Page 38 of Rett

“Well, deep-sea fishing with three one-legged men. This should be fun.”

“Boys, take everything stealth we have, including the netting,” said Doug.

“Stealth netting? What the hell are you boys doing down there?” asked Bankston. There was silence and cold stares when he shook his head, laughing. “Never mind. It’s best that I don’t know. Get Rosalita Ramos out of there, and we’ll have a witness to everything.” The screen went dark, and Luke, Hex, Eric, and Cam stared at the three men headed to the door.

“Hey, you don’t have to do this,” said Cam. “We’ll find another way. If you three get caught down there, it’s going to be a clusterfuck.”

“Which is why I’m going with them,” smirked Hawk. “I need some practice on my long-range rifle skills. This should be perfect.”

“You’re not going without me!” yelled Eagle.

“What the fuck,” muttered Luke. “You guys do realize this isn’t a volunteer situation where anyone who wants to go, goes. We assign the jobs.” The men all smiled at them, waiting.

“Fine. Hawk, Eagle, Kegger, Parker, and Clay. You would have been chosen anyway,” said Eric with a smirk.

“Let’s go, boys,” said Doug. “I’ve got some interesting new gadgets to show you.”

While the five men went with Doug, the others worked contingency plans if they were somehow captured down there. If Ramos and the second man were pretending to be Americans with the drug cartels, this could go sideways fast. On the other hand, if the drug cartels knew of the ruse and were in on it, then the whole operation was bigger than anyone realized.

“You three need to think about what you saw when you went around that lake,” said Eric. He pulled the map up on the screen again.

“I went south,” said Rett. “I needed to avoid any major cities and couldn’t go through Maracaibo. I would have been away from where the mansion is located. I saw a lot of trucks, construction equipment on the highways, that sort of thing, but I have no way of knowing if it was headed toward that lake.”

“I followed the lake to Maracaibo,” said East. “Like I said, I was supposed to be on a transport to Mexico, but I missed the window because of fucking llama traffic. When I didn’t show up, they left without me. I had to book a commuter flight that only took me to Barquisimeto, and then I rented a car and drove to Cartagena to take a commercial flight. I have the ticket stubs in my wallet. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going in a straight line.”

“I got the call to go to Panama and could only get a flight out of Maracaibo. I had a rental car and drove along the west side of the lake,” said Eazee.

“Then you would have driven right by it,” said Eric. “Think about it, Eazee. What did you see? Was there anything unusual?”

“Brother, I’m thinking, but it was weeks ago now. Traffic was pretty light, beautiful scenery. I saw some construction equipment as well, but nothing that made me suspicious. There was a lot of road construction happening.”

“What kind of road construction?” asked Grant. He wasn’t always part of their meetings, but when he was able, he definitely enjoyed being a part of it.

“I’m not sure. They had the road torn up, and it looked like they might be making a tunnel through to the other side of the valley.” Grant smiled.

“No. No, they weren’t building a tunnel to the valley. They were building a tunnel to that mansion.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

While the men were still meeting, Casey went with the wedding experts to discuss what she wanted at her wedding. It was sad to not have her mother there, but she knew that both she and her father were watching from above.

“Now, I’ve got a few dresses I thought you might like. This is more fairy-tale princess. This is more va-va-voom sexy,” smirked Gwen. “This one is my favorite for you. It’s simple but elegant, and it will show off that magnificent bosom of yours.”

Casey laughed, looking at each one of the dresses. She touched the fine fabric, the delicate beading, and lace. The one Gwen had recommended was indeed her favorite. She knew that Rett would love her breasts in the dress.

“I think I like this one,” she smiled. “They’re all so beautiful, Gwen. I can’t thank you enough for doing this for me.”

“You’re very welcome, honey. I’ll take some photos for my website, but it won’t show your face.” Casey nodded, understanding that she had to remain anonymous.

“Now, what about flowers?” asked Mama Irene.

“Oh, I’m afraid flowers aren’t in my wheelhouse even a little. I don’t know anything about them at all.”

“Nonsense! You know what you like and what smells good. We got this whole big old garden out here, just walk around and smell.” Irene watched as she rose from the table in the grove, walking into the gardens.

Casey stopped, smelling the hyacinth and jasmine, inhaling deeply. The magnolias were in full bloom, as well as the hydrangeas and hibiscus. There was bougainvillea, bird of paradise, plumeria, and angel trumpet. Everything smelled so wonderful!

“It all smells amazing,” she said, shaking her head.

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