Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 
   Chapter Four
   Across the river gorge that formed their north boundary, there were eyes
watching them as they ran.
   The three men each had binoculars and were dressed in camo clothing,
with camo grease paint on their faces.
   "Would you look at the God Damned tits on that bitch, I told you both,
I'd seen them once before when they came around there in a little Dodge
pickup, it wasn't the one he drives, that looks like a fucking tank."
   "Wonder where they got that camo paint, that shit looks just like their
skin is colored, this shit we got is like wearing hog lard smeared all over
my face, and there's no way I'd put it all over my naked body and run with
it."
   "The only lard you got is your lard ass and your lard belly."
   "Fuck you, you're someone to talk about a lard ass."
   "Fuck you too, lard ass."
   "Will you two just shut up, I think that old boy's been in the army, I
bet he gets that paint through some outfit that makes it for the military;
damn, he sure is a big'un ain't he?"
   "Hell, I bet that big fucker would jump and run like a scared rabbit if
we was to cross that river bluff and tackle that old girls big ass, damn,
I'd love to fuck that butt."
   "Wonder how in the hell they ever got them wild dogs to stay close like
that, the ones on this side of the river are fucking wild; I wouldn't trust
them wild dogs that close to me anyway."
   "Ain't no way I'm going over there with that ol' big dog on the loose,
just look at that sumbitch, hell he looks like a fucking wolf crossed with
a fucking bear, that sumbitch would tear your ass half into with one bite."
   "I ain't scared of no fucking dog, wild or not.  I got my knife and my
.45.  I'd take his mangy ass before he knew I was even over there."
   "You two are gonna keep on and talk yourselves right into crossing that
river ain't you, count me out, I'm not tangling with that dog OR that man."
   "Well, the mutherfuckers ought not to be struttin' that big ass ol'
girls' hot ass around all naked and painted up with camo, hell that's just
begging for a fucking if you ask me."
   "Both of them's got a fucking knife strapped on their hip I'd like to
have, that's a skinnin' knife if I ever saw one."
   "I'd like to take her knife from her and whittle around her nipples
after I sucked them up big and fat."
   "You sick bastard, you always want to cut on a woman's tits, you damn
near made that one bleed to death the last time we took that girl from her
campsite and fucked her ass raw; the fucking law was all over these hills
for a month looking for us."
   "Hell I like to hear them squall when I fuck'em."
   "If you had a big enough dick, you could make the squall without cuttin'
them up."
   "Fuck you."
   "Fuck you too."
   "Hey knock it off, you two; hell, lets go lay out some more maps for
that bunch that's coming up here weekend after next for the paint ball
championships, we'll make a lot of money from that, if you two don't fuck
it up and get us killed."
   "Hell Yeah, we can cross that river and fuck that big ol' girl, when
we're done with that tournament I reckon, that ol' boy over there sure
won't hurt that pussy or that big ass of hers before we get some of it."
  
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   "Crystal, lets cut back across the woods on this old logging road, I'll
show you where there's another big spring coming out of some rocks that has
some really cold water."
   "Ok, I want to know all about this place, I want to get fucked in all of
your favorite places too," she laughed as they jogged side by side through
the tall grass, before they entered the wooded area again.
   Once under the shade of the huge trees, there was no grass and just an
occasional bush in the old logging road.  Dog and his pups were running
parallel with them, a few yards out into the larger trees, not on the
trail.
   They spent the whole day out in the forest, running, walking and
exploring.  Steve showing her all about the place, teaching her more about
the knife and compound bow.  He showed her the stainless steel broadheads
he used on the arrows for hunting, and how they would even cut right
through bone and gristle when they struck an animal.
   "We'll stop and take your pickup back up to the cabin when we get back
there, I'd hate for a limb to fall on it if we have a storm one night."
   "Will I get paint on my seats?"
   "No, this paint will only come off when we use the soap that comes with
it, we may just wash up our hands, face and arms and leave the rest of our
body painted, we'll come back out tomorrow when we get back from town," he
told her.
   "You mean I can sleep in this and it won't come off?" she grinned.
   "Yes, you like this don't you?  You like being painted and being naked
out here."
   "I'm not going to lie, I love it, I'd stay naked all the time out here
if we could."
   "We'll spend a lot of time just like this, I want you to be as good at
finding me as I am at hiding from you."
   "I love playing hide-and-seek with your ass, I get fucked as a reward,
no matter what I do," she laughed and they kissed as they came to her
pickup.
   Steve dropped the tailgate and slapped the side of the truck, "Mount up
Dog", he said and walked around to get in the passenger seat.
   Dog leaped into the truck and looked back at his pups, they sprang to
the tailgate as if they were cats.  When the truck started moving, they
were scared at first, then soon were looking over the sides, running from
one side to the other, just like Dog.
   Steve and Crystal were up early the next morning, as they have been
since she came here to be with him.  He wanted to get down to town and back
before late, he wasn't worried about anything as long as Dog was here, but
he just liked to look everything over before dark, to set his mind at ease.
   Old habits die hard, and Steve still had all his old habits.
   They had washed the paint off their faces, arms and hands and Crystal
wore some of the camo pants that Lilly had worn, Steve told her before he
handed them to her and she sniffed them and made a face then laughed.  They
were too short for her long legs and she took the scissors and cut them off
about mid calf, making her some camo Capri pants to wear with her high top
shoes.
   Steve handed her a camo tee shirt of his and she pulled it over her huge
naked titties, her small sharp, pointed nipples appearing ready to pierce
the fabric any moment.
   He handed her a camo baseball cap and she pulled her long red braid
through the back, then pulled the cap down on her head tight, smiling at
him as they put their dark glasses on and left, with instructions to Dog to
keep the peace while they were gone.
   "You can drive, you need to get used to this thing anyway," he said as
he tossed her the keys to his 4x4, short wheel base Chevy, with the wide
tires and jacked up suspension.  He had a big chrome light bar behind the
cab with four KC lights for riding through his place after dark.  There was
also a spotlight mounted on each door post with a hand grip built in the
back of the light, used for aiming it.
   The truck had a five speed stick shift; she knew all about them though,
and smiled when she started the engine to hear the loud pipes that roared
and blared as she revved the engine and let off the accelerator.
   They got to her apartment she shared with Janelle at 9:00 and boxed all
her personal belongings and her clothes, using duct tape to keep the boxes
closed.  They loaded all her stuff and she left a note for Janelle, telling
her they would catch her at Julio's one afternoon.
   They arrived at the courthouse at 11:00 and went in to find the sheriff.
   Sheriff Cole was sitting in his office with two deputies when the woman
deputy took them back to see him.  The deputies stood to leave when they
were introduced.
   "Sheriff, Crystal and I were here in town today and I wanted to stop by
and visit with you, about my name being the same as someone in Strawberry,
the town and about when I was in the special ops."
   "Sure Steve, you and Crystal have a seat.  Crystal, my wife has a pair
of my old camo pants she cut off just like yours, she loves them things,
I'll have to tell her about you cutting yours off too."
   "Thanks Sheriff, Steve gave me these and they were too short, so I just
cut them to look like Capri pants, I like them."
   "About the mix up with your name, Steve, we weren't sure about what all
was going on, since the Chief of Police over there told us he had some
small time thugs that had weapons and narcotics and were out of Arizona, I
just wanted to be sure they hadn't been to your place.  I'm glad you and
Crystal are alright, although from what my deputy told me, the men are
lucky they didn't pay you a visit," Sheriff Cole said and laughed.
   "Well, that's one thing I wanted to tell you about, I get mail all the
time with the name spelled with a 'v' instead of a 'ph' and never even
think about it now, I guess I need to pay more attention to what I throw
away."
   "Steve you talk like you're from around here, are you?"
   "Yeah, I was born up at Jasper, went to school there, then went to UofA
before I hired on with Uno Bravo.  I lived in that wilderness when I wasn't
in school, and decided to come back to it when they kicked me out after
getting shot up and hit by an IED that went off near me."
   "Man, you've had a rough time of it, my hats off to you,"
   "Thanks Sheriff."
   "Tell me Steve, did you have a UPS delivery up at your place the other
day?  The reason I asked is, the driver that runs that route and his wife
have been reported missing after he didn't show up for work yesterday."
   "Well, I did have a driver come up there, but when I told him the name
was wrong and the address was wrong and that I hadn't ordered anything, he
left." Steve told the Sheriff, he figured he may as well be caught for
lying, if he's caught with the money, which no one will ever find anyway.
   "That helps us a lot, he did finish his deliveries on Friday and went
home at his regular time.  He's been a driver for almost nine years and has
never missed a day.  They were really concerned and we're looking into all
the leads we have.  Did he say what he had for you, I mean before you told
him he had the wrong man?"
   "He just said he had ten boxes and I knew I hadn't ordered anything, it
was the day we had all that rain and it was really blowing up there, he was
soaked and he was in hurry, we didn't talk hardly any."
   "So whatever it was in those ten boxes, was still on the truck when he
left?"
   "As far as I know they were, were they not on it when he got back?"
   "The dispatcher said he'd delivered all his parcels and that he'd had a
bad day, running over his delivery monitor, or whatever they called it, the
thing you sign anyway."
   "Well, I can't help you there Sheriff, he seemed like a good guy, that
was having a bad day; I sure hope he's alright and its just a family
emergency or something."
   "Yeah, I'm holding out for that too, but with his work record, I have a
feeling something may have happened that involves foul play, or he would
have called by now."
   "Yeah, it sure doesn't look too good, what with the thugs running
firearms and narcotics; have they talked at all?  I mean I know you have to
keep it quiet, but if trouble comes around my way, I'd like to know all I
can to maybe head off something that could involve Crystal and I."
   "I understand Steve, I talked to the chief of police up there this
morning and he says the ASP picked them up and that's all he knows.  I'm
not sure if they got anything out of them or not, they've probably gotten
lawyered up by now and already posted bail."
   "I wouldn't doubt it at all."
   "Steve, tell me about your time over in Baghdad, my deputy told me you
were there when the big battle broke out."
   "Sheriff, I was a part of an outfit you may not have heard about, I was
with Uno Bravo, which is a private contractor unit assigned to work under
the CIA's Special Ops.  We were actually sent in ahead of any one else, I
was taught to speak the language and all the dialects.  I was in Baghdad
two weeks before the first CIA Ops even came in.  I saw it all, from the
time Saddam started killing his own people to the arrival of the CIA Ops to
the first rangers that came in.  I was sending them recon info to get them
in place.  It was hell over there for a lot longer than most people think."
   "Steve were you there alone?" Sheriff Cole asked.
   "No, I had Dog with me."
   "My deputy told me about Dog, he told me you were the one that ran the
meth cooker out when he wandered on your land after we started chasing him.
I need to make you an auxiliary county deputy since you live so far out,"
the sheriff laughed.
   "Sheriff you probably wouldn't like my way of enforcing the rules on my
land, they'd have you and me both up for police brutality or even worse,"
Steve said and they both laughed.
   "Steve, I sure like you and Crystal, you're my kind of people and I hope
if the bunch from Arizona does come calling, you leave enough for me to
hang cuffs on," Sheriff Cole laughed once again.
   "Sheriff, I don't go looking for them, if they come to me, what they do
when they get there determines how they leave our place.  If anyone ever
touched Crystal or me, Dog would have their throat for supper and probably
their heart too."
   "Crystal and I ran up on two of his pups from a wild bitch cur that
roams the backside of my place, and Crystal's just about got them where
they'll roll over for her, they'll eat out of her hands now."
   "Crystal, you must have been raised around those dogs like that, they
don't usually settle down that easy."
   "I grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee, we were mountain folks
and raised our own Mountain Curs.  Daddy and I even trained and sold them
for a while, before I went off to college."
   "I can see now why you and Steve make such a good fit for each other,
you being a mountain girl, and him from the wilderness around Jasper."
   "Sheriff, your deputy told me you lost a son over there, in special ops,
was he there early or later?"
   "He was there after our forces had occupied the place, so to speak.  He
was hit by a roadside bomb too, he didn't make it."
   "Sorry Sheriff, I saw a lot of good young men go down needlessly over
there in that hell hole."
   "I've never told anyone this before, and I'll tell you now, in front of
Crystal; I killed every son of a bitch that I saw carrying a gun, that
didn't have a uniform on.  Some may have been the good guys, but I didn't
have time to sort them out.  I figured when they met their Maker, He could
to that."
   "I don't blame you one bit either Steve, I'd be the same way, I wouldn't
make a good soldier."
   "Sheriff, I was trained to win, losing wasn't even an option; when we
went through our basic training, it wasn't like the military.  We didn't
fight by NATO rules, even though we were supposed to; they didn't teach us
self defense, they taught us to kill."
   "I'm glad you and Crystal came to see me today, I'll be sure and tell my
wife about you both and that you took care of a lot of those that killed
our boy over there."
   "I'd go back and kill some more, if they'd let me, but the politicians
are fighting the two wars now, we'll be there as long as there's sand in
the dessert.  We'll never win a war, fighting in self defense, we need to
take the country, then hand the pieces back to them.  Either that or get
the hell out."
   "You're probably right Steve."
   "Sheriff, I know its none of my concern, but I keep thinking back to
those ten boxes the driver said he had for me, you think that could be what
the thugs from Arizona were after.  The UPS driver came to Strawberry in
Johnson County and those men went to Strawberry the town, in Lawrence
County."
   "I've been thinking the same thing, since you told me the driver said he
had ten boxes for you, until he found out he had the wrong address."
   "Couldn't they track the shipment?"
   "I've got a man over there now, trying to work with them on the
tracking, they said the electronic thing was busted so bad it lost
everything, and the original scanning seemed to have never taken place."
   "Well, I was just wondering, since I almost had possession of what ever
it was, probably ten boxes of narcotics, or marijuana."
   "Yeah, that would be my bet too, oh well, we'll find out one day, I just
hope the driver's alright and safe with his wife."
   "We're going to get out of here Sheriff, it was a pleasure to meet you
and have the visit, Crystal and I'll come back one day."
   "You do that; Crystal, I wish you and Steve all the best, try to keep
him and Dog from taking my deputies down if they ever come back."
   "I will Sheriff, I feel like we've just made a friend today, I don't
have a lot of them and Steve has even less, I want to thank you for letting
Steve visit about your son, I feel better now that I've heard you both
talking."
   "I do too Crystal; Steve, you have a special young woman there, she
loves the wilderness, dogs and country boys," Sheriff Cole laughed, as he
shook their hands and they left.
   "Well, what do you think Crystal?"
   "I think I have a new respect for you, and I love you even more than I
thought I could, you made him feel good Steve, and you better never start
asking me questions, hell you had him telling you all about what was going
on in the investigation."
   "I have a new respect for you too Crystal, I love you more than I did
when we left home, you make me proud."
   "Thanks Steve, I need to hear that at least once a minute," she laughed
as she drove away from the courthouse.
   "Run over to Wal Mart and lets get a computer, Julio wants us to get
online with the dish system, do you know anything about them?"
   "I have two in a box back there, a lap top and a desk model, all we need
to do is get a dish put up and we'll be online."
   "Hell, I should've known, you do everything else I ask of you," he
laughed.
   Crystal drove back to the cabin after they had stopped by the vet's and
got flea and tick meds, then filled Steve's truck with gas, it was a gas
hog, with that big V8 engine.
   On the way back, Steve called Julio and asked if he had that number for
the internet dish company, he got the number and got fussed at too for not
stopping by while he was in town.  He knew about Crystal already, Janelle
had come in the bar alone and told him; as always, Julio wished them luck.
   When they drove into the front yard at the cabin, Dog was lying in the
same spot he was when they left, he thumped his tail on the wooden porch
and never got up.  The two pups stood and with their heads low to the
ground, they stood looking at the pickup, never flinching until Crystal
stepped from the tall truck and slammed the door.  Then the pups lay back
beside Dog and thumped their tails in unison with his.
   "I see no one's been here," Crystal said as she walked to the porch with
an armload of her stuff.
   "We don't get many visitors up here, and if they wander in, they don't
stay long.  There's one of those driveway alarms on the driveway, as soon
as it beeps, Dog hears it and just waits for them."
   "So that's what I heard when the deputy came up yesterday, I was looking
all over for the beeping sound when I saw him out there."
   "Sorry, I should've told you, but things like that, I just take for
granted now, never even thought about it until now."
   They got Crystal's belongings moved into the cabin and she started
unpacking and sorting through them.  When she came to the computers, she
got the phone number from Steve for the Hughes Internet system and called.
It took about twenty minutes to get the information to them and make an
appointment for the installer to come put the dish up.  He would be there
in two days, before noon.
   The next two days were spent in the forest, running and Steve showing
Crystal how to stand next to a tree and never be seen, how to lay under a
brush pile and have someone walk close enough to touch their foot.  He
showed her how to make a weapon from just a few sharp sticks.  He showed
her his natural tree stands, where he stood on a big limb and waited for a
deer to come by.
   They shot their arrows hundreds of times until she became almost as good
as he was, she could hit dead center of a target 18 out of 20 arrows and
make kill shots with the other two.  She kept practicing with the big knife
until she could stick it in a knot on a tree at thirty feet, every time.
   The man came at 9:00 a.m.  on the day he was scheduled, to install the
dish on a post for satellite internet.  He sighted with his compass to the
southwest, then picked a spot at the back corner of the cabin, making sure
he had a clear, open shot at the sky with no trees.  After getting
permission to set the post there, he dug the hole and set and plumbed the
galvanized pipe in ready mix, at the right height, and told them he would
be back in four hours to install the dish.  He was back at 1:00 and in an
hour, had the dish installed and sighted, then he ran the cable underground
to the corner of the house and into the living room where they wanted the
modem and connection.  It took another hour, with him on the phone at the
Hughes.net office, getting the dish trued and online.
   Crystal had signed up for the highest available broadband they had, and
already had the desk top PC ready to connect; the installer showed them how
to route the wireless to the laptop and made sure they were online, then
left.
   "Julio should still be at home, call him and see, if he is get his email
address and send him an email," Steve said, he wanted to be sure this was
working.
   Crystal called Julio on Steve's phone and he was on his way to open the
bar.  She got his email address and sent him an email, so he'd have theirs
when he came home later.
   Steve was looking over her shoulder as she typed, her fingers flying
across the keyboard in a flash.
   "What was that you just typed," he asked as she sent the email.
   "I set up a screen name for you, countryboycansurvive," she laughed.
   "I like it, now you need one too."
   "I'll just use yours, its not like I'll have a lot of mail," she said.
   "Fine with me, lets go run."
   "I'm ready are we going to paint our face and arms?"
   "No, we'll just run today and let the dogs get some exercise too, we'll
take our weapons though, you never know."
   Crystal stood and stripped naked, "I'm ready," she laughed.
   "I like it when you're ready too," Steve said as they gathered their
bows, arrows and knives.
   He had mounted an eight arrow, rigid camo quiver to each of their bows.
He had also schooled Crystal repeatedly about handling the broadhead
hunting points mounted on these eight arrows.  They were made of surgical
grade stainless and were just as sharp as a surgical instrument.  These
were the best stainless steel broadheads he could find.  They were as close
to what he used in combat as any he could buy.
   When they ran like this, stopping to take target practice at any usable
target, they each carried a small quiver looped over their shoulders that
contained ten target arrows, with round field points.
   They ran through the big trees of the forest, where there was no
undergrowth, Dog in front, leading the way.  His two pups running alongside
Steve and Crystal, flanking them six feet out, as they all ran easily
across the leaf carpeted floor of the forest; the sunlight shining through
the thick tree canopy like beams from a thousand spot lights.
   When they stopped to take a breather, the dogs would lay at their feet,
waiting to run again.
   When they had stopped for a while, talking in low voices to one another
as they sat side by side, the forest would come alive once more, birds
flying and singing their songbird praises of a pretty day, squirrels
playing in the trees and cutting through Hickory nuts and acorns, with
their sharp teeth; the cuttings falling through leaves above the ones
sitting on the log.
   Dog jumped to his feet, followed by his pups as Steve said the magic
words.
   "Lets go."
   They ran once more, longer and faster this time, just as they always
did. Through the forest, across the property on the old logging roads;
coming out on the west property line and running north to the sheer rock
bluffs with the tumbling river fifty feet below.  They turned and ran east,
following the river upstream, along the high bluffs all the way to the
north east corner, then back south again toward the cabin.  Miles and miles
they ran, easily carrying their weapons, never missing a step as they
leaped a limb or rotten log.  Darting around small bushes, ducking under
low limbs as they ran.
   They always ended their run with a long burst of all out strides,
running side by side, kicking for all they had left, then dropping their
weapons and running straight into the pool below the falls, the dogs
stopping at the edge of the pool to lap up the cool water.
   "Steve, I have a question, and you don't have to tell me if you'd rather
not."
   "Sure, ask me anything."
   "You told the sheriff that the UPS driver left with the ten boxes, and
there are ten boxes in the hole up there and they have UPS labels on them,
is that the same ten boxes?"
   "Yes, come on, bring your weapons and I'll show you."
   They gathered their weapons and climbed the steep slope to the top of
the boulders where the spring ran from the ground, water bubbling and
boiling up from the depths of the earth to form a water falls that fell
over twenty feet to the pool below.  They went through the water falls just
as they did the day he showed this place to her, and made love the first
time.
   He lay his bow on top of the boxes and took his knife, cutting open the
cracker box he had opened to see what was inside that day they came.
   He pulled out the twenty five bundles of hundred dollar bills and handed
them to her.
   "FUCK Steve, is this what's in all these big boxes?" she asked, eyed
wide in disbelief.
   "Yes, I figured there's thirty million here, if they all have the same
amount."
   "Who sent this and where did it come from?  Is it traceable?" she asked
her questions as she looked at the money in her hands.
   "I figured the money was from some money laundering outfit when I got it
by mistake, now I know I'm about 100 percent right, after what we learned
this week about the thugs that came to Arkansas looking for a Steve
Randall. These boxes were shipped FROM a Steven Randall TO a Steven
Randall, only he put AR instead of AZ, as near as I can figure out anyway."
   "So now the money is lost, the UPS driver that brought it here has
disappeared and we have the money?"
   "Yes, that's about it.  No one but the driver knew it was here and the
sheriff said he'd wrecked his delivery monitor, and that the tracking was
all messed up.  I would just as soon have the money as turn it over to the
law, or let the mob get it back in their hands."
   "Well, I always wanted to know what it felt like to be a millionaire, I
don't even feel any different now, but I sure like the sound of saying
'thirty million dollars'," she laughed.
   "So, are you in, or do you want me to accidently 'find' the money and
report it to the sheriff?"
   "I'm in, and we're keeping the money, I don't give a fuck if they come
here and turn this place upside down, they'll never find it, besides, no
one in their right mind would ever come here, with you and Dog living
here."
   "You're forgetting about my newest partner and backup."
   "Well, I'll use everything you've taught me, before they take you or
this money."
   "I would do the same for you and Dog would too."
   "How will we ever spend any of it, I mean we can't just go buy anything
we want, some one would notice."
   "We'll spend it a little at a time, I have $250,000 of this money in the
cabin, besides what I've saved over the years, all in cash.  I figure close
to $400,000, but I never counted it."
   "That's why you told me to quit my job and come here, we could make it,
but you didn't tell me about the money until I committed myself, you are
one sneaky shit and I love you."
   "I didn't want the money to be involved if you decided to stay with me."
   "I would have stayed, if you lived in this cave, I wanted you when I
first saw you and now we have each other, I fucking love this, I just LOVE
it."
   "I do too Crystal, the only thing I feel guilty about is the UPS driver,
if he's missing because of this; maybe the mob came to see him, tracked him
some way to know he was the one that delivers up here in this community."
   "Steve, that wasn't caused by you, whether he took it back like the
sheriff thought or left it here, they would have found him.  BUT, if they
think he took the money, then they're trying to get the info from him and
his wife.  Can we do anything, can we find out ourselves?" she asked as she
pulled a loose label from a box.
   "We can try, I'll call Julio and put him on it, he was in the intel part
of our outfit, he knows how to make it work, we'll just have to think of a
way to keep him from smelling the money."
   "We'll think of something, lets get up to the cabin, I'm hungry,"
Crystal said as she kissed him.
  
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   "Uncle Albert, what're we gonna do about those two dumb asses over there
in that hick jail in Arkansas?"
   "Come in and sit down Al, I've already put my attorney's on it and
they've posted bail.  I was afraid to let those two sit in jail for very
long, hell they'd be singing like Elvis."
   "Are we gonna go get them or what?"
   "You and I are going after them, I don't trust anyone else, they've just
about ruined our whole operation here, with what they've pulled already. 
You need to pack a bag and be at my house by 3:00 this afternoon, we'll be
leaving as soon as you get there.  Brody and Hallerman are going with us,
they'll take their vehicle.  Bring your toolbox with you, we're NOT going
to bring Jack and Joe back with us, they're going to have an accident."
   "Gotcha Uncle Albert, I'll be there, and I'll be ready."
   "I knew I could count on you Al, you're all I got left now and one day
all this will be yours, I need you to just keep close like this so I can
show you the ropes."
   "Count me in Uncle Albert, I'm your man."
   "I knew that Son, if we leave at 3:00, we'll be there in less than 24
hours, driving straight through, with the four of us driving two vehicles."
   "Where will we meet up with Joe and Jack?"
   "The attorney that bailed them out of jail out there is bringing them
down to meet us, then we're going to pick up on that UPS lead we got."
   "Damn Uncle Albert, this is getting as good as the old days you are
always telling me about."
   "It's a lot like it, you'll see plenty of action out there I can
guarantee that, hell it's like a wilderness back there in Arkansas, those
hillbillies still live in caves and log houses, and the women go naked half
the time," Albert Barrow told his nephew and they both laughed.
  
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   After they had eaten Crystal fed the pups from the scraps, making them
come to her and take the food from her hands.  She could even pat them on
the head lightly now and they would wag their tails.  She kept working with
them today and got them to stand still while she put the drops on their
necks to keep the blood suckers off them.  When she had finished, she gave
them each a strip of crisp bacon left over from breakfast and it was gone
with out even being chewed.
   The pups were really filling out, their ribs and hip bones no longer
showing, their heads and necks were really getting filled out, more like
Dog now.
   While Steve talked to Julio, she worked with them, playing with their
ears and scratching under their jaws.  They loved the attention and stood
while she scratched their backs.  They had dirt and dandruff under their
thick hair and she knew bath time was coming soon, that would be a
memorable event and she knew it, bathing two wild, cur pups for the first
time.
   Crystal picked up a stick, and at first they shied away as if she had a
weapon, then as she shook it in front of each of them playfully, they
wanted to play too.  She had named them Uno and Bravo, for the outfit Steve
had worked for when he first got Dog.  As she worked with them, she called
their names, getting them used to the sounds.
   She would toss the stick and they'd run to get it, fighting over it as
if it were food, then run back, leaving the stick, when they tired of
fighting over it.
   Crystal was patient and never even standing, she crawled over to get the
stick and shake it again playfully.  The pups came running once more and
wanted the stick as it shook in front of them.  When she tossed it, they
ran to it and fought over it again, then left it once more.
   This time, she crawled across the dirt in the backyard and picked up
another stick, holding them apart, she shook them again until they each
went for their own stick, when she had teased them to where they would
stand up for it, she shook them and tossed both sticks, away from each
other as the pups ran after their own sticks.  One pup picked his up and
brought it back, but didn't want to turn it loose, the other pup left his
and came to try and take the stick from the one that was playing with
Crystal.
   Neither she or the pup would let the other pup even get close to the
stick now, and he ran playfully to get his own stick.  When they tired of
carrying their sticks and chewing on them, they lay them on the ground,
wanting to be petted and scratched again.
   Crystal gave them the attention they wanted and picked up the two sticks
once more.  They were ready, they loved to play like this and waited
eagerly as she pretended to throw the sticks and held them.  Then she shook
the sticks at them as they tried to get their mouths on them.  She pulled
them back and tossed them further this time, the two pups now running to
get their own stick and running back, to lay beside her and chew on the
stick, she took the ends of the sticks and shook them.  The pups turned
them loose and were jumping and yipping wanting to go get them again.
   Steve stood in the door, watching her work with them, making them want
to play with her, wanting to be near her.  He looked at Dog and Dog looked
up at Steve from where he lay, watching the pups and Crystal playing
together.  It was as if the two friends acknowledged that the pups were
learning and wanting more.
   Steve and Dog both looked back to see the pups now bringing the sticks
back to her, offering an end to her, wanting her to shake it while they
chewed on them.  They would turn them loose and jump and turn and yip until
she threw the sticks again.
   For over an hour she squatted naked on her haunches.  Tossing the sticks
and throwing them, again and again they came back and let her have the
sticks to throw again.  When she and the pups all three tired of the game,
she took the sticks and put them both up on the windowsill and turned to
Steve.
   "Dog may have bred them, but they belong to you Crystal, you may as well
be their mother for all they know.  You will have them tripping over one
another to play with you and please you so they will get attention.  You're
a natural born country girl and I love your sexy ass."
   "Just my ass?"
   "No, but I do love that sexy looking butt you have."
   "Want to go play on the internet before I let you have some of this big
ass of mine, I wish you could fuck a few inches off it," she laughed.
   "Sure, lets go, what are you going to do, look at porn?" he laughed.
   "We could, but it wouldn't be near as good as what we can come up with,"
she said and they kissed.
   She sat at the desk and turned the computer on.  While it was booting
and finding a signal, she turned to Steve as he sat in a chair beside her.
   "Where did I lay that label?  I know I brought it with me," she asked.
   "Its on the table, I'll get it.  What are you going to do, try to track
it yourself?"
   "No, I just want to try and see if there's something on it that will
show us where it came from and how it got here."
   Steve handed her the label and they both looked it over under the desk
lamp, she turned it over and held it right up to the light.
   "Look you can make out the original printed name and address under the
marking ink that was used to mark through it."
   "Can you make out what it says?" he asked, really interested now.
   "Yes, Amalgamated Distribution, LLC.  Strawberry, AZ."
   "Strawberry AZ, that's exactly what the dumb asses did, they shipped the
boxes to AR, when they wanted to ship them right back to AZ, but why?"
Steve wondered.
   "Well, suppose there was a disgruntled employee."
   "Hey, you're right.  He could have taken the company labels, marked
through them, and tried to ship them to himself.  Makes good sense out of
something that makes no sense at all."
   "Lets see if we can find Amalgamated on the internet," Crystal said as
she entered the name and address into the search box.
   "Damn, there must be a million Amalgamated listings."
   "Yes, but there shouldn't be but one in Strawberry, AZ if its even
listed," she told him.
   "There's one way down at the bottom."
   "We'll just see if it tells anything."
   "It just tells a little about it is all," Steve said.
   "Watch this," Crystal said and went to Google Earth and signed on.  She
typed in the street address and the zip.
   "Here's a picture of the warehouse, there's the name on the side, and I
see some grocery trucks parked over to the side," she said as she scanned
the picture from all directions on 'street level' mode.
   "There's not but two small local delivery trucks though, that sure is a
big warehouse for no more business than that."
   "Maybe it was the weekend or something."
   "OK, we'll assume that's the case, see what else you can find."
   "Here's another pic on this next page and there's a black SUV parked out
front."
   "Can you make out that license plate?"
   "Damn, you're good, you must have had training in espionage," she
laughed.
   "Not as much as Julio, but I was exposed to it for over a year while
training."
   "I can zoom in, but it gets blurred, I can make out that it's Arizona
plates, but the numbers run together, wait, let me zoom, then capture the
pic, download it and transfer to one of the photo edit programs," Crystal
said as she went to work getting the picture stored on the hard drive.
   "Here we go, we'll use SnapFish first," she said as she brought the
picture up again.
   "Still can't get it to show clear enough to read," she said as she
backed out of the program and went to a Windows picture editing program.
   "OH FUCK Steve, there it is."
   "Here let me write that down, Julio can find who the owner is in a few
minutes, I sure wish he wasn't working, he could tell us quick, he knows
people in low places."
   "Do you think he could call a friend of his and get the plates run
through DMV now?"
   "We'll try," Steve said and dialed the number at the lounge.
   "Julio," he answered.
   "Hey Amigo, need your help when you get unbusy," Steve said.
   "You got it Amigo, what's up, you need another woman?" he said and
laughed.
   "No, this one is more than I can handle, listen if I gave you a plate
number from another state, could you get it run through DMV without too
many questions?"
   "Hell yeah, let me have it, I'll get back to you in just a few minutes,
tell Crystal that Janelle is here."
   "He said tell you that Janelle is there."
   "Tell him to put her on."
   "Put her on Amigo, can you do that with your bar phone?"
   "Hell yeah, HEY JANELLE, get your sexy butt over here and talk to this
hot assed redhead that now lives in the sticks."
   "I heard that, I'll kick his ass," Crystal laughed.
   "I think you have a hot ass too," Steve said and they both laughed.
   "Crystal?"
   "Janelle, hey girl, how's it going down there?"
   "Like hell, since you dropped me; no just kidding, we have been busy
though, but we always were.  I hired a new girl and she hasn't even showed
up for work since I hired her, I called her house and a sheriff's deputy
answered the phone."
   "OH SHIT," Crystal said, and covered the mouth piece.
   "This may get interesting." She told Steve.
   "Who was it, did Julio know them?"
   "No, but you know Julio, he can find out about anyone and he told me her
husband works for UPS and that he was missing too and the sheriff would
probably come talk to me too, but they haven't showed up yet."
   "Damn, you mean her husband and her both are missing?  What's that all
about I wonder?" Crystal said and looked at Steve.
   "Well, Julio's sources tell him that it looks like foul play, Julio told
me he thought so too, this was a low crime location and something bad must
have gone wrong somewhere for this to happen."
   "You and Julio sure talk a lot here lately, do you need to confess
anything to your best friend?"
   "Well, we have been seeing each other a lot, I've moved out of the
apartment, right after you left, and I live with him now.  I don't know
where it will go or how it will wind up, but we have fun and we stay up so
late I never get any sleep."
   "Girl, you're going to get in trouble."
   "No I'm not, I'm a big girl, and no comments about my ass either.  Jim
called me last week and told me he wanted a divorce, said I was gone all
the time and he's found someone else, he's offered to split right down the
middle and use the same attorney, he even told me to hire the attorney."
   "Damn Janelle; but maybe it's the best, you never did trust his ass
anyway, tell Julio to call Steve back when he can, love you my friend."
   "Tell her to get Julio to bring her up here when they both get time
off," Steve said.
   "Hey wait Janelle, Steve wants you and Julio to come up when you both
have time off."
   "He told me we would one day, we both have some time off coming up
around the fourth, we'll give you a call."
   "You wont need any clothes, we go naked all the time and we have a cool
tub, not a hot tub and we swim naked all the time and dive off the rocks."
   "You lucky shit ass, we'll be there, do we need to bring beer, we may
just get drunk too."
   "Bring all the liquor you want, we'll have the food and the beer, just
bring your big sexy ass on up here, I miss you," Crystal said and hung up.
   "So, she's moved in with Julio, I knew that sneaky Mexican would get in
her pants, they way he was smiling at her and making jokes that night."
   "Her husband wants a divorce, split down the middle and she's hiring the
lawyer for both of them."
   "Damn, well Julio needed a good woman, I hope she can settle his wild
ass down."
   "If I know Janelle, she'll fuck his ass down so far he'll never want
another piece of ass from anyone else."
   "Does Janelle run like you do, I know Julio runs, even with his crazy
ass hours, he still runs."
   "She runs every day, she and I used to run twice a day at the park where
they have the jogging trails, I like running here better though, the leaves
under the big trees are like running on carpet and the roads are always
easy to run on."
   "I was just wondering if she would run with us while she and Julio are
here, he and I run to let off steam when he comes up."
   "Does he come often?"
   "Not as much as he or I would like, but he does take off during deer
season and come up for a week, tell Janelle to take off that week and we'll
show her how to use a gun, she can hunt too."
   "Now she would love that, she grew up in the country in southern
Illinois and her dad used to take her deer hunting, she talks about that
all the time."
   "She would fit right in then, I hope she can tame Julio's ass down a
little, if not, I hope she don't expect too much from him."
   Steve's phone rang and he looked at the number then answered.
   "Hey Amigo, you find anything?"
   "Hell, what were you needing the license plates run on the mobs vehicle
for?"
   "Mob, what mob?"
   "The one in Arizona the feds are after for laundering money, my friend
that ran the check on the plates, got interested when he saw it belonged to
a known member out there, and ran his name through.  He's wanted by the FBI
and to top that off, one of his vehicles was impounded right here in
Arkansas, up in Lawrence County."
   "Damn, Crystal and I got the internet hooked up and she was just playing
around and I had talked to Sheriff Cole the other day after some goons from
Arizona had gone up to Lawrence County looking for a Steven Randall,
spelled with a 'v'.  He told me that there was some papers in the vehicle
they impounded with Amalgamated Distributors on them and they were running
that down, and for Crystal and me to lay low."
   "Seems they found a Steve Randall up there, he was the police chief's
brother.  That's where all the shit happened about the thugs.  The sheriff
here sent a deputy up to my place, since I live in the unincorporated
community of Strawberry.  Crystal looked up Amalgamated on the internet and
found some pictures of a warehouse with a vehicle parked in front, she used
some photo shit on the PC and got the license number."
   Steve told his friend enough of the truth to cover his ass if there was
ever a need to.
   "Damn Amigo, I would love to see them ass holes come on your place, they
would have to send a caravan of meat wagons up to clean the bodies up,"
Julio laughed.
   "Hey Amigo, Crystal was talking to Janelle there for a while and she
told us you and she were shacking up, you need to come on up and spend the
weekend when you get some time off, we'll all run naked and shoot some
targets."
   "Fuck man, you got company coming, I think she said she gets off a few
days on the fourth and I do too, that's not but two weekends away, count us
in.  We'll bring the briskets and a couple of Boston Butts for the grill
and plenty of beer."
   "Just bring your Mexican ass on Julio, you know we can have a good
time."
   "We'll be there, I can't wait to see her when we jump off into that cold
ass water," Julio laughed.
   "See you Amigo, and thanks."
   "I always got your back Amigo, see you."
   "He said they would come up too, didn't he?" Crystal asked.
   "Yeah, he's a mess when he starts drinking and having fun, we'll take
some rifles out and shoot a few hundred rounds, I hope you don't mind being
naked in front of company."
   "As long as you're there, I'd get naked in front of the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir."
   "The what?"
   "Just a saying we used in school," she laughed.  "Do we need to look any
further into this Amalgamated outfit?" Crystal asked before shutting the PC
down.
   "I guess not, we found out what we needed to know, I wonder if the
sheriff and the Arkansas State Police know as much as Julio?"
   "I would hope they've stumbled upon that, surely if we can, they can."
   "We had a label with the name on it though."
   "Julio said the bunch was wanted by the FBI and that their vehicle was
impounded here in the state."
   "Yeah, maybe we need to talk to the sheriff in a few days, I'd like to
know more about the missing man and wife now," Steve said and stood up.
   "Want some pussy?" Crystal asked as she ran her slender fingers through
her hair taking her braid down, letting her long, loose mane of red hair
fall across her huge breasts to her pussy and down her back to her sexy
butt.
   "I thought you'd never offer," he said and they laughed as they locked
the cabin down and went to bed 
  
JRyter's A Country Boy Can Survive Chap. 04