Having met up with the fishing boats at the three remote southwest Louisiana locations of Johnson’s Bayou, Holly Beach, and Cameron, five large vans made their way deeper into the state by moving north along various portions of highway-27. Although the hand selected driving pairs within the sparsely appointed vehicles didn’t know it, they were all being carefully scrutinized while performing a trial run that would serve as their so called final exam. If they completed their current task without any problems, then each of the women would become part of the larger group of ground personnel that would be deployed in the fall.

After Kyle arrived at Johnson’s Bayou on the last of the fishing boats, he helped the men on the dock load the crates into the awaiting van while the driver waited patiently. Then he gave them each some cash for their effort, and climbed into the passenger side seat. With an exhale of relief at the sight of the attractive driver, he leaned closer and gave her a kiss before asking, “How have you been?”

With a smile on her face, she replied, “Good thanks. How was the trip?”

“It was good, and everything went according to plan. We had smooth water out in the gulf, which helped to make the transfers easier, and we didn’t see any Coast Guard patrols on the way back in.”

“Neither did any of the other boats.”

“So you have heard from the other driving teams, and everything is alright?”

“Yes, they each contacted me on the burn phone and everything is fine. They are all headed north.”

“That’s good to know, and we should be on our way as well.”

Unlike each of the other five vans, Kyle and his wife Ashley headed west on highway-82 toward Port Arthur Texas. From there it would take them several hours to reach the Tillman ranch via a series of smaller highways that traversed southeastern Texas, but they were looking forward to the peaceful time together before they each headed off again on subsequent assignments. Once they arrived at the ranch, the plan was to unload their portion of the cargo that had been transported from Eastern Europe into a secure location of the mansion. Then in conjunction with Samuel, the crates full of black market weapons and ammunition from South Africa and the Czech Republic would be inspected before arrangements could be made for their eventual transfer to the training facility.

Although traveling separately, the other vans had a different agenda. Employing a method of using smaller highways in southwestern Louisiana as they moved north of interstate-10, each would eventually join up with interstate-49 in either Alexandria or Natchitoches. That major traffic artery would then carry them for nearly the entire subsequent duration of their northerly trek. Once beyond the larger city of Shreveport in northern Louisiana and into the southwest corner of Arkansas, the vans would be nearing the completion of their assigned task. Just a few miles before reaching the city of Texarkana that straddles the state line of neighboring Texas, they would turn west to circumvent the area and enter their home state. Then the vans would head for a warehouse facility owned by Tillman Freight to unload their precious cargo.