Chapter 10: Money Money Everywhere

By the next morning Henry's condition had worsened. All of the plans Steve had made to use the Storms to dispose of the gold were forgotten. Ellen bathed his forehead with cloths dipped in ice water to help fight his fever. Steve borrowed the Storm's van to transport his family and Dog to St Paul. Linda had made a list of the jewelers in the phone book with the largest ads on the theory they would have the most money to buy gold. Greg decided to do his own search using other criteria.

Greg spent a few minutes making phone calls and came up with a list of five coin dealers who asked to look at the coins. One, an older sounding man, could barely hide the excitement he felt at the prospect of seeing two mint-condition "Atlantis Coins." He showed the list to his father.

"This looks like we can get the two coins sold and out of our hair real fast," Steve nodded to show his approval of his son's efforts.

"Honey," Linda said, "These are the biggest jewelers in the phone book who buy gold. And here," she turned the page over to a list on the other side, "is a list of the ones with small, plain ads listed under 'Precious Metals Dealers.'"

Steve nodded and told her, "I think we should start with the smaller list of gold buyers, Mom. The big ones will have more people to pay and will make us lower offers. We got this in business class last year about overhead versus pricing."

Greg saw the look of disappointment on his mother's face. With rare insight, he told her,

"Mom, let's try the first one on your list and see what they will give and then go talk to the first one on my list. Then we can make up our minds what to do." Linda agreed.

Vikki had come up with a longer list broken down into plant nurseries and herbal dealers and health food stores. In three cases the same company was in all three categories. "I think I better go too and help carry stuff."

Vikki and Greg followed Linda and Steve and got in back between Greg and Dog. Greg showed her a small, magnetic chess set. "Want a game?" he asked as he set it up.

"Now will I be playing you or Dog?" she asked.

"Oh, you'll be playing me. I want to try an idea I have. I learned a whole lot from Dog for sure. But it's just I want to play you on my own."

Before Steve could start the engine, Linda put her hand on his shoulder. Honey, you and Dog and the kids go on without me. I want to stay here and help Ellen if Henry starts to get worse than he is right now. She might need me."

"Okay Babe, we'll hurry back as fast as we can." He gave his wife a hug and a kiss. Linda got out and Steve started the engine. They drove into St. Paul without incident.

Just as the big van pulled up in front the residence of the first coin dealer on Greg's list, Vikki griped, "You play a dumb game. You don't concentrate on a single style of defense yet you seem to whittle down my pieces. Where did you learn to play this way?"

"It's all my idea," Greg answered, "I look at the board and try to figure out where the power is flowing and try to," he paused a moment, grinned and said, "go with the flow."

She snorted, "I'll go with the flow in your head. You're weird, you know? She shook her head in frustration and made her next move with her usual precision.

"I hate to interrupt you two and your important game back there, but we're here." Steve got out and stretched his body. Vikki and Greg got out after the adults were on the sidewalk.

"She would have mated you in about six more moves," Dog told Greg as he got out and sniffed the air around them.

"I don't care," Greg answered out loud, "I wanted to find out if my idea would even work. It does which is all I care about. I'm not good enough to play her to win."

Dog looked around, "I smell trouble." The neighborhood they were in was run down and seedy looking in West St Paul. As they crossed the sidewalk a voice called out,

"Whatchoo doin' here, man?" Three young Hispanics wearing gang colors stepped out from between two buildings and approached the grouped Ryan family.

"Hey, stupid, it's none of your business what we're doing," Greg answered.

Dog crouched low to the broken sidewalk while Vikki looked at the leader of the trio and asked, "What are two stupid looking creeps like you doing out here without a baby sitter?"

Dog roared and gave a great leap at the one who jerked a small Skorpion automatic pistol from under his jacket. The gangbanger screamed when Dog's teeth crunched down hard on his wrist. The big animal snapped the weapon out of the air before it could touch the ground.

Vikki executed a spin kick and her victim went down. Greg yelled and jumped across the sidewalk. He threw a body block on his opponent as if he were playing football. They went down in a heap. He quickly came to his feet and began to jump up and down on the fallen enemy. Vikki elbowed Greg aside and dispatched the one Greg had attacked by slamming his head to the sidewalk.

"Why don't you learn to fight, Short Stuff?" she asked. "It would make things easier and more simple for me."

"I got you, Xena, who needs more?" He slapped her on the back and gave her a hug. "You're pretty good yourself. Let's go do our business." Vikki felt a small hurt inside that Greg took her for granted and treated her like a guy. She had begun to want more, like that hug for instance. She sighed.

Unaware of Vikki's inner frustration, Steve smiled at the two young teenagers and shook his head. "You kids better be more careful, now. You could get hurt fighting like that." He couldn't get over the great changes Greg seemed to go through almost daily. That girl was sure a good influence on him.

An older man opened the front door. Vikki noticed he was a Hassidic Jew. He opened the door wide and looked at the three punks on the sidewalk. "Come in, please. I have called the police."

"If they're like the cops out our way, they'll get here some time tomorrow or even later," Steve said. Just then a St Paul PD cruiser came to a stop at the curb behind the van and Steve changed his mind. "Oh, these guys are different."

"Give the man the gun, Dog, please," Greg said in a loud, theatrical voice. Dog came up to one of the two cops and growled his greeting. As the cop stepped back in surprise, Greg told him, "He wants you to take the gun, sir."

The other cop exclaimed, "Hey you're the ones who stopped the bank robbery. I saw you on television. You want a job? It's got crappy pay, long hours and a great chance to grow ulcers."

"Nah," Greg told him, "We already have important jobs driving our parents nuts."

"These three are the ones who robbed me last week," the old man told the cops. "Please arrest them."

"What for, Mister Feldman? It's your word against theirs and the rest of their gang will just swear in court you are lying and have made racial remarks and are prejudiced against minorities. You been through all this before." The older of the two policemen shook his head in frustration.

"I smell drugs on all three," Dog told Greg.

"How about we all swear they tried to stop us, and this guy here threatened us with his gun? You now have probable cause to search them for more weapons. The fruits of said search will inad ... ad ... advertantly turn up the illicit drugs." Greg smiled as he delivered his speech to the astonished cops.

"Yeah. I like it," one officer exclaimed. "Don't grow up and become a defense attorney, kid. You would be awesome. We'd have to shoot you just to keep things fair." Vikki wasn't too sure whether he meant it or not.

"Try the shirt pocket of the one over there," Greg said and pointed to the punk with the broken wrist. The cop named Evans squatted and checked the moaning gangbanger.

He withdrew a small baggie containing a quantity of yellowish crystals. "Hey, look at this. If it proves to be anywhere near pure at all, we have possession for sale." He paused dramatically and asked, "Officer Custis, would you not say this constitutes probable cause to search these other two suspects?"

"Oh, indeedy I do, Officer Evans. Shall we cuff 'em?" They handcuffed the uninjured but dazed pair and completed their search of the three.

The three gangbangers were forced into the back seat of the police car. The cops took statements from Vikki and the Ryan family and left. "This was such a nice neighborhood when I was a child," Feldman lamented. He led the way inside to a small office and waited for everyone to get settled.

"Well, I guess you want to see what we brought you." Steve reached in his jacket pocket and removed the pair of coins wrapped in tissue.

"You have brought me peace of mind and..." His eyes got round and then narrowed as he stared at the now unwrapped coins. "Do you know what you have here?"

"Yeah," Greg grinned, "Two mint condition Atlantis coins."

"I offered another dealer in Las Vegas forty thousand dollars for the two he has acquired, and these are even better. How much?"

"Mister Feldman, you make us your top offer. If we like it we'll take it. If we don't we'll leave." Linda looked up at him and smiled.

He stared at the two coins and thought a moment. "Sixty thousand. I shall make a fair profit at this price."

"Yes, a very fair profit," Dog told Greg. "He will always treat you with strict honesty. However, he will not permit mere gratitude to interfere with good business practices."

"Sounds fair to me," Greg answered.

"Done," Steve said and handed the man the two coins. "We want cash."

Feldman smiled and nodded, "Naturally," he said. He returned moments later with a small flight bag half filled with hundreds. He handed it to Steve.

"Mister Feldman," Greg asked, "Who buys bulk gold and is as honest as you?"

"Why I do, young man. What do you have, a ring?" He smiled benignly at Greg.

"No sir," Vikki interrupted, "About ninety-six pounds in gold ingots, if the bathroom scales are correct." She laughed at the expression on the merchant's face.

"You want me to bring it in?" Steve asked.

"Ah, yes please," he answered, dazed. "This is such a surprising day."

Steve left and returned with the heavy duty back pack as soon as Feldman buzzed him back through the entrance. He dropped the gold on the floor in front of the man and opened it. "This is pretty pure stuff."

Feldman excused himself and returned with a small case of test acids. He tested various ingots and nodded his head once. He told them, "I cannot dispose of this much gold very fast without all too many questions being asked. It will take a while to discreetly sell this amount. Can you wait?" he looked at Steve and then Linda.

Greg broke the silence, "Sure, why not?" His dad nodded in agreement.

"I'll give you our name and address and phone number. We want cash and you can have it delivered when you sell all the gold," Steve told him.

"Why are you so trusting? My instincts tell me you are anything but gullible," Feldman cocked his head to one side and waited for an answer.

"Easy," Vikki answered. "If you cheat them Dog here will eat you."

Feldman laughed, "Please remind me not to be dishonest with you. I would hate to be eaten, even by such a noble looking creature.

Dog woofed his acknowledgement of the praise and offered to shake hands. "He likes you," Greg told the astonished man.

They made their goodbyes and took the van through town to the first plant nursery on the list. Steve, Greg and Dog went in while Vikki and Linda guarded the cash.

Dog led them up one aisle and down another as they filled his "prescription." He sniffed the herbs one at a time and chose the best, healthiest plants by placing a paw next to the ones he wanted. The last items he chose were the Aloe vera plants he decided were the best. Steve paid and they left.

Then came the bicycles. Their first stop was the Trail Bike Headquarters store. They went no further. Steve ordered six twenty-six inch bikes and two of the largest framed twenty-seven inch bikes they had in stock and brought out the pictures of the modifications called for in the drawings. "How will you pay for this," the clerk asked, "We don't have credit accounts." None of the three, Steve, Vikki or Greg were dressed in stylish clothes.

Steve laughed at the man's snobbery and asked, "You accept cash?"

"Do you have it all in your pockets?" The clerk decided these were time wasting nuts.

"Nope," Steve said calmly. He opened the bag Greg was carrying and counted out twenty thousand dollars. He tossed the bundled cash on the sales counter. "You get the rest when you deliver the bikes. Three days from now I want two of them complete and delivered or I want my money back. Overtime is no problem." They waited for a receipt.

"What about the engines?" the salesman asked. His attitude changed after he saw the cash. "We have some great air cooled two cycle engines available. Or I would suggest the hundred fifty cc four-cycle Korean built engines. They are compact and can be muffled for in town riding.

Steve realized the salesman was trying to sell them engines he would get a healthy commission from. He handed the salesman the last two drawings. "Just follow the specs and make sure you use BW electromagnetic clutches and do the whole job in your shop. We want two day after tomorrow and the rest next week. Okay?"

"Overtime okay?"

"Like I said, as much as you need. We want them for a special job." They shook hands and left a dazed salesman behind who was overwhelmed by the sight of so much cash.

Then they began the drive home. Just as they left Elk River behind Steve decided, "We need a van too. We've started to do too much running around and we should have something we can haul stuff in and still look anonymous. We also need to talk to Henry." Greg and Vikki played chess in the back seat while Dog dozed. He almost had his strength back. He sensed he would need everything he had to survive the coming days.

Linda hurried out of the house as they pulled up in the driveway. "Henry is worse. Ellen and I are worried it's too late." She looked at Steve first and then at Vikki.

Dog slipped out of the van and hurried toward the house. He found Henry Storm in the living room. "Quick, ask Ellen Storm to bring a hot cup of black tea in here and help Henry drink it all down. Bring the herbs and Aloe vera plants into the kitchen. Vikki and your mother are to prepare the first dose right now." Dog went back outside as Greg relayed his instructions.

Linda ran the stripped stalks of Aloe vera plant through her juicer until she had collected almost a quart of the gooey juice. She chopped up the herbs in her food processor in the amounts specified by Dog through Greg. Finally the whole mass of chopped vegetation was mixed with the Aloe sap and slowly cooked.

Dog returned with a few stalks of another plant. Greg took them from his friend. "Bake these dry in the oven and crush them to a fine powder with a rolling pin. It must be sprinkled on top of a cupful of the soup you just made."

Greg wrinkled his nose at the foul odor. He thought the stuff smelled like soured swamp water and essence of skunk. Ellen gave it to Henry to drink. He struggled to sit up and sip and swallow the stuff until it was all gone. He closed his eyes and rested. Worried, Ellen fussed over her husband while Greg and Vikki went for a ride on the purple carpet. They soared over the area of the farm and looked down, searching for more intruders. There were none. When they returned Henry was awake.

Just as they came into the house, Dog sniffed the air around him. "Be quick, get the bathroom door open." He ordered Greg, "Henry is going to be in a hurry any moment now."

Greg barely got the door open when Henry staggered past and knelt on the floor. "Oh, how gross." Greg said and shuddered.

"Those are the poisons manufactured by the bacteria leaving his stomach." Dog told him and chastised his friend. "It is never 'gross' as you put it to purge the poisons from your body." Greg was sorry for his reaction.