Chapter 44

I was up at six even though I got to bed after 1PM the night before. Osborn hardly responded when I suggested we run. Since that was the case, I got the adult big wheel and rode it for an hour and a half. It was after eight when I returned to the box house.

"I'm sorry, I just need more sleep than you, but I am ready to go to the Gym," she said.

"So let's do it," I said getting a towel and water bottle from the cabinet above the Frig. I filled it with tap water before heading to the truck.

"You know you can afford to buy a bottle of water at the convenience store now," she said with a laugh.

"Oz listen honey, don't tell me how to live my life and I won't stop you from buying all the water you want, Okay?" I asked.

"Okay, I know we have to adjust to each other," she said.

"Yes and that wasn't a complaint just a suggestion," I said.

"One I will take to heart," she admitted.

We beat hell out of the bag till almost 10AM. "Okay any of you guy who got nothing to do at noon come to the town square. We have something cooking," I said. I laughed as I went out the door.

We managed a shower before we left for the mall. I had seen Osborn naked before but naked after a workout in my house was a first. Her naked body had really gotten almost perfect. Yes she needed to lose ten of fifteen pounds but she really was nice. I found myself getting aroused, but I forced myself take a deep breath and get over it. If our partnership were going to work, I could not have an affair with her.

After my shower I found a pair of only slightly worn out jeans to wear. I needed to buy some clothes since I wasn't going to wear fatigues everyday. I found one of the old Soviet Commando knock off tee shirts to wear, and a cotton parka to cover the .22 mag revolver. The jeans were just tight enough that I needed the small leather holster to hide the outline of the derringer in my back pocket.

We arrived at ten till noon, so we just wandered around the park. There were a few people sitting in cars waiting for something they weren't quite sure what. Then at exactly noon, Mike's truck's doors opened and and his sons rushed out with the gas cooker. They had it open and the dogs on in seconds. The bun steamer was going when The Brit's man show up with a big bag of hot dogs. At the same time The Brit and Jeremy came running across the square with hot dog buns. The folding table was setup and the covers on it.

Bottles of mustard, ketchup, and relish appeared. They sat beside the worlds thinest sliced onions. Everyone started to serve and people came from nowhere to eat hot dogs. The mob came and socialized and then left.

We had a hundred dogs left when the square emptied out. We packed everything up cleaned up the trash and were gone by 1PM. Somehow the whole thing ended up on Utube. I didn't care one way or the other, but Oz was ecstatic.

Saturday night she was on her personal computer for hours. I was on mine as well, but I expect we were doing different things. She was answering questions about the flash hot dog lunch, while I was trying to get off. In a house without door it would be difficult but I closed the drapes completely. It was out signal that I didn't want to be bothered.

I managed to find something to stimulate my imagination. It worked out find but I felt that Oz and I were going to need our own spaces and damn soon.

Sunday started off with a run and a gym workout. Then we both showered and got dressed. I was getting antsy so when a naked Oz stepped out of the shower, I said. "How about I get in the shower and when I come out we just load one of the cars and head to the coast?" I asked.

"You mean go without a plan of any kind. That isn't like you," Oz said.

"Of course it is. Most of my life has been filled with the unknown," I replied.

"Maybe when you are on a case, but not when you are between cases," she said.

"How do you know what I did between cases," I asked.

"Anyone could see that you were a creature of habit," she said with a laugh.

"Well then, I'm ready for a change," I said. "You pack the cell phones and the computers into that big black cloth bag in my closet. I will toss a couple of pairs of clean panties in and then we will be gone. We can even call The Brit from the road."

"I'm going to call your bluff Porter," she said with an impish grin.

When we went to the truck, my half duffel was very floppy since there was nothing really inside except three computers and a few burner cell phones. The most important thing was my debit card. Well I did toss in ten thousand in cash from my stash.

Even with all the hype, we had lunch in one of those super convenience stores. Kind of like on old style truck stop without the large parking lot in the rear. No parking lot, no hookers I supposed.

"Hey guy," I said into the phone when The Brit answered. We were back on the road and headed into the Piedmont's largest town. The traffic had picked up considerably.

"Hey were are you?" Jeremy asked.

"On the road headed to the coast, why is something wrong?" I asked.

"Not really it will wait. Eddie Simpson wants to slap your hand for not getting a permit for the flash lunch. Mostly he is pissed because he wasn't invited," Jeremy said.