by Margaret Kay
“Yes, nice guy, had a lot of questions about our search and rescue operations.”
“I’m with the group using the north wing. Did he ask any questions about us, or about any other groups that use your facilities?”
The man looked thoughtful for a moment. “Not specifically, but now that you mention it, he did ask if any federal agencies had a presence at the port.”
“And what was your reply?” Sherman asked.
“I told him I wasn’t at liberty to discuss U.S. assets that may or not be located at the port. Then he said, oh, come on, I can’t believe the DEA doesn’t have a permanent presence here and at every other seaport coming into the United States. We laughed together about it, but no more was said.”
“The conversation went on for longer than that. What else was said? This is important.” Sherman pushed.
“Not much more.”
“Did he say who he was or what he was doing here at the port and over here near your facilities?”
“No, and I didn’t think to ask. We get a lot of people just nosing around, taking a look at our helicopters, fascinated by the search and rescue we do. Hey, there was one more thing, he did ask if we ever fly over inland waterways, the bayous, the lakes. I told him that we do conduct search and rescue up as far as Lake Pontchartrain when we are called in for an assist.”
Sherman immediately thought that question significant. “One last thing. Did he have any sort of accent?”
“Yes, New York or New Jersey,” the Coastguard man replied.
“Thanks,” Sherman said, and then he slipped back through the door into the north wing.
“He’s on the move, Handsome and I will trade off, but I could use you outside, Lambchop,” Mother broadcasted.
Lambchop had just gotten Brielle back into their main room. He’d given her the okay to get off the floor as soon as their suspect passed the window. “On my way.”
He met Sherman in the short hallway leading back to the building’s main entrance.
“Is Brielle okay?”
“Yes, she’s in with Madison.”
“Get this guy and let me interrogate him. I’ll find out why he’s tailing us.”
Lambchop laid his hand to Sherman’s shoulder. “Easy there. Let us see what he does next and where he goes.” Then he passed through the outer door.
Sherman immediately returned to their control room. Brielle looked shaken. He looped an arm around her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just startled. It was a shock, seeing him outside the window.”
“Do you think he saw you?” Sherman asked.
“I don’t think so. I turned and dropped to the floor as soon as it registered who he was.”
“Good thinking and I’m glad you called me right away. The team is on him.”
“How did he find us here?” Brielle asked.
“We’ll find out. Don’t you worry.”
His confidence helped to put her at ease.
“He approached from the south side of the building,” Madison said. “I’ve got some good pics of him. I’m forwarding them to Ops at HQ now. He can’t be a professional. A professional would have avoided the cameras.”
“So, who the hell is this fucker then?” Sherman demanded. He was frustrated that he was sidelined. He’d feel a whole lot better if he could be out there, going after this guy.
Madison knew it was a rhetorical question, and that Sherman was blowing off steam. She kept her eyes on the camera feed until blond-boy and the rest of the team were out of camera view.
“Shit,” Lambchop’s voice came over everyone’s comms. “He’s gone. A car just pulled up, and he got in.” Lambchop recited the make, model, and license plate number.
Madison typed it into a message to the digital team. Then she got up and went to her room. She woke Cooper up. She filled him in as they walked back to the lounge. They arrived as the three men entered the room.
“Do you think you were made by blond-boy?” Cooper asked.
“Hard to say. I don’t think so,” Lambchop replied.
“I say no,” Mother added. “I think his pickup was pre-arranged, not in response to us following him.”
“How did he find us?” Brielle asked.
“I don’t think he necessarily did,” Sherman answered. “From what he was asking the Coast Guard personnel, it sounds like he was checking to see how far north they went.”
“If the Sheriff is in on what’s going on, certainly he knows the operation radius and criteria for Coast Guard involvement,” Madison said.
“We’re missing something,” Cooper said.
“Let’s back up to the Sheriff. How did he win the election?” Sherman asked.
“He had the backing of several of the mayors of the towns in the Parish, Galliano, Cut Off, Golden Meadow, Thibodaux,” Brielle said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that there were some payoffs involved. Galliano’s mayor is from up north, but not the others. Old man Delafosse up in Thibodaux has been mayor for longer than I’ve been alive. He’s Creole, got no reason to throw in with the likes of any Yankee,” Brielle said.
“We start there, with the election,” Cooper said. “I’ll get this info to our digital unit and have them look into the mayors and why they threw their support behind Henderson.”
“You suspect something more illegal than payoffs, don’t you, Cooper?” Lambchop asked.
“Yeah, I have to wonder if Henderson and his New Jersey cronies got some dirt on the mayors that they didn’t want to get out.”
“Blackmail?” Brielle asked.
Cooper nodded. “As you said, Thibodaux’s mayor had no reason to align himself with Henderson. Greed is always a motive, but protecting a secret always trumps greed.”
“How long after Dwayne Stuart got elected as Galliano’s mayor did the BioDynamix plant get announced?” Lambchop asked.
“It was in the works for at least six months before, the lawyers for it negotiating with the prior administration. It was after Stuart got elected that all the tax incentives got put on the table and the deal went through,” Brielle said. “And it moved really fast after that. The work crews came in practically the next day and tore down the old cannery structure. The warehouse is new. It went up fast.”
Sherman shook his head. “Nothing moves that fast in the bayou. They had to have the work crews under contract just waiting for the go ahead to demolish that old structure, architectural plans had to be drawn up, building permits already in the works.”
“Dwayne Stuart fast tracked everything,” Brielle said. “BioDynamix held a job fair in the gymnasium of the Galliano High School. Hundreds applied for jobs less than a month after Stuart took office.”
“Even that takes coordination and planning,” Madison said. “Sherman’s right, these things don’t just happen without a lot of development and preparation going into it.”
“Was it a surprise that Dwayne Stuart won the election?” Cooper asked.
“To some,” Brielle said. “Look, the rural Parishes of Louisiana are well known for political corruption, the boy’s network, nepotism, and political favors ruling appointments. It’s a tight community. The fact that several Yankees won elections at all is mind boggling. Dwayne Stuart ran on a platform of changing the status quo, of getting new industry and new money into Galliano, something many didn’t think the prior mayor was interested in doing. The airport brings in a lot of revenue as does the tourism, but a lot of people bought into Dwayne Stuart’s vision that Galliano could be more of a commercial hub.”
“Besides BioDynamix, is any other new industry in the works?” Lambchop asked.
“No. That all kind of fell off everyone’s radar,” Brielle said. “Until I started writing about it. Not only did I attack BioDynamix in my posts, I questioned what more Dwayne Stuart would do for Galliano.”
“How do you think any of that ties into blond-boy and his visit here?” Sherman asked.
“I’m not sure. But I agree with Madison. The Sheriff
would know when he or someone else could call the Coast Guard in. We’ve assumed a cohesive group of criminals up to this point. Maybe that isn’t the case. Maybe they aren’t all chummy and sharing information.” Cooper ran his hand over his scruffy jaw. “Okay, add watching the exterior cameras of this facility to your surveillance in case he comes back. I’m going back to bed.”
Before Cooper left the room, Lambchop filled him in on the phone call the Sheriff made that morning and his plans to go back out and surveil him that evening to see who he was meeting. Cooper approved the mission.
Brielle returned to her room too. She closed her eyes and did some deep breathing to try to calm herself. Blond-boy’s presence really rocked her. She wasn’t so sure that Brian was right about why he was there. How had he known where they were in New Orleans? She didn’t like that this guy had shown up twice. That was too much of a coincidence.
“Are you okay?” Sherman asked coming into the room. He closed the door behind himself.
“Yes. I just needed a few minutes. Do you really think that guy being down here could have nothing to do with us?”
“I do.” Sherman turned his back to her and unzipped his bag. He heard the bed creak. His lips curved into a smile as Brielle wrapped her arms around him from behind. Gazing down and seeing her hands on his abdomen spiked his excitement. He grew hard instantly. “I swear you’re trying to kill me, woman.”
“How so? I’m just snuggling up to you,” she replied in her raspy voice. She dropped her head against his back.
“You have no idea what effect you have on a man, or you do and you’re just teasing me.”
“I am no tease, Brian Sherman. I just like to feel you against me.”
“I’d sure like to feel more of you against me, more than I felt last night,” he said, his voice sounding strangled, even to him. He grabbed one of her hands and slid it down below his belt. “This is what you do to me, just snuggling up to me.” He rubbed her hand over his hard-as-steel member.
“I know you want more, Brian.”
“What are we doing, Brielle?” Sherman asked, turning her to face him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. “We’re both adults and we both want a physical closeness. Last night felt great to both of us. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
He kissed her more passionately than he’d ever kissed anyone. He pulled her pelvis close to his and held her tightly to himself. She returned his kisses just as enthusiastically. He felt her body completely meld into his, her soft breasts pressed beneath his hard pecs, her pelvis fitting perfectly against his.
He pressed hot, wet kisses down her neck, over her clavicle and across the exposed skin on her chest. He loved these V-necked t-shirts she wore. She held onto him with a tight grasp, holding him in place, not pushing him away. Below her shirt, he could see her hard nipples poking through the thin fabric of her bra. He angled his mouth over her right breast and gently bit down, blowing a hot pulse of air out as he did. He was rewarded with a deep moan from her.
The sensation of Brian’s pelvis against hers, pressing his hard cock into her and that of his lips on her were overwhelming. Brielle didn’t think she’d ever been as sexually excited as she was in that moment. Her mind raced with thoughts of what making love with him would feel like. She knew that she was ready to jump off that cliff.
“I want to make love to you, Brielle Jarboe,” Sherman whispered in her ear. “I need to make love to you. Let me make you feel incredible.”
“I’m not on birth control,” she said in a breathy voice.
“I’ve got a condom,” he whispered.
He kissed her again, and she kissed him back. He grabbed her at her hips and walked her back towards the bed, their lips never parting. He ran his hands up her ribcage, inside her shirt. His fingers coming in contact with the satiny fabric of her bra intensified his desire. He reached behind her and unhooked it. Then he pulled her shirt and her bra over her head.
He didn’t see the startled expression on her face. His eyes were affixed on her breasts. Then his lips took her left nipple while his hand felt over the other breast. “Heaven,” he murmured.
Brielle laid her hands onto his shoulders. “Brian,” her voice squeaked.
“Do not tell me to stop,” he said, his mouth hovering over her breast. He nestled his head against her chest, both hands now caressing her breasts. “These are beautiful. You’re beautiful. You have no idea how badly I want you.”
“I do, because I want you too,” she admitted.
Her words filled Sherman with heat and exhilaration. Euphoria surged through him. His hands went to work on unfastening her pants. As he pushed her jeans down her legs, he trailed kisses down her abdomen. He dropped to his knees to continue to peel her jeans off.
Brielle felt like she was on the edge of an orgasm just from his touch, his kisses. She wasn’t sure how she’d last when he actually touched her intimately. It had been so long since she’d made love with a man. She felt him working her jeans off. She became self-conscious about her hips, her thick thighs, the fat that clung to her abdomen no matter how much she worked out.
She felt Brian wrap his arms around her hips, his hands gripping her ass cheeks. Then she felt the heat of his kiss at the apex between her legs. She sighed out loud, a breathy moan that accompanied wetness flooding her. She trembled. It wouldn’t take much for her to explode. Then she felt him press open mouth kisses on her upper, inner thighs. She wanted to scream. She wanted to feel his tongue and his fingers touch her most intimate parts.
Sherman helped her step out of her blue jeans and dark green panties. His eyes viewed her dark green t-shirt and satiny bra beside them. Damn if that wasn’t the best sight he’d seen in a long time, her clothes off her and on the floor. Then his eyes scanned up her body, and he knew that her body was the best sight he’d seen in a really long time.
He allowed his hands to feel over her flesh, over her muscular calves and thighs, over her ass, finally bare in all its glory for his hands and eyes to behold. He spent a few extra seconds kneading her cheeks, then he pulled himself to his feet, his eyes taking in every square inch of her torso. He felt over her breasts again. They were everything he imagined they would be. Soft, perky, her nipples the perfect shade of dusty rose.
Brielle gazed into Brian’s eyes after he pulled himself to his feet. His eyes were dilated, desire beaming from them. There was no mistaking what his eyes conveyed.
“Damned, but you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever been with,” he whispered.
Brielle was sure she blushed deep red. Her hands shook as she pushed his t-shirt up his torso. He helped her to take it all the way off. His hands beat her to his belt. He undid his pants and pushed them down his legs, his eyes raking over her body the entire time, the thrill in him building by the second.
When he pulled her naked body against his. His flesh bristled with energy and exhilaration everywhere it touched her. He kissed her, undulating against her. His anxious cock wanted inside her, poked her lower abdomen with determination. He knew all it would take would be to bend his knees just a little and he could slide right into her. He suddenly didn’t want a condom between them. He wanted nothing between them.
Brielle grasped his upper arms with determination. Her knees were weak, and her insides had turned to jelly. She kissed Brian with as much eagerness as he kissed her, the sensation of skin against skin searing her and numbing her brain.
She felt his shaft glide between her legs. It didn’t penetrate her, but it rubbed against her clit. She gasped out, overpowered by the incredible desire that flooded her from it just touching her. “Condom,” she moaned.
His lips pressed kisses to her neck. “Is your cycle pretty regular? Know when you’re ovulating?” He whispered.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“And you’re not ovulating now?”
“No,” she replied in a long drawn out grunt as the length of his cock slid over her clit again.
He guided
her to lay on the bed, her ass hanging over the edge. He pressed an intimate kiss to her and then made love to her with his mouth until he could taste that she was reaching her peak. Just as she emitted a throaty growl, he pulled away and maneuvered between her legs, raising her pelvis to meet his, and pressing his length into her slowly. He groaned, the vise grip hot and wet around his member.
He thrust into her slowly until he was buried all the way inside her. He transferred her cheeks onto one arm and then reached up to her clit with his thumb and circled her as he drove into her repeatedly. It didn’t take long for him to feel her clamp down on him, a tortuous force that made him see stars. When he felt a deluge of wetness coat his cock accompanying an agonized cry from her throat, he exploded, an orgasm so powerful he fell atop her, his knees giving out.
