Chapter Text
Chapter One
Joe LaFiamma was frustrated, sweating and down right disturbed. He rolled off the body under him, moved off the bed and walked to the bedroom window. "I can't do it Lundy. I just can't do it! We weren't meant to be lovers!"
"LaFiamma, come back here." Levon rasped, his hard cock tight against his stomach. "Joe, please. We did it before.... It will be okay."
"We did it before after working twenty-four hours straight, and yes, it was a welcomed break, but... But - but damn it Lundy, I have to be in charge! It stems from that rape I told you about... that happened in high school. Ever since then I swore no one would ever take advantage of me again. I just can't do it your way. I'm sorry."
"Just come back here, will ya? We'll work on it." Levon gasped watching the slumped shoulders of his long time partner turn away from the window.
Joey turned and stared at his partner on the bed. Lundy was hot no doubt about it, then why was he having so much trouble. He could take care of the hard-on but the rest, he wasn't so sure about. Damn Uncle Vinnie for training him to be a Dominant! Though he thrived on it in college and in the Marines ... SHIT ... that's it. Guthrie was too damn much like Lundy. How could he make love to his partner when he could see his Colonel being totally submissive to him?
"I can take care of that cowboy," Joe said softly nodding to the cock lying across his partner's tight abdomen.
"Look, don't have to, okay. We'll talk about it tonight when you get back from your board meeting."
"LaFiamma, did you hear me?" Levon barked as his partner moved on the bed toward him. Lundy swallowed, and watched Joe spread his legs apart and knell between them.
"Joe! JOOO! OMI...GODDDD. Where'd you ... learn.....SHIIIIIIT! Sweet Jesus... wher'....ohohohohoho.... god.....!!!" Levon grabbed fistfuls of the sheet, pushed his head into the pillow behind him and shouted Joe's name. The blond's head stared at the brown head of hair bobbing up and down in his groin. At one point, Levon swore he saw his cock start to fall and what looked like a long tongue snake out of Joe's mouth, wrapped around his cock and pulled it back into Joe's throat. Oh yes they were definitely going to talk after the board meeting.
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"Hey Chicken, how's it going?" Joe LaFiamma called to the big black man standing at the grill of Chicken's Barbeque Restaurant.
"Well Mr. LaFiamma, what are you doing here so early? I didn't expect to see you for a couple more hours. It is the first Thursday of the month, isn't it? Aren't you supposed to be at the board meeting at Taylor Orphanage?"
"Well, Chicken, this is the second meeting we didn't have enough for a quorum. Got some major changes to pass for the new building project and can't get enough people there to vote. I swear, some of those people agreed to be on the board just to pad their resumes."
"It happens, LaFiamma. Lots of people today so busy but want that extra name on the paper." Chicken responded as he basted ribs on the grill.
Looking around the place, Joe asked, "Where's Lundy? He said he was meeting a friend from Dallas here tonight. I figured they'd still be here."
"The dude showed up with a horse in a horse trailer. Browning.., I think his name was, said he wanted Levon to take a look at the horse so they left for the ranch a little after seven. The guy didn't even want to wait to have a drink."
"Anything else going on I should know about. Any word on the street?" Joe asked glancing around the place.
"Had some 'spooks' in here earlier. Guess there was too many cops here for them, or they didn't find who they were lookin' for. They left."
"Spooks?" Joey asked.
Mercanaries, Joe. All dressed in black. Had on those black cargo pants with all the pockets. Pockets were bulging, but no one dared approached them."
"Mercs? Here? Wha'd they look like?" Joey asked suddenly very interested.
"Two had black curly hair, dark eyes. At first I thought one was you. Then an older man. Well, not really that old, now that I think about it. Probably in his early forties. Dark hair starting to gray at the temples. The other two called him Guthrie."
"Colonel Guthrie?" LaFiamma said, shock showing in his voice.
"Yeah! You know 'em?" Chicken answered finding it hard to realize that LaFiamma would know such a group of men.
"The one that looked like me is probably one of my cousins. Both could be. Colonel Guthrie was my C.O. in the Marine Corps." Joe watched Chicken's eyebrows rise at that admission. No one knew he'd been in the Corps for two years. "If they come back give me a call on my cell. I'm heading out to the ranch."
"Everything still okay with you and Lundy since you moved out there. You ain't killed each other yet?"
"Don't know Chicken. Living together is a lot different then just being partners. Right now I'm not sure if what we are doing is the right thing or not ... but Lundy wanted to give it a try."
"I know Levon's got a real glow to him since you moved out there. Hope everything continues to work out." Chicken said.
"We'll see Chicken, we'll see."
The fact that LaFiamma had been in the Marine Corps poised a question the black man wasn't sure Joe would answer. "How long were in The Corps, Joe?"
Joe looked at the man. "Two years." He answered quietly, so only Chicken would hear the answer. "Graduated from college and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Went to law school for a year until I discovered 'my family' thought that meant I was comin' into the business."
Chicken nodded knowingly, it meant mob business.
"Got an offer for a two year hitch. Had college so that meant I could be an officer. Sometimes I wished I had stayed in. Could be retired now and drawing a pension." Joey laughed. "Didn't find out until later that the two years came with a hidden clause."
"Hidden clause?" Chicken asked seeing a cloud pass over the Italian's face.
LaFiamma glanced around to see who was around. Then he said quietly, "I was a sharpshooter. Uncle Mikey taught me to shot when I was a kid. Took some shooting awards in high school. There's a paper in my file at Reisner that says I can be called up by the Order of the President, if my unit needs my expertise and their shooter isn't available."
"Glory be!" Chicken gasped. "Has that happened?"
"Four times in the last seven years." Joey said softly. "Listen Chicken, I got to get out to the ranch. If Guthrie and his guys come back, call me. Must be whatever is up - they're in need of a fourth man, and that man is me."
________________________________________
Levon followed Browning's trailer lights down the road to the ranch. He couldn't figure out what was so all fired special about looking at this horse tonight. Usually Quentin Browning liked to have a couple of beers before he started down to business. Tonight the man strolled into Chicken's and practically demanded they go out to the ranch right away.
Levon parked the Jimmy in its usual spot opposite the front porch. As he got out of his vehicle he watched Browning back his trailer up to the corral. It had been raining when he and Joe left in separate cars this morning, so Fooler was still in the barn. The cowboy watched his old rodeo friend back the black Appaloosa out of the trailer and release him into the corral.
"Mighty fine lookin' horse flesh you got there Browning!" Lundy said walking toward the barn. He flicked on the outside lights and Levon noticed the markings on the horse were very unusual. "You want to leave him here while you're in town? Where are you going to be stayin'?"
"Staying? Levon!" Browning laughed, "I always stay with you. Have every time I've come to Houston. It ain't often but you've never turned me away. You turning me away?"
Lundy swallowed. "Things have changed since you were last here. My partner, Joe LaFiamma, has moved in with me."
"The dude from CHI-CA-GO!! God Levon, you must be really hard up for a man to take him into your bed!"
Lundy bristled, not sure how to explain to his friend what he felt for Joe. Hell, he and Joe were still working it out between themselves and Levon wasn't interested in anything coming between what might turn out to be a really good thing...
"If you stay ... it will have to be in the guest room," Levon said tightly.
"In your dreams, cowboy! I didn't drive all the way out here to sleep in no guest room!" Browning said. "I'll just chat with your partner when he arrives and tell him the facts of life. Now help me clean out this trailer."
Lundy shook his head and walked into the barn to get Fooler and release her into the corral with the other horse. Then he got a pitchfork and a shovel and helped Browning clean out the manure of the trailer and put in fresh straw.
"Where'd this black paint come from?" Levon asked, running a finger along the inside rail of the trailer. "Looks like you might have a real painted horse here."
"They sent me photos of the horse I had agreed to buy. But when I got here this afternoon, the horse and picture didn't match. Then they sprung this Appaloosa on me."
Levon walked over to the corral and gave the horse a good once over. Bending between the rails he stepped into the corral for a closer look at the horse Browning had just bought. Brushing some hairs back away from the skin, Lundy discovered only the top layer of hair was black. Underneath was white. "Looks like you got a real painted horse, Browning! These here spots are painted black! Look! The color doesn't even go down to the skin."
"WHAT! I paid three thousand dollars for a horse that ain't a true Appaloosa!" Quentin Browning shouted scurrying over the fence. In his rush to get to where Levon was standing Browning hit a soft mound of mud from the early morning rain and slid feet first into Lundy's legs bringing them both down.
"SHIT! Quentin! Can't you watch what you'd doing? Dang, we'll have strip out here. No way am I letting this mud get tracked in the house."
"Don't you still have that shower in the barn we put together three years ago? Can shower there." Browning said a smile crossing his face. "Probably not that much hot water in the solar reserve, so we can at least shower together."
Levon guessed he didn't see no harm in showering together. If he had realized that his friend purposely got them dirty he might not have agreed so readily.
As they undressed and draped their muddy clothes on the fence railing, Lundy tried to tell his friend about his new relationship with Joe. When the two naked men arrived at the shower, Levon realized his friend hadn't heard one word he'd said.
________________________________________
LaFiamma cut the lights of the Cobra as he drove into Lundy's driveway. He parked next to the Jimmy as he always did. He noticed right away that there were no lights on in the house yet, so he walked down to the well lit barn. Joe stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the clothes draped on the corral railings ... two pair of jeans, shirts, boots and socks. He looked toward the barn and heard laughter. He pulled a gun out of one of his holsters and slowly, cautiously walked into the barn past the horse stalls to the shower. He stared in disbelief at Levon and who he figured was Browning showering together under the water. He stood and watched their play trying to figure out why he was getting so bent out of shape when he and Lundy weren't really lovers yet. Though he knew they might be if he could come to grips with his fears. Joe moved closer but stayed in the shadows.
"Browning! Back up, huh." Levon barked as his friend touched his growing hardness.
"LEE-Vooon. This dude from Chicago ... he know how to satisfy you the way I do? Well does he?" Browning cooed.
"We're ... we're working on our relationship. It's new to both of us."
"Having a man isn't new to you Levon. Come off it. I fucked your ass in college. I fucked your ass when you split with Caroline. I fuck you ass every time I could to Houston. If you think I'm giving that up for some Northerner dude from Chicago ... you are wrong! Unless ... hell that's it! Isn't it?"
"That's what?" Levon said gulping back the hardiness Browning's teasing was causing him. Glad Joe wasn't around to see his weakness. He never had been able to say no to Browning. Had done things for Browning that he'd never dare do for or with anyone else. He was damn glad Joe was sitting in a board meeting right now.
"He's a cocksucker, ain't he? Hell yes. Italian - right? An Italian stallion! Damn, now I know I am going to hang around until he comes so I can enjoy his talent myself. He did a job on you, didn't he?" Browning chuckled, watching a red blush flash across Levon's face and chest.
Joey heard the words and waited for his partner's response. [Cocksucker! Defend me partner. Stand up to the man!] What he saw next shocked the Italian to the core. Browning grabbed Lundy by the shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. For a moment Joe thought his partner was going push the man away. Instead, Joey's eyes widened as Levon's arms encircled Browning's shoulder and legs grabbed the man's hips.
As the lust between the two men in the shower intensified, LaFiamma stepped out of the shadows and said, "Am I interrupting something?"
"LAFIAMMA!" Lundy choked out the name as he pushed himself off Browning. "How ... how long you been standing there?"
"Long enough to figure you should have said no, Levon. But you didn't. Why didn't you say no to the man?" Joe asked sadness thick in his voice.
"Because I'm the man that makes him happy, that's why?" Browning boasted walking toward Joe. "Why don't you just sit down and wait till we're done. Then I want that mouth of yours right here." Browning said pointing to his growing cock. "Yes sir, it's been a long time since I had a talented man like yourself take me down his throat."
The gun LaFiamma had in his hand came up with a violent jerk. It was aimed directly at the man's head.
"God, LaFiamma no!" Levon gasped staring at the weapon.
Joey advanced to Browning, closing the space between them. Twisting the gun in his hand as he moved, LaFiamma brought the butt of the gun up fast and hit Quentin Browning square on the jaw. The man fell like a sack of potatoes unconscious to the cement floor.
Joe turned the gun on Levon. "Don't worry cowboy. I won't kill him. You - now that is another matter."
Joe grabbed Levon's hard cock and brought the cold barrel of the gun up to the cock's head.
Lundy's jaw went tight, his eyes wide.
"I guess I should have told you that I killed a guy once because he was unfaithful to me." Joey said calmly moving the weapon slowly down the length of his partner's cock. "'Course it was during Marine training, so everyone thought it was an accident. He swore he was mine. Bragged about how he belonged to me. But I caught him with his cock in someone else's ass. And someone else's cock in his ass. I could have just shot his balls off. But decided it was better to just kill the varmint. The Marines trained me very well, Levon. I could kill you right now, and then kill him and make it look like he accidentally killed you while making love ... then killed himself in remorse. I was very good at what I did, Levon."
"LaFiamma! Damn it, you're scaring me man." Levon yelped as the gun barrel moved down into his balls. "You moved out here so we could work out being together. Don't blow it away."
Joe's head jerked up. Looking into his partner's terrified face Joe growled, "Not exactly a good choice of words here, Levon."
A shiver went through the cowboy as the gun barrel moved up his rib cage to a nipple and then to his chin. "Tell me why you didn't say no to this man."
"I .. can ... can you back off with the gun... please." Levon rasped. This was a side of his partner he'd never seen before. A side he sure the hell didn't want to know.
The gun traveled back down his ribs and came to rest in the soft spot between his balls. Not exactly where Lundy wanted it but it was better than at his chin. "Like Browning said. He's been fucking me for a long time. Knows all the right buttons to push."
"And?"
"OKAY! OKAY! I don't know why I didn't just shove him off and walk away. You and I weren't doin' it ... and I wanted it. I wanted it bad."
Joey's cell phone chirped in his inside jacket pocket. He switched gun hands and answered it. "Yeah, Chicken. Are they back? Ask the man named Guthrie to come to the phone. Don't tell him who it is!"
Joe waited while the black man walked to the booth. He could hear the noises of the grill in the background. It was much busier than when he was in earlier and he knew Guthrie would wonder who the hell knew he was even there.
"Yeah, Colonel. It's Joe LaFiamma." Joe smiled at the reaction on the other end of the line. "You still looking for a fourth man? Is it the Chandler family? Tony tell you I was an usher in their wedding? Go play pool. I'll be back in a bit."
"Guess we won't be having that little talk when I get home tonight, huh?" Joey said taking his handcuffs out of his back pocket. "Give me your hand!" He said grabbing it roughly and slapping a cuff on it, locking it. When he grabbed for the other hand, Levon jerked it back. Joey slammed his partner roughly up against the wall and received no resistance when cuffing the other one.
"This has nothing to do with us being partners, Lundy. We're damn good at what we do. Have the best record of captures for the whole damn police force. But now that I know you didn't defend me and think of me of just being a cocksucker who can satisfy you're every whim... well, maybe you just shot those five years of work down this drain. Put your hands up. Higher!" Then Joe grasped his partner around the hips, lifted him and dropped the cuffs over the shower head that jutted out of the wall, Lundy's toes barely touched the floor.
"DAMN IT! LaFiamma! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE LIKE THIS! Joe!" Levon screamed as he watched Joe picked up Quentin Browning and carry him out of the barn.
"You better hope your lover here comes conscious before you lose consciousness or your hands start to break apart. I'm leavin' town for a few days. If you're still around when I get back ... reckon I'll probably see you again. Will anyway, you got stuff of mine here."
Joey holstered his gun and turned his attention to Browning. Blocking his mind from Levon's cursing.
He grabbed Browning under the armpits and dragged him out to his trailer. He leaned him up against the trailer and looked inside the truck cab, grinning when he saw a six-pack of beer. One can open and on the dash. Joe walked to the fence where Lundy's jeans hung and helped himself to the handcuffs in one of the back pockets. Walking back to his partner's friend, he dragged the naked man to the passenger side, opened the door and poured two cans of beer over the man. Then he lifted Browning and laid him across the front seat. A wicked grin crossed the Italian's face as he walked around to the driver's side. The grin widened as he handcuffed one of Browning's ankles to the truck's steering wheel. He poured out two more beers on the grass and threw the empties into the front seat.
Joe stood there for a moment then jogged to where he threw the cans that he'd poured on Browning and walked into the barn with them.
"LaFiamma, thank god! You came back." Lundy rasped.
"Thought you might need something to stand on cowboy." Joe said walking to his partner, lifting one foot and then the other to put a beer can under each one. "Course if you fall off them... then it ain't my fault, right?"
"You can't leave me like this! Joey, please!"
"Would you rather I shot your balls off, Levon?"
"Joey, god I love you, don't do this."
"I love you too Levon Lundy. More than life itself. Have taken a bullet more than once for you and probably will again. But this isn't about work cowboy. This is about loving, and being true to the one you said you wanted in your life."
________________________________________
Joe parked the Cobra in Chicken's parking lot right next to a black Land Rover. He peeked in through the black tinted windows and saw the shotgun in a holder between the driver and passenger seat. He lightly touched the emblem on the side panel - "Texas Bond Company." He had read in the Houston business news that a retired Marine colonel had recently purchased the company and was going to expand it into a security/protection/bounty hunter conglomerate. Grinning he walked into Chicken's, made his way through the crowd of cops and locals to the three men dressed in black playing pool.
Chicken watched LaFiamma enter. Something had changed about the man. Chicken noticed right away that LaFiamma had ignored him when he walked it. In five years, Joe had never failed to say hello when he entered the restaurant. Now he walked past as if Chicken wasn't even there.
It wasn't only Chicken, but several cops noticed that LaFiamma didn't speak to them as he passed. They watched as he went into the pool table area and warmly greeted the three men there. They were equally shocked when Joe kissed one man on both cheeks and did a very elaborate hand shake with the other two. When the handshake with the older man was done, Joe pulled the man into his arms for a tight hug momentarily pausing to suck an ear lobe before letting go.
As he looked at Colonel Guthrie, Joe said in a bare whisper. "The next thing I want is your ass, old man."
"Excuse me Joe," Chicken said coming up behind the men. "You and your friends care for a beer."
Colonel Guthrie looked at Chicken and said, "You wouldn't happen to have any Chardonnay, would you?"
"Matter of fact I do. I order it special for Mr. LaFiamma here." Chicken said nodding to Joe.
"Well then. Two beers for Tony and Allen LaFiamma here. And two glasses of wine for Joseph and I. Do you have a private office we could use? We have something to discuss with Joseph."
Chicken looked at Joe, needing confirmation from the man before he said yes.
"It's okay, Chicken. These two are cousins,": Joe said pointing to Tony and Allen. "And this is Colonel Guthrie, my old C.O. from the Marine Corps. He just purchased the Texas Bond Company."
Chicken's hand came up, pointing to the man and he said, "I read good things about you and what you plan to do with that company. Hope it all works out."
"I hope it works too. And it will if I can get Joseph to come on board with me. Now I am afraid we are on a time schedule, so if we could use your office, it would be appreciated."
Joe lead the way to the office, but Chicken's hand on his shoulder kept him from going in. "Help me with the drinks Joe, would'ya?"
"What's the trouble Chicken? You never needed help before?"
"Going to ask you the same thing Joe. First time in five years ... you walked in here and didn't say hello to me."
"Had a lot on my mind."
"Something happen at the ranch?"
"Yeah. Something happened at the ranch." When Joe saw that Chicken wasn't going to move anywhere with the beer and wine until he got an answer, he said, "Found Levon and Browning fucking each other under the shower in the barn. Having a right good old time they were too."
"Last time I found a lover doing that I killed 'im. Don't look so shocked Chicken. You know there is a lot about me you don't know. Don't worry I didn't kill Levon. Though about now, " Joe said looking at his watch, "he might wish I had." Joey took the glasses, the bottle of wine and the two beers and walked into Chicken's office.
"If you guys don't mind," Joe said to the three, "We need to blow this place before I get arrested for pistol whipping a dude I found fucking my partner. And before my partner is found hanging by his balls in his barn."
"Can we take the drinks?" Tony asked.
"Leave the drinks," Guthrie said. "We'll go to the TBC office. I want to show Joseph the place anyway and we need to lock up the Cobra because he is coming with us."
Guthrie opened the office door. Joe moved up behind the man rubbing the hardening ridge in his pants against the man's black jeans. The Colonel swallowed, "Damn Joseph, not here."
"Where then?" Came the husky question. If only he'd been this hot for his partner, but one look at his old lover, Colonel Guthrie, bending over making a pool shot had given Joe instant warmth in his groin.
The two former lovers followed the cousins out into the darkness. Tony and Allen got into the Land Rover. Guthrie and Joe got into the Cobra. Joe followed Tony through streets to just outside the Third Ward. The building was not descriptive, with no name on it anywhere that he could see. No lights indicating it was a historic place, just a street number above a nondescript door. The Land Rover moved through the security checkpoint into the parking garage. The Cobra was stopped short until Guthrie gave Joe a card to slip into the slot, and then the gate opened magically in front of him.
"Cool. I like that." Joe said smiling. The first smile the Colonel had seen all evening.
Guthrie showed Joe where to park his car, but made no move to get out when the Cobra stopped.
"Sir?"
"Don't you think you need to call 911 now... before you are up for murder? I want you to work with me Joseph. I don't want to have to hide you."
"Yeah, okay." Joey said, turning the Cobra's radio to an awful cowboy station before dialing 911 on his cell phone.
"Yeah, hell-low....I live acrost from 4079 Highway D and they is having some kind of drunkin', shoutin' party over there. Naked men, beer and who knows what." click.
"Satisfied."
"Yes! Missed you." Guthrie said his left hand lightly touching Joe's chin.
Joseph took Colonel Leland Lorenzo Guthrie's hand and placed it on his pants. Joe moaned as the hand cupped the hard organ. "We got to take care of this LuLu... soon."
Joey looked at his former lover. A man he'd seduced and dearly loved during his tour in the Corps. "Give me a tour of this place." Hell, Joe admitted to himself. He still loved the man and vaguely remembered calling Levon 'Lulu' when they were in the shower.
The Colonel nodded and the two stepped out of the Cobra and walked off. As they stepped into an elevator, Guthrie explained that the first floor was offices and a law library. The second floor included a large fitness center and gym. A lap pool had been put into one end of the parking garage for those men who liked to swim. The third floor was the command center with security system monitors of places they protected. Every Land Rover had an On Star system, so they knew where each vehicle was at all times. The fourth floor had some studio apartments for people who worked here, and included an apartment for the man who was Guthrie's manservant. Everything including the elevator was monitored. Exception was the private apartments and Guthrie's top floor apartment. The command center was manned twenty four hours a day.
Joe couldn't believe the building contained all that, plus a firing range was being put into the basement.
"When did you pick up a manservant?" Joe asked as the Colonel used the same card key to open the door in front of them as he did to get into the garage.
"I was injured a few years back. Forced to retire from the Corps but still did Special Ops junkets. Martin Chase and his wife Nancy, who is a nurse, tended me. Nancy cleans my apartment here, does laundry for me and whoever is living in the apartments. Martin is a driver for us, does the cooking and some public relations ... keeps my schedule. They are good people. Nancy is originally from Houston, and is the one who encouraged me to buy the Texas Bond Company. She said it was a grand old Texas company that needed to be brought back to life."
Joe stepped into the entry way of the apartment.
It was a huge place. The living room had windows that overlooked the city below and had two sectional sofas and a fireplace. There were two small guest rooms each with their own bathroom. One large master bedroom with a massive king-size bed. The master bath had a shower big enough for two, or even three. Plus a Jacuzzi tub and double sinks. The dining room was large enough to seat twelve comfortably, and the kitchen was a gourmet cook's dream.
"You can look in the kitchen later," Guthrie said slipping his arm around Joe's waist and steering him back towards the bedroom. "We can listen to the police radio while you play with me... just like the old days. I have really missed you Joseph. Wanted to let you know I was in town but I wasn't sure you'd be glad to see me. Watched you one day with your partner. Picked up things between you. Didn't want to spoil what I saw happening. Though I wished it was me."
"Lundy and I are just partners. We tried being lovers, it didn't work. At least it didn't work for me. I kept seeing you."
LaFiamma followed Guthrie into the bedroom, closing the door behind them. "Don't we need to be somewhere? Don't you need to get my Lieutenant's permission for me to go?"
"What's her home number?" When Joe gave it to him, Guthrie called and spoke briefly to her.
"Lieutenant Beaumont. Colonel Leland Guthrie, US Marine Corps. I believe you have in your file a letter from the President of the United States that gives me the power to call up Sergeant Joseph LaFiamma at any given moment. That moment arrived tonight. I picked him up earlier this evening and he is with me now. We are waiting with others for a military flight to Latin America where a missionary family has been abducted. This family has ties to the White House. Joseph knows the family so it is essential that he goes. He will be back ... when we are back. You, of course, are not able to tell anyone this until the group is rescued as it may endanger their lives as well as ours. If you do not have a copy of that letter, I can have my secretary fax it to you immediately."
Joey was grinning and fanning himself with his hand. Guthrie rattled that off so fast he hoped Beaumont understood it.
"She wants to talk to you."
Joe was shaking his head no, but Guthrie was nodded yes.
"Lieutenant. Yes ma'am. Lundy's what?" Joe swallowed as he listened to his Lieutenant say that Quentin Browning was found stone drunk and handcuffed to his steering wheel - by his foot no less! The man can't remember anything that happened after he unloaded his horse. And Levon was found hanging by his wrists standing on a beer can in the barn.
"Well, Lieutenant, I don't know how to tell you this. But .. I came home early from my board meeting and found Browning and Lundy drinking beer and having a shower together. Their muddy clothes draped on the corral fence. I got no clue how they got themselves handcuffed like that. They were having a pretty good time in the shower. I did notice that Browning had an open can on his dash. Must have been drinking when they left Chicken's earlier in the evening. Lundy's all right, isn't he? While I was out there I got a call from Colonel Guthrie ... said I was needed on a junket ... ah no Lieutenant, it's a rescue of sorts." Joe smiled. "Yes, ma'am, I will try to be careful."
CONTINUED IN CHAPTER TWO