"Pirate's Pleasure" Chapter 2 Honeymoon Plans

"There you are." Alex exclaimed as she met up with Sydney and Gage on the elevator. "Walker filled me in on the big honeymoon. I want to know why we weren't invited to the wedding." She tried to maintain a stern expression, but a smile crept out of the corners of her mouth.

"Alex! I expected the chiding out of Jimmy and even Walker, but you?" Sydney laughed.

"Oh, come on. We all know that the two of you are headed for the alter sooner or later. It's just funny that you've decided to put the honeymoon before the wedding." She laughed again.

Gage felt his face growing red and was thankful that the elevator doors opened just then so he could escape the embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Gage." Alex apologized, noting how red his face had become. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Embarrass me? I'm not embarrassed. It's just a little hot in that elevator."

Alex and Sydney both nodded. "Um mm." They said in unison. Then Alex turned to Sydney. "Call me when you get back. I want to hear all about this case. I guess it gives a new meaning to 'undercover' work."

"ALEX!" Sydney exclaimed, her face now growing as red as Gage's.

Alex continued to laugh. "I'll see you two when you get back. Good luck."

Gage held the door open for Sydney. "I can't believe she would do that." Sydney exclaimed.

"Oh, come on Syd. She was just having a little fun with us. Trivette probably put her up to it."

"You're probably right, but usually Alex is on my side."

"Well, now you know what the other side of the fence feels like." He smiled and put his arm around her as the walked to the parking lot.

******

When Deke finished up his work at McCall's he headed home to his apartment, anxious to see if the police had called letting him know when he could pick up his yacht. He checked his answering machine as soon as he entered the room.

"Mr. LaFleur, this is Capt. Capshaw with the Houston PD. Your yacht is available for pick up anytime today between 1:00 and 5:00." Deke looked at his watch. It was 4:15. "I can make that." He quickly called a cab and within a few minutes found himself outside of the police department.

He paid the cabby and stood outside for a moment. "What if they're trying to trick me? What if they know what I did and they plan to arrest me as soon as I come in?" He played it over and over in his mind. "Did I leave any evidence behind that could connect this to me?" Soon he decided that he was in the clear and he entered the police station.

"Could you direct me to the impound yard?" He asked one of the officers.

"Sure. Take the first left and then the second right." He pointed down a hallway.

"Thanks."

Deke started down the hallway, feeling as if the walls were closing in on him. He forced himself to remain calm, but inside his heart was pounding and he could almost feel himself begin to sweat.

"Can I help you?" A female voice boomed from behind the bullet proof glass.

"Yes. I'm Deke LaFleur. You have my yacht here and I was told I could pick it up today."

"LaFleur, LaFleur. Yeah, here it is. Boat slip #5."

"Thanks." He started towards the boat dock.

"Hey! Wait! You need to fill out these papers!" The woman shouted.

"Uh, Ok. Sure." He took the clipboard and nervously sat and filled out the forms and then returned them to the officer.

"OK. Now you can take your boat out." There was a loud buzz as the large metal door swung opened, allowing Deke onto the dock. As soon as he stepped through, the door clanked shut behind him. He quickly found Slip #5 and climbed aboard the "Pirate's Pleasure", cranked her up and headed out for open waters.

As he traveled through the currents, he noticed that something didn't seem quite right. "Great! They've probably taken her clean apart and didn't put her together right!" As Deke pulled into the marina near McCall Travel, he performed a thorough check of the yacht before getting off.

The door to McCall Travel swung open abruptly as Deke slammed everything out of his way. "Damn it! You'd think they could at least put it back the way they found it!" He yelled.

"Deke! What's wrong?" Mr. McCall asked as he heard the young man enter.

"The police department, that's what's wrong! They took the "Pirate's Pleasure" apart and didn't put her together right. She's not pulling nearly what she should and there's a grinding in the motor now." He huffed.

"Settle down, son. We'll call Holloman's. I'm sure they can have her ready to pull out by tomorrow night."

Deke began to settle down somewhat. "You think so?"

"I know so. I'll call the Brentwood's and let them know that their honeymoon will be delayed by one day. We'll make it up to them. Don't worry."

"Thanks Ray."

"You're welcome." The older man replied as he put his arm around Deke and walked with him to the door. "I'll take care of it, like always."

Deke nodded. Ray McCall had been the closest thing to a father that he had ever known. He hated to betray him like this, but he didn't see where he had any other choice.

********

"Hello." Gage answered the phone as he and Sydney entered their apartment.

"Mr. Brentwood?"

"Yes, this is Kyle Brentwood."

"This is Mr. McCall with McCall Travel. You booked a three-day honeymoon cruise with us yesterday."

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"We've had a few minor difficulties with the yacht. We do expect them to be fixed by tomorrow and we were hoping that we could delay your trip by one day. I realize that this is a major inconvenience and we'll knock off 25% of the cost in effort to make it up to you."

Gage paused. "Oh man . . ." He whined. "This is our honeymoon. Can't you do something?"

Mr. McCall paused. "I tell you what I'll do, Mr. Brentwood. I'll set you up at the Radisson. Oceanfront room, room-service and I'll have a nice bottle of champaign waiting for you upon arrival."

"That might do it." Gage smiled. "Thank you Mr. McCall and we'll arrive Sunday and we'll see you on Monday."

"Thank you for being so understanding Mr. Brentwood and best wishes on your wedding tomorrow."

Gage smiled at Sydney who had began to undress. "Thank you." He replied as he hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Sydney asked as she started to slip on a pair of shorts.

Gage stopped her by gently bringing her arms up to his neck. "Don't bother putting those on. I'll only have to take them back off."

She slowly let the shorts fall from her hand and let her arms reach around Gage's neck, bringing his face closer and closer until his mouth reached hers and enveloped her lips in a passionate kiss.

Sydney's head flung backwards as Gage kissed her harder and harder and then he picked her up and effortlessly carried her to bed.

Once there, he laid her on the bed and removed his clothes. He then began to kiss and caress her body, starting with her neck and slowly, ever so slowly, working his way down. She moaned with delight as his mouth and tongue explored her skin and every once in a while, when he hit just the right spot, she would cry out . . .

The following morning, Gage woke to find Sydney's head lying on his chest. His stomach growled, reminding him that they hadn't stopped for dinner last night. But it was worth it. His thoughts drifted back to the night of lovemaking and he smiled in spite of himself.

Sydney slowly opened her eyes and smiled as she let her mind drift back to last night. She knew that there could never be another man so perfect for her and she was so happy that she had finally found him, even though he had been right under her nose all this time.

"Um, hey you." Gage drawled.

"Hey yourself." Sydney smiled. "Thank you for last night."

"I was just about to say the same thing to you."

"What's on the agenda for today?" He asked as he started to get up.

"First a big breakfast. I'm starving!" She replied.

"Me too. Let's hit the breakfast bar at that new restaurant down the street."

"Sounds good to me." She headed for the shower. "Then we need to come home and pack and make sure that our wedding announcement is printed up."

"You mean Kyle and Leslie's announcement." Gage corrected.

"Yeah, OK, our announcement, Kyle and Leslie's announcement, whatever."

Gage smiled as he picked up a picture of he and Sydney. "Soon Syd, soon."

********

"So, do you think Gage and Sydney are all packed and ready to leave?" Alex asked Walker as she fed Angela.

"They should be. They'll leave tonight and their cruise is supposed to leave at 6:00 a.m."

Angela jumped when the phone rang and began to cry.

"I've got it." Walker replied. "Hello." He answered.

"Walker, it's Gage."

"Hey Gage, what are you up to this morning? Isn't it supposed to be your wedding day?"

"It's supposed to be Kyle and Leslie's wedding day, yes. But there's been a slight change of plans on the cruise."

"What's going on?"

Gage explained the phone call he had received from Mr. McCall yesterday evening.

"So, do you still feel comfortable with this?"

"Yeah. It makes sense. I mean, Houston PD just got through with the yacht and it's very possible that they didn't put things back exactly the way they should have been."

"Alright, if you and Sydney are OK with it, then keep everything in place, but be careful and call me when you get there."

"You've got it boss."

Gage hung up the phone just as Sydney came into the living room. "Who was that?" She asked.

"Walker. I explained the changes to him. He's fine with it."

"What changes?" She asked.

Gage opened his mouth to speak, realizing that he never told Sydney about last night's phone call. He explained everything to her just as he had to Walker moments before. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you that."

"Well, we were just a little preoccupied last night, weren't we?" She stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.

******

Walker's phone rang again before he had a chance to sit down to breakfast.

"What in the world?" Alex asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Probably Gage again." He answered. "Walker."

"Ranger Walker. This is Jonathan Sharp, from Symtech."

"Yes, Mr. Sharp. How are you?"

"I was doing much better before I found out that a couple of highly sensitive files are missing."

"How sensitive?" Walker asked, glancing towards the kitchen to see Alex lifting Angela from her highchair.

"One deals with a possible merger between Symtech another weapons manufacturer and the other is blueprints for two new weapons." He took an exasperated breath. "Ranger Walker, I don't have to tell you what this kind of information could do in the wrong hands."

"You're certain it's missing?" Walker asked, wanting Sharp to be sure that he hadn't overlooked anything.

"Yes and Cameron was the only other person working on this with me. He had the files locked away in his safe, but their not there now." Mr. Sharp sounded frantic.

"Do you have back-up copies of the files?" Walker was pretty sure that in this computer age, everyone backed up their most important files, but he had to ask.

"Certainly. On the computer, but Cameron could only be holding onto those files for one reason . . . he must be planning to sell the new weapons plans."

"Can you put a freeze on all of your current orders?"

"I've already alerted all of our facilities, letting them know that Cameron Vega is no longer with this company and that they are to contact the Texas Rangers if they hear from him. I can't put a freeze on all of the orders, because several are based on high level Government contracts that can't be broken."

"I understand Mr. Sharp. Please keep us informed."

"I will Ranger Walker. I will."

Walker returned to the kitchen just as Alex was wiping off the table. "Did I miss breakfast?"

"It's cold, but give me a minute and I'll fix you some more eggs."

******

"Capt. Deke LaFleur, may I help you?" Deke answered.

"Deke, it's Cam. I'll be there this afternoon."

"Cam, listen, there's been a change of plans. I won't be ready to go out until tomorrow morning. The yacht's in dry dock having a tune up. It's supposed to be ready in the morning. Oh and Cam, we have two passengers. I'll have to complete their cruise before I take you to Florida."

"NO!" Cameron shouted. "NO! NO! NO! Your two passengers will either have to take a detour; either to Florida or permanently! Do you understand?" Cameron slammed the phone down and started pacing frantically around his hotel room.

"I need to get out of here. They haven't caught up with me yet, but I'm sure they know by now that the files are missing. Maybe I can get in touch with the buyers in Cuba. Yeah, that's it Cam. Make good use of this downtime. Talk to the buyers and get everything settled before you get to Florida, then once the information and money exchanges hands, you can be on your way to Tahiti." He picked up his cell phone and started dialing. "I need to make an International call, please."

*******

The following morning, Sydney and Gage headed out for Houston. They parked at the airport and took a cab to the Radisson where they were escorted to a beautiful suite and as Mr. McCall had promised, a large bottle of champaign sat, chilling on the table.

"Sir, Madame. Mr. McCall asked me to let you know that you are to have absolutely anything you need. Just dial room service." He turned and closed the door behind him.

"Thank you." Gage replied to the closed door as he and Sydney began to explore their luxurious surroundings.

"Boy, you must have really sounded disappointed when Mr. McCall told you that the cruise was going to be a day late." Sydney stated as she examined a lead crystal vase.

"Not really. You know, this bothers me a little. I wonder if McCall is onto us?"

"How could he be? I mean, at this point, we're not even sure he's involved."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Gage replied as he began sweeping the room for bugs.

"Anything?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Nope." He began to walk towards her, a smile spreading across his face.

"What?" She asked, innocently.

"We have this whole place to ourselves and this is our honeymoon night."

"Correction. This is Kyle and Leslie's honeymoon night." She wrapped her arms around his neck and they stood staring into each other's eyes as the sun began to set.

********

Cameron Vega crept along the deck early the next morning. He spotted the "Pirate's Pleasure" docked in its usual slip and figured that Deke must have been able to pick it up sometime the night before. He quietly boarded the craft and made his way to one of the quarters below. "Deke? Deke are you here?"

Deke turned slowly in his cot and then upon hearing his name for the second time. "Uh?" He said aloud.

"Deke!" Cameron whispered loudly. "Where are you?"

"Cam, is that you?" Deke jumped up from his cot and started out of his cabin.

"There you are." Cameron said, relieved that Deke was onboard. "I wasn't sure if you were here or not."

"I thought you weren't going to show up until morning."

"It is morning, my dear boy. It's 4:30 a.m."

"4:30! Oh man, I've got a lot to do. I have a couple showing up at 6:00." Deke headed back towards his cabin to change clothes.

"Where do you want me?" Cameron asked through the closed door.

"I don't care. Pick a cabin. Do you plan to stay out of sight, or should I introduce you as my partner?"

"I like the idea of you introducing me as your partner, that way I don't have to stay down below for a week."

"Good enough." Deke emerged from the cabin. "Now, if you're going to be my partner, we have to do something about those clothes." He handed Cameron a pair of casual khaki shorts and a white shirt. "Put these on."

END CHAPTER 2