Tuck's Revenge (5 page)

Tuck started thinking that if Bill was CIA
with all the men and resources he seemed to have access to, along
with the way he seemed to be able to utilize those resources with
such success, like the quickness in finding and solving the problem
with Elizabeth—how would it ever be possible to have any successful
spy agencies or espionage here the United States? Well, unless of
course a percentage of it is known about and allowed by the
government.

Tuck didn't know the answers, but he was
going to find out somehow. And it may be that he had to stay close
to Bill in order to find these things out. Tuck had enough
confidence in himself to know if things ever got too sticky for
him, he could simply disappear again. So he made the decision to
sit tight and see what he could learn for a while before he got his
answers in other ways.

For the next couple of weeks Bill made
himself scarce. Maybe to let Tuck reflect on and gather his
thoughts on what had just happened. On the other hand, maybe
because Bill had other things to line up or take care of. Tuck
didn't know which it was, but he knew he needed the time off for
himself, so the isolation was appreciated.

Early one morning, Bill came out to the barn
and saw Tuck was already awake.

"You still on military time?”

Tuck just replied, "No, I haven't been on
military time in years. I guess you could say I'm on survival time.
Out in the jungle, you sleep when you can, not when you're sleepy.
Being stupid or letting your guard down out there will only get you
dead.”

At that moment, Bill turned around and looked
at Tuck. "Is that a dig at me, Tuck?”

"Bill, why would you take that as a dig at
you?”

"Tuck, like I told you before, I know men and
I can read people like an open book. I can see that you have doubts
and a lot of unanswered questions. All I ask is you give me another
day or two, and we'll take a trip to a place that will put your
mind at ease and answer all your questions.”

Tuck told Bill he'd hang around and see what
happened just to satisfy his curiosity if nothing else.

For the next couple of days, Tuck hung out in
the shop working on some bikes and other projects he had going.

Bill came in and asked, "You about ready to
take that ride?”

Tuck said, "Sure, how long are we going to be
gone?”

"Probably no more than two or three
days.”

"Do I have time to get a quick shower?”

"Sure, take all the time you need.”

"Great, I'll be ready in about an hour.”

Once on the road, Bill and Tuck talked about
one thing or another for a while, just to get a line of
conversation started with a lot of idle chatter, then Bill opened
up into more serious and detailed talk.

"When we get to where we're going, there are
going to be several people that are participants of the more
intricate part of our little group. These people won't answer many
questions, nor do they have many answers. They are basically in
place to keep the machine running, but have little to do with how
everything works. They are just people with skills we need in order
to stay in operation, and keep the rest of the group safe and in
the game.”

During this whole explanation, Tuck listened,
but then again not listening like before.

"Tuck, did you hear what I just said?”

Tuck said, "Yeah, I heard every word, Bill,
but you just talked and told me nothing.”

Bill smiled and said, "Yeah, it seems that
way I guess, but once we get there, you'll understand more. Before
this trip is over, you'll probably be satisfied with some things,
dissatisfied with other things. You'll most probably be happy about
some things, and then get pissed off about other things I show you.
But you have to know it all, and understand why I did things the
way I did, so you'll know you can trust me and everyone we work
with. It just won't work any other way. I know you're somewhat
confused and a little leery right now, but that's because of the
way your mind works, and it's nothing I've done to cause your
mistrust. Most guys trip off into this situation, and it's months
before they ever start questioning things. But people like you can
see inside of situations, and you do it as soon as you get into
them, and that's part of what makes you special above all others
here. So just bear with me a little longer, and like I promised,
all the questions and doubts you have will be put to rest,
okay?”

"I'm here for the duration, Bill, so we'll
see what happens. Do we have to be wherever we're going before we
have a serious and honest conversation, or is this strictly a show
and tell mission?”

Bill smiled and said, "I'll make a deal with
you. You ask me anything you want answers about, and if I have a
truthful answer, I'll give you a truthful answer. But if you ask me
something that I have to show you something to answer your
question, then I'll say, ‘I'll have to show you that’. Is that fair
enough for you?”

Tuck nodded his head and asked, "This ‘Group’
you have, are you the one in charge of it, or are there others
above you? What I mean is, is this connected anyway with the
government?”

"No, this is all my doing. Nobody else is
over me. And hell no, we don't have anything to do with the
government.”

"How long have you been working on putting
this ‘Group’ together?”

"Thought about it long before I enlisted, had
a few guys with me before I went to Vietnam, but after I went in a
lot of them branched off into another direction, trying to exploit
my idea. When I got home and saw what was going on, I had to get
rid of some of them.”

"What do you mean, ‘Got rid of them’?”

Bill looked at Tuck and said, "I got rid of
them.”

"Well, Bill, is everything this group does so
covert and illegal?”

"Always covert, but not illegal unless it
comes to that point. That is always a last resort, but we do what
we have to do in order to protect each other. Tuck, I started out
years ago surrounding myself with people I was sure I could trust.
And at first, I was less than proficient at choosing those that
were trustworthy because I was focusing in on people I grew up
with, or people I knew for a long time. But after several failed
attempts with that logic, I realized it worked out better if I
chose people out of lots I looked into and researched rather than
those that just wanted to be a part of something. We aren't a gang
or a group as one might think. We are like a family or an
organization that chooses to live and function in a screwed up
world, but insist on living our way and by our rules. If our way of
living or our circle of people are threatened, we eliminate that
threat before it gets a foothold. After so many years of this, we
are spread out all over the country, and even in a few countries
outside the United States. This is a perpetual thing. We’re always
expanding, and always advancing to make ourselves safer and more
proficient. We’re involved in every walk of life, from lawyers, to
doctors, to police, and everything in between. Some people with us
worry about being found out, then being labeled like something
similar to the mob. Maybe in some ways we are like mobsters. Only
in the respect that we live how we want, make money in shady ways
to keep the government out of our business. But we don't see that
as illegal or any kind of bad thing. If it is bad, then most
politicians in Washington should be locked up too.

"Look at us like high tech survivalists if
you will.”

"So what is the reason for all the elaborate
details of operation with the helicopters and other things I've
seen? It looks paramilitary or mercenary like.”

Bill said, "That is only a part of it. We
have to take care of ourselves. These guys you've met so far are
there for our protection. They are in place for a particular
purpose just like I tried to tell you before. We are all part of a
machine, that performs a function to make the whole machine operate
more proficiently.”

Bill continued, "Look, I grew up in a shitty
household with an asshole for an old man and a mother too weak to
do anything about him, and too weak to leave him. So I watched her
live her whole life, miserable, lonely, poor, and getting old way
before her time. That's when I realized this whole world wasn't
much better than my own life with my family. The whole world is a
shitty place. The only alternative you have is to either deal with
what you have, create a world of your own, or eat a bullet and
leave this world behind. I made the choice to build a world of my
own within this world, with a family of people I trust who want the
same things I want. We are stuck here in this world, but we don't
have to abide by the laws and the rules they give us to live by.
You're smart enough to know what this world has created isn't ever
going to last. All this is going to overload itself and collapse in
on itself from the weight eventually. And when it does, we only
have to witness it and survive. But we don't have to be a part of
it, because we have our own world now. All these years, I have
worked to keep us secret and apart. I have strived to build a
trusted group of people that are spread out all over the place
where they can't get us all. If they ever figure out who all of us
are. We will strive, survive, and go on no matter what happens to
one, five, or even fifty of us at a time that they may manage to
take out of the loop. I have made sure all these years to not only
collect the like-minded among us, but also the smartest in every
field and specialty you can imagine. Nowadays, all it takes to run
this are a few key people in places to keep things working
correctly, and make sure we sustain and even grow our numbers. You
asked about our equipment we have and all the other stuff? I guess
you were wondering where the money came from for all that? Well, we
have some money, and we sustain our money by doing ‘certain things
for certain people’, but most of our wealth comes from the fact we
have people all over from east to west and north to south. We have
businesses that belong to our people that sustain us, and we do
things to sustain them. We help each other and support each other.
Have you ever seen me pay for a motel? Have you ever seen me pay
for a meal or a bill for groceries? Have you ever seen me pay for a
tank of gas? No, you haven't, because we all deal with each other,
and all of us stay among ourselves. That's how we sustain and
survive for and with each other. So basically, we are a huge
village and we all live within our own circle and never wander out
of that circle. In time, you will learn where all our places are,
and how to identify them. But there are hundreds of places spread
far and wide, and even I sometimes forget where they all are.”

After the long explanation from Bill, Tuck
got to better understanding what he and the others were all about,
but what Tuck was wanting to know, was where he fit in the big
scheme of things. "Well, Bill, if all this is true that you've told
me, where do I fit in to all this?”

Bill said, “You are going to be one of my
people that help me sustain our numbers, and help find recruits
that will fit in with us, just like I found you. Then when I retire
or die, you will be one of those to take over this and take care of
it for me. I told you, Tuck, you're special, and I need you. I
meant it.”

"And what if I don't want any part of all
this?”

Bill continued to drive but didn't answer the
question, and Tuck didn't really need an answer, because he already
knew.

After several hours, Bill asked Tuck if he
wanted to stop for the night, or if he wanted to drive on through
and rest when they got to where they were going. Tuck told Bill
he's fine with just driving through if he felt like it, and even
offered to drive when Bill got tired.

"How can you drive if you don't know where
we're going?”

Tuck laughed and said, "Well you can tell me
which way to go, can't you?”

Bill said, "Well, I wouldn't get much rest
having to do that, so I might as well drive myself.”

After some time passed, Bill asked Tuck, “I
have a question for you. How do you respond to a surprise that may
make you angry, but make you glad at the same time?”

Tuck said, "Well, that will all depend what
it is I guess.”

"When we get to where we're going, I have
something to show you, and then tell you. So take this as a heads
up to get your mind right for it.”

Tuck looked bewildered and said, “Okay.
Exactly how many secrets are you keeping from me?”

Bill laughed and said, "I promise you this is
the last secret, and everything else is just information you'll
need to know.”

As they made their way down the road, Tuck
thought about what Bill said, and Bill wondered how Tuck would
react when he divulged what he wanted him to know.

As Bill and Tuck pulled into a little town
down in southern Texas called San Angelo, Bill announced, "Well,
we're almost there."

Tuck looked around. It wasn’t anything like
he’d imagined an organization being headquartered. "This is either
a setup or maybe a hell of a good cover.”

A little further down the road, just outside
the city limits, they turned off the main road and traveled a few
miles until they came to a gate. Bill told Tuck to get out and
unlock the gate, then close it behind him. As they drove on a
little way, a small cinder block house came into view, with several
trucks sitting around but nobody was in sight.

As they pulled up to the house, a young man
stepped out and met them. Bill got out of the pickup, smiled, and
shook the young man’s hand then started speaking to him in Spanish.
Bill looked around and said, "Come and meet a good friend.”

Tuck walked up to the young man, and as they
shook hands the young man said, "Glad to meet you, Seńor Tuck.”