names that kept us in awe. There were so many that we would try and remember them for the next five years. There was Ethen Mackenzie a computer and electronic geek, Brady Bellacoola the general web master, Cooper Finlay, Simon Fraser, and Trenton Yale, one of the ranch school teachers.

There were also a good number of women and girls whose names we would come to know, Faye Leung, Tan Yu the main kitchen help, the house keepers and several Native American and Chinese wives who tended the kitchen gardens, oversaw the green house production, and a hundred other chores known to a large working ranch. There was Oneka, Omineca, Chilcotin, Nechako, Eden and Megal. The wives were trained in first aid and emergency care and took care of the ranch kids. While we stood there taking all this in, kids were running all over the place, excited to see so many guests. To speak the truth, we had been away from any crowds for so long, this scene looked like a circus train had hit a bump and spilled out all its exhibits, shows, hustlers and special events at our feet!

Once we got out on our own, we took a vote to see which name would win the grand MAVIN name prize. It was close, between Yoho and Bellacoola, with Bellacoola winning for the men, and Faye Leung coming in first for the women. We dared not venture into the children's names, we had already run out of brain cells on the others.

Come to find out, the entire ranch folks were curious about the names of Crystal, Amber and Brookstone; this was most interesting to them. We had to laugh, they probably had their own contests about the names of Theo, Dustin, Nadia, Brookstone and the twins.

The girls in their infinite wisdom had insisted on bringing along a gift for Auggie and his wife, Flower. After they shook our hands and Flower had hugged the girls, Crystal and Amber stepped out to hand over a beautiful bouquet of freshly cut roses and a large framed aerial photo of the ranch in its summer glory. Amber had scouted out a photographer's shop that had aerial photos of the entire region; it had to be a valued gift. The ranch hands would spend a lot of time taking a close look at where they lived and worked.

A great feast had been prepared for us. A full beef was speared on heavy iron spits, roasting over a bed of red-hot coals with rows of tables set up with so much food it looked like a farmers market had exploded and landed here, just right. We were escorted into the main house and shown our rooms. The girls had their own room, Theo and I had my old room, while Dustin and Nadia were given the master bedroom. Brookstone was given his own room, all accommodations were made for us. The girls had commented on the variety of different peoples that were at work. I explained that this area had once been inhabited by ancient tribal Indians who made some of the best cattlemen of today. We had several Chinese and Indian kitchen workers, a whole variety of nationalities represented. The Mitchner policy was to hire those who were willing to work and remain loyal to the growth and success of the ranch. There was no such thing as Affirmative Action laws here on the ranch; you had to earn your way and be the best. Over the years, this policy had achieved a top working force for the Mitchner Ranch. I explained that some of the workers had been on the ranch for over forty years.

Both Crystal and Amber stopped in the living room and stood in front of the huge stone fireplace. There above the massive mantel were pictures of Steward and Gladys Mitchner, Luke's grandparents. Off to the right and left of this were old pictures of Luke's own parents. His mother Bonnie, stood there holding a fuzzyheaded kid with big inquisitive eyes which had to be Luke, and they were laughing—so as to embarrass Luke. His father Mehile, a well-proportioned man, was the typical outdoorsman. He was wearing his best—cowboy boots, Levis and a long sleeved flannel work shirt. He held a hat in one hand while his other arm was reaching around his wives backside. He had a little bit of a smirk on his face, while Luke's mother's eyes shot him a look to as if say, "Get your hands off my rear, dear!"

Crystal commented, "Your father certainly passed down his looks to you Luke. You cannot tell if he is a cowboy, a miner, or captain of a ship, but he is you—or should I say you are him. And there is a remarkable resemblance of your grandparents and your parents in you."

Dustin broke in, "That is funny, Crystal, that is what we are trying to figure out with Luke this very day. Is he a cowboy, a sailor, or a miner?" Everyone laughed.

After several hours of feasting and catching up with ranch life, Auggie asked Jessie, the ranch foreman, to get the ranch van out so that he could show Luke, Theo and the Kaamin twins, Amber and Crystal, around. Brookstone and Dustin had been taken off by the ranch hands to see some of the latest facilities—a new drone launch shed, and a shooting and bow range—right up Brookstone's alley. Away they went!

# Chapter 9

# The Shock!

Good fortune loves to spring out of hiding and greet those who know how to treat it!

The day was wearing down as we drove across the fields of new growing clover and grass. Theo and I wanted to see the abandoned airstrip which existed on the other side of the deep western ravine. We bumped over small mounds, twisting and turning down steep hillsides, eventually arriving at a bridge made of planks bolted to two massive logs spanning the ravine, then finally we arrived at the old airstrip. The runway was overgrown with small shrubs, one could tell that it had not been used for a time. Auggie explained that since Luke's grandparents' deaths, very seldom did they use it.

We came to the large main hangar where an older plane which looked like a circus crop duster, sat in one open area, collecting dust. Auggie had something on his mind, Luke knew him well enough to pick up on this. He opened a large padlock then slid the large metal door back, and we went inside and looked around. Luke was surprised to see what looked like an older wrecked plane, all in pieces scattered around the floor. There were various sized parts piled on top one another with tags or numbers written onto them. Many of the pieces were burnt and smashed in. Right away, Luke got an ill feeling that he knew what it was.

"Luke, I need to show you something here," Auggie waved Theo and me over to the broken fuselage. I hesitantly moved up closer. "Luke, are these ladies trustworthy?" Auggie looked over at the girls who were standing outside with Jessie in the last rays of the afternoon sun.

"Sure thing Auggie, they know more about me than I do."

"OK then, you guys take a look at this." Auggie bent down a rolled over large section of one wingspan. He then pointed to a series of holes scattered in a half moon pattern, with some deep tears and scratching on it. "I'm sure you know what this is, but this is what was left of the plane that your grandparents crashed in. Let me tell you something. I had the plane brought down from the mountain where the crash occurred. Piece by piece, it arrived and was stored here. I did this because I was a little suspicious of the disaster. It was just not like Stu to allow his plane to fly unless it was in perfect working order."

"In fact, as you know, even though Stu and Gladys were severely injured, they survived the initial crash and managed to get out of the plane alive. They went back in to get the pilot and the other two passengers who were headed for Alaska with them." Luke nodded in memory of these facts. Auggie went on. "Even though they tried everything they knew, the pilot died and the only one to survive the harsh environment and the blizzard that soon hit was one of the passengers, John Long. But even then, he lost one hand and most of his toes due to hypothermia."

"What are you saying here Auggie?"

"What got my suspicions up was this scratching on the wing." Auggie drew his finger across several scratches in the wing. "I am not too sure but those scratches might have been made by Stu, after they got out of the plane. To me, from a certain angle it looks like the word 'sabotage'!"

Luke and Theo bent down to take a closer look. Sure enough, there was some scratching there, just a bit too careful to have been done in the crash itself. "I hired some of the best mechanics and avionic crash investigators to go over this plane with a fine toothcomb. After a few weeks of careful examination, they could not say exactly, but they had their suspicions. From behind the scene they pretty well concluded that this plane had been messed with, or to say, possibly sabotaged."

I stood there stupefied in shock before I could say, "Auggie, what are you trying to tell me?"

"What I am saying is that I think someone had your grandparents and my partners come to a bad end."

"But why?" I almost shouted.

Auggie pointed out a few more things that had led him to hire outside expertise. What was really awful for me was to be right there looking at the very plane that had taken my grandparents' lives.

Auggie continued, pointing out several odd burn marks, and what might have been an inner engine compartment blast of some sort. "This could have been a small device, no larger than a shotgun shell set to go off and penetrate the hydraulic system of the plane, leaving it uncontrollable." He pointed out several tiny be-be holes in the engine compartment. There were still small be-be shots stuck into the housing. "Whatever that was, it looks like a tiny blast went off and knocked out the hydraulics, but we're not sure."

Theo asked with great civility, "What does all this mean Auggie?"

The old friend of my grandfather and one of the two original builders of the Mitchner ranch looked up with sad eyes and said, "It means that you yourself could be in danger. Your grandparents' holdings were vast. He had made trouble for some of the big mines in the area. They wanted to expand, which would ruin this watershed and wipeout a good deal of the upper ranches with hundreds of roads, to build some type of milling plant with all their pollutants. The Mitchner ranch stood in their way. They had an on-going battle and I think that the opposition basically removed the thorn in their sides."

"Whoa—is there any proof in this?" Theo inquired.

"I have an entire record of the exchanges that took place both in court and in the field. This is what leads me to believe that there was a conspiracy to get rid of both Steward and Gladys. This plane crash up in the Rockies was a perfect cover-up. It was your grandparents who organized all the ranchers in the area and were the main opposition to the big mine gangs."

"If this is all true, what are we going to do about it, and who knows about your findings?" I bent down to touch the crumpled wing, almost in shock over this unexpected development.

"I have an investigator digging into some of these things but he is not getting much done, and few know of this investigation. As you know, it's been a few years and time seems to cover things up."

I scratched my chin and said, "Well Auggie, we brought just the right man to help figure all this out. You know the man Brookstone that came with us," Auggie nodded his head, "he owns the Hearst Castle Security Force and really has the connections we need. If it is alright with you, we'll ask him to put a few of his personal investigators on this."

Auggie nodded his agreement but went on, "The big problem now is your personal security. You might not be safe because of the Mitchner Holdings and our leases on the land that those mine companies want. The Mitchner holdings still stand in their way. And if they can do this," he pointed to the broken and smashed plane, "then they can get to you also."

Luke was thinking back over the meetings with various businesses and corporations in the last three weeks. He recalled the threats and the discovery of the efforts in opposition to the Mitchner Holdings. They ran into troubles at every turn. Was there a behind the scenes plot to take over the Mitchner inheritance? Was all this a long time effort in the court system to break the Mitchner Trust?

Theo asked Auggie if he had taken photos of all these parts. "Yes, tons of them, even of the crash site. Everything is in my files."

The girls wandered in and saw the piles of metal and broken parts, "Wow, who is going to put that back together?"

I did not want to say anything yet, so just answered, "Some man is going to handle it all for us."

Auggie led us out of the hangar and before we got into the ranch jeep, he said, "Tomorrow I would like to bring you back here and show you something else. We'll need a little more time to see it properly."

"What is it?"

"Just something your grandfather put together for you or the Mitchner Foundation."

"That sounds interesting. Tomorrow it is."

On the way back, I asked Jessie to swing up to the cemetery. Far up on a secluded hilltop overlooking the vast spread below, the small family cemetery lay plotted out. Spring flowers were in bloom, covering the entire hill. The graves were smothered with assorted flowers, which had to be a known request by Gladys, for she loved flowers. I asked to first go alone to my grandparents' graves. A cluster of great oaks stood as the background to the line of headstones. The afternoon breeze rustled the new spring growth as a greeting of peace to me. The grave markers went back as far as 1858-1928, starting with a great-great Mitchner grandfather, with another name Luke Dobrinian, etched under the Mitchner name. Several other grave stones with uncles and aunts, cousins and a few relatives that I did not know were set in line. There was one larger headstone for my parents but their bodies had never been recovered from their boating accident. Yet my grandparents put up a headstone in their memory. I came to the more recent stones of my grandparents, Stewart Andrew Mitchner and Gladys Alexander Mitchner.

I began to think back in time. My grandmother was a high-powered character, full of sparks who could create an explosion of feelings in others. My grandfather died at 72, when my grandmother was 68. I had lived with them most of my life, since I was five years old. They adopted me after my parents were lost in a boating accident off the Canadian coast.

I stood there, reminiscing over their lives and all the good they had done for me and for others. They were legendary characters in their time, especially in Canada. They had done so much for others, always giving, always building, always contributing and just good-hearted down-to-earth people. I had to smile at this thought, for they had been killed while crashing down into the earth.

After a short time, the rest of the group came walking up and stood with me. Auggie took off his hat, bowed his head, and said a special prayer. What it was exactly, I could not hear, but I knew that Auggie had been the best of friends to my grandfather, closer than brothers in their struggles and accomplishments, and in the gift of life. My beautiful grandparents had stood like rugged snarled oaks which had endured the storms of time for so many others, and it was done gracefully and especially for me!

Amber joined in my meditation, slipping her arm through my arm, standing there looking over the family cemetery. She knew this was no ordinary family and she understood that great things would come from it. She had a strange feeling and realized that it was spring. Flashing back on why she didn't notice this until now—she realized that they had been first in Hawaii for several months filming the big waves, then sailed south and were on Obscenity Island for a time. Then we had sailed to Tahiti, where we made needed repairs on the New Song, but we had been called back to Hawaii and returned north into the southern Pacific, had ventured to Palmyra Island for a month or so and then headed back to Hawaii where we had just come from. It had been at least a year in the tropics without much seasonal changes. Suddenly, instead of a vast ocean surrounding us, there were fields of green and colorful flowers and it was beautiful.

The view from the hilltop was spectacular. The Rockies rose up in the east, the great cliffs and rugged outcroppings set amidst patterns of organized farm land stretching out into the distances. The Mitchner Ranch spread itself out like a jewel above the great Frazer Valley. Small towns and hamlets could be seen afar off with the silver ribbon of the Frazer River making its turns far off, slowly flowing to the Pacific. Luke quietly said, "This is where I want to be buried."

Amber squeezed his arm and said, "Me too!"

The moment of looking into the distance was broken by Theo, "There's a tiny headstone back here, who might that be Luke?"

Then a landslide of memories came tumbling down. We walked over to the little headstone where the name Buck was carved into the small headstone. I paused for a few moments, everyone knew I was going over old memories. I said, "That was my all time best friend—a golden labrador retriever. He was killed by a pack of wolves when I was about ten. It was a bad time for me, I really loved that dog. He was the best."

Amber took a moment and asked, "Under your great-great grandfather's name Mitchner, there is another name: Luke Dobrinian. Who is that, do you know?"

"It's a long story but my original family escaped out of Russia in the late 1800's. because of the tsar and his iron fist my family, along with many others were persecuted, so lived hidden away in the Caucuses Mountains. Eventually they had to flee. My great-great grandfather was once considered a famous bandit. He was hunted and in time gathered what was left of his family to flee Russia. In time they sailed to Canada but because of their Russian and Slavic backgrounds, they were forced to change their names. This is how we became Mitchners. There is more, but that is the basics."

"The more I learn of you, the more interesting you get. Would you mind if I do some further research on your adventurous family?"

"Not at all, I always wanted to know more but just didn't have the time. In fact, I think Auggie has several family diaries handed down to my grandfather. You might ask to read them. But please do not freak out when you find out that my family were rebels, considered bandits, and enemies of the mighty Orthodox Church and the Russian Tsar."

"I love rebels! And that is interesting, because the Kaamin family had unscrupulous acts when escaping the wars and upheavals, from somewhere in the eastern European countries, I think it was."

I had to laugh, saying, "What might happen if we ever got married? We might make up one of the most malcontented couples ever."

Amber quickly added, "Oh my gosh, what kind of rebel kids would we have?"

I didn't even want to go there and was saved by the bell. We could hear a bell ringing down in the valley. Auggie said this was the dinner bell calling us home.

The sun was getting low in the western sky, shadows began to creep over the lands and a cold wind began to blow. It was time to get back to the warmth of the ranch house and its safety.

Everyone sat quiet as Jessie drove us back to the ranch house. Auggie had a serious look to him and almost whispered, "It ain't over yet."

I was not sure what this actually meant but knew that Auggie was not the kind of man to let anyone get away with a dastardly deed. It had been four years since the plane crash had taken my grandparents lives. I never thought that there might have been a conspiracy to sabotage the plane. I did not know where this would go and maybe it was too late to find out but I knew that Auggie would not let it go...and I was not sure about my own feelings.

# Chapter 10

# The Bunkers!

Wealth cannot purchase happiness, but very few would refuse a life time of SMILES!

Another great get-together was held that evening at the Mitchner Ranch, only this time Auggie and Flower had invited the surrounding neighbors and many old friends. I had gone to school with most of the people who had come to visit and pay their respects. Everyone knew that the Mitchner inheritance was now changing hands, and I suspected that many wanted to see what kind of hands would receive this great fortune. They knew that there had been a three or four-year battle over the Mitchner fortune and many felt that it was going to be lost to the big gun names of industry. But they were surprised the mining operations had lost their claims and control they hoped for in gaining the Mitchner Foundation. Dustin had learned that several mining alliances had headed a campaign to have the Mitchner fortune broken up and distributed to their causes. It was Brookstone and his connections, who had discovered this and had begun his behind the scene campaign to undo their grip on the Canadian court system. Many high-powered people's toes had been stepped on in this long battle, but it had to be done. Again, we were kept from all the details, but it got rather nasty. Only in time would we come to know how bad.

That night, instead of having to answer a thousand questions about my new life and what might come of the Mitchner Ranch, Auggie suggested that I stand up during the dinner and give a summation of the course of events. For this entire area would certainly be affected by my decisions. Therefore, when coffee was served and general conversations had finished up, I arose and said that I would like to put forth some answers to many of the questions which were hovering thick in the room. I explained how the Mitchner Trust had been threatened upon the death of my grandparents. It was the inheritance that would keep the ranch and trust alive, but the lawyers of special interests began locking things up, trying to take over the Mitchner Foundation. I went on to explain how the MAVIN Group had been formed and for what reason. This new team of associates would make sure that no one would break or tear down the Mitchner Foundation, and that the ranch would be protected by a living trust that would continue well after I had departed this world. With this, the gathering began to clap, showing their appreciation. "In fact, I would like to make it known that if any one of you, or maybe someone near to you ever needs help, please contact us and the MAVIN Team will do everything possible to assist you, or whoever might need the help. All the charities that Stewart and Gladys had sponsored will be supported, as long as they remained charitable. We have already dealt with a good number of them that have taken advantage of the Mitchner support policies, and some have been removed so that more funds are available for real charities."

"If any of you have questions about these charities and I know that several of you are involved in some of the more notable ones, please talk with Amber or Crystal. They are handling the charities." I paused for a sip of my coffee and went on, "I know many of you are probably wondering what the value of the Mitchner funds is. The business magazines will most likely exaggerate the value...but as of right now, we really do not know—other than it is substantial. However, you don't want to have our tax problems, believe me." And that got a laugh from the crowd. The night ended with a story fest. Old memories and personal events relating to Stewart and Gladys were told. It was a special night for every guest.

Morning came early on the ranch. Auggie asked if the Brookstone character, along with Crystal and Amber, were trustworthy. "Yes, I would not have brought them with us, if I felt that they weren't. Whatever you've got up your sleeve for the day, we can include them and have no worries. I think that Brookstone, Dustin and his wife are going to go check out the drone barn. That has got them excited. Brookstone runs the Hearst Castle Security Force and the new drones would be a fantastic tool in his surveillance operations."

"Good, so let's get going. This is going to be most interesting for you." With this, Jessie drove up and all of us climbed into the ranch bus to head to the airstrip and the bunkers.

Auggie explained to us that he and Steward, over the years had been taking gold out of the better claims, then melting it down into ten ounce ingots and slowly exchanging them for rare coins and stamps, along with farm supplies and equipment. No one knew about this, but Stu was slowly stashing this stuff into the bunkers. "I began to develop the ranch and had not paid much attention to what Stu had collected until I went through the ranch safe recently and found his inventory list. I think you're gonna be real surprised."

The ranch bus crawled over the long thin bridge spanning the deep rocky ravine and came to the abandoned camp and airstrip. We followed Auggie around the large hangar, arriving at a cement pad built into the hillside. From there we went down a cement ramp that descended back and forth to a large heavy door set into a hillside bunker. Auggie produced a rather unusual key and spent a few moments fiddling with the lock. Turning to us saying, "This door has not been opened for some time. The bunkers are sealed airtight and they might be a bit musty. I'll open the door, let it air out first, and then we'll enter."

Auggie went on telling us that the bunkers were built back in the atomic threat days and would be here for many years to come. We could see that their construction was nothing to laugh at, but atomic war seemed to be more or less aimed at Washington DC, not western Canada. All of us waited, feeling that this visit had already taken some strange turns. We were not expecting any of this. In fact, this entire trip to finalize my inheritance had become an over-whelming task—yet exciting, and refreshing at the same time. After a few minutes of watching morning clouds tumble by, Auggie gave the okay to enter. The room was about 30 feet long and 15 foot wide. Overhead lights were flickering on. There was nothing fancy about the bunker, it was solid cement without windows. As the lights worked their way on, we saw that the walls were lined with rows of safety deposit boxes. They were all numbered, starting near the bunker entry at the top with #1, ten per row up and down. Auggie explained that there were 1000 boxes, each numbered and with a special key to get into them. He held the key up as he explained this. He handed the key to me and pointed to the wall of boxes and told me to go open any one of them. I had no idea what was going to happen but followed his suggestion. I went up to the wall. Saw number 44 and slid the key into its lock and turned. There was a click and I pulled the key out and pulled the inner box out and sat it onto a table that ran down the middle of the bunker. There were two benches on each side of the table which Auggie dusted off and the girls were sitting on. Everyone was watching with great anticipation. Peering at the contents we could only see what looked like rolls and more rolls of something. Reaching down I pulled one out. It was heavy and I realized it was a coin roll that one might get from the bank, like a roll of quarters or half dollars. I undid the end and dumped the coins out onto the table. Some of them rolled around until they settled. Everyone reached out and took one to see what they were. These rolls contained Morgan silver dollars, like new from the 1890s. "What the heck?" I exclaimed.

There were fifty coins in this one roll and at least fifty rolls in this one box. Theo held one coin up to the light and checked its date and nodded saying, "These suckers are brand new!"

"Yep, most all the coins are in mint condition, except for the really old stuff," Auggie explained.

"Wait a minute here Auggie, you're telling me that all these boxes are filled with coins?"

"No, I'm not really sure what is in all of them, some of them have rare stamps, but most contain silver or gold and old rare coins."

I thought over what Auggie had said earlier about Stewart using gold from the claims to purchase this stuff and that was not a bad idea. Apparently, they had done more than well! Auggie was walking around opening up more boxes and setting them on the table. "We would take the bigger pieces of gold and nuggets, and he would trade them off for coins. He thought this would be a better long-term investment. Some of the nuggets were real beauties, and there are some here somewhere in one of these boxes. Over many years of digging, Stu made countless trips to different cities on business, and each time he would do his trading. I cannot tell you how much is here, but it is one hell of a lot," he laughed. He went on, adding, "This collection goes back well over forty or fifty years."

"Well, Auggie, I'll say that his idea to exchange raw gold for coinage was one heck of an idea. These coins are worth twenty times their original value. Some of these rare coins must be worth thousands alone," Theo was shaking his head at what lay before him, and Theo knew what he was talking about when it came to old coins.

I said, "Auggie, if anyone ever found out about this stuff, we'd need ten guards to watch this place day and night."

"That's for sure. I've been worried about it myself. We have all kinds of people tramping across the ranch, and if anyone ever gets wind of what might be here, we'll have a big problem on our hands."

"What do you want to do about it?" I asked.

"Somehow, we got to find a safer place or start to sell some of this off," Auggie waved his arm along the wall of boxes.

"I agree, we cannot leave it here now. We might begin to inventory the coins at least and put them in a bank vault or build a bunker back at the ranch house. In time, we might take a good number, ship them to the port and put it aboard one of those freighters we own to ship to California where we can begin selling it off. There is plenty enough here for a full time business just in selling it. It might take someone several years to exchange this, if we want to."

Auggie nodded his agreement, reminding Luke that the ranch house had a full cellar carved out of granite. "There is a large walk-in vault there. It contains all the legal documents and paperwork going back from the beginning of this operation. We could store a good portion of it there, but not all, there's just too much."

I remembered that cellar. We use to hide out and play games there. It would hold a good portion that might be held back over time. Let Auggie and Flower deal with their share as they see fit.

"Luke, I don't think it's a good idea to let any bank know about this stuff. No taxes have ever been paid on its value and you'd have the Government breathing down our necks for the next ten years," Auggie explained while shaking his head at the idea of a bank and the tax people.

"You're right there Auggie. Once we start trading and selling some of this stuff off, they will get their taxes one way or the other," Theo agreed.

"What do you mean the freighter?" Jessie asked.

"Well, come to find out—we, or the Mitchner Trust, owns two small freighters. They need some work but Brookstone and I were talking about refurbishing them to be used in our projects."

"How long would that take?" Auggie asked.

I thought this over and said, "If we got on it right away, depending on what we wanted to do with at least one, I'd guess about two months. Just about the time it would take for someone to organize and box this stuff up."

Theo really liked the idea of refurbishing the two freighters. "We could turn one into a secret ship like Dirk Pitt and Tom Clancy; they have a converted freighter they use to do their missions. They are made to look rather shabby, but inside, they are incredible works of espionage and luxury."

Luke was watching Theo, who had turned into a wild-eyed scientist and was spouting out ideas like a kid in a toy store. "Not bad, not bad," I admitted above Theo's ranting.

"Get on it Theo, you may have hit on a great idea. You and Wally might build your inventors lab in one of them. The Hearst Castle Security Force will be excited about this. I know that Brookstone will go bonkers over having a freighter to add to their play yard."

Crystal and Amber had already opened up numerous boxes and were goggling and awing at the amount of coins, jewelry, nuggets, silver and gold bars, and stamps. Crystal murmured through Theo's excitement about the freighters, "This is going to be one heck of a job to sort all this out. There are thousands of not only coins, but rolls, each with 25 to 100 coins in each roll. Also there are rare individually packaged coins, many from Spanish doubloon times back to old Roman gold pieces. Then, there are stamps, tons of stamps, and things I don't know about; but I would say that there is at least one or two years of work in these boxes. Then to sell them, is a whole new job."

After things got quiet, Amber looked at Luke and suggested, "While you're remodeling those ships, you might build several vaults and a special work room where we could begin inventorying. That way the coins and other things could be moved around to different places so someone could sell some of it at different ports. That way, the big fat tax people might not ever know about it."

"That is a great idea Amber. And we could set up one of the boats to house anyone who wanted to go along for the ride, if we were going to move around," Theo announced his pleasure in this idea.

"I think that a full time crew would have to live aboard the freighter, so we might build in several apartments for passengers and for those who wanted to live aboard," I added to the growing excitement.

Time had flown by, we had been in the bunker at least three hours when Brookstone called Luke's cell phone and told us to go outside and watch the sky.

We put everything back except several rolls of differing coins to show Dustin and Brookstone. We had locked up the bunker and made our way back out to the ranch bus and stood around watching the sky as Brookstone had suggested. Meanwhile, Auggie had suggested that they put one of the ranch trailers into the hanger and let two of the ranch hands live in it, keeping an eye on the bunker until they got the freighter ready to accept the inventory, as we were calling it now. Just then, a humming buzz noise came over the far end of the hanger. It swooped low and as it passed us, about 15 feet in the air, the drone wiggled its wings and suddenly swooped upward. It made a circle and came back around again only slower this time. At first, the girls thought it was going to hit them but just in time, it swooped up. As it turned up, something dropped out of its belly and floated downward. We were taken back by this and then became amazed as a small parachute opened up and floated down towards us. Theo ran over and waited for the chute to come to him. "That's Brookstone, having fun with his toy. But that is cool," Theo was holding the contraption as everyone gathered around him.

"What is it?" Crystal asked.

"Oh that's cute, a small bouquet of wild flowers. Leave it to my big brother," Amber laughed.

My phone rang and it was Brookstone laughing, "How do you like our new flower delivery service? You are also being spied on Mr. Luke Mitchner. I'm not kidding, the camera is filming you right now."

"Bring that thing back here again and I'll have Jessie and Auggie shoot it out of the sky."

"No way, I'm out of here," and the grey drone, which had a wingspread of about four feet, swooped upward and made a sharp turn back towards the ranch house and disappeared.

"That's got to be Brookstone...right?" Theo laughed.

"He's got a new toy to play with for sure."

Back at the ranch, we found Brookstone and Dustin waiting in the living room watching the video the drone had shot during its flight. They wanted to know how well it worked and besides, this thing was fun. Brookstone knew for sure then, that they were going to purchase a whole fleet for the Hearst Castle Security Force to watch over the massive ranch at the beach, back in San Simeon. We grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down to share the day's exciting new find in the bunker when something caught Crystal's eye on the video. "Hey, turn back a few frames. What is that?"

"Oh no, here she goes again, seeing things that no one else can see," Theo clicked his tongue mocking her. But there was something there. It was someone on a horse standing just inside the trees above the bunker and hangar area with binoculars, watching them down at the bunker area. The drone camera had caught it perfectly, even though the person was hiding in the shadows of the trees.

"Wonder who that is," Jessie said.

"Don't know—our boys are all out north and doing work in the barns right now," answered Auggie.

"Can you take a cut of that frame and print out a copy for me?" Brookstone asked.

"No problem, will have it for you after we watch the rest of the video."

Everyone was gathered in the living room now, watching the film that Brookstone and the ranch techs had shot that afternoon while the Drone explored the ranch. It was incredible what this modern technology could do. Auggie was an old-fashioned cowboy and didn't take a fancy to all this new fangled stuff, but he thought of how much time it might save them while looking for the newborn calves. "Imagine what we can do with this thing," Hudson, Jessie's brother had come in and had brought up the positive side of this technology.

"Like what?" Auggie asked with a sigh of irritation, waving his coffee cup around, "It looks to me that this flying saucer is just gonna make you old timers a bunch lazier." This brought a new round of chuckles and laughter.

"Come on. Just for starters, we'll be able to follow or scare away the wolves that come down out of the canyons and kill off some of the calves."

Flower spoke up for the first time, "Even the wolves got to eat."

"Sure, but let them go eat the bears, not our cattle," retorted Jessie.

"Jessie, if you would, ask around to find out if anyone knows of someone visiting or riding on the southwest side of the ravine, maybe they know of someone camping out there or what."

"Sure thing boss, I'll go right now and make inquiries. That guy watching us sort of bothers me," Jessie nodded to everyone and left the room.

Brookstone asked about the dam that was shown off in the distance, "I didn't know you had built a dam or owned a lake."

Auggie shook his head saying, "We don't. That's the Rock Mountain Mining Company dam, built after Stewart was killed. The dam holds back the water from flooding the open pit mine just east, up in the higher areas. It has dried up two small creeks that once flowed across the Blanchard ranch and the lower farm areas. It makes it possible to run those mines. Otherwise, the area would flood out and the mines would be worthless."

"Really, was this allowed by you ranch owners?"

"Not really, but when Stu was killed, it seemed that the wind was taken out of our sails. The mining companies got government approval to build the dam," Auggie explained.

The pieces of the puzzle began to form a vague picture in my mind. If my grandparents were the cog in the plans to build this dam and then, upon his death, the dam is suddenly approved...well? I would go over my suspicions later, with Brookstone. All this was taking on the form of a conspiracy and we were in the middle of it.

When my attention returned to the conversation, they were talking about having speakers put into each drone to be able to deliver audio messages if need be.

"You know, my father once had a dream about voices coming down out of the sky, and lions growling," Flower spoke up quietly with all seriousness.

"With this Blue Tooth technology stuff, that could well be. We could record a fierce lion roaring and play it over the heads of wolves trying to sneak up on a new born calf," Hudson was chuckling, but his idea was not out of the realm of possibilities.

"I love it, I love it," declared Brookstone, "a good friend is like having a second pair of eyes that watch out for you. Ah...but a good drone is like having a thousand pairs of eyes watching out for you."

# Chapter 11

# The Shooting!

Evil is your greatest enemy—only if you let it win—until then it is only a brutal opponent!

We finally had a free day of relaxation. The girls suggested that we take a horse ride up to the gold mines and see what a real gold mine looks like. Brookstone was all for it, but Dustin wanted to spend time using the business office and do some catch-up work. So the ranch hands saddled up our horses and Jessie led us northeast up to the cliff Bridge Canyons.

It was a cool crisp day as we made our way east up to Hope Canyon. There were piles of old mine tailings along the way with open-mouthed caverns scattered along the cliffs. Some of these mines dated back over 150 years. We crossed over numerous branch creeks that flowed and tumbled down the floor of the Hope Canyon. We slowly moved along the rocky trail so not to take any chances with the horses. Near the top of what they called the bridge plateau, we could see in the distance the man-made lake created by the mining companies. Still on the far edge of the Mitchner Ranch, the original mines were tunneled into one mountain cliff. There was a circular cut about twenty feet deep and a wide side cavern cut into the sidewall. Narrow gauged railroad tracks ran down into the cut with several mining carts parked along the way.

We could see that the mine was still being worked, with equipment and machinery set alongside the tracks. Hoses and pipes ran into the mouth of the mineshaft and we could hear noises coming out of the huge cave opening. Now and then, a worker came out of the cavern to check the equipment. When he noticed Auggie he waved up to us. Jessie dismounted and went walking down a gravel path to talk with the miner. Auggie explained that this was one of two Mitchner gold mines still in production. Most of the veins had run out or were broken, but with strong gold prices there was still enough gold to make it worth while. And besides, it kept a few old ranch hands working. We wanted to go into the mine, but Auggie said that this was not a good idea. They were getting ready to set off a blast and we better move back aways.

Jessie came back up carrying a few good-sized quartz rocks to show us how tiny veins of gold ran through the quartz rock. Auggie went on to explain how they would haul the ore up and out, then send it down the tracks in a mining cart to a holding area. This was done to make sure we didn't pollute any of the water flows in the area. It cost time and money, but it kept us from harming the land. Two of the original mines had been completely covered over, the area restored back to a nearly original state. We thought this rather impressive; we saw the concern for the environment and preservation of the natural beauty. Again we were impressed by their efforts.

Higher mountains rose up in the east as the landscape grew rocky and rugged. The tracks were sitting on what was once known as the Caribou Trail, used by prospectors going back to the mid 1800s. No doubt, it was a landscape that challenged anyone who wanted to use it for self-gain. We could look down the canyon we came up, and over the distant farms and ranches far below. Low clouds hung in the distant view, and we had to be impressed by those who had settled this area, years ago.

Jessie led our caravan several miles along a forest road to view the Rock Mountain pit. From above, we could see a vast hole about a half mile across and at least 300 feet deep. Huge trucks, giant tractors, and crushing machines rumbled back and forth. A high train trestle spanned the canyon. The operation looked like a massive bee hive gone mad.

Brookstone was curious, asking Jessie and Auggie about how the dam was built. "They used most of the rock and tailings from the pit and poured cement over it. The water was cut off and backed up into those two branch canyons," Jessie pointed off to the south where we could see the lake reaching back through a maze of canyons.

"Is that thing safe?" Theo asked, knowing a little about engineering.

"Not really, one good quake might send billions of tons of water and debris washing down into the lower farmlands. But what is bad, is that the lake water is so polluted, that no fish can live in it. In fact, even birds won't go near it. It's an acid lake that you can smell when the wind blows our way."

"What if the dam was breached on the pit side, what would happen then?" I asked.

"Disaster to begin with. The mine would fill up and everything around the area would be under water until they figured a way to get rid of 50 billion gallons of waste water."

"You mean the Canadian environmentalists let this go through, and you guys can't even dig a well without going through a two year court trial?" Theo fired out in frustration.

"You got it my friend. Someone greased every palm for a thousand miles, and most likely made threats to those that would not take the green hook," Auggie filled in the details with this last comment before we turned around to back off from the explosion.

"Is there any way to repair the damage if the dams ever broke?" Brookstone asked.

"The waters would slowly evaporate leaving the mining residues behind, but with the seasons' water flow and the new snows, eventually the water shed could be restored," Auggie explained.

Jessie noted the tumbling clouds coming our way and suggested that we might start back down, before we were caught in the canyon during a gully swamper.

Jessie had us wait a long ways back from the mine, telling us to hold our reins, the blast was soon to be set off. Within a few minutes, a solid thud shook the ground and an echo of the blast rumbled down the canyon. The miners would wait and then go back into the mine to begin loading up the newly broken ore into the wagons sitting on the track.

After the coast was clear and taking another look around, we mounted up and headed back down the boulder strewn path. It was about half way down when the seriousness of life and my place within its grip would reveal more than I needed to know. Out of nowhere, a buzzing snap took me by surprise when something hit me, knocking me off my horse! I landed hard, hitting the ground and was out. Then everyone heard the shot from up on the canyon rim. Jessie yelled for all of us to jump off our horses and get down on the ground behind the larger boulders if possible. I was out for a moment. My hat had been blasted through and Brookstone had crawled over to my side where I lay trying to get up. He pressed me down so I couldn't get up. Theo had dived off his horse and took Amber and Crystal with him. No one knew where the shot had come from and if there would be more.

Soon I sat up dazed, holding my head, and mumbled, "I'm ok—but what the heck was that? It sounded like a mad hornet stung me, did we run into some hornets' nest or what?"

"Hornets nest, hell. That was a bullet that buzzed you, and looks like it cut a path along your skull," Brookstone was kneeling at my side looking me over. Sure enough, a bullet had zinged into and through my hat and left a red line across the back of my head. My hat had gone flying, while the shot had frightened two of our horses, scattering everyone. My hand came away from my head bloodied. Jessie had pulled out his own gun and fired off several shots from where we had heard the first rifle shot come from. We could hear his bullets ricochet off the rocks above. I lay on the ground trying to get up when Auggie yelled for all of us to lay low. Amber came running to me and kneeled down next to me. She saw that my hat had a hole passing through it on the backside. She gasped when she saw the blood on my hand. She then turned my head to the side and began examining the red line that had shaved a thin line across the back of my head. It was scarcely bleeding, but did it sting! Brookstone let Amber take over and hit the ground running, already making his way up the bluff from where the shot had come from. He was gone for 20 minutes before returning, shaking his head indicating that he couldn't find anyone.

Amber had been working on my head while Brookstone insisted on dragging me off the trail and out of the open. Auggie was giving orders for everyone to stay down for now. Jessie was on the radio and had contacted the ranch giving orders for several riders and the two ranch trackers to get up here right now. Auggie got onto his radio and told Hudson to get one of those drones up to this area and take a scan of everything around here; we wanted to know who this shooter might be. I had to smile, suddenly Auggie called on technology to get over here and help. Was it an accident or had it been a direct attempt to take me out? Who knew, but I understood that waves against rock eventually make sand, so as evil against good, inevitably wears good men down. And today, I had been worn down a bit.

Brookstone had already returned with Jessie in searching up the canyon wall, but it was far too steep to gain any idea who the shooter might be. Brookstone asked how long before the drone would be up and scanning the area. Hudson's voice came back saying that the drone should be in the area within a minute. Sure enough, the hum and the shadow of the new strange sky watcher was circling the area. It flashed over once or twice and began making back and forth swoops up the canyon rim. Meanwhile, Amber and Crystal were working on me to stop the bleeding. It was definitely a head shot, meant to kill, but my horse had stepped down a tiny incline and the bullet had just caught the back of my head. I was lying there half-pissed off and half in shock.

Leave it to the girls, once they saw that I was not injured too badly, they began to use their humor on me. Crystal went first, "Hey, if you wanted a new type of haircut, you should have told us, we would have given you one back at the ranch, under better conditions." Being twins, Amber had to toss her ten cents in with, "Well Luke, besides all the other scars you got: the X-O tattoo on your chest from your buddy Etroid, one spider scar from the Hearst Castle trench on your eye lid, a torn ear from the big bad parrot of Obscenity Island, a hook scar on your arm, and now a hash mark across the back of your skull—what next? You're almost rounded out."

I couldn't let the moment go by without my own retort. "Please, kiss me, I'm dying. Kiss me so I know that you two did not plan this."

"Hey, I wanted a western, but not one that included a real gun fight," Amber said with a growling cowboy voice, trying to sound like a gun fighter gone good.

Crystal told me to go ahead and die, but Amber bent down and was kissing me when Auggie came running over to my side with his gun drawn, asking if I was ok. I looked up at Auggie holding that gun over me and I almost crapped in my pants. Very carefully I said, "Auggie, I am not an injured horse, please do not shoot me."

"Looks like you're doing just fine with all that extra care," he said as he lowered his gun and turned back to looking up toward the cliffs.

I had to say it, for with his bad sight, he was looking in the wrong direction. "Auggie, the cliffs are over there. Maybe you better holster your gun for now."

He nodded, realizing that I was trying to keep him from shooting someone. But reluctantly he said, "Sure thing Luke as long as you're doing okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay, but hunting season doesn't open for another three weeks, does it?" I groaned.

"Listen Luke, don't fool yourself. No one would be shooting down into this canyon from above. It is obvious that this was an attempt to get rid of Luke Mitchner. I told you that you would be in danger, and so you are."

"But, so soon?" I replied. Everything about my grandparents' plane crash flashed back to me. I saw the dismantled plane, all its twisted parts piled up in the hangar and heard Auggie's hypothesis about their plane being sabotaged...now this. Here I was, lying on the ground in an isolated canyon with a creased head that could have been a huge hole instead. The Mitchner name might be a noose around my neck, my thoughts went to the inheritance of millions. Was this how it was going to be from now on?

They heard the riders from the ranch coming up the canyon floor to begin their search for the shooter or shooters. Before Auggie would let anyone up, he wanted the area gone over. Two of the ranch's hunters and guides first showed up, Francis Drake and Johnny Cook, the expert trackers and guides. Auggie stepped out to greet them, asking if anyone else had come. "Yeah, Hudson and Joesy Okanagan had taken the upper trail and will search from above. We got you covered Boss," Drake was scanning the area and summing up the situation as he answered.

"Good. Jessie and Brookstone went up the canyon, follow them and see what you might come up with."

I tried standing up, but the girls wouldn't let me until the bleeding had completely stopped. "Auggie, do you really think this was an attempt on my life?"

"No doubt on my part, it was sure as goats are ugly. And I'm wondering if that watcher in the video might be tied to this," Auggie replied as he was pointing up the canyon. "Those boys are some of the best trackers in the area. All of them have been called out on rescue hunts for lost hunters and if there was anyone there, they'll damn well find out."

Auggie's radio clicked alive with the voice of Jessie filling them in on what they were doing. "We found some boot tracks leading away from the top of the canyon headed for the rail carts. It looks like someone came up on one of the miners carts, walked along the cliff and waited. Then they ran back along the canyon to the self-driven pump cart and took it back down the tracks. They are long gone, but we might trace them down to the mill if it's not too late."

Drake and Cook reported in, "We located the place where someone was hiding. It looks like the perfect place to ambush you guys from. There is only one set of boot tracks and Hudson found a spent cartridge in the rocks. Looks like a 30-30 shell casing."

"You think it's clear for us to get Luke and the girls out of here now?" Auggie asked.

"Yeah, go for it, we'll follow you down from up here, but I want to send the drone along the tracks to see what might be there for us. It looks okay for now."

Thunder rolled across the sky as dark clouds began to blot out the blue skies. If rain came, the canyon was no place to be caught in. The girls helped me up; Jessie and Theo helped me back onto my horse; I insisted on putting on my wounded hat, a great souvenir for this trip. We moved back down the canyon as the rain began to fall.

When we returned back to the ranch, filling in the details for Dustin, he nodded as if reminding me personally that we could be in danger, as he lifted off my holey hat. No one was sure what exactly happened, but Auggie was not going to allow us any more free rambling trips.

The girls were already packing our bags. That was it!

# Chapter 12

# Freighters Reborn!

Crude reasoning will build a stronger bridge, rather than all that fancy thinking!

Fortunately my life escaped serious damage from the near-miss bullet as it singed its way across the back of my skull. When they got me up and we arrived back at the ranch, Flower had prepared a long strip of Indian herbal pain salve and taped it onto the back of my fat head so that I looked like an Arab sheik with a turban. The video from the drone that had searched the area found the abandoned peddle cart down the tracks a mile or so, but no sign of the shooter could be found or traced from there. Someone for sure had known we were going up to the mines, whoever this was we did not know, but Auggie had his hands full trying to figure it out. Brookstone suspected that there was someone on the ranch that had given our schedule away. We surmised that the phantom rider on the video might have been watching our every move.

Brookstone along with Hudson did a thorough scan for bugs both in the house and in the bunk house. They found two listening devices in the men's bunk room that must have been transmitting the workers conversations. How long they were there was hard to determine but Auggie was upset. Brookstone had contacted several of his old friends, introduced them to Auggie, and filled them in on what new security arrangements they wanted. They had flown in on a smaller helicopter to begin a watch on the bunker and begin a follow-up investigation of the threats on the Mitchner Ranch.

I assured Auggie that whomever Brookstone had asked to help would be there for them. The security team were an extremely tight group, and the evidence of my inheritance being released from the Canadian legal system was proof that these guys knew their way around. Auggie actually took a liking to the new security team and in time, they became well known around the ranch.

Brookstone wanted a list of everyone who had been hired since the Mitchner plane crash. He suspected that someone had set into motion a listening and data collection system. Brookstone also suggested to Auggie and Jessie that they install solar powered cameras on the higher areas, maybe in places where intruders could hide out and watch to cause more trouble. With this surveillance system, the entire ranch could be watched on a few monitors, and with the right software everyone could use their smart phones to check out different areas, all by wireless camera systems. Auggie scratched his chin on this one, but was intrigued with the idea of having the extra eyes watching over his family and friends, so he agreed to the new technology.

The situation back in Newport was heating up; it was time for us to head out. Dustin and Theo had been in touch with Jay and the rest of the MAVIN Team in Newport by phone. Everyday there was news and it looked like Jay had his hands full. We had completed most of our tasks with my inheritance, but there were still loose ends to tie up.

Theo had been on the phone with various ship repair companies and with the help of the Hearst Castle Security Force, a reliable company, The Stone Harbor Iron & Ship Works Company had been sent to get a first-hand look at our two freighters to see what might be done with them. The first report was that a general all round repair would be needed on both. Theo and Brookstone made a two day trip down to the Vancouver harbor docks to take a look for themselves. They were given a tour of the ship facilities and the massive dry dock structures where the work would take place. Theo of course filmed everything. They were escorted through the two, almost derelict, freighters. The slightly larger one, which needed less repairs was picked for the first rehab. Theo expressed the need for time and because the shipyards were slow, due to an economic slowdown; they were assured that everything could be well done within two months. Brookstone explained what they wanted in a work area, a vault room, and a complete deck of nice living quarters. For the freighter would be lived aboard by several families and would serve as a floating expedition, research and business ship. They would hold banquets and meetings and would carry some important people aboard. Therefore, we wanted the best of everything. Costs were no limitation and Brookstone would have some of his own crew come in and do some special work as soon as the major changes had been made.

Theo expressed that there was to be several working shops, fully equipped with laser capability and several high-end furnaces. A full computer office, with all the goodies, satellite dishes, cell phone communications, every sort of radar and several secret storage areas. He said that he was a professional filmmaker and wanted a complete film studio with all the niceties for producing a finished product.

Brookstone let it be known that the ship might be going into places of danger and possibly stand off attacks of piracy, so they wanted several escape rooms, secret passages and a place that they could control the vessel from without anyone knowing it. The two engineers from the Stone Harbor Iron and Ship Works had done some of this type of work before and were more than delighted to have a free hand to turn this ship into a vessel of many facets. These were sweet words to their ears.

Theo let it be known that if all went well with this first freighter then they would be given the second one to work on. Brookstone made it known to the ship yard's owner, Benjamin Highmanner, that they did not want just anyone working aboard. They wanted trustworthy, old-timers who could keep their mouths shut about some of the unusual changes that would be made. Benjamin Highmanner was a gruff old-timer himself and knew exactly what Brookstone and Theo were asking. He assured them that no one would say a word, if they wanted their jobs. Highmanner had already done a good amount of research himself on the Mitchner Foundation, the Mitchner Ranch and the latest MAVIN Team, thus was well impressed with their reputation. Besides, the way Highmanner would run the operation, few people other than his sons, who were the two main marine architects, would see the full changes. Wally Justin our MAVIN computer master would be our engineer, presenting suggestions as the ship was rebuilt, supplying Highmanner's data searchers with further blueprints and information. After all, there was going to be several millions of dollars exchanged in this venture. These freighters were not going to be the general run of the mill freighters. They would be simple on the outside but extremely technical on the inside.

The twins, Amber and Crystal, managed to get into the act along the way. They came up with new names for the two freighters and Highmanner thought to go on with them. Theo had nearly forgotten about the name changes to the ships. The first one, he said, would be re-registered as The Dove. Brookstone broke out laughing, "The Dove you say, who came up with that one, Theo?"

Theo had to smile back and said, "Well Bobbi Brookstone, it was your lovely and wise twin sisters!"

Brookstone rolled his eyes saying, "Leave it to them...Crap, what did they come up for the other one?"

"Hold onto your shorts—The Sparrow!"

"Come on now, you're gonna go along with this girly touchy thing? I was thinking more along the lines of The Rapier and the Saber which would offer a little strength to those thinking about attacking us."

Theo rubbed his chin, looking over at Benjamin Highmanner and back to Brookstone, and finally said, "There is no way in hell that I'm going to oppose those two bomb shells. Besides, it is really not the best philosophy to go about challenging other ships by presenting them with fighting names. That would be like the kid who wore diamond studded gold braces on his teeth, attacked in the New York subway and killed for them! The one thing we don't want to do is attract challengers. We might have plenty of fire power aboard but I'd rather keep it hidden behind the wings of a Dove and camouflaged by a humble Sparrow. Let all enemies think they've got the upper hand until they feel the Dove's real peck, if need be."

Benjamin nodded his head in agreement, "These days, you do not want to attract opposition. I think the names Dove and Sparrow will work. Would you want me to start the new registration for the ships? We can handle that without a problem."

"Let's give it some time and think this name thing over," Brookstone suggested.

Benjamin Highmanner assured Brookstone, "Listen, when we are finished with The Dove, you're going to be more than surprised. It will look like a dove on the outside, but have the power of a hawk on the inside when done. It will be a full working freighter, with a luxury neighborhood inside, top-end kitchens and steam rooms. There will be spas, gem rooms, libraries, movie rooms, personal sitting areas up on deck, and the living quarters will be something you might find in a penthouse in Vegas with bullet proof windows and air-conditioning. We will have storage freezers that will keep six months of the best food, an incredible bakery and to top all this off, we will have a heliport on deck and a 30-foot motor sailer that can be launched out the back and retrieved the same way. You will have a complete dive shop, with an underwater exit chamber for those special dives. Your secret ship will have all the top-end marine equipment, nothing but the best for our new mighty freighters! I guarantee it will be a beauty, trust in me. And—all this will be protected by some of the most sophisticated fire power available. Oh yeah, we'll equip and set up a war room for you Brookstone, sound proof, bullet proof, and a lock down room, just for you and your warriors."

Brookstone himself was surprised at Benjamin's ideas and descriptions and rubbed his hands together. There was no doubt, this was the cherry on the top of this trip for him. Through our connections we had heard rumors of the Stone Harbor Iron & Ship Works Company having done work for some of the alphabet agencies and that they would know what we were after. Brookstone recalled several of his teams extracting hostages from distant hard-to-reach places. They had to make their way up long dark rivers and seek out hidden villages where negotiations would take place. There were dangerous situations that they had been caught in, losing a few good men along the way. This single small freighter would work perfectly in these rivers if they ever had to travel them again. A means to carry a helicopter or a good-sized launch would do wonders for an expedition of a black-op extraction. We learned later that Benjamin Highmanner and his company had refurbished several ships for, let's say, men of high rank and for Saudi Arabian families. The only thing we would not have aboard were cruise missiles...hah!

This all sounded so good. Then Highmanner added another touch, "My wife Lida, is a professional interior decorator and she will be designing the kitchens and dining areas as well as setting the rooms up. You'll even have a Kosher kitchen aboard if you ever need one. She knows her stuff. She's been called all around the world to advise and to work on big time yachts and several specially outfitted ships," with this he gave us a big smile.

They had spent two long days with this initial step and were eager to get back to the ranch. Without any further discussions, we signed the work over to The Stone Harbor Iron & Ship Works Company (Marine Division). Benjamin assured us that by the next day, The Dove would be brought into its new dry dock and work would begin immediately. Theo was more than pleased with the meeting. He had a good feeling about this Benjamin character and his positive 'Can do all' attitude.

Without knowing it, they had authorized the release of a power in and of itself; a force that would eventually take them into and out of a hundred adventures and unusual experiences. Just like so many other things, this freighter would soon platy a major part in the MAVIN Team experiences.

# Chapter 13

# Mining Event Handled!

Incredible bitter odds make for the sweetest victory!

Back on the ranch, the two new investigators, Taylor and Owen, had already begun to set up the latest high tech solar powered cameras across the entire spread. One at a time, each new system came on line. Auggie could not get enough of how he could scan the entire ranch with the touch of a button; he was more than amazed. Several times already, his wife Flower had to drag him out of the computer room to come and eat. Crystal and Amber along with Ethan Mackenzie, the Mitchner computer tech, were doing the deep dig into the possibilities of who might be behind the placement of the bugs and the attempted assassination of Luke. The word had gone out and a $5000 reward had been offered for information about this attempted assassination and within a few days, they had several reliable tips on who might be behind the deadly attack. Various leads pointed the compass needle to the door of the mining companies, which had a long running battle against the Mitchner Holdings. If they could eliminate Luke, the mining companies might break the barrier on the new mines of mass proportion they wanted to begin. The Mitchner Foundation was not opposed to mining or harvesting precious metals from out of the mountains, it was the carelessness of how it was done—this is what they took opposition to.

Within a few days of Brookstone's return from the shipyards, he had gathered the Mitchner security team and they began to formulate a plan to stop further problems with the mining alliances. We did not know how this was going to be done and Brookstone assured us that it was better we didn't know a thing, so we let it be. Since the Mitchner plane crash, there were two names that came up on the radar. Presently, they were being investigated for the slightest connection with the mining companies.

We had a meeting and it was determined that I along with Theo and the girls would leave to go back to Newport in two days. Until the security team had come up with some answers on this shooting, everyone felt it best for me to depart the scene. Then, Brookstone along with the new investigators and the Mitchner security men were going to begin dealing with this dangerous situation. The Claremont Mining Alliance had been one of the most aggressive groups to try to break the Mitchner Holdings. They also had one of the largest iron and copper working mines on the west side of the Rockies. They were trying to expand their holdings and open another open pit mine just north of the Mitchner Ranch. In order to do this, they had to cut deep into our ranch, divert two main feed streams or bring about enough pressure on the ranchers to force everyone to agree to their new proposals. The reward that was placed into existence worked wonders for divulging needed information about the attempted hit on Luke. We soon found out that not everyone who worked in the mines agreed with these behind the scene methods of intimidation.

One evening an ATV came up the ranch driveway driven by a rugged character who came to speak with Auggie and Brookstone. With as much secrecy as possible he decided to let us know who was responsible. Once this was backed and verified, Brookstone and Taylor went to the Claremont Mining president, Nickolas Killingsworth, for a little talk. They wanted the two men who had attempted the hit. Of course, the head honcho denied everything and seemed to be enjoying this direct, no bull exchange. There was no way this mining boss was going to hand over a thing, no less the two accused shooters. The exchange became rather heated and several toughs came to escort Brookstone and Taylor off the grounds. Yet, that didn't work out to good for the toughs, from what we heard.

They had let the big boss know that if there ever be another incident perpetrated against the Mitchner Ranch or any of its employees, there would be dire consequences for his entire mining operation. The big shot laughed, but Brookstone let him know that soon his big fat mining operation would taste just a tiny bit of this warning.

"Taste? Taste you say. Huh, it's going to take more than a taste before we even consider looking your way," Killingsworth had his finger tips peaked as he leaned back in his chair snarling out his reply.

"Yes, just a taste. I think you have about 300 men working on this one mine, and that is a lot of men who support your union and it would be a tragedy to hear that they were suddenly out of work, because of you big shot bosses dirty tricks. Oh my, how fun that would be for you and your families."

Apparently, the entire plan had been set into motion prior to this meeting. Now up at The Claremont Mining Alliance pit mine, an unusual and a most unexpected occurrence began to happen. The huge man-made dam which controlled the water flow around the open pit mine began to leak. Mysteriously the dam on the Rock Mountain pit side had been breached. Water was flowing out from a massive valve and beginning to undermine the railroad trestle. A panic set in with all the miners abandoning the pit, thinking the dam was going to burst any minute. At first, it did not seem to be that big of a deal and the executives more or less ignored it.

Then alarms began to go off, warning that the dam was in danger of breaking loose on one side. If this were to happen, the half mile wide and 300 foot deep iron and copper pit would be flooded. Major concerns arose. Somehow, just somehow, the newspapers and evening news came to learn about this potential environmental disaster. Canadian environmental engineers came to inspect who had the mine partially shut down until the dam could be repaired, which would easily take three months. The repair was all possible, but the banks did not want the risk, and refused the loan of 128 million dollars needed for the repairs.

Now, with the MAVIN Group being fully aware of what was going on, they had been using some of their newly acquired influence to persuade the bank not to get involved. Somehow, the loaned would be mysteriously underwritten by an anonymous bank and if The Claremont Mining Alliance mine wanted to ever open again, they would have to accept this loan. The owners and union officials couldn't care less where the money came from, they were only wanting to get their mine back up and running by having the dam repaired and their 300 paying union men on the job. The only thing was, and it was far too late to do anything about it, was that the MAVIN Group now had the say over the loan. The loan was vital to the Mining Alliance, who became one family of roaring lions when they discovered they were under the thumb of the Mitchner Holdings, or some other entity called the MAVIN Group!

Brookstone and Taylor paid one more visit to the Claremont Mining president, Nickolas Killingsworth and gave him a list of requirements needed in order to keep the loans up and running. We were not sure what was exactly said in that meeting, but we were assured that never again would Luke or any Mitchner Ranch worker would ever be found in danger.

However, Brookstone knew better—a change in face does not always mean a change of heart.

This single episode was mind boggling for Luke and the MAVIN team back in Newport. The scope of this challenge and its outcome would have ripple effects that rolled all the way across Canada. Suddenly, the Mitchner Ranch and its holdings were back on the scene. This single capitulation from The Claremont Mining Company brought a new respect back to the farmers, ranchers and ordinary citizens. It was almost as if Steward Mitchner, Luke's grandfather had returned to kick butt. The big boys had their pants pulled down and received a few good stripes and they didn't like it. Luke was impressed but also somewhat frightened about the power of wealth and how it could be used. He felt justified in one sense, that at least the mining industry was held in check for the time being.

After a few episodes of these behind-the-scene confrontations, pure curiosity began eating me up. It was important for me to get better acquainted with Brookstone. So I made the effort to better our relationship with more exchanges about our ideals. I couldn't just let this powerhouse of unusual skills do what they did without my even having an idea about how they worked. When time presented an opportunity, I asked Brookstone to join me in a cup of coffee. "Brookstone, we've got to admit that we are most impressed at how you and your security force has been able to handle these situations. Could you maybe give me an insight as to how you go about doing this?" I questioned him one evening after a good meal.

"Sure, Mitchner. It goes along with what I spoke about on the north shore compound, about creating a personal data base and learning how to profile people. Everyone thinks that this profiling is bad, but not so my young friend. We use the same techniques in our own lives with friendships and with strangers. For you can help others with that same information, just as you could apply it to someone that you might need assistance from but is reluctant to give it. By this I mean that many of our favors have come to us by helping others. We were able, and still are capable of helping and receiving help, with information we have gained through our research and profiling. Profiling is just creating a map that helps keep you safe, and gets you to your goals faster. Let me tell you first, that the world systems have all been corrupted. The worst of these is your governments. And I mean all the systems out there, including religion and even the charitable groups. For wherever you have the human heart, there you will find a power lurking—called greed."

He was right on this one, for our experience with some of the charitable groups that had been taking funds from the Mitchner Trusts turned out to be nothing but greedy hogs. Then with my dealings with the Canadian Courts and all its lawyers, it was four years trying to have my inheritance released. Nothing but greed and corruption held everything locked up as the lawyers ate it up.

He sipped his coffee, sat back and casually went on. "There are those that do have honest hearts but not many. When you find an honest soul, count that person as one of your friends. But our group has found it advantageous in accomplishing our goals throughout this world by making corruption work for us. Instead of allowing those corrupting powered to rule over us, we have learned how to manipulate them to our use instead. The worst of this depravity exists within the bounds of politics. For there exists the greatest ocean of greed, created and fed by money which generates power. This power exalts an individual beyond any normality, and with this debasement working within a person, they inevitably fall into the trap of debauchery. This could be lust, bribes, deceit, self corruption and outright thievery. Now it is not hard to discover these things, and when we do, we or anyone else can use them to gain favors. Some might call this blackmail but if a politician is stealing from the public, then he deserves to pay for his ill-gotten gains. So, in our efforts we have had to use discoveries to have doors opened for our works for good."

"So you're saying that your research—uncovering peoples' mistakes are then turned against them for your purposes?"

"That is true up to a point, but it has to be something rather serious. Something where justice has been aborted and had her eyes covered. Yet, we have been able to help hundreds by tapping into our resources and asking for a payback or favor."

"You mentioned that every world system has been corrupted, even most religious systems."

"Oh for sure. Every religion has its con men and behind the scene corruption. Take the Catholic Church for example, the headquarters of the world-wide organization in Rome is one of the world's largest money laundering schemes ever. The mafia or the drug gangs could carry a suitcase of money gained from drugs or prostitution and walk it into the Vatican and deposit it into their catholic bank without a question being asked. Money and religion are bound together. Remember the Jimmy Jones thing, or the Baker scam, this is nothing new, today's religions run on money."

"Doesn't the HC Security Force have any affiliation with the government at all?" I had to ask.

"Not really, we have discovered that nearly every government department has its corruption. We try to stay free from its reach and that is not easy. It's why we recommend that the MAVIN Group keep a low key profile. Forget cozying up to any government agency, you'll only get tangled up in their troubles. In fact, many of the rescues and hostage situations are totally brought about by some government agenda involving corruption. Sure, there are some innocent situations, but they are few and far between."

"Wow, that sounds pretty discouraging," I replied.

"It is. But this is why it's better to keep out of their reach and learn how to use them, instead of them using you. Heck, if you're not careful, you and your kids will be found running around on a desert one day, searching for a herd of goats, to end up being killed by a toothless man with a hand-made sling shot."

"So you are telling us that we should create our own profiling data bases?"

"That's right, Luke. I guarantee that you'll soon be using it, helping you get around obstacles and over narrow passages. Just like this freighter reconditioning work, it took Benjamin Highmanner a lot of behind the scene pulling strings for them to get the job done so soon, and this was good for you. But on the other hand, once your grandparents were out of the way, that mining company used its corrupting powers to connive its way into the banks of greed and create a massive environmental disaster, right next to your own ranch."

That was true, I thought. Couldn't argue with his reasoning.

"Don't get me wrong, we are not against the government. We pay our taxes and keep the laws, but we try to stay out of their reach in the sense of telling them more than they should know."

I nodded, knowing that the treasures we were carrying would be torn away from us by those very governments, if they knew we possessed them. Oh sure, we would eventually get a share but as far as we were concerned, they could go start another war if they wanted to!

It was a very interesting lunch. Went away full in many ways!

# Chapter 14

# The Return To Newport!

Our pasts should be our rudders not our anchors!

It seemed like forever. Our MAVIN team had been scattered for nearly a year now but it finally began to reform itself back at home. The Hawaii meetings were over, the Palmyra treasure had been secured for now and the James family had returned back to their own homes. They would prepare a memorial for Mike and in the meantime, Troy would begin organizing the foundation that would handle the golden links.

Finally, the entire crew was being reassembled. From the feedback we were getting from Jay, it appeared that our MAVIN team was going to jump right into some pretty heavy events. Our crew had flown back from Canada to the LA airport in two groups. Theo and myself, along with the twins, left the Mitchner Ranch prior to Brookstone's final dealings with the mining unions. They would be joining us within a week; Brookstone wanted to be on site when our first freighter, The Dove, was going into reconstruction. This ship was going to be a nugget in the Hearst Castle Security Teams tool box. Brookstone along with two of his brothers Mica and Morgan were now helping to finalize the new security arrangements on the ranch, and it appeared that they loved the lifestyle there so much, it might be difficult to get them back home.

My head was spun out by the time we got back to Newport and my apartment in the sky. We had come from a three month film shoot in Hawaii, then three months on Obscenity Island, then a few months onto Tahiti with a six month sailing adventure in the Pacific, another short stay on the Island of Palmyra, and then back to Hawaii and onto Canada and the Mitchner Ranch. Now, we were back on the peninsula in Newport. We had been in contact with Jay and the guys at my place while we were working things out in Canada but really could not grasp the full extent of what they were getting involved with. The entire year had turned into one complicated calendar of strange happenings. My mind needed some time out but it looked like all the R and R I needed would be put on hold.

Immediately, I found my once-upon-a-time neat and cozy apartment totally overtaken by Jay, Gretchen, Wally, Jaden and Timm and at least twenty-five thousand dollars worth of electronics including newly released laptops, recording devices, and cameras. My walls hung with blueprints, maps, drawings and lists. The place looked like a Chinese puzzle factory gone bonkers. So much for home sweet home!

Everyone greeted us with enthusiastic optimism. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the activity taking place in my once calm domain in the sky. Jay assured me that quieter things were in the works. The Duffins, York and Fanny, were letting us move into their Balboa Island rental home, which was being gone through and set up for our operation, putting our operation just a few homes north of the Mexican cartels' compounds.

Dustin and his wife Nadia lived in Huntington Beach. JJ along with Max and Timm would be staying with them. Brookstone had rented a home on the Island, not far from Theo's father's antique shop, for the Kaamin family, where the twins would be living also. We had no idea how long this clean-up was going to take and we had no idea how serious it might become. So Brookstone suggested we triangulate our positions, with the Mexican compound more or less in the middle. We were calling this operation the Clean-Up!

Theo had a small attached apartment on the back side of his surf shop but had his own room in my place whenever he wanted it. Gretchen could live with Jay and Theo's father Jonathan at the shop and be near Jay and his boat. Jonathan was ecstatic over this arrangement; Gretchen was a beautiful flower that would draw us bees home. She would be the perfect assistant in running the shop, helping authenticate and verify many of the marine pieces that came in. Jay became concerned that his father would become dependent on her, meaning that Jay would be left without her side-by-side companionship.

I was left with some reasonable space to move around in. Then Wally, Max and Timm would be moving into the Duffin house on the Island, which would become the headquarters. It was an old style two story Spanish-style dwelling with balconies overlooking the Harbor and the side bays. It had easy access from the docks to the front street access and was set in a nearly perfect location along a community walkway which allowed people to come and go without attracting attention. Wally was busy setting up secure phone systems between the Duffin's home, the Kaamin rental, and my castle in the sky. From my apartment I could see the Island home near the boat docks, and Theo's shop.

It took us about a week to get everything up and running. Everyone had been organized in collecting data and vital information on the Balboa Island takeover by the drug lords. The Kaamin family loved the idea of riding bikes around the Island and taking the ferry across to the peninsula to visit Theo's shop and spend time at my place. It was almost a vacation for them, instead of a dangerous mission for us. We suspected that Jasper and Morgan had been spending a little too much time at Theo's surf shop and had taken a liking to Sally and Cinder. We had seen them visiting the coffee shops, riding bikes around the peninsula and towing surfboards towards the beach. When we mentioned this, they calmly answered "Hey, these super girls are great sources of information and that's part of our job...profiling as many bad guys as possible." Sure, we laughed.

York and Fanny had secretively organized the yacht and home owners on the island and Brookstone had already addressed this group at Jonathan's shop in the downstairs basement area. Wally had secured satellite pictures of the Mexican compounds, while the Kaamin brothers had set up hidden monitoring systems in the two compounds. Tiny cameras and listening devices were now watching and feeding back information to our headquarters, and we soon knew that there was something to be concerned over. This was no little buy-out deal by a few rich Mexican drug dealers. It looked like a full running cartel had designs on establishing themselves on Balboa Island, using the boat slips for their own boats and yachts that would be bringing in their product from Mexico and Central America. The idea or plot was to turn Balboa Island into the new entry point, to become the distribution point for the entire region. The plot was on its way. Several of the larger homes had been purchased by a legal cooperative named The Colony Investment Enterprise.

They had managed to buy off someone in the Balboa Yacht Association. It was necessary for them to consolidate the boat slips along the bay front, giving them access to the homes directly from the boats that came in. The drugs would be stored in the underground areas below the compounds and distributed by in-coming boats, vans, and even by motorcycle.

This was only the tip of the iceberg. The initial part of this plan was well in motion. It was going to take a unique or powerful hand to put a stop to the take over. At first we were hesitant tackling this situation, but because it involved our own homes, lives, and businesses we had to do something. The collection of data and the searching out of the cartel's business interests would play the vital role in breaking the momentum. We soon discovered that several careless property owners on the Island had sold out to these people and joined in with their plans, not really knowing that the time would arrive when they would no longer be needed.

The disappearance of Gracy and her power-sailer, The Sea Hag, had us worried. A full on-going search and investigation was taking place, all the way south, down along the Mexican ports, as far as Central America. The entanglements with the Canadian courts was looking like kids' play compared to what we were going to have to deal with now.

At one of our first official meetings held at the Duffin house, Brookstone went into detail on what we were dealing with. In fact, in my opinion, he went way overboard. He explained the cartels means of intimidation, kidnapping, accidents, murders, assassinations, and even beheadings. This was too much for several couples, who let it be known that they were not having anything to do with this situation, not realizing that they were right in the middle of it all. Their children, their homes, and their lives would be paying the tabs on the cartel's business.

It pays to have engineers on your side. One interesting discovery by Jasper, while going over the island's early plans, was the drainage system. There were large underground drainage pipes that emptied into the bay, that were built to carry away the surface waters and keep the land from sinking when the island was being developed. These large pipes would eventually allow divers to go from the bay and reach the very compounds we wanted to get into. Brookstone, along with Jay, had explored the underground canals and had found access to the phone lines. The first level of bugs were now in place.

The Colony Investment Enterprise was located in San Diego. It was made up of several Mexican banks and it was obvious that drug monies were being filtered and washed into this enterprise, used to create a massive complex of businesses and drug outlets.

The first salvo in the clean-up operation had already been fired when Jay had taken down the two goons sent to Jonathan's Rarity Shop. They had brought a threat to the shop and broke a $1800 vase, and then tried walking away. Jonathan had personally delivered a payment notice for the vase to the Gomez compound, with some not so pleasant results. Besides a bit of verbal abuse by the doorman, he was forced off the property by a large black Doberman. So he had a certified letter delivered for the cost of the vase, and this is when the second salvo in the clean-up operation was blasted.

Jonathan had been followed to another shop in Westminister and in the parking lot he had been accosted by two men. He knew who they were, and if it weren't for another customer pulling into the parking lot, he might have been killed. As it was, Jay got the call from the Huntington Beach Hospital where his father had been taken and was in critical care. Jonathan had a broken nose, a few broken ribs, two broken fingers and a bashed up face. He looked like an angry raccoon which had fallen into a spinning cement mixer that someone forgot to shut off.

Through broken lips and inside stitches he mumbled the story to Jay, Theo, myself and the twins. No doubt, we were more than pissed off. This was an elderly man with limited abilities to fight back. It could have been worse, but there was a good side to this attack—it had instantly united the entire Island. The meetings were now full of the islanders wanting their pound of flesh for Jonathan. The two strong arms didn't know it at the moment, but they had just sealed their fate. Brookstone casually informed us that we were to stay out of it, and keep our noses clean.

It was official, Gracy had been declared missing; her power-sailing boat had been located in a shipyard in Ensenada, Mexico, painted another color, renamed and alterations made to disguise it. It had been given a new set of ownership papers and was running from Panama back up to San Diego. This bit of news came from several surfer friends of Theo's who had been in the area for a west coast surf contest, who had been invited to a party aboard a new boat, but it was familiar to them. They were not sure; but upon their report back to Theo, Brookstone sent Jasper and Morgan to do some investigating. They verified that this was the original Sea Hag but Gracy was nowhere to be found. It appeared that she would never be seen again, and this inflamed the Balboa old-timers, all the more.

The question was, how was the MAVIN team going to react to this situation in getting rid of this horrific and deadly intrusion? We knew it was impossible to fight this venomous organization to the death and drive it out of business; but we could create enough trouble for it that it might want to move on. Brookstone summed up the point. It will be like a deadly snake looking for a place to build its nest. If there were enough sharp belly-cutting obstacles and bothersome disturbances, the snake would move on. So we began to think along these lines. We were not naive enough to think that we could conquer the international invaders, but we might hurt them enough to make them double think their scheme in our area. Money was the source of their power, sort of like politics. Politicians got their money from the taxpayers, and therewith empowered themselves to greater sources, while the drug cartels attained their wealth from drugs by enslaving and imprisoning the ignorant. So the logical process in cutting the head off the snake was to hurt their money sources. To make them pay dearly for their attempted take-over might force them to go elsewhere. Let them go to Washington DC, where they were sanctioned and socialized, and where they were free to brew up their wickedness among supporters and best customers. Just leave us simple sea folks alone.

With the collection of information on every associate with The Colony Investment Enterprise their web of income slowly began to reveal itself. The dangerous news was that this firm already had ties to the Orange County legal system, including the police department, so we had to be wise in how we utilized our resources. We had the Orange County drug enforcement bureau along with the FBI and even the IRS to use, if we had to. Max became our contact with government agencies, but we held him back. On advice from Brookstone, we did not want to entangle ourselves with them directly, as of yet. The government agencies were filled with corruption and overflowing with bribe takers, contract schemers, and power hungry politicians. We knew that if we involved them in our plans, we would likely be hung out to dry. Once the government got wind of some 'Rid your neighborhood of evil-doer' plot, good could be turned into evil and evil into good. The desire to please the South American drug cartels was obvious in the leniency of allowing the criminal elements free access to the financial coffers and the no touch attitude of the law enforcers against the Mexican or Central Americans.

We wanted to formulate our own operation first, before we brought the big guns into the picture. Brookstone and his brother, Jasper, spent almost an entire meeting explaining how the method of divide and conquer was the oldest single means of defeating your enemy. They went on to plot out different methods of fractioning such organizations. Since we were going up against a billion dollar criminal organization without a conscience, it was needful to apply our methods in secret. What we did not want was to reveal ourselves; we would take on the form of an unknown shadow power which sought a takeover.

Jasper pointed to a large chart of the Mexican compound with lists of names and targets highlighted...and went on. "We will be using methods that this team will not discuss openly. Just trust in some of our methods and let them go to work. Stay back and do not even breathe any of this, to not one soul," and he emphasized this sternly. "Your own lives could be put in jeopardy if the cartel learned that you knew of these things. Just think about what they did to Jonathan!"

On this advice, my lawyer Dustin suggested to Theo and myself that we stay low key and not put our fingerprint on any of the events that would be taking place. The MAVIN Group had to protect itself. Most likely there would be repercussions from the clean-up. From the events that would follow, I would learn that it was best, not to know everything. Dustin had become quite familiar with the Kaamin family and the Hearst Castle Security Force. He emphasized that despite what I thought I knew, these guys and girls had far more resources at their finger tips than we could imagine. He oddly expressed, "In time of trouble it's better to be caught with a hand full of common sense, than a bucket full of hard rules." For the longest time this little phrase bothered me, but I took his advice and decided to leave all things well enough alone.

It was interesting to see how Dustin himself had changed since we became acquainted with the Kaamin family. I am sure that he must have grown closer to Brookstone on those trips to Canada while dealing with my inheritance. As a lawyer, he had certain privileges; when he told me not to inquire too deeply in what might happen, I began to understand that this was a way of telling me to back off and make sure I had a good alibi. I'm sure that his having exclusive access to personal information and direct insight to events, he had been forced to reach a level of legal maturity that few common lawyers attained. We had become involved in some serious business since wealth had come our way. This was all great, but in a way, there seemed a barrier being raised between us. I was not sure if it was the wealth that was bringing about this change, or if it was the new responsibilities forced upon him. I had to make sure this barrier did not get too high.

I asked what the operation might cost us. Dustin smiled and mentioned that Brookstone had his eyes on the second inherited freighter. The first freighter would be as an experiment for our needs, but the second one, The Sparrow, might be handed over to them for what they were about to accomplish. This included a complete refit. Theo looked over at me, "Hey, what would we do with two freighters anyhow?"

"You sound pretty sure that they are going to accomplish this Clean-Up without too much trouble," I said with some apprehension. I might have noted apprehension in my voice, but my mind was full to over flowing with doubt!

Dustin continued, "I won't say there won't be trouble. But from what I have learned about the Hearst Castle Security Force, they rarely fail on what they put their minds to. This is why the alphabet agencies, the CIA and so forth, have used them in touchy situations."

We didn't have to wait long to see the wheels begin to turn, or should I say the gears grinding. A full time security guard was put onto Jonathan's hospital stay. Jay would stay with Gretchen in his father's antique shop.

Abvout three days after this first major meeting something strange took place.

# Chapter 15

# Disappearance?

If you do not want trouble to answer, simply do not ring its doorbell!

It was a breezy Friday night when Crystal and Amber came over to make Theo and I a fantastic home cooked meal. The evening was beautiful and we were sitting out on the eastside deck overlooking the harbor below when we saw Jay's boat, The Serendipity, pulling out of its slip and slowly move to the channel and head out to sea. I put up my telescope to get a better look. Nothing seemed out of the norm, it was Jocko and Jay, along with Jasper, taking the boat out for a sail. We thought that Gretchen would be along, but they were alone. I thought I'd call them on our secured satellite phones. Soon Jay answered."You're being watched my friend," I let him know. He waved his hand, knowing that I was observing them with my telescope from my outside deck.

"Where you headed?" I asked.

"Just on a test run for now. Got a few people coming by to take a look at the boat in the next few days, and I want to make sure everything is ship-shape and working right."

"Great. Got a buyer already...uh."

"Yeah, maybe one of our old diving friends, Willie Bonner, you remember him, don't you?"

"The guy that owns the new diving shop on Highway 101?"

"That's him."

I could hear Jocko in the background pointing out obstacles along the way. "Where's Gretchen? She with you guys?"

"No, she wanted to visit Jonathan tonight, and besides, she is worn out with boats. Got to go, channel is busy this evening..."

I interrupted saying, "No problem, stay safe. Talk later...out!"

We had a really great evening with the girls. We tried leaving business out of the conversation, but that was hard to do. One question arose from Theo, knowing that the twins were closer to the situation, being part of the Hearst Castle Security Force and were living with the Kaamin family on the island for now. "How do you think those two mugger thugs will be dealt with?" Theo asked.

Amber turned to Crystal and they seemed to have this unseen communication, shrugged their shoulders, not wanting to say anything.

I had seen the same thing--a no-can-tell business--secret look. "Come on you sweet bombshells," I urged."If you know, at least give us a hint."

Crystal said, "Our brothers are handling all that stuff, we know nothing. But we're guessing that you have seen its beginning. That is all I will say."

Amber added her twenty cents in, "Don't forget that Jay is not too happy with those two strong-arms. Those are the same guys that were well on their way to killing your father, Theo." She turned her head and watched The Serendipity make its turn into the ocean channel and disappear.

Theo and I looked at each other more puzzled than ever. I asked myself, what have we seen already? I was not used to being left out of the know; in fact it began to irritate me a bit. This secret stuff seemed to be going on around me, but I preached trust, and now I needed it most. However, I was learning that there would be times when I myself would have to remain silent on certain issues, so I stood down for now.

We would never really know, but the two Mexican thugs were never seen again. It wasn't until the following afternoon when The Serendipity returned from what seemed to be a very long test run, that we put two and two together and came up with Justice—and I had a great alibi and my hands were clean!

This chain of events became like a prologue to a bad story. A fear came upon me for my associates. Yet, Dustin himself argued to me that there no longer existed justice in the system. It was tainted by ignorance, stupidity, politics and outright darkness; the light in justice was dim, if not altogether gone out. Whatever had happened to those thugs and murderers, I could not suddenly get idealistic and think that the courts and legal system would take care of things fairly. It was Crystal who put it out there for me to grasp, "Be thankful that there is an element that still exists within our broken down society that will serve out justice—and our hands are still kept clean."

In my journalistic investigations, I had witnessed outrageous injustice many times. In several cases, evil had openly prevailed, triumphed, and crushed the innocent out of existence; and there was nothing I could do about it.

Now, by happenstance, we had become partners with a fair justice machine, or was it called vigilantism? It was not afraid to deal out justice in a fitting way. The problem could be who go to do the dealing and define justice.

My main concern was how far could this go, and if I would have any say in its application. Time would tell the full story.

# Chapter 16

# Clean-Up Done!

Take the time to observe how an expert builds his trap,

retain the knowledge of SPRINGING IT so the innocent do not get caught!

The second strange event that we heard about was a massive warehouse fire on the docks of the Ensenada bay down in Mexico. This would normally never reach the news, but through Max we learned that a Mexican cartel's drug and money storage warehouse had mysteriously gone up in flames. Reporters and underground drug agents were astonished. This warehouse was where millions of dollars in cash were kept. There were bales of cash stored there. The money and drugs would be sent packing with the illegals, and in turn they would be given a portion to get their new lives started. This cash would be delivered to the drug lords, where they baled it into 100 pound bales and stacked it until they could get it laundered and reinvested into the banks. This was cash from the street deals and it involved millions. Max told us that they actually used a large trash compactor to compress the money into bales, and forklifts to move the bails around. No one knew how much monies were in the warehouse, there was just too much. This warehouse was also a major distribution center where finished products would be brought and stored. From there the goods would be loaded into cars, buses and trucks or put aboard the cartel's fishing boats or yachts and sent out for distribution.

This warehouse was also the cartel's computer center where they moved their monies around. It was one of the most guarded places in Mexico. How anyone could get near the place and burn it down had to be an extraordinary accomplishment—or one very convenient accident! I thought back about what Dustin had said, something about accomplishments? Brookstone had hinted that whoever started that fire, must have had a good reason, and had to be someone that knew their stuff—huh!

We were not informed, and the less we knew, the better off we were. But another full fledged attack was going on right at this time. It was Wally, Amber and Crystal who began to perform their incredible hacking skills. They had gotten into The Colony Investment Enterprises records, and from there they followed the bucks up the green arteries into several offshore banks. Surprisingly enough they followed the green blood trail right into several Orange County officials' accounts. The cartels had been placing their own Mexican agents into county and government offices, and this allowed them to have insight to any investigations coming their way. We soon discovered that Brookstone was absolutely right about not getting tied up with so called government offices. It was disheartening to realize that the system was almost totally corrupt. Imagine coming home and finding a 100 pound bale of money in your living room?

We kept learning more and more about Brookstone. He truly was a crafty character. For our multi-leveled hackings had uncovered at least five Orange County officials who had been taking bribes from the Colony Investment Enterprise, but he would hold back this information, just in case we ever needed, well, let's say, a favor. This entire episode had opened our eyes to things we were not sure we wanted to know. What was interesting, we soon realized we were doing the same—but for opposite results. This realization, that money was power, did not weigh us down but empowered us to proceed doing good. Give a dirty nickel to a public official, it will collect interest and return a hundred troubles! So we found ourselves working around the corruption. It was rather fun screwing these bureaucrats by destroying illegal bank accounts and secretly turning them over to the IRS and the FBI...all anonymously.

Before this was all over we would have a Newport Councilwoman, a county lawyer, a police chief, a few inspectors and even a tax man in our back pocket. We had no intentions to expose these people, it would only have caused frustration, and as Brookstone said, "Why throw away your aces?"

Even with these strange and misfortunate events for the cartels, new power-sailing boats came into Balboa Bay, and sure enough, they would tie up in the old Sea Hags slip. York and Fanny had everything on video. The crews and their passengers would wait until night to come out and enter the bayside compounds. Massive amounts of luggage was off loaded and wheeled into the fortress-like homes. It was obvious what was going on. For now, we had to let much of this go by, for Brookstone and Jasper wanted to trace everything to follow the products to their delivery points. Again, those underwater canals allowed expert divers to get into the underground parking or storage areas where every vehicle was given a GPS tracking unit and every bundle of product was bugged.

When things were just right, Morgan explained, the heaviest blow yet would fall upon these dark hearted humans.

Our question was, "Where were the COPS? Why were these people allowed to even enter US waters, no less anchor in one of America's most beautiful bays?" It was a simple answer—Money and Greed!

Brookstone just shook his head and let us know that we were still far to naive to realize the extent of how great amounts of money could open the strongest gates. It was simple enough, many officials were being paid off. Corruption was king!

It was JJ again, him and his odd ball clips. One evening sitting around he heard us talking and stated, "If all the money on earth was divided equally unto every person, within seven years, 90% of it would be completely back in the hands of the Mexican drug lords."

"Oh boy, that sounds really positive," Crystal retorted.

Our Balboa old folks detective force had observed that after each shipment, the word would be sent out and the Island would be overrun by bikers. They would usually show up to the compound in twos, stay a while and then ride out. These bikers seemed to be the main delivery agents for the dope. We learned that monies and lots of it would be moved around, returned and then brought back to the power boats. After a week or so, the boat with only part of its crew would leave. This revealed that they were also bringing in numbers of illegals, many of them younger females.

The time came when shit would hit the fan. Every car, truck, hummer, motorcycle that was held in the underground parking was sabotaged. A special formula concocted by Timm, the chemical expert, of glueish-acid had been poured into every tank. The vehicle would start up and leave the island but by the time it got onto the freeway or at least 10 miles away, the engine would seize and totally freeze up. The drivers would panic, for they had thousands of dollars worth of product with them. These cars were mysteriously reported to the police. There were several shoot outs, and it became obvious that someone was messing with the Island take-over plan.

The drug enforcement agencies would be informed by someone but they never would know who the informers were. Soon, a full time investigation came about concerning this delivery system. Almost every motorcycle was pulled over and searched, and soon the delivery boys refused to come to the Island. But it was another big time blow to the cartel and its delivery system when one of their prized power yachts had sailed out of Panama and the navigation system had steered the 80 foot yacht onto the rocks with a total loss.

Things got hot from there. The Newport councilwoman got into the act by calling in the county investigators who had come in to see what might be going on. The Mexican officials began to complain about the losses. The government got wind of all this activity and began to suspect that the Russian mafia had its hand in it. It looked like the snakes were getting restless. Gomez had a visit when an incredible power yacht came into the harbor and pulled into the Sea Hags old slip. The boat seemed to have a small army of guards, who escorted two very well dressed men off the yacht and led them into the compound. This had to be a meeting about all the losses and strange mishaps that were taking place. From the listening devices, we came to understand that money, or the loss of great sums, was the real problem. Strangely enough, two of the top honchos from the cartel had been sent north to pay a visit to Gomez. For the cartel had discovered that millions of the cartel funds had been moved into a secret off-shore account by none other than Alberto Gomez. Of course he denied everything, but the proof was in his account. How did that money end up in his secret bank account?

Jasper explained in his odd manner, "Timing was everything." He subtly let it be known that the time had come to deal a stern blow to this group. We just waited. It looked like Gomez was going to be replaced. After two weeks of party time, some good Mexican torture, and a number of visits by their big gun connections, one night, they escorted Gomez aboard with his personal entourage. Guards were posted everywhere. We could not understand why the Drug Enforcement Teams were not showing up while the major leaders were being loaded up in the dark of night, but without any trouble the big Mexican power boat slowly moved out of Balboa Harbor. We had been watching all this from my upper deck and thought we had heard the last of this power boat visit. However, the story did not end there. This exclusive 180 foot party craft had been making its way along the coast, and then, just over the international boundary between Mexico and the States, during its grand departure party, a horrific explosion occurred in the main galley. It was no little explosion, for it blew downwards, blowing out the entire bottom of the lengthy yacht. One minute the huge power boat was there and then, it was gone—completely swallowed into the depths! No one could figure out how such a thing could happen. The Mexican Coast Guard reported that everything was lost, including the crews and several of the head honchos. They reported that they did rescue one cook and an aid who were found floating on a money bale while holding onto several grass bales. The sharks had a feast before the Coast Guard could get to the area.

The Balboa Island compounds now sat empty. The few that were left behind, soon fled, knowing that someone would likely be paying them a visit also; it had to be Russian or Armenian mafia for sure.

Brookstone and his gang moved in and set their final plans into motion. This is where Max finally earned his badge into the MAVIN team. His being a federal agent himself, brought the FBI into the compound where bales of cash awaited the takers, along with enough dope to supply southern California for a year. However, that was not all, somehow a psychotropic drugs lab had been set up in the lower storage areas. This allowed the drug enforcement agency to confiscate the two homes on the bay front. These two properties would be purchased by the Hearst Castle Security Force. Now wasn't that interesting, we all pondered.

Jonathan was now back at home and running his shop once again. The Balboa Yacht Association had been gone through with a fine tooth comb and there were several new governing members. Those that had been bought off had packed up and left the area. The Islanders were walking proud once again, and the few loose ends were being taken care of by Jasper and his brothers. The Clean-Up operation for now seemed a complete success. The greatest loss was Gracy. No trace of her motor cruiser the Sea Hag was ever retrieved and it was now lost in the network of Central American drug lords. It was not worth going after, not if it might cost anyone's life. Jonathan never did recover his $1800 for the broken vase. However, Brookstone did offer him an antique Harley Davidson motorcycle which had been recovered from the Gomez collection, and he took it with joy.

We asked York and Fanny to hold a meeting, where we would ask the old timers if they would vote to allow the two compounds to become an elderly retirement facility. The homes would be completely remodeled and set up to acquire up to 40 retirees. They thought this to be one of the great ideas that needed to be fulfilled. Most of them would be needing special care in time, and this type of facility, right on the bay, would be the perfect place to retire and conclude one's last days. The compounds were slated to be remodeled and gone through. This was what the MAVIN Team had been established for. We were more than pleased to front the funds to get the place ready.

So a new work began.

# Chapter 17

# Jays Wedding

A reason is the best thing to live life for!

Things, life and perspectives were a changing, we really got a surprise! After things had settled down with the Clean-Up operation Jay let it be known that he and Gretchen were soon to be married. We suspected that this union would be taking place, but we were still a bit taken back into the realm of awe! Life goes on, and we were all happy for them, especially for Jonathon; maybe he'd get those grandkids in time.

The Serendipity had not yet been handed over to its new owners, Jay and Gretchen wanted a simple sunset-out-to-sea wedding. Theo was asked to make the arrangements. Jonathan was well on his way to full recovery and was excited for Jay and his new life to come. The day had arrived and all things were made ready. Jonathan had his old friend and retired minister, Clarence Knuckles, join him aboard, along with twenty guests. By mid afternoon the wedding party was on its way out the Newport Channel.

The sea was calm and the day was clear, just right for such an occasion. Because not all guests could fit aboard the wedding boat, many other vessels had followed them out and were slowly circling the wedding party. The twins had spent several hours preparing Gretchen as a sea bride, she was looking like an iridescent pearl posed in dark blue velvet. As the sun slowly settled in the west, the sky took on deep lavender with purple and reddish glows, scalloped with golden stripes.

The time came, we dropped sail, shut everything down and the ceremony began. It was nothing elaborate, and it was Gretchen who stole the show. Jay was quiet and managed to stay back as much as possible. We were amazed that he even wore new white pants with new deck shoes and a long sleeved light blue shirt, but no way in hell could anyone get him to wear a tie! As soon as the minister declared them to be husband and wife, everyone began to clap and speak forth their congratulations.

Just then, from the surrounding boats, there came blasts from water cannons, blaring horns and a series of booms. The sky was filled with bright flares of every color. They went up like green rockets, yellow hissing missiles, red flaming flares, white sky bursts. The sun was down but the sky was ablaze with hundreds of flares and rockets. As the girls handed out the bubbling celebration drinks, every boat was shooting off rockets, roman candles, and flares.

Jay and Gretchen just stood there amused and seemingly traumatized. Jay looked over at us with that 'what the heck' look on his face. Jay was planning to keep this whole affair rather quiet, but guessed that was not going to happen. Theo and I stood with huge smiles stretched across our faces. Amber and Crystal came over to us, not knowing exactly what to say. Crystal as usual spoke up. "Don't you think that the Coast Guard will see this show and come running out here, wondering if a war has started?"

"Nah, I got hold of Kimble the Chief and let him know not to get too worried around sunset, for Jay was getting married," I toasted the last part of sunset.

Theo blabbered out, "Besides, isn't marriage sort of like being in a war?"

Theo, that was the wrong thing to say to these wonder-working women, who I'm sure had dreamy thoughts of marriage floating around in the back of their female brains—really wrong. Crystal and Amber shot us dirty looks and immediately we were left there without service or attention.

"Thanks a lot Theo, O wise person of many dead moons."

"What did I say?"

I left him there and went to talk to Brookstone and the others. The only mishap of the evening was with Clarence Knuckles who had been turning green, even before the ceremony. Just as he finished his short declaration to Jay and Gretchen, he ran to the side and was sea sick for the duration of the trip.

Later, while we motored back into the harbor, Amber nonchalantly came to me and asked if I had seen Gretchen's ring. Knowing that she had been offended at this "war is marriage thing" that Theo had spluttered out, I devoted my full attention to the wedding ring episode. I admitted that I had not seen it. She went on to describe it—that Jay had taken one of the ancient Spanish coins and had it pounded down, cut and carved into a single gold band. She was describing this ring to me when Theo came walking towards us. I waved him away, "Theo, I know you'd understand, Amber is telling me something serious here and I got to listen."

Amber looked up and said, "What do you mean you've got to listen?"

Oh boy I thought, yes, marriage could be war!

"Really, the ring does sound nice, and I'm listening like a man of my honest concern should be listening," I replied.

"Yes, it is a perfect fit for them," Amber's eyes were glittering up at me and seemed to be waiting for me to say something else. She made sure that I noticed she was not wearing any rings on her hands.

"I am happy for Jay, he deserves a good woman," I made sure I was looking into Amber's eyes as I spoke, no use getting into deeper trouble.

For some reason this moment became awkward for me; Amber just leaned against me waiting for me to fill in the empty spaces. But I was spared, for as we entered into Balboa Bay, every horn and bell began to ring. So much for a quiet and unpretentious wedding, I thought. I knew that Jay would be embarrassed with all this attention; but he was, with Gretchen's advice, fully engaged in taking orders, waving to everyone as we motored to our slot. In my wise observations, I saw Jay instantly enter a state of transformation—someone was telling him what to do!

The marriage subject flew like the wind, around and around. If we had sails up, that windy subject could have taken us anywhere on the ocean. The girls held us prisoners to this steel gated subject. We were supposed to have all the right answers; our attitudes should be like melted butter when it came to the desire for marriage. Maybe the older guys aboard sought a marriage partner, but for Theo and myself, we just wanted to taste adventure. It was great having the girls along with us, but did we have to consider a union of dedication to them? I knew that our attitudes had already gone through many changes. Maybe in time, like five years, we might consider such an entanglement. Dustin kept reminding us that to be married, you double your joy and cut your troubles in half! I had another version to this declaration but thought I'd better keep it to myself, no need to cause another war.

# Chapter 18

# Getting Organized

Unfulfilled obligations are like barnacles on a hull...they begin to weigh and alter a vessel's course.

There were so many branches to this inheritance adventure, I was not sure if it would ever settle down. Timm's parents, Troy and Beverly, had been in contact with us, and we had gotten together with them several times, going over details on how to proceed with the golden links and the treasure.

Jonathan was going to help them out with some of the details. He was an old timer when it came to shows and displays of antiquities. Tanya and Abby were still in the Islands having a great time. JJ and Timm had temporarily installed them in The New Song as caretakers and for a good place to live while they were there. They were soon to return for the memorial scheduled to be held at the Westwood Memorial Park on Saturday.

In the middle of this, Benjamin Highmanner from The Stone Harbor Iron & Ship Works up in Vancouver called and asked for us to come take a look at our new freighter, The Dove, and make further decisions on some of the details we had requested. Brookstone, along with his brothers Jasper, Morgan, Mica and Jaden, with Theo and myself would soon make a one week trip there. This was part of the payoff to Brookstone and the Hearst Castle Security Force for everything they had done in the Clean-Up Operation on Balboa Island. Dustin had promised them the second freighter and its refitting in exchange for their incredible work on our behalf. In fact we were still awed at some of the things that had taken place. We were not certain about it all, but Dustin assured us that it was better we did not know details.

Benjamin Highmanner and his two engineering sons had sent several videos on the remodeling project, but there were specific details that had to be dealt with personally. We were sure that it was the hidden arms vaults and the high-end electronics that Brookstone had ordered.

Beyond all our responsibilities, there seemed to be tension building between us and the twins, Amber and Crystal. It could not be helped for now, our time was limited and both Theo and I were all over the board. We had to make several trips to Canada, help Timm arrange his warehouse security systems and make sure The New Song was taken care of. Then we were dealing with the Balboa Yacht Association and its new plan for the retirement home. Everything seemed up in the air. We still had remnants of the original Hearst Castle treasure still in storage, waiting for us to deal with. Then there was the Palmyra Island treasure waiting in Hawaii, to be sent home to us, the Mitchner bunker treasure had to be moved. Amber and Crystal were also caught up in their family's own business dealings and the pressure was on. Where this was going, I could not say. But I knew it would come to a head in time.

One great concern was that when we revealed the golden Inca links to the public, we knew that every world government would demand their share. We were not sure how we would handle this. We had no intentions of revealing our treasure to anyone yet. We were hoping that we might find a way around the greed of nations and the tax beast.

Amber and Crystal were helping Gretchen settle in, influenced by her new marital status. When we did get together—the subject of how happy Jay seemed to be, dominated their conversations. We were well aware of their inferences, and for pure entertainment Theo and I would enhance our feelings of freedom in surfing, fishing and adventures. Those girls had gotten the idea that since we were Newport beach bums, we were stupid about their sneaky psychology. Sorry girls, that ain't gonna work on us slick men of renown.

They were also becoming involved with York and Fanny and the new idea of a Balboa retirement home. Theo and I were thankful that they were being kept busy for now, but we also felt bad that our time was so taken up in other pursuits.

In time, we would reap the consequences of this undue neglect...Oh yeah!

# Chapter 19

# Catalina, JJ, and Trouble!

Medicine for a bitter soul is some times found on the edge of a sharp sword!

No doubt about it, I was itching from head to foot to publish the Balboa Island take over plot and how it had been spoiled. The one thing I did know was that I dared not begin to even scratch the shadow of this story. Being an investigative journalist and falling into this story, but not being able to publish it, was pure torture for me. There were a few reporters who did come sniffing around during the undermining of the cartel and its efforts to take the Island, but the doors were shut on them. The Clean-Up operation had been handled so covertly, that the drug cartel had not been able to discover who the culprits were. Brookstone and his team had implied and tossed out bread crumbs leading back to the Russian and Armenian mafia. There was no way the Mexican drug lords wanted to get into a war with the most feared criminal gangs alive! We knew that the Security Force was nothing less than professionals and we were most thankful that they were on our side.

Now, for me to go in and publish anything on this operation would bring down hell on all of us. For it was not only the Mexican cartel we had shut down, but this meant that one of the main sources for the Newport and Orange County drug supplies was gone from the area. The prices of all the dope was going to go up, you know, demand and all. New connections would have to be made, and the word trust did not exist in this dark realm. This would give the Drug enforcement Agency a new chance to insert their undercover agents into the supply chain.

Max Colton, one of our MAVIN associates, but not yet a full member of our team, was an underground FBI Agent who, as far as we knew, had informed his agency about the behind the scenes wipe-out of the Balboa drug lords. With this information, the alphabet agencies began to set up several sting operations that would reach far into the future of the Mexican cartels. We did not care what they did, as long as they left us out of their games. We let Max know that if he was going to use any information gained from our projects, it better not have our names on it. We had to walk a tightrope here, but Brookstone seemed to be aware of the consequences of having Max along for the ride. It was most interesting to know that the Hearst Castle Security Force would find their own way of using these alphabet agencies to serve their purposes as well. Max, with his connections, became a source for our personal projects.

I had to sit on this incredible story and it was giving me publisher's hemorrhoids. But it was time to move on. There were new stories to write. Everyone could see that I was agitated over the inability to apply my insights to a great story. I contemplated and talked openly about throwing down my pen and quitting my journalistic career. But Brookstone and the girls advised me to keep my writing career up and going. It made a great cover for me, besides, we might be able to utilize the publishing of some propaganda down the line.

Brookstone expressed the benefits of this excellent career I had gained for myself. That was one thing about Brookstone—he was up front and not hesitant to use any tool to achieve a goal. To be able to publish was to manipulate or influence public opinion, and that was worth millions in itself. Amber reminded me that we were going to have to organize some kind of press release about the golden chain and the Inca treasures. This alone would cause a firestorm and I would have the front line story on this extraordinary tale.

We were trying to line up the things we had to do and prioritize everything into a workable schedule—something new to me. There was the trip to Vancouver, to finalize the remodeling of The Dove, the first of our two inherited freighters. This was a prioritized on-going project authorized by the MAVIN Group. Then we had the Mike James Memorial to help arrange and attend. We had to get back to Hawaii and figure out what we wanted to do with Timm's factory and warehouse business. Then we had to retrieve the treasure, split it up and ship part of it back in our laboratory on wheels, the Tripper, and then we had to get the New Song back to Balboa.

York and Fanny invited all of us over for a great halibut dinner and we were asked to help in the setting up and organizing of the retirement compounds on the bay front to set them up as retirement homes. We suggested that they organize their boat people to bring them into this project. "After all, you have old-time architects, ex-contractors, interior decorators, plumbers, electricians, and bankers all anchored alongside of you. Put them to work, they'll love it," I kindly suggested.

Fanny burst out with a booming shout of wonderment, "Great balls of fire. That is what we wanted to do but didn't want to hurt your feelings by not giving you the job!"

York told her to shut up and quit yelling our business out to the whole island, especially reveling in other men's privates. She reached over and pinched his cheek and told him to mind his own business. Of course, they broke out into a full battle exchange of long perfected phrases and words of incredible images. This was great entertainment for all of us and this colorful couple would be the perfect team to get the Bay Front Retirement Home up and running. We did not realize it at this moment, but the theme "Colorful" was going to be the foundation of this project!

We were more than happy to let the old Balboa yachters have the work. We had no idea, but their little retirement project was going to be something that would eventually find its way into several major magazines. We were not quite ready for the final results as their active brains went to work, knowing that most of them would end up living there.

There were a hundred other little bits and pieces of the puzzle mixed into all this. Like JJ—getting him into college. Along with Wally, Timm and Theo wanting to build a lab workshop to carry on their experiments and inventions. Then there was Jonathan and his Rarity Shop and getting someone in there to help him sort through the hundreds of items we had acquired.

I had nearly forgotten about the bunker treasure. This is what we were calling the thousands of coins, stamps, rare books and other unusual treasures that my grandfather had stored away over the years. This bunker treasure was now being guarded and would have to be moved soon. Sharp thinker Crystal reminded us of the idea, that we would transfer it into one of the security vaults being built into the Dove. This would allow us to move it around and sell it off in different places.

Then Amber suggested that the three geniuses build their lab and workshop right into The Dove. They could anchor it in San Pedro Harbor or even off shore here and live aboard if they wanted with every possible tool and a full complex of electronics, mechanics, engineering, and even a full movie studio that Theo was putting together. We all had to admit that the freighter might become a fantastic vehicle in our arsenal. This freighter would become our home away from home. A working studio and a college on water. It would be a mode of transportation to any place in the world. A full working facility and we could also officially use it to transport special things for special people. Jay also suggested that we might use it as a diving hotel, where we could anchor in an area when we were searching for something. He also hinted at the Hearst Castle off shore freighter that might have gone down while delivering illegal works of art to the Hearst Castle, years back. We were sure he had a dive search waiting in the wings, but wanted to allow us to first settle up with all the loose ends.

Jay and Gretchen were considering flying to Hawaii and bringing back the New Song. This would be done as soon as the exchange of the Serendipity was finalized. In the meantime, Jay invited the entire MAVIN Group to take a last three day sail to Catalina. We would anchor on the west side of the island where we would fish, dive and camp out in one of the little coves. This would be a working R and R trip. It would get us away for a few days and we would begin to lay out our schedules and prioritize the things on the MAVIN list.

We thought we had JJ right where we wanted him. However, when he showed up at the Serendipity with Tanya, his right arm was in a sling, he was decorated with a bandage on one ear and was sporting a very large black eye...he looked terrible. Wally opened the moment by humorously declaring, "Wow my young friend, either you lost that card game last night to a poor loser or the big wave got the best of you. Which one was it?"

We had some sneaky plans of having JJ in a position where he could not escape, and we were going to use this time to pick his brain and also pick on his life. Surprisingly enough, he openly fired back, "Leave me alone, and better you not know! And about me attending UCLA—that's out!"

Tanya turned her head sideways, put her finger up to her lips, saying, "Shuu, not a good time to say anything."

Everyone took their place getting comfortable around the deck, while Jay, with Gretchen's help, took the Serendipity out to sea. It was a lazy calm sail to Catalina. We anchored on the west side in one cove and then we began our inquiry with JJ. We were sure it had to do something with either surfing or a poker game and soon he spewed out his anger and frustration.

Again, we had managed to get sidetracked from our R and R. We urged JJ to spill the sardines. JJ was more than upset about something. Tanya quietly encouraged him to tell it, for it might help him deal with his locked up anger. He began to tell us the story of him and Ricky, one of his good surfing buddies. They had gone up to Malibu where they sometimes surf, "Hey no big deal, we are known around there. There was a good swell in, and we were hot to do our thing.

"Ricky had this new short board and really wanted to try it out. We got there way early so only a few surfers were out. The sets started coming in right after sunrise, but so did the locals. We didn't have a chance. Within a few rides, the surf Nazis or the Malibu Locals Only (MLO) punk gang members, as we call them, came out and began dogging on us."

JJ rubbed his jaw and tried arranging his sling and went on. "This was not even the weekend, and there was plenty of room for us. Heck, we were hanging back like good little ripples, but no matter, they wanted us off the water and out of town. Two or three of the big wave bosses came paddling over after Ricky had caught one nice wave. The bigger assman, we knew him as Butt Face, because his forehead had a huge furrow in it, sat back on his board, lifting the front half, spinning it around and caught Ricky right in the neck. Ricky went over backwards choking and I jumped in the water, grabbing him and cussing these guys out. They just laughed, and the next big-shot came alongside me and punched me out," he pointed to his swollen eye.

"Wasn't there anyone around to stop them?" Crystal asked in near unbelief.

"Hell no. The entire beach and town is run by these useless garbage chunks, in fact the whole gang was yelling to get us."

"Ricky was having a hard time breathing and I just wanted to get him on his board and get him to shore for help, but these guys would not quit. It was like a pack of dogs in a frenzy. We were on our way in, when one old timer, we call him Scarpedo, because he is one ugly Dude, actually took a wave and hit Ricky right in the back as he went over us and I heard Ricky cry out in pain. By the time we got in, I pulled Rick up on the sand and he couldn't walk. A few people came by with boards and made some snide remarks about us getting what we deserve."

JJ tried motioning his efforts by lifting his arm hanging in the sling. "I carried Ricky up to my car where the windshield had been broken out, the sides had been keyed, and my tires were slashed. My own eye was nearly shut by now, I didn't know what to do, then I saw a cop car and flagged him down. I told him that Ricky needed help and could he call an ambulance for us. The damn cop just shook his head and made some statement about us keeping out of another man's backyard. Some good citizen finally saw what had happened and called for help. We went to the emergency room, and they took Ricky, and then went to work on me."

We all sat quiet. Being surfers ourselves we knew that this thing called localism and the surf gangs were everywhere, wherever there were waves to ride.

Amber was the first to ask, "Wow. How did Ricky come out?"

JJ burst into tears, this was extremely unusual for him but there he was openly crying, "He's still in the hospital, they don't know if he'll ever walk again."

Theo was up now, walking back and forth, "You got to be kidding me Jason. Are you sure on this?" Theo knew Ricky and had taken them surfing on occasion. He had bought his boards at Theo's shop. Besides, this was Sally and Cinders cousin, a really neat kid.

Crystal suggested that Theo calm down, but before she had her suggestion out, Theo abruptly told her to stay out of this!

We knew that when Theo got upset, you better stay out of his way, let him blow it for now, I immediately thought as I raised my brows over at Crystal, who was a little taken back by Theo's outburst.

Amber had to smile. She recalled telling Crystal that there was a tiger inside Theo, he wasn't just a quiet wimp with a high powered intellect, and she would see this one day. Here it came. A tiger snarling.

JJ just sad there with his head down and nodded his assurance. Tanya added, "JJ called me from the hospital and Abby and I went there to pick him up. We went to check on Ricky...and it is bad, really bad."

JJ wiped his tears back and blurted out, "I'm going to get those suckers, every last one of them, and I mean get them. This is why I'm not even thinking of school, those freaks are done for."

"What do you mean you're going to get them?" I asked.

"My father has a really nice hunting rifle and it needs to be used a few times." He moved his face over his sling and mumbled, "When I'm done with them, even the sharks won't want them. Their big wave game is in its last play. They have just dealt themselves a losing hand, and found that they are out of chips."

Theo knew JJ well enough to know he was not kidding. Everyone was looking around at each other waiting for someone to dispel this obvious threat, but we were too stunned to say anything.

Then Brookstone spoke low and quiet, "Listen JJ, right now you are upset and we understand this. Sometimes this world is not fair, but there is no need for you to destroy your own life over this. These gangs are everywhere and it is a bad problem, way more surfers than there are waves and places. We been there and know that."

Morgan spoke up, "Our Hearst Castle Security Force deals with surfers everyday. They are constantly trying to use the Hearst Castle properties to surf on. Sorry to say, but this is part of our job, but in no way would we treat anyone like this. We've had to deal with some bad situations—fires, fights and even a few shootings. But we know how to deal with them."

I looked over at Theo, knowing that we had dealt with the bad end of the Hearst Castle Security Force when my van was broken into and our boards stolen. We had to retrieve them from the Hearst Castle bad guys. Especially Charles Anthony Trimmer, the CAT, as he was then known. Boy did that seem years ago. It's where we first met Brookstone and his two lovely sisters.

"Listen, something has got to be done about this. No way should we let this gang of criminals and sand thugs, rich bastards, get away with such a thing," Jay was thinking about his father Jonathon and how he was beat to hell by two drug thugs. It was not pretty and it had to be dealt with. He knew that the government had used him on many occasions to deal with similar situations, but of course, on a much larger scale.

"What do you suggest Jay?" Theo asked.

"Let's begin by sending a couple of us to investigate these guys and collect as much information on them as we can, like who are they, what are they and who do they think they are."

"Ok, that is a good idea. Would that be a good start for you JJ?" I asked.

"I guess so, but unless something is done, I'll do it myself."

It was clear that JJ was going to hold us to the checking-out business and doing something about the MOL gang, or he was not going to attend college. So once again, a new project popped up, and away our team went. This was strange I thought, we hadn't even cashed our first check, and we had several situations under our belts.

What next? I thought.

# Chapter 20

# The Purple Revenge!

Poke the sheep with the staff and you'll get baa-ing, but poke the hidden wolf and soon you will feel its teeth, so too in the matters of life!

We all knew of the local-yokel gangs who would completely dominate a surfing beach and pretty well intimidate and punish any outsider who dared think to surf on their waves. One of the reasons we were into sailing and kayaking was that surfing had become far too territorial and violent. Toss in the alcohol, the drug use among the surfer gangs, the arrogance and the ownership spirit and you got one hell of an on-shore murder waiting to happen. We had already experienced this on the North Shore when first filming. Theo had set up his cameras to film the pipe line breaks and a gang of locals took his camera systems and demanded payment in order for us to film there. This is where the twins revealed their expertise in the art of direct confrontation. Within a few moments, they had the big Kahuna from the feared Wolfpack Island gang, also known as "Black Shorts" or The "Hui O He'e Nalu" pack, laid out on the sand and holding onto their futures. Those beach gang-cons were traumatized, but Theo and I almost fell down in shock when we witnessed this display of casual female persuasion from Amber and Crystal. But once we realized who they had knocked silly, we thought it was time to hide out and leave the good old loving Hawaii surf scene. One good thing was that both Theo and I immediately signed up with the girls to take lessons from that day on, and we were getting pretty good at it.

This gang mentality and localization of wave ownership had become a real problem. We became concerned for JJ when he made his revenge declaration. He could have gotten the idea from an incident I had investigated and written up in an article called Surf Rage. A kid up north was beat up and sent packing. He returned to take a hidden position on a cliff above the surf line, but instead of a camera, he had his uncle's high powered hunting rifle. By the time the 20 surf hogs had realized what was going on, only two were able to crawl onto shore and get help. The waters had turned red with their blood and the rest of the tough buddies became shark dinners, washing up along the beaches for the next two days. The kid was never caught. Things were getting tough out there for even the innocent and sincere surfers.

One can imagine. Let's say that on a good up surf day, there rolls in 20 rideable waves every five minutes. If you've got a hundred surfers lined up waiting to catch one wave, and after you ride your wave, you then got to paddle back out and get in line. The rule is that only one surfer is allowed on the wave at a time, like it or not. Now you must wait for at least a hundred rideable waves to come and go. Sometimes a good set only might come in once every 10 minutes or so. You can see that a local surfer who lives in the area, then must wait. If he is lucky, he might get two rides in a three hours. Then you have the big shots butting in line, fist fights, punch outs, and some gangs have certain guys, large in size, just running everyone that is not local out of the water, and even out of town. It has gotten bad. The police have even gotten into the action. Lifeguards are often called out to help someone back to shore after they have been knocked stupid by some wave boss. The gang STEP (Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention) Act passed by the California state legislature, tried to categorize these surf gangs as criminals. Many of them have gone far beyond the tide lines and have threatened and attacked the citizens of their own city.

The sad part of JJ's story was that his young friend Rick was possibly going to be a cripple for the rest of his life. This pissed us all off. I could already see that look in Brookstone's eyes. He made further inquiries about the situation with JJ and simply nodded over to his brothers, Morgan and Mica, to check this gang out. He was thinking about putting into motion a good lesson for them. Maybe, to be more giving to the less fortunate.

Our research team Morgan and Mica, spent a few weeks investigating these self ordained surf bosses and found them to be arrogant without a doubt. The local surf bars were the headquarters for boasting and bragging about their ability to clear the waves and run outsiders off. Morgan reported that they were threatened by hanging out in the local surf bars. One of the bar tenders happened to be one of the wave bosses and could have been the very one that had cut across Rick's back. They acted as if this was some great game of solidarity and kingship. They seemed to have a noted rank among them, a sales leader of their product, and they did not want anyone intruding into their territory—making this known to Morgan and Mica within a few hours.

Here we go again—side tracked, I was thinking! As the on-the-scene reports came back, the twins, along with Wally, did their digging into the members of the Malibu gang. Now this is one of Brookstone's episodes we were let into, and it was rather interesting in the way it was handled. After all the research had been done and the gang had been identified, Morgan and Mica were sent out to create a long-lasting lesson and bring about some semblance of justice. Every detail had been researched and gone over thoroughly. This was the amazing part of the Hearst Castle Security Force, their methodology and strategic planning was so superb, as to be almost irritating; but it proved itself.

It was one of those days where the surf was up and the MLO gang at Malibu was in full force. Unconcerned about the surf-pack, a fishing boat anchored about a half mile off from the cluster of locals. Two unseen scuba divers slipped overboard, swam towards shore and waited until things were just right. It was about twenty foot of murky water, with a California brown-green sludge, meaning the sewage was floating around that day. Somehow, a couple of five gallon canisters of heavy duty military marking glue, a bright purple, was released, just behind the waiting cluster of locals. The purple dye is what the SEAL's use to mark a target so it can be seen by jet fighters flying at high speed. It is really sticky, so sticky that it cannot be washed off. Once it gets onto you or touches something, believe me, you, or the target, will be definitely marked.

So suddenly this huge swath of purple glue spreads out behind the waiting gang, moves up and in with the waves and engulfs them, along with their boards. Within minutes it becomes a very unpleasant part of their lives. Most of them were spaced out and thought that this purple was really far out, man! They began to splash around in it. It was now on all their faces, in their fancy hair-dos and up their butts. When they got to shore and sat down in the sand, well, sand became a real part of their lives. They became aware that something awful had happened, but the real message was driven home when they got to their fancy vans and trucks. Someone had painted them with the purple military glue and signed it, 'L4U (Lesson 4-U) next time it will be lead'!

Talk about one sticky lesson! The rich boys thought they were going to kiss the face of the wave king that day, but instead, it bit them in the butt. There was nothing they could do. The local police were called in, the entire wave of local wealth bosses roared and demanded for something to be done. Then, mysteriously, the newspapers were notified and these idiots were photographed as they wept. The families had to hire special chemists to figure out how to cleanse the purple glue. One big shot had to cancel his wedding. Another had to drop out of school: couldn't wear clothes until they figured a way to get rid of this stuff. They all walked bow-legged for a few months. The best part was that this so-called local surf gang was shunned by all the sweet beach bunnies. Purple became an unpleasant experience, even with a tiny touch. They lost about twenty-thousand dollars worth of their boards and wet suits. The word spread that this was a revenge gag, and that surf gangs should beware of abusing others. Luke's articles made it to the three major surf magazines, and the attacks against visiting surfers slacked off. No one knew who had done this, and no one wanted to take credit for the purple revenge, as Luke so named it!

Oh wow, Luke got his story in first. He went right to his old buddy Thortin Mayhurst, the editor for the San Luis Obispo Tribune News. Because of the breaking story of the Hearst Castle lost treasure that Luke and Theo had given to Thortin, Luke had a special by-line place in that newspaper and took full advantage of it now. He ran his first article in defense of the Purple Revenge. It went YouTube and massively viral. The national papers picked it up and Luke Mitchner was back on the publishing scene. In his article, he hinted that there were other colors on the way, so beware local surf hogs!

This episode took the sting out of Luke's heart in his not being able to publish a word on the Balboa cartel attempt to take over the dock. Our eyes were opened to the variety of ways we might utilize the many skills of the Kaamin family. This story was the talk of the surfing community, from Australia to the East Coast for months. Everyone was hesitant to go to this Malibu beach; even the owners of the million dollar estates along the beaches were upset. Even though the rich Malibu beach owners wanted justice from the police, the entire community was laughing and making jokes, overjoyed at what had been done to the MLO mobsters. The sponsors that once supported the MLO professional surfers dumped them because of the negative publicity. Suddenly, purple was the new rage in T-shirts, along with everything else in beachwear.

My own take on all this was a lesson in itself. Could I even think of solving such problems? What were we doing getting our noses into such matters? Here we were trying to gain compensation for a young surfer I did not even know and teach a lesson to those that nearly destroyed his life. I kept having these strange inner discussions. My personal exchange to my inner debate was that wealth was good and it could accomplish great things...if it were used rightly...and you knew the right people. I guessed this would be a real part of having wealth and trying to apply its use responsibly. Better a good dose of purple marking glue, rather than flying chunks of lead and a number of burial services. Maybe these guys didn't know how lucky they were.

Then something went further than we wanted it to go. Someone posted flyers up and down the coast stating that for every surf gang member who was removed off the waves (in one way or another) a $1000 payment would be made to one of the surfers who had been beaten up or hurt by the gangs, or a new surf board would be paid for secretly. This really caused a ruckus. The gangs didn't believe any of this until one of their own surf shops burned down and several of their vehicles were blown to pieces. Soon, the gangs attitude changed to some degree, now that the finger of revenge was pointed back at them.

It did appear that a new courtesy slowly came about, for no one knew who might be the avenger.

# Chapter 21

# The Mike James Memorial

Ship wrecks on the beach make for powerful stories...so also with families in storms!

The entire MAVIN Group drove up to the Westwood Memorial Center near the UCLA Botanical gardens. We had not realized the number of people that were there until we had a hard time finding parking. The Memorial center sat on a hill surrounded with a landscaping that every eye could feast on. Stone walkways rounded the splashing fountains leading up to arched gates, inset into what looked like a redwood structure. Soft music played throughout the gardens and a pleasant scent of roses and flowers set off each bed. There is that old saying, "You never have a second chance to make a first impression," we were well impressed before even entering the center. We came into the entrance portico where everyone was asked to sign the guest book. We stood in the line which looked like a canyon running through hundreds of flowers sent by guests and friends.

We saw Tanya and Abby greeting each person, directing them into different areas. Tanya personally took our group of sixteen up near the podium. The center was filling up with all types of guests; we were guessing that many of the older guests were friends of Troy and Beverly, and then there were the obvious students and football players. There had to be at least 500 guests, most of them students. The soft music set the scene as the James family and relatives took their places. Troy asked their minister to begin with a prayer and everyone rose while this soft spoken man delivered very fitting words.

Troy took the podium and took a few moments looking over the assembly. Clearing his throat, he thanked everyone for their kindness in this time of need. He gave a general bio of Mike's life, how he had attained a life dream of scholarship to university and had achieved an invitation to join the University of California Los Angeles Trojans sport team.

He explained about the unknown blood disease, called the Moschcowitz syndrome, that the doctors had found, and how Mike's dreams were shattered. Yet, the challenges led Mike in another direction, where he was able to partake in an adventure that few on earth could ever experience. Troy touched on the search for and the discovery of ancient treasure. However, Troy said, in all reality, Mike found a true and lasting treasure when he discovered new friends in far away places, and gave up his life for his friends. Troy became emotional here, but after wiping away his tears, he asked Gretchen to stand with him and tell a little of what took place that final day.

Gretchen stood with Troy and Beverly and told the heroic story of how Mike had been taken by the Bongo brothers on Palmyra Island, being held for ransom for the knowledge of the ancient sunken galleon we had been seeking. He saw that the New Song was going to be trapped in the lagoon and he gave up his life so that eight of his fellow divers might escape.

She named them: Jay and Theo Vontempski, Luke and Timm, along with Amber, Crystal and Julie. He did this so they could get away before the cyclone hit the Island and destroy everyone. She told the story of the on-rushing cyclone and the series of explosions which took his life. She touched the high points, saying, "When we had looked back towards the Island, everything had been devastated and blown to pieces." The gathering was dead quiet as she finished up with words of praise for such a fine person of honor and dignity.

After Gretchen took her place, Tanya arose and delivered an elegant insight to Mike's character and selflessness. Following were a few of his professors, the football coach from his high school, and several of his old team friends. It was a well-rounded deliverance, and it was finished up with a couple of Mike's old friends who sang and played guitar.

It was good old hawk-eyed crystal again. She was observing the different groups when she suddenly jammed her elbow into Amber's side and whispered something. Then Amber jammed her elbow into my side and whispered, and then I jammed my elbow into Jay's side and told him, "You'll never guess who showed up here."

"Who—what, where?"

I nodded towards one corner and whispered, "It's Julie, your favorite oceanographer and jewel thief."

"Ahh, sheeeet!"

"Wonder if her partner in crime is with her, I don't see him yet," Crystal scanned the crowd as people arose and began to move to the outside gardens.

Gretchen was gathered with the James family, with those paying their last respects to the family and to Mike. Theo and Crystal, with Amber and myself, mannerly arose, splitting into two groups so we could come at her from two directions. Julie had made her way out to the patio garden area when we caught up with her. An act of fake surprise was her reaction. However, it was obvious that she wanted us to see her and catch up with her.

It was her all right. Julie Warrenton. She stood waiting for us, and in all arrogance said, "Well, look who I meet again."

"What the heck you doing here? You got your nerve," Timm fired at her.

"Oh Timm, it's a long story and I thought this might be a good place to begin it."

Just then, Gretchen caught up with us and stood there almost in shock looking at her old companion. But she took a moment to make sure it was Julie.

"Hello Gretchen, long time, no see. How is it going for you nowadays?" Julie spoke up first.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to even show up here, no less to stand there so innocent," said Gretchen.

"Yeah, guess that has some truth to it. But thought I'd look you folks up and when I heard about the James memorial, I thought you might be here. I wasn't sure though, I thought the James family might have had you guys arrested," Julie spoke with a snappy self-assurance.

"You must have a reason for showing up, so let it be known," Jay cut to the quick.

"I want my share of the treasure and back into the group," she spoke boldly, but there was a slight crackle to her tone.

"Share. Share...share" Tim sputtered out. "You got your share ten-fold already!"

We stood there dumbfounded. Jay, with crossed arms, asked, "What for, so you can rip off the James family and kick us in the teeth all over again?"

Gretchen cut in, riled over Julie's appearance at the memorial. Gretchen pointed to her original brooch hanging around Julie's neck. The brooch that had set this entire episode into motion, long back when. "Didn't you get enough when you and your thief Thomas took all the best stones? And left for who knows where."

Julie stared at us with a blank look. Gretchen went on, in a fiery tone without holding anything back, "Then you two had the gall to try and con the James family with outrageous lies—telling them we were the thieves. You should crawl back into your pit!"

"You've got to believe me, it was Thomas who sweet talked me into going with him. I really didn't know his plans." Suddenly, we could hear desperation in her voice.

Before anyone could say anything, she continued trying to get her story out before we left her in the dust. "It was Thomas who went down into the storage area and took the stones. I really didn't know what he had taken until later. We flew to London, took the channel train to Paris where Thomas made his connection with a Dutch gem dealer. I wasn't in on the negotiations, but Thomas got a pretty penny for several of the stones." She stressed the words—Thomas got the pretty bucks for the stones. "I woke up one morning and he was gone, he left me almost nothing. I searched for him, but I knew he had dumped me and run with the money. Where he went, I don't know." With this she almost started crying.

I watched her eyes, her eyebrows and the various muscle movements in her face. They told me that there were at least three other stories going on. I stood there, trying to at least read the Table of Contents, now being revealed.

"So what are you doing here now?" Timm asked in a belligerent tone, knowing he had been ripped off royally by both her and Thomas when they cleared out the company's bank accounts, leaving him without a penny.

"I really have nowhere to go. I'm sorry for what I did and am asking to be allowed back into your group." With this she stepped closer to Timm and tried putting her hand on his arm, but he backed away.

It was Gretchen who spoke up first when she shook her head in a full-on rejection move, "No way. Once a con, always a con. Forget it."

Julie spit out her next words, "Don't mess around here, I got enough on all of you to sink your boat, and more."

This took us back, we were not expecting any type of threat. But she made it clear that she had something on us.

"Sorry Julie, but you just sealed your fate with us," Crystal snapped back.

"I don't think so," she retorted, as if thinking she had us over a barrel.

That was funny I thought. So far, an assassination attempt had been made on my life. We had backed down a vast mining corporation, and had just defeated a billion dollar international drug cartel. Also, done away with a surfer gang, and set up two or three foundations, but here she was, a crazy flat-chested jewel thief, threatening us. I think all of us knew what she was getting at. It had to be the dope that she and Thomas had stashed aboard the New Song to use it to threaten us. The thing she did not know was that Timm had over-heard their plans, and when we got back to Hawaii, he told us. Our entire crew went over every inch of the New Song and found their threat. The New Song was clean and safe.

Timm gave her the good news for us, but the bad news for her, about their stash being discovered. He added, "If you are considering any attempt to get your hands on the treasure, try it. You have several warrants out on you in Hawaii for stealing everything from me."

Her brows went up in total surprise. If there was a story, it was being written across her forehead. She was not expecting this; it was as if three lemons came up in her eyes and her last quarter was gone!

In shock and frustration, Julie took hold of her brooch, as if for security. I thought she was going to faint, "Please, you can't just toss me away like that. After all, it was me that gave you the treasure in the first place."

She struck a bell with that, but Jay countered calmly, "Don't forget who went out of their way to rescue you druggies. We'll hold a meeting about this matter and get back with you in a few weeks."

"What am I going to do in the meantime? Thomas left me nearly broke."

Gretchen, knowing Julie and her family, bluntly said, "Go home to your parents. Wait there until we contact you." She added, "Whatever you do, don't you dare contact Mike's family. They came to Hawaii and stayed with us for a few weeks. They will begin handling the gold links and Mike's foundation that we set up for them. They know what you and Thomas tried to do in gaining the links treasure. I advise you to stay clear of Troy, he is no one to mess with."

"I can't go home to my parents, we are not really a family any longer."

"Hey, if you can steal millions of dollars of precious stones from your best friends and from people who took you in, and then con them, you certainly have enough talent to get back into your own home," Gretchen finished up in a serious but derisive tone.

Just then, we saw JJ walking our way with Tanya and Abby, Troy and Beverly following. We told Julie to get going and we'd contact her with our decision. She saw the scene and got the message on the wall, and walked away.

We were thankful that the James family had not seen her as they approached. As sad as it was, the memorial had been a tremendous success, a perfect and most edifying conclusion to a sad event. It was a great final release for the James family. The gathering was especially moved to tears when Beverly announced that there was going to be a foundation set up that would help researchers and doctors who would begin trying to find a cure for the Moschcowitz syndrome disease. As the last of the crowd departed, Troy and Beverly invited all of us to their home for a final dinner. It was a two-fold celebration. One part was for Mike and his life, while the other part was for a new beginning for the James family.

# Chapter 22

# Events Roll On!

Many good souls drown in the River of Living Water...because their pockets were too full of gold!

Again, I was thinking things over! After all, this was my journalistic mind still working, forever pondering, and it was near impossible to shut it down. By some unusual happenstance, everyone was busy, and I found myself sitting on my east deck over looking the bay, pondering my life and considering the fate that had seemed to be cloaking me. Strange were the ways of a hungry mind. By the twists of fate, my mind had always been observing, searching and seeking to illuminate itself. When my journey of life had turned onto the highway of investigation and journalism, I came to understand that I was as a lamb among wolves. Realistically, my real understanding of life, I found to be most limited. It was not until recent times with all the current events and on-rushing tides of unexpected circumstances came rising over me did I come to realize that I had been changing. I understood that I had been somewhat of a child in the theory of life and it was with my acquaintance of the Kaamin family and the MAVIN experience that I had begun to grow from immature child into intelligent adult. It was hard to admit, but it seemed that I was like a pebble tumbling down a mountain creek, lost among big solid rocks. I would be caught, locked into a deep shadow of not knowing if my journey of intelligence was over or not.

I had waited for those three or four years for the Mitchner inheritance to come my way and anticipated that this would be the cherry on the cream. However, the inheritance had taken a backseat to my new friends and companions in life. Yes, my inheritance was important, and wealth was a powerful force forever trying to seduce me into thinking I was something more than I was. Money is, not was, but had proved itself a tremendous tool that fortified one's inner powers. With money, one could do almost anything. Wealth eliminated most of the common worries. But it brought an entire new set of tests. I had to smile about this. Just a few years back, I was constantly worried about my old surf van breaking down. How would I pay for my rent, my insurance, or even getting my teeth fixed, being on the low end of the financial scale, I was forced to walk the straight and narrow. If I found myself in trouble, I had to pay my way out, up and over. It would often take months to recover from the stupidest problem. I guess that is why I fell in love with surfing. It was freedom of a whole new kind. I would slip into my raggedy shorts, take my board and paddle out to meet the waves and freely enjoy life. That had pretty well changed for me now, seldom did we get the chance to go surfing, follow the surf reports, or make it to the hot spots when the winter swells came rolling in.

There was no doubt; it became clear as a steel bell clanging on a winter morning. Money was like a cunning and slippery woman, forever seeking satisfaction, not just with the company of a person, but with the deepest recess of their soul. I could not lie to myself. For access to wealth had already taken a hold of me in many ways. It was exhilarating to know you could buy anything you wanted. People who knew of one's wealth got the idea that you were something special now. Someone to be honored, even praised. Hey I thought, I was still Luke; I ate, I burped and I farted. I had my own weaknesses and my own frustrations. Yet, I knew that now I had the means to burp up roasted duck instead of canned soup; or if I wanted, I could fart through silk instead of cotton underwear with holes in them. I had several deep conversations with Amber about this new level of life and tried to express my feelings. I just wanted to be Luke M. Mitchner, no one special, just a free and somewhat intelligent human. Her answer was so simple I did not know if I could accept it. She said, "That is a wonderful and a profound desire that any human soul could ever want. I guess this is why I am falling, well..." she looked away and cleared her throat, "getting so fascinated with you. I know what wealth is, not to the degree you know, but we have always had it good, and I honor the thought of you just wanting to be simple. However, is simple good? And yet, is simple good enough to accomplish higher goals with?"

I recalled the story of the man who invented a new button. This button became popular and became the standard for all other buttons. Of course, he became a millionaire and then went on to become a billionaire. He is now invited to the White House for his opinions and has actually influenced world ideals...all because of inventing a new button! Come on folks, his only accomplishment was creating a single new button which created a pool of wealth for him and now he is considered some intellectual genius of honor and glory! He's got children from four different marriages, has never written a book, knows no foreign languages, has no idea how to even grow a tomato and yet because of his button wealth, he is exalted to heaven. Something is wrong with this picture.

I caught myself, even in this statement from one of the most honest people I had ever known—I was a little suspicious of her statement. Was the power of money already chomping on my soul? Had I bought these new friends? Were they with me because of money or the new button I had in my possession? The phone rang and brought me out of my concerned thoughts. It was Dustin.

"Luke, I want to get together and have a talk, I need your advice."

"My advice? You got all the buttons, you are the brains around here, what on earth do you need my advice for?"

"To begin with, I think we will have to hire a good financial lawyer to help run the businesses in Canada."

"Complicated, awuh."

"You bet your boots. The Canadians have their own way of handling things. There is no way I will ever be able to deal with all the businesses and ever changing contracts."

"Okay, I understand that," I answered with sympathetic appreciation. "Go for it. Got anyone in mind?"

"When we were up there I met a few good men who I kept in mind, and I think I'll interview them when we go up for the freighter."

"Go for it. That is your department, you make the choices there."

"One other thing, you know this Purple Revenge thing in Malibu...JJ's young friend is gonna be a cripple for the rest of his life, unless his legs really heal up."

"I saw him myself while preparing my articles, I know, that is the worst."

"I am considering to ask Troy James to take on the case, and take this entire matter to court to get compensation for young Ricky Walker."

"Nice thoughts. You do know we were going to help him out with this problem, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that is not the point. We want to make these rich boys pay for their actions and abuse to others. A good law suit just might do the trick and may go a long ways to prevent other gangs from doing the same thing."

"Not bad, that is a good idea. I think asking Troy would be an excellent way of bonding with them. I feel that there is an untapped resource there for the MAVIN Group, don't you?"

"Luke, sure thing, that is what I was thinking also." I could hear other phones ringing in his office, and he put me on hold for a minute. "I've got to go, but will get with Troy soon and see what he might want to do."

He came back to me before hanging up saying, "Been through all the Mitchner holdings and I recommend that we sell off some of the assets. There are just too many to deal with, we'll never even know they're gone."

"Get a list together and we'll go over it at the next meeting. I think that might be a good idea, so many things are going on around us, we got to simplify and trim down this entire operation."

"Will do, get back later."

That single phone call expressed the very thoughts I had just been pondering. Here I was again, manipulating other peoples lives. Maybe for the good. However, if I did not have a fortune to work with, could I even think of solving such problems? Trying to gain compensation for some young surfer I did not even know. The personal conclusion to my inner discussion was—that, yes, wealth was good and it could accomplish great things—if it was used rightly. I had to laugh, just too much thinking, I hadn't even invented a new button yet.

# Chapter 23

# The Inventors!

Faith is a motivator or the next step would never be taken!

It seemed as though everyone was on the move except for myself. I had always been a hands-on man, but now I was being forced into overseer position. This was good in some ways, but I wanted each department in the MAVIN Group to be able to make its own decisions. I had a lot of other things on my mind and found it difficult to keep making decisions for everyone else.

Wally and Theo had brought Timm and Mica into their invention realm. They were all excited over their ideas so that we hardly saw them. Wally had made mention that they might be considering opening up a shop or research center in Honolulu, at Timm's warehouse. Theo accepted Wally's futuristic thinking about the up-coming times in the surf world. We had just experienced one bad occurrence with the Purple Revenge surfers in Malibu, and now Wally was trying to get Theo to think beyond the common overly crowded fun-run surfboard. "Things are a-changing my young friend. The whole world is getting into the environmental scene and this is where we might really get a wave up on both surfers and board builders. Like it or not, the surf scene is going to change. I tell you now, in a few years, what you now know won't be the same. For example, the pollution is getting so bad— on-shore sewage dumps, with atomic waste being poured into our favorite beaches from Japan, chemical and oil releases and spills from countries without a conscience—the ocean is almost to dangerous to go into. As the new generation of surfers come along, they'll have more savvy on how better to utilize, and maybe even do something about the death of the sea, not to mention the sea levels rising."

Theo waved his hand saying, "Okay, okay, got it..."

But Wally was not done, "We could be on the top of the wave of this new movement. The latest technology could be put to work, and yes, in and on the wave front. There will be all kinds of laws passed and new restrictions will be instituted for the ocean. We got to be one step ahead of all this, and this is why you got to begin thinking beyond a piece of styrofoam covered with poly x fiberglass—it's way bigger than that."

"Okay, I'm listening, what you thumpking?"

"You know I got a few patents on various devices: camera systems, electrical devices, spy toys, and a few extraordinary programs I've never released. I also have some incredible connections. One being inside the Atomica Engineering firm in San Diego. They are the main contractors for the Air Force in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Service. I would like to experiment with some of their new materials they've built the latest UAV flyers with. It's a fiber-core metal-infused fiber that is lighter than a feather but stronger than steel. We might try building a few boards out of this stuff. There would be nothing like it, indestructible yet flexible enough for someone to alter its shape with the press of a foot."

"Wow, never heard of such a thing. What else you got in mind?" Theo was interested now.

"Along with your sonic sounder I think we could turn a surf board into a solar panel in itself. The surface would absorb light and then run the other components we would build into the board."

"Oh boy, other components, a sonic sounder is hard enough to sell now, no less adding more stuff to a board, and making it heavier."

"No way, with the latest nano progress, we could put twenty devices into a board and it would still weigh less than any board out there today."

Timm's interest was up, "What you have got in mind, Wally?"

"A surfboard might not just be a surfboard, but a water paddle float that can carry its rider to the far corners of a lake. Hey, there's no limit on what we might do. Think of a solar powered paddle or surf board." Wally definitely had their attention as he began to make a few rough drawings, expressing his ideas. They were watching this man's skilled hand, manifest his ideas onto paper, until it became something they could grasp.

"To begin with we could blend a GPS screen into the front side up forward. Then a built-in recorder and a six way camera system."

"Six way camera, what the heck would that be?" Theo inquired.

"The board would shoot or film from the front, the back, both sides and down under and with one wide lens on top. You could actually make your own surf film as you surfed or paddled around.

"With all this, I would like to install an inboard computer that will take all the vitals of the water and air. It will test the salinity, the purity, the pollution, the temperature and everything going on within the immediate environment. This data would be transmitted to a data bank, maybe at the Scripts Institute and they could then analyze the environment. Not only a computer, but also with the solar powered surface, we could add a tiny nano spinner motor that would be able to move a board through the water. Then we might put in a remote control retrieval system. When someone gets knocked off their boards, they activate the sensor on a watch they are wearing; the board makes its way back to them, instead of their chasing it and getting lost in the rocks."

By now, both Theo and Timm's mouths were hanging open. They were trying to catch up with this mans thinking and at the same time picturing this incredible new surf board and how it might work.

Wally went on, "That is just the beginning. How about making this thing a non-slip, never-to-be-waxed surface with remote control features, that you could send out over a reef and film the scene below. Or heck, even use it as a fishing board. You send it out with a means to set lures, and you control its moves over a reef; or when its fish finder sees fish, you follow them and set out your lures and when you get a hookup you bring it back. Or how about a sonar board that the controller could submerge below the surface to a good depth to do your looking around first, then bring it back," Wally went on.

Now Timm's mind caught on fire as he got into the futuristic board concept. "Yes, imagine a board becoming more than a board. When you brought it home, it would become a solar panel and charge up your electronic devices: phones or laptops. Then we could design it as a replacement for a satellite dish, and it would become a full time receiver and more. The board could have a sound system built into it, to record or be a speaker system. Listen, just like the dial phones have moved along, becoming smart phones, so to, with a future surf board system. You're right Wally, we got to begin thinking out of the box and leave behind the model-T boards."

"Woe is me," Theo's own ideas were now at work. "How about a total remote controlled environmental water board. We could build them as environmental protection systems. Not only for surfing, but a means to analyze the waters, keep record of the areas it's used in; but also, a device to transmit present-time data to a web site where people could read the water temperature, check the UV rays out, make sure the water in the area was not over polluted. Reports could be sent to web sites or radio stations, like the traffic reports, and report events going on in that area."

"I love it," Wally exploded with enthusiasm. "This might be a separate product, besides a surf board. Something that researchers, engineers and maybe even the Navy might adapt."

"Come on you guys, why not toss in the kitchen sink too?" Theo was laughing.

Timm realized how far out all this sounded and he might have been a quiet individual, but was comfortable enough to begin expressing his views to the group. He was a thinker. It was known that the pollutants in the waters were causing terrible rashes and sores on many surfers and little was being done about it. The idea of a high protective bacterial and virus sun lotion for water sports, especially for surfers, began to formulate itself within his thinker.

We all broke out laughing and were somewhat brought back to our senses when Mica suggested that advertisers could send their audio advertisements out, using these boards and the boards would become...water billboards!

All this high powered thinking on new products was great, but I had to remind everyone that they were to concentrate their energy on the Dove, our newest and soon to be ready freighter. We had been watching the work by remote cameras and had made several changes and suggestions to Benjamin Highmanner. It was near its first stage in completion and soon we were to go see for ourselves, and bring our interior plans to the shipwrights for the second stage of remodeling.

Everyone was kicking back and getting their own projects and ideas going in a direction. Gretchen summed it up in this manner, "Good ideas are so often born out of simple moments."

Simple, heck, Wally and his connections reminded us of some of the new materials that they had come up with. It was Google engineers who had crossed the genes of a spider with a goat and now the hair of the goat was so strong that a single hair made into a line the size of a thread could tow a car. They were going to use this in new bullet proof vests but the possibilities were endless. He asked about us weaving this new thread into our fiber surfaces and creating a feather-weight board nearly indestructible. What was nice about all this high powered thinking was that we had the funds to experiment. We did not need to go begging for grants or funding. Thus, the lack of worry about purchasing devices and materials to construct such a board allowed our thinking to reach out. In a way, we began to feel like those Google engineers—without limitation.

It would be a while, but these brainiacs were on fire with a hundred ideas; they couldn't wait until the freighter was ready to go. It would have a work shop and a special room for their crazy works to come into existence.

# Chapter 24

# The Retirement Home!

Thinking positive will not turn a pile of rock into a palace of stone, but hard work does it every time.

Amazing! What a mind can do when it is released out of a cage. We so often fail to let our creativity plant itself onto a pleasant shore. We allow the best of our inspirations to be caught and washed away into the receding tides of lost opportunity. Of course, there are many factors that can cause creativity to stifle itself, and the lack of funds is one great enemy. Now that York and Fanny were set free, they became like roaring lions playing with a tiny toy mouse. They were consumed with enthusiastic dreams, while the entire Island began to blaze with united hope. The idea of a retirement home for the elderly of Newport and Balboa became a living, kicking, biting project of many facets. They formed a Bayside Retirement Association which began to put their experienced minds into the retirement home, or castle as they called it.

With the revelations of bribes being paid to the Balboa administration and to the city ministers, they were soon replaced by some of our own associates. It is often astonishing to hear of high ranking bureaucrats suddenly resigning, leaving their seats open. Apparently, Brookstone had supplied the Bay Front Retirement Associates with enough dynamite to remove a few of those long cemented-in politicians. So pulling permits and getting the remodeling started right away went like a breeze. O yes, forgot to mention here, both York and Fanny were now on the main Balboa Yachters Association.

They had several financial lawyers and investment consultants among them who helped form a corporation of sorts and offer shares to each of the Balboa yacht owners. In the two newly acquired compounds, recently and strangely abandoned by the Mexican cartels, there would be about 40 individual rooms, some bigger than others, that would be owned by the association. They could use them, rent them out with restrictions, or pass them onto their children. This gave them the incentive to do their best. As usual, everyone wanted the most for the least, but wise counseling let the market set the prices for specific rooms. The upper and larger apartments of course went for more, but no one was left out of choice.

They began to gather within the two newly purchased compounds for their meetings and get the feel of the place. Everyone was amazed at the adaptable space within the two compounds. Two floors above ground, with full underground parking and basement. Privacy and security were high on their list of concerns. They brought in Brookstone and his family for security advice as they began laying out plans for the new venture.

There is the saying," You never have a second chance to make a first impression." Well, their entry office did the job on this one. They hired Gretchen to install a full floor to ceiling aquarium. With her expertise and experience installing large aquariums in various hotels and ocean parks, she knew her stuff. The associates wanted that marine oceanic feel to the entry, and so they got it.

The entire front street wall of the home was inset with four-foot porthole windows, located by Jonathan, purchased from an estate sale in Mississippi taken out of an old tramp steamer. This was not only for aesthetic value but for security as well. The main entry door was carved from a massive old ship hatch with heavy brass hinges and lock. Upon entry, one was stunned by a floor to ceiling, see-through wall of beautiful tropical fish swimming within a Pacific reef setting.

This single wall separated the office area from the main community hall. On the right wall, a curved plank driftwood wall became the background for several old sailing ship models. One was of the Cutty Sark and the other was of the famous clipper ship, the Cloud. The main work counter was cut from a huge volcanic block shipped from Hawaii. It separated the waiting area from the office, cut with a curved display under a thick tinted glass desktop. A large aerial photograph of the entire bay area was framed as a background to the office.

Custom bamboo furniture highlighted the office area where one was made to feel they were sitting in an old captain's hideaway. It was so impressive, people dropped in constantly, just to see it. It was not unusual for teachers and decorators to bring their students and potential customers out to see real art at work in such a unique setting. The detail in this front area reached into the area of extreme artistry and craftsmanship.

Beyond the office aquarium's entry spaces up front, a large archway led into the main living and leisure gallery for general sit-down visits and get-togethers. Off to the left came the main high-ceiling dining lounge area, which could easily accommodate up to a hundred people, in first class banquet style. Tables were tucked away into inset alcoves, allowing for privacy and relaxed dining. Off from this was the centerpiece of wonderment for everyone to enjoy—an enhanced entertainment and environmental chamber. With the assistance of Wally our engineer-inventor, they had him create an extraordinary room which was lined with plush couches, recliner chairs of all kinds and one giant movie screen. Movies and sports events were experienced in a most pleasant atmosphere. This had to be one of the most unique rooms, or should I say experiences, full of incredible enhancements with sixteen-foot vaulted ceilings.

When the evening came, a sunset event would slowly appear completely around the room. As the lights dimmed as if the sun was going down, you could punch in the coordinates from anywhere on the earth. Then you could punch in the date you wanted, like July 4, 2020, and the time for Tahiti or wherever. That exact star pattern would then appear on the ceiling and several feet down the sidewalls. One could also go backwards in time. Let's say, go back to the sky on the day of your birth or even to the time of Columbus. If you wanted to witness a storm with lightning, you just punched in your wish. If you wanted a blue sky with birds flying, you got it. If you wanted a rainstorm out to sea, you got it with all the sound effects. With a push of a few buttons, one could create a jungle environment with all the right sounds. Underwater scenes, space walks, news from a hundred years back, historical documentaries with all the associated scenery, races, sail trips, icebergs and blizzards were all at hand. The one thing that York and Fanny did not want was just another dreary rest home. 'A damn dull place to die,' as York said. They wanted something exciting, and plenty of their old friends to have a great time with.

Everything was spacious enough to accommodate anyone using a wheelchair, with no odd obstacles to get around—with lots of little private areas. They designed several programs for their safety and security which functioned by personal voice recall or by fingerprint. Almost everyone that stayed there was associated with the sea or sailing. The real clincher, and leave it to York, with the enhanced yelling of Fanny, York actually set up a Los Vegas type room downstairs. You had to take an elevator to get there, and only the residences had the code for the elevator. Yes, there were twelve high-end slot machines that ran along two of the walls. You could win or you could lose (all winning by the home went to the taxes), professionally handled by one of York's old friends. There were dice and card tables, a fully stocked bar with juices and beverages of choice set off to one side. A full screen on one wall, which could show the old-time concerts going way back. If you wanted Frank Sinatra or Simon and Garfunkel, and even Jimmy Hendrix, it was there for you. There was plenty of room for wheelchairs, and a lounge area to sit back and just enjoy. Their policy was that if you didn't like this type of thing, don't bother coming to it. No one but the residents were allowed into this area and they tried keeping it a secret. The entry code was changed every month. The entire rest home was set up with things to do; no one could ever get bored.

A fantastic exercise room was designed with the elderly in mind, next to a massage therapy room with a sauna, and specially designed hot tubs, and nothing but kind professionals to be there for everyone. Oh yes, there was a dark room and a fantastic art workroom for the ole-time artists and a complete library. A pet kennel was laid out in the outer garden area that was created between the two compounds. From the outside, the center carried on the tradition of the island's environment.

They also had computer terminals where you could sit to bring up live camera views from anywhere in the world. There were special services for the home, such as transportation to just about anywhere. If anyone wanted, they could put cameras on their boats, so that when they went sailing people could tune in, communicate, and watch what they were seeing on the boat.

Then York made sure there was a great hobby and workshop. For York and his friend were getting into the drone scene and this was going to be fun. They also created a classroom for tutoring by university students who could not only teach, but lecture and bring in new ideas.

We were blown away with the entertainment room. We thought that old folks would never have wanted such a thing, but it became the selling point to every associate. As soon as we experienced it ourselves, we planned on creating one within our reconditioned freighter, The Dove.

The Hearst Castle Security Force suggested a personal monitoring system for anyone wanting a little more security. If someone went on a bike ride or took a walk around the island or boat docks, they would have a camera monitor with them, allowing the compound residents to keep an ear out for any troubles. Wally also designed special baseball caps with nearly invisible front cameras that recorded the ride or walk. Anyone else could tune into their ride, or visit to a special place, and enjoy the journey right with their friend. This little device soon became a favorite with those who did not want to go shopping on their own. But there were a few bugs in the system that had to be worked out, for the gentlemen or ladies would forget to turn off their cameras and enter into a public restroom and suddenly, half the residences of the home were gathering around the screen to see the show.

One of the greatest things was—they had an in-house chef. This person was tops. You put in your order, either a suggested meal or from the weekly menu and you got it. There were cooking classes, along with weekly visits to orphanages, hospitals and other charitable events. There was a complete environment within these buildings. They even had their own parking spots for golf or run-around carts. The only restrictions were no smoking in or on the premises. No drugs and no drunkenness. If someone did not want to interact with the rest of the folks, their rooms offered full privacy with access to every TV show ever made and internet connections. They could decorate their rooms as they wanted. There was a special privacy rule for those who wanted to be left alone.

The top roof areas were turned into Captain Watches as they called them, a full top deck with elevator access—a special place to experience the wind and sky at its best. Many would go up there and sunbathe, yes, sometimes in the nude, wrinkles and all. The view from there had to be a photographer's delight. Before the Bay Front Retirement home was even done, the word had gotten out and hundreds of people were coming around to take a gander. Many new builders were so impressed that they wanted to copy and build their own retirement homes elsewhere. And yes, the interior home magazines wanted to do their articles, but this first offer was given to myself, if I wanted it.

I recall the beginning of this project and how it took some time to get the ideas going. However, with the right encouragement, the notion of working together was stressed. Once they began to unite, things began to happen. It was a fantastic lesson in unity. It might not have ever been accomplished by one or two people, but with 30 individuals all contributing, there arose a power that seemed to accomplish the impossible. These elderly yachters who were once threatened by Mexican drug cartels went from a near death experience to a group of proud builders. They now had security, wise investments and a fantastic place to spend their last days at. This is what I expressed in my articles to the magazine world...it can be done!

We had to admit that this overly enthused group of elderly kids were getting a bit carried away. We did not want to discourage them but we saw accidents in the making. Too late, they had already proposed a five lap Golf Cart race, through the tiny streets of the Island. Big plans were already in the works for they had the first race scheduled on the day of the grand opening. They continually invited us over to see their latest endeavors. They had roped in Brookstone to set up all the security for them. He advised them but had other affairs back at the Hearst Ranch compound and had taken Jasper and Jaden with him, but he left Morgan and Mica to handle the security systems for the retirement home. Everything was set up with a variety of camera systems. Wide angled, zoom and video kept an electronic eye on the perimeters along with code locking doors for emergencies. Tracking and monitoring devices were available to everyone if wanted.

Wally had given a few lectures and had displayed his latest program that was now up and running. Jay had tagged a good number of whales off the coast of Hawaii while sailing back to Hawaii on the New Song with myself and Luke and the girls. This really fascinated the old timers and bought into the system that very night, for they could track any whale of their choice. They would be sent short video shots of the surroundings to a certain depth of the pod. Every bit of data where the whales ventured would be sent to their personal programs. They named their whale the Bay Front Baby and it became their Pacific mascot.

The clincher, and a sign that went viral, stood on the entry road just before the bridge leading to the Island. It sternly expressed...

You are now on camera. This Island is a Drug Free Paradise. All Drugs, Dopers and Drunkards or any other Con, Criminal or Solicitor...NOT Welcome!

Your license is being processed. You will be watched and your names and photos entered into the International Data Base. If you have any warrants you will be apprehended! three very stern Judges and one Police Commissioner live on this Island. Ninety percent of everyone on this Island is armed!

Please enjoy your safe drive through. Do not disturb our Paradise!...

Within a week, Dustin was called in to defend this sign against so-called protesters. However, thousands of other gated and fenced neighborhoods began posting the same sign. This group of old time yachters had tasted of suppression by the cartels, but they had been set free and were not going to allow just any undesirable into the Island. They were ready to put their money where their mouths were. It was as if we had released a hurricane out of the bottle. Nevertheless, to see this group of elders stand up and take hold of such a project, I guessed there would be an extension of their lives, as if an ant hill had been broken open, and suddenly, a new life and home had to be created.

Amber and Crystal who were working within this elderly group could hardly believe the transformation of these older individuals. It was as if twenty years had been knocked off their lives. A new spirit of enthusiasm and cooperation had been born among them—it was great to witness!

# Chapter 25

# The Inheritance Is Born!

The tools of tomorrow are your experiences of today, take all security that they are of the highest quality!

We seemed to be a little out of order, in the early stages of the MAVIN Group. The girls were busy with the Bay Front Retirement Village, helping our new friends with interior decorating and setting up the computer systems. Brookstone and his brothers were flying back and forth up to the Hearst Castle Security facility, handling their own businesses for now. Wally and I were designing and planning the interior arrangements of The Dove. I was working with Dustin on determining what businesses and enterprises we were going to sell off. Through all this, we were trying to keep JJ busy, so not to stay focused on revenge to the Malibu local gang. Troy had accepted the law suit against the MLO and was building his case against the rich intimidators. Looks like Jay was making final arrangements in selling off the Serendipity. In fact Jay, Gretchen, and Jocko were making plans to head for Hawaii and begin the refitting of The New Song before they sailed it back to Balboa.

Then we got bad news from Hawaii. It was about The New Song. Anchored in the Alaway Yacht Harbor near Waikiki, she had been raided by the Honolulu police. According to one of our neighboring boat friends there, it looked like they were searching for drugs. They went through that boat like a starving hound would dig through a trash bin. We knew immediately that Julie and Thomas had tried to get their revenge on us by informing the police that The New Song was loaded with drugs. We were most thankful for Timm telling us earlier of Thomas' plot to have us arrested. It didn't work. Now we were faced with another situation. What were we going to do about them?

Gretchen came up with a plan that we might put into motion, in the meantime, until we figured out what to do. "It might be a good idea to hire Julie to work for us in some capacity. This way we can at least keep an eye on her."

"Not bad. But where?" Theo asked.

"How about putting her as a secretary in the Bay Front Retirement Home? York said they are looking for someone."

"That could be dangerous, don't you think?" Dustin squawked.

"We can tell York our idea and to keep an eye on her, until we come up with a better plan," I suggested.

"That sounds okay. But we'd better not leave her there long term. Why give her the chance to rip off those old folks?" Jay noted.

"Ha, those old folks are way more savvy than you know; no way is she gonna take them for a ride," Gretchen spoke up.

It was decided: Gretchen would make the arrangements with York and Fanny.

Before everyone went their ways organizing their departments, we held another meeting in my apartment in the sky. There were several issues first on our list. The Dove, our reconditioned freighter was nearing completion; we had to decide what and how we were going to handle it. It was not just some fishing boat you could park in a lot and walk away from, but a 329 foot long hunk of steel. It was also a real live working machine, capable of delivering tons of goods, housing a lot of people, transporting passengers, in short—it could make money for our group.

The second issue, was that we were going to have to bring home our van, the Tripper, from the Islands. Jay and Gretchen were selling the Serendipity and heading over to Honolulu to retrieve The New Song and sail it back to Newport. Hopefully, we were trying to get JJ into this trip to get him away, and out of the revenge mode for what the MLO gang had done to his friend Ricky. I was pretty sure that he was interested; but this would keep him out of school for at least two more months. Then there was Tanya and Abby, both interested in doing the return trip aboard The New Song.

We were now growing concerned about the Palmyra treasure still stored in Timm's warehouse vault. We were going to have to get it out of there and back into our hands. Since Julie had appeared at Mike's memorial services and played her forgive-me game, we were not sure of her motives. We were aware that she had her thoughts on getting her hands onto some of that treasure. At least this was the general suspicion. Yet, Amber and Crystal wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. We were definitely figuring on shipping the Tripper back over and we could hide the treasure inside our tricky van. But still, there was a concern there.

We also had my grandfather's bunker treasure to get out of Canada and begin selling off, but we did not want to draw attention to this massive amount of rare and valuable coins, stamps and rare metals. Oggie had told us that my grandfather rarely spoke of the amount of coins and other items that he was buying; and for sure, they had never paid any taxes on any of it. To reveal this vast collection to the government would most likely cause more problems for the Mitchner Ranch and Foundation than it was worth. It was Amber who reminded us of the original idea of moving the entire collection—lock, stock and barrel—into The Dove and sail away with it. Brookstone had suggested that both freighters be outfitted with several vaults and storage work areas. Maybe one for easy access and the second one hidden in the bowels of the ship, away from the knowledge of anyone aboard or any searchers. We had accepted this idea and were implementing the suggestion. It seemed as if time and schedules were coming together in one urgent storm. Several suggestions were made, and we began to reconsider our immediate moves.

Since The Dove was near completion, we were flying to Vancouver to check the work out and give our final suggestions and approvals. We asked everyone to put their plans on hold. Benjamin Highmanner had let me know that a trial run would be necessary, testing all systems to make sure they were up and running right. We also needed a captain and a crew to handle and maintain the ship.

Jay got a little excited over this news. He had been so busy with everything else, he had forgotten about the handling of the freighters. But the captain idea struck him; he sat right up, "I don't know if you knew this, Luke, but Jocko is a fully registered captain. He used to run freighters between Japan, Alaska and the California ports, including San Pedro."

"You're kidding me!"

"Not at all. Besides all his other talent, putting aside his wild looks, he's got several degrees in engineering and still has his captain's license. In fact, he and I were talking about his future. I was planning to have him re-fit The New Song, when we got her back, and he was thinking where he might live. Gretchen and I are most likely going to stay aboard The New Song for a time, and if we could get Jocko to take the helm of The Dove, he would have a fantastic place to live and a great job, hauling us crazy ones all over."

"Get on it right now Jay. In fact, here's the phone. Call Jocko and set up a meeting tomorrow about his new position."

Theo suggested, "Yeah, why he's at it, maybe Jocko can gather up a few good friends for a crew. No need to hire anyone we do not know."

Timm looked around and inquired, "Where might Max be? Shouldn't he be here to hear all this news?"

Luke explained that Max had been busy with his FBI friends and the DEA, finalizing many of the details of the big bust on the Mexy cartel. Then, there might be a few things that he should not be privy to at this moment, especially about the treasures we were going to be moving about.

"That's interesting, don't we trust him yet?" Wally asked.

"Let's just say, that for now, we'd better eat a pound of salt with him first, and then let us see what sifts out."

Then Theo, Wally, and Timm let it be known that they had built four experimental boards with many of the new devices built in. They were getting ready to ship them over to the islands for experiment and testing. However, if we might be taking The Dove that way, they might wait.

Amidst all this activity, the MAVIN Group had gathered several times, putting final touches to its charter and establishing its creed. There was no doubt, our group had proven itself to be a force to be reckoned with. In the last six months we had come to understand that we could affect events—change evil into good and alter peoples' lives. There were three main episodes that we were well aware of. The British Columbia mining operations was one. Then we had the attempted take over of Balboa Island by the Mexican drug cartels, and the latest was the Purple Revenge with the surfers. We had secured help for Ricky Walker, JJ's young surfer buddy, who was now recovering from a beating by the MLO gang in Malibu. Then we witnessed the establishing of the Mike James Foundation, as well as a few other practice situations, as Brookstone called them.

If those were just practice events, I had to wonder what the heck lay ahead beyond practice or training?

# Chapter 26

# Stone Harbor Iron & Ship Works!

Be happy about good decisions but don't go stupid over them!

Brookstone, Theo, and I had already made two trips to the Stone Harbor Iron and Ship Works in Vancouver BC. Our freighter had gone through some major changes; every inch of the new boat was being altered according to our plans. The hull had been painted deep blue with the upper deck and bridge a lighter blue; it looked rather nice. Nothing too fancy, just simple and clean.We began with the MAVIN's finances and it was Dustin's turn. He got right to it, bringing forth some of the changes he and his wife had already instituted. "Please listen carefully and let me finish before asking your questions, if there be any." With this lawyer intro he began.

"As you all know, my wife and I are head of the financial department. We have hired several Canadian consultants and financial lawyers, skilled in their areas of expertise. We have gone through every aspect of the Mitchner inheritance and feel that it is best we begin to sell off some of the companies and holdings which will be yokes around our necks. We do not have the man power to deal with all of it. So we have begun to sell off several of our assets. So far, we have sold off our one-third share of The Buccaneers BC Hockey team."

A groan went up with Wally, he loved hockey and would have loved to be a part owner in this active enterprise; but it was not to be.

"We asked for, and got, a cool 15 million for our shares."

Wow went maundering around the room; so far so good.

"We have also sold several undeveloped properties. Two in Alaska, a dude ranch in Montana for 3 mil and a couple of restaurant franchises in the area for about 50 grand each."

Nadia, Dustin's wife, pushed a few papers over in front of her husband so he could go down the list and get the numbers right. "We also sold a half share in a horse ranch out in eastern Oregon near Bend. It might be a nice status symbol to own fine breeding stock, but it takes lots of time and care. We'd rather use our time for the other hundred obligations we have now been blessed with." He paused here, looking over the papers, "We got 300 thousand for our share in that one."

"Of course. Horses, who needs horses?" JJ spoke out as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Not us for sure." Dustin fired back and with a smile added, "Racing horses could lead to gambling, and for sure we don't have anyone around here that likes to gamble...right?"

No doubt, we all got a good laugh out of this one, JJ was about the biggest gambler there was, and Dustin had seen the handwriting on the wall. He finished up, "There are about twenty smaller businesses that had to go, but we got a fair price. I think that Steward and Gladys would be very pleased in the way we handled their affairs."

It was Theo that asked, "Roughly then, what did we net out of those sales Dustin?"

He turned a few pages and simply said, like it was no big deal, "Up front cash will be about 25 mil, but there are some long term payments that will be coming in over the next ten years. Also, part of this will go back to the Mitchner Ranch Foundation and Auggie himself. After all, it was him and Stewart who owned the gold mines together."

Again, it was JJ, "Only 25 mil, that is it? And my horse ranch is gone now—no fair!"

Nadia had to speak up this time and with a sly smile aimed at JJ, she replied, "Dustin and I have thought this over, JJ, and we decided to buy you an electronic bronc. You know, one that bounces along, and will even buck. This should quench your need to own a gambling race horse!"

JJ's jaws dropped open and he turned red while everyone in the room applauded Nadia's clever rejoinder.

After all these basic decisions were brought out for discussion, it was time for me to drop the big boom.

I cleared my throat. "Brookstone, Dustin, and I have made several trips to Vancouver to make sure everything was proceeding well with The Dove." Luke arose and rolled out a large blueprint of the freighter, pinning it onto the wall. Then he handed out a folder full of pictures. "So all of you get the picture of what we are doing, I want to show you what has been done so far." He began with the stats of the ship. "The Dove was a multi-purpose general cargo vessel. Built by the Howaltswerke Deutsche Werft in Germany. It was strengthened for heavy cargoes, doubled hulled, a fully self-sustained multi-purpose container ship, also known as a lake freighter. This means it was basically used in the Great Lakes. But it is also known as a salty. That means it could go to sea and then return through the St. Lawrence Seaway or any of the locks leading back into the lake regions. It is 329 feet in length, 64 feet in the beam, runs two 3000 horse power Caterpillar MaK/8M43C diesel engines, with another 1000 HP backup diesel, and was built in 2007." He caught his breath and moved on with more. "It has its own water purification system, a large fuel capacity, and can travel about 12,000 miles before refueling, and does about 20+ knots full out."

He brought up several more pictures on his laptop and let them look for themselves as he went on. "To tell you the truth, we were really surprised, these guys know what they are doing. With the drawings we sent to them, they were impressed with our ideas. They divided the ship into three sections. Each compartment is water tight. That means if one, or even two, of the other compartments are breached, the one section will keep the entire boat afloat. The bulkheads between each section have been reinforced to withstand great stress. What is really unique about their work was that they built the individual cabins and storage areas in their warehouse, and then fitted them into the hull as they were completed. This gave everyone space to work, allowing them to cut the time in half. Also, no one man knows the entire ship. Each cabin or insert unit was almost completely done outside the hull itself. Everything but the carpets were there."

"Is this boat going to be some greasy stinky hulk of a thing?" asked Crystal.

"Oh Dear one, no worries there. You, especially, will be surprised; it is like a modern cruise ship with fantastic eye-pleasing interiors and every comfort you can think of." He clicked through a few photos until he came to what looked like a checkerboard awning, "This is one of the most sophisticated solar receivers in existence. The receivers not only allow light to be distributed into the ships depths, but will cut our fuel supply in half by keeping all battery systems fully charged. This boat is one heck of an environmental miracle in all respects. It produces its own water supply, recycles all waste materials, and has its own fish pond as a food source and several green houses to grow our own food if need be. For now, flowers will do."

"Why all that extra gadgetry? I thought it was going to be a working freighter," Timm inquired.

"Well now, I'll get to that reason. Or maybe I'll give you my thoughts on how we can utilize this incredible gift."

Luke turned back to the drawings and pictures and cleared his throat, "I got this crazy idea—we consider setting the freighter up as a passenger freighter. This means we could use it as a research vessel or a teaching platform or a way to take large groups, or students, to certain destinations to either explore or do research. We can set it up to accommodate at least 50 passengers if need be."

He pointed out the first deck midway forward which would be set up as cabins and rooms to house our passengers. The main deck would be set up for ourselves, like apartments and dining, with the kitchen facilities and observation center up front. Above our area, the bridge and navigation center would exist. There will be three below decks. The top one would be our passenger and general all around department deck. The second middle deck would be the main storage bunkers. The back half will be the diving and launch boat storage facilities. Then there will be the multi-work areas, work shops, gym and library and class areas, with the lower deck being more sea van storage and engine systems. The lower back and lower decks would be where we could carry up to twenty sea vans. There is an elevator system and a large unfolding crane for unloading the cargo onto docks or other ships if need be."

Wally waited and finally asked, "What is the reason for your passenger thing Luke?"

"After talking with Benjamin and Brookstone and realizing what we might be getting into in the future, the teaching or research vessel would help cover our tracks instead of our just being some tramp freighter, a target for every custom agent on shore. However, we'll still be a working freighter when we want to be." He clicked up a list of potential groups that had already contacted them for differing projects, from offshore volcano observing, to exploring the Pacific debris fields, and one undersea treasure group who wanted to do an Amazon River treasure hunt.

"Yeah, a research vessel. I like that," Wally nodded his approval.

"You said it is going to be clean and neat—right?" Crystal asked again. Then with a second thought asked, "How about a pool?"

"Not this time, but it will have several hot tubs and steam rooms for both women and for the men. How's that young lady?"

"I guess that'll do for now," she laughed, knowing that she was jesting with me.

"About the interior, yes, Benjamin's family has outfitted several of these boats for some very wealthy governments. I think you're going to like what you will see."

"Tell us," Amber inquired.

"We saw that the living and dining areas had a sea green carpet with light blue couches and nice furniture, very pleasant on the eye. The walls were done in an oyster cream color and the observation lounge up front has ceiling to floor, wrap around tinted windows, all bullet proof I might add. It is rather nice."

Dustin set forth, adding, "I'm a pretty particular person myself, and I was impressed with what I saw—stainless steel counters, walk-in refrigerators, laundry facilities, and big bathrooms. Really, it was way more than we figured on. It would be perfect to go to sea, go off-ship exploring, diving and then come back to this comfort—and hot showers too."

"Also, if we expect anyone to live aboard, it almost exists as a tiny city. It has a theater room, a coffee shop, a complete work and lab area. It even has outdoor dining if you want it. It is fully equipped with a very well stocked library, completely computerized with satellite internet and top communication devices. It has an incredible gym, and there is more."

Brookstone waited until all the niceties had been talked over then began to divulge the secret aspect to our little cargo freighter. "we have installed three walk-in vaults, two hidden deep. There are a number of storage bunkers, two of them being totally secret rooms that will contain all the armaments we might need. Every door can be locked tight and the security aboard is some of the best. Vaults and hidden storage lockers have been built into the water and fuel storage tanks. No one will ever know they exist there, a really clever idea of Benjamin's. From the bridge and communications room, we can watch everything on screen. Oh, yes, from off the stern of the ship we have a power down ramp that will act as a diving platform and allow us to launch any of our smaller expedition crafts. We have also purchased a forty foot launch which will always be ready to go. It can carry thirty people and tons of diving equipment, if and when we want to go exploring off ship. There are life boats, fully ready for survival if need be. Honestly, this freighter is a dream come true."

Everyone was thinking this over, when Brookstone snapped his fingers, "Oh yes, one most important thing. Just below the main bridge up-top, dead center of the ship is our war room."

"War room. That sounds serious," Theo inquired with some apprehension in his voice.

"This room is well protected, and if and when we need to get serious about circumstances, this room has it all. Even the White House has a war room, of course ours will not be as large as theirs, but it will pretty well have all the same devices. On the front wall there will be a sixty inch screen with a living map. Down the center of the main table will run a bank of highly sophisticated computers to accommodate each person sitting in. On both side walls will be built-in monitors which will be projecting their designated camera views. We can actually run the ship from this room, use all her fire power, and record all underwater scanning devices. We have earthquake and ocean disturbance monitors, satellite and photo communication at the touch of a button. We can also launch our new baseball sized drones from there, follow them, and bring them back under certain conditions. We have direct links with all the alphabet agency groups and an on-going data bank, along with the Israeli profiling systems and the UN Police files. This room is like a concentrated pentagon headquarters. And by the way, please keep this information to yourself. No one is to allow anyone without clearance into this room. Is this completely understood?"

"Okay, so what is all this going to cost us?" Theo, the practical one, asked.

Dustin ran his finger down the page and simply handed out the figures like it was an everyday thing. "The Stone Harbor Iron Works will run about three and a half mil when they are done. That is for their labor and expertise only."

"Wow," Timm murmured under his breath.

"There is more. By the time we equip everything, replace a few major pieces of equipment, set her up with all the right diving equipment, including a diving platform, a diving decompression chamber, upgrade all systems, with the launch, bring in the supplies, fuel her up and hire a crew, including a chef and several stewards, figure on, at least a total of about ten mil."

"Do we need all that stuff, just for a freighter we might not even use?" Theo asked.

"Listen, I think we might be using this rather unique transportation more than we know. It can serve us as a place to live if we want to. And I got a feeling that Jay might have something up his sleeve about the Hearst freighter that sank back in the 1930's off the San Simeon coast. Plus, I have another proposal for us, but please consider that this ship is set up to completely protect everyone aboard and can go places where other boats cannot go. It is a totally secured city afloat, and that all is for your protection," Luke looked over at the girls and emphasized the word protection.

"One other thing. The MAVIN Group has also inherited several of the Mitchner charity projects: two small hospitals in Africa, two in Indonesia, an orphanage in India, one outpost in Peru, and a few others that I cannot remember at this moment. But they are going to be supplied. This was one of the reasons my grandparents purchased the two freighters to begin with. They are capable of going into shallow bays, rivers, and places that cannot regularly be reached. So, as we do our research and carry on our own projects, we will be delivering doctors, supplies and anything else along the way."

Everyone was thinking this over when Luke began anew, "The work should be completed in a few weeks. We are going to need to take it on a trial run, so I am thinking that we might take her over to the Islands. We can take everyone, and there we will pick up the Tripper and bring her back ourselves. This way we'll have the Palmyra treasure and the bunker treasure with us aboard. We can learn how to work the ship alongside the crew we hire, and in time we might be able to take over some of the responsibility."

"That is a great idea. Will it be complete in that short of a time?" asked Amber.

"I think so. Brookstone and two of his brothers, probably Mica and Morgan, along with Wally and myself will head up there and do what it takes to get it done. Plus, we might hunt up a crew, and help out wherever we might be needed."

Jay spoke up at this suggestion, "We, that is Gretchen and myself, would like to go up also. I'd like to bring Jocko along. Let him get the feel of things in case he wants the captain's hat."

"Wait a moment here folks, you ain't gonna leave me and Amber out of this final show. We want to go and do our thing up there also," Crystal announced.

"I knew it, I knew it. I knew you two would wiggle your way into the picture," JJ sputtered out his words while waving his hands around with a humorous flare.

Crystal bent over and ruffled JJ's hair saying, "You got it my friend, we want to get there ahead of you and make sure your room is way down deep in the back, all alone. Then we're going to fill it with law books, and maybe paint it dark purple with pink clouds, how's that?"

"Come on, why you guys always picking on me?"

Theo said, "I think you brought that one on yourself JJ."

"Already, enough folks, I have one more serious thing to bring forth," Luke announced.

"Go for it, Mr. Mitchner," JJ shot Crystal an irritated look and spoke up to change the subject.

"I have been doing a lot of thinking about this new acquisition of ours. I know the girls thought to name our freighter, The Dove and that is a good name but I'd really like to change that name over to "The Inheritance" if you wouldn't mind."

Luke looked around waiting for someone to protest but no one spoke out. "It seemed a good idea, that the ship would be tied back to the Mitchners and the fortune they left for everyone else."

Brookstone clapped his hands lightly, nodded and said, "This would certainly be better than the Dove, that is such a sissy name!" He looked over at the girls and said, "Sorry, but it's true."

No one said anything while the girls let out a sigh of indignation. After all, who were they to oppose mister big brother and the boss, Crystal thought. It seemed fine, and everyone else nodded their agreement. So the name of our newly refurbished and transformed passenger freighter was changed from The Dove to The Inheritance.

Again, a whole set of new circumstances were set in motion that night. Everyone realized that the MAVIN Group was going to be a real life experience. It appeared that dull times and quiet moments were going to be banished from this group, at least for a time, and it was all happening. Hey I thought, wealth was suppose to buy you peaceful days and long comforting vacations...Ho-Ho-Ho!

There was much to do and we had about two weeks to get things organized. Everyone had to get their own affairs squared away. Big things were soon to take place, especially with this freighter soon to be handed over to us. A whole new level of excitement now came into play. Everyone was asking questions and pondering what might lay ahead. I told everyone to go ask Theo or Crystal, they knew it all. But the only thing that the questioners were given was, "Buy some good deck shoes!

# Chapter 27

# Logan On The Scene!

Challenges come in many sizes...and usually fit better than the deed they were earned by!

It was a week since the freighter and finance meeting had gone by with most of the MAVIN team tasks being accomplished. Both Crystal and Amber were eager to get home, to see their father and indulge in pure rest once again. It was a good four hour drive up to the Hearst Castle Security Ranch at the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains, just south of Big Sur. "Amber, do you mind if I ask you a little bit of a personal question?" Crystal looked over at her twin sister as they drove north to their home on the Hearst ranch.

"Sounds serious. When do you ever ask me if you might ask a personal question? Whatever this is, it must be really bugging you...what is it?"

"Well, you know we've been with Theo and Luke for over a year and a half, or longer now, and gotten pretty close with them."

Amber shot a look over at her sister, "Yeah...that's true."

"Theo and I are pretty close, and I think that he is in love with me."

"No surprise there, Deary. Been watching you guys sneak around and try and hide."

"Fine, but I want to know how you and Luke are doing. Do you think he has thoughts about your being more than a fun business partner?"

Amber was quiet, contemplating her response as she watched the hillside pass by, "Honestly, I am a little confused with him. I know he cares tons for me, but as far as marriage, if that's what you're asking. I really don't know."

"Aren't you curious on where he stands?" Crystal asked.

"Sure, but we are not those romantic over-dosed in-love type people. Or, at least he doesn't seem to be such a romantic type. I know that he has a lot on his plate at present, faced with a lot of major decisions. Nevertheless, I'd like him to make a few more advances towards me. After all, I am a full grown woman."

"Do you want to find out where he stands?" Crystal gave her sister a quizzical look.

"Like how?"

They turned off Highway 101 onto Highway 1, which would take them past the Hearst Castle north to their ranch. "I think we'll have Logan start bothering you a little."

"Who the heck is Logan?" Amber demanded to know.

"He's one of your long lost lovers who has finally found himself and knows he made a real mistake by losing you...and he wants you back!"

Amber looked over at her sister with gawking eyes, realizing that Crystal was laying out one of her tricky and, most likely, one of her famously backfiring plots.

Right off the top, Amber was shaking her head. They had used this 'my double, my twin sister' thing, to pull off some interesting episodes of switch and play in their high school days. She remembered how the new guy in school wanted to take Amber out. She thought he was a weirdo but did not want to hurt his feelings, so agreed to one date. Now Crystal thought he was cool, and so she took the place of Amber instead. This guy Logan asked if Amber would be more comfortable on a double date, and he would set Crystal up with Larry, a close friend of his. This was getting complicated, but Amber and Crystal agreed, thinking that it could be fun. Logan and his friend came by to pick the girls up and it turned out that Logan's friend was his look-alike brother, the second brother of triplets. Now Amber was stuck with Logan's brother, Larry, who was really Logan, and Crystal was with the real Larry, so they thought. But it turned out that they had also switched because Larry was the one who really wanted to go out with Amber. These guys had also learned to do the switch and play game; now they were doing it with the girls. The entire night was switch names, switch places, switch personalities. Even though it was fun, it ended up that the laugh was on Amber and Crystal. Once this got out, everyone would mix them up on purpose from then on. Even their teachers began to suspect a switch for a test or make up class. These games only made their lives difficult.

Things got complicated when Logan disclosed that he and Larry had even gone further. It was the third brother Harry that was with Amber that night. These brothers were identical triplets. This was one of the few times that the Kaamin twins had ever been out gamed. Everyone was making jokes about the twin sisters getting married to the triplet brothers and various conjectures about what could happen.

Amber sternly said, "NO. No, no way!"

Amber knew all about her sister's little games, and was well aware of her miscellaneous plots and schemes from years back. Some were really funny, but a few had turned out badly.

"Come on, Luke would never fall for anything like that. I don't think he has a jealous bone in his body."

"How do you know, unless you turn on the x-ray machine and up the light, bring him out of lala land and illuminate the path of reality for him?"

"How on earth would or could that be?" Amber was curious, as well as hesitant.

"Let me think about it. And if Logan shows up on the scene, let your feelings drift his way."

"Crystal, don't go doing anything crazy. I don't want to mess up the relationship we do have. Do you understand me? I am more than serious here."

"Sure, sure, but get ready to be Loganized, just in case!"

"Please don't complicate things more than they already are—please."

The ranch was busy as usual with guards, training and all the things that went on in the security of the Hearst estate and properties. Both Theo and Luke would be coming up in a day or so, they wanted to do some surfing off the point. The girls would spend a few days home, then fly with their brother Brookstone, and Luke and Theo, up to Vancouver to handle the bunker treasure and put the final touches on The Inheritance. Everyone came by the house to say hello and ask how their jaunt through the Pacific was. Everyone was really interested in the crazy parrot Beelzebub and the Obscenity Island experience. Guess that event went viral and had hit the big time news.

Luke and Theo pulled in the next day in a rental van, with new boards and all. They were excited, acting like two kids let loose in a candy store. The girls were in the HC Security office, where they'd first met Luke and Theo, when they showed up. They made themselves comfortable, sipping coffee, while the twins were finishing up some of the paper work that had come in. As they were visiting, a delivery man came into the yard, carrying a big bouquet of flowers, a huge bouquet. The delivery man announced that they were for a Miss Amber Kaamin.

Amber stood up and with some reservation took the flowers. Crystal immediately lifted the card and read it aloud. "Been thinking about you lately, really miss you. Will see you soon, Love...Logan"

"Hum, that's nice. Didn't know you were still in touch with Logan," Crystal acted surprised as she held open the card.

Amber just stood there flushed, trying to hide behind the huge bunch of flowers, not knowing what to say. But Crystal said, "Looks like good old Logan is back from the New York stage scene and realizes that he lost a treasure."

The room went quiet and Luke's eyes shot up with a look of befuddlement. Even Theo's jaw dropped open with what looked like an unexpected bite from a wasp. What the hell's going on here? Theo was thinking.

Amber shot a dirty look at Crystal, like–what the hell did you just do to me?

Talk about a confused feeling, it flowed out of and into everyone, except Crystal.

Crystal finally said, "Let me take those fantastic flowers and put them into the office vase." She began to arrange them, making sure she stuck her nose into them and sniffing their fantastic scent. Her eyes looked out from behind the blooms catching Luke's eyes, saying, "Aren't these the most beautiful flowers you ever did see?" it was a total rub-in moment, Amber wanted to punch Crystal out.

Both Luke and Theo were caught off guard. This was not in their plans. "Yeah, sure thing," Luke muttered. "Who's Logan?"

Theo in his dismay, set his coffee mug down and abruptly stood up, "Come on Luke, let's get out there and do some waves before they decide to go away."

As the boys drove out towards the highway, Crystal turned to Amber with the most mischief-making smile, "Don't tell me that Luke ain't got no jealous bones in his body. I swear I heard his bones rattling like a skeleton caught in a wind. Heck, you could hang him up and use him as wind chimes."

"I don't think I've hit you since we were kids but... That was horrible, please don't do such a thing again."

"Sure Amber, but I'll bet good old Luke is wondering why he feels so bad. Just sit back and we'll see what happens."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The sky was blue, the off shore breeze was perfect and the waves off the San Simeon point were choice. But for some reason, Luke had a hard time staying with the waves. Theo knew what was going on, and after a few good hours of sun and waves they lay on the beach soaking in the rays. Theo excused himself for a time, going to the rental van, where he did some quick research.

Coming back to Luke he sat down with a big smile and began to tell Luke what he had found out. "I know that there are probably only a couple of flower shops in town, so called them. The first one did not know of any order to the HC Security Ranch but the second one did. I wanted to make sure that the card they sent with the flowers was written with the right names. I asked if the flowers were sent by Logan or ordered by one of the Kaamin girls. The lady told me that the flowers were ordered by Crystal and sent to Amber but we got the right name of Logan on the card—and they should have already been delivered."

Luke sat up abruptly. At first he was pissed, threw a few handfulls of sand around but then began to laugh. "Why am I so dumb? It is the old jealousy test game they are playing."

"I think so, and I bet it is my Crystal. She was over-acting during that little side show, as far as I am concerned. Bet she was the instigator of this, because Amber was really flushed and looked like she was totally mad at someone."

"You could be right there. But why?"

"It's a girl thing. They must be concerned about our intentions towards them."

"That could be it. But what do we do about this now?" Luke asked.

"Oh man, we have just stepped into the pilot and co-pilot seats of a 777, and those girls are stuck in the back seats near the toilets."

Luke had to laugh, for he was getting the point now of that thing called 'having an advantage.'

"You know Luke, we have a few free days to hang around here, let's have some fun with this one."

"Sure, but what do you mean by fun, Theo?"

"To begin with, let use one of our coded phones to start sending Amber a few text messages."

"What are we going to say?"

"Really got to see you. Totally know I messed up with you!"

"We'll start with a few things like that, but then let's go big time with a real triple home run and win the series plot."

"Like what?"

"How about we get hold of a really nice looking, all around champion guy and hire him to act as Logan. We go over to the ranch and as we are visiting, this Logan lover just shows up and makes demands to renew their old friendship, or something like that."

"Awesome idea, but...sounds like a shoot out at the OK corral...somehow. Do you think we can pull it off?" Luke was fired up with the idea.

"Won't hurt to give it a try. I'll call Thortin, your newspaper man from San Luis Obispo to ask him if he might know someone."

Theo was on the phone for a good half hour explaining to Thortin our needs. He started laughing half way through the call. "Luke, you won't believe this."

"What now?"

"Thortin is telling me that Logan, one of the triplets, the girls' old school friends actually works in the print shop for the San Luis Obispo Journal, he is right there. Thortin is setting up a meeting for us."

"Go for it."

Within a short time, Luke and Theo were talking to Logan himself at the new newspaper office. He was recently back from a New York effort to get into acting, but he was just another college bound surfer dude, rather well spoken and more than willing to play our game. Especially, when we told him we would pay him $100 bucks. Yes, he was familiar with the Kaamin twins and remembered how they tried to trick him and his two brothers by doing a switch the date routine. He was more than happy to give it a try. Our reverse plot was hatched and set into motion.

We explained that we would call him as soon as we set everything up. "Leave your cell on and be ready to roll when we call. Make it good, remember now, you're trying to show that you have been dating Amber and really want to get back with her. Do it right, go all the way."

Logan had a huge smile across his tanned face and was excited to get involved, because life was a little boring around these parts and this would be good fun. Theo went on to explain that when the whole thing came together, "Don't freak out when Luke might go bonkers playing a 'boyfriend is really hurt' role."

"Do you want me to play a little tough or maybe oppose you in someway."

"Wow, this is getting good. Go for it, just don't punch me in the face."

Things began to develop. The girls had decided to invite us over to their house and cook dinner. Of course, we were acting a little sulky, displaying our hurt feelings about another guy stepping in for Amber. We were staying at Brookstone's house about a half block back in the woods from them. We were to show up for dinner around six and sit down for the meal around seven. Thus, we called Logan and gave him the time we wanted him to show up and play his role to the best of his ability.

...Now we wanted this Logan character to play his role but we suspected that Thortin got his two cents into the plot. Logan went beyond the simple role we were expecting.

Luke thought it was a good idea to bring some flowers, but instead of a huge bouquet we searched the fields and picked a variety of wild flowers, just a tiny bunch to begin the fun. We showed on time, and were greeted by Crystal who saw our somewhat miserable looking bunch of flowers and almost started laughing. The house was nicely done, with enlarged framed photos taken by the girls and a unique drift wood coffee table with a stone carved sculpture sitting in its middle. Both Amber and Crystal were dressed to kill. 'Wow' is all we could say. Something smelled really good: a roasted leg of lamb, with candied carrots and a rice pilaf dish being prepared. Luke decided to play the 'uncertain about life' role and sat quietly. This became noticeable and Crystal asked him if everything was ok. Luke nodded, just sort of burned out from a big day on the waves. A jazz guitar filled in the quiet zones between glasses of green tea and tropical juice.

Finally, dinner was served. Everyone took their places at the kitchen table. Amber had put our puny flowers into a cup and they were sitting in the middle of the table. They looked like we had stolen them off a grave in a cemetery, but the girls seemed to be delighted that we had considered such a rare gift. Amber said she liked wild flowers.

Theo was asked to carve the leg of lamb while the girls piled our plates high with all the side dishes. Theo arose and gave a formal thanks for the invite, and Luke added a few words of appreciation. Without any more delay, we dug into this really great meal. Both Theo and Luke were a little nervous about the event soon to occur. We were into the second serving and a few good jokes, when we heard what had to be a big bad Harley cruise by, come back around, and nearly stop on the porch. Crystal bent to the side, trying to see who might be out there; a pounding almost knocked the door off its hinges. "What the heck?" Crystal jumped up and went to the front door. Looking through a tiny side window she saw this guy standing there. He was built like an outhouse—square, tall, full of muscle and hair. He looked familiar, but, she was thinking who was this? as she opened the door believing it was someone for her brother Brookstone.

We were all watching. With the name Logan, you'd think he would be a little wimpy. This guy barely fit through the door. As soon as Crystal opened the door, he held out a box of chocolates and moved into the room. "Hey there Crystal, Came to pick up Amber, hope she is ready. Oh, by the way here are some chocolates I got for her at the drugstore on sale. Is she ready? Sure hope she got my messages."

Logan moved into the room, filling up the space like a gorilla sitting in a third class seat. Before Amber could even rise to the occasion, she began choking and had to reach for something to drink. By now, Logan had come over to her, and bent down, looked her in the face and asked, "You gonna be all good there, Amber?" with this, he began to rub her back to help her stop coughing.

Amber was so shocked that she couldn't speak if she wanted too. It was Crystal who was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She surely did not invite Logan over and this, for sure, was Logan, the old Logan from school. She now recognized him but he was triple the size. If looks could kill, Amber was sending cruise missiles and bunker-breaker bombs at Crystal.

Before Crystal could get to the table to put a stop to this insane intruder, Logan got down on one knee and pressed his hairy head on Amber's shoulder and with a voice filled with tears began pleading. "Amber, my sweet Amber, please forgive me for not returning your calls and coming by for your birthday. I am so sorry, I've been a fool, please forgive me, and I intend to make it all right for us now." Logan paused here saying, "I left my first wife, she might be pregnant with someone else's kid and I'm fed up but she insists taking me to court."

Amber was looking over the top of Logan's head at Crystal and she had a look that could bring down a giant redwood tree from a mile away. No doubt, she thought that Crystal had arranged this outrageous event. Crystal stood there shaking her head and was in shock at what was going on before her. Amber was trying to scoot back and get away from Logan, but he had his arm around her waist and would not let go. Both Luke and Theo acted stupidified and shocked beyond measure. In reality, they were. This was not the guy they had hired. This Logan was out-playing his role by twenty miles, but they could only sit and watch the scenario play out. Whoever this was, he had taken center stage and was going for one of those Hollywood awards statues. Luke started to get a little upset.

Amber finally got her wits back and jumped up out of her chair. Logans head went down, but then he began to beg, "Please Amber, you're my love. You know I'd do anything for you. I saved for the last six months and bought you that ring you wanted. Come on, I have reservations in town at Motel 8, let's go. I'd like to give it to you in a nice private setting...just like you wanted."

We were not sure what to do but Theo nudged me, saying, "Let's get up and leave right now. Pretend ultimate anger and disappointment."

So Theo and I threw down our napkins, pushed back our chairs in a show of anger and said that we had to go. We certainly didn't want to interfere with this long lost lover and his private moment of expression! We headed for the door.

When I looked back, I saw that Crystal had the guy by the hair, trying to pull him up while she was yelling demands, commands, and invictives to Logan who was still begging.

He jumped up and charged at us, yelling obscenities. We just made it through the door as his fist hit the wall. We had to run to our van and get out of there before they saw us laughing. Theo was driving, nearly running into the barn wall, he was so out of it. "Wow, that guy is good, had no idea how good this was going to be. But I got the feeling we are in one hell of a mess now. It sure seems like he outdid himself, whoever it was, and we got our money's worth."

We parked at the end of the long drive way and waited to see what might happen. It was about five minutes later when we saw Logan barreling down the driveway on his Harley. He followed us to the pull out about a mile down the road. As soon as we stopped and got out, he pulled up. "Well, you guys, how did I do? And where is my hundred bucks?"

We were still laughing so hard that if the police had gone by, we would have been arrested for being drunk in public. "You've got to try out for the movies, that was the greatest thing we have seen in years. But tell us, how did it end after we left?"

"First of all, I'm Larry, Logan's twin or triplet brother. I've been in a few plays, and so Logan asked me to stand in for him on this one. After Crystal stopped beating on my head and pulling out my hair, I played extra dumb and just yelled out that I'd be back when Amber was feeling better, and I ran like hell. Man, those girls are nothing to mess with."

"You mean they still don't know you were just acting," Theo asked between bouts of laughter.

"No way, they never gave me a chance to explain. Man, I thought they were going to kill me. I think you guys owe me a few extra bucks, especially for the loss of so much hair."

We were still laughing as we paid Logan, or should we say Larry his double, well earned fee. He asked, "If you folks have any other work or acting you need done, just give me a call."

"Sure thing Logan, I mean Larry, and I hate to ask your third brother's name—we'll keep in touch."

We wished him the best with his new acting career and told him we would definitely give a top recommendation if ever he needed one. We watched him pull out and roar down the highway. Then reality hit us.

"Luke, Oh Luke?" Theo was asking in a rather subdued voice.

"Yes, Theo, what you thinking?" I asked in my own shaky voice.

"Do you think they have figured out what we did?"

"Crap, I don't know. But either way, I think we got ourselves into one hell of a bag of doo-doo!"

Just then both our smart phones went off but no way were we going to answer them, not until we knew we were safe and out of reach. We knew the Kaamin twins well enough to know it was going to take a few days for them to cool off once they figured out what we had done.

That night we decided to stay with Thortin. Good thing, we found out later. The girls were on the warpath and we were going to be their war. Brookstone got hold of us and asked us what the heck we had done to cause their feathers to be so ruffled. After telling him our side of the story, he nearly died laughing and gave us the grand award for topping the twins at their game, but also a stupid reward for being so careless as to be found out. "You guys are in a lot of trouble, better have plenty of flowers and chocolates to hand out!"

Now this is where I began to really appreciate the power of money. We took Brookstone's advice directly and from the two flower shops in town, we had two large bouquets and a box of chocolates sent out to the ranch every hour. The flower shop thought we were nuts and actually ran a credit check to make sure the cards were ours to use. We figured that there had to be at least 24 various bouquets and as many boxes of chocolates piled around their office and home.

Thortin ended up with at least 10 boxes of chocolates and 6 giant bouquets, as the girls came looking for us. They had an idea that we might have been there, but they missed us as we headed for the airport.

We told Brookstone, "Rather than having to deal with the girls in their fury, we'll fly to Vancouver and hang out at the Mitchner ranch until the rest of you arrive. In the mean time, or the cool down period, we'd see you at the ranch or aboard The Inheritance. We'll be making arrangements for the bunker treasure to be transferred over to the freighter."

"Man, you guys are chickens," Brookstone declared. Then added, "Some men are all action, as long as there is no obligation!"

We were taken back by this, but I retorted, "Nah, we would rather believe this is pure wisdom—not being chicken!"

Theo came up with one of his fathers adages, "A successful BLUFF at just the right time, is equal to a fantastic get away!"

I had to agree.

"Sure thing. And have a safe trip up to your hiding place, I mean Canada!" Brookstone put in his final jab and hung up.

# Chapter 28

# Alerted!

A fanged serpent strikes with three times its body weight and so it is with a SLANDEROUS TONGUE!

Prior to boarding our plane for Vancouver I received a call from Wally. He calmly informed me that they had finally tagged the man who had been watching and following us. Wally sent a photo to us taken by Morgan, and there was no doubt, it was good old Thomas!

"So he's back on the scene now," Theo pondered aloud.

"Looks like it, but why would he be following us?"

"I would guess that he is still tied into Julie, and that the precious emeralds they took were not enough for them. It is those golden links and the rest of the treasure they are wanting to get their hands on."

"Is it possible for them to do this?" Theo asked.

"Not sure. They certainly don't want to go through the authorities; there would be nothing left for them if they did that."

"Let's get hold of Brookstone and ask him how we might go about handling this situation," Theo suggested.

"Hey, that was our research team, Brookstone surely knows all, long before we do."

"I suggest we get to the ranch and wait for the rest of the team to get there. Then we'll discuss how to deal with this. But let's secure the bunker treasure onboard the Inheritance and lay out our plans for sailing to Hawaii to pick up the Tripper and the rest of the Palmyra treasure."

Theo thought this over and nodded, "That is a good place to start."

"We'd better let Jay and Gretchen know so they can alert York and Fanny that Julie might be pulling a fast one on them. Tell them to play detective but to be discreet about it," I spoke up as I ran this dilemma through my trouble shooting machine. "Also, let's inform Morgan to keep an eye out on Thomas. He's got to have something up his sleeve, and we better be ready for whatever it might be. I really don't like him or his attitude. He seemed to have it out for Jay; remember his adversarial temperament against Jay?"

Theo spouted out his own concerns, "Forget having them warn us of Thomas. What we need is a full alert about those twin Kaamin missiles, trying to hone in on us."

We were on our way but still caught in a twin tower dilemma. Our phones kept ringing and we knew it was Amber and Crystal. No doubt about it, they were upset at us—for a constant flow of messages kept coming to both of us. They were mixed messages, some hints of love but tons of threats. 'Just wait until' seemed to be the theme!

At least we had a few busy days in Canada to keep our minds off what was to come!

Theo and I felt like two young fawns running through the forest, being chased by a pack of highly prized hounds. We kept dodging every phone call and strange visitor. This was ridiculous, I admitted and Theo agreed. But our life in the shadows went on as the big showdown came closer everyday.

Why the heck would two grown men, wealthy business men and the heads of a fantastic team of men and women paused for greatness, be hiding in the shadows from two women? I brought this up to Theo, and together we determined that these two women must have some kind of power over our feelings. But no solution to the dilemma was offered up.

I finally got upset at Theo for feeding my fears and told him that it was time for us to grow up and get our pants back from those two thieves. We were acting like wimps; what the darn heck had happened to us? So we armed ourselves with new strength and the shield of boldness, no more running and hiding, we agreed.

Millions of books have been written about love. The shelves of great libraries are filled and overflowing with books on love. Philosophy and love, war and love, love and sorrows and even mathematical formulas on love. Theo and I were considering a book of how to run from love. Somehow or another, our feelings and emotions had gone through the gears of naivety in the last few years, and we were being spit out of the other end. We were not sure of the product yet. We did take steps to fortify ourselves regarding this thing called love, and told each other we would be there for one another.

# Chapter 29

# Vancouver And Make Up Time!

The mountains of fantasy are scaled by foolishness but reality is discovered by a harsh fall!

We told Auggie that we wanted to begin extracting the bunker treasure as soon as the freighter vaults were secured. We would need Jessie Vanderhoof, the ranch foreman, and his brother Hudson to begin packing the safe deposit boxes into crates, making them ready for shipping. We had purchased fifty airtight military ammo boxes which would work perfectly for storing the safety boxes. We would ask Jessie to send a few guys to make a run to the salvage yard outside the city of Vancouver to pick them up. Everything would be packed and we would haul everything over to the freighters, once we knew they were ready.

The weather cleared up a little in the next few days but it was still cool and very breezy. Brookstone and the girls along with a couple of the Kaamin brothers would be arriving within a day or so, they would come directly to the freighter upon their arrival.

I was busy in the navigation center of the Inheritance killing time while the bunker treasure was being prepared. It was fascinating to have a first-hand look, I wanted to get a reasonable understanding of the freighter's systems and general layout. I was deep in thought while going over the blueprints of the ship, when a high pitched voice blasted behind me, scaring the crap out of me when it broke my contemplation.

I jumped up and turned around, thinking we had already been boarded by pirates and they were here to get me. The voice bellowed out, "Okay Mitchner, mister smart man. You and your smart turkey buddy are in lots of trouble!"

I stood there in shock as this crazy woman with hair all frizzled by the stormy winds was coming at me with her finger pointing at my chest. It was Amber! I knew the voice, but this stormy entry was totally unexpected. I had been going over several scenarios on how to deal with this fired up woe in my life. At first I was really angered at how she just burst in and started going at me. I stood there to see my favorite companion in travel and in life walking towards me, and for sure, she had a kick ass look on her face. All scenarios went flying.

I didn't know what to say, so just burst out, "Wow, it's you Amber. You girls finally got here. Long time, no see," I hurried and sat down, so she didn't have a clear shot at me. I leaned back in my chair as she stood hovering over me and I noticed that her fists were rolled up tight. I knew she would never strike me, but it was obvious that this woman was rather perturbed at me...very perturbed! "What has got you so riled Amber? What bee has stung you today?"

She managed to calm down after realizing her outburst might have been a bit strong. "Don't be so funny Mitchner. You and Theo think you're so smart. You guys are worse than two monkeys flinging doo-doo at each other. What do you mean siccing that Logan jerk on me like that?"

With all the efforts of a trained ventriloquist, I played dumb. "What are you talking about Dear One?"

"Don't call me dear. You guys are in big trouble...Why would you pull such a dirty trick on us?"

"You must be referring to our getting up and leaving you with your latest Logan lover man, I'm guessing?"

Oh man, that was the wrong thing to be saying at this moment. I guess I was still in a humorous mood, but it was like a fish swimming into a dam. I knew pain was on its way. I switched gears real quick, thinking to go into bribe mode, "How did you like all the candy and those great flowers we sent your way?"

She finally got a smile to move on her face. "That is proof of your guilt! Just so you know, we sent the candy out to your old surfing friends with special sweet boy-to-boy notes attached. You and your Buddy Theo must be cement brains. Who would think that this hired play-actor Logan with his get-up could be my latest man of the town?" She stopped for a moment, caught her breath, then went on, "If I were going to go after someone, believe me, I have more class than that. What took the cake was the Hotel 8 reference. Come on Mitchner. Besides, Crystal and I undid your little plot in about five minutes. Remember, my dear friend, my family runs a security business. Spy or data gathering is nothing to us. I made a few calls and we went to visit Logan at his apartment. With a little persuasion, he confessed everything."

I had to think on that word 'persuasion' and asked, "Is Logan okay, you girls didn't hurt him did you?"

"No. It got a little confusing, for he swore up and down that he was not Logan, but Harry, or maybe it was Larry, one of the triplets. But I think Larry will pass the message on to Logan when he shows up—that he better not play the boyfriend game again, at least with us."

I thought it was time for me to take a stand, and so stood up face to face with this lovely fired-up woman. I knew that I had several choices. I could continue to play dumb, or fight back, and maybe get clobbered; or maybe—just begin to mend things here and now. Thinking ahead, knowing we had a test run of the freighter and a lot of loose ends to tie up, I chose the peace-making route.

"Amber, first of all, why would you bait me or test me with those flowers in your office? I will say, they were pretty and must have cost a small fortune. Regardless of the flowers, why would you think that making me jealous would do some good in our relationship?"

"What relationship?" she sputtered back at me.

"You know, the one that goes all the way back to the Phoenix gem show where we first got to know each other. Then the hiring of you and Crystal to be our helpers and companions in Theo's surf film. Our time in Hawaii together, our self defense lessons, then the Obscenity Island experience, and the sailing trip across the Pacific on The New Song and the near death experience on Palmyra. Then there were the frightening storms and those many long watches under the stars." I now very carefully put my hands onto her shoulders, stared directly into her simmering eyes and went on, "Then our stay on the north shore, our work with the James family, the undermining of the drug cartels and then the Bay Front Retirement Home project with York and Fanny and so many other episodes of being with you. How could you think that I don't care?"

This made her stop and consider. For I could see the flames slowly dying down and then through vapors of smoke, it was as if pages were being flipped as she went over our year or so together. "And...by the way, did you concoct the flower scheme up on your own? It didn't seem like that was your style; you are rather a stand-back personality, you always wait to see. Who put you up to this?"

Her eyelids flickered; I could tell she was thinking how she got herself into this situation. Her onslaught was not going according to plan, but she would not say a thing. Then I nodded and said, "It was your crazy sister Crystal, wasn't it?"

Her face remained locked in non-committal mode and she leaned into me, trying to hide the true confession, that it was Crystal. I slowly moved in and had my chin resting in her hair while I patted her, saying that all was well, or sort of, well.

"Do you think that I have discounted your care for me?" I thought it best to take this moment to speak a little of what was on my heart. "Amber, without a doubt, you are the best thing that has happened to me in my life. I could not ask for a better friend, a more wonderful companion. I know there are strong feelings between us. Maybe I have been lacking in expressing my part. But please understand what changes my life has taken in the last few years. I've been overloaded with this inheritance thing, our hiding from the gold seekers, our entanglements with these extraordinary episodes, and it is not yet over. I am letting you know right now, I am not the lovey-dovey kiss-me-to-the-moon type of person. I think you know that by now. But, my feelings for you are more than just feelings."

Amber took her head off my shoulder and looked into my eyes and simply asked me, "Luke, would you say that your feelings have entered into the realm of love for me?"

Wow, I thought. Never before had I been asked this, and was not sure how to answer. But it was such an innocent moment, and one of our most serious times together. This meeting suddenly entered into the realm of love and commitment. I answered, "Yes. How far into that realm, as you say, I don't know. But my feelings for you are certainly beyond friendship or companionship."

I was curious about what had set all this off, "Amber, why all of a sudden does this feeling and relationship thing suddenly become so serious for you?"

She looked at me as if I were a bit stupid, but realized that this was one of our first deep exchanges about us, ourselves and maybe our futures. "I keep seeing how Theo treats Crystal, and how close they are growing. Maybe I am a little jealous of my sister, I really don't know. Then there is Jay and Gretchen, guess their wedding really affected me and Crystal too. To tell you the truth, I don't want to be left behind."

"Oh, so it is about Theo. Let me tell you, he's one of those romantics, the kind that you read in the silly feel-good romances. The couple kisses, and suddenly this kiss manifests into a revolution inside the body. The eyeballs roll around, the blood boils, the moon rises, the stars fall, and the bones start to shake, the blood rushes and sparks fly, with the woman going faint, the brain goes bonkers and the heart nearly stops. Sorry, but I ain't one of those kind of romantics—dear. That is Theo's style, not mine."

Amber was looking into my eyes with what I considered a 'want some security with a seal-the-deal kiss.' She whispered, "Would it hurt to at least send a shooting star my way, now and then?"

Knowing I had taken the driver's seat, I bent my face closer to hers, my lips moved across her cheek and slowly met her waiting lips. She responded with unexpected fervor and drew closer to me. Wow! I almost burst out laughing, because it was as if the world began to rock and I was seeing what I thought were stars!

Just as things were getting good, and I was traveling the planets, Brookstone, Crystal and Theo must have heard the outburst and came hurrying into the room. They stopped dead, like a train with its cars bumping into one another. Brookstone blurted out with a smile in his voice, "What the heck you doing with my baby sister?!"

Theo followed up with a "Wow, fancy that. Getting it right, ah Luke?"

Then good old Crystal started clapping and letting loose cries of delight. We instantly broke apart with our faces red. It was Amber who got her wits back first. She put her arm through mine and boldly said, "All of you be quiet. I was just teaching Luke here, how to kiss a woman...and I mean a real woman!"

Brookstone stood there quiet until he broke into a smile, "Yeah, yeah, enough is enough. Put the lessons aside for now, we got some major decisions to make."

Just then, I felt a vibration in the floor below me, then the ships whistle blew three loud blasts. Brookstone said, "They are testing and tuning the engines for the first test run. We will take her out tomorrow for a three-day sail around Vancouver Island. Benjamin Highmanner will not release the ship to us unless he himself approves it, making sure all systems are functioning perfectly." Brookstone was explaining the vibration and the soon to sail test-run, but my mind was still counting the stars.

I was still reeling from the exchange between Amber and me. Glad that it was the floor vibrating from the power of the huge engines below. For a moment, I thought it was my and Amber's kiss!

Crystal had come over to Amber and they were jabbering about something, "Told you it would work."

Wanting to change the intensity of the moment, I called Brookstone's attention to the ship's blueprints that Benjamin had given me.

Theo let me know, "Jocko, Jay and Gretchen will be here tonight. They'll be learning the ship's systems, and we'll be helping get things in order." He added, "You might want to wipe some of that lipstick off your face, Luke."

Embarrassed with this last reminder, with some trepidation I whispered to Theo, "Just letting you know, your sweet little Crystal is in trouble and might be receiving some flowers...from Logan, Harry or Larry, whatever the hell their names are, but soon."

# THE END

# PART ONE

The Inheritance Part Two

Carry on...

Luke and his adventurous friends are finally on their way. They've battled gangs on the beach for young surfing buddies and drug gangs in a California marina who were threatening to kick out senior-aged old friends from their boat homes.

And now the team is off in The Inheritance freighter, newly remodeled for comfort, for high tech surveillance and secretly super armed, just in case it needs to be.

They will run into more troubles (of course!). They find a Peruvian ancient treasure to rescue. They find lasting romance and enduring friendship forged in the furnace of tribulation — fighting dangerous men trying to take over the mining at Luke's ranch, wanting to steal treasure from Peru, and try to throw Luke and Theo out of a helicopter—over a raging Amazon river.

It's a good thing to have an amazing team, but best of all to have good friends!

#

# Books by Michael M.Tickenoff

The Luke Mitchner Series

..1 \- The Green Bus And The X-0 Factor!

..2 \- The Pitt Stop Puzzle Mystery!

..3 \- The Hearst Castle's Lost Treasure Mystery!

..4 \- Obscenity Island!

..5 \- Palmyra Island Lost Treasure Adventure!

..6 - The Inheritance!..Parts 1 & 2

Angel Eyes!

Fountains From Ice! The King and the Shepherd Boy

Olga, The Blind Mans Beauty!

The Seventh Man!

Old Blind Sarah And The Village Lake Walkers!

The Lost Wagon Wheel Treasure Mystery!...An Oregon Trail adventure

1000 Things To Tell Your Kids Before It's Too Late!...Rare seeds for a better future

Ponderosity! A vast collection...5000 Personal Proverbs and Sayings from Michael

Look for other books and stories by Michael M. Tickenoff at storynetadventures.com
