Chapter 221: Cousin Eve

Since nobody's life or career was in immediate danger, I allowed things to just coast for a couple of days. I did nothing, about anything, until the downtown building's 'Eve renovations' were completed. As I had expected the renovations took almost two weeks instead of one.

I found out that the contractors were finished only because I stopped by the building every morning to check on the progress. I wasn't paying the bills, so they didn't answer to me. Fortunately we didn't have any differences of opinion, because I have no idea how that would have worked out.

I can't say that I was surprised when they finished. I had the sense that things were winding down for a day or two before the end. I knew pretty much what everything was, so I didn't really need a grand tour. I also expected that Eve would know what everything was and how to use it.

The morning I found all their contractor equipment gone, was the morning I moved back into my downtown place. I packed my boxes and bags after breakfast, then I dropped them inside the back door of the downtown place, before I went to the mall to walk.

The building had an outside utility room where I had kept my bike for those two weeks. I was thrilled to see that the bike started immediately. Since it did, I rode it to the mall for my Wednesday morning walk. I arrived late, so Tiny Dance was already gone. The new man at the Mall was walking straight as a stick. I set my walking direction opposite his so that I passed him twice in each of my five laps.

The last time I passed him, he stopped me by explaining, "This was my last lap. Walking around the mall is a bit boring. Would you care for a cup of coffee after your walk?"

"I have one more lap then I will be finished. I don't really care for the coffee in the food court though. Do you know where the Brown Bag Palace is located?" I asked.

"Up at the corner of Lexington and Main?" he asked.

"That's it. If you like, I will meet you there in about fifteen minutes." I suggested.

"Fair enough," he said smiling. I walked with him to the side entrance of the mall. I continued walking after he went through the doors. The complete lap actually took me just over ten minutes. The rest of my fifteen minutes was spent getting the bike started and out of the parking lot. The ride up to the Brown Bag Palace took about ten minutes, because I got stuck at every stop light along the way.

I saw the sign on the most visible corner of the parking lot. Helen had finally settled on the name, and had the sign made, after almost six months at the location. I loved the place and the atmosphere, but most of all I guess I loved Helen. Most likely everyone else in town felt the same.

I found the chief sitting at one of the smaller picnic tables. He had already made friends with a couple of the cops, who were in for an early lunch. They were talking about something from a TV show. I sat down at their table with my coffee.

"Okay, which of the world's problems are you solving today?" I asked.

"Today it's cheap energy on the agenda." the chief said.

"Speaking of which," one of the cops asked. "What kind of gas mileage does that bike get?"

"The forums all say these bikes get 100mpg, but that's bull. In this area with my fat ass, it gets about 85mpg. Some of those hybrid cars do better than that." I said.

"But they can't be anywhere near as much fun." one of the cops said.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" the chief asked.

"They are talking about my motorbike," I replied.

"Really, do you have it outside?" he asked.

"Sure go on out and take a look. I'm sure it's the only one in the lot. Well on second thought, there might be one of those new scooters, but mine will be the only bicycle with a motor on it." I smiled.

"Excuse me a minute, this I have to see." The chief said as he stood to leave.

"He seems to be a nice guy," the older of the cops said.

"Yeah he does. All us old retired military types are pretty good people." I replied.

"I got to agree with that, at least as long as you are sober." he agreed. Then he added, "Well we need to get back on the street."

"Well be careful all kinds of bad shit out there these days." I said.

"No amount of scrubbing can wash some of the stink off," the other one agreed.

"So where did you get that bike," the chief asked.

"It's a long story and I really don't have that much time. I'm expecting a call soon. When it comes I will probably have to drive over to Tryon Internatioal Airport," I said. "Let me give you this instead." I wrote the address of the Web TV show Marty had produced about our bike trip cross country. "If you get really bored one day, you can see the beginning of it there. The guy planned to sell them to every bicyclist in the world didn't quite make it work. Some of his franchises are still in business, others went under. He designed the motor on my bike, for a friend of mine and I got it when he passed away.

I knew when the phone rang that it was Priest. "Sorry I have to take this." I said that as I stood and walked away.

"Maxine, be at the airport at 1PM to meet your cousin Eve." Then Priest just hung up on me. The bastard didn't even wait to see if I agreed or not. I looked at my watch and realized that I had just over two hours to get to the airport.

"Sorry Chief, but I have to go," I said. I found that I actually did regret that I needed to leave so quickly. I rode he bike back to the building. I hardly recognized the building after the remodeling. It had been quick but it seemed to be thorough.