Chapter 37

The weather had developed a serious chill overnight. The cabin had an inside chill as well. After my early morning pee I turned the heater up a couple of notches, then crawled back into bed. I would have thought from the chill that it was 3AM, had the sun not been shining through the high windows. It was obviously time to winterize the place. I knew that I would need to take a look at the window screens to see what could be done there. I was hoping that I could take then down, wrap them with plastic like a sandwich, then put them back in place. That seemed like a good do it yourself project. Especially since there was a tall aluminum step ladder behind the cabin. With that thought at the forefront of my brain, I slipped back into the arms of Morpheus.

An hour later, when I next awoke, the cabin was warmer, so I promptly forgot the winterizing project. Instead, I concentrated on reheating the day old coffee in the microwave, washing my ass, and then loading my dirty clothes into the van. I did it all and in that order.

When I left the compound, I almost forgot to stop and open the gate. " I should probably not come home drunk, until I make a new habit of stopping to open the gate," I said aloud,

I found my Latina mother and daughter couple at the Laundromat. I struck the bargain, then dropped off my laundry. The next stop was Hardee's drive thru. I thought about the video team, then had to force myself to buy coffee and biscuits for them. Being from the Boston PBS station, I had no idea what kind of crazy eating habits they had acquired. But the special that morning was Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuits. I got three, and three large coffees. It all came to just under ten bucks.

"They damn well better be ready to go," I said to myself. I knew I had to stop talking to myself or I was going to be in trouble one day.

I knocked on the door then said," You guys ready?" I heard movement inside so I was pretty sure that I didn't live in Cabot's Cove. A place where every stranger got killed, to satisfy Jessica Fletcher's need for a mystery to solve.

Mopsy opened the door, but he didn't look good. " Its 8AM tell me you are ready to go," I demanded.

"We are, just give Gwen a chance to finish doing her makeup," he said.

"Flopsy, put the makeup down and get your ass out here, or explain to Marty why I left you in the bathroom. I'm going to be out front in the van for two minutes, then I'm leaving whether you guys are there or not. " That got her ass moving. Some people just needed to be motivated.

At the office the three of us sat eating our biscuits while I flipped through the 'New Work' clipboard. It was the only real place where orders were stored. Luke entered them into the computer, but I didn't put much faith in them not ending up lost in space somewhere.

"What are we doing today," Mopsy asked.

"Hell, I have no idea. What do you want to do. Oh I know, you want to sit back and observe how boring this place is. " It was too bad that I actually had things that needed to be done. There were already four stops on Luke's pick up schedule for court documents. We had raised our fee almost double, so we had to give good service for it.

"Damn Boss, it is getting cold out there," Luke said as he entered the office.

"Well the coffee is made, and the office is warm, not much more I can do. Believe it or not I don't have a direct line to God."

"I thought all you Jews had a direct line to him," Ed commented as he walked through the office. He walked in just in time to catch the last comment.

"Ed, I'm not Jewish."

"You could have fooled me. George Washington has a beard on your money, since you have had it around so long. Go out and buy the boy a decent coat."

"How about he buy some thermal underwear for himself, and then he can wear the all season coat I already bought him?" I asked, but it was really a suggestion. I had bought the coats the day after we decided to pick up bond jumpers. We needed pockets, so jackets seemed the best thing to wear over the vests.

"I'll buy the damn coat, just tell me what you want me to buy," Luke suggested.

"See Ed, that's why he is employee of the year."

"That and he is your only employee," Ed replied.

"That too," I admitted. " Luke, find something you like and I'll take a look at it. Please remember we have to be able to move in it, as well as hide all the junk we need to carry."

"So Boss, what we gonna ' do this morning?" he asked.

"I have a tour of the Reverend Archer's vast holding at ten. I want you to pick up the papers and start with the services. I also noticed that we are supposed to get a file from Jessup Bail Company from Charlestown?"

"Yeah they are going to email us the file and the pickup order from the court. I can print it out, so we don't have to drive over there for it. " he noticed my look. " I know you don't like to work from copies, but it's a two hour drive each way."

"We do this until we get burned on one. Then, if we aren't in jail or bankrupt, we will go back to having them mailed it to us."

"You mean snail mail."

"Yeah overnight mail, you probably don't remember it. It's what we used back in the day. You know before you came, last year. " I said sarcastically. Actually I would admit to anyone that Luke made a world of difference in the business. I was going to miss him, when he went back to school in January

"So I guess I'll go pick up the papers and get started. Can I use the van?"

"Of course, the delivery scam won't work with your Korean toy," I suggested.

"You need to buy another vehicle," Ed said. I gave him a stern look. " Just saying."

"Luke it's up to you, would you rather have a company car, or the per mile payment?"

"Boss, I can drive my car no problem, but I am racking up a lot of miles," he said.

"Okay, I'll look for something that will do us the most good. " I had Marty's settlement money so it was no skin off my ass.

"You want a pickup truck?" Ed asked.

"I don't know, why Ed?" I asked.

"Because Michael Kelly got sentenced yesterday. He put up a two year old Japanese pickup for the bond note. It is going to be really old by the time he gets out. I can give him a call and you can take a look."

"The bank probably owns it," I suggested.

"They will for sure, but you might still have time to drop a hundred bucks on him and pay off the note with the bank."

"If he bought it new, it will probably be worth less than the payoff of the note. " I suggested. I think I will pick up one of those off lease things. I'm thinking PT Cruiser with the rear seat pulled out."

"Max, you are an idiot. " Ed said with a laugh.

"Trade keys with me," I demanded of Luke.

"Do you want me to take one of our guests?" Luke asked with a grin.

"Sure, which one do you want?" Luke just smiled. " Okay take Flopsy."

"Let's go Gwen, we have miles to go before we sleep," he said.

"But not together," I added. Luke just grinned. It looked as though I might have been a bad influence on the boy.

"Well Mopsy, that puts you with me, but relax we aren't going anywhere for an half hour."

I was reading the morning news on line when my cell phone rang. " At your service. " I said.

"Max it's me Anya. It's probably nothing, but I just got a call from the guy who runs Hazelwood for Marge. He can't find her."

"What?" I asked incredulously. " When did he see her last."

"When he left the Inn at midnight, she was in her office. She was nowhere to be found this morning. Like I said, it's probably nothing, but watch your back till we find her."