Chapter 233

It took them three days to complete everything I wanted, but they did it all very professionally. When I handed them the $1,250 cash money from the dry well full of cash, we both understood there would be no record of the transaction.

He left happy with his money and I was happy with the gate that set twenty feet from the entrance of the drive way. The gate was not attached to any fences. It opened from a switch mounted on a wall inside the house, or from a garage opener in my truck.

There was also a sign on the gate in very clear English.

WARNING ... Call (my phone number) for entry, or push (a button on the gate post) to speak to me (an intercom).

WARNING ... do not try to drive around this gate. You will do irreparable damage to your tires, and possibly your vehicle ... And you will be subject to being fired upon by the property owner.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The damage to tired was real. There were spike strips like the police use in a high speed chase. Basically it was nails buried in a concrete strip, sharp side up. There were hundreds of them lining the driver way.

On the two original gate post there were three trip light beams set at different heights along the posts. There were two web TV cameras both top mounted and pointed toward the road. There there was one on the old posts at the road pointed toward the gate.

I slept well for the first time the next night. I also gave mayselt three more days to heal. All the scraps had stopped seeping and some were completely scabbed over. I had to rub those with a moisturizer, since they were uncomfortable just from the pulling as the scab as it shrank the skin.

The point was that I was getting better. I was Driving more because it was less uncomfortable. The one scrape that didn't want to heal quickly was the one on my face. Probably due to the constant movement as I smiled, talked, or showed my anger. It might leave a wicked scar I had been warned. I might want to see a plastic surgeon Molly suggested. I ignored her suggestion. I wasn't about to become a model, so I doubted it would be an issue. It wasn't like a burn or anything.

I was watching TV on my computer trying to catch up when the phone rang. "Well Brit hold on I'll open the gate. I opened the web page with the camera feeds on it. I watched the large SUV pass through the gate and up the drive.

"That is some security system. Are you serious about tire damage?" he asked.

"Would you say that four inch spikes of different thicknesses embedded in a ten inch wide concrete strip was serious?" I asked.

"You are fucking A I would," he said laughing. "Nothing like a brush with death to make one a bit more careful."

"That is true. So what brings you out here?"

"Well Jeremy and I want to go on a buying trip this weekend. We were wondering if you were up to managing the bar. Tomas and his wife will do the work, I just need you to kind of sit around and make sure they don't have any trouble with the locals. You are to call the sheriff if there is trouble, understand?" he asked.

"Of course I do. I'm not in shape to do any fighting and you know I never had any trouble at the pub. Hell I'll go upstairs and sleep probably it is so quiet in there." I replied.

"Good then come on down some time Friday and just sleep her over the weekend," he suggested.

"Fair enough," I agreed. It was a part of what made my life a hell of a ride. One minute I'm bored to tears, the next I'm flying off my bike and being hunted my hit men in the the early morning. Half hour later I'm walking into a fast food restaurant cover in blood only part of which is mine.

Seven days later I'm being asked to manage my best friends pub. Then a week from now I will be all healed up and bored shitless again. God life was grand.

The weekend went by without indecent. The things went as Jeromy and The Brit no doubt planned. I wasn't alone most of the weekend and I ate good food from Juanita's kitchen. I hated being manipulated, but I had to admit it was what I needed at that moment.

When the weekend ended, I was stronger and I had a weekend free of stress. I was more peaceful in my mind. I didn't mind getting back in my fortress, but I did a little like one of those old men, who sat in an old chair with a shotgun guarding his home. I was a bit paranoid, but as they say, sometimes they really are after you.

By Wednesday of that next week I was watching pornography on the web. I really had become on of those really pathetic creatures. I was reluctant to go out in public. I knew the way I was living was not healthy, so I decided I would start going out more. I went to the pub at night, I knew that was reasonably safe. I went to breakfast at Hardee's, but I varied the times. It was a small concession to security. I drove the truck down there. I hadn't replaced the bicycle and wasn't sure I wanted to do so. I was sure I wanted to workout in the mornings. I could always join a gym, I thought.

I also thought about the first time someone tried to ambush me. It was also during my early morning run, when I first moved to County Seat. Maybe I needed to rethink my timing and nothing more. By going out in the middle of the night I was giving them a lonely and empty place to take a shot at me. If I had been riding at 9AM rather than 5AM would the attack have been the same. They might have run me off the road but they would have been more likely to keep going, not come back for me. The assassins on that Sunday morning years ago had chosen to attack me in the deserted downtown early in the morning.