Undercover Rose
Chapter 11

Copyright© 2013 by carniegirl

I spent the night in a roadside motel a hundred miles from the Roaring Gap intersection of three major highways. The next morning I awoke at 6 AM. The biggest difference was that there was no smell of bacon. I headed out for my run without breakfast. I ran out a half hour then ran back to the motel. I ate breakfast at one of those chain chrome and glass restaurants that pretended to specialize in breakfast.

After breakfast I drove the two hours to Roaring Gaps plaza where I eventually pulled into the Central Perk Coffee Shoppe parking lot and went inside. It was almost noon only because I had first gone into the home depot to purchase a plastic tool box. One large enough to hold my half of the money from the drug deal. I was a little surprised to see how small a bundle sixty thousand dollars made. They fit easily in the bottom of the tool box with room left for several small tools to hide it.

I carried the tool box into Central Perk with me while I waited. I left all my other gear in the trunk of the red car. At 12:15 I figured I had been stood up, so I returned to the parking lot. There I found the red car gone and my pickup truck parked in it's place.

My black backpack sat in the passenger side floorboard. I found the keys in the ignition. I used the small key to unlock the tool box welding inside the bed of the truck. My old computer and cell phone was inside. Both had no doubt been sanitized, or at least studied by the geek. The controller probably wanted to be sure that I was still up to no good.

"Come on old girl, it's time to go home," Liam said.

"You know you would scare hell out of any ordinary woman," I said.

"But then you aren't ordinary are you? You are a bit of a killer in your own right," Liam said.

"You know that was a necessary thing. They were going to gang rape me," I said in a voice completely unintelligible to anyone passing.

"Not to mention it made you 60,000 dollars richer," he added.

"I think of that as a bonus for a job well done, nothing more," I said under my breath. "Okay get in the truck and we will head for the country store."

I arrived home about 2 PM. The parking lot was empty but someone had been working on the yard. It was clean and almost totally cleared of weeds. I sure as hell hoped they didn't plan on billing me $150 a day for that job. I stood beside the truck and began to remove the computer and phone from the tool box. Along with the electronics, I recovered my own plastic tool box and the large backpack

Just then I heard a bell and a strange noise. It sounded almost like a baby crying. Since my Porter Dagger was at the bottom of the Atlantic wedged tightly into the spinal cord of a gun thug, I felt a little naked as I walked around back. When I turned the corner at the rear of the building, I heard the noise again and saw the small gray animal making the sound.

"It's a fucking goat," I said aloud and laughed my ass off. I recognized the insane laugh as a release of terror. The goat had a twenty foot chain connected to a large heavy wheel. You probably ate the tire didn't you guy? Obviously it was how whoever she belonged to controlled where it grazed.

"A goat, you have got to be fucking kidding me," Liam said.

"My thoughts exactly," I said and laughed again. The goat looked at me as though I were crazy for a second then went back to munching on a small tree. I went inside the country store to call Carlos on my landline. It was one of the bills that I paid ahead when I took a powder. I always stay six months ahead on it and the Power Company.

"You have to be kidding me," I said when he answered. "Did I rent or do I own this fucking goat?"

"You bought it, but once the property is cleared you can sell it. I will buy it from you as a matter of fact," he said. "Oh, and welcome back".

"Thanks, bring me a bill for what I owe you. You must have done some work on the place in the last few weeks," I commented.

"Yes there is a small bill due. I was beginning to think I would have to take your building in lieu of payment," he said.

"Now that would piss me off. Trust me you wouldn't like me when I'm pissed off," I said to warn him.

"I would never do that," he said. "It was only a joke."

"Good, can you come by in the morning, so we can discuss the next phases of the renovation."

"Yes of course," he said.

"Good then I will see you tomorrow. Call before you come over," I replied then killed the connection. The first thing I did was to lay a fire in the wood stove. I also added water to the copper boiler sitting on top of the stove. With the office area beginning to warm up, I took the plastic box to the grease pit which served as a storage area. The tools wouldn't seem out of place there.

While the water boiled I unloaded the backpack. It smelled pretty rank, so I spread everything out in the shop area to dry. Even though I would be taking them to the laundromat very soon they needed to air out. The laundry was a job I truly hated, but I also hated the smell of moldy clothes. The hatred of Laundromats was why I had twenty pairs of bikini panties. They were all plain white cotton ones, but they kept me from being forced to do laundry more often than every couple of weeks.

With the clothes spread out to dry and the water at 180 degrees I went to the shower. It had to be a quick shower, but it was better than no shower. As I let the soap work it's magic I turned the water off to conserve it. Then after I had thoroughly scrubbed my different parts I turned the water back on and just let it run till it ran out.

The pump intake was high enough so that the tank wouldn't run dry even when it stopped pumping. That was so that I didn't have to worry about my giant kettle exploding. Still it was necessary to refill the tank. The tanks had a glass tube on the side which displayed the water level inside the tank. It was much like an old hotel coffee maker. Hell it might have been one once, I didn't know or care it's history. It was simply a Rube Goldberg contraption like the country store itself.

I slept well in my little loft. It was warm and toasty at the beginning of my sleep cycle, but got much cooler as the night wore on. Winter was over. Hadn't anyone mentioned that to God? Even though it was early spring it cooled down fast when the sun set. I wasn't sure about the wood stove thing after all.

I moved quickly from the bed to the former office area which was still warm. I threw some more wood on the fire and settled in to drink coffee left over from the night before. It quickly got warm enough in the room, so that the fleece outfit I slept in was too warm.

I checked the temperature and supply of the water before deciding I had time for a bike ride. I added about a half gallon of water to the tank lowering the temperature in the boiler. I thought, it should be fine by the time I returned. I knew that there were lots of valves and vents to prevent it from becoming a bomb, but it still made me nervous.

Then I put a note on the door and went for a ride. I showered immediately after I returned from my ride then I quickly dressed for the day. The temperature was supposed to get up to 55 degrees by 3 PM so I didn't put much wood in the heater. I did bank the fire in case I needed to start it later. I had nothing left to do so I drove to Helen's Crossroads Diner. Once inside I was greeted by the middle aged waitress. She was the one with tattoos, and for the first time she greeted me like an old friend.

"Well if it ain't the blond with the big tits," she said softly.

"In the flesh," I said.

"Actually in skinny jeans and a baggy sweatshirt," she said correcting me.

"True enough, do you remember my order or do I need to remind you?" I asked.

"One egg scrambled soft, bacon, potatoes, and a biscuit and of course Cell block six coffee," she replied with a flirty smile.

"Of course," I said.

She came back several times to check on me. Something sure as hell had changed since my first visit to the diner. She had been almost surly on those first visits. I had no idea what I had done. Hell I didn't really know which I preferred the surly smart mouth waitress or the sweet but needy woman. Humans were just too damn complicated. I think I liked goats better, I mumbled.

I began to think of the old Arab saying, 'A woman is just a woman, but a goat is a thing of beauty'. Except for the bleating noise she made, the goat out back might prove to be a better companion.

I finished my breakfast, left a regular tip for the waitress and left the diner. I was still shaking my head when I drove off. I managed to forget about the waitress whose name I didn't even know, before I got home.

Carlos arrived an hour or so later. He noticed my dirty laundry in the shop. "What happened here?" he asked.

"Just letting my dirty laundry dry out, so I can take it to the laundromat when I get a chance," I said.

"You do know there are people who will do this for you, if you have better things to do," he suggested.

"Do they pickup and deliver?" I asked. I felt that packing it in the car and driving anywhere was half the job. If I got all that done, then I could start a machine and watch a movie while it washed.

"Sure just call and they will come get it. You will need a large bag of some kind to transport it," he replied.

"If you would set it up for me, I'll give it a try," I agreed. "Now what about we discuss your bill for the work you did while I was gone?"

"Here it is itemized to the penny."

"This is for $287. It really is down to the penny." I handed him three one hundred dollar bills. "You can buy my lunch with the change."

"My wife would not approve of me having lunch with the blond gringo with big tits," he said with a laugh.

"It seems I have a new nickname," I replied. "I have been called worse."

"I hope you didn't take offense. It really is a compliment," he said.

"Coming from you maybe. I doubt that your wife meant it that way," I replied. I waited for a second, then when he made no comment I continued. "So what do you think we should do next?"

"If you can afford it, you need that emergency exit," Carlos replied. Then we need to finish the sleeping loft.

"Well I have been thinking about the emergency exit. Probably the sleeping loft needs it most," I suggested.

"Yes, I agree. If there is a problem you could be trapped up there now," he agreed.

"Can we cut a door into the eve?" I asked.

"Not a full size one, but yes a small door will fit there. Something like a barn hay loft door. It will also be in keeping with the look you wish." he agreed.

"Then an iron two foot wide decorative balcony bolted to the block wall with a ladder down to the first floor," I suggested.

"Yes that would be fine and it would pass the building code as well," Carlos replied.

"Now about the goat," I said.

"I paid twenty dollars for the goat. I propose we share her. I will keep her since there are people in my community who can make goats milk cheese and children who need the goats milk. I will bring her over to feast on your weeds this summer," Carlos suggested.

"That sounds reasonable," I admitted. "So when you get ready you can install the front windows and balcony. I might as well get the roof finished as well."

"I just closed in the openings now you want to open them again?" he asked.

"Oh no just some long thin vertical windows that I can open, so that I don't feel trapped," I explained. "I am also going to need a painter."

"I will have to order the balcony and the metal ladder. I might have to have them custom built, but I do know a salvage yard who sometimes has things I can adapt," Carlos said.

"With summer coming I am going to have to rethink the heat and hot water thing. I might have acted hastily in having the wood heater built," I admitted.

"If I were you I would convert the water tank to gas, like they use in campers. We can move it to the bathroom and install a gas ring under it. I kind of thought this might happen, so I have been planning for it," Carlos admitted with a smile.

"Well you have your key, if my truck is gone just go on in and start work. I am going to the plaza now and get roofing and the windows," I informed him.

"I will have to rent a masonry saw to cut out the windows. But I can do that on the day we install them," he said.

"Oh yeah I am going to buy some insulation and cheap paneling for the loft. It doesn't hold the heat well after the stove burns out at night," I informed him.

"Let me make you a list and then you just give it to the man at the commercial counter. He will fill it and load it onto a truck. Have them call and I will send someone to help the driver unload it all," he suggested.

"Last time they had a small fork lift, but sure send someone," I suggested.

When I got to the plaza, I found the parking lot full. It was the end of May and school was out for the summer. Everyone had the same idea, lunch at Mcdonald's for the kids. I managed to get far enough away so that I could find a parking space near Home Depot.

 
There is more of this chapter...

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.