Chapter 32

Mason’s crew left on a Thursday. On Tuesday of the following week I was sitting on my deck enjoying the afternoon sunshine when I heard my phone playing ‘We Will Rock You’. It was another random rock tune from the past. The call itself was from a unknown phone number.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Mr. Selfridge? I’m Nell Bushman. I’m an attorney in Sanford,” she said.

“Okay?” I said showing the lack of understanding in my voice.

“I am representing Force Protection Inc in the acquisition of a piece of property you own in Siler City North Carolina. It is my understanding that Mr, Martin has been in negotiations with you. His intent is to purchase the property.”

“Tell Martin, he needs to pay me the twelve grand he owes me before we discuss anything else,” I said then killed the connection. I did that to be sure she carried the message to Martin. She would also be able to convince him that I was serious.

She called me again an hour later. “Check your bank account. When you are satisfied call me back.” then she hung up on me. My total involvement in the conversation had been to say “Yes,” when I answered the phone.

I ran my account with Bank of America, and found that $12,000 had been transfer into the account. That figure made Martin and me square, if not plumb. I checked again later then called.

“Mr. Selfridge I assume you are ready to discuss the sale. I am to draw up the contract. The agreement is for $100,000 in cash, and one box of milk duds. I was told I didn’t have to understand, just deliver the money, and the candy. Then you are to sign the deed.” she demanded

“So, when are we doing it?” I asked.

“When the box of candy arrives,” She replied.

“Call me, when it’s does then it’s a done deal,” I agreed.

“Would you mind telling me what this is all about,” she asked.

“Actually I would mind,” I said hanging up on her again.

In the middle of October the weather was slightly over seventy degrees during the day, then slightly under sixty degrees over night. Just a little cooler than what I considered ideal. When Nell Bushman called again I took that into consideration. I was going to spend all day on my folding bike or four hours on the motor assisted mountain bike, if I went to her. Even so it was my choice to do that.

I planned to leave my house at 7:15AM headed for her office in Sanford. I promised to be there around ten AM. I fed Tiger, left him a big bucket of water on the deck, then took off.

I arrived at Nell Bushman Attorney at Law’s office at nine thirty, which included some time spent looking for her address. Her office was in one of those professional office building thrown up in a couple of weeks. Those offices screamed ‘fly by night ambulance chaser’.

I went into her office, hoping she would meet me early. She obviously didn’t have a lot of clients. I showed her my driver’s license, and then she showed me her paperwork.

“How do you want to handle this?” she asked.

“Show me the milk duds first, then I’ll sign the deed over. After that you have the cash transfered to my bank account,” I suggested.

“Martin said that if it sounded reasonable to do it your way,” she admitted.

“So?” I asked.

She handed me the thick brown envelop. Inside it was a box of milk duds candy. I looked at the box and checked the seal. It had been sealed and stamped. I was satisfied.

I bend over her fiber board desk to sign over the deed to Tasha’s house. When I finished, I opened the bank’s home page. It took fifteen minutes to get the money transfered, but it did happen.

I left Sanford for a quick fifteen minute Drive to Tonya’s Diner. When I got there she was busy as hell, so I ordered meatloaf and mashed potatoes. That meal alone was worth the drive to Sanford. Tonya and I had agreed that we would not show our emotions in the diner. So I said good bye and waved. I hoped she would stop by my house, though I didn’t really expect her to do that.

I got home at noon. I wasn’t a bit hungry. In fact I was stuffed. I might not been had I not had the muffin before I rode off. That muffin with peanut butter and the early lunch filled me and I stayed filled all afternoon.

I was out on the ‘folder’ when Martin called. Just like the last time he called it was really Lucy on the line. “So the deal is done. 100K for that building was a good deal for both of us,” she suggested.

“It seems to have been, so what can I do for you?” I asked.

“Just wanted to be sure everything had worked out okay. You are still willing to manage it for us?” she strongly questioned.

“Yes I’m willing, but that is not to be part of the official deal,” I demanded.

“I am aware of your feelings. One more thing, I spoke to Tasha about her best seller,” Lucy commented.

“That is no best seller. If anything at all, it’s a filler for some airport waiting time.” I admitted.

“Well there have been a quarter of a million downloads already. It has been touted as the first step of Muslim women’s desire to fight back against male domination. Also to fight Muslin radicalism. There are millions of peaceful Muslims who need to know it’s alright to speak up against this slaughter. More than a few think Tasha is the answer. Even her close association with the infidel in her book is accepted. Have you read it yet?” Lucy demanded.

“Yes I read it recently. The meeting off Iceland wasn’t a bloodbath,” I demanded.

“It could have been, and you surely can’t find fault with her style. She is a hell of a good writer and you know it.” She almost screamed it at me.

“Okay she is, but I don’t need the publicity. Why did she give my name to the press,” I said.

“She needed a scapegoat. It’s as simple as that,” Lucy informed me.

“Bitch, you could have stopped her?” I asked.

“Nobody can stop Tasha. She is a force,” Lucy said. “She has the money and the contacts. Soon she will have her own money, so she won’t even need to pretend to be a dutiful daughter.”

“Okay, anyway you own the house on the hill,” I said. “Aka the spa.”

“Mason will be glad to hear that it’s all finally done. We will be using it for people who just want to lay low. Not just criminals on the run,” she said.

“That’s fine. just remember that if you use it too often, people around town will get suspicious,” I predicted.

“You mean like the pudgy little lady cop,” Lucy suggested.

“Like the average looking female cop wearing body armor,” I admitted. “Not everyone can look like Barbie in Kevlar.”

“Enough about the Barbie and a half in blue,” Lucy said with a laugh. “Keep your nose clean, so we don’t get any unwanted attention at the spa.”

“Wait a minute. What do I tell people about the building?” I asked. “It’s a small town, but people are curious. Also how to you want to handle the cleaning and repairs.”

Mason will have to get with you about that. I’m just running the protection. I think he has an agreement with you to manage the building issues. You didn’t think you were ever going to be rid of us did you?” Lucy asked.

“I guess not,”I admitted. “Pass it on that I can’t use the company card to pay the building expenses, so I’ll send an invoice the first of each month for what I spent.’

“Oh you can send that to me. Just put any purchases for the house on the card and send a picture of the receipt. Labor you can pay and just send one invoice with all the monthly labor. We will repay you directly.” Lucy ended the conversation on that note.

I called the cleaning lady for the Spa. I also had her do a quick dusting of my walls and shutters at the same time. She removed the sheets first thing, then had her daughter carry them to the laundromat about five blocks from my lock shop.

Her charge for the day was one hundred and twenty dollars for her and her daughter’s labor and the laundromat’s charges. Tiger hung around to socialize with the cleaning lady and her daughter almost all day.

I did manage to get both my rides in during the morning and afternoon. It was getting cool enough to ride around 3PM for the second ride of the day. By October 15th I was starting at 6:30 AM, and then again at 3PM. I was spending more time at home due to the darkness and traffic rather than the cold so far.

I did have an Ebay purchase of a muti LED headlight for each of my bikes. They both had chargers with small solar panels which I mounted on the roof of my storage building.

The lights didn’t completely illuminate the road, but neither did an automobile’s headlights. Mine gave oncoming drivers a heads up that something was ahead of them, which was a good thing. They also alerted the rider to the location of the road and even the curbs pretty well. But they were almost useless in pin pointing pot holes in time to avoid them. Squirrels, rabbits, and other small game forget it. If by chance they crossed my path at exactly the right time, I was going down again. Which explains why I avoided night driving whenever I could.

It was a Wednesday afternoon a few months later at almost 5PM when my phone rang with ‘Play that funky music’. Since I was on the bike I let it go through to voice mail. I found a safe spot a few minutes later to play the message.

‘Coming in tonight with six chicks ... later ... Morgan’.

Since I had been riding new territory because I was bored, I was happy to hear from Morgan. Also, since there had never been any involvement with her, it seemed like a simple mission. No personal complications. I had only to do my job, and not to worry about what went on in the Spa.

I finished my planned ride with a stop at Little Caesar’s. I slipped the pizza into my recently purchased book bag backpack. It differed from the backpacking back pack, in that it didn’t expand outward to allow heavier loads. It was basically a flat heavy duty plastic envelope with shoulder straps. It worked well as a pizza hauler and also for my new portable laptop. I only carried the computer once, but it worked fine other than a lingering smell of pepperoni.

When I arrived home I divided up the pizza. The first slice I mixed with Tigers usual supper. I also saved some of the crust’s edge for a treat later. I had two pieces and the other half of the pizza went into the refrigerator.

After his early dinner Tiger went on his evening walk about. I saw him cross the street which then led him through a parking lot. Then to the rear of a few run down buildings on Raleigh street. The lock shop house was located in the 300 block of West Third Street.

A parking lot for a dentist’s office, a vacant lot, the lock shop house, and the spa were the only occupants on the north side of the street. On the south side of Third Street was a strip of three storefronts and a parking lot beside a grown over vacant lot. It was a typical small town’s business area a couple of blocks off the center of town. One block behind the lock shop there were almost slum houses.

The status of the depressed area was most likely how I got the special use permits for both buildings. It wasn’t the ideal neighborhood, but it also wasn’t a Ghetto neighborhood either. If the residents of the houses behind the lock shop were thugs and junkies, they didn’t roam the streets at night. The absence of foot traffic had led me to believe it was an acceptable area for a safe house. A house in the country would have been better in some respects, and worse in others.

Before dead dark I had time to do a bike ride around the neighborhood. Everything looked normal. There were kids of different races and colors playing in the streets. I was careful to avoid them. It was definitely not the right evening to have the police doing any kind of investigation in the area.

I had two of the last three pieces of pizza at around 8PM. I also cued up a episode of the British TV show ‘Vincent’. It ran a little over an hour, so it was after nine when I switched to the American news shows. As usual I read the news on two different websites to get what I hoped was both sides of the issues. While I was doing that, I got another call. I was afraid it was Morgan arriving early.

“Hello lover,” Leigh’s voice said into the phone.

“Hello married lady,” I replied.

“Oh that is harsh,” she said with a laugh. “I noticed you didn’t hang up.”

“No I didn’t. So what are you up to?” I asked hoping it wasn’t anything to do with sex.

“Nothing, I’m bored. Just wanted to talk to a grown up. I’ve been to the gym surrounded by a bunch of silly women. I thought maybe you would join me for a chance meeting at the park. I can’t risk having my car seen at your place again. The members of my platoon remarked on seeing it there,” Leigh explained.

“Thats not good. I wish I could, but I’m expecting a message on my computer in a little while. I need to be here to take it. You remember the SJL? It’s from them,” I lied.

“I’ll find someone else to give your blow job to,” she said.

“Damn, I’m sorry to miss that,” I replied. The ring tone on my phone was ‘Stayin Alive’. It alerted me to a call from Morgan. “Sorry hon I have to take this call. Call me tomorrow,” I said.

“ETA 11PMP.” she said then rang off. It meant I was to expect them at 2AM Eastern Standard Time. Simple code meant only to confuse a listener for a moment. Simple codes could work on a very superficial level only. But still why not use it? You never could tell about the listener.

I was still awake when the new people arrived. Morgan’s shock troops came in first to check the place out. I approved, she should trust no one not even me. There were all kinds of ways a safe house could be compromised with or without my knowledge. Since there were few walls inside, the clearing of the safe house was simple and efficient. They did a sweep of the house and found all my listening devices. I wouldn’t have been surprised by a audio scrambling device, but that didn’t happen. The shock crew just checked it against the existing blueprints on their phones. They knew that the devices were hard wired to my house. They were very unlikely to be intercepted.