Chapter 08

Keystone Cops Caper

Saturday afternoon Lee goes to see how the work on Ralph’s new shop is going as he’d not been up that way since the work started. When he asks if they wish to go along Faith says, “Lee, we’d rather stay here and tidy up the apartment now the work is finished. Then we’ll shop to stock the food cupboards and refrigerator. We’ve the other vehicles we can use to go shopping.”

“OK. If that’s what you want to do. If you leave the building take one of the spare cell phones with you in case you need to contact me.” They agree and he leaves.

When Lee reaches the spot for the building he finds the building is not only finished, but Ralph is operating from it already. He walks in and says, “I see you didn’t waste any time, Ralph.”

“Hi, Lee. No, I didn’t. I couldn’t wait to get out of the old place. I have to use portable toilets until they get the sewage and water services in, but I can live with that. Since I moved I’ve already done more business in a week than I did in a month at the old location. The university staff love how they can walk over and get or order things for work or home. Did you see the building going up just down the road?” Lee nods to show he had seen the two story brick building under construction. “That’s going to be the new offices for Lacy and Rusty when they get it finished. Rooms for four professional services, with the same utilities issues I have. You’ll get a laugh out of what happened when I gave my notice of vacating the premises. At the same time I put up a notice of the store closing down and marked a lot of things down to reduce the stock to be moved. On the day I shifted I didn’t have much to move, so I did a couple of runs by simply putting them in my truck and running them over that night. The last morning in the old shop I’m packing up the last of the gear there into the truck when Brian Kelly walks in and looks around with a huge grin. I just went on packing up. When I had it all in the truck I showed him out, locked up, called the power people to read the meter, then drove off. An hour later I was back at the store to verify the power meter reading for the man they sent, then I dropped the keys in to the owner. I don’t know who he expects to rent the place to, but that’s his problem. The fun part is three days later I hear a car race up and park out the front. Brian Kelly storms in and looks around at all of the new shelving and stock I have up before he turns to me to say something. Then his eyes go wide when he sees the sign above the trade counter,” Ralph motions with his thumb to a huge sign declaring him to be a ’Preferred Agent’ of the national chain he had an issue with until Lee got involved. This is a better discount level than what Kelly had before. “Well, Kelly goes red and swears at me then says he’ll get that canceled. Later a woman called to tell me that my status is still valid and not to believe anything Kelly tells me, since she was calling from the corporate headquarters I believed her. I don’t think Kelly likes the change in my circumstances. I also took your advice on how to deal with the bank.”

“Well, if you have any more troubles just let me know and I’ll see what my contacts can do for you.”

“Lee, between the extra business from the university, their staff, the gear you’ve ordered, and the stuff the construction crew working on the sorority you work at have ordered I’ve done more business this month than I did last year. I expect I’ll get a lot more when Lacey gets the county to approve the full project here and it starts to get into full gear.”

They talk about things in general for about an hour, then Lee gets a phone call and he has to leave.

About thirty minutes after Lee leaves the sorority Faith and Hope lock up and go to the big grocery store in Riverside in the other pickup truck belonging to the sorority.

They’re in the store quite a while as they load up two carts with the groceries to fully stock the apartment pantry. It’s a lot, but the charge card Lee gave them to use when they started working for him is accepted and then two of the staff help the girls to load the bags and boxes into the pickup. Shortly after they drive out of the parking lot a Riverside Police Department car pulls in behind them and turns its light on. Faith is at the wheel, so she pulls over and parks.

A cop walks up to the window and asks for license, registration, and the insurance. Faith gets out her driver’s license from her purse, then she gets the registration and insurance card from the glove box where Lee has them. She hands them to the cop while Hope gets out her phone and calls Lee. She quietly tells him about being pulled over, and when he tells her to start recording she hangs up and puts the phone on record mode with the camera aimed at Faith and the cop.

The cop is examining the papers and checking things on his radio when Hope starts to record, so he doesn’t see her on the phone or setting it up to record the interaction.

After a moment the cop asks, “Is this your car?”

Faith says, “No. As the registration says, it belongs to the company who own the Delta Sigma Sorority. We’re employees of the sorority and have use of the car for our work, which is stocking up the pantry today.”

The cop says, “I know the sorority is closed down for the summer and all of the staff were sent home. So you can’t be their employees. Thus you’ve stolen this car and I’m placing you under arrest.”

Faith is so stunned by his claim she can’t speak, but Hope says, “Lee will love that, Faith. The false arrest will give him enough reason to sue the city and end up owning the whole city.”

The cop looks at her and says, “You’re under arrest as an accomplice.”

Just then Lee parks on the other side of the road, gets out, and asks, in a very authoritarian voice, “What’s going on here?”

The cops starts to speak before he looks around at Lee. The cop says, “Nothing for you to bother with. I just got a couple of those Mennonites in what has to be a stolen car.” He finishes speaking before he looks at Lee standing there in his work clothes with the logo and his name on the shirt. Since they were issued Lee has worn the work clothing. Although they aren’t that old they do look worn in. The fact he’s in the work clothes with a corporate ID card clipped to the pocket and a brand new pickup from the sorority behind him makes it very clear where he works.

Lee looks at the cop’s ID badge and says, “Well, Officer Johnston, you have a major problem with that statement as the car is not reported as being stolen, the driver has the car keys which are usually kept in a key safe when the vehicle isn’t in use, both of these young women are employed by me, and have been working for me for the last few weeks while I did the refurbishment of the sorority. Now, do you want to hand them back their papers, apologize for troubling them, and let them go, or do you want to be arrested and charged for making false claims?”

The cop waves to another officer sitting in the police car as he says, “I think I’ll just arrest the three of you for obstructing an officer in the performance of his duties.” He finishes as the other officer walks up, and both are smirking.

Just then a Sheriff’s Deputy car pulls up and the Deputy asks, “What’s going on here?” The repeat of Lee’s question makes the girls giggle.

Lee says, “Officer Johnston had been about to make a false arrest of my two employees for stealing the company car they have permission to use. I had given him the choice of handing back their papers and telling them they can go on their way or face being arrested and charged for making a false claim. He then threatened to arrest the three of us.”

The Deputy looks at Lee while he’s talking, grins, turns to the two cops and says, “Dave, Jim, if you intend to arrest this young man you best first write down who you want notified as your next of kin.” They both stare at him. He adds, “Sorry, Lee, until someone does something unlawful I can’t get involved. I know if they start something you’ll end it by killing them before I can get involved to save their stupid necks.”

The two cops play swivel neck while they alternate looking at Lee and the Deputy a few times before the second one snarls, “They ain’t worth the trouble,” as he turns around and goes back to the police car. The other cop follows a few seconds later after handing Lee the papers.

Lee turns to the Deputy and says, “I gather your leg healed, but not good enough for combat duty, Hank!”

“Ayep. I grew up near here and came home when they let me go.”

“You may want to let the Sheriff know I’m in the area for the next few years for sure, and maybe longer. So if he needs any special help he can reach me through the Omega office or just drop by the Delta Sigma Sorority. You should also let him know the area between the ridges and the river on the other side of the river has a development going in to make it a large commercial and residential area. That’s likely to affect his law enforcement needs on this side of the river as well.”

“Lee, the Kelly clan won’t like that and will try to stop it as it’ll affect their income on this side of the river. However, the biggest problem we have at the moment is someone is moving a serious amount of hard drugs through the county and we can’t get a handle on it at all. If you see anything, please let us know.”

“I will, Hank. The development is in the next county, so it’s hard for the Kelly clan to interfere with it. The project is backed by the Leyland Trust, so I think they won’t have any funding issues. Take care.” They say their goodbyes and part company.

Lee follows the girls back to the sorority and helps them to unload the pickup. Once everything is put away he writes down the girls’ clothing measurements which he puts into an email along with the notation he’s hiring them as full-time staff, so they need official clothing. Faith and Hope stare at Lee when he hands them the paperwork to fill in to be employed as full-time staff, then they complete the forms for him.

Sunday Talks

In the morning Lee drives the three of them to the Sunday service. In the chatting between the service and the meal Brother Jacob asks Lee to go to a meeting after the midday meal, to which he agrees.

After the meal Brother Jacob leads a group into a nearby room where they all take seats already set out in a circle. Present are Faith, Hope, their mother, Brother Jacob, Brother Lucas, Brother Joseph, Sister Heidi, Sister Alice, Sister Judith, and Lee. Brother Jacob introduces everyone then he starts the discussion with, “Brother Lee has been employing many of our teens over the last few weeks. They’ve all earned good pay while learning some new skills and working hard for him. He has two jobs for full-time workers and wishes to employ Sister Faith and Sister Hope in those jobs. Sister Hope is to do the yard and garden work while Sister Faith is to do some general maintenance work. The work will include formal training and on the job training in their duties. The jobs come with the full range of work benefits and a higher wage than the previous work. There is an issue that the staff at the sorority all live on site and they have suitable quarters. The maintenance staff have their own apartment in which the sisters will have a bedroom to share or bedrooms of their own, whichever they wish to do. Sister Heidi and I looked at the apartment when Brother Lee first asked they live on-site. At that time there was a bathroom they all shared and there was another woman living in the apartment. Now each of the bedrooms have attached bathrooms and the other woman has gone to another job as her work here is finished. Due to what he knows of our community Brother Lee has asked for permission for the sisters to live in the apartment with him. This meeting is to discuss the request.”

Brother Jacob turns to Brother Lucas who says, “I’ve asked people I know about Brother Lee, and they all say he is an honorable person. They did speak of some violent events in his past which I’ve spoken to Brother Jacob about. I feel he was right in what he did in those events as they were to the benefit of innocent people and the local community as he is one of those who fights for the welfare of the community. I believe he’ll obey the rules of our community in regards to the sisters and recommend his request be approved as it will be of benefit to the sisters in many ways due to what they’ll learn in their work.” He turns to Brother Joseph.

Brother Joseph says, “I’ve also asked people about Brother Lee. What I find interesting is he has had little interaction with people in the area so far, but those he has interacted with usually speak well of him. Many who’ve not met him also have a good opinion of Brother Lee. The few who do not speak well of him are those who tell untruths about us as well, so I don’t put any weight on what they say about Brother Lee. I also feel this work will be good for the sisters. They will also be interacting with many people outside of our community in situations where Brother Lee can provide them with any support they’ll need.”

Sister Alice says, “The Senior Sisters have discussed this request since it was mentioned to us by Brother Jacob. Normally we would not allow a sister to live in such an arrangement. However, with there being the two sisters there we approve the request as long as the sisters share the one bedroom and no other men live in the apartment. We would also prefer for Brother Jacob to arrange for another woman to live in the apartment with them as well. The last approval is up to Sister Endeavor with Sister Faith and Sister Hope having to make the final decision.”

All turn to the girls’ mother, Sister Endeavor, and she asks, “Brother Lee, why do you want to have Faith and Hope live with you?”

Lee faces her while he says, “The company rules are the staff live on the site. However, if I really pushed to have that changed, I believe I can have that rule removed. I feel it would be best for Faith and Hope to live in the apartment for two reasons. First, they won’t have to drive to and from the community each day. Second, it gives us all more time to get to know each other better of an evening, and I can help with their studies.”

She slowly nods her head while Lee talks, then she says, “I approve the request. Now the decision is up to Faith and Hope.”

The two young women stand and walk into a corner of the room to talk together before they return to their seats and say, in unison, “We agree to this request and are happy the community elders approve of it.”

The meeting breaks up with the whole group going to the house of Sister Endeavor to pack all of the girls’ things and place them in the pickup for them to move to their new home today. As the Elders have given their approval no one will question the move because both of the girls are over the Age of Decision.

On the drive back to the apartment Lee learns the decision was always in the hands of the girls due to them being over the Age of Decision, but it’s best if the Elders approve as it means harmony within the community when they approve of anything outside of the usual rules.

Faith and Hope are fully moved in well before it’s time to prepare the evening meal. When Lee goes to help with the meal he’s firmly told the kitchen is now their domain and he’s to let them prepare the meals or he can go hungry.

The evening is spent with them having a long talk as they get to know each other a lot better.

Monday

Lee’s work cell phone rings while he’s watching Faith prepare a hot breakfast for the three of them. It’s Bob and he says, “I’m looking at the paperwork for the two young women you want to hire. I notice they have no qualification to do the work. What’s the deal?”

“Morning, Bob. I’m doing well, hope you are too. These are the two people I had working as my assistants during the refurbishment, which is now all done, and ahead of time as well. They did a good job. Hope has a lot of informal training and knowledge on yard work and is interested in doing it for a living while Faith has shown an aptitude for the general maintenance work. You may have noticed I put them on at seventy-five percent of the wages for the jobs. That’s because I’ve hired them as trainees for the jobs. They have no trained-in bad habits yet, so I’ve got a clean slate on which to see they’re properly trained to do the work. I’ll have them sign up as part-time students at the university and as they get the formal training we can increase their pay. I know what they’re like and I can work with them, so I’d rather get them trained up than hire someone who I may have issues with later.”