The Paris Club ( Masion De Loon )

Rick thought that the cologne, if thats what you called it, smelled weird. The clothes were amazingly comfortable though, and even though they both smacked his bottom and whistled at him when he left, he was gratful for the help. ( they giggled way to much for grown men, in Ricks opinion ). But he was one good looking guy, no doubt about it, dressed really slick, out on the town in Paris, out to have a good time. The H&K 9mm was tucked into the small of his back but the rifle had to be hidden inbetween the mattresses in the hotel room. This bits and pieces of equipment left all over the place was creating quite the headache. Somewhere out there Barett was waiting for a text message about the package. Rick knew that he should get that text to Barett off tonight, he was probably wondering if Rick boobytraped the crate. He still had gear in the truck of Carla's car, a women he had just meet, weapons in a hotel room and bodies piled up in a park, lots of other things to worry about before Barett. At least Paris was exciting, better then Sete.
The Line to the club was long, but Rick managed to make friends with a group that had been drinking alot before they arrived, and before long had made his way into the front lobby with them. Splitting off from the group once they got him inside he looked around. The place was huge, 15 ft ceilings on the main floor opened into a large bar with tables and waiters, to the back was another room with dancers in cages and some stage act going on in the back corner, on the left was a large staircase that was packed with mostly younger people, this was where the dance music was ebbing out of. To the right were a set of elevators, and two large partial looks Horses guarding them, must be the VIP route, thought Rick. He was just starting to get his bearings when he hears his name called.

" Senior Rick, Senior Rick is that you ?" Says a sultry Italian voice.

Turning around Rick sees Carla, dressed in thigh high black leather boots and a matching leather micro skirt, a sheer black shirt, with a half jacket in black leather, tightly hugging her fantastic body. Her dark hair is slicked back and she holds her cigarette in a long filter from her left hand. A small sparkling clutch and black lipstick complete the image. She is absolutly hot, and every time she moves from side to side as she walks, you get a glimpse of her perky breasts through the sheer shirt. She walks right up to Rick and plants a quick kiss on the lips before you can say anything.

" You cleaned up very well, a little on the gay side, but very well indeed, I may decide to keep you around a little longer. Come with me and dance upstairs, as we look for this " MISSING GIRLFRIEND" of yours. If that is what she is. " Says Carla in a mocking, jovial tone.

Rick can tell she is really putting on the charm to you, he thinks that if he said' lets leave right now and go back to your place' she would jump at it, or him. The thought goes through his mind, then another one involving a french phrase. Snapping back to the task at hand, he follows her as she takes his hand and leads him up the stairs to the second floor.

What does Rick do next ?

Meanwhile......................

Maria follows the man up to the third floor and in to a small room, there is a small bar in the corner and several other girls milling around. High end chairs and couches line the walls, and small tables and lamps tastfully fill out the room. There are several dark wood panelled doors that line the sides of each wall and men and women move in and out of several on the left side to other larger rooms. The nice gentleman shows her to a large leather couch in the corner and sits down next to her.

" what do you want to drink.......wine.....champage ? " he cordially asks.

" Some white wine would be nice, what rooms are these? " Maria casually replies.

" Ah, yes.......these are the VIP rooms, they cover the whole of the top floor, I take it you have not been here before....your accent gives you away on that matter to, where do you come from, I can not pinpoint the dialect ?"

" From Bolivia, I was raised there....." replies Maria as she scans the room. It is mostly full of young women in the same kind of clubwear that she has on.

" Yes, very exotic, the gentlemen will like that, who do you work for ?"

Maria seems a little taken back, she had no intentions of telling them she was a secret operative, how could they know. The shock soon worn off when she caught what was really going on. The girls in this room were High-end Call girls, waiting for the rich single men to pick them out for the evening. The man sitting across from her now must work for the club, escorting the new girls to the room and checking out their references. Maria didn't know weather to be mad or flattered about what was happening. It made sense, but it wasn't part of her plan....what was she going to do ?

Africa Part #3 ( In the city )

The sleep was good for all of them, letting thier bodies re-hydrate and process some of the food. Over the stolen radios they pick up the signal for a pull out, not long after wards they hear the claxton of a loudspeaker, a pull back call. From what they can gather over the radio and basic " Empire " method of operation. They are planning on using another of the " Clean bombs ", the target being the refugee camp. Rushing to sneak into the airport, they prep up a idle dc-3 cargo plane, just as a back-up. Heading over to the large guarded hanger, best guess for the helicopter that would hold the " Clean Bomb", they sneak up to the far corner. Before Utah and Barett can agree on a plan Tasi Lee sneaks off, killing one guard and taking his place. Deciding that her idea is good Barett and Utah move in but draw attention to themselves. After a small firefight, they push their way into the hanger.
Sitting large and Pretty is a special ops helicopter, Flat gray and outfitted with long-range fueltanks and navigation gear. The flight crew just finishing the pre-flight prep work, all set up for a operation. This must be the right place because inside it is a full outfit of commandos, at least twelve are visable. Tossing his only flash grenade at the far group, Barett rolls and dives toward the Helicopter, spraying and praying as he goes with the submachinegun. Utah and Tsai Lee seperate left and right and go to work, focusing on the different groupings of soliders, as small arms fire echos through the metal hanger. Ignoring the gun on her back, Tsai Lee attacks a group of three with the gurki, slashing and hacking her way thru them, as Utah blows away a group of four in his corner. Bullets dance and bounce around them as small arms fire is coming and going from all directions, bullets cut and tear at Barett as he jumps into the gunners port of the helicopter and opens up the big twin gattlings on the front of the helicopter, chewing thru all the guys pouring through the doors. Starting up the engines and pushing it forward towards the closed doors, Barett swings the twin guns around again, cleaning the forward parts of the hanger of the last few guys standing on that end as Tsai Lee and Utah clean up the last few guys in the back.
Just as Utah and the girl jump into the helicopter Barett stalls it out. Quickly working to get it started again he realizes that there is no remote control for the big doors of the hanger, inside the Helicopter. This is pointed out to him by Utah and the girl, much to his chagrin. Getting the engines to fire again, Barett uses the twin gattlings to make his own door. Rolling out onto the tarmack they fire up the props and head out over the river swinging low and tight, trying to avoid detection. That doesn't work real well as the radar starts bleeping, showing to incoming boogies. Rolling out of the river and behind the large dune they came in over, Barett swings the large helicopter low to the ground and waits for the jets to overshoot the dune then pulls up behind them letting loose a volley of rockets at the jets, managing to knock down one. He pulls down the front low and kicks up as much dust as he can. Hoping the dust will hide his moves he pulls back hard on the stick and winds the engines to top rpm. Making the helicopter pop quickly out of the dust and into the sky. Spinning around he opens the twin gattlings again, straffing the second jet, ripping into its engines. Moving away at top speed they hug the terrain and slip away as the second plane crashes in the dessert. Using evasion tactics as he hovers low to the ground Barett works the helicopter towards a safe exrtraction sight, while Utah attempts to disarm the " Clean Bomb.." Tsai lee stares at them, confused why they are so excited about getting this bomb, and yet so nervous about it sitting behind them. That is until they tell her about the one they saw in Bolivia. Its a long and nervous ride to the carrier they meet up with off the coast of east africa.

The Land of Ham Part Two. ( more shooting )

Having gotten some high protein bars in them and lots of water from the dogs, Barett and Utah take Tsai Lee and go down into the Refuge camp. It was about an hour before sunrise when they walk up on the camp from the dune side. The place was absolutely filthy, garbage and waste scattered across the make shift sand roads. To Barett it was like a " Burning man" that had gone on to long. Near the center was a small hand dug well, with a long line of people waiting. This seemed odd to Utah as the river was less than a half mile from the camp. The people in line were emancipated and dirty, they stared down at the ground, a lost in space look. From what people they could get to talk to them, they found out that the "Empire" had occupied the city, poisoned the river by releasing methane gas into it, and drove the inhabitants out here to starve to death. Deciding that making their way to the city was the only way out and needing to cross the river in a boat, Barett and Utah head back to the " Doggies " outpost and look for the way the small patrol made it from the city to the " Camp ".
The small medical pack Barett had taken off one of the dogs and given to Tsai Lee coupled with the food and water, had brought back her strength. The fever had broken and she was able to travel on her own now. Having lost her sword, Barett gives her his Gurki to use and a MP5 rifle, she just slings the gun over her back, and carries the large knife in hand. With the sun just coming up they are able to pick up the Dogs trail and follow it back to the river. The shore line is covered in bull rushes and vegitation, the river is brackish red and the heavy smell of methane gas is nauseating. Barett can see why no one is drinking the water or swiming across. They find a small landing spot where the dogs were coming in and set up a L-shaped ambush. Barett at the point Utah on the bend and Tsai Lee at the end. If it wasn't for the slapping of the waves on the bow of the patrol boat IBR, with help from thier hyper hearing the replacement Dogs would have surprised them. The boat was super quiet, no motor sound, no mechanical whine, but still quick and agile, this was top of the line OPs equipment. The Black boat pulls up and three German shepard mixes jump to the shore before the boat has stopped, forming a line they start up the bank thru the bull rushes. They are all wearing modified gasmasks, and carring the latest generation of submachineguns. Not wanting the group to seperate Utah opens up, dumping his whole magazine into the first three, at the same time Barett drops a full mag at the four left on the boat, and Tsai Lee does the same. The cross fire is deadly, the ambush classic in execution, Baretts bullets catching all four of the dogs on the boat, slamming them down. Utah gets a nice volley off to catching the point group completely off guard. Tsai Lee on the other hand, is not so good with the gun, it bucks in her hand and goes wild, punching holes in the boat, and spraying the area, barley missing Utah and Barett. After some clean up shots and thoat slicing by Tsai Lee they are able to get to patching the holes up with what ever they can find. Barett finds that doggie fingers fit nicely into bullet holes, and stops up most of the leaks. Taking a minute to gather ammo and weapons, don over their clothes the Black ops uniforms of the dogs and finding that the Gas mask the dogs were wearing help stop the nausea from the methane gas, they prepare to head up river to the Airport on the far side of the city.
Heading up river and to the bend where the other tributary feeds into the river, this part of the river is clean and the odor is gone. Seeing that the City is quiet except for the random military humvee, or transport they sink the boat under the first large bridge and sneak into the city. Finding an abandon hotel a mile or so from the airport they rest up for two hours letting Tsai Lee get some needed sleep. She is doing much better now, and is able to move on her own, even keeping up with Utah and Barett when they aren't running. What ever the Dogs put in their med packs is really good stuff, Barett needs to check this stuff out when they get back to base.

Africa ( the resolution in the land of HAM )

Barett and Utah didn't expect to spend the next 5 days walking across the desert. The girl was suffering from an infection and could use more water and rest, and some good medicine. Barett and Utah were taking turns carrying her, walking at night and sleeping during the day. By day six Barett wondered if Tsai lee was going to make it, they had come across a small dune, just outside of the city Utah had plotted out for them. Down at the bottom was piles of new cars, fountains and the trappings of modern life. But there was no one, no gas in the cars, not one living soul. Truck tracks showed that people had been coming and going, but no one stayed. Deciding that this was to off and creepy they borrowed some nice robes, and crept over the hill in the dark. About halfway down Barett slips on the lava rock encrusted dune, making a loud racket. Hearing movement above and to the left of them they dodge just in time to miss the volley of bullets sprayed down on them. With only limited rounds Barett and Utah return fire and then rush the position a mere 30 feet away. Three " Dogs of War" troops were dug in, keeping an eye on the refugee camp down in the valley below. The destination for Utah and Barett, but now they were fighting three well armed and rested German shepard mixes. Barett makes six good shots and drops the first, but he is left with only two more bullets. Jumping into the mix he makes straight for the second guy, striking him with knee kicks and fists to the throat, dropping him and only taking some minor damage. Utah manages to quickly take down the third guy, and quickly secures the large covered fox hole they were hiding in. Finding that no one else was around, they dragged the bodies back into the foxhole and took their water and rations. Stripping the weapons and radio off these guys and getting some short rest they head down to the refugee camp.

Images of the Brothers

I have been working creating images of the Brothers. As I complete one I will post it to the blog. Work was all done in Photoshop CS2. Images I selected were taken of different actors I felt partly embodied the coontail brother's personality and look.

Utah Blaine Coontail



Barett Coontail




Rick Coontail



Dave Coontail

Paris

This was the most action that Rick had ever gotten in his life, and that was saying a lot. What worried Rick was that he guessed that Maria was the type of woman who could just up and leave him one day without a second thought. Of course he was the same way. She had been around a lot of men and she knew how to use their weakness. He guessed she was doing it to him now but it was so hard not to give in. He was sure he would lose her fast if he wasn’t careful. This hot, fast, and dirty relationship was the sure fire way of her getting board with him. He knew he couldn’t be clumsy and assume that she liked it like a man liked it, even though she was the one instigating it fast and frequently. Rick was sure she was doing a lot of this to please him. But was it a game to her? Well, he decided, it didn’t really matter if it was or not. He had time now and he also knew how to put on the moves. It was his turn to see if he could make her melt.

The train bounced sideways as it flew over a slightly uneven section of the track. Rick took the moment to take control. He grabbed her roaming hand and pinned it against her body. Then in a blur of movement that years of martial arts training had given him, he grabbed her whole body, pulled her in close and did a leaping-spinning-thing with her, pinning her under him against the wall of the train and the bed. He smiled wickedly down at her and began a lengthy make-out session. It developed aggressively but playfully, kissing intermingled with some nibbling and soft biting on her lower lip and earlobes. It was at least a 30-mile tease. Then he moved to her collarbone and kissed her slowly, working his way from her left should to the middle. He mimicked the movement with his fingertips on her right shoulder then stopped just short of the “hot zone” in the middle. Rick continued to tease her slowly by touching and kissing her everywhere but the place he suspected she wanted it to the most. This was his battle to test his skill in the art of seduction and love making. He kissed her neck again, moved right and nibbled her ear and then engaged in deep, wet kissing while he ran his hands all through her dark red hair.

He could tell he was having the desired effect as she shuttered again in his embrace. The foundation he was going for was to force some mischievous stress on her and then begin to telegraph anticipation while taking the stress away a bit at a time until she was relaxed and enjoying the experience. Now that he had built up the moment, he rolled away and waited. It didn’t take long. Maria, the exotic Spanish beauty that she was, pounced. He let her do whatever she needed, but it was impossible for him to not enjoy it too. Afterwards they slept well for a two hours.
Maria woke to find Rick sitting on the floor with his shirt still off, his back to the cabin door, his gun in pieces, and a dopey smile on his face.

“Good morning beautiful.”

“Good evening to you too.” Rick said as he moved his attention away from the gun barrel. “It’s not morning anymore. It’s almost seven o’clock at night.”

“I know; it’s just something I like to say when I wake up.”

“You sleep well?”

“Fabulously! You?”

“Like a baby.”

“Um, why do you do that?”

“Do what?’

“You know, clean your gun all the time. Is it like an obsession for you or something?” There was a hint of criticism in her voice.

Rick looked quizzically back at Maria with one eyebrow raised, not able to tell if she was talking about him actually stripping down and cleaning the components of his guns or if she was making reference and teasing him about something else.

“No, you dork!” She said after a few seconds of Rick staring back at her. She reached back and threw her pillow at him. “You know what I am talking about,” she said as she pointed to the gun parts scattered at his feet.

“Oh. Well, in that case it is something that my ‘Pa’ taught us when we were young and is a habit I always do. He would always say, ‘Having a good firearm carries a number of responsibilities with it. One of the most important is to care for it. If you don’t properly care for your gun it gets damaged and ultimately performs no better than a giant paperweight at the moment you need it.' Anyway, guns are simple to clean and it only takes a few minutes so there is really no excuse not to doing it.”

“Will you teach me how then?”

“Sure thing; come sit down here.”

“Is that Xochi?”

“Is this what?”

“You know, Xochi, my gun you bought for me. I call her Xochi.”

“You named your gun?”

“Sure, it gives her personality.”

“OK then. ? No this one is mine.” Rick said as he wondered about her sanity while he reached into his bag and pulled out her H&K P30 9mm. “Here’s Xochi.”

“Great, what’s first?”

“Well, the first thing you need to do when you take down a firearm is to make sure it is clear and safetied. You need to automatically drop the magazine before you go any further. So if there are live rounds in there you are assuring there are no more to be feed into the weapon. From there, we retract and release the slide with enough force so if there is a round in the chamber it will come out. When it comes back you use the take down lever to lock the slide to the rear. Then you always do a physical and visual check to make sure it is clear.”

“You always check it both with your finger and your eyes? It seems a bit redundant.”

“I can’t tell you how many times my uncle Floyd would ramp me on the head when I didn’t. But now I am in such a habit that I just do it without thinking. It’s a good practice.”

“I can see why. You don’t want to go and shot yourself.”

Rick gave her a wink. “Or your buddy sitting next to you. Bad things happen when you combined lazy with thoughtlessness. Anyway, when you are done with clearing and safety-ing your gun you are ready to break it down. See that lever on the front above your trigger. That is the takedown lever. You turn it to the vertical position and then retract the slide back and then forward, sliding it all the way off. Inside you can see the recoil spring and guide. Take these out and put them to the side. Now you grasp this unlocking lug on the bottom of the barrel and lift it up and out thereby taking the whole barrel out of the slide. The last thing you do is separate the recoil spring and guide and the gun is done. But it isn’t considered field stripped until you also strip the magazine too.”

Maria followed Rick’s directions as he demonstrated with his own gun. They reassemble the guns and practiced a few more time until she found she could do it quit easily.

“What’s next then?”

“The magazine. After taking all the shells out, you hold the magazine upside down with your thumb on the back. Taking a tool like this, you press the depression down and then slip out the floor plate and use your thumb to hold and control the spring tension inside. You take out the insert, remove the spring and then flip it over and let the follower slip out. Easy, right? Now your weapon is totally field stripped.”

“You make it look so easy.”

“Well, it takes some practice to be able to do it fast but there isn’t much to it.”
The train’s PA system chimed into the cabin followed by a friendly female voice that announced: “Mesdames et messieurs, nous arriverons bientôt à la station de Gare de Lyon.” (Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon be arriving at the Gare de Lyon train station.)

“We are here already? Wow these trains are fast.” Maria said. “A trip like this back in Bolivia would have taken at least two days.

Rick stood and raised the shutter on the cabin window. Early twilight was upon the old gray stone buildings of Paris. A few lights were one in the district the train was passing. Narrow cobblestone streets raced past the window revealing the densely populated area. They were clearly in the heart of the city.

“Looks like it is time to clean up.”

Maria just stared out the window in amazement. Rick could tell she was excited. He cleaned up the guns quickly by himself and put them in his secure bag. Then kicking the other bag they had used to get through customs back in Sete to the door, he turned to see Maria still staring in amazement at the city as the train pulled into Gare de Lyon station.

“Come on cuttie,” he extended his hand to her as the train came to a stop. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“What are we going to do first?”



She was almost like a little girl in a toy shop. This was her first time to be in a large modern city. They had only skirted London when they came in from South American and never really saw any of it. Malta and Sete had seemed big to her but this was Paris, “the city of lights!” Even though her home back in Bolivia had almost a half million people in it, it was a poor place that had been through too many wars and revolutions to have anything of a history or infrastructure that presented itself as these old European cities did. Paris was solid and stable. It was Europe that allowed animals to be co-equal to humans and here they were living together side by side without the enmity from the empire hanging over them.
“Well, I am thinking you want to do some shopping. Then we can get dinner somewhere nice and then hit the clubs. What do you think?” He asked as they walked down the train’s narrow hallway to the exit.

“Wonderful. I know just what I am looking for!”

They stepped off the train onto the huge station platform. Purplish pink twilight filtered in through the massive metal trusses and giant glass skylights. The architecture of the station was early 19th century, the same as the Eifel Tower. Masses of people milled about the place. Maria tugged at Ricks arm.

“Rick, I really need to use the restroom. Will you wait here for a minute?”

Rick looked over to the side of the building at the small line of women waiting to do their business. “You know that is why men rule the world don’t you? We can hold it longer and are built more efficiency than women in dealing these types of delays.” He joked.

“Oh, really? And you want to debate that?”

“No.”

“Besides, I need to clean up and it is your fault anyway.”

“Moi?” Rick fake acted as innocently as he could but Maria was already ignoring him and jogged off to stand in line.



But this was a good distraction for him. He wandered around for a few minutes acting like an ogling tourist as he scoped out the station. Satisfied with what he found he sat down on a bench near the restrooms and waited. It was longer still before Maria returned. He figured the station was an excellent place to see if they were being trailed. He took the bag that had been searched by customs, there wasn’t anything of real value and it anyway, and subtly slid it behind the bench, hiding it out of sight. With the bait set, he commenced to pretend a cat-nap. The five more minutes he waited seemed more like fifteen.

“Hey, you ready?” Maria prodded him with her foot.

“Très bien, Mesdame.” Rick smiled.

He grabbed his one bag he knew was clean and then headed for the exit with Maria’s arm linked in his. But just before they took the escalators down, Rick surreptitiously stirred Maria to the left and guided her over to the heart of the station. There up a staircase and facing the rails was a fancy restaurant called “Le Train Bleu”. The windows from the restaurant had a commanding overview of the train platform. The restaurant, like the train station, was also built in 19th century flamboyance and grandeur.
The place was busy but with an expensive tip, Rick and Maria were seated next to a window looking over the platform.







“Rick, I recognize this place.” Maria said in a hushed excitement that one usually reserves for religious fervor.

“Really, where?”

“This is the same restaurant in the movie “La Femme Nikita” where she shot the Asian tourist and then ran to the back into the men’s room to get out the little window. I’ve seen that movie a dozen times and I am sure this is the same place.”



“Huh. I never saw it but I guess it could be.”

“Esto es tan maravilloso.”

“I am glad you are having a good time.”

Rick enjoyed Maria’s exuberance as she turned into a Spanish chatterbox of joy, talking how exciting it was to be in the same place that she had only experience vicariously through the television and movies from back home. There were a hundred and one things she wanted to see and do. The dinner was pricy but the atmosphere and the food were well worth the expense. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Rick continued to run surveillance out onto the train platform, watching the bag he had left hidden under the bench. Maria was too much in her excitement of the place to realize what Rick was doing. It was something she would have to learn if she was going to be successful in the business but for now, he let her have her fun. He was glad she was having the chance to loosen up and enjoy herself.



Besides, maybe things were OK and he was just being paranoid.

The City of Sete

The City of Sete lay off in the gorgeous morning in the horizon. It was late morning now and the Mediterranean Sea simmered in the glowing sun light. Sun glasses were a must.

With his large gray duffel bag full of goodies at his side (including a special silver briefcase that need to delivered by Monday morning in London) and the camera case swung over his neck and shoulder, Rick turned the boat around, pointing it back towards the open blue turquoise sea. He lovingly stroke the boat’s controls one last time. Then with a punch of the figure on the computer screen, he activated a timer. Sad really, it sure was a beauty of a boat and he wasn’t past stealing it. But he was busy and didn’t have time to figure out how he could pull off the job scot free.

A timer began flashing on the monitor as it started to count down from five minutes. He had programmed the boat’s auto-pilot to take the craft south, south-west after the timer reach zero. The timer would reset for five hours and then the controls would lock into 10 degree turn. The yacht would go in circle until it ran out of gas or someone found it. He had also left behind a nasty little computer batch file designed to delete everything on all the boats computers after 7 hours. What happened to the multi-million dollar yacht after that was anyone’s guess? More than likely some coastal guard patrol would pick it up and trace it back to Sir Norton Larrs. Not that Rick thought he deserved a boat this grand. He was hoping the illegal drugs would get Larrs busted.

Rick left everything on board as was, minus the clothing Maria took, the food they ate, and the money he used for fuel back at Secca Grande, Italy. Oh, and minus one inflatable raft with an outboard motor. With Maria’s help, the two had pulled the raft out of storage and prepped it for the short ride into Sete.

With a final check to make sure everything was clean and working, Rick grabbed his bag and headed down to the back of the yacht, sliding down the railing with exuberance that is usually displayed only by those with youthful innocence.

But Rick had good reason to be happy. All had gone well yesterday in St. Paul’s bay, last night through the lonely dark of the Mediterranean Sea and now this cloudless Saturday morning off the coast of France. Yacht or not, Rick had one smoking-hot bombshell of a girl to share company with and a job, with said ‘hottie’, pulled off without a tag-a-long ride with Mr. Murphy.

He was happy, more than the fact that the job had gone well but happy with the reality that Maria had been an equal partner. Rick liked that about her because most the girls he knew would end up being an extra burden, liability, and ultimately a problem if he took them along. But Maria was not only beautiful but as Rick had learned, she was a handy companion to have with him. She was tough, a quick learner, and unafraid to get her hands dirty.

Dropping down to the back of the yacht, Rick tossed his duffel bag into the waiting raft. Without a second thought he abandoned the ultra expensive yacht. Rick cut the mooring rope with his tanto and Maria started up the outboard motor.

The ride into Sete took less than twenty minutes. Maria drove as Rick kept his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Arriving at the port, they took the small raft around the sea wall and towering light house and then headed up into the harbor. Sète, sometimes called "the little Venice of the France," due to its numerous canals and quaint neighborhoods, had seemed like a great place to come inland onto the continent. Rick wasn’t disappointed with his choice. There was no security of any kind that he could see as they moved up past the large industrial docks at the edge of the city. They were moving against a steady flow of the fishing vessels heading out to sea.

Passing the harbor where the larger ships are moored, the two worked their way up
the waterfront until they passed under the first bridge and entered the city's canal system. Colors from the buildings reflect brightly in hues of red, orange, yellow, and slate in the blue morning water of the canals.

It took passing under three more bridges until Rick finally spotted a empty space for Maria to dock the raft on the right side of the canal. Small brightly painted boats choked all sides of the canal. There were so many of these "Venice-type" boats that Rick was beginning to wonder if they needed to turn around and head back to the industrial docks.

Beyond the wall of boats were narrow roads running the length of the canals. The roads were only a foot or two higher than the waterline. Just on the other side of the narrow one-way roads were the cities historic buildings all five to six floors tall covering every inch of the waterfront. It reminded Rick of floating down a river in the narrows back when he was a boy. The buildings were squeezed so close together that the only hint of one building ending and the next beginning was the difference of paint color. Sete really was a lovely city and Rick found he was beginning to like the place.

That was until Maria brought the raft up to wall. Rick noticed some late morning café patrons watching them a little too closely. He stared back as he jumped out and secured the raft to the short wall. The patrons continue to gaze in their direction.

Wondering why they were drawing attention, Rick looked back at Maria as she grabbed her bag and jumped out to join him. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Damn, you’re too good looking, Maria.”

“Why thank you my water prince. You’re not bad yourself.” She said as she mischievously slapped him with her tail.

Rick cocked his head in a gesture to point towards the people at the café.

“Oh.”

All eyes were looking at the two.

It was obvious that the people of Sete had a dark complexion while both he and Maria were much fairer in comparison. This alone made them stand out. But Rick also assumed they were getting the eye because both he and Maria were attractive. He often found women ogling at him and he had the bad habit of sticking in their minds at times he wished he could blend better into the crowd. Maria was the same if not so much more! She was too damn attractive. And that was the problem. "Attraction" attacks attention. She really stuck out in a crowd! It is like a movie star walking into a room full of ‘mere mortals’. People tend to notice things like that, just as these people were noticing them right now.

“You think we should do anything?”

Rick thought about making a scene of it by having Maria go over to the group of breakfasters while he took pictures. But then he thought better of the idea.

“Just smiled and wave at the nice people”.

The two waved and called out a greeting in Spanish knowing it was the wrong language. They turned quickly and headed up north along the canal road.

“Let’s not make a scene if we can help it. I would like to get rid of this package as soon as possible.”

Fortunately, the street they were on was somewhat busy. A number of European compact cars with their wimpy engines and low gears raced noisily up the one way street. Rick looked back a few times to see if they were still being watched. He looked back at Maria. Maria’s jeans and white tank top she was wearing weren’t helping any. And the perfect roundness of her breast were awfully distracting. He slapped himself mentally and looked around again. He could see other people along the road seemed notice them too. Maybe there was something else he missed?

“I wish we would have come in during the night; Fewer eyes to hide from.”

“I think you worry too much Rick. What are they going to do? Call security because they saw two foreigners get out of a boat and walk up the road?”

“I hope you’re right. I just get a little tense when I am doing a job. I think I have been around Barett too long. He sees daggers in every shadow.”

Ten minutes later, walking along the canal side of the road, Rick and Maria crossed over to the west side and then turned down a small side street named Rue Colbert. At the end of the street they found a quaint little park and adjacent hotel. This was close to the main road circling Sete and seemed a good place as any to try to contact Barett and Bridget.

Maria went into the hotel to order some foot while Rick crossed over an intersection to use a public phone. All he had to do now was call Barett and let him know where to find them so he could pick up the package and start his leg of the mission.

What could go wrong?