Sister Golden Hair Delight Ch 36

Ch 36

There's no place like home for the holidays

Copyright @ calibeachgirl

All rights reserved, 2010

Early morning, Sunday, December 23rd

Alessa....

I startled awake; my breathing started to slow as I stared at the ceiling fan, slowly turning, turning, turning.

I looked at the clock. Too early to get up, too late to fall back asleep. Lying there, trying to recapture my dream before the details slipped away from my mind. Jimmy and Philip stood side by side. A smile came onto my face as I thought of him. Jimmy told me it was all right, he didn't want me to spend the rest of my life alone. Our love, just as his and Miriam's, would live on... death was not powerful enough to destroy what we had.

God would never be so cruel as to fool me, would he? I could never believe in a God that toys with fragile human hearts. One of the biggest differences between Jesus and His Father and the capricious Greek and Roman gods, God didn't play with humans for His own amusement.

Christmas had to prove His love for us... for me... as the song says, 'for every dream that's shattered, another one comes true,' and I needed another dream to live so badly it brought me to tears every night.

Ever since I had begun my flirtations with Philip I knew it was going to end here. He was the only one that Jimmy trusted explicitly, why else would he 'give' me to him? Almost a medieval, Biblical sense of protection and who else would THE alpha give his woman to than his second in command in that respect, another alpha. He knew that if something happened to him, Philip was the alpha he wanted me to be with.

When I had first thought about it, it angered me that Jimmy would consider me someone to be 'given' away but the more I reflected upon what he had done, I accepted his judgment. No one else would be 'man' enough, in his opinion, to protect me and desire me as he felt I deserved.

**********

Christine....

At sunrise, every member of the staff was grouped together near the water, prepared to continue the daily run we did in Malibu. Even though some had made a major error of staying up late, we all knew the run was mandatory.

With all the guests from California, we set out in smaller groups heading away to the west so that the early morning sun wouldn't be in our eyes.

Alessa didn't change any of the standing traditions that had been in place before her lover was killed. I hope to never find out how horrible a feeling that had to be. I noticed, quietly, that she had been friendly with Philip the last few months and oddly, had mixed feelings about that.

I knew that she had only been with Crowell the shortest time but still... and then I had reality hit me in the face. Paolo had found himself a new lady friend following the tragic death of his wife, Angelina. I don't think the truth will ever come out about what really happened but the police over there were satisfied. Paolo had the best alibi you could have, having coffee with the parish priest in full view of the village plaza.

Those two men with her... the one question no one had an answer to was 'why did Angelina give everyone the day off except those two men who died with her?' I'm sure that rumors must have flown around the village, helped along by the old black-dressed widows still grieving their husbands twenty years later.

The woman always treated me kindly although I always felt she was watching how and when I spoke to the men at the villa. Although I personally had some serious misgivings about her own behavior, I'm sorry what happened to her was so violent.

If she only knew that I had no interest in the villa's men... or, any men for that matter, she might have felt a little more secure. It's all over, now, so let sleeping dogs lie, as they say and hope that God was more forgiving than Paolo.

Yes, Paolo... I knew damn well what he had done, somehow. He's a Marine and although I was Air Force, I understood what any Marine was capable of doing.

I just hoped that Paolo gave Angelina a few moments to explain her actions and a chance to pray to God before he killed her. She was an ungrateful bitch, now that I really thought about it. Good for him!

Those two bastards who helped Angelina cuckold Paolo in his own home, his own bed... as far as I was concerned, they got what they deserved. Paolo may have been the doting husband when it came to her, giving her everything she desired... yes, probably even that. But, the complete lack of respect, to fuck that wanton bitch in the house with the children there, with the servants there... it was unavoidable there would be retribution coming in a most violent guise.

The run began along the beach and would eventually work its way up to the waterfall a mile away and then back to the house. The hard packed wet sand made running easy and cool, constantly wetted by the foamy light-green water coming ashore.

"Ohhhhh, I'm glad I watched what I was eating last night. What do you think? Am I improving at all?" While Sella's heavy rapid breathing was quite different from mine, she was now keeping up with the group at the back of the pack. Although we had been in Malibu for a good while, Sella still needed daily encouragement on these morning runs. The years of staying at the villa... although she was a very nice looking young woman and would have attracted any man with her dark features and Italian hips and bust... she was out of muscle-tone and I continued to work with her.

I loved her... just not as a friend...

"Sella, you're doing great. I've noticed that I've gained a little weight, also," I lied. "I'm sitting around too much, with these classes we've been taking as well as studying all of Alessa's stuff.

"Remember those gowns we were measured for when we first got here? We're going to be seriously embarrassed if they don't fit when we go to pick them up.

"Don't feel bad. Since we've come into whatever it is that we're doing, the food has been flying at us. We'll help each other."

"You'd do that for me?" she asked between short gasps as she stopped running and bent over, her hands on her knees, her luscious ass pointing at me.

"Yes, Sella, I would. Even though I'm your watchdog, I'm also your... your friend and I've come to love you. Sella, I do love you."

I took Sella's hand and gently squeezed it. How I wished that she would understand my desire for her. Philip had to feel the same way every time he was with Alessa, I imagined.

"Sweetheart, it'll be fun and as long as we're here on the beach... this has got to be the best place in the world to run around. People pay big money to come over here to do this for a few days and we're going it for free. Alessa and Maria weren't kidding when they said we would be rats on the wheel."

"Thank you, Christine. You have no idea how alone I've felt since..."

"It's all right... please don't cry. It's going to be all right." I used the opportunity to put my arm around her, wiping her tears with my fingers. Standing on the beach, we were falling farther and farther behind the rest of the group.

"C'mon, baby, let's get going."

She put her own fingers over mine, not so much stopping them from touching her face but moving them down to her moist kissable pouty lips and... OH... MY... GOD!!! She sucked my fingers into her mouth and caressed them with her tongue all the while looking at me inquisitively, searching for acceptance.

I couldn't help myself and slowly pulling my fingers from her mouth, kissed her as deeply as I could, my penetrating tongue replacing my fingers.

We eventually started running again and saw the first groups returning to the house while we were nowhere near the waterfall going the other way.

Finally, we came to the estate's waterfall. Beneath the lush green foliage of the rain forest, the foaming cascade tumbled into a large clear pool from high up the mountainside. The verdant canopy shaded the water, keeping cool.

I looked at Sella, grabbed her hand and together we jumped into the water, a more symbolic gesture I couldn't think of. Flying through the air, screaming as loud as we could, we hit the water and disappeared beneath the white foam, bobbing to the surface, spitting the cool fresh water.

"That was SO cool... let's do it again!" Sella had already started to leave the water when I caught her and removed her bathing suit bottom, touching her in just the right places, making her eyes roll, making her body convulse, making her moan just for me.

In what seemed not enough time, we were lying on the soft ground, looking up through the green light of the trees, our hands tracing lazy circles on each other's bodies, lost in the first excitement of a new love.

"Sella... I've loved you all these years... We never had time alone... Paolo would have killed me if he knew. I've never been with anyone else, I've never wanted anyone else." I hung my heart out there to be crushed if she wasn't as serious as I was and just looked on this as a diversion away from Malibu.

"If you want me," she calmly said, "I'm yours."

I moved between her legs and lowered my mouth.

Eventually, we stood up. Catching my breath, I joked, "you know we have to jump in again, don't you? Now, we're covered with dirt!"

She starting laughing so hard she fell down gasping for air. I didn't think it was that funny but thanked a merciful God who had looked kindly upon us.

**********

Bobby....

"What I want to do first is fly over the test area so that you can get a good idea of what happened. Then, we'll take a couple of SUVs out there and get you a close up look to see how the natural flora and fauna have completely replaced the marijuana. How does that sound?"

"Works for me," said the governor. "How long do you think this will take? I want to tell the wife so that she doesn't worry about me."

"Well, I figure about an hour in the air, and then maybe two more on the ground. Miss Alessa is putting together something nice at lunch for Mathea, but they'll probably spend the day talking about God knows what. We've put up a couple of cell phone towers between here and Honolulu so you have coverage should you need to speak with your office.

I looked around. "Alessa's new assistants will be accompanying us. She's teaching them the business from the ground up. Sayomi wants her thinking about the baby, not pushing papers."

The helicopter cabin was silent for a few moments, save for the blades starting to spin.

"Well, anyway, that was a major factor in bringing these two on board with her, I'm sure. She needed some people who are smart, think fast on their feet and are young enough to handle the crazy schedule she's been running.

"OK, here they come."

"Sorry we're late, Mr. Osborne. Two of the cameras refused to take a charge. I don't know what happened, we checked them last night."

"But, you're good to go, now, right?"

"Yes, sir, good to go." While I didn't say anything, Christine could see I wasn't pleased with having to wait with the governor on board. What she didn't know was that I knew why they were late. I had been running my own exercise routine and saw enough. I would have a talk with Christine and Sella about telling the truth, no matter how embarrassing it might be. Alessa asked me if I could use them here and I needed to know I could trust them. God knows, with everything that happened with Sayomi, I wasn't going to worry about a couple of 'closet' lesbians on my staff.

Within minutes, we were hovering over the test site. Using binoculars, the governor looked down on the now pristine rain forest.

"You're saying that this area was first treated three years ago?"

"Yes, Crowell wanted to leave it alone after that to see the long-term effects on the plants, animals and insects.

"The natural ecosystems of the islands have been so compromised due to plain stupidity and greed; this miserable plant just symbolizes to me all that's wrong. Sayomi and I live here and we don't want our home surrounded by trash.

"And, you know, I'm just sick of reading about people disappearing and never being heard from again.

"Have you seen enough from the air? We can land shortly and inspect from the ground."

"Yes, let's do that. Let me have some of that water, will you?"

Taking a long drink of bottled water, the governor wiped his mouth with his arm and grinned at his newest friend.

Back on the ground, the four of us were surrounded by Corporation armed men. Even on Alessa's private land, there was always the frightening possibility of running into armed growers.

The governor and I decided that every grower was to be given one chance to surrender which was a little nicer than what had been in place. Crowell had put in place a 'shoot on sight' policy against any grower who refused.

Thanks to the governor, each of the Corporation men would be deputized into the drug enforcement task force of the state police, easing any paperwork that might arise.

Since Crowell had employed several former Army snipers, a number of growers had been killed outright, the rest arrested on a number of charges starting with trespassing, growing with intent to sell and working up to different felonies like attempted murder.

At the test site, every trace of marijuana had disappeared, replaced by the natural plant life of the islands. Where it had once been silent, we could hear the calls of island birds who had returned to their traditional territories.

"This is magnificent. This is fantastic." The governor slowly walked into the plant life from the roadway on the raised wooden walkway that cut into the forest. Once in a while, he knelt down to look closely at this plant or that insect, always moving further into the trees.

Behind him, Christine and Sella were conducting their own investigations. I hoped they were up to the task of cataloging everything that was growing out here, Sayomi needed the help and we didn't want to bring in anyone not already connected with the Corporation and even then...

Using forms they had worked on for the last two weeks before arriving, Christine entered data into both laptops. Sella was using four digital cameras to record the present conditions at the site.

Something had caught their attention and they kept referring to a data base of plants in the computer. They started talking rapidly in Italian and Sella pulled out a Peterson field guide. Hurriedly paging back and forth through it, she finally found the page she was looking for and excitedly pointed to a photograph in the book.

Once again, the Italian between the two of them was coming faster and faster and what little I did know soon was lost as one word rapidly flowed into another.

"Let's do it. It's too bad that this whole enterprise is dead secret. There's no sense in tipping our hand on this. And, as you said, this IS downright dangerous."

"Yes, Governor, you're absolutely right. As a matter of fact, the only people here that know about it are the people you just met traveling now with us, Alessa and her two protégés here and although they designed the software package, they didn't know about this project until they were on the way here from California.

"I'll have everything in place right after Christmas. My target date is the 27th. And, you know? If we can bring in same species plants from other areas of the island, the plant life can recover much, much faster."

"Good. I think Mathea and I will stay until the spraying is completed and we know something one way or the other if that's all right with you."

"Governor, you and your wonderful wife can be our guests anytime you want to get away from the city." I turned and called out to the women. "Are you two finished?"

"Just a few more minutes, please. We've found some very interesting plants here. You need to see them."

I figured she would say something like that after all the excitement the two had shown. The governor and I walked over to the women, who by this time were lying on the wooden planks, photographing three minute plants. Sella took a digital and showed it to us on the laptop.

"That's impossible!" the governor said. "This plant's been extinct for at least forty years! Show me where they are."

Christine pointed the plants out with a laser pointer and handed the governor a large magnifying glass. The governor dropped to the wood next to her and carefully inspected the tiny green forms.

To say that HE was excited would have been an understatement. "Do you realize what this means? What other plants are out here that have been lost? Do you think they were dormant, waiting for their chance to come back? This is fantastic!"

Then he stopped talking as the realization came to him that he couldn't tell anyone about it, at least not now. If word of the re-discovery reached the public, there would be a mad race to collect and sell them and other rare plants in the underground market of exotic plants and animals that served only to quicken the loss.

He and I walked back to the SUVs, leaving them lying there.

"Well, Bob, what are we going to do now? You're the biologist."

"That's nice, but you're the governor. Given the importance of this plant, we can't keep it secret forever. Surely, you know some trustworthy people at the university that we can bring out here.

"We'll have to do it carefully, because I don't want any connection between this discovery and our home. They could clone them."

"I'll check into it... I want to make sure that your two young women here get full credit for the discovery. We can always give the location as 'undisclosed' for the present. We have enough records to find this place again? GPS, right?"

"Yes. That's a standard for everything we've been doing. I'll have them put together a power-point for you to take with you. We'll just leave the location out."

"I wonder how many more are out here where we can't see them?"

Sella and Christine finished packing all the equipment into their cases and returned to the SUVs.

On the drive back to the beach house, the talk had shifted from stopping the marijuana growers to the exciting discovery of the lost plant. Ideas flew back and forth as to how the plants had survived.

"I believe the plants were always there, just hidden away," Christine remarked. "Think about it. Most of the rain forest here has never had a human set foot there. These plants, and many others like it, are probably out there waiting for us to find them. It was just a fluke that we happened to stumble across them, here and now. It's a classic example of right place, right time."

"Christine," said the governor, "your idea makes a lot of sense. One problem that has to be addressed is the presence of these growers. Any scientists we send out here are going to have to be protected. Of course, that could be a great training exercise for the National Guard. I'm going to think about that once we've done the Hana Reserve on the 27th.

"When do you think you'll have that power-point finished?"

She opened her laptop. A few keystrokes and a short wait later, she answered, "Governor, we can have ready by late this afternoon, if nothing else turns up. We have to strip all the digital information from the photographs." She looked at me for approval.

I nodded 'yes,' and wondered if they were going to stay in Hawaii or return to California with Miss Alessa and Colonel Paras. Their enthusiasm was certainly delightful to see, almost, I guiltily thought, seeing the two of them loving one another back by the waterfall.

I decided not to tell Sayomi.

By the time we had reached the beach house, Christine and Sella had already talked through the presentation for the governor, including which photos might give some clue to the location and therefore would be left out. They excitedly headed to the bedroom they were sharing and started working.