Chapter 85

"So can we tap into the live feed." I asked.

"Yes but you know how long that thing runs and how short a time they are there. We would most likely miss it," Hugo said.

"Don't you know how to record it?" I asked not that I did either.

"No, we are just going to have to trust the SBI to share," he said.

"I would rather trust a black bear in the pantry not to eat the cookies," I said.

Hugo laughed then said, "You know them better than me. Why don't you finish up your domestic stuff, then we can head on up to the big cut again. I just know some ass is baiting deer up there."

"I can be ready in fifteen minutes, if you don't mind waiting while I drop off my laundry." I informed him. "We are getting a late start though." I knew it was going to be noon before we got to the cut. It was still getting dark reasonably early.

"We can go till it starts getting dark. Then we just might check out the waterway a little. I like to see who is stringing gill nets and where they are stringing them. At least once a week I do a night check on the waterway."

"Sounds fine to me," I said. I went back to the camper and threw all my dirty clothes including the sheets into a black plastic bag. I wouldn't wash the sheets so soon had it not been for my visitor. I swear I can wear the thickest pad they make and still bleed through some nights. I was wearing a tampon during the days, but I slept with a pad. I know it's more information than you needed.

I threw the bag in the rear of the pickup then I went inside the office yet again. Hugo was ready and sitting behind the desk checking the office email. There was none of course. So we locked up the place and headed for the Lopez house.

I dropped off the overstuffed black plastic bag and the daughter demanded her money in advance. I looked at Hugo who nodded his head so I gave her a ten dollar bill.

"Tomorrow," she said then turned away.

"How is she possibly going to get all that crap ready by tomorrow?" I asked Hugo.

"She isn't, she just tells everyone tomorrow. I would say give it a couple of days and it will most likely be ready. She does have to or three washers, but I don't think they even owns a dryer. Those are the expensive parts of a laundry.

"So I need to factor in the weather, when I bring my clothes?" I asked.

"Check the online weather, before you fill the bag. I always do," he said.

"Thats a good thing to know. I wonder what the weather for tomorrow is," I asked.

"Highs in the seventies and sunny," Hugo says. "I just got in the habit of checking, since we spend so much time outdoors."

"Okay, I got it." I said. "You are telling me, I shouldn't have to ask you what the weather is going to be."

"More than that Terry, I'm telling you it's a different skill set you need to live out here, than it is living in the city. Here your back up is not minutes away, it's at least a half hour. So always think way far ahead."

"Too bad we still have to be courteous, if we didn't I would just disarm and frisk everyone before I asked for their hunting license," I said.

"I know, talking to a man with a gun in his hand is a bit nerve wracking. Even if you are there for more than a simple license check. Of course the the upside is that dope dealers and Russian mobsters usually don't go in the woods either. They like their life as easy as possible."

"But you know Hugo, the great dismal would be a great place to hid all kind of illegal shit. That is if you don't mind the discomfort," I said. "Meth lab comes to mind."

"You were a dope cop weren't you?" he asked.

"I can't tell you any of that. But I do know a Meth lab when I see one," I said. Hugo just laughed.

"I'll bet you even know how to cook that shit," he said.

"Not me," I replied. By that time we had reached the cut, so I turned onto a different logging road and drove in as far as I could. When I reached standing water, we parked and began to walk. One of those new skills Hugo told me about I decided would be a way of getting back to the car. I made a note of the coordinates on the gps before we started to walk.

We walked following the dry high ground. I got turned around with all the twists and turns we made following dry ground. "Which way is the car," Hugo asked several times. I took out the gps and pointed the right direction.

"You could do that by the position of the sun as well," he said.

"Hugo, you say tomato, I say red vegetable. It all works out in the end," I replied. We walked and looked at all the game trails in the area but no bait or feeders were out there.

"I'm telling you I just feel it, someone is baiting the deer here," Hugo said.

"Well Hugo we can come back tomorrow and look again," I said.

"We have other things to do, but we will come back again," Hugo said. He was frustrated by the long walks that turned up nothing. I personally enjoyed the walks. They were exhausting and I needed that. Of course without easy access to a restaurant, I was not taking in so many calories. I was finding out that I ate a lot of processed food, just because it was so much trouble to prepare fresh.

Fresh would probably cut down on the calories even more, but the processed foods had much smaller portions, so maybe it evened out. I did snack on peanut butter and Ritz crackers. I tried to stay with snacks that had at least a little protein. I tried avoid pure sugar when I could, but I did give in now and then to donuts. Yes it was a bad habit from the old days. Still the long walks and sparse rations seemed to be keeping my weight down.