Chapter 21

I dozed off again in the chair, thinking about my plan to do a little information gathering on the church. Jimmy woke me up when he came in to check on the monitors.

"Oh, hey Jon, I didn't know you were back already. We have about ten more cameras to set up and we will be done outside. When Pete gets the gatehouse finished, I will come back out and do it too. There won't be any wires lying around so there won't be a mess. Man, I gotta tell you, it has been fun to be working outside again. I have missed it since I started my own business. Tiny is like a big kid out there, climbing trees and acting like he never grew up."

"I hate to be the one to tell you, Jimmy, but I don't think he ever did. Are these cameras going to be easy to spot and are they waterproof?"

"Jon, these are my own invention and I own the patent. This is the first time we have used them, and I am anxious to see for myself how they do. I have four receiving antennas set up so you should never lose communications with them. One is on the house and one on the barn, and two others are hidden on the grounds. When I get the monitors tested, you will be able to switch back and forth between each one or let the system do it automatically. They will run about a year before I have to change the batteries, and are virtually undetectable by most field equipment. Weather has no effect on them and you can see at night, almost as well as day, by a simple flip of a toggle switch. They all have auto focus so the picture will be clear and precise at all times. If they do well, I plan to market them commercially."

"Well, Jimmy, if you need an investor, you can count on me to help. Bill and I are always looking for new products to invest in. If it's all run by radio frequency, can't someone hear or get a lock on them?"

"They are almost silent and the frequency they operate on is so rarely looked at, I doubt if anyone would think of it. The nice thing is if you need another monitoring station, it only takes about a half hour to install before it's up and running. Your office, as you can see, has four monitors, one for each corner of the property. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the cameras have built in motion detectors that are preset for sensitivity. A deer might set one off but a squirrel or bird won't. Jon, I'm not charging for the cameras, just the labor and monitors. This is my field test before I go public with them, so I will be watching them from my place also. If there is any kind of problem, I will know immediately and can make the adjustments or repairs. Man, you couldn't have come along at a better time."

I just smiled at him and decided to go to the kitchen for a cup of coffee to get out of his way. The safe guy was due, and I was also anxiously waiting for Bill to return so I could get a look at the maps he was bringing with him. I went into the kitchen and found Myrna was sitting at the counter. If the look on her face was any indication, her mind was a million miles away. I got my coffee and sat down at the other end of the counter, trying not to disturb her train of thought. Boy, as usual, she didn't miss a thing.

"Jon, what did you think of Carver? Do you think it will be ok for him to live in the cottage house?"

"Myrna, I told you before that I didn't have a problem with it. As for what I think of him, he seems to be ok. You have to take into account that I don't know him very well yet. From our conversation he seems to be serious in his intentions toward you, though. So, how did you two meet the first time, and please don't tell me you offered him food, and he fell in love with your cooking."

She busted out laughing at that before she answered me.

"No, not really. The day Pete and his men started on the fence, he came in and asked if it was ok to fill the water jugs from the outside faucet. I guess it kind of went from there. It seemed like every time I turned around, he was there with that big smile and soft voice. We finally got a little time to talk, and before either of us knew it, over an hour had passed. Finally one of the men came looking for him to find out about their water. I guess it kind of snowballed from there. Jon, do you really think I am not too old to fall for someone?"

"No one alive is too old for that, Myrna. What you have to remember is that you have been in this house for years, doing your job and taking care of my grandfather. That would make anyone lonely and craving for some companionship. I can only advise you to take it slow and just be yourself. If it's meant to be, then it will all work out for the best. I will say that, as the owner of this fine home we all live in, if you treat him any different than you do me, you both can move."

She looked at me in shock before what I said finally dawned on her. She was laughing to beat the band as she poured me another cup of coffee saying she would start supper for my guest in about an hour. It was my turn to look shocked because I had completely forgotten about Kat coming to dinner tonight. I gave her a dirty look and got that grin I loved so much in return.

"Where's Sally? I haven't seen her or Tiny since they ran into the house after we got home."

"Those two are acting like kids; they are out in the woods with Jimmy's men. I swear, you would think they didn't have a lick of sense, swinging from trees and throwing sticks at each other like a couple of kids or something. Sally I can understand, cause she's a tomboy through and through, but Tiny is supposed to be a full grown man. He's worse than she is with his carrying on. They both are trying to avoid you because Kat is coming tonight and Sally planned the whole thing."

"Yea, like you didn't have a hand in it. Myrna, I know you better than that, so we better drop it before you and I end up like you and Sally at the hospital last night."

I got a grin from her, and then Bill came in with about ten document tubes in his hands. I told him to take them to the dining room table where we would have more room. Myrna said to go ahead, she would bring coffee in as soon as she made another pot. I followed him into the dining room and he was pulling a laminated aerial map from one of the tubes as I walked in. I grabbed several small brass statues from a shelf so we could use them to hold the edges of the map down and keep it from rolling back up.

"This is less than a year old, Jon. It shows the cabin and the surrounding property. As you can see, the cabin sits on top of a tall knoll overlooking everything in the valley. I don't know who did the original survey, but he must have been drunk because of the way it twists and turns. Here is the Paw Paw River, which is the lower boundary. I don't know what all these buildings are, but they are directly below the cabin. One of them sits about a foot across the line at the upper end."

"Bill, that has to be the church's compound. See, there are people working in the fields in the upper part of the picture. This just made my day, my friend. I can put someone in the cabin and they will have a clear shot for some camera work. No wonder the church wanted the property so bad. It had a direct view directly down on them. Anyone moving in their compound could be plainly seen from the cabin."

"If you do what I think you are planning, you are going to stir up a hornet's nest, Jon. They will have a fit about anyone living in that cabin, if they are trying to hide something from outside view."

I went on to tell him about Jeb and the two men he said would be glad to help out. The more I explained to him, the more his whole demeanor became animated. I also told him that while this was going on, I would be taking Sally and Myrna away for a month on holiday. I wouldn't be around in case they tried to do anything because I leased the cabin to someone. I told him some more of my plan and he almost exploded, he was so excited.

"Jon, this sure fell in your lap. I can't believe anyone would suspect anything, the way you are going to do it. But, if you can get Myrna to go with you and Sally, I will be surprised. Hell, Jon, she hasn't left this house except to visit you in the hospital since Helen died. Umm, if you don't mind me asking, what did you think of Carver?"

Before I could formulate an answer, Myrna came in with fresh coffee. She refilled my cup and poured Bill one. Then she saw the map and got excited.

"I know that place. It's the hunting cabin on the river. Your mom and I used to take some of the older kids there for a weekend getaway. They loved it and it got them out of the orphanage for the whole weekend. Those were the good ole days, Jon. I have walked all over this place and fished in the river for hours on end. The kids loved it and would beg to go every time they got a holiday or weekend free. The only bad thing was the neighbors who lived in the valley below. They were the most unfriendly people I have ever met. They were always complaining about this and that."