Chapter 397

When Lydia and Jennifer finished their pow wow, Jen called me on the phone. I went to her door and knocked.

"Lydia has decided to return to the fold," she informed me.

"I got her set up with Vlad and Anya for the next couple of days. After that we will re-evaluate the situation," I said trying to stay positive. "They have a small guest room and since this is a very secure building, you can use your cell phone again. I don't like it, but some security is better than no security."

I took her down and introduced her to Vlad and Anya. "So are you three going to be okay?" I asked before I took the walk across the street.

"Sure it will all be just fine," Anya assured me. "As a matter of fact, I think we should go shopping. Just us girls."

"For god's sake be careful," I said.

"Not to worry Maxine, I know how to check for the bad guys." Anya informed me.

"So you do. If you need me, I'm as close as the cell phone. I still don't want to draw attention to Lydia, but I can be here in minutes."

I went home and waited for the judge to call. I knew he would. If he had someone else on the case, as I was also sure he would have, he knew that I was back in town.

I left the building through the front door. I noticed the back of three posters in the drugstore condo's windows. Sylvia allowed them to be used to advertise the dance studio, Helen's catering, and there was one other. I went outside closed the door and took a look at the new one.

Since it was Saturday afternoon, I knew there was no need to rush home for a meeting with Sylvia. I wouldn't see her again until Monday. The sign was informing anyone who happened to read it, that on that very day there was a craft fair at the senior center. I loved craft fairs.

The Senior center was close by, only a few blocks away, so I walked to my place for the bicycle. I would have enjoyed the afternoon ride more, if there had been a bit less traffic. Even the Senior Center's parking lot was a mess.

I parked near the front in a corner space which no car could fit inside. I walked into what had probably been a public school gymnasium at some time long, long ago. Inside the big ass meeting room I saw the tables set up. I began to wander among the hand made items. There were a hell of a lot of decorator items as well as artwork. Some photography and some wood working things. There was a small wooden chest made to be a decorator item. It was wood grained, but very, very dark as though it were a couple of hundred years old.

"Now this is unique, did you use old wood to get that color?' I asked not believing for a moment that he had done so.

"Well old in the sense that I found it at the site, while they demolished a house, near me."

"Then how did you get this color?" I asked.

"I oiled it with used motor oil from my lawn mower. Then two coats of polyurethane to seal it so that it wouldn't stink like a lawn mower," the old man explained.

"Well it is beautiful," I suggested. The chest was over a foot long, and maybe eight inches wide. It was about the same depth as it was wide. It also had a lid that sat on top of it, which added another couple of inches to the height.

"It is certainly beautiful," I said as I looked inside it. I realized how easy it would be to install a false bottom in the box. Because the construction was done by hand and nothing fit perfectly it would not arouse suspicion. "So how much?" I asked.

"One hundred dollars," he said calmly.

"You are the pirate here," I said flatly. "It's worth about half of that. The craftsmanship sucks," I said. "And not in a good way."

"I know, but if you need it, you need it." the old man said...

"Well I need it fifty bucks worth not a hundred," i said while finding two twenty dollar bills and one ten dollar bill in the wad of cash I kept in the front pocket of my jeans. The wad was held together by a strip of rubber from a bicycle inner tube. It was like a super wide rubber band.

"I knew someone strange would be the one to buy it," He said it looking at the inner tube money clip thingie. and holding out his hand.

Getting it home in one piece was a challenge. It rode on the bike seat, while held in place with some string one of the vendors sold me for a buck. I pushed the bike and walked along side with a hand on the chest to support it. I decided again I needed to either drive the damn truck more, or buy a bike trailer.

Once I got the chest home and found my bag of diamonds, I realized that the bag which held the stones was an ordinary clear freezer bag. It was filled with smaller clear plastic bags each with one stone and a small card with a dollar amount hand written on it. I dumped the contents of the larger bag into the chest. The smaller bags shaped themselves to the space in the bottom of the chest very well. I was planning to send Jerrod's stones home with him at the first opportunity so I didn't worry about hiding them. It was just as well that he would not know where my stones were stored.

I noticed the side table by the stairs. It had a small lamp on it but nothing else. I put my pirate's chest under the lamp and decided that it looked okay for the moment. I needed to find something to store inside the chest on top of the stones and a better place to put the chest. Hide in plain sight was my plan. Only the Farm, the Mossad, and Jerrod knew that I had the diamonds. If anyone else broke in, they would have no idea for what to search. Not even the Iranians, who might or might not be looking for the money, would have a clue.