The Project

The Project - Part 3 - Excitement at the Lost Dutchman

Scott and I were headed north toward Phoenix on the freeway after a hot day and night of loving. Now it was time for more scary work.

"Alphonse is going to trade vehicles with us at a station up ahead. The black car will give us more options than this big thing. Put a couple of day's casual clothes in your duffel so we can make a quick change."

"I thought we were meeting him East one at 8 tonight?"

He looked sharply at me. "Nothing wrong with your memory is there. After my talk with the feds, and their rendezvous, we moved him up to right now."

The RV was pulling into a big rig station with facilities in the back. Scott got down and made connections to the gray and black water hoses. In a few minutes, a tall figure eased over slowly from the picnic area and said, "Nice machine you have there, partner."

"If you are interested, I could arrange a test drive."

Scott motioned me to take the two duffels and go to the picnic table.

"If you want to finish up with the hoses, here are the keys. Take it to the next rest area and I'll meet you there."

Two sets of keys changed hands and Scott sauntered over to me. "We get to drive his car, honey."

Two miles down the road, I asked, "Was that chatter necessary?"

"Probably not, but the two of us do it out of habit. If we were under surveillance, it might make a difference."

I pulled out my phone and asked, "Do we have coordinates for the next meeting?"

"Jarvis Lane, off 202 east of Chandler. About three miles out, there is a 7-11 on the right. I'm supposed to buy gas and wait for someone to come up to the car with directions."

"Do they know about me?"

"You could have stayed with Alphonse, but I decided that someone no doubt saw you with me at the reception, and they are curious. I've dodged the bullet so far on your identity. Once they have it, all your misdeeds are going to come out." He squeezed my leg and looked up from driving.

"You mean my drug addiction and that swinger's club in Lake Forest?"

"All of it and more."

He added, "It's not fair, Karen, but these folks play for keeps. They have to. I think we take it straight with them. You are an accomplished professional. I need help with the new project and you have agreed to change careers and join my team. You saved my butt the other evening in a tense situation and the confidence I already had in you has gotten a lot deeper. Whatever the counter-intel folks want me to do now, you are part of it. They are welcome to run a background check on you, but I expect them to avoid any of the questioning of acquaintances that normally accompanies background investigations. They could compromise the whole effort here in Arizona. And so on."

"The fact that I am family makes our relationship more secure, and more valuable to them?"

"Hey, not bad. You're getting into this stuff." He was turning off the freeway and heading east toward Chandler.

"I know what they are going to find about my sex life. A recent divorce and no sign of playing around. Do they keep tabs on your girlfriends?"

"They undoubtedly have in their file the fact that I broke up with Susan a year ago. Since then, my love life has been nonexistent."

"Did I ask you how long it had been since that big thing of yours was in another woman?" I nibbled on his ear.

"Stop that, I have to concentrate. You did not ask that question, and I probably would not have answered. But since our new relationship requires honesty, I have had sex a couple of times in recent months with women who hit on me at meetings."

I pulled his hair and kissed the back of his neck.

"Are you so insecure that I have to promise never to stray again, honey?"

I swatted his head. "I am remembering now what an obnoxious guy you can be. Here I expose my most tender feelings to you, and all I get is one night stand talk."

I had my arms around him, giggling in his ear. "Are we back to Bud and Kim?"

"If you are angling for some more loving, you'd better pay attention and get us off at Jarvis." His hand reached up under my bra and tweaked me.

"I'm going to get you off all right, just you wait. Jarvis is the third intersection ahead."

I went into the 7-11 to get us a couple of soft drinks. When I got back, Scott was talking to an ordinary looking guy through his window. They looked at me as I climbed in. "Karen, this is Ray Jones. We'll see him again but not today."

They said goodbye and off we went. Scott gave me coordinates to put in the GPS. Looked to be about ten miles further east. "This is taking us up that grade toward the state park."

"Good thought. Lots of visitors from all over. It's named for the Lost Dutchman gold mine. Lots of legends. Gold never found."

We paid an entrance fee and pulled into the nearest slot. "They will find us, so let's take a walk on the quietest trail."

Scott was doing a good job of being nonchalant and touristy. I probed, "How does an agent's girlfriend behave? Does he confide in me at all?"

The trail was wide enough for him to take my hand. "We get along well. We both have regular careers. We are physical but don't show it much. She gives him space for his extracurricular activities and realizes questions will only screw things up between them." His squeeze on my hand was reassuring.

"That is a recipe that would work even if you weren't a spook. Are we goldbugs too? Where is our metal detector?"

At that very moment, a sloppy looking guy with a metal detector came down the trail and stopped. "Howdy, you don't look much the worse for crawling around in basements."

"John, you dog. Karen just asked me where our metal detector was."

"Your sister is better looking than you are. Smarter too, I hear. My guy at the reception said you mowed them down, miss."

"It was his fault. He turned me over to Olga. She destroyed my tomboy soccer look."

"I sure wish you were my tomboy. Let's find a shady rock and talk."

John Carruthers, I learned from Scott later, was a PhD in EE from MIT who had been recruited to the CIA by his uncle. He headed a small group that specialized in counter-intel within high tech.

Inside the sloppy clothes, he moved like an athlete. I asked, "Is that a soccer jock body under there?"

"Crew. And getting flabby. No place to row out here except in the stupid canals."

Scott said, "We were together in grad school. Our thesis advisors had a joint project. We met at Berkeley or Cambridge quarterly. Our biggest responsibility was to find blind dates for each other on the opposite coast."

I noticed John didn't have a wedding ring and said, "Doesn't look like either of you did a good job. At least if you did, it didn't stick."

John said to Scott, "She is definitely too smart." Looking at me, he said, "I understand you are partnering with him in the new project. I need some conversation about that and you should stick around. Afterwards, take a stroll for ten minutes or so."

I nodded and there was fast conversation, elliptical talk about Scott's new scheme, full of EE lingo. I began to see why I was being romanced, because onchip optronics was part of it. I enjoyed being a technical marketing exec in Chicago for the biggest optics company in the country, but the freshness was wearing off. I hoped Scott was going to let me get some hands on work with his project. I was five years away from the lab and missing it.

John said, "Ok, Karen, we have to talk spook stuff you don't want to know about. Let us keep you in sight, although there are other eyes working us too."

I traced along an animal trail that contoured around a gentle hill. Like the book says, what looks like nothing from a speeding car has intricate detail when you are close up. Every bush has its own collection of miniature desert loving critters and plants under it. I sat down, soaking up the heat and watching the desert live around me. Better than chasing Russian tech thieves, but still a hard life.

I was almost asleep sitting up when Scott came to get me. "How come I get your brains without the nervous fidgets so many women have."

I went on my toes and whispered, "You give me good sex and beat the fidgets out of me."

The handclasp was tighter going down. "Do we know what we are doing?"

"Sort of. The leash is looser than I thought it was going to be. We are allowed to disappear for a few days while they tend to business that doesn't need us. Alphonse gave them the tapes from the second set of cameras in the building and they have a fistful of new faces to sort out."

When we got to the car, he said, "Why don't you drive while I work on logistics for a bit. Just head back toward Phoenix and take your time. Maybe stay off the freeway."

His call connected on the first ring and it didn't take me long to figure out it was Alphonse. No names, no locations, just two buddies exchanging gossip. It ended with Scott saying yes several times in a row and clicking off.

He took my hand and kissed it. "You, dear sister, are in for a pleasant surprise." He looked up and said, "Perfect. Turn right here and continue north. The rendezvous will be in about five miles."

Ever thoughtful Alphonse and helpers had already cleaned and serviced the black beast, and reprovisioned it as well. He had picked a destination for us, and we would get the RV back shortly. Scott wouldn't tell me where we were going, saying it was a state secret. I would hit him but it would cause a wreck.

Scott guided me into a truck stop again, and there it was, gleaming after a fresh wash. Alphonse was leaning against its shady side. I ran up and gave him a terrific hug and a torrid kiss. He twirled me around and said, "You are one hot woman, I may have to steal you yet!"

Our gear made the quick transfer back where it came from and we were moving in minutes. There were several new boxes in the aisle full of papers and computers.

I said, "There is a new game. No more Bud and Kim. It is now Dr. Thomas older brother, and Dr. Thomas younger sister and we are into applied R&D."

"Come here and kiss me," he said. I grabbed a beer and went forward. He got sips and my fingers in his hair and my lips on accessible places. My hand crept between his legs and found a hard thing. I giggled, "We could pretend we don't have our degrees yet and need stress relief."

"That is exactly what I have in mind." He veered to the right soon, and I noticed that the only thing ahead of us was the town of Payson.

"What's in Payson?"

"Nothing much. We're going farther. Go lie down and take a nap and I'll wake you when we get there."

It was getting dark when the RV stopped, but I could see we were in a grove of oaks, and there were several dusty, worn wooden buildings near us.

The door was open and he was on the ground, holding his arms open for me. I actually jumped into them, and he laughed as our lips collided. He waved, and asked, "What do you think?"

"Looks like a scene from the OK Corral."

"Come on, I'll show you a secret." We walked past the old buildings and through another grove of trees to a dark building barely distinguishable from its surroundings. There was a strong lock on the back door that Scott unlocked and showed me in. It was a three room cabin, spotlessly clean, with a flush toilet in the corner.

He hugged me close and said, "This is a place that one of my original investors sold me after he had a stroke and couldn't come here anymore. Told me to love it as much as he did, and I promised. Doesn't appear on any land records. The only person who knows about it other than me is Alphonse. The two of us do all the maintenance. The water comes from a tank hidden in the rocks that has a small spring feeding it."

"And Alphonse...?"

His hand rubbed my front and pinched me. "Yes, Alphonse brings his current girlfriend here. He says she loves it because there is no cell coverage and she gets his undivided attention."

I pulled his ears and teased, "If I'm Alphonse's girlfriend, do I really want his undivided attention?"

"You are in deep water there, girlie, better watch it."

In twenty minutes, we had the RV parked out of sight and the provisions inside. Scott tried to do dinner, but I shooed him out, saying he could get his technology stuff organized. The refrigerator was a hundred years old, and worked with ice in a compartment at the top. Scott loaded it with two ten pound sacks, then used some of it to make us each a margarita.

Dinner was shrimp with linguine, vegetables, and green salad. Afterwards, we sat on the sofa, spooning our berries and looking at piles of research journals.

"You and I are really going to do work here? Can we be found?"

"Anything's possible, but Alphonse went over the vehicle carefully for bugs, and I doubt that satellites would help much since they would not expect us to be up in northwest Arizona and there were other RVs on that road from Payson. In an emergency, Alphonse will send someone to get us."

I snuggled into him. "So I am like one of Alphonse's girls, I have your undivided attention?"

"Starting tomorrow morning, no clothes are allowed, and I will take you wherever I can catch you!"

"The last time you challenged me to a race, you lost."

He fell over and pulled me on top. "You are the only woman I have ever had good sex with where I didn't feel I was having to prove something."

I lay my head on his chest and silently hugged him. After a long while, he said, "What if there is a raincheck on sex and we get a good night's sleep for a change?"

I said nothing and pretended to be already asleep, taking slow deep breaths.

He wasn't fooled and worked my shirt off. His chest felt even better. He kissed the top of my head while his fingers invaded my briefs and kneaded my behind gently. I pressed my sex on him and wiggled. I got up, slipped out of briefs and walked away, saying, "Follow me."

I tinkled in the toilet while he found toothbrushes. He brushed his teeth and fondled my ass at the same time. We weren't sleepy anymore. He had taken me to a secret lover's hideaway and told me about big cocked Alphonse's exploits with women in this cabin, and I wasn't going to play second fiddle to some cutie of the black genus. I leaned into Scott and bit his nipple. "Ouch! What'd you do that for?"

"Just checking your reactions." He was nice and hard. I wrapped both hands around it and pulled toward the bed. He jerked me into the air and fastened his whole mouth around as much of my right breast as he could inhale. An electric shock went completely through me, spasming all my girl parts.

I turned into him and took his shoulder muscle at the neck into my teeth. He walked us around the room while we rocked and bit and made small noises. My bottom was leaking on him. I whispered, "If you love me, fuck me. Fuck me hard."

"You devil. You are going to get it."

I did. For a solid hour, he took me in every position he could think of. After the first ten orgasms, I stopped counting. I kept coming and he didn't. I thought no man should have that much control. I squeezed and squeezed and all that did was make me come again. Finally, he carried me outside and bent me over the horse rail and howled to the starry night as his hot stream flooded me. After I got done shaking, I turned around, sat on the rail and wrapped my legs around him. His arms held me tight and I said, "Thank you for making me your woman. After that, I am totally yours."

He marched us to the bed and threw me in. No cleanup, no small talk, just exhausted sleep.

In the morning, I could hear birds chattering in the trees around the cabin. He was moving around the stove, making coffee. He looked my way, "Coffee, juice and toast?"

I nodded. "We are going for a run?"

He handed me a hot cup and asked, "How did you guess?"

I felt like a bride on her honeymoon. The new husband had ravished me, and then some. I was sore in all the right places. There was a bruise on my boob from his attack. I was on the edge of crying with happiness. This was the daredevil who almost got us killed the other night, and now I am his. I told myself, "Don't overthink this. Just be all girl all the time for him while you are here. The world can wait."

All the sex had us on a high, and we were really moving out on a lightly used trail when a shot rang out, and then another almost immediately. In seconds, I was in the dirt behind a tree with Scott over me. There were several more gunshots uphill from us and a scream.

A guy in navy clothes came trotting up. "It's ok now. Only one shooter and we got him. Sorry he had a chance at you. We didn't expect two runners to take off like gangbusters on this trail."

Scott said, "What do you think, Bryan, can we finish our run?"

The agent shook his head and said, "We are going to have to regroup and figure out how they found you so quick. That RV was scanned?"

Scott said, "Very carefully, by an expert. Must be something else. We'll go back and clean up. Give us a few minutes and we'll have coffee for everyone behind the cabin."

His arm was around me. "Sorry about that. Are you ok?"

I kissed his hand and said, "First time a guy jumped me and I was happy about it."

"God, Karen, most women would be all torn up about this."

"Hey, I asked for it, and I meant it." I butted knuckles with him.

He said, "I like the way you dove behind that tree with me, but didn't sound like that bullet was anywhere near us."

We made a big pot of coffee and I toasted some pretty stale bagels and found jam in the RV.

There were three of them. Bryan's boss was Norm Anderson, and the third agent was Billy Ransome. Late yesterday their tracking had lost several of the Russians, and they had been assigned to locate us and maintain surveillance. They had been parked about fifty yards away since 4 am, with their acoustic gear set up. They heard us moving around, but weren't prepared for the sudden appearance of runners, and had not had an opportunity to search the rocks behind us where the Russians were. However, after the opponents lost a man to gunfire, their vehicle left headed downhill in a hurry.

Scott introduced me as his sister and partner and said I had been briefed on the Xtrax incident. Scott and Norm talked about what to do and decided that since the Russians had a tracking mechanism we didn't know about, it was better for Scott and me to return to Phoenix and closer surveillance. This seemed like a shitty outcome, and our faces must have showed it, because Norm apologized and said the agency was going to give up their search for associates of the Russians and take the ones they had identified into custody and transfer them to Los Angeles.

I drove and Scott made some calls, a couple of them on the secure phone. Traffic was light and we made good time.

"Really guarded talk. Must be a lot going on. Alphonse is going to meet us again and take this thing south, back to Arturo's, and work on the camouflage. It won't be near the ranch house, so anyone serious about getting to it will find a hot reception. He has a pocket full of cash to pay for armed guards who know what they are doing."

"And we are?"

I pushed the seat back and we changed drivers. "Don't go away."

He settled me in his lap, one hand on the wheel and the other around my side, cupping a needy boob.

His licks on my neck made me flinch. "Partner, you are accumulating a long list of demerits. I don't really mind because tracking on your crazy exploits gives me a jolt almost every hour. You are going to keep us alive, aren't you?"

He didn't answer that because we were slowing for a large gas station. On the far side, I could see the big black SUV. Alphonse was leaning against the door with hat cocked down over his eyes.

I needed his hug. "Damn, missy, he keeps taking you in harm's way."

I tucked under his shoulder as he shook Scott's hand. "I have news. The spooks say there is a beacon on top of your RV their satellites can track."