Chapter 181: Clear the Decks

"Get over to your office and tell Ed to take a vacation," I suggested.

"Ed almost never comes into the office any more. He only writes bonds on his old clients. He handles that by cell phone or from home. I think he only keeps the office open for me." Lucas informed me.

"Well call him and make sure he is okay, then warn him to stay out of the office. I want to know how they found us?" I asked Lucas.

"I sure as hell didn't tell them. These guys are smart and they have all the money in the world. This isn't Smiley we are dealing with." Lucas informed me.

"No shit," I replied. I know almost nothing about Chinese gangsters. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since repressive government are an incubator for organized crime. There is a lot of money in China these days."

"Yes but doing business outside of china has to be a lot more healthy," Lucas said

"That would be my guess as well," I agreed. "I guess I have to send Sarah somewhere else," I said. Lois can go live with her boyfriend. The TV people can do whatever they want, they know the risks. Cheryl is gone already, so I just need to move those two out for a while. I promised them that I wouldn't bring this shit home, but here it is on my doorstep again."

I made a call to Sarah's cell phone. I left her a message to call me before she went home. The return call came an hour later. I explained to her that Mr Smiley was going to be a bigger problem than anyone thought. I also explained that she needed to move back in with her grandparents for a few days. It wouldn't be long I promised.

I made the same call to Lois. "Lois we are having a bit of a problem, could you go stay with your boyfriend for a couple of days?" I asked. Since it's so close to her last day anyway. I figured a couple of days wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm sure that will be fine. Do I need to go now?" she asked.

"Yes, pack a few things quickly and just go. I will take care of this in a couple of days and you can come back for the rest. I will even stop your rent as of last week, since you were going anyway at the end of the month."

"That sounds just fine. I'll throw some clothes in a bag and leave." she said.

"I'll come over to walk you to your car just call me when you are ready to go." I said. Then I turned to Lucas and said, "Lucas you probably need to stay here with me till this is over."

"I can do that," he said. "You sure it won't be any bother?"

"Of course it will be a bother, but I got you into this." I admitted.

Just then Lois called, so I dropped everything and went to her apartment then led her to the parking lot. She drove off while I watched to make sure no other cars left the area following her. None did.

Earlier I had denied any knowledge of the fire call, so the fire department planned to investigate it as a prank. They must have gotten a lot of those calls, since no one seem all that upset. The policeman, who had been in the neighborhood anyway and just stopped to be sure no one was in danger or had been hurt, wasn't as forgiving. He wanted to do a full investigation.

After they had all gone, I tried to decide the lesser of the evils. I could call Anya at the FBI or I could call The General who ran swamp thing. Since I had absolutely no use for Swamp Thing, I called Anna, as she liked to be called those days.

"Anna what do you know about Riverview Developers?" I asked.

"Fine how are you Maxine," she said then laughed. "Okay we aren't friends, I get it. Is this a good tip."

"It is what it is. I'm looking for information, so what do you have?" I asked again.

"Who do you think they are?" she asked in return.

"I have no idea. I ran across them while I was investigating a child molester," I said.

"Kiddie porn again," she said incredulously.

"I think, the guy was laundering money for them, so it could be anything. But whatever he does is important enough for them to send a couple of hard men to talk to me." I said.

"Are the hard men still alive?" Anna asked.

"They were an hour ago, I have no idea how their boss will feel about me still being alive." I replied.

"It's good that everyone is still alive," she said. I could tell she was stalling for time.

"If you don't have anything on them, I am going to call Swamp Thing. These guys were definitely from out of town." I said.

"What neighborhood?" she asked.

"Asia for sure," I replied.

"Thanks, that narrows it down some," she said. She was still stalling for time, when she asked, "Have you seen my Mama lately?"

"No, but if you don't have something in two hours, I'll try to find the Irishman, or his boss. They owe me one as well as you." I said.

"Seems like half the world owes you," she said with a chuckle.

"Sometimes it seems like the other half is trying to take one from me," I replied. I flat hung up on her, since I was tired of the verbal cat and mouse game that she always played.

The phone played Mag7 again and since Lucas was sitting at my computer, I said, "Change that fucking ring tone. I want a phone that rings like a phone is supposed to, damn it."

"Hello," I said into the source of my present aggravation.

"Maxine, what the hell is going on at your place. One of the patrolman called me about a fire that wasn't a fire." It was Detective Mike Dawson who asked.

"I have no idea what happened. They just showed up in my parking lot." I said innocently.

"Right and I'm getting big foot for my daughter's next birthday party." he said.

"Well keep him out of the pool, I hear they shed terribly." I replied.

"Come on, off the record are you okay?" he asked.

"Sweetie I know there is no such thing as off the record with cops. I am fine, but stay available. You never know, I might get lonely in the next day or two." I said.