The Grey Man- Changes Read online

  Matt and Aaron were up early the next morning, and after calling Toad, decided it would be easier for all of them to just take Toad’s truck to Texas, rather than drive two vehicles. Matt and Aaron agreed to split the costs and everyone agreed they would leave in the morning, putting Jesse and Felicia in a panic, since neither had thought about packing.

  ***

  Early the next morning, Toad, looking like he’d slept in his clothes, pulled up in front of the apartment in his immaculate Ford Excursion and Jesse chuckled. Turning to Matt she asked, “Why such a big truck? It’s not like Toad actually uses all that room, does he?”

  Matt shook his head. “Most of the time, no. But Toad does go camping and shooting out in the desert, and basically lives in the truck. He takes all the rear seats out, and he’s got a pretty nice layout he designed that goes back there. I don’t know why you’re complaining, he’s our ride to Texas. And he’s got the only vehicle big enough to haul all of us and the dog.”

  “Oh, I’m not actually complaining, and I know Toad doesn’t have anywhere else to go. And I really do appreciate his offer!”

  Aaron came out, lugging bags. “Damn, Jesse, you’re going home! Why do you have to take this much stuff? I’ve got everything in one little duffel!”

  Matt laughed as he picked up his and Felicia’s small bags and carried them to the back of the Excursion. “Look at it this way, we get a free ride, well, except for gas. And this will keep Toad out of trouble, I hope.”

  Jesse cocked her head. “Keep Toad out of trouble? Sit, Boo Boo.”

  Matt replied, “Toad has a problem with being by himself on holidays. Nuff said.”

  Aaron passed them going back to the apartment for his bag and the crate for Boo Boo. “We going to crate Boo for the ride? Or strap her in the back?”

  Toad came up and ruffled Boo Boo’s fur, getting a lick in return. “I’ve got a seat cover on the back seat. If you want to put Boo Boo back there in her harness, I don’t have a problem with it. That way we can save having to carry that crate back and forth. Somebody can sit back there and keep her company too.”

  Jesse said, “I’m guessing that would be me. At least I can stretch my leg out that way!” As Aaron came out with the crate, Jesse reached out and stopped him. “Aaron, we’re not taking the crate. I’ll be riding in back with Boo.”

  Aaron sighed and dropped his duffle bag, then returned the crate to the apartment. Felicia came out carrying a thermos of coffee, two travel mugs and her purse as Matt and Toad finished loading the truck. Jesse led Boo Boo over to the truck and opened the back door, which Boo Boo took as an open invitation and immediately jumped in. Jesse gingerly climbed in, cursing her crutches, and finally got situated in the back row of seats. Calling Boo Boo, she got the pup harnessed into the seat belt, and slumped back, stretching her leg out slowly. Felicia climbed in and handed Jesse’s travel mug back to her, then eased into one of the center section captain’s chairs as Matt slid in behind Toad. Aaron climbed into the front captain’s chair and Toad finally got in.

  Turning around, Toad asked, “Any last minute things? Head calls? Watch, wallet, spectacles, testicles? Or ovaries in the case of the ladies?” Hearing nothing but groans from the rest of them, he started the big Excursion and said, “A little road music for the trip!”

  Beethoven’s Fifth filled the truck as they hit the interstate heading south. A half an hour later, as the symphony ended, Toad, Matt and Aaron started arguing over the significance of the symphony and its impact during World War II. Aaron finally conceded the point to Toad that even though it was of German origin, Churchill’s famous V for victory gesture and the fact that the opening four notes could be thought of as Morse code for the letter V became not only the British, but also the French’s symbolic music during the war’s darkest days.

  Between pit stops for Boo Boo and stopping for gas and food, it was fifteen hours before Jesse slowly drove the Excursion into the back gate at the ranch. She saw the flood lights coming on immediately, closely followed by the bunkhouse lights and the back door opening and the old man stepping outside. Jesse also saw that the old man had his gun on, which gave her pause.

  Easing out of the driver’s seat, she hugged him saying, “Hi, Papa. I’ve missed you. But I’m glad to be home for a little while. I hope you don’t mind that we brought Toad with us.”

  The old man just hugged her tighter. “Nope, not a bit. Just glad to see you, hon.” They separated just as Aaron got Boo’s harness unhooked, and Boo joyfully scrambled out of the truck and immediately started barking and play fighting with Yogi, almost knocking Jesse over in the process.

  Felicia came around the truck and hugged the old man, too. “Mr. Cronin, I hope you don’t mind that we all came, and I can call-”

  “Felicia, I’ve already had three phone calls from Angelina. You’ll stay here tonight and they’ll come get you in the morning. Angelina said to tell you it’s not worth her getting out of bed to come get your sorry butt,” the old man said with a smile.

  Matt heard the tail end of the comment and groaned as he walked up and shook hands. “Thanks for letting us come visit, John. And thanks for letting me bring Toad with us. I’m getting too old for these damn road trips.”

  “No problem, Matt, but he’s gonna have to park that Ford out by the road, don’t want anyone to see it in my yard.”

  Toad yelled from the back of the truck, “I heard that, Mr. Cronin. I didn’t realize you were one of those guys.”

  The old man laughed. “I’ll let it slide this time, Toad. But next time, drive a Chevy!” Clapping his hands he said, “Okay, Marines are in the old house. Felicia, Aaron and Jesse are in the main house.” Ricky stepped out of the bunkhouse and the old man continued, “This is Ricky. He’s the only hand on the property right now. Ricky, I think you know everyone, right?”

  Ricky waved hesitantly. “Si Senor.”

  “Ricky’s in the bunkhouse. The foreman’s house is empty now. Felix and his wife are using the foreman’s house as the office when Felix is working out here. Any questions?”

  Other than a couple of mumbles from a couple of folks, nothing was raised so the old man said, “Okay, y’all do what you gotta, I’m going back to bed.” He walked back up the steps.

  Jesse, Aaron and Felicia trooped into the house and Jesse led Felicia to the guest room. She and Aaron piled their bags on Jesse’s dresser, and Aaron went to help Matt and Toad get settled in. Jesse hesitantly knocked on the old man’s door. “Papa, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  The old man opened the door and gestured for Jesse to sit. “Wondering what’s going on, Jesse?” Jesse nodded and he said, “Bucky has gotten word the cartel is hard after whoever they can find over the killing of Zapata. They’re not sure who did it, but they don’t want to let it go, ‘cause it makes them look weak.”

  Sitting on the bed the old man looked at Jesse. “That is one reason I was kinda reluctant for y’all to come back for the holidays. I really don’t want you back in the eye of the storm, so to speak. Right now, as far as the cartels know, you’re dead and I want to keep it that way.” Hearing Aaron come back in with Boo Boo, he said, “Go to bed, we’ll talk more in the morning.”

  Jesse reluctantly got up and gave the old man a quick hug, saying, “Okay Papa, I don’t like it, but we’ll wait until morning. Good night, and I love you.”

  “Love you too, hon. You’ve got a hubby waiting, now get out of here!”

  Jesse smiled. “Yes, Papa!”

  Back Home

  Jesse rolled over and realized Aaron wasn’t in bed. She flopped on her back and listened intently; hearing a low rumble of male voices and the ticking of dog’s claws on the floor she thought to herself, Damn men. It’s Christmas vacation, for crap sake. No reason to get up at the crack of frikken dawn. Son of a bitch, so much for a morning snuggle. With a groan, she levered herself up and sat slowly on the side of the bed. Grabbing her bathrobe, she got carefully to her feet, and went into the bathroom. Giv
ing her face a quick scrub after she did her business, she made a quick swipe at her hair and headed for the kitchen, interrupting all the men at the table.

  As she poured two cups of coffee, she glared at Aaron, saying, “Its Christmas week, and you’re supposed to sleep in, asshole.” Picking up the two cups of coffee, she walked grumpily back down the hall.

  As she got to the spare bedroom she heard Aaron’s plaintive question, “What did I do?” and smiled. Knocking on the door, she pushed it open and entered.

  Felicia poked her head out from under the covers and said, “Oh, coffee! Thank you, thank you! Mornin’, Jesse.”

  Jesse grinned. “Yeah, it’s barely morning. Those assholes all got up at the crack of dawn. Damn men.”

  Felicia pawed her watch around. “Oh my God, six AM? Why?”

  Jesse shrugged. “Who knows? The question is, do we get up or go back to bed?”

  Felicia pushed herself up, “Ah, hell, I’m awake. Might as well get up. What are we going to do for breakfast?”

  Jesse replied, “Oh Juani- Shit- I don’t know. Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll hit the bathroom after you get through. I’ve already made a pit stop.”

  Felicia said, “You okay, Jesse?”

  Jesse said, “I think so. It just hit me that Juanita and Francisco are really gone. Go ahead. I’ll go talk to Papa and figure out something.”

  Felicia got out of bed, threw on her robe, picked up clothes and coffee and disappeared into the bathroom. Jesse went back to the kitchen. “Papa, what are we going to do for breakfast?”

  The old man said, “I’ve got the oven heating and I was planning on bacon, scrambled eggs, grits and biscuits. Unless you want something else?”

  Jesse shook her head, “No, that’s fine. Half an hour?”

  “Probably forty-five minutes. Will that give you enough time?”

  “It should.” Jesse turned and headed back to her bedroom as Aaron got up and followed along with Boo Boo and Yogi.

  Once they got it the room, Aaron put his arms around Jesse and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry.”

  Jesse kissed him on the cheek and said, “I was hoping we’d have some snuggle time, but you had to get up at the damn crack of dawn. You’re sticky! Did you go run already?”

  Aaron let go of her. “Yeah, we did five miles this morning. It’s nice to be able to actually run and not be wearing fifty pounds of gear!” he said with a smile.

  “Wait, wait, what do you mean run without gear? Don’t y’all run over there?”

  Aaron replied, “Not unless we’re getting shot at. The FOB isn’t safe to exercise outside. We do free weights and that’s about it.”

  Boo Boo and Yogi decided they wanted to join the group hug, and caused Aaron and Jesse to both start laughing as Jesse ended up getting pushed down on the bed.

  Thirty minutes later, Jesse and Felicia walked into the kitchen to the whistles of the guys and they both bowed and laughed. Jesse sat in the chair Aaron offered, and Felicia pecked Matt on the cheek as she headed for the coffee pot. Jesse looked around and realized Toad and the old man were at the stove, conversing in low tones about who knew what. Boo Boo padded over and snuffled at Jesse’s hand, causing Jesse to reach down and pet her.

  Jesse got up and she and Felicia laid out dishes and silverware. Jesse pointed out the glasses to Aaron, who pulled them down and filled them with juice. In a flurry of activity, the old man and Toad pulled out dishes, set pots and plates on the center island and the old man said, “Come and get it.”

  Jesse and Felicia got first dibs, getting their plates filled and sat back down. Jesse was a little worried at the amount of food piled up, but soon became worried there wouldn’t be enough after watching the three Marines load their plates. The old man took the last bits, and finally took his place at the head of the table. After a quick prayer, everyone dug in, and Jesse thought how much she’d missed eating home cooked food at home!

  She gave Aaron a quick squeeze under the table and smiled as he jumped. Conversation veered wildly between movies, cryptic comments about Afghanistan, the drive out, Christmas and various plans. Matt and Felicia were going to see Felicia’s family, and the old man mentioned that Billy would be flying in this afternoon, and staying the night also. Felicia volunteered that she would stay with her family, and Matt grumbled he’d stay here. Toad didn’t say much, just smiled occasionally, and enjoyed the food.

  After breakfast, Matt and Toad did the dishes, and then headed to various bathrooms to clean up as Felicia packed her bag. Everybody gathered back in the kitchen and Toad offered to drive them in, but about that time there was a bonging noise and Yogi and Boo Boo headed for the door barking. Felicia said, “Oh, that’s okay. I think that is Angelina coming to get us. I promise I’ll bring Matt back later.”

  Angelina came in, hugged Jesse and said, “Welcome home, girl. I’m glad to see you up and about.” After saying hi to everyone, she looked at Felicia with a grin and said, “You ready?”

  Felicia looked sober for a second then nodded. “Let’s do this before I lose my nerve. Come on, Matt!” Picking up her bag, she grabbed Matt by the hand and headed for the door, with Angelina in trail. Everybody trooped out to the front porch as they got in the car and they all had a good laugh at Matt trying to fold himself into the back seat. Boo Boo and Yogi were romping around the front yard and generally having a good time. Aaron and Toad sat in the rockers and Jesse and the old man went into the office.

  The old man fired up the computer and pulled out a stack of paperwork, as Jesse leaned on the door. “Okay, Papa, what’s going on with the cartels and them trying to kill you? Is that why you’re wearing a gun in the house?”

  “Hon, according to Bucky, the Zetas are still trying to figure out who hit Zapata. Sinaloa thinks the Zetas hit their folks at the river, and both of them are looking at LFM, maybe trying to expand their base.”

  “LFM? Who is that, Papa? That’s one I don’t remember.”

  “La Familia Michoacana. They’re an offshoot of the Zetas, they’ve been a thorn in their sides ever since. They’re trying to run the central Mexico routes and have a base down South. Bucky says they haven’t heard anything about any more hit teams coming across the border, much less coming here. But I think we’re still on their radar, more so every time we get a big hit on them. The death rates are climbing down there, along with beheadings and all kinds of nasty shit as the infighting grows.”

  Jesse nodded. “Okay, so what are you doing to stay safe? Is that the reason for the gun?”

  The old man leaned back. “Low profile, and Yogi goes everywhere with me now. Felix and Ricky are armed all the time, and I actually have keys for the houses now.” Rummaging around on the desk, he handed her a ring of keys. “These are all the new locks, green for this house, yellow for the old house, brown for the foreman’s house, and red for the gates. All the gates are keyed to the same key. North and south gates are locked all the time. You saw the lights last night. Also got photocells on the front and back entries.”

  Jesse nodded and took the key ring as he continued, “Now these are copies of the new lease paperwork, it’s another twenty year lease. I figure you’ll have to do the next one. And before you ask, no they aren’t taking taxes out. We’ll have to keep doing that.”

  Jesse sat down and started flipping through the papers, “One sixth? How did you manage that? I thought one eighth was all we’d ever see.”

  The old man replied, “Well, I figured we’d be better off with that, rather than upping the rent. Spot prices have fluctuated against royalty prices by a good bit and I don’t see them going down any time soon, but one never knows. They were happy to do it, so I wasn’t going to bitch. There are also forms in there you can decide if you want Aaron to sign or not. That’s up to you.”

  Jesse said softly, “Okay, Papa. I guess we do need to think about that. I don’t know that I want to hit Aaron with that right now.”

  The front door opene
d and Yogi led the race into the house, bumping by Jesse as Boo Boo slid to a halt beside her. Aaron and Toad came in laughing and Aaron asked, “Can we go show Toad around a little bit? He’s curious about the area.”

  Jesse laid the papers back on the desk and smiled. “Sure, I want to see if I can catch up with anybody today anyway. Papa, is my car drivable?”

  The old man laughed. “Yep, I drive it at least once a week, but you aren’t driving. The keys are in the usual place. Stop by and pick up some veggies for dinner and we’ll do steaks. And carry your gun.”

  Jesse dutifully strapped on her Python and the three departed, leaving the old man with Yogi and Boo Boo. He got another cup of coffee and sat on the front porch, rocking and watching the dogs play as he sipped his coffee. Finally, he got chilly enough that he called the dogs and went back into the house. Looking out the back, he realized Ricky was spending the days with his family, and decided to go check on Diablo and the other horses.

  Grabbing his mucking boots, he changed into them, and picked up a warmer jacket. Making his way to the barn, he was in the process of cleaning out stalls and putting down fresh hay when he heard the GTO pull back into the front yard. Yogi and Boo Boo took off around the house and he just laughed. A couple of minutes later, he heard Jesse call and yelled, “In the barn, taking care of the horses! You don’t need to be out here with a bad leg. I’ll be done in a bit.”

  Jesse said something back but he didn’t hear her and turned back to taking care of the stalls. He was startled when Toad asked from behind him, “Is there anything I can do to help, Mr. Cronin?”

  The old man straightened slowly. “Well, I’ve got all the stalls done, but I need to put down new hay, and I need to feed the horses. If you want to grab some gloves off that rail, there are a couple of bales of hay in the back that you can bring up. There should be a wagon back there you can drop them in.”

  Toad nodded and picked a pair of gloves, slipping them on as he headed to the back of the barn. He loaded the two bales and pulled the wagon back up, asking, “Okay, now what?”