Chapter 21

Back in the dining room Callie was sitting back taking a long drink of champagne. She sat next to Chet with a peevish look. Tony walked in a moment later. He poured himself a glass and sat down. He looked at the two with a somewhat bewildered look.

"That woman is amazing. What gall!" Callie looked up.

"What, she managed to even offend you too?" Tony shook his head with amazement.

"She's a back stabber I will tell you. She had the gall to say you were trying to make yourself look younger!" Callie sat up. Her eyes afire.

"She what?!" Callie started. Tony half smiled.

"She had the gall to say that your make over was an attempt to make yourself look younger." Callie stood up.

"I'm going to ring that bitch's neck!" she started to move towards the door. Chet stood up and held her back.

"Now, now, Angel. She isn't worth it. As much as I like a good cat fight I certainly don't find it becoming for a lady of your class. Now mellow down and take it easy. She will get hers, I promise. Hell, she's dating Frank. That should prove to be an endurance test." Callie took a deep breath and smiled slightly.

"Well, that much is true. But if that little whore says anything in front of me I will have my day with her." Chet nodded.

"Fair enough, Angel." Tony nodded.

"She is just green with envy, Callie." A moment later Kelly sauntered in and looked to the group on his way to the kitchen. He chuckled to Tony.

"Better watch out for that blondie, Hoss. She probably has you in her sights after that commentary." Callie looked up.

"She was fighting with Tony?" She asked looking over to Tony. Before he could respond Kelly snorted.

"He didn't give her a chance. I believe the young woman made some disparaging comment about your age. And Tony here said something like at least you didn't apply your makeup with a putty knife! Haha...Good one, hoss." He slapped Tony on the back before he walked away towards the kitchen.

Callie looked over to Tony with a satisfying smirk on her face. Tony had turned a bit red with embarrassment.

"You noticed that, too? Haha. I thought only us girls could tell when another applied their makeup a bit heavy." She leaned over and gave Tony a hug. "You're a sweetheart." Chet nodded approvingly towards his friend, then leaned over and kissed Callie's cheek.

"Come on baby, let's see if we can help out in the kitchen. Food is about done." Callie smiled and nodded.

"Ok, let's go." They walked in to the kitchen where the elder ladies were finishing up what smelled like a wonderful meal."

"Hello all, anything Chet and I can do?" Gertrude Hardy smiled.

"Certainly dear. I just sent Fenton out to round up the others. Get the pitchers filled with water and set out the napkins. Iola is finished with setting the table." Callie smiled and went to fill the pitchers. She and Chet carried then into the dining room. The others were taking their seats. Fenton, Kelly, Frank, Joe, Tiffany, Tony, Mr. Morton and Mr. Shaw were seated.

"You have a great place, Callie." Mr. Shaw said with a smile to his daughter.

"Thanks dad, but Chet was the sweetie who had the brainstorm to buy it. Water, dad?"

"Please." Callie smiled and poured some into a glass.

"Tony? Joe?" she asked coming around the corner of the table with the pitcher.

"No thanks." Tony said, "Got a beer handy already."

"Yes, please." Joe said offering his glass closer. Callie filled it and moved on.

"Frank, need some water to cool yourself down, sweets?" she asked with a smile that could be easily called pretentious. Frank cleared his throat.

"Sure, Cal." Callie poured. She looked over to Tiffany and bit her lip. With an air of forced sincerity, she smiled.

"How about you, Tiffany? Would you like me to pour you some water, or would you just like to open your blouse and tap some?" Tony stifled an outburst of laughter. Tiffany looked up with a stunned and angry look. Frank nudged her and shot her a look. She cleared her throat.

"Er, no thanks." she muttered without looking up. Callie noticed that Tony, Chet and even Mr. Hardy were having difficulty covering up smiles. She grinned and went about serving the rest.

The food was finally served and the meal passed with peace and a good degree of enjoyment. The elder Hardys, Mortons and Shaws were all pleased with the events and discussed the future of their children. By eight that evening the elders were all apprised of the upcoming mission. Though Mr. Hardy felt it necessary to keep the location of where they were going a secret for now. This was something that the others were used to. A half an hour later, the elder Mortons, Shaws and female members of the Hardy family left wishing the others the best of luck on their mission. Mr. Hardy summoned the others onto the deck to discuss the upcoming mission.

"Alright, gang. Here is the plan. Keep the facts straight as the less paperwork that shows our intentions the better. But if you need to take notes please code them. Ok, tomorrow Frank will drive Chet's SUV loaded with supplies for surviving in the mountains. He and Tiffany will take off early morning. You are to head to a town called Fair Play, Colorado. A small mountain town isolated high in the Rockies. This is the only lead we have. We know he has a place in or around that town and the money could be anywhere. Also, in the morning, Joe will pilot the others to an isolated airstrip that according to my sources is just ten miles to the west. The coordinates are in this flight pack." he said handing Joe a bundle. "Joe, I want you to file a flight plan only on the first leg of the journey. In case anyone is monitoring us we must not leave them a paper trail to follow. I have already had the jet fueled and checked over. It should be ready for you in the morning, son. I have briefed Kelly in depth and he will be of help to you when you arrive. He will also brief you in the plane. I myself will be unreachable for at least five days, but I will be out there as soon as possible. I will also be out of radio contact for those days. But you may reach Frank by short wave upon arrival." he said pausing.

"Time is of the essence, group. Right now, the lead is ours and under our hat as best as we can figure. But there are possibly other gang connections which may know Sharpton well enough to know he had a place in Colorado. And more importantly he was there recently. This is why I strongly suspect the money could be there. In the middle of working his operation in Black Hollow he takes a quick trip to Colorado. I don't believe he went all that way to go skiing. Don't take this as a walk in the park. Be on your guard and watch out. Stay armed and keep your eyes open. Criminals aren't the only things up there that could harm you. There is some pretty active wildlife there. So be on your toes. Just remember that while we did get a lot of the gang, there are some that slipped through. Some of which are the ones that took attempts on your lives in the hollow. The best we can tell is there is a pair of higher ups still at large for sure. They go by the names of Boggs and Nelson. We think one or both were the ones taking pot shots at you at your first camp site in the hollow. And were the ones that made those screaming sounds to try to stir you away from your camp." Mr. Hardy smiled to the group.

"I recommend that for security reasons you all stay here tonight. I assume you all can fit into this big house for one night without any problems." he looked significantly at Tiffany and Callie with a slight look of amusement.

"Sure can, Mr. H!" Chet smiled, following his lead. "Though, if we all want beds we will end up in the guest house which was furnished when I bought it. But as that house is about fifteen hundred square foot in itself I think we will still be fine." Mr. Hardy smiled.

"Very good. You will forgive me for not staying. But I promised Mrs. Hardy that she could have at least one night with her husband at home and not jumping about the globe worrying her silly." Frank smiled.

"Good enough, Dad. Thanks for the briefing. We will be off first thing in the morning." Fenton Hardy smiled.

"Very good, I will inform our clients that you will be on your way in the morning. If there's nothing else, I should be going." he said rising.

"Have a good rest, Dad. We will talk to you from Colorado." Joe said. Fenton Hardy smiled.

"Thanks, son. And don't make Kelly play chaperone. You kids play nice." he smirked and walked off towards the driveway. Joe turned to the others.

"As if we could ever play mean." He smiled. Chet rose.

"Well group, let me show you to the guest house and we can get settled.

"Sounds good." Frank said. "I am beat." Chet led the group into the guest house which was nicely sized and boasted three bedrooms in itself. Though one of the bedrooms was definitely out of commission as it was piled to the rafters with excess furniture and household items. Many boxes were stacked to the ceiling. Chet led them down a hallway, he stopped before one door and opened it. It had a bed, lamps, night stand and television. Chet looked over to Frank.

"Hey dude. You and Tiffany can crash here if that works for you." Frank nodded gratefully not wishing to have any further altercations that night.

"Thanks Chet, come on, Tiff." Tiffany half smiled at the room which was smaller than the others and was a bit rank in odor from having been closed up for what was likely many months. She followed Frank in however and the door shut. Chet continued down the hall. He opened the door to another bedroom. He looked over to Tony.

"Tony, since you are recovering from a gunshot, it's only fair to give you the other real bed." Tony nodded gratefully.

"Thanks Chet. With the full day ahead, I can use every bit of sleep. Goodnight, all." he said and walked in and shut the door. Chet motioned to another door.

"That's one of the restrooms, for anyone who needs it." he said. He walked on to the large living room which was huge by comparison to most. It had three sofas and a pair of recliners, a television and assorted other furniture. He looked to Joe, Iola, Kelly, and Callie.

"Reckon the rest of us will have to rough it. I noticed a pair of these sofas turn into beds." Kelly smiled to the two couples.

"Looks like I will take the one that doesn't, seeing as how my other half isn't here." Chet smiled.

"There are some blankets in that closet I think." he motioned towards the door that was in the immediate hallway adjoining the room. Kelly walked over and sure enough it was piled high with flannel blankets and even some pillows.

"Looks like those folks who owned the house didn't bother cleaning it out. Looks pretty well furnished. Lucky for us." Kelly drawled. Iola and Joe pulled out the other two sofas and converted them quickly into beds. Chet let out a large yawn.

"Well these may only be sofa beds, but they look mighty comfortable to me. He kicked his shoes off and dropped his pants. Iola looked to him with mock embarrassment.

"And you call me bad for last night. And here you go dropping your pants in front of four other people." Chet grinned.

"Well sis, being as I am a man with boxer shorts and a T shirt, I don't think I'm going to excite anyone. I think we're are in pretty close company." he said jumping into bed. Callie smiled.

"Right you are, Chet. Though if I can ask you for your T shirt it would be most helpful." Chet smiled and took his shirt off and tossed it to Callie. She Threw it on over her crop and then tangled about inside it and pulled off her crop and bra without exposing herself to anyone. She then dropped her pants which unavoidably flashed her sparsely covered cheeks to the others before she jumped under the covers. She looked up to the others.

"Sorry about that." Kelly let out a chuckle.

"Quite alright, Miss. Shaw. I have daughters your age and am used to that routine. Doesn't faze me a bit." Joe smiled.

"I was phased Callie if it makes you feel better." He smiled. Iola looked at him with mock disapproval.

"Now, now, Joe Hardy. You are to only get fazed by me." Now more comfortable that Kelly was disinterested and immune to young ladies running about in their underthings. She threw off her crop and dropped her pants. Joe rolled his eyes with apparent delight. She jumped under the covers.

Joe dropped his trousers and button-down shirt and jumped in next to her. The feeling of contentment was present with the two couples. They were far too respectful of Mr. Kelly and the others to ever do anything more than just cuddle together. All was very nice as they settled down for the night. Chet reached over to the end table and switched off the lamp. The only light that remained was the bright moonlight of the cool October night than shone through the windows.

"I love the clear light from the moon." Callie said softly. "Seems brighter up here on the cliff."

"It's kind of like this out in the desert." Kelly drawled reflectively. Joe gave a chuckle.

"I remember that moonlight oh so well, Kelly. When we were stuck out at that farmhouse with all those nutty people hanging around trying to do us in. I remember I couldn't move around out in that moonlight as it was so bright." Kelly let out a chuckle.

"Oh Joe, heh heh. I remember those lunatics. Trying to beat us over the head. Sabotage our cars and that goofy talking they did. Whew! Glad we sent those guys up the river. They are still getting over it out there. That was a bad group. But I remember trying to sneak around out in that light. Wasn't easy." Iola smiled.

"I bet that was fun for you guys. But it's so peaceful here. Just the light wind blowing outside. The old apple trees out there blowing about. It's pure solitude. It's going to be such a good sleep, I can..." her words never finished as they became somewhat distracted by noise coming from the bedroom. It was unmistakable. Sure as anything, Frank and Tiffany were going at it. Apparently they had assumed that everyone in the living room had fallen asleep by the lack of lights. The noise became even louder as Tiffany screamed.

"Oh yeah! Frank baby, drive it in! Yeah!" Callie couldn't help but cough abruptly.

"Oh please!" she muttered. "Frank couldn't inspire that in the bedroom if he wanted." The noise did not lessen.

"Yeah, Frank! Oh my god, it's so huge!" at this Callie let out a torrent of giggles.

"Must be dark in there." she laughed. Joe and Iola both snickered as well. Chet was so overcome he had a pillow over his head to muffle his laughter. Callie coughed.

"Yeah, she wishes it was is more like it. Is she faking it for our entertainment or to inspire Frank where those implants left off?" Kelly cleared his throat.

"Does kinda sound like one of them porno films, now that I think about it." Joe let out a laugh.

"I don't know what's gotten into Frank. He'd never do this with others in the house like this. He's way too inhibited. And I thought respectful for that matter. Must really be in need or letting Tiffany talk him into that silliness." The noise continued despite their previous laughing which they were sure must have been heard.

"Oh, Frank baby! Please baby. Shoot it all over me. Oh God! Yes! C'mon baby, harder!" Callie was bent over in laughter.

"Oh god, I think she thinks we are going to feel jealous because our ex's are in there doing it." Chet laughed.

"Oh yes, I am so jealous. I just want to run in and stop it." The torrent continued.

"Oh yeah Frank." Tiffany squealed. "Do it now. Oh yeah!..." they soon heard Frank let out a stifled grunt. "Oh yeah baby, all over. Oh yeah! There must be gallons of it!" Callie let out a high pitched laugh that was assuredly heard in the other room.

"Try drops, hun." she called over her shoulder. Chet and Joe both snorted in laughter.

"More info than I needed to know about my brother, Cal." Joe snorted. "Of course, the little performance in there is more than I needed to hear." Kelly chuckled lightly.

"Amen. The way they carried on in there you'd have thought we were listening to Harry Reams and Ginger Lynn." Joe burst out again.

"Those are porno actors, right Kelly? Just to make sure my memory serves." Kelly chuckled again.

"Yep. From years back when I was a younger man and watched such things. Sex was so fake in those films. I know your brother needed to get laid. But that little lady in there with the fake rack was obviously a porno actress in another life, or she was trying to get on someone's nerves. And I think she indirectly got on mine." Callie sighed.

"Afraid she probably did it to get on my nerves. Like I was still mourning Frank or that Chet felt he was missing something from his days with Tiffany. She needs a clue for sure. Sorry Mr. Kelly." Kelly laughed a bit.

"Don't think anything of it, Miss. Callie. You guys in here are respectful enough not to retaliate and I appreciate that. Because I know you all could probably do so if you were inclined under other circumstances."

"It does lack good taste, that's for sure." Iola said. "Well, sounds like their five minutes is up. I guess we will have peace for the rest of the night."

"Thank goodness. Night all." Kelly said sleepily and pulled the covers over his head. There were no further disturbances that night.

By six the next morning Kelly stirred. He had not even bothered removing his clothes from the night before. He stood up and staggered half asleep into the kitchen.

"God, tell me them people who lived here left some coffee." he muttered to himself as his began searching through cabinets. He was surprised to see many food items still remained in them. Luck was with him as a few minutes later behind an unopened bag of sugar was a can of coffee.

"Thank you, God!" Kelly smiled. He took the can out and went about preparing coffee and searching for some cups. Soon the smell of coffee entered the house and Chet began to rise. With his nose in the air he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked down to Callie. She slept so peacefully. He bent over and kissed her cheek. Her eyes fluttered and smiled. A moment later her eyes opened and she looked up.

"Morning Angel." Chet said softly. Callie smiled.

"Do I smell actual coffee, Darlin? Were you a sweetie and left the house to get some?" Chet smiled, then shrugged.

"Actually, Angel I have no idea where it came from. Maybe Kelly did. He seems to be up. He threw the covers off and pulled his pants on. Callie took a magazine off the end table and threw it over on to the sofa bed that Iola and Joe were laying on. The magazine hit a lump and there was movement.

"Hey, who is throwing things?" Iola sputtered from under the covers. Callie laughed.

"Get up sleepyhead. Smell the coffee."

"Coffee!" the voice of Joe echoed as he turned over and threw the covers off. He sat up sleepily.

"I do smell coffee. Thanks for making it Chet." Chet smiled.

"Not me, cousin. I think Kelly got it." as if an answer to this supposition Kelly walked back into the room with a steaming cup of coffee.

"We lucked out, kids. There was coffee in the house." he said taking a sip.

"And not bad considering God knows how long it has been in the cabinet." Joe stood up and threw his pants on.

"Good enough for me. Thanks Kelly." Kelly smiled.

"Hard to start the day without it." Iola rolled over and slid into her jeans. Kelly smiled at the ease Iola was able to slip her form into the tight pants.

"Hats off to you, missy. My daughter takes a week to slide into hers. I keep telling her if she buys pants that are her actual size she won't have that problem." Iola giggled.

"That wouldn't be any fun for a girl, Kelly. Gotta show the boys you keep in shape." Kelly chuckled.

"Well, sometimes it shows the boys you don't keep in shape." Joe laughed.

"Yeah, I sometimes wonder how a size eighteen woman can feel comfortable trying to squeeze into size 14 clothes." Chet smiled. He looked over at Callie who was just standing up. She was still in his shirt and a thong.

"Well, Cal, you sure don't have to worry about that." he said with a fixed gaze. Callie smiled and looked about the floor.

"Now where did those pants crawl off to?" she asked looking around. A moment later they heard a door creak open and a moment later Frank and Tiffany walked in.

"Morning all." Frank said somewhat sheepishly as if he knew the actions of the night before were well known. Kelly took on a grin.

"Morning, Harry. Ginger." He said to the pair. Tiffany reddened in the face a little but raised an eyebrow when she noticed Callie standing there in Chet's T-shirt and a thong. She was somewhat grateful that she was wearing Chet's shirt and that she didn't have to see Callie's breasts, that were every bit as big as hers, if not slightly larger. And natural! Callie found her pants and quickly slid into them. Tiffany looked at Chet.

"Your topless, hun." she said approvingly. Chet rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Well, I borrowed Cal my shirt last night. She needed it more than I did." Callie cleared her throat after she watched Tiffany's gaze upon his bare chest for more time than she preferred.

"Well, Sweets, I am done with the shirt. So, you can have it back." she smirked at Tiffany and pulled off the shirt and tossing it to him. All eyes directed to Callie, who was now topless with her large breasts jutting out. Kelly quickly turned his head. Iola slapped Joe in the head for looking a little too much. Tiffany looked and turned red. Callie was sure it wasn't necessarily all embarrassment, but perhaps a little anger and envy as well. She slowly and deliberately walked over to where her crop was laying. Which was inches from Frank's feet. She bent over slowly watching Tiffany and Frank out of the corner of her eye. Chet coughed. Callie retrieved her top and slid it on slowly, inches from Frank. Frank tried to avert his gaze but failed. Callie took on a knowing look and gazed over to Tiffany then turned and slowly walked towards the kitchen. She sang a line from a familiar song by The Pretenders she liked.

"You can buy those squishy little silicone sacks, but they won't feed the world like the ones that are packed naturallyyyy..." she disappeared into the kitchen. Tiffany stood there with a scowl, then looked to Frank.

"Very subtle, Frank. Did you ever hear of turning your head?" she scolded. She turned and walked out of the house. Joe and the others looked to Frank.

"She's a loaded pistol, Frank." Joe said. Frank looked agitated.

"Tiffany's the pistol? After Callie just pulled that act?" Chet cleared his throat and stepped up.

"You didn't seem too offended by that act, as you put it. And I believe Tiffany is the one who started it. To say nothing of the crap she was doing last night." Frank reddened.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry about that. She did seem to make it a point to not be subtle." Kelly snorted.

"Subtle? It sounded like you all were doin auditions for Deep Throat Part Two." Joe gave a chuckle.

"He's got you there, bro. I mean Tiffany was doing her best to get our attention.." Callie walked back into the room with a cup of coffee and snorted.

"Try overkill on that count." she said flatly, then looked up to Frank. "Maybe she does something for you that I never did, but come on! Screaming out about your manhood and... Well, I not only know better than that, I think it's pretty cheap to scream things like that out when you are damn well aware there are other guests just ten feet away." Frank took on an air of agitation then looked up.

"Kind of like doing it on a desk in an office, huh Cal?" Callie's eyes turned to fire. With one strong swoop she slapped him across the face. Frank, who was in shock with wide eyes stood there motionless.

"Frank. You do not ever disrespect me that way again! If you're pissed about the choices you have made and are trying to save face with that little tramp out there, then forget it! I personally don't give a damn! Now, we do have this case to take on and we do need to approach it with a bit of professionalism. Don't forget, I am an equal partner on this one and she is just along for the ride. So keep that little bitch out of my face or I will not hesitate to fire right back at her! I won't even go into the apples and oranges you just compared with that analogy of me doing it on a desk. I will point out that the big obvious difference being is that there was no one else in the whole building! We weren't disrespecting anyone or anything, save Chet's desktop calendar. You needed to get laid so I approached what happened last night with a grain of salt. But tell the tramp that her little games aren't making me jealous or filled with regret. She can have you with my blessings. And I really hope you two can be happy together or that you can find someone that makes you happy. So, take off. You have a long drive ahead. We will be in touch when we land. Ok?" She backed up and took a chair. Chet, who was about to launch into Frank for his last comment, stood back thoughtfully since his wife to be had just effectively defended herself. Frank cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, Cal. Your right. About everything I expect. Maybe this long drive will help out. Or hurt. I can't really say. I'm sorry to the rest of you too. Uhm, I will reach you on the frequency when you're ready, Joe. We are going to go now." he said. Joe smiled with some sympathy for his brother and nodded.

"Ok, Frank. Take care. Be careful. It's a long drive." Frank nodded and turned and walked out.

Kelly took a cigar out and lit it. After exhaling he half smiled and looked at the others.

"Days like this I thank God I have been married for twenty years." He took a chair next to Chet, who was holding Callie close.

"You ok, angel?" She took a deep breath, smiled and looked to him.

"Yeah. It's gonna be ok. Hopefully she is in her place now and won't play that game." Joe smiled and nodded.

"You got some spirit girl. Never in my day would I have thought you to do what you did. But if I may ask,,,,' he began. A look of puzzlement crossed his face. Callie smiled to him.

"You were about to ask if I was deliberately flirting with Frank when I took the shirt off?" Joe smiled and blushed.

"Yeah, I guess I was." Callie smiled.

"Well, it was more geared to impressing upon Tiffany that her fake rack didn't intimidate me and that Frank could easily look at another pair if made available." Chet smiled.

"Speaking as a man who has seen both racks, my dear. You win hands down." Joe coughed and slowly nodded.

"Well, I might not have seen Tiffany's rack, but I can certainly attest that yours was..." he suddenly felt a sharp jab in the side by Iola's arm and a stern look. "Yours was only second to Iola's in my humble opinion." Iola laughed as did Callie, who nodded.

"That's right Joe. You were about to get nailed for just looking by your other half there." she said. She then heard Chet clear his throat. She turned to him. He had a smile and a steady gaze upon her chest. She looked down and reddened. It had slipped her mind that she hadn't yet put her bra on and her nipples were pronounced nicely against the thin material of her crop.

"Oh, excuse me." she said softly searching around for her bra. Chet gave a chuckle.

"You could free fall like that all day as far as I am concerned, Angel. But you might get too distracting the others." Callie smiled and looked up from her searching.

"Well, I'd hate to give the wrong impression. Especially since those basically belong to you now." Chet coughed and smiled.

"That sounds pretty possessive Cal. How about we just say they are for my exclusive use." he said with a laugh. Kelly chuckled.

"Well gang, much as I'd like to go back in time and talk about young ladies and their breasts, we have a little matter of a case at hand. And I know my boss and your dad, Joe, probably wouldn't take too kindly to us having a lengthy review of Miss. Shaw's ample bosom." Callie laughed and looked over to Kelly.

"Well, your opinion is noted in that closing remark. But I believe your right. I am proud of my,, er, gift. But any more talk of this will definitely get me to thinking a bit too self-consciously." Joe smiled and pulled out a cell phone.

"I will check on the plane. We should have time to go by the Shaws and Mortons for clothes and such on the way out." Iola nodded.

"That will work." she said heading to the kitchen for some coffee. Callie and Chet, sat on the couch. A moment later the other bedroom door opened and Tony sauntered out. He grinned sheepishly at the pair.

"Morning guys. Hope I didn't hold you up. I went out like a light last night." Chet smiled.

"Poor guy. Missed all the excitement." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Excitement?" he repeated. Chet nodded.

"Let's see, if you went to sleep after you went in to the bedroom then you most likely missed Frank and Tiffany rehearsing for an upcoming porno film. Then earlier this morning you missed Tiffany being a smart ass bitch. And Callie flashing her bad boys to all of us. Then Callie slapping Frank in the face and offering him a few select words. It was pretty fun." Tony coughed and smiled.

"Guess I am the lucky one missing Frank and Tiffany going at it. But gee Cal, have to say I'm disappointed at missing you and your bad boys." Callie reddened.

"Thanks, Tony." she said looking down at her chest. "You'd never think these breasts would warrant so much attention." Chet smiled and looked down at them.

"Well, along with the rest of you, they are pretty special. I certainly like resting my head on 'em." Tony coughed.

"Wait till I leave the room if you're going to demonstrate." he laughed. He looked about.

"So, did Frank and Tiffany depart?" Chet nodded.

"Yep, five seconds after seeing Callie's bare breasts, Tiffany got a nasty look on her face and stormed out." Callie hit Chet with a mock push.

"Enough about my chest already." she giggled. "But yeah, they are out of here. I doubt we will see them for about three days,, maybe more depending on how fast he drives." Tony nodded.

"Cool, so are we leaving soon?" As if an answer to this, Joe came back into the house and smiled.

"Morning Tony. All is ready at the airport. We are ready to boogie."

"Great." Chet said. He stood up. The group finally managed to get together and Chet locked up the guest house. They walked towards the garage. Chet looked to the others.

"Ok, how about Callie, Iola and Tony take the Volvo and make the rounds to get our stuff and bring it to the airport. And Iola, grab the Yellow duffel out of my apartment. It has some gear in it we may need." Iola nodded.

"Cool, bro." The three got in and Iola pulled out. Chet turned to Joe and Kelly.

"I noticed your dad left some of your gear that was in my ride here for use on this case. Do you need anything else?" Joe shook his head.

"No, there's plenty in there." he motioned down to a pair of large duffels. Chet smiled then turned to Kelly.

"How about you detective? Need anything?" Kelly smiled.

"I travel light. Long as I have my piece, some cigars and coffee, I am good to go." Chet nodded and the group got into Callie's Jaguar. Joe smiled and looked over his shoulder to Kelly in the back seat.

"Buckle up, Kelly. Chet is a bad enough driver when there aren't four hundred horses under his foot." Kelly nodded, heading the advice and smiled.

"Keep it between the ditches, son." Kelly drawled. "I don't think that pretty lady of yours would take too kindly to you wrapping up her new car." Chet smiled with a nod.

"I believe your right, sir. She took care of that Buick from day one and if it wasn't for three hundred thousand miles of wear it would probably be still reliable." Kelly grunted.

"That isn't too bad. I have a sixty-eight Buick Wildcat. Thing has over four hundred thousand miles on it." Joe gave a laugh.

"Is that the same Buick that broke down on us that night about fifty miles outside of town?" he asked. Kelly laughed.

"Well, no car is perfect, Joe. Especially out in the desert areas. That can be mighty hard on a motor." he chuckled and glanced over at the window sticker which he could read even from inside the car.

"Good lord, Boy! You gave near a hundred grand for this car? My house didn't cost this much." Chet laughed.

"Well, I did get a good deal on it. Only seventy thousand." Kelly gave another snort.

"My house didn't even cost seventy grand. This is a nice car though. Just be careful about turning that pretty young wife to be of yours into a woman who has constant material needs. Some of the nicest ladies I have known over the years that had a few dollars come their way.. Well, they changed. And not for the better. Kind of like that girl of Franks. Any girl who is that young and has a good degree of natural beauty like she does who still has to get a damn boob job,, well, that doesn't speak well." Chet nodded.

"Tell me about it. Tiffany is clearly that type. I think she and Frank, who is pretty damn conservative will clash. And I am watching my step with Callie. She has a lot better head on her shoulders. So, the vanity will hopefully stay away from her. I mean the house and the ring kind of came as incidentals as we didn't plan or expect them. This car is the first real extravagance that was given to her that actually cost. But I see your point, Kelly. It is always best to be aware of such things." Kelly smiled.

"I think you guys will be ok. Most people I have seen who get a hold of any sizable amount of cash tend to quit their jobs right then and there and are seldom heard from again." Joe nodded.

"Very true, Kelly. Which points out an obvious notion. If we recover these funds, then each of us stand to be handed around a million bucks. Which is not chicken feed." Kelly looked up.

"Certainly isn't. But it also is an amount that if carelessly handled, one can go through it very quickly."