Chapter 18

Adam stood outside near where Kara’s and his cars were parked, watching the front door. He saw it open and Kara emerged wearing denim shorts and a sleeveless blouse. She locked the door, dropped her keys into her bag and trotted toward him. “Sorry,” she said, “Mom called.”

“Which car should we take?” he asked.

“I like riding in yours.”

Adam dug his keys from his pocket. “Would you like to try driving it?”

Kara’s face brightened. “You’d let me?”

“I will if you tell me you know how to drive a stick.”

“I do,” she replied. Adam began to hand the keys to her. “I might be a little rusty -- it’s been a few years. I think it’s something you never forget, like riding a bike.”

Adam drew his hand back. “You told me about your bike-riding skills ... how you wrecked your brother’s bike by putting it in a ditch. You won’t do that with my car, will you?”

“Of course not. I was twelve. I have much better judgment, now.”

“Yeah? Convince me.”

She rolled her eyes in thought. “I’m engaged to you.”

He handed her the keys. “Yes -- that demonstrates exquisite judgment.”

She unlocked the Mustang and sat behind the wheel. “I don’t know about your judgment, Adam, being engaged to me.” Kara adjusted the rear-view mirror. “The seat’s in a good spot for me.”

“I think your legs are as long as mine.”

She started the engine, put it in gear, released the parking brake and gingerly backed onto the roadway. “I’ll be fine once I get used to the feel of your clutch...”

Kara eased down the country lane to the county highway and then turned toward town, smoothly climbing through the gears. “You’re getting the hang of it,” Adam remarked. “So, what did your mom say?”

“Only that she still hasn’t heard from Arthur. I told her no news is good news.”

“Did that ease her?”

“Not very much. I think in this case, no news could be very bad news. I think we should take Mom to church on Sunday and spend time with her.”

“You want me to tag along?” he asked.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, Adam.”

“I’ll be happy to. Your mom is almost family -- she will be family.”

Kara put her hand on his knee. “Thanks. It will mean a lot to Mom.”

“You’re doing very well with the stick,” he said.

“Thank you ... I do like this car, Adam. I could get used to this. The Buick really isn’t my style.”

“Then, why did you buy it?”

“I didn’t. It was my dad’s.”

“What does your mother drive?” he asked.

“Mom doesn’t drive.”

“How does she get around, out in the suburbs?”

‘‘Well -- I drove her places until I moved out. Her church has a community center that runs something called the Senior Taxi service. They keep a list of seniors who volunteer rides to other seniors.”

“Sort of like a private-label Uber,” he remarked.

“Sort of, except the rides are free, but only around town. Mom also has groceries delivered. She manages. I tried to get her to apply for a learner’s permit, but she says she’s too old for that. Once in a while she calls me for a ride, but she doesn’t like riding in the Buick. It reminds her of Dad. The Buick’s a good car and hasn’t given me any trouble. It wouldn’t be my choice.”

“What is your style?”

She glanced at him and smiled. “This. This is my style. I like little, sporty cars. I’d like a Pontiac Solstice, too.”

“How about a Miata?”

“I’m partial to domestic models,” she replied.

“Ah, a good union girl.”

“My dad insisted I join -- he was a steward. The union has helped me out. I get my health insurance through the union.”

They approached her house. “I see Peter has his sign in the yard,” Adam remarked. “No sign of the container. That’s good -- we haven’t missed them.”

“Where should I park?” she asked.

“Let’s pull it into your garage. Your truck is at the house.”

“My opener is in the Buick,” she said as she pulled into the drive.

“I’ll open the door for you. I’ll need your keys -- I gave mine to Peter.”

“In my bag.”

Adam located her keys. He hopped out, opened the front door and shortly the overhead door started to roll up. Kara pulled the Mustang into the garage.

She and Adam surveyed the rows of shelves holding electrical fittings, circuit breakers, switches, outlets and other supplies. “This looks like the electrical department of your local hardware store,” he remarked.

“Yeah ... I think it looks bad to arrive at a job and then have to run out for supplies. My dad built those shelves. I moved all this stuff from Mom’s house to here when I bought the place.”

“They’re on wheels,” he remarked. “That’s good.” He looked around her garage. “I don’t see much else here except supplies -- no lawn mower, no snow blower...”

“I pay a neighbor kid to mow the lawn,” she replied, “and there’s a guy I work with who has a snow plowing business on the side.”

“We’ll definitely need a mower and a snow blower at the house. In fact, the place is starting to look a little shaggy. If the weather holds, maybe on Saturday we can borrow my dad’s mower.” He saw a truck cab hauling a flatbed trailer pull along the curb. “Here’s our container. I rented a half-length one. It should be big enough.”

“It looks plenty big,” she remarked.

Adam approached the cab. “You ordered a container?” the driver asked him.

“Yeah -- can you place it on the right side of the drive with the door facing the garage?”

“I think so...” He hopped out of his cab and dropped a pair of ramps at the back of the flat bed. Then, he unhooked a forklift, started it and backed it off the trailer. He swung it around and lifted the container at its center from the bed. The driver carried the container athwart the drive, swung it around and set it down as Adam had requested. He handed Adam some paperwork to sign.

“We should have this packed today,” Adam said. “Do you have the address where it’s going?”

“Yup -- we’ll bring it there tomorrow.” The driver drove the forklift back onto the trailer, secured it and folded up the ramps. He stepped into his cab and drove off.

Adam opened the doors on the container and looked around inside. “Since the shelving units are on wheels -- do you have something we can use as a ramp to get them up over the door sill?”

“Like what?”

“Like a piece of plywood?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I really don’t want to have to unload them, put them in the container and put everything back.”

“Can’t we just lift them?” Kara asked. “We can lift one end, slide it in and then lift the other.”

“We’ll give it a try...” Together they rolled one of the shelves to the container.

“Uhhhn,” Adam grunted as they lifted one end and set the wheels onto the container’s floor. He grunted again as they lifted the other end. “If we set it so it faces the wall, then the stuff on the shelves won’t jostle loose. I can get some rope to lash them in place, and a good, heavy-duty padlock to secure the door.

“Okay,” she said. “We have seven more shelf units to move and then that stack of conduit.”

Adam heard the sound of tires on gravel. He looked out the kitchen window and saw Kara’s van pulling around and parking behind the house. She stepped out, locked the door and headed toward the back door.

He intercepted her in the kitchen, embraced her and kissed her lips. “How was your day?”

“I’m tired, dirty, sweaty and cranky,” she replied. “I’m also hungry -- I had to work through lunch.”

“Isn’t there a union rule against that?” She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “What should we make for dinner?”

“Reservations,” she replied. “I need to take a shower.”

“How about I run over to Luther’s? In addition to a good pizza he makes good sub sandwiches.”

“Tuna with lettuce and tomato,” she said.

“I’ll run over there while you shower.”

Adam returned with their dinner plus a six-pack of beer. Kara stepped into the kitchen in a tank and shorts. “Wow, you clean up pretty good,” he remarked. “I brought some cold ones.”

“Just what I need after today.” She unwrapped her sandwich and he cracked open two beers.

“I have some big news on the Arthur front,” Adam said.

“Oh? What news?”

“I received a call from one Agent Dawn Shields at the Bureau office in town. She told me that the bureau had been tracking Arthur in Manila.”

“Tracking him?”

“Yes, through the local authorities there.”

“Why?”

“I asked but she couldn’t tell me. Now, he’s gone missing.”

“Missing?”

“His last known location was the Intercontinental Hotel in Manila. That was a little over two weeks ago.”

“That’s about when Mom stopped hearing from him.”

“She told me they’ve been in touch with the local authorities, and they’re looking for him.”

Kara stared at him, slack-jawed. “Do they suspect foul play?”

“That’s the impression I got. She said she couldn’t go into details. I got the call because I was the one who initiated contact with the Bureau.”

“Have they told Mom any of this?”

“Not yet.”

“Holy shit.” Kara shook her head. “Well -- at least he’s not in some basement in New Jersey.”

“Yeah -- he’s no scammer. That email thread across South Asia was genuine. There is something shady going on.”

“God, Adam -- if he’s involved in some criminal activity ... I don’t know how Mom’s going to take it.”

Adam finished his sandwich. “You saw the container out back.”

“How could I miss it?”

“They delivered it this morning. As far as I can tell, everything survived the crossing. We can go look at it once you’re done.”

Kara ate more of her sandwich. She looked up at him. “What?”

“What, what?”

“The way you were looking at me.”

“I love looking at you -- you’re so pretty, Kara. I love it when you make that smile.”

“Adam -- you are one crazy dude. Okay -- let’s look at this container.”

He led her out the back door. “I found this pretty solid padlock...” He inserted a key and it opened. Adam swung open the doors. “I moved the shelves away from the walls and made some brackets to hold them together. I put your conduits on top.”

“Yeah, this works.” Kara looked at the shelves. “Everything looks like it’s okay. I should string some temporary lights in here so I can see what I’m doing.”

“This is going to be your warehouse for a couple of months.”

“A couple of months at least,” she replied.

Adam handed her the padlock key. “We’ll close this up for now.”

Kara drove Adam’s Mustang to the white colonial in which she grew up. She walked with Adam to the front door and led him inside. “Mom,” she called.