Chapter 217

It was noon before we needed to be over to the gym. I had left a note for Patti that I would not be going to KCC today and also a voice message in Bob Jackson's phone. "Just turn on the local news; that will explain it all." The rest of the girls had done the same thing at the gym.

I had slept on the couch; the burnt hair smell was still strong, even after two washings. I did not think that anyone would be able to sleep with me nearby. There were areas of my neck that were burnt but I had no blisters, thanks to the aloe goop I had been coating myself with.

I called my hair dresser at 10. I needed an emergency cut or whatever ASAP as I explained what I had done. At 10:30 I was sitting in the chair with her looking at me, shaking her head.

"Do what you have to do - crew cut it if that is what it takes," I said. One of the ladies who were waiting asked how I felt this morning "You looked bad on the TV news this morning." Then she asked if Crash was OK.

"The text I received indicated he is being released before noon, and all considering, I'm OK," I replied.

When Margie finished I had a short butch hair cut. After a wash with something special I could no longer smell the burnt hair.

The text messages had been coming in one after another while I was in the chair. Many of them were from friends inquiring about my condition. The most important one was from Jenny, "Investigation to start in the office meeting room at one. County and State detectives will be here. Cindy has left to pick up Crash. What are we going to do with him?"

"Good question, maybe he will stay with us in the extra bedroom for a day or two. Then move him over to the horsey house. It will take a while to replace his house, unless he will accept a big trailer or modular," I sent back.

Kate and Tony were at one of the tables when I walked through the office, with a computer generated map of the farm. There were notes all over it.

"Jake says for you to be more careful or he is going to come kick your ass, among other things. I sent him the front page of the paper and this morning's local news report, "Tony jokingly said.

"He was not able to take the retaliation for trying that over ten years ago. I know he can't now," I replied with a grin. Tony just laughed.

Pointing to the map, "These are the test holes they did yesterday. The codes by each one are the soil types at different levels. Janet has already identified where the groundwater runoff ponds need to be. By the end of today, we will have most of the information we need. There may be some really good news if the data works the way it looks. We just overlaid two runways for more ideas."

"Right now, I can use all the good news I can get," I replied as I walked towards the girls.

Jenny waved me into the main meeting room. "Crash and Cindy will be here in a few minutes; they just finished shopping for something to replace scrubs."

"Everyone will be here in a less than 30 minutes. I have the meeting room set up," Jenny said.

Jason had been standing with Jenny. I took the opportunity to explain the changes to the hiring requirements for the security division.

"Add a second language need to all field office personal, to be done by the end of the probationary period for new hires. For current employees, JBG to pay for approved education and or materials and as a requirement for promotion," I explained. "We will develop a list of preferred languages at our next meeting," I added.

The participants in the investigation were sent up as they arrived. They were people I had met before. Detective Sergeant Jim Spears and Detective Walter Brooks from the state police and Detective Carl Winters from the county sheriff's department took seats at the table. They were the same officers that had responded to the Food King assault that was now a long distance memory.