Chapter 32

Flashback – Masha and Tanya – Department of Social Services

I was frantic about the Department of Social Services taking Linda and could barely contain myself as we were driven there. We arrived in the taxi, I dashed inside to the front desk and demanded, “Where is the girl you took from the crime scene attended by the Chief of Police?”

The lady at the desk looked at me and replied, “I’m not sure we can release her to you. Are you her mother?”

Tanya came to my rescue, “No, but she’s the daycare provider and we need to see Linda immediately.”

The lady replied, “Don’t you dare get huffy with me.”

Tanya quickly threatened, “Listen, I’m a lawyer and unless you want a lawsuit, you’d better take us to see Linda right now.”

The obese lady struggled to get up from behind the desk, and said, “Follow me.”

She took us to a waiting area and I finally saw Linda. There was only one big problem: She was eating a bunch of canned fruit.

I complained, “Don’t tell me that you gave her fruit?”

The lady replied, “Of course we did. When they cry we use it to settle them down.”

Linda saw me, ran over and yelled, “Masha.”

Then I noticed that her diaper was dirty so I further complained, “Didn’t you think to change her diaper?”

The lady replied, “Sorry, I don’t do diapers.”

I was flabbergasted and said, “Perhaps this place should be called the Department of Social Disservices.”

The lady mouthed off, “Hey it’s not our fault you were arrested.”

Tanya intervened before I could respond, “Come on Masha, grab Linda and let’s leave.”

She continued by asking the lady, “Could you call us a cab.”

The idiot lady replied with a snarl, “Okay, you’re a cab.”

Flashback – Ben, Jack and John – Arrival at the BoO

We caught up to the convoy and finally arrived at the BoO. It was late and John was practically frantic, “I need to hurry and make breakfast.”

I pointed at the approaching figure and said, “Not until we talk with Colonel Maggie.”

She walked up to the side of the truck and complained, “What the hell happened?”

Then she looked at the patched sides of the trailer and continued, “It looks like you ran into some trouble.”

I replied, “Yes Sir! We certainly did.”

John interjected, “Colonel Sir! We were lucky to survive.”

Jack added, “Only Banzai’s skill at driving, kept us from buying the farm.”

Colonel Maggie responded, “Well, I’ve got one pissed off Lieutenant. He’s wondering where in the hell his two Sergeants are.”

I admitted, “Yeah, we didn’t plan on it taking so long.”