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Chapter 85 - Hunted

Tamara rejoined the others and Peter immediately noticed that she was upset.

“That was Mrs Wilkins. The FBI found out that the Virginia AG office was careless and now someone has my parents’ address, ‘cause that’s the address on my license,” she whispered to him. “This is top secret; you can’t mention it to anyone. They’re trying to use the info to trap whoever tried tampering with the kidnapping evidence.”

“Was the evidence compromised?” Peter asked.

“The guy was already convicted, so this might only affect the appeal. She said it was still okay. I’m going back to the cabin. I need to call Janice and get her advice.”

“Want me to come with you?” Peter asked.

“I’ll be okay. See, I thought that there was something wrong. I wonder why you didn’t feel it stronger.”

“Maybe it’s because ... um ... Shit. I have no idea, sweetie.”

When Tamara reached Marks by phone an hour later, she explained the situation.

“I don’t see this as evidence tampering. I think that there are two possibilities here,” Marks told her. “One is to find you for retaliation against you. The other might be to try to find Winnie to get her back. Or both, but the first seems more likely, since it’s your info that was taken. Or possibly to snatch Winnie to get to you. You still don’t have much of a public presence despite your fame, so an immediate concern is your parents—they could be a way to get to you. You need to call your folks to tell them what’s happening and ask Wilson to call me. I’ll arrange a time to go over there to evaluate their security. I recall that they have an alarm system—is it monitored?”

“I’m pretty sure the system’s monitored. I’d like to hire your outfit to watch over my folks, and Peter and Winnie until this crap is over.”

“I’ll have the office email you the paperwork. Let’s get this started as soon as you can. Now, do the three of you need protective services starting immediately?”

“I kinda doubt it; we’re at our resort for two weeks and someone who doesn’t belong here will stand out like a spotlight’s on him.”

Marks laughed. “Now that’s so true.”

They disconnected and Tamara called Wilson and explained what was going on.

“Okay; I’ll call Janice when we’re done talking and see if she can meet me at the house later today. And there’s no point in exposing your mother to danger—I’ll call her and ask if she can stay with the Winsbergs; Greta’s got the guest room and I’m sure she’ll help.”

“Dad, I’ve arranged for Cornelius security agents for you both too. You can take care of yourself, I know, so yours will be just shadowing you. Janice thinks that they might try to use you or Mom to get to me when they find out that I don’t live there.”

“She’s probably right. Okay, let me make some calls.”

Tamara planned to keep in touch with her dad during the next several days to be sure that his security arrangements were being made. Then she went out to find the rest of her group.

~~~~

The following evening, Tamara called her father.

“Hi, Dad. Any news?”

“The security upgrades are happening. Janice came out yesterday and today, her crew was here beefing up our alarm system and putting in some cameras outside. And Mom is staying at Greta’s house for now; I’ll be checking our house daily but also staying with her.”

“That’s good. What’s with the cameras?”

“They set up motion-activated monitored cameras that will send an alert when triggered. They’re self-contained and wireless and transmit to a box in the house and that connects to the monitoring service. Since it’s all wireless, it went in fast. Janice also told me that our property has a good security profile. You know how the back of our lot borders on an active farm behind the woods there so no one can park back there and sneak in without being seen. Also, both sides of our property have no real place for an intruder to park, let alone hide, a vehicle. Someone would have to be dropped off and then they’d have to deal with the wetlands and woods and then that fence. Why the former owner needed a seven-foot fence with a barbed-wire topper escapes me, but that’s what’s there. The open areas around the house got those cameras.”

“She moved really fast getting that done,” Tamara said.

“Sure did. They also will have a roving patrol checking the property periodically while I’m at work.”

“That sounds good. So let me tell you what we’ve been doing here...”

Tamara gave him an update about her day and then called her mother and they spoke for a little while.

~~~~

On midday Friday, Winnie’s team members began arriving. Scott and Claire had arrived earlier in the day and Claire was prepared to sign in the two team members whose parents weren’t coming. Winnie had asked that her people try to arrive between 2 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. so that she, Tamara, and Peter could give the whole group their orientation and tour together.

The girls began arriving at 2 p.m. and the parents got registered while Winnie spoke to the girls and their siblings. She asked the people who arrived first to wait in the clubhouse and pointed the girls and their siblings to the game room while she and Tamara spoke to their parents about the weekend’s activities. Soon everyone had arrived and Winnie led them all into the studio and Peter joined them.

“Okay, the fun part begins soon,” Winnie told them when everyone had settled down. “You can see from what I’m wearing what our dress code is here. This outfit is perfect for me. It’s always in style, waterproof, never shrinks or stains, I never outgrow it, doesn’t need laundering or dry cleaning, I can never misplace it, and it’s custom fitted. In short, it’s all mine!”

The tittering while she was speaking turned to laughter as everyone got her joke.

“And guess what? All of you have an outfit just like mine. Custom fit for you too.”

More laughing.

“Okay. Seriously. First, the resort has a bunch of rules that are designed to help make this an ultra-safe place for everyone. You all know Peter, one of our loudest fans at our games...”

The girls shouted “Yeah, Peter!” ... “Hi, Peter!” and similar greetings and he waved, grinning.

“So Peter, who’s one of the owners here, will tell you about the resort and the major rules,” Winnie finished.

Peter walked to the center of the group.

“How’s my favorite volleyball team?” he asked. “Ready to show the people here how v-ball should be played?”

The girls roared their approval and the parents smiled.

“Okay then, let’s get the serious stuff done and then we’ll take a tour. I saw Tamara going over the weekend schedule with a lot of you, so you know we have a good time planned for you. You all have the rules handout and each rule is as important as the next, but there are a few that I want to emphasize ‘cause they involve basic nudist etiquette and practice. Here we go... first, this is a nudist facility as opposed to a clothing-optional, or C-O, one. For nudist resorts, nudity is expected when possible. Our experience in C-O facilities is that they’re just like clothed, or textile, places, except that some people choose to be nude and some don’t. That can invite gawkers and that’s totally opposed to our nudist philosophy here.

“Second. Carry a towel everywhere and use it to sit on. No bare bottoms on any surface—except in the pool and spa. When you’re at the pool, we recommend having two towels, one to dry off and one to sit on. Third. Take a soap shower each and every time you go in the pool or spa. That washes off the lotions, bug sprays, and body oils and helps to keep our pool and spa water clean. Fourth. Absolutely no photography in the common areas, and no device capable of photography is permitted either. That includes cell phones. Keep them at your site or in the car. Fifth. Any smokers? No? Excellent. We do have some rules about that, so we’ll skip that one. Sixth. No glass containers are allowed on the pool deck, in the spa area, and in the Pavilion. Broken glass is a hazard for bare feet. And look at your copy of the rules for the rest of them. Questions?”

There were a few. One parent asked about photos of the girls playing.

“We can’t allow anyone to take photos,” Peter told him. “But one of our members is a pro and is our official photographer. He’s agreed to take some shots of the girls playing if you parents sign a release. The photos he’ll take won’t show frontal nudity—maybe some bottoms might show—and we’ll give you copies of them. Okay?”

That drew smiles from both the girls and their parents. One of the girls asked about wearing a sports bra while playing.

Tamara answered, “Hey gals. Check me out. I’m a large B-cup and I play without one. Yes, you can wear a sports bra, but take my advice—try it without first. I think you’ll like it.”

Peter spoke again. “If you have any other questions, ask them anytime. Now we’ll be going on the tour. We allow clothing in the clubhouse and in the parking area, but everywhere else, it’s all natural. So it’s time to change into your birthday suits now. We’ve got a little locker room at the other end of the clubhouse you can use or you can go out to your cars to change there. Go get undressed now and we’ll meet in front of the office in five minutes. Don’t forget a towel and grab sunscreen too—the sun’s hot today. Wear a hat if you want.”

They all left the studio and Tamara noticed that several of the girls and a few parents were hanging back, wearing uncertain expressions. She caught up to them and got their attention.

“Big step into the unknown, right?” she asked the little group and they all nodded.

“Well, you took the first two big steps already. The first was even considering coming out here, and the second, by actually coming. Those steps took enormous courage, you know. It’s totally normal to have some anxiety about being socially nude for the first time, like now. Getting nude and being with people you don’t know may seem like a scary experience, but those who try it are amazed at how fabulous the sun, breeze, and pool water feel on your totally bare body.

“The biggest concerns for first-timers are cultural—you’re not supposed to let others see you naked, and personal—body acceptance and self-image. Getting over the first concern can be tough, but you’ll find that concern goes away really fast ‘cause you’ll be just like everyone else; nobody’ll even notice you. The other one? Everyone has a body; it only comes in two versions, after all, and it’s all yours—it’s where you live. So why should you feel ashamed of it? Positive body acceptance is a given among people who practice social nudism—for both their own bodies and those of others too. When you see how other people accept you for who you are, you’ll soon find any self-consciousness you may have will melt away after a very short time of being clothes-free.

“You’ve already taken the first two big steps. The next one is a much smaller one. I was scared my first time getting nude with other people too, but within a few minutes, I was just fine, and you guys will be too. And maybe in an hour, you’ll be wondering why you never tried nudism before—I almost guarantee that. Now let’s go; get ready, and you’ll have the most fun you’ve had in years. It’s time to shed the threads.”

“Without the dread, right?” one of the girls joked and they all laughed.

“Good one; gotta remember that,” Tamara laughed. “Now go.”

Much reassured after Tamara’s pep talk, the little group went off to get out of their clothes.

They all met a few minutes later and Tamara noticed that some of the other people—just a few parents now—looked uncomfortable. All the girls seemed mostly at ease, and their siblings were all raring to go.

“Okay, let’s do our little tour,” Tamara said when she rejoined them. “All you parents, I think that you guys are the best, coming here to support your girls. Girls, aren’t your folks simply awesome? Hey, just remember this time when you have a disagreement with them, okay?”

Everyone laughed.

“Some of us might still feel a bit strange,” Tamara went on. “But consider this: all your lives, clothing was your armor against the world and it defined your place in the world. But this is a whole brand new world, right here, and all the definitions have changed. Let your new armor become the friendships you’ll make with people who have embraced social nudism and your new place in this world will be defined by those friendships. So let’s go and meet your new friends. Peter will show us around.”

A number of the parents were nodding at what Tamara was saying and several went over to shake her hand, giving their thanks.

One of the fathers took Tamara’s hand and whispered to her, “This was really difficult for me but showing my daughter that I will do difficult things to support her is important to me. Thanks for giving me the emotional support I needed.”

“Seriously,” Peter picked it up with the group as he led them away, “if you feel uncomfortable or exposed, just watch how people greet you when we meet and that will tell you loads about their acceptance, okay?”

They walked around to the pool area and saw a bunch of pre-teens and a few young teens in the water. When the pool occupants saw the girls’ group entering the pool enclosure, they all came out of the pool to greet the newcomers—they especially wanted to meet the team members’ siblings—and some friendships began to be formed. Several of the younger kids wanted their new visiting friends to stay at the pool but were assured that they would be coming back after their tour. And the watching parents came over to greet everyone too.

One of the girls’ parents asked Winnie, “Is it always so welcoming here like that?”

“Oh sure. Peter tells me that among his parents’ age group, some lifetime friendships were formed when they were kids here themselves.”

While the adults were greeting the newcomers, a few older teens, who were just arriving at the pool, saw the new girls and came over and soon there was a lot of laughing and happy conversation among that group. Very quickly, the team girls and their families were making a bunch of new friends. All of the group members were now smiling and relaxed as Peter finally got their attention, pried them away from their new friends, and led them off to continue their tour of the grounds.

Passing through The Meadow, Peter pointed out the cabins and camping areas and the units where they would be staying for the weekend. On their tour, they met a number of additional resort members. When they passed near the permanent sites, Peter pointed out the location of the Winsbergs’ lodge and cabins, where Winnie would be staying, in case they needed her. Then Peter brought them past the sports area and mentioned their extensive trail network, showing them two of the four trail heads.

“The trail map is in your handouts and there are distance markers on these two trails, if you want to time your runs. We have a 5-K race here next weekend, on Sunday, and yes, it’s a naked 5K. It’s timed and sanctioned too, if you run and need the points. Okay, you’ve seen where everything’s located. Dinner is in the restaurant from 5:30 to 7:30 and you can get sandwiches and snacks there till 10:30. Breakfast is from 6:45 to 9:30 a.m. but remember that the volleyball clinic starts at 9:30. You saw where you’ll be staying and each cabin and camper has a space to park one car. So you can bring your cars to your sites now and set up your places as you want.”

Tamara took over the instructions now.

“The two big bunkhouse campers can each sleep eight. So the gals on the team can take one and your sibs the other one. Or your parents might want to have one or more older girls stay with the younger people. The campers are right next to each other, so you parents might want to let the younger kids have a slumber party by themselves. It’s really safe here, at night too. You can decide what you want to do.”

Tamara and Peter left for their campsite while Winnie stayed with the girls from her team and, as Tamara walked off, she heard the girls excitedly saying how cool this place was and how much fun this weekend would be.

When they got back to their site, they found that just about the entire Winsberg family had arrived, only the Winsbergs from York were still on the road; they would arrive within the hour. Susan was coming alone this year but would be leaving Sunday, while JoAnne and Frank and their parents were staying through the following week, the 5-K weekend. Tamara wanted to actually race against JoAnne this year.

Winnie got back to the site just before the last Winsbergs arrived and got a very warm greeting from everyone. Then they all pitched in to put a dinner together.

After dinner, Tamara took Werner and Mason aside, and asked Peter to join them.

“Want to talk to both of you. You’re my brain trust,” she said and they laughed.

She first told them about her security problem, the threat to her parents and their home, and the protection agents she was putting under contract.

Werner responded, “Obviously your mom and dad told me about the problem and you do know that your parents are staying at our house now, until this gets settled. When your dad told me what was happening with you, I called Mason to let him know too. I also called Gary Lynch at the county police and they’re doing frequent drive-bys now.”

“So is our state police,” Mason said. “They were contacted by the Virginia AG office to alert them of the privacy breach. I heard about that from the governor’s chief of staff; the governor wants to be sure you’re safe, but he can’t formally give you a protection detail. So he’s doing what he can. I’ll let their office know about the private security you’ve arranged, Tamara.”

Mason chuckled. “The Virginia people were open about what happened in the AG’s office—they want to avoid a lawsuit over exposing a source, probably. Tamara, that was a good idea to get the security company involved. Your dad told us about the cameras they were installing.”

“I can’t imagine why someone would take the paper with my license number on it unless they plan to come looking for me. I heard that whoever got into the evidence safe must have gotten rushed, so they grabbed the paper with my license number on it—they could have just copied it if they had the time,” Tamara commented.

“I agree with that thought,” Mason said. “So do the folks in the governor’s office. Peter, this reminds me of when you got put into that idiot naked fiasco in high school and how the governor back then reacted to what I told him that they had done to you and your friend. The current governor is well aware of your fame, Tamara, and is adamant that no harm comes to you. I told your dad to let the security agent who’s covering his property know that the state police want to be kept in the loop about what they learn.”

“I think that’s all we can do right now, especially since I’m here at the resort,” Tamara said. “But I hate to be a passive target, you know. I wish there was a way to be more aggressive and flush out whoever it is who’s looking for me.”

“I know the feeling,” Mason said. “And I can see why you feel that way. That’s your dad’s influence, right? Bring the battle to the enemy and the best defense is a good offense. That’s what a Marine would do.”

Tamara nodded. “Yep. Exactly. So to change the topic now, the other thing I needed your advice on is managing my time better. During the last nine months or so, I’ve been so busy managing details that it slows down the big stuff that needs to be done. I’ve got a manufacturing company being set up with a factory under construction; getting a holding company running; and managing a charitable trust. They all have partial management teams in place but somehow, people from each one need to call me every day for a decision or something. And email isn’t working well ‘cause I can’t keep checking it all the time.

“I also get a bunch of invitations every week to give a seminar at various universities and they need responses. I’m also still getting interview requests from media and press. My department gave me a physics course to teach last academic year and I was getting calls and emails from my students who weren’t able to get to see me during my office hours. And even doing my own personal jobs, like arranging to rent those camper trailers, has been taking time out of my day. I think that a personal assistant can help me by handling a lot of this stuff; all I’d need to do is tell him or her what I wanted and they’d get the job done. How do you find someone like that? That kind of job takes special skills.”

Mason smiled, nodding, as Werner answered, “You’re absolutely correct about it needing special skills. People like Mason and I have to network to find folks who’d be a good PA. Mason, do you have any potential candidates in your organization that don’t have a principal to work for? I have one person, an admin assistant, who could be a candidate, but I can’t use his skills; I have nowhere with more responsibility to put him.”

“There’s one gal, possibly two, in my analysis group. They both are looking for more responsibility and I fear that if I can’t give them a position like that, they’ll look elsewhere. But if one of them goes with Tamara, it wouldn’t be like I’d be losing them. Tamara, you mentioned a ‘partial management team.’ Where’s your organizational structure at right now?”

“The holding company has an executive director and an attorney on retainer. That’s all we need there right now. The foundation has a director and a board. Oh, they have secretaries, too. The manufacturing outfit, AlWin Systems Corporation, now has a board—I’m the chair and CEO, I have a COO and a gal who’s kind of an operations director who’s currently managing the construction contractors and equipment installation. She’ll be the director of manufacturing when we start operations. And before we’re ready to do that, I’ll need a HR staff and people to run the business office too. Oh yeah. I’ve contracted with Janice Marks’ company to staff the security department.”

“When do you plan to start hiring?” Werner asked.

“Maybe three months. I think we’re six months away from any fabrication work,” Tamara said.

“Sounds to me like your manufacturing operation needs an on-site rep for the CEO, you,” Mason said and Werner nodded. “You won’t be there all the time, obviously and...”

Tamara interrupted, “Of course! That’s what Emma’s done in her energy company. Emma’s rep there is her executive assistant and she and the CEO handle the day-to-day operations.”

“I see the need for two PA-type people with you, at least, Tamara,” Mason said. “Who does your COO use for a staff assistant?”

“No one now; not enough work yet. He has a secretary to do the details.”

“Well, when things start moving, and especially when you start adding staff, you’ll quickly find out that you’ll need an executive assistant type person to handle the basic operational decisions. The COO will be involved in overall planning and management,” Werner pointed out. “And a second PA-type person would be yours for all your other detail work. You might find out that you’ll need a third executive assistant at one of the other organizations too.”

“I’m sure that within the next several weeks, your COO will be asking you to recruit an executive assistant, given what you told us about the frequent phone calls,” Mason said. “That person will be essential when you begin recruiting for managers, supervisors, and other factory personnel. I recall that you have a small engineering staff already at work in a rented space, right?”

“I do. I guess that I’m managing them too.”

“There you go... you’ve got too many things going on to keep effective track of everything. I do think that one of the admins in my organization would work well with you since I don’t have anything challenging for her abilities. I see her as a good personal executive assistant rather than as a management type.”

“And I mentioned that guy in one of my divisions whose talents are very underutilized,” Werner said. “He’s the division director’s assistant and in a coming reorganization as I transition the company, that job will disappear. I think he’d work well as an executive assistant in a manufacturing operation. Would you like to explore this further after our vacation, Tamara?”

“I would. I knew that you both could help me, so thanks. I’m so used to doing things myself that it’s hard to think about delegating tasks. I suppose that I’ll need to learn how to manage people now, the way I learned to manage my time.”

Peter broke in for the first time. “Honey, I’ve seen how you work with Betty, Saul, and the others at the APL and your company engineers too. They’re actually your employees, not just colleagues, even though that’s how you treat them, you know. You’ll do just fine with a PA person.”

“Say, we all done? Good, let’s go listen to the music at the Pavilion,” Mason said. “They’ve got a nice group in to play this evening.”

~~~~

The following morning, When Tamara and Winnie went out to prepare for their run, virtually the whole girls’ team came out to run too. The previous day, Winnie had suggested to them that they join the cousins on their morning run. As the group began their stretches, Tom and Lynette, and then most of the cousins, began to appear.

When they finished, JoAnne went over to Tamara.

“Barbara tells me that you and Winnie did an 8-K in 30:30 on Thursday. You do know that that’s a fantastic time?” JoAnne said.

“I do. And repeating that kind of run is off today’s menu. Winnie and I do our all-out runs every third day or thereabouts; we don’t want to kill ourselves with overtraining,” Tamara told her.

“Makes sense. Winnie, you could be a star in high school, you know, with those times.”

Winnie had come over and was grinning at JoAnne. “X-C interferes with volleyball, JoAnne, but yes, I know my running times are tops. Say, everyone’s stretched, so let’s go. Big crowd to run this morning.”

JoAnne asked Tamara, “Want to set the pace? I’m up for an easier run this morning too.”

“Sure. How’s 6:35 to 6:45 sound?”

“That would be, um, 33, maybe 34 minutes? Sounds good,” JoAnne replied.

Tom drifted over as they started to jog. “You’re not gonna set a killer pace today, right?”

Tamara grinned at him. “It’ll be like yesterday, we’ll do 6:35 again. We did 6:00 to start on Thursday.”

“Thank God,” Tom smiled. “That’s good.”

When they got back, it was the volleyball girls who were looking haggard.

“Shit, Winnie,” one complained, “we’re not training for a race, you know.”

“Pussycat... that’s my usual run, 33 to 34 minutes, but you should know, every three-four days or so, Tamara and I try to go for 30 minutes. Maintaining that level of conditioning is great to keep up your stamina for those long games. ... Hey, team—let’s jog off to the showers and then hit the breakfast bar. The v-ball clinic starts in an hour or so.”

There were a few groans and grumbles, but the group did jog off.

JoAnne turned to Tamara. “That kid is quite something; she’s damn impressive. A leader too.”

Tamara smiled proudly. “They voted her as team captain at the end of last season. Usually the setter gets picked but Winnie’s really a natural leader.”

An hour later, the volleyball clinic began and the members of both of the resort teams were there. They greeted the girls warmly and asked if they wanted to do the drills too. Of course they did. And most wound up coaching the less skilled players who were working on their passing, serving, and hitting. After the clinic, the demonstration games began, with the resort women’s team playing against Winnie’s high-school team. Everyone had seen Winnie playing last summer, but her improvement over the past year was striking. All of the girls were excellent players and the games were hard fought.

For the resort team, the front line of Tamara, Barbara, and Naomi, one of the college girls who had gone to the Superbowl in Tamara’s and Barbara’s place the last two years, was very strong. Naomi was 6 feet tall, very athletic, and Dawn Simpson, the Maryland assistant coach, had recruited her for her college team. With Simpson as one of the two setters, the resort team had a very powerful offense.

Winnie had gotten her coach to copy that two-setter offense for the high-school team, so the spectators were treated to a war of defenses, since both teams’ offenses were so strong. Eventually the high-school team came out on top, but barely. The scores were 31-33, 37-35, and 32-30... they all had agreed to just keep playing until one side won, but despite their age, the younger team pulled it off since they had much more experience playing as a team. Their back-court players were battered and bruised from all the digs they had made. Playing on an asphalt surface was very different from the gyms’ hardwood floors; Winnie had told her teammates to wear extra-thick knee and elbow pads and the pads helped because they got shredded during the games.

After the games, Simpson told the girls that she was very impressed at their play. She told them that they had played against a team with two AA, two A, and two BB players. And that’s when the girls found out that their match had been scouted. Simpson and Ron Allerman had contacted a number of colleges in the region and told them about the planned match. Also about the nudity requirement. In addition to Maryland, which Simpson represented, five colleges had decided to scout it: Towson University, Howard University, University of Delaware, Morgan State University, and Loyola University, all NCAA Division 1 schools. The scouts, assistant coaches at those schools, had to follow the NCAA rules about direct recruiting contact with the girls, so they couldn’t spend a lot of time talking to them about recruiting, but they promised to be in touch with Baltimore Tech’s coach and would be attending their games in the coming fall season.

Lunchtime became a huge information-exchange session between the coaches and the girls’ volleyball team members. They were all finishing sophomores and juniors, so when the visiting coaches discovered that fact, it changed the level of contact that was allowed since it was after June 15. The girls’ parents were included in the conversations and a very happy group of people filled the restaurant. After lunch, all the coaches left, and the girls swarmed Winnie and then Tamara, thanking them. A few of the girls had learned that they might be offered a scholarship. Winnie had also learned that she had several colleges interested in her.

“Tamara, you know that Dawn Simpson wants to recruit me to play for her Maryland team, right?” Winnie asked when they were alone.

“She did sound me out about that, yeah,” Tamara replied. “I saw a number of coaches talking to you and they seemed to be interested in you too.”

“They were. I think that it’ll be tough to decide,” Winnie sighed. “But I think what I really want is to go to college at Hopkins. After the games, Joyce ... you know, she’s the Hopkins assistant basketball coach, told me that I definitely could play at Hopkins but as a D3 school, they couldn’t offer a scholarship.”

“If Hopkins is your choice, sweetie, the cost isn’t an issue at all. If you want to play v-ball there, then that can be your decision. You’ve got time to decide; don’t rush it.”

When everything had quieted down, Tamara went back to her cabin to call Nadine. She learned that everything at their home was still okay; although no intruders had been detected, the police had noticed a higher level of night-time traffic on the road in front of their house. They were attempting to get licence plate numbers but that was proving to be difficult, but they had told her that a night break-in was much less likely because the home could be occupied.

Saturday evening, the team girls were still on a high, and they had been adopted by members of the former vixen posse. Those youngsters were all freshmen and sophomores in high school now, and had watched the volleyball match. Some of them vowed to look into learning to play the sport better in their own high school P.E. classes. And the team girls had met a few teen guys too, so when the evening’s entertainment began at the Pavilion—a DJ with karaoke—the younger set virtually took over the dance floor.

The volleyball group left on Sunday afternoon with all of them declaring that they were confirmed nudists now. They loved the resort and the activities and had made a number of good friends. Even the girls’ parents were impressed at how much fun they had and how many people had befriended them. They all had met other couples and planned to see them socially out in the textile world when the weather got cooler; several parents even planned to try to return to the resort for day visits later in August.

~~~~

The following week was quiet until Thursday; that’s when Tamara got a phone call in the late afternoon. Ron Allerman had to track her down to return her father’s call. When she reached him, he had news.

“The security company called me at work around noon, sweetie,” Wilson told her. “They nailed an intruder. He came in over the barbed wire fence on the east and got pretty chewed up by the barbs. Set off the cameras as he tried to get to the back of the house without being seen. He was trying to jimmy a window when the cavalry arrived. It was the third window he had tried—Janice’s outfit had hardened our windows to make them resistant to being forced. I asked them to hold the guy so I could question him myself; you know my methods, to give lots of pain but leave no marks. The two security guys were a little hesitant to let me at him, so I told them to call Janice.

“I won’t bore you with the details, but that shithead sang for me. In addition to him, he told me that there are just five more jerks left in that operation, and all but one are just the muscle, like Winnie’s kidnapper was. One of those five is one of the remaining leaders. So the jerk I persuaded to talk ratted them all out, so we have their names.”

“Great news, Dad. Hey, how did he get there? Was he dropped off like you thought would happen?”

“No... He left his car in the lot at that nursery about a mile east and hiked over. He got the job to find where you were living. As you suspected, they wanted to grab you in revenge for capturing one of them and exposing the ring. This guy had been one of the visitors to the kidnapper in jail, I found out. Apparently he had been casing our house to see if you were living there. He only saw me coming and going, so he figured that he’d break in to see if he could find any info about you. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to them that you’re that gal who got those Nobel prizes.”

“Did he have a gun? And did he know who the mole in that AG office is?”

“Had a 9-mil pistol and nope on the mole. Or if he did know, he sure went through a lot of pain to keep mum. The state police have him now, together with his confession. He was claiming brutality but the security agents said that his problem was because he tangled with the barbed wire. Listen, unless they can find the rest of those shitheads, you still need to keep alert. They’ll eventually figure out who you are. The detective told me that they have enough on this guy so that he won’t be granted bail and they’ll watch to see who he gets for a lawyer or if he gets visitors.”

When Tamara disconnected, she was thinking, I hate this waiting crap. There’s gotta be a way to bring the action to that gang...

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