Chapter 8

“Well my divorce is final. Your son said I should behave myself for a while, so I was wondering, if you would like to come to dinner?” Linda asked on the phone less than a week after her court day.

Since John had already told me that he got everything she was asking for, thanks in part to the police report I filed, and my testimony as to Barry’s violent nature. She was even awarded fifty one percent ownership of the gym. If she decided she wanted to sell, she did not need is permission. She had to give him forty nine percent of the sale. That of course was after the debts were retired.

The court order required him to stop borrowing money using any credit line with her name on it. Since John had already frozen those lines of credit, Barry was pretty much broke anyway.

He tried to talk her into not closing the gym. He also tried to protect the assets. John’s plan called for her to sell off the equipment to help pay off the joint family debt.

She agreed to give him thirty days to payoff the debts they had incurred and close all the accounts. If he did that she would sign the gym over to him. Everyone agreed that it was a fair settlement. The judge for sure thought it was because he ordered the settlement written by John. Then he ordered Barry to sign it.

I advise John to have her close the gym immediately. “Barry is probably selling steroids out of the gym. If he hasn’t been, he is going to be now. Keep her clear of it.” I said.

Now she was on the phone inviting me to dinner. I couldn’t afford to get caught up in a domestic squabble. So my answer was,”Linda the best thing for you to do is wait two months before you accept a date with anyone. Then chose someone nearer your own age. You need some time to figure out what you want to do without me dragging you down. I’m sure you won’t have a problem meeting a good man.”

“Ed, I tried to make it as painless as possible, but your rejections does hurt,” she said.

“Linda, it hurt me worse I’m sure. I have to do what’s best for everybody. You and Megan both have to be considered. If it were just me, the decision would most likely be very different.” I explained.

“I hope we can at least be friends,” she said.

“Always,” I replied.

While the infrared video camera attached to the drone did a search of the area, I sat in my SUV to monitor it. I searched the empty landscape looking for cars with warm motors, people with heat signatures, or any thing which was different from the night before. When I could declare it safe, I moved in quickly.

A couple of minutes later, I was sitting in a dead drop stash site. The cargo rested under a camo tarp on the left side of a farm road. That farm hadn’t been used for several months at least. I slid six, almost full, five gallon orange home depot cans, and one can with two to three gallons inside the SUV. I had done enough business with this man to trust him. At least as much as I trusted anyone.

With my burner phone I sent a simple coded address. At that address I had just left $2300 cash. Mike the stove man picked it up few hours later. I had a live feed camera watching the trash can outside the public library at one thirty in the morning when he got the plastic grocery bag from the can. Getting that transaction handled was an eight hour job. It was like having a real job, almost.

I spent the next morning in my clean room under the house. I immediately began testing one of the five gallon cans of liquor. I tested it for poisons first then for proof. I had to temper the proof a little, but it wasn’t a huge problem.

After I had a five gallon can tested, I began filling the water bottles. It was just a time consuming repetitive job. It was almost as bad as working in a factory. However instead of working for the man, I was the man.