#6 - SHARKS IN THE WATER

The head of the CIA, Max Windthump, stood infuriated on his boat, anchored just out of sight of Dauphin Island. "How the hell does she do it? Every time I chase her to that damned island, she gets away! I mean, this time, I sent in three of my best fighters. Damn it, James, I want to know what happened!"

Agent, James Madison, sat at the computer setting up the footage for his boss.

The plan was simple. When they went in, the little twerp Bob would pull Ariel away, Kathleen would see the men weren't armed -- well nothing more than brass knuckles -- and she wouldn't use her gun. Once the men killed Kathleen, they'd search the house to see how she and Bob kept getting away from them.

Granted, every time Kathleen and Bob gave the slip, they ended up solving the case without any help. They also tended to use tactics better known for activities of the ATF. Max wanted, more than anything, this woman killed, controlled, or gone.

Unfortunately, his men underestimated Kathleen and, consequently, she took care of them in a matter of seconds. Madison braced himself for the tirade.

Windthump leaned over the shoulder of his tech savvy super agent who proved potentially as good as Kathleen. "James, what have you gotten, anything?"

"Nothing you're going to like."

Windthump watched as Kathleen broke a leg, and two noses without any of the men able to do more than prepare to punch. In disbelief, "What the . . .?

Then they saw Kathleen grab the camera and taunt Windthump. His face reddened until James thought it would blow. Then she threw the camera out the door and all they saw from then on, a walkway and grass.

"Damn!" Windthump began to pace the room, Kathleen's taunt grading on his nerves, infuriating him with every passing moment. Finally, after he collected himself, he realized he had just lost valuable time. Angry with himself for letting the witch get into his head, Windthump said, "Damn it, okay, it's time to send our men into canvas the rooms and see what they can uncover."

James half turned. "What makes you think that anything different will be found?"

Windthump turned quickly. "Because you're going to be with them. And then you're going to go talk to that Captain Jack, and then you're going to pick up on the trail of those three. And, when you do, you'll introduce Ariel to The People."

The People was the only name that Windthump used for the organization that helped to do the work of the special interest groups behind the murders. No one with the government had any knowledge of the activities, secretly occurring under the codename PROTECTION. None accept Senator Travis Riker.

Travis Riker would be up for re-election next year and counted on votes gathered by a certain special interest group, one that represented big business against the uncertainty of small business success. This group had plenty of money and Senator Riker wanted it for his campaign and the assurance of victory.

Madison didn't like this part of his job, but he had to follow orders. As long as Windthump had a commanding title, Madison would be the good soldier and obey. Kathleen? Obviously, she liked to think a little too much outside the box which, in Madison's book, made her a dangerous liability to everyone around her. If Bob dies, it's because of Kathleen's actions. When Ariel died, it was because she ruined the country's economics, something he firmly believed lied in the success of big business gaining control of all business activities.

Yes, he supported small business. As long as the owners gained small profit. After all, what good could they possibly do with their money but for themselves and their small businesses that employed so few, if any, employees. No, too much money in the hands of too few was not good. That money would be better served in the hands of the big business owners who would bring about more jobs and, therefore, place more money in the hands of more citizens.

Madison joined the men who picked through the mostly unfurnished one story house used by Kathleen and Bob to either hideout or slip away. The only reason they had been allowed to return was because Windthump wanted to know their secret. That and also the fact that the inhabitants of Dauphin Island liked Kathleen because she helped them by providing money for supplies that helped some of them with their fishing, and others to enhance their tourism by providing money to make material for things such as shirts, shorts and swimsuits, or to build their own surfboards. Kathleen also helped them with the necessary means to repair their homes.

All this made it difficult for one of the biggest tourist companies, Paradise Construction And Facilities. No, not the best of names for a company, but the owner, Wayne Hampton of Wayne Hampton Enterprises, stood behind the company and employed hundreds of thousands of people all over the country, and the world.

In order to help his efforts, Wayne had bought a stretch of land for a ridiculous amount of money and put his own hotel up. He kept things modest and made it appear, on the surface, that he was perfectly happy with just what he had. Underneath, he wanted the entire island and all the fishing narrowed down to one corner so that it could be controlled and hidden from view.

Madison liked Hampton from the start. He saw a kindness in Hampton that he rarely saw in people with means, a special kindness that came from humble beginnings. Madison believed that Hampton had the best interest of everyone around him. This made it easy for Windthump to convince Madison of Kathleen's danger.

As Madison went through every room, every board of every floor and every inch of the attic. Just as everyone before, he saw nothing to alert him to the trap door in the bedroom. The carefully concealed floor boards that were treated with a special wax -- made from ingredients found only on the island -- that resisted any kind of chipping or splintering. The only thing he did discover: The buttons on the foot board. Not knowing the proper order, nothing happened when he clicked them.

To the displeasure of his boss, Madison had nothing new to report and headed for the coast to begin his search for the whereabouts of Kathleen, Bob and Ariel.

Tune in as the plot thickens, same blog, same site.....

[NOT THAT ANYONE SHOULD THINK OTHERWISE BUT, JUST IN CASE, I'M MAKING ALL THIS UP.]