Chapter 293: Present for Sandy

Every time I used the smarter than smart phone, I felt like I was supposed to say, "Beam me up Scottie." Yes I could still remember Star Trek from my childhood. I had lived to see all that nonsense come about. I felt that way when I called Sandy at the police station within walking distance of where I stood.

"Sandy, if you come down to the town square park, and if you bring a couple of squads, I will give you a present. You have been behaving, I assume." I said it playfully while my band of cutthroats used plastic wire tires to secure the evil doers, as I thought of them with a smile.

By the time Sandy and her cop pals arrived, five minutes later, the jerome and his thugs were sitting on the one bench with their hands securely tied behind them. I didn't even hold a pistol on them, but they knew it would take me less time to clear the holster, than it would for them to stand, so they sat quietly. Sometimes that assurance is enough to freeze the opposition. Especially if they weren't pros, and these guys definitely weren't.

"So these are the ones who kidnapped your friend. Do you have any idea why?" Detective Lawrence asked.

"Not a clue, I just wanted to be sure she was safe, so now I'm leaving all that for you to sort out. That's kind of what you had in mind wasn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah, that is it," she said.

"One thing we need and I will be pushing for is live feed video of the park. I have at least one friend who can put a web cam here by sundown," I said. The damn park is within ten blocks of his bail bond business. I thought.

"Lucas," I said into the smarter phone. "Can you install a web cam on a lamp post in the downtown plaza park. There seems to be a druggie presence there."

"Not today, but I can be there tomorrow afternoon. Then I can have a solar battery pack with me. I can pick the feed up in my office and broadcast it to the net from there," he began.

"Lucas, I don't care how you do it hon. I just want it so that anyone who wants can watch them deal drug in the park," I said.

"Okay but remember what your daddy used to say," Lucas replied.

"Oh?" I asked.

"When it rains during a ball game, it rains on both teams equally. The bad guys will be able to see that feed as well, and know when the coast is clear."

"True, but we can also record them at play," I said.

"And who is paying for this?" he asked.

"If you build it, they will pay," I said in my movie voice.

"Fair enough," he replied as he shut down his phone.

"You know they are going to tell me how you captured them, so you might as well spill it." Sandy said.

"I have friends who are smarter and badder than Jerome's friends," I said.

"Well at least you didn't kill any of them," she said.

"Ah the day is young," I said with a smile. "Why did you stop me instead of Blevins anyway. If something involves me, he usually handles it."

"Blevins has been promoted. The word is going to be released tomorrow so keep it under your hat."

"My, my all that FBI time did some good after all," I suggested. "So what are they making him.

"He is going to be the next chief. Probably not for too long, but still it is a nice title to take into retirement," she informed me.

"I can not wait to tell Anya," I was almost ready to giggle like a school girl. The hatred they felt for each other wasn't bitter, it was more playful, but they still had a passion in their dislike of each other. Vlad however managed to stay above it.

I never quite understood Anya and Vlad's relationship. I didn't need to since I knew that it worked for them.

When I got home, I realized that there were still five days left until the surgery. I was anticipating it as if I was alive. I know in some really wide definition of alive, I might still be, but you know what I mean.

Since day five was pretty much over, I settled in to 'rest' until i started a new one. I started day four with a phone call from Bill. "Hey lady, wanna meet me for breakfast at Helen's?" he asked.

"Only if you let me buy yours, my poor college boy friend," I replied.

"I did not call for a free meal, however it sounds great," he said.

"When can you be there?" I asked.

"I can be in your parking lot in twenty minutes. We can ride over to the 'Sit Down' together." he suggested.

"I think we might be better to meet there. I'm not sure riding with me is totally safe right now." I suggested.

"Oh how so?" he asked.

"There are some drug dealers in jail today because of me. I think I would like to give them a week or so to cool off before I expose my friends." I said.

"Bullshit, I'm not afraid of a bunch of thugs," he said bravely.

"Strange, I am. A nice healthy fear tends to keep you alive a little longer. Not crippling fear, just healthy fear is the trick." I said.

"Alright, I will meet you there in twenty minutes. Is that enough time?" he asked.

"Of course it is," I replied.

I had to do a little fast clean up and then dress for the day, but I made it just fine. I was out the door in ten minutes. I rode at a steady pace the few blocks to Helen's Sit Down. When I arrived, I looked around the parking lot for Bill's bike. I didn't see any bikes at all.