Chapter 22

Sunday turned into Monday and I was grateful. I opened a new book when I woke alone on Monday. Not only did I heal fast, I also was able to deal honestly with painful things, then forgive myself, and move on. That's what I did before I got out of bed on Monday morning, forgive myself.

Bits and pieces of Saturday night came back to me as I showered. I had a memory, true or false I couldn't swear to, of Anya leading me to her car. "Now, Maxine please be nice to this lady. There is more at stake than you know. I know you are pretty plastered, but be nice to her if you want to be my friend." I had no idea what she had meant. I might have known at the time, but it was part of that purple fog.

I was drying myself when I remember Margie saying to Anya, "She isn't young, is she?"

"No," replied Anya. "I have it on good authority that she is very enthusiastic. You said you didn't want any trouble. The young ones are nothing but trouble."

"True, well it's the thought that counts anyway," Margie said.

I was pretty shaky and had no idea why. It was possible that Anya had drugged me at the Cop Out. It was just as likely that I drank way too much without any help from anyone. The details of the sex came back while I drove to the office. I hadn't been too worried about the sex itself, since I didn't have an bruises or lash marks. I also didn't have any memories of biting heads off chickens, so by the time I got to the Hardee's drive thru window, I felt pretty good about Saturday night. I still didn't know whether there was anything I needed to forgive Anya for, but time would tell.

"Take your order, please?" the clown said to me. Okay, it wasn't really a clown head at the drive thru, but it is a common humor point we can all share.

"Two sausage biscuits," I replied. The drive from Hardee's to the office was much shorter, than the time it took the girl to put two pre-made biscuits into a paper bag. When I opened the car door, this huge black and tan dog came from some bushes. I had no idea where the dog slept or where she went the rest of the day. I knew only that she had been waiting for me every morning since my return home from the road trip. The first morning she gave me a, 'Why don't you feed me you fat bitch' look. That first morning I gave her my sausage biscuit. Since then, I had been buying her one of her own. Every morning she would finish the biscuit and be gone before Ed arrived.

"Hey, Max, do you sleep here or something," Lucas asked, as he entered the office with a paper cup filled with coffee.

"No, I don't sleep here. As a matter of fact, I usually don't sleep well anywhere."

"So how was your weekend?" he asked.

"It was just fine. How was yours?"

"Fine, but I'm not the one who had a date with someone half their age."

"It's a good thing. If you did that would make you a pedophile and just begging for a vacation at central prison."

"You know what I mean. Did you have fun at the college bar?"

"Sure it was fine, but if you want details you are going to have to find what's his name."

"Hey, you two, you are in early," Ed commented, when he arrived.

"I'm not early and Lucas is just on time for a change." I laughed, since we had agreed that there would be no office hours, so he couldn't have been late.

"So who you gonna chase down this week?" Ed asked.

"I have no idea. I do know that we are going to be serving papers, since the new court term starts this week."

"Oh hear ye, hear ye." Ed said.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood for a Monday morning. I had no idea what hat gotten into them. I did know who had gotten into me. "Yeah, something like that," I replied.

"I am going to suggest that you fill out the papers and get a license, then run an advertisement in some of the legal rags." Ed said.

"I already run ads there," I replied.

"Do it for skip trace, that's what we call it. Bring em' in dead or alive, but that's a little dangerous."

"Write up what I should say, meanwhile I'll see if Blevins and Jen will reference me for a license."

"How about me?" Lucas asked.

"You come in as an intern," I said. "I do know a little about how it all worked," I said, in answer to the questioning looks from them both.

"Okay, then you two better get to work. I'm going to call my friends in Tryon."

"Ed, you don't have any friends," I suggested.

"No, but I'm on speaking terms with my peers, who all happen to hate the thug."

"Well, Lucas would appreciate all you can do for him," I said smiling.

"By the way did Skeeter show up this morning?" Ed asked. I had mentioned her and Ed was a big time dog lover. He had been an avid hunter when young enough to tramp through the forests.

"She did indeed," I replied.

"How come I have never seen her," Ed asked.

"If you get your lazy ass here ahead of me you would. I don't think she cares who feeds her."

'You might be surprised about that. Dogs can be picky, I don't know about feral ones thought. You still don't know where she sleeps?"

"I have no idea, nor do I know where she spends the rest of her days. I hope she has a family, but she doesn't appear to have anyone."

"Then damn it, let's get her some help." Lucas said, as if he had a clue about anything.

"Sure, let's call the animal control officers. They can hunt her down, capture her, and put her in a shelter cage, where an adult dog has about as much chance of adoption, as I do of getting married again. It's also about the same chance as you being killed by a suicide bomber in downtown Aster, or Ed getting laid." I was on a roll.

"Then there is hope," Ed said, smiling.

"Then we give her till the end of the month, then one of us adopts her." Lucas said, very defensively. "Come here and look."

Lucas, boy wonder, had rigged a security camera over the front door to the office. He had the video of me driving up, Skeeter walking into the picture, then taking her breakfast and disappearing.