Chapter 10

I awoke at 6:06AM without the clock. I woke Alison without meaning to. “Go back to sleep. I’m going to make coffee and go for a walk about,” I explained.

“I have my hiking shoes in the car, would you mind me tagging along,” she asked.

“Not at all. Do you want a cup of coffee to go?” I asked.

“Not a chance,” she replied. I nodded my head.

After I finished in the bathroom she went in right behind me. I dressed in yesterdays clothes, then went into the kitchen. There was enough coffee left over to fill the drinking glass. The one I used to reheat coffee. When the world’s smallest microwave finished reheating my coffee, I slipped on my mechanic’s glove to pour it into my thermos.

I noticed that we had both brushed our teeth before we kissed good morning. Another one of those planned parts of spontaneous events that came with age. She ducked out to her car, for her shoes, jacket, and to leave her toothbrush before we left on our urban hike. When we cleared the parking lot, she removed a digital recorder from the coat pocket, then she strung a microphone wire to her lapel. I knew for sure she was recording me, because she had told me without saying a word.

“First thing, I have an acute case of closet envy,” she said with a laugh as we left the parking lot and turned right.

“It was a case of function being stressed over form,” I said.

“Well I approve in your case,” Alison said. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I decided to walk again all of a sudden?”

sudden?”

“No, I’m just going to enjoy your company,” I said and meant it.

“I missed you to,” she said. “So the TV production company is after me to do four more episodes of the TV show. They want it on the shelf, just in case this show is a big hit.”

“Good for you. Can I assume that is why the recorder?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said with no further explanation. She reached into her, truck driver’s style, wallet on a chain to remove a piece of paper. She handed it to me.

I continued walking, even as I glanced at it. “Why in the world are you giving me a check for $25,000 dollars?” I asked.

“It’s not from me. Its from the production company. It for your contribution to the creation of their show. There is a statement on the back saying when you cash it, you acknowledge that you have been paid in full for your contribution.”

I simply said, “Okay, so I guess we are even now?”

“I guess we are,” she agreed. “So do you want to do another one. This one doesn’t have to be real. We just have to use the same people, and settings for the show. Those are the production companies guidelines.”

“Well let’s just think about this a while. That last one could have gone terribly wrong. We were lucky no one got hurt,” I explained.

“I know, and I expect you to see that we have that same outcome,” Alison said. “That will be your main contribution.”

We were passing a convenience store by that time. “Do you want to stop for coffee,” I asked.

“As a matter of fact I do,” she replied.

While she ordered, and I waited for her to be served, I tried to make a decision. Finally I came up with an answer. “Okay, but I do not work on deadlines. If we do this, we find something to pursue and stay with it to the end.” I demanded.

“Fair enough,” Alison agreed.

“Good,” I said. “I guess, I’ll have to start watching the TV news again.”

“I suppose we all will, and yes The Judge and Louise have to be in the script,” Alison explained. “Don’t worry, I’ll work them in somehow.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. So what do you want to do first?” I asked.

“I kind of thought you would figure that out. I can shorten or stretch it out. That way we can just follow it to the end,” she advised.

I laughed. “It doesn’t really work that way. I don’t just pull mystery stories out of my ass,” I suggested.

“Maybe you could do that. You know go back to some of your experiences as a policeman,” She suggested.

“That would be a different show. One of those ‘cops r us’ things,” I replied laughing. “How about this you find a crime, nothing too dramatic, somewhere in the state. It can be solved or unsolved. Then you and I go down and interview the cops and walk in their shoes.”

“That’s a great idea. How about we take a look on line tonight,” she suggested.

“Okay we can draw a circle around us. Let’s make it a fifty mile radius. You search in the northern half and I’ll search in the southern half. We can meet in a couple of days to examine the crimes in the last year,” I suggested. I figured at the time that I was going to cheat. I just didn’t want her to get scott free.

“Okay but can I walk with you tomorrow?” she asked.

“Of course you can,” I admitted.

“I’ll be sitting in your parking lot at 7AM, and you better be ready to go,” she joked.

“It might not be as much fun, since I own the Car Wash now. Not as much to think about,” I admitted.

“Well, I think it will be fun. Now let’s go to breakfast,” she suggested.

“Come in, we can fix breakfast here. You haven’t lived until you try a Cinnamon bun from Aldi’s grocerystore,” I declared.

“Do I have to drink your coffee?” she asked.

“Try the same coffee brewed fresh, then if you don’t like it, bring your own grounds,” I said. “I might even try some made by their recipe. I do not have room for two coffee makers though. Which means if you have one of those fancy coffee makers, it’s not coming in my house. That’s one of the perks of being a homeowner, my house, my rules.”

“We’ll make the fresh coffee, then I will decide. Then I’m going to decide what things I will insist on as the ‘special’ guest,” she explained.

She loved the Cinnamon bun, but didn’t care so much for the coffee. She preferred something not so coarse, she explained to me.

“Then take a peanut butter jar from my closet and fill it with coffee grounds from your place,” I suggested.

“Have you done this before?” she asked.

“As I’m sure you expected, Thia has a jar here,” I said.

“How about Louise?” she asked.

“No, she has never visited me here,” I explained.

“Then fine, I’ll also start bringing my own coffee, in a sub zero thermos, when I leave from home. Your bed really isn’t all that comfortable for a sleep over. For a quick roll, I’m sure it’s fine, but I need room to spread out,” she explained.