Chapter 73

Lucas hadn't made an appearance by 10AM, so I left with the days work. I made three deliveries, in Aster and four in Tryon, before the phone rang with the call I had been expecting.

"Hello," I said into the phone.

"Ms Stone, this is Earnest Davenport, you wanted to meet with me.?"

"That was earlier this morning. I'm already scheduled for today, and probably tomorrow as well. I might could fit you in on Wednesday. Of course by then you might find your empire crumbling a bit."

"Alright I get the point. I did some checking, since your call this morning. You are a pragmatist, so if you are teaching me a lesson, I have learned it. If you come by now, we can end this nonsense. If not, I warn you, I plan to defend myself."

"Then Earnest, bring it on. You might want to tell your thugs to lay in a supply of body bags, before they come to dance with me," I said before I clicked the phone off. I knew his type. Do a little song, do a little dance, and nothing changes. When I started, I hadn't wanted him to change anything. I just wanted Julie out of there and for her to see the truth. It hadn't worked out the way I wanted. So at that moment, I wanted more. Exactly what I wasn't sure, but it was definitely more.

Before Lucas disappeared he had gotten me the names of Davenport's resident thugs. The problem was that Davenport had access to lot more thugs. Hell, he was running two branches of 'Thugs is Us.'

I needed a shower big time. That wash off in the sink at the office just hadn't done it. Before I returned to the office to call it a day, I wanted to drive home for a shower. I checked the online surveillance system, yet again. I had been checking it off and on all day.

If it didn't look as though I would have power, I might check into a motel. The opening and closing of that gate was just more than I wanted to face again. Once a day was more than enough for that bit of torture. Oh yeah, that was part of my generally fucked up Monday morning. I had forced the gate open and closed it by hand before leaving for work. I didn't think I could face that again.

I was thrilled to find the cameras working. From the rewind it appeared that the cameras had been up and running no more than twenty minutes. I checked the cameras very carefully, before I opened the gate. There was nothing like a threat, from a man with lots of criminal connections, to make me careful.

The Cat was sitting on the concrete pad when I arrived. She or he hadn't been there, when I checked the yard out with the camera. I had a strangely warm feeling, when I realized the cat had come to the stoop at the sound of my car driving into the yard. If the cat ever let me get close, I would try to determine if it was male or female, so that I would know what to call it.

"Let's make a deal, you and me. I will feed you once a day, and in exchange you will stay out of my trash can. So what do you say? I paused and waited but the cat said nothing in reply. I forgot you are a cat of few words. Okay, then tell me if the deal is not satisfactory." The cat didn't answer, so I assumed that we had a deal.

From the cabin I removed the cereal bowl from which I fed the cat corned beef hash. I opened one of the cans of cheap cat food. Those I had bought the night before from Wal-mart. It didn't have feeding directions for a half starved cat, so I gave it the full can. Screw it, 60 cents a day I can manage, I thought. I even put fresh water in the small bucket beside the bowl.

"Get this straight buster, you don't own me." I almost burst into song, but I didn't think the cat would appreciate old bubble gum music.

After the cat was fed, I took my longest shower, since I moved into the cabin. I felt a lot better, when I got into clean clothes as well. I didn't want to return to the office, but I knew that I should not leave the delivery records in my car overnight. I planned to go to the Cop Out and hope to meet Blevins there. Yeah and to look for signs of Mosby and Jerry as well.

When I arrive back at the office, the door was locked. Ed was out posting bail for one of his mooches. It was clear that Lucas hadn't come to work. In the rushing around that morning I hadn't asked Mike about it. Mike had followed me around all morning, but in a separate car. He ahd backed off when I told him that I was headed home. I was forced to wait for him to catch up, before I could ask about Lucas.

Just as soon as Mike walked in I asked, "Okay what is the deal with Lucas? Is he with Gwen?"

"He spent the night at our tourist cabin. He was going to do some thinking about his future. To be honest Maxine, Gwen wants him to come to Boston with her."

"So that is what this is all about. He is looking for someone to make his decision for him." I said.

"What do you mean by that?" Mike asked for the camera.

"When someone can't decide an issue, they look for a sign. In Luke's case it was to see where he stood with me. Then he could make a better decision. Lucas is not a partner, he is an employee. He needed me to tell him that, so that he could make an informed decision. That's what Sunday was really about."