Robert Waggoner - John - The Senior Killer

Coming back to the present she rolled off him and he sat up with a grin on his thin lips and a satisfied look from his deep blue eyes. From the first time she looked into his eyes she saw the look of intelligence and quickly learned how fast they could change to a look of a killer. At present his eyes had the warm look of a man in love with everything that was him and with him. They stood up and went down the south side of Fish Rock and along the ledge leading to the seashore. The eastern edge of the rock pathway at high tide was under water. Stuck on the rock at high tide was a six hour wait. Swimming was not an option as a strong rip tide made swimming a deadly hazard.

Walking in front with Sujin just behind him and his dog already on the beach sitting by a man who was scratching his ears, Brad Pratt knew trouble was in the making as he stepped onto the beach. Looking first at the tall man and then to the sky he took stock of the weather. The wind out of the southwest and heavy clouds promised a night of stormy weather on the southern coast of Oregon. He felt a chill and it wasn’t from the storm as he knew his expertise was needed once more. Each time he promised his mate it would be the last one. But she knew as long as he was able he would put himself in harm’s way to do his duty for his nation. He came from a long line of military career men and it was natural for him to follow in their footsteps.

He took a deep breath of the heavy salty air and walked boldly to the man standing with his back to the wind with one hand in his Burberry and the other on the dog’s head. His slacks had a crease still sharp with the pants legs rolled up with boots on gave him the look of a sinister mob man in Chicago watching his men take the stealing accountant out onto Lake Michigan for a nightly swim with cement shoes. His medium white hair blew in the wind like wisps of angel hair. As they approached Steve Lewis he never broke his stoic expression but turned and they all walked down the hard packed beach where it turned to soft sand too far from the high tide mark, past Devils Kitchen and up the trail to the bluff where he had his beach house.

His other dog, the mate to his male German shepherd stood guard at the perimeter of his southern property boundary. No private individual could own the beach next to the ocean, but by special permission he was granted a quarter acre on the bluff overlooking the ocean. As they topped the trail to the house, Sujin took from her pocket a remote and clicked the button much like an electronic key for your car releasing the lock and security. Literally the only way you could sneak into the property would be from the air and it would be a rare day indeed for a parachutist to land with wind blowing most every day of the year. The security was necessary as he had a bounty on his head from Al-Queda. Before he and Sujin had left Asia, he finished up the job he was assigned. Intel had determined a base camp for hundreds of trainees based deep in the mountains needed eliminating. With a GPS it was Colonel Brad Pratt’s job to pin point the location for strategic bombing. He couldn’t have accomplished it without Sujin’s help.

The rain began as they made their way to the unusual and unique beach house that looked more like a World War Two bunker than a house. It was in fact an earth house half underground and half above perfectly round with bullet proof windows encased in an I-beam steel construction. The whole structure of the house was built on steel I-beams as was the roof where one inch steel plates were covered by cedar shakes. Split cedar siding gave the natural weathered look as the whole structure blending in nicely with the environment. A fort might be a better description of the house, but no way was Brad going to not protect him and his family against an intruder. The grounds were heat censored and most of the time at least one of the dogs were on guard outside. They were trained not to attack, but to warn the occupants of the house someone was coming. A push button located in various locations around the house where the dogs could use their nose to push an alert button if unwanted beach combers chanced by.

Making their way down the stairs through the front steel door programmed for his and Sujin’s eye sprung open upon recognition. The female, Sandy stayed outside and Rocky the male came in with the master and his guest.

Not a word had been spoken as Brad went directly to the bathroom to take a shower while Sujin went to the kitchen to make some green tea with her special added herbal medicine. At thirty three she was a trained Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor among other things. Sujin noticed how dark it was getting as the rain lashed the windows sending long worm like rivulets down the tinted glass. From the oven which had been kept warm for homemade biscuits filled the air: a fresh baked bread smell, like at grandma house. She placed some on a tray while the water was coming to a boil on the island stove.

Burberry stood at the south window overlooking the sea. Large sea stacks dotted the sea while high sand dunes faced east of the littoral zone. Tall beach grass was waving in the wind as the storm began. These windows were special: you could see out, but you couldn’t see in. At first one felt exposed but after a while your mind settled down and enjoyed the view.

In the front entry way he had taken off his boots and rolled down his pants before walking into what constituted the living room. He crossed on a Tan Oak hardwood floor a color which the name came from. He wondered how to break the news to Brad. His superior briefed him in Washington before he was flown out on special jet landing in North Bend where a car was waiting for him. Driving down highway 101 to Bandon he took the Beach Loop Road past the golf course turning off to the west through some scrub weather beaten pine trees down a dirt sandy road where he wondered if he would make it as the bottom of the car more than once drug on the rutted road. At the end of the pine trees a cable crossed the road keeping the curious out with a bold sign: “Beware of the Dogs” Next to the lock in a box where one needed a combination number to open the gate he dialed in the number and proceeded to the house stopping in a graveled area for parking outside the secure area. From there he realized no one was home as the dog sat and stared at him without moving. He took the trail down to the beach and looked both south and north finally spotting another dog on top of a sea stack about two hundred yards from the mouth of the creek emptying into the sea. He looked at his watch and it was just after four pm Pacific Time. He was dog tired from the meeting and the long flight in a private Gulf Stream where he only cat napped from coast to coast.

He heard Sujin in the kitchen as he turned to sit on a low sofa made out of driftwood and cleverly covered with cushions. It looked uncomfortable but sitting down he felt like he was at home in his Lazy Boy recliner. He looked around seeing the seascapes photos nicely framed hanging on the divider wall between the kitchen and living room. The photos were taken by Sujin and she was a professional photographer popular in Asia and in particular her home country of South Korea. In the center of the house stood a wood stove giving off the type of heat that made the body feel good. Brad burned mostly wood pellets in this day and age of hard to find firewood, but occasionally he would burn some drift wood picked up while out running up and down the beach for his daily exercise.

Next to the kitchen stood a small, old wooden table incongruous with the furnishings with four similar type chairs sat waiting for someone to occupy them. This was for the rare guest to eat at as not far from the wood stove, a low table sat Asian style with floor mats to sit on. A combination of American and Asian blended well with the house and occupants. Sujin came into the living room carrying the tray of biscuits and the strong smell of green herb tea. She looked at him and then to the floor table giving him the choice of the floor or the old wooden table next to the kitchen. He looked at the floor and she placed the tray and sat each place with tea with the biscuits in the middle. After placing the tea pot and cups she returned the tray to the kitchen and walked back taking the stairs down to the basement where the bedrooms and other rooms were located.