Timing Part 5
Terry moved uncomfortably on the hard metal bench in the airplane. The edge was catching her over the wound on the back of her leg. Creosote impregnated wood tended to leave a lasting burning in a wound anyway without the additional pressure. Craig cast an eye on her.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," Terry nodded. She looked up at her brother. "Say, tell me something."
"What?"
Terry frowned. "When you briefed us on this mission, you said there were other teams at other locations doing the same thing we were doing. Are there other teams out there with cons like us?"
"No," Craig shook his head. "There are special forces teams doing the same things we are." He couldn't help a tiny bit of pride showing. "Though not as good as our guys." He looked at his sister, finding it satisfying he finally had someone he could talk to openly. "General Fremont told me the upper brass is impressed with our record. They think this was a good idea, so they are going to start setting up other teams of cons."
Terry shot a surprised look at him and said smugly, "They won't be as good as these guys."
"Probably not," agreed Craig. "I did get the best of the lot."
"Will that take some of the pressure off of us?" she asked.
"I don't know," replied Craig honestly. "I hope so, but I doubt it. They just can't stretch us much thinner. It will mean I will be going away for a few days at a time to help them with the initial set up." He noticed but did not comment on her use of 'us', including herself in the group. As much as he hated to admit it, she was becoming part of the group now.
"Will you be going in with them?" Terry asked with concern.
"Probably not," said Garrison. "I don't know. I went in the first couple times with one of the other lieutenants when he set up his Special Forces team. They aren't cons so they follow military procedure better."
"I think we work because we don't follow military procedure," remarked the girl.
"I know." There was a twinge of frustration in his voice. Terry eyed him and spoke softly to be sure the others could not hear. "You're having a problem with that aren't you?"
"Yeah," agreed Garrison, speaking just as softly. "It goes against everything we were ever taught in the Academy."
"This is a new concept," said Terry. "It's kind of like taking the cavalry versus the Indians and making us the Indians."
Craig looked at her in surprise at the excellent analogy. "Yes, now that you put it that way."
"Brother, the military has to change. Times are changing. We are no longer fighting wars against honorable men. Yeah, the tanks and the infantry and the bombing raids, they stay about the same, but now the enemy is fighting dirty and we have to fight just as dirty or lose. There's always going to be war, but I think it is evolving into the three 'S's." At his questioning look she continued, "Spying, sabotage, and subterfuge."
Craig stared at her. "Maybe you ought to be teaching West Point."
"Hardly," replied Terry with a sarcastic snort.
"You grew up on the ranch too," said Craig. "How did you learn so much about war?"
Terry leaned back, shoulder to shoulder with her brother. "I watch and listen. I did that in Washington with Dad. And here I do the same thing. You're busy trying to keep control over the guys. All I have to do is sit back and learn, from them and you. I listen up when you and Actor are plotting. You have a keen mind, Craig. You always have. Actor has one too, but his can take a wicked twist. You're learning."
"That's what I'm afraid of," admitted Craig. "I'm afraid I'm going to become like him."
Terry squeezed his arm. "I think you are becoming more realistic. You never went through whatever in this life he did that set him on the path he chose. We can learn from him, but we'll never be like him. Makes you wonder what he would have become under different circumstances."
"The world would have been a safer place," joked Garrison.
"Not for the women," said Terry with a smile. "That part wouldn't have changed." Craig stared at her. "What?" she grinned. "Hey, I can't deny it; he is a very handsome, very attractive and appealing man." At the concern in her brother's eyes, she added, "But not my type." She wouldn't admit even to herself that was changing too.
GGGGG
Chris had been watching for the Packard and went out to stand at the top of the steps when she heard it coming up the drive. It pulled to a stop close to the base of the steps, the engine was turned off. Christine frowned, not remembering hearing the horn sound for wounded. She stayed where she was, watching to see what was going on.
The back doors opened and Goniff and Casino spilled out. Casino positioned himself just behind and to the side of the front passenger door. Both front doors opened, with Craig getting out on the driver's side and Actor getting out on the passenger side. The Italian gave the safecracker an irritated look which only caused the shorter man to take an insolent half step back.
Actor reached a hand inside the vehicle and assisted Teresa to get out. The girl was moving a bit stiffly. The confidence man tucked her left hand around his right elbow, patted it, and started carefully toward the stairs. Casino stepped up from behind them and tucked her right hand between his elbow and body. Terry looked at him in surprise, but did not object. The two men exchanged glares over her head, Actor's warningly and Casino's challenging.
Oh, boy, thought Chris, wondering at Casino's bid for what Chris had come to assume was Actor's territory. She shot a quick glance at Craig. Garrison was watching the three with a disgusted look and a shake of his head. Goniff was staying well back from the group. As the trio started up the steps, Chris thought it was a good thing the stairway was a wide one.
She waited until they were halfway up before asking Terry, "What happened to you."
"Casino blew me up," replied the older girl breezily.
"Thanks, Terry," objected the safecracker, missing the accusing eyes Actor directed toward him.
"It's all right, Babe," said Terry, "I told you I forgive you." She paused with a wicked grin. "And I am sure Craig will too . . . sometime in the next hundred years."
"He really blew you up?" asked Chris incredulously.
"Kind of," affirmed Terry.
The three reached the landing and paused. Chris backed into the house and held the door open. Neither man seemed likely to let go of Terry's arm. The older girl looked up and back and forth between the two.
"Excuse me, Gentlemen," she said. "We can't all three fit through the door together. I thank both of you for your gallantry, but I can walk on my own from here." With a slight tug, she freed her hands from both men and stepped forward.
"Hi Craig!" called Chris trying to prevent a fist fight from starting on the landing. "How are you?"
"Getting annoyed," replied her brother. He pushed between his confidence man and his safecracker. "Grow up," he growled.
"Excuse me?" erupted Actor indignantly.
"What?" exploded Casino at the same time.
"You heard me," said Craig evenly, never looking back.
Terry stood at the base of the stairs, back to the scene, biting both lips to keep from laughing. Chris let go of the door, sucked in both cheeks and walked over to stand with her sister.
Casino smirked at the Italian and motioned him in first. "Age before looks," he taunted in a quiet voice.
Actor gave him a look relegating him to the station of a cockroach and proceeded into the house. Casino followed with Goniff hanging back and cautiously bringing up the rear, closing the door quietly behind them.
"There's scones and hot chocolate in the kitchen, Guys," announced Christine brightly.
Craig paused and turned to look at her. "Scones? You made scones?"
"Muffins to us Yanks," smiled his little sister. "I grated a Hershey bar in them," she added enticingly to encourage the cons into the kitchen.
Goniff immediately made a beeline for the kitchen. Casino slowly sauntered in that direction.
"How is Chief?" inquired Actor.
"He's doing okay," replied Chris, noting the attention of her siblings and the con man. "The wound's clean and the stitches are fine."
"I'll look at it," said Terry to the Italian.
"No," Actor said firmly. "I will look at it. You need to rest."
Craig would ordinarily have said something at the tone of voice, but waited to see how his sister decided to deal with it. Terry turned and gave the taller Italian a jaundiced eye.
"I will do as you suggest, Caro," she said with a tinge of sarcasm, "Only because I consider you my physician." She turned to her sister, effectively dismissing the arrogant man. "Chris, would you bring me a couple of those muffins?"
"Sure," replied the younger girl, watching the confidence man turn with overt dignity and walk toward the kitchen.
When Actor was out of hearing, Craig looked at his sister with his hands on his hips. "Terry . . ." he said warningly.
Terry shook her head. "Not me, Brother. I'm just the flavor of the day with those two," she said. "You know Casino will pick a fight over anything. I just happen to be it this time. Actor thinks he's responsible for my well-being, probably thanks to you. And Casino is feeling guilty that I got hurt by something he did. Let them sort themselves out." She turned to her sister. "I'm going to visit Chief. Could you get us a couple of those muffins before they're gone and bring them up?"
"Sure," replied Chris. "Chief had two this morning, but he could probably eat a couple more." She turned to Craig. "Come on, Brother, before they are all gone."
Terry walked slowly up the stairs while her siblings went to the kitchen. She shook her head and chuckled at the antics of the two men who had escorted her to the door. Now each thought it was his duty to look after her. Mother hens, that's what they were, mother hens.
She tapped on Chief's door and entered at his invitation to come in. The Indian grinned at her when she entered; the grin turning to a frown at her hobbling gait. Terry smiled back at him.
"What happened to you?" Chief asked.
"Casino blew me up," said Terry, determined to milk every bit she could get out of it to the safecracker's chagrin.
"You're kidding?" Chief stared at her.
"Nope," grinned Terry. "The explosive went off too soon."
"He hurt too?"
"No," assured the girl. "I was between him and it. It's nothing bad. Some cuts and scrapes." She cautiously sat of the edge of the bed. "How are you?"
"Not bad," said Chief dismissively about the wound. "I been tryin' to exercise it a little."
"Give it a couple more days before you start running around on it," advised Terry. She stood up. "I have to sneak back to my room," she said in a conspiratory tone. "My physician has ordered me to rest." She grinned. "Actor will be up in a bit to take a look at your dressing."
"Chris did a good job with it," Chief assured her.
"I figured she'd take good care of you."
Terry turned to hide the grin on her face and walked to the door. It afforded the Indian a look at the back of her head.
"Terry, your hair is full of dried blood."
"I know," she replied. "It got me there too. I'm going to take a shower before I go to bed. Actor stitched it. It's been almost twenty-four hours, it should be okay."
Chief watched her go, thinking the Warden should be really mad right now. He wouldn't want to be in Casino's shoes.
Terry went to her room and removed her clothes and the dressing on her leg. She went in and took a nice hot shower, carefully scrubbing the dried blood from her hair around the wound. Afterward, she put her nightgown and clean drawers on, wrapping her damp hair in a dry towel. Right on cue, a light knock sounded on her door.
"Come in, Actor," she said stifling a smile. She knew he would check on her after he saw to Chief.
Actor let himself into her room and stood observing her as she looked back at him, barefoot in her short sleeved flannel gown that came to just above her knees..
"I am concerned about the leg wound," he said. "Did you clean it well?"
"Of course," assured Terry. "Did you want to put another dressing on it?"
"Yes," replied the con man. "Lay down and I will get the aid kit."
Terry lay on her stomach on the bed, making sure her gown covered as much of her as she could, while Actor retrieved the aid kit from the bathroom. She put her head on crossed arms, eyes closed, feeling the edge of the bed sag under the man's weight as he sat beside her knee. She stifled a shiver of awareness of his masculinity as his big, gentle fingers probed her upper thigh around the wound, followed by a sprinkle of sulfa powder. This time he taped a gauze pad over it, instead of wrapping around her leg.
"It is a little red," Actor remarked.
"Creosote," acknowledged Terry in agreement.
"I will make up a warm pack to put on it to draw any infection."
Terry opened her eyes and looked back at him, rolling partially onto her side. "Actor, my leg is not going to fall off in the next couple hours. I just ran lots of hot water over it. You never sleep on these missions and I know you're exhausted. Go – to – bed. I promise I will put a hot pack on it when I wake up."
The Italian returned her look, none too pleased at the dismissal, though he knew she was right. With a sigh, he stood up.
Terry swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up to face him. She reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders. Standing on tiptoe, she stretched up to place a kiss on his whiskery cheek and drew her head back to look at him.
"Actor," she said with soft affection, taking in the tired eyes in the drawn face. The man was exhausted. "I do appreciate that you take such good care of me, but this can wait a little bit." She squeezed his shoulders. "Get some sleep, Caro."
He eyed her silently, mouth puckered and jaw moving in resignation, before he nodded in acceptance. "Good night, Cara," he said, even though it was mid-morning. The corner of his mouth tilted up at her smile.
He turned and left, pulling the door quietly shut behind him. He was partway down the hall when the thought came to him; cotton drawers. Though she had covered herself well, he had still gotten a glimpse of those cotton drawers. He shook his head in distaste.
Terry had barely gotten back into bed when Christine arrived. She had two muffins with her which she set on the night table beside Terry.
"You were entertaining a guest when I came up, so I took a couple to Chief first. Your guest came to check Chief's dressing. He doesn't figure I do a good enough job?" the younger girl asked indignantly.
"No," smiled Terry, reaching for a muffin. "He thinks the medical duties are his. He isn't satisfied until he follows up on things, even if I did it. He just redressed my leg." She bit into the muffin. "Hey, these are good."
"Thanks," replied Chris. "By the way, I made a stew with dumplings for dinner. I didn't know you had gotten yourself hurt, but I figured you would be tired and I wasn't doing anything."
"Thanks," said Terry. "You going to stick around?"
"I might," said Chris coyly.
"You and Chief get along okay?"
"Of course," replied the girl. "He's very polite."
"That all?" asked Terry teasingly.
"That's all," replied Christine firmly.
Terry grinned in amusement. She finished the muffin and slid down under the covers more. "I'm going to sleep. The house is all yours."
GGGGG
The household started waking up in time for supper. Chief and Terry limped into the dining room together. Goniff looked up and grinned.
"'Ey, look! Twins!"
Terry and Chief just exchanged looks and shook their heads. Actor gallantly held Terry's chair out for her. She thanked him with a smile and a nod, trying to ease her left leg into a position that wouldn't interfere with the Italian's long ones under the table.
Crystal came out and set bowls of steaming stew in front of everyone before taking a seat at a chair squeezed in between Terry and Chief. They all dug in with silent hunger.
Chief was the first to start. "This is good," he said quietly.
"Thank you," said Chris.
"These dumplings are like what me mum used to make," remarked Goniff.
"Why didn't you make this more often at home?" asked Craig, sopping some of the gravy with a piece of dumpling.
"I don't know," shrugged Chris. "It wasn't like we didn't have enough beef back then."
"Wasn't like we didn't have enough of everything back then," remarked Casino.
"It's hard to stretch everything now to make enough for all you growing men," joked Chris.
Actor had been watching Terry's face. There was just the tiniest bit of stillness to it. "Teresa does an excellent job of coming up with delicious meals from meager supplies," he remarked casually.
He didn't miss the flash of appreciative eyes that Terry darted to his face before returning to her bowl.
"Yeah, but it sure would be nice if there was more of it," Casino added.
"Well, look at it this way, Casino," said Terry. "No one can accuse you of being fat."
"That's for sure," he griped. "What I'd give for a big bowl of Ma's pasta."
Terry looked up at him challengingly, "You get your mama to send me some dried pasta and I will cook an Italian meal to fill you up."
Casino returned her look and pointed his fork at her. "Don't think I won't ask her."
"You get it, I'll make it," shot back the girl.
Chris joined in, "Well, by the time it gets here, we should have some vegetables. I put some seed and sets I found in London for the cool weather stuff this afternoon."
"Like what?" asked Craig.
"Lettuce, spinach, peas, broccoli, cabbage, onion sets and garlic," listed Chris.
Terry grinned brightly. "Good, garlic!"
"I ain't kissin' you, Babe," teased Casino.
"You better not be," warned Garrison, his voice severe, but secretly getting a kick out of worrying the safe cracker.
"Aw come on, Warden," griped Casino with a gleam in his eyes. "Can't she spread the wealth a little bit? I mean, you let her kiss Beautiful all the time."
"Casino," growled the Italian warningly.
Terry reached a hand under the table and patted the con man's knee. "That's because with Actor it's business. And with you it's monkey business."
"That's why he's called a gorilla, Love," piped up Goniff.
Laughter erupted at the table, except for Actor. The con man was mulling the idea that Teresa thought kissing him was business. Even if it technically was, it was a bit of an affront.
"I have some news," said Garrison, semi getting back to business. "I spoke with Col. Hammond. We're down for a few days, so you guys can have another forty-eight hour pass to London. I'll take you in with me tomorrow morning when I go to debrief."
That announcement brought enthusiastic responses from Casino and Goniff. It pleased Actor also, thinking he could use a little energetic and appreciative recreation about now. Chief was the only quiet one.
"Uh, Warden," he broached cautiously. "You think I could stay here this time?"
"Sure Chief," replied Garrison. "Terry's staying here this time, so you won't be stuck with my cooking."
"That's a good thing," remarked Terry. "How come I don't get a forty-eight hour pass?"
"Because you don't need the type of recreation they do," said Craig straight-faced.
"How do you know?" shot back the girl. "I might want to go to a bar and pick up a man."
An indelicate snort erupted from Actor, earning him an indignant glare from Terry. Craig grinned broadly at his second. That had been better than anything he could have come out with in response to his sister.
After dinner, Goniff helped Chris with the dishes. Terry wandered out the back door to look at the garden. The rest of them went to the common room and Craig went to his office.
Casino sat at the game table and looked at the deck of cards in his hand. He set it down, unshuffled, and wandered back through the kitchen and out the back door. Terry was standing by the chicken pen when he approached.
"It's a very nice chicken pen," she remarked. "You did a wonderful job on it, Casino."
"Thanks."
The tone of his voice caused her to turn toward him.
Casino eyed her, "You gotta know I didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"Of course I know that," said Terry. "We all know that." She looked at the downcast eyes. "I took it a little too far?"
He shrugged. "As long as you know."
Terry stepped closer and reached her left hand up to touch fingers lightly to his chin. She bent her head sideways and placed a light kiss on the opposite corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry."
He locked eyes with her, reaching both hands up to her frame her face and moved in to give her a thorough kiss. When he pulled back, she stared at him, speechless. "I told you, you ever get tired of Beautiful and want some real kissing, come to me, Babe."
Terry remained still, watching as he turned and strode away and into the house. Heavens! He could kiss too. Different from Actor, but definitely attention grabbing . . . and enjoyable. And that scared her. Actor was . . . safe? No, that man wasn't safe. There was a bond or something growing between her and the con man, but it was not something she could put her finger on or put a name to.
The back door opened and Chief stood on the threshold. "Hey, Warden wants to debrief!" he called to her.
"Okay," she called back. Pushing the mess to the back of her mind, she headed for the house.