by T. S. Hill
“Why don’t we talk about this after breakfast.”, I offered.
“I’m going to be perfectly honest with you Tagg Stanly Hill. I don’t have a pot to piss in. When that fuckwit carjacked me, and took everything I had, he left me penniless. I have nothing, and nothing to go back to in New Orleans. I don’t want you to think that I’m a gold digging bitch or anything, but I figure if I can make a few dollars off of the evidence that I’ve got on that murdering bastard.”
“Shuush!”, I said, reaching across the table and touching my index finger to her lips. “There are ears everywhere.”, I cautioned. “We’ll talk about this after breakfast. I promise.
“Oh, like the tape measures?”, she responded, “where you keep diverting the focus?”
“Didn’t I buy you two tape measures?”, I asked.
“Yeah.”, she answered, “but have I got to use either one of them yet?”
“Lori,”, I responded, “this isn’t about tape measures, it’s about millions. I promise you, after breakfast, we’ll talk. For right now, just be assured, that you can have a place at the table, if that is what you choose.”
“Why wouldn’t I choose to?”, she asked.
“After breakfast!”, I admonished her.
“This is damn, good, coffee!”, she said, making a complete right turn and changing the subject.
“Yes, it is.”, I answered without missing a beat.
“Well, Taggert Stanley Hill”, She began, “I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again. You really know how to make a girl feel special!”
“That Sweetheart!”, I answered, “Was my exact intention!” Just then our food began to arrive. “Just in the nick of time!”, I said to the server, “While I’m still ahead in the game.” Lori lowered her head, looking me in the eyes, with a mischievous smile on her face.
Just as we were finishing with breakfast, and sitting back to sip our coffee, I spotted an old acquaintance making his way across the dining room. As was his usual persona, he appeared bigger than life. At six foot six, and wearing a ten gallon hat, he was an exaggeration of a stereotypical Texan. With his bulky buckskin sports coat on, he looked even bigger.
As he got within ten feet of the table, his, bigger than life, southeast Texas, voice burst out, “Tagg, old boy! How the hell are you?” He came up to the table, as I stood to shake his hand.
“I’m doing great, Al!”, I answered. “Have a seat, and tell me how you’re doing.”
“I’ve been better, but they found a cure for it.”, he replied, laughing, as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’ve been trying to call you, and getting voice mail for two weeks.”
“Yeah, I’ve been out of circulation for a few months, Al. But, things are looking up now.” “That’s what I partly hear from our, mutual acquaintance.”, He replied.
“Al Longworth, please meet my date, Lori. Lori, this is Al Longworth, an on and off client, and an old and dear friend of mine. Al looked at Lori and stood, removing his hat. He was old school if anything.
“Miss Lori, it is indeed a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”, He said politely.
“I’m charmed to meet you, Mr. Longworth.”, Lori replied offering her hand. Al took her hand, and bowed, touching his lips to the back lightly.
“No Mam, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you.”, he replied looking into her eyes.
“Al, she’s with me.”, I spoke flatly.
“Oh, I know boy, but it’s not often that an old codger like me gets this close to such amazing beauty. It would be downright sinful, if I didn’t let her know how greatly her beauty was appreciated. You are simply lovely, my dear!”, he said to Lori.
Lori blushed and graciously replied, “Why, thank you sir!”
Then turning to me, he said, “Tagg, old boy, you’ve reached out of your league this time. You’d better keep her close, and not let somebody blind side you, and snatch her up!”
“I know Al.”, I replied, “I plan on keeping her right by my side!”
Al’s face grew serious, and his voice reflected it too, “You do that boy.” He paused and then spoke again in almost a whisper, “When you get your current matters cleaned up Tagg, I’ve got some more work for you, down in Houston. It’s kinda pressing. If you can’t get to it in say, a month or so, I’d appreciate your recommending somebody that might can handle it. Will you give me a call?”
“You got it, Al.”, I responded.
“Good deal Tagg.”, Al answered, and then continued whispering even lower. “In a minute, I’m going to take that spare napkin on the table, and wipe my forehead. When I lay it back on the table, they’ll be a microchip under it. It’s from Steve. Does that work for you Tagg?”
“Yup.”, I quipped.
Then in his full voice again, “Tagg, it’s been great seeing you again!” And then, he picked up the napkin and wiped his forehead, laying the napkin back on the table between Lori and me. Then rising, he turned to Lori and bowed. “Miss Lori, it’s been a sublime pleasure to meet you!”
“And you also, Mr. Longworth.”, Lori responded, beaming a smile at Al. “Keep her close, Tagg!”
“I will, Al.”, I answered.
“And call me!”, he said, waving his hand at both of us. Then he was gone.
Lori looked at me and grinned, shrugging her shoulders, “Is that one of your millionaire clients?”
“Yep.”, I responded. Then in a low voice, and leaning across the table, I asked her, “Any suggestions as to how I get that microchip from under that napkin without anyone seeing it?”
“Hmm”, she responded. Then drawing her words out, “Actually, I, do.” She laid her hand down flat on the table top, directly beside the napkin. “Cover my hand with yours, like you are assuring me.”, she said, “and look into my eyes lovingly.”
“That I can do, without pretension, or hesitation.”, I told her, reaching my hand out to hers.
I didn’t feel her hand move, but two seconds later, she said, “I’ve got it. Are we ready to leave?”
“You can’t have it.”, I whispered. “You didn’t move.”
“Why don’t you pick the napkin up and throw it in Al’s chair in disgust, and see?”, she answered with a contrite look on her face. “But then we leave.”
I picked the napkin up by its corner as though it were diseased. No microchip. Then as Lori suggested, I dropped it into the chair Al had vacated, with a look of disgust on my face. “Do you know any more sleight of hand tricks?”, I asked Lori.
“Oh, you just don’t know, Cowboy.”, she replied, “But, you’re gonna love finding out!” She had that sultry look in her eyes, that made my cock move on its on in my jeans.
The waiter brought our bill, and I peeled off a C note and left it. Lori’s eyes got big, but she didn’t say anything. Afterwards, I helped her out of her chair like the gentleman that I am, and we made our way back across the dining room, with men, and women, staring at Lori; some with lust, and some with envy. Back in the truck, Lori held her left hand out and opened it palm up. There in the middle of her palm was the tiny microchip.
“Thank you, mam.”, I told her, as I plucked it up, and folded it inside of a one dollar bill, tucking it deep into a pocket of my wallet. “Your Dad teach you that too?”, I asked.”
“Yeah, he did.”, she answered, “I used to do a little parlor magic in my teens, but I’m pretty rusty now.”
“I would say your performance at Wasserman’s was a roaring success!”, I commented.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Cowboy!”, she replied. “I aim to please!”
“Today, you went beyond pleasing! You have totally mesmerized me, and I think old Al, probably pissed himself.”, I told her.
“Oh Cowboy!”, she said slapping my arm. “Every time a male notice me, doesn’t mean they piss their pants!”
“I guess not.” I replied, or Wasserman’s would have been flooded out today.” She put her hands over her mouth, like she was embarrassed, and giggled. Lori, you look so beautiful
today that I could just eat you up.”
“Mmm.”, she responded, and I could let you!” I stuck my tongue out at her and wiggled it. She slapped my arm even harder, but then grabbed and turned my jaw toward her, planting a hard kiss on my mouth. Our kiss broke, and she sat upright on the seat.”
“Where to next Cowboy?”, she asked in a perky voice.
“Dallas!”, I answered with enthusiasm. “Which gives us approximately three hours to discuss what you were asking about in the restaurant, and answer some other questions. Which, by the way, you may have noticed, we’re a few questions behind on that three a day deal that we made.”
“Cowboy?”, she called my name hesitantly.
“What is it Lori?”, I asked.
“Actually, with where we are now. I mean, where we are between you and me. I don’t want to limit questions anymore. If you’re ready to share with me, or whether you are or not, I’m ready to share. I trust you Cowboy. And, I hope you can trust me. I want us, to know everything about us. Do you get what I’m saying Cowboy?”
“Yes, Lori, I do. And, I’m as ready to share as you are. Can I get one question in before we talk about the money?”
“Cowboy, as long as we’re talking about us, I don’t care if it’s about the money or not. But, don’t get me wrong, I do want to talk about the money. But, go ahead Cowboy.”
“Now that you know my honest, to goodness, real name, will you please tell me yours?”
She giggled, and then said, “This is going to be fun! Okay! Here goes! My honest, to goodness, real, name is, Annabella Loretta Parsons. Every one including my parents always called me Ann, or Annie, or Anna, except my grandma. My mom’s mom always called me Loretta or Lori. My grandpa took it up from her, and it was always a special thing between just the three of us. I almost freaked out when you came up with it, right off the seat of your pants.”
“It must be karma.”, I said.
“Yeah.”, she said. “All this time we were calling each other by our middle names, except after I got to calling you Cowboy.
“I like that!”, I responded, “When I told you that I liked it, it was true.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t believe that Stan was your name.”, she said.
“Well, obviously, that’s not what I go by, even with my family.”, I responded.
“Yeah.”, she said., “You got any other family besides Allie?”
“Nope.”, I responded.
“No ex-wives, kids, hidden wives?”, she asked.
“Nope!”, I answered. “Never been married, or didn’t you catch the drift of that from my sister?”
“Hmm, she said. “You looking for any?”
“Maybe.”, I drawled out, nodding my head.
“You available?”, I shot back.
“Maybe.”, she replied, also drawling.
Then she asked me, “You asking?”
“I’m thinking about it.”, I responded.
“Good enough, Cowboy.”, she fired back, then continued. “But don’t take too long. Old Al might try to beat you out!” She giggled.
“Old Al,”, I shot back, “knows better!”
“You never know, Cowboy!”, she said, “You just never know.” We both chuckled. “So, what else do you want to know about me, Cowboy?”
“Let’s get back to the two-thousand-pound elephant in the room, Lori. There is a looming question, that could change how you feel about me, and may make a difference as to whether I can let you continue as a part of this assignment. I hope it won’t tear us apart, but it could be a really big conflict between us. It’s going to depend on what each of us decides is more important to us. I don’t want to lose you, Lori, but I have no idea how this question is going to be settled between us. I’m scared as to where answering this question will lead us. But, we have to get this out between us, and make a decision.
“You’re scaring me Cowboy.”, she blurted. What are you getting at? Just put it out there!”
“Lori, how intent are you, about killing Milinni?”
“Oh, I’m gonna kill that fucking son of a bitch alright!”, she snapped back.
“Could you wait until I get him convicted and in prison?”, I asked.
“I want to ruin him first, and I want him to know that I ruined him, and then I want to kill him.”, she answered. “But, if I wait until he’s in prison, then how will I ever get to him?”
“And, there in is the problem, Lori.”, I began. “As you heard my sister and I talking, this assignment has a really nice commission. It’s seven percent Lori. Just based on what evidence I’ve got already, if I can take down Milinni, my commission from shutting down his crime operations, will be seven percent of over one hundred million dollars. That’s seven, million, dollars. But, that seven million commission is dependent on a conviction, confiscation of his ill-gotten assets, and sentencing. No conviction, no confiscation, no commission.”
“Holy, fucking, shit, Cowboy!”, she said. That’s a helluva lot of money, and one helluva conflict we got going on.”
“I can’t even imagine being in your shoes on this thing Lori. I don’t blame you for wanting to kill Milinni. I get that. But, while I’m willing to share that commission with you, based on how much your evidence contributes to locking the bastard away and uncovering illegally obtained assets, if you kill him before the conviction takes place, then there’ll be no confiscations, we get nada, nothing, zip, zero!”
“I’ve put tens of thousands of dollars of my own money up to do this assignment. I’ve worked for almost three years on this. I’m either going to get rich on this assignment, and quit getting shot at, or go broke, and keep tempting fate until I find that bullet with my name on it. Bottom line, I can’t afford to let you kill Milinni, before he’s convicted, and the confiscations take place. Can you? That’s the quandary Lori.”
“Wow Cowboy! You not only know how to make a girl feel special, you know how to totally fuck it up some more when she’s having the craziest day of her life! What the hell am I supposed to do now? Fucking shit Cowboy! Just when I’m feeling really good about us being on the same side, bang! What the fuck Cowboy?”
“We are on the same side, Lori.”, I began. “We’ve just got to figure out how to work this out so that we’re on the same page. What’s going to be more important to us? We can ruin Milinni and kill him. Or we can ruin him, and watch him rot in prison, while we take a nice cut of his pie.”
“I don’t like the options, Cowboy.”, she replied. There has to be a third option; some way to do all of this, and still see that fucking, murdering, bastard dead!”
“You don’t have to give me your answer now Lori.”, I told her. “But, before we take any final action, I’ll need your answer.”
“I understand Cowboy. And, I appreciate you being open with me. You could have kept this all secret, and just pushed me aside, or worse, just took me out of the picture. I promise I’ll be open with you when the time comes, but right now, this gives me a lot to think about.”
“Lori, I could never just push you aside, or take you out of the picture. We’re going to have to work this out though.”
“We’ll get there, Cowboy.”, she replied. “In some way, shape, or form; we’ll get there.”
Chapter Thirteen
Every Problem has a Solution
Ideas become possibilities. Possibilities become realities.
We rolled down the southbound on-ramp of I-35, merged with traffic, and after a few minutes, settled in with the traffic flow. I glanced over at Lori, her head held high, relaxed in the truck seat, her golden curls gently swaying with our movement on the highway.
“You look so sexy in that dress, that I can’t wait to get you out of it!”, I told her.
“That sounds like one of those oxymoron thingies.”, she pointed out.
“Yeah it does!”, I chuckled.
“But.”, she continued, “It gives me an idea.”
“What kind of an idea?”, I asked.
“A
hot, sexy, idea!”, she said to me, with a smoky, sultry look in her eyes.
“Oh, good!”, I exclaimed, “What’s the idea?”
“Hmm, well”, she started. “It’s one of those ideas, that you don’t talk about, you just do it!”, she said with a wink.
“Less talk, more action. I like that!”, I responded.
“But not here. Not now.”, she followed up.
“Then where and when?”, I asked.
“I’ll recognize it when the time and place are right.”, she coyly responded.
“Then I’ll just have to trust you with that.”, I said. “And, look forward to it!”
“Does that make your dick hard, Cowboy?”, she asked?”
“It makes my cock stir, but not really hard.”, I answered honestly.
“It should.”, she simply replied.
“If you knew what I know, it would be hard. Really hard!” I pushed down on the accelerator, and swung the truck into the passing lane.
“I think we need to get somewhere.” I said.
“Where’s that cowboy?”, she asked.
“Anywhere but right here, right now.”, I answered.
Lori grinned real big, and then laughed hard, and said, “Let’s go then, Cowboy!”
An hour and a half, and several conversations later, about our likes and dislikes, we exited the interstate at Ardmore Texas. “Time for a fill up, a bathroom break, and a leg stretch.”, I told Lori.
“Time sure has passed quickly.”, she told me. “This has been really great, sharing with each other, how we feel about different things. If it hadn’t been clouded up with talk about that murdering SOB, it would be a perfect day!”
“Hopefully, and soon, we’ll have a day which the SOB can’t cloud in any way.”, I replied.
Scanning local features on the GPS, I found that there was a RealMart Super Center nearby, as well as a nearby, vast, state park, and nature area, located around a huge reservoir, Lake Murray. The two locations gave me an idea. I explained to Lori about the locations, and that this gave us another opportunity to buy more ammo. And, I suggested that we could also buy a few picnic and sandwich supplies, and maybe, take a leisurely lunch somewhere in the state park, around the lake. She jumped at the idea, and promised that I wouldn’t regret taking the extra time out.