by T. S. Hill
At length, the women calmed down, and were heading to get ready for the evening, when Lori asked, “Where are the cases for these, Cowboy?”
“Actually, the cheapskate, former family friend, kept them. That box you brought back from the Oklahoma City jewelry store was it. The next time that I have cause to go into the city though, I will pick up something appropriate, that you can keep them in.”
“Thanks, Cowboy. You don’t just throw fine pearl sets like these around like every day, RealMart, junk jewelry. I really need a case or a little box for my cameo necklace and the ear studs that you gave me. Those aren’t cheap shit either.”
“You know, we’ve been on the road so much, I wonder about, jewelry travel cases. Do they make something like that?”
“As a matter of fact, they do, and you’re right, those would work great for the three of us. But, you could probably get the best deal off of an internet site.”
“It’s the kind of thing that I would rather buy in person. Quality issues, you know?”, I said, hiding the fact that my real reason for making an in-person purchase, was to give me a chance to have a certified diamond appraiser evaluate the rings, that I also got as payment from Fredrick.
“Yeah, I think that you’re probably right about that, Cowboy.” She said, giving me a kiss on the cheek, and another quick hug, as she passed by, headed for the bedrooms. Rosita and Sasha, also each, took a turn giving me a hug and a kiss before they followed Lori to prepare for dinner.
After we all were dressed to the nines for dinner, we reassembled in the den/great room. I’d never seen a more amazingly beautiful assembly of women in my life, and for some reason they cooed and awed over me in the tux. The women were all wearing their gowns and shoes that they wore back from Oklahoma City, with the same clutches, except this time, they all three wore the pearl sets. They were sizzling hot, and the epitome of sophistication. It was six twenty. We were all dressed fit to kill, and armed to the teeth.
“Is everyone mentally prepared for this?”, I asked.
“How in fucking hell do you prepare to meet the woman who wants to bleed out Al, and wishes for all of us to be dead?”, Lori asked. I replied with the first thing that popped into my head.
“Just imagine her naked, with ugly tits, and crooked teeth.”, I quipped. Lori snorted, Sasha giggled, and Rosita shouted a loud, “Hah!”
Lori spoke up, “Thanks, Cowboy. I guess we all need to lighten up, huh?”
“I wish I could.”, I responded. “I’ve already met the haughty bitch, and her teeth aren’t crooked.”
“They might be when I get through with them.”, Lori quipped.”, and we all laughed.
“You guys think that’s funny. But, I’ve seen this little lady in action, and she totally means it!”, I added, as we all chuckled.
“Thank you, Lori and Tagg.”, Rosita spoke up. “You make this not so… intenso.”
“Intenso? Intense?”, Sasha exclaimed. “You couldn’t poke a fucking sewing needle in my ass! I don’t think that I’ve ever been this tense, except that day, out on your shooting range with you Babe, before we finally, you know. Well that was fucking intense.” Lori giggled and patted Sasha on the ass.
“Relax, Shug. There’s only one of her, and four of us.”, Lori told her.
“Let’s go, and just give this our best effort. Then, whatever happens, happens.”, I said, climbing into the golf cart.
When we arrived at the rear entrance, there was a note for me taped to the door handle, it was from Mrs. Baker and read, Tagg, please let yourself in with the code that you already have. Then, if you are early, as usual, please wait in the front parlor, where you and Al met with Miss Williams and Miss Devoe. Thanks so much, and it was signed Mrs. B.
I punched the code that we had been using at the guest house, and the door clicked open. As we entered the hallway, I heard a tiny ping, and saw a motion sensor light blink. It was good to see that Al was finally taking my advice seriously. That ping was the usual sensor, the blink of the light, meant that someone had been alerted to our presence. We made our way to the front hallway, and into the living room/parlor. Annette Devoe was already there, sitting in the same spot on the end of the sofa that she had earlier. She leapt to her feet as we entered. I said nothing of it, but merely began introductions. Once everyone was introduced, we all took seats. I assumed the chair that I had occupied previously, and sat quietly, observing the interaction of the women.
The Devoe woman, had definitely done herself a good turn since I last saw her earlier that day. Her transition from business attire to evening wear, encompassed more than just her wardrobe. I’m positive that she had visited her hair dresser after our meeting earlier, because instead of her hair color appearing bottle blonde, it was now a more natural blonde, with natural looking highlights, and it had been arranged in what women call and “up” style, for the formal evening. I don’t profess to be a fashion guru nor an expert on the ladies’ hair styles. But her dark blue, sequined evening gown looked really nice, and her hair was much improved, and up. The gown, actually fit her like a glove, in some places, and on other parts of her body, it was like it had been spray painted on. If her goals were to come across scorching hot, and harshly put Francine to shame, I could guarantee that she was going to accomplish both.
Given Annette Devoe’s totally sizzling appearance, I was especially proud that the women took it in stride and treated her warmly. Evidently, they didn’t feel threatened by her appearance at all, and they shouldn’t. They were each steaming hot, and sexy as hell in their own right. The classy pearl necklaces, and earrings, set them apart in a real upscale way. That night, all four of those women in Al’s parlor were top drawer, top of the line, sophisticated, screaming hotness. I had never been in the presence of that many top-notch women at once in my life, and I was inhaling the atmosphere, and taking mental snapshots every few seconds. I only hoped that my mind would recall them all later. They were truly a vision.
After a few minutes of the women sharing chit chat and niceties, Al came in like a stampede, and with his usual bluster.
“Tagg! Lori! Rosita! Sasha! Annette! Don’t all of you look just dandy and marvelous! Thank you all so much for coming to dinner this evening!”, he boomed, practically before he was actually in the room. Annette had, of course, jumped to her feet, at an almost attention stance, upon Al’s entrance. I stood also, hoping that he didn’t chastise her for standing like he had earlier. He crossed the room in his black tux, that mirrored the one that I was wearing, and pumped my hand like a two-bit politician, and then proceeded, as was his custom, to pass between each of the women, bowing, kissing their hands, and telling them how lovely they were this evening. I think on this occasion though, that he continued with this custom, specifically so that he could make his way to Annette. Once there, he lingered just a bit longer than he did with my three women, which was as it should be.
“Well, I guess that everybody’s here and on time, except for Francine. Like there’s anything odd about that.”, Al commented as he took his chair. It was then that I decided it was time to take a bold move, to find out for sure just where Annette Devoe stood as far as Al was concerned. If my gamble paid off, the risk of us staying at Al’s with possibly Sam Milinni coming for us, could be completely negated. If my gamble didn’t pay off, I figured that it was just a matter of time until Milinni came after us here anyway, so we would take what he could throw at us head on. I stood, and first addressed Al.
“Al, I have something that I need to inform the ladies on, before Miss Williams arrives.”, I said.
“Then, by all means, go right ahead, Tagg.”. he replied, looking at me suspiciously, with squinted eyes.
“Ladies,”, I began, “At some point tonight I will make reference to some things that may just not be quiet the truth, and may make no sense to you at all. When I do, you are to act as though what I am saying makes perfect sense, and that you are in complete agreement with me, and what I am saying. This could be a life or
death matter. Is this clear?”
“Lori, Sasha, and Rosita all nodded their heads affirmatively, and replied, “Sure.”, “Okay.”, “Gotcha.” Then Miss Devoe spoke up.
“Sir, may I remind you that I work for Mr. Longworth, and take my direction from him. How I respond to this is totally his call.”
“Of course, it is, Miss Devoe.”, I responded.
“Annette,”, Al spoke up softly, “Tagg Hill is like a son to me. I trust him with my life. And, quite frankly, right now, in a manner of speaking, what amounts to my life, is on the line, and in his hands. If he tells you that he needs you to jump off of the top floor of our office building, then you need to jump, quickly, and with enthusiasm. Is there anything else, that I need to say, to make that any clearer?”
“No, sir! Mr. Longworth, sir!”, she responded.
“Then please do sit down my dear.”, Al continued. “You’re much to lovely to look at standing up, and I’ve got a feeling that Tagg needs our attention for a few more moments before Francine gets here. Tagg?”
“Thanks, Al.”, I said, feeling truly touched by what he had just said. “I only have one other thing. Everything that I just said, and everything about it, stays with the people in this room, and you don’t share it, or your thoughts on it, with anyone, no matter who, outside of this group now assembled. Is this perfectly clear?”
“Yes, sir!”, Annette Devoe, piped up, before anyone else could speak. “You got it!”, “No problema!”, “Sure Babe!”, were the other three answers that I got. Then Al spoke up.
“It’s my old buffalo ass that’s on the line. I’m sure as hell not going to break your confidence on anything, Tagg!”, Al said with a serious tone, and without his characteristic laugh.
“Then we are all in agreement. Also, what I have said, or may say as the evening moves forward, should in no way be taken so as to reflect poorly on anyone who is not in this room at this time. But confidentiality is, like I said, of life or death importance. That’s all that I have at this time.”, I said.
Just then, as luck would have it, the front door knob rattled, followed by a banging, and a screeching voice, like fingernails on a blackboard. I knew that it had to be Francine Williams at the door. Al launched from his chair and lunged for the entrance foyer. While he was in the foyer, we all overheard the exchange between Al and her. She was pissed that the door was locked, when Al knew that she was on the way. Al passed it off as an oversight, and apologized. I thought, and hoped, his real reason was otherwise.
When Francine Williams stormed into the room, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was like being in the presence of pure evil. When Al followed her back into the room, he had the semblance of a knowing smile on his face, and a clarity in his eyes that I hadn’t seen since our arrival.
I also noticed that on this occasion, Francine’s attire not only didn’t match Annette’s, as it had before, but was the furthest thing from it. Whereas my women, as well as Annette, wore darker colored, sequined gowns, she wore a crème colored, gauzy looking thing. Like I’ve said before, I’m no fashion connoisseur, but I thought that light colors like that, were meant for summer wear, and at that point, it was getting into October. So, I was thinking, as I am sure were all of the women, including Annette, that she, Francine, had no, fucking, fashion clue, what so ever. To compound her fashion faux pa, her cheap, bleached out, bottle blonde hair, now contrasted drastically, with the classy looks of the styles that the other women wore. Francine Williams didn’t just stick out like a sore thumb, she stuck out like a scab on the end of someone’s nose.
Once more, I glanced at Al, and he had a what the fuck was I thinking? look on his face, if I’ve ever seen one. As Al began introductions, I spotted Mrs. Baker appearing out of the hall, in the doorway, just behind Al. For an older, gray haired lady, she looked gorgeous. If you were into that particular age group of women, then you would’ve thought her hot, and I suppose, pretty sensuous. As soon as Al had completed his introductions, and Francine ceased her condescending snubs to each of us, Mrs. Baker, strategically cleared her throat.
As everyone’s attention went to her, she smiled sweetly and announced, “Cook is ready to serve dinner, at any time that you all are so disposed.
Al turned to her and said, “Why thank you Mrs. Baker.” Then upon actually seeing her, he continued, “Well! If you aren’t just the cat’s meow this evening! Just look at you! Is she not just perfectly lovely, Tagg?”, he said, passing the ball to me. She was lovely. Decked out in an ankle length dark plumb colored evening gown, with her hair evidently done up for the occasion. This was also the first time that I remembered seeing Mrs. Baker in full makeup.
“Mrs. Baker, you are as lovely as always, and especially festive for this occasion. Al,”, I asked, “what is the occasion?”
“I just wanted an excuse for everyone to dress up, Tagg!”, Al answered. “I couldn’t think of one, so I just told Mrs. Baker and Tony, ‘Let’s have a formal dinner. Invite Tagg and his team, Francine, and Annette, and I want you and Tony to join us too.’ And, here we are!”
“Shall we go in?”, I asked, pointing toward the dining room.
“Please do!”, Al responded, winking at me. I wasn’t sure exactly what the wink signified, but I pushed the dining room door open, and waving my arm with a flourish and bowing, simply said, “Ladies, dinner is served.”
Lori was the first one behind Annette, who was nearest to the dining room door. She gave Annette a gentle push, and then guided her through the door. Once in the dining room, I moved past Lori and took her hand. I took the chair to the left of the head of the table where Al would sit. I instinctively knew that if any of the women sat there, that it would rub Francine the wrong way. Things were going to be dicey as it was. Lori stood at the setting next to me, and pulled Annette along next to her. As I expected, Francine moved to sit at Al’s right. Surprisingly, Sasha took the initiative and readily moved to next to Francine. I reasoned that she had thought, that since she was armed, as were Lori and I and sitting directly across from Francine, that she also would move as close to her as possible. Whereas, if something nefarious were to arise from Francine, the three of us would already be located practically in her face. Silently, I tipped my hat to Sasha’s good thinking.
Rosita slid in next to Sasha, and Mrs. Baker stood at her traditional chair at the foot of the table.
When everyone was positioned, Mrs. Baker announced, “I shall assist cook in serving, and then we shall join you. Please be seated.” And with that announcement, Tony pushed his way through the kitchen door, also wearing a tux that matched Al’s and mine, and carrying a large platter, stacked high with steaks.
Setting the platter on the table, Tony announced, “The pieces to the front are rare. The pieces to the middle are medium rare. And, the pieces to the rear are medium. If anyone requires well done, please let me know, and it will be served directly to you.” Already, Mrs. Baker was returning with two large bowls of vegetables before Tony could move to return to the kitchen.
“Nice tux, Tony.”, I commented.
“Thank you, sir.”, he responded, slightly bowing. “You seem to fill yours well this evening also.”
“Thank you, Tony.”, I replied. Once all of the food was on the table, Mrs. Baker resumed her place at the foot of the table, and Tony slid in beside Annette.
Al made his usual announcement, “You all know the drill by now.”, he said. “Take some, and pass it around!” As big as Al’s personality was, his enthusiasm for mealtime was even bigger. As the serving bowls and platters passed around the table, most of the conversation and comments centered around the appearance and aroma of the food. And of course, there were complements a plenty for Tony. Only after the food had been passing around for a few minutes, did Francine speak up, much as I expected.
“Cook! I shall require a well-done steak.”, she announced pompously.
“Right away, madam!”, Tony politely replied.
“Well, don�
�t dawdle then!”, Francine unnecessarily chastised him. I saw Sasha’s and Rosita’s eyes flash. Mrs. Baker smiled pleasantly at Al and me, as Tony rushed through the kitchen door. And then, before the door quit swinging, Tony was back with a steak on a plate, which he carried around to Francine.
“I kept the well-done ones in the warmer.”, he said to her, picking up her empty plate and setting the new one before her. “I remembered how you dislike cool steak.”
“Don’t be impish with me!”, Francine snapped at Tony.
“I mean no ill will, mam.”, Tony responded meekly, bowing his head and diverting his eyes.
“Why do you insist on having your servants at the table, Albert?”, Francine addressed Al.
“Francine, we’ve been through this, a hundred times.”, Al replied to her, looking down and shaking his head from side to side. “Mrs. Baker and Tony are like family to me. So, for once, please just lighten up.”
“Why are you still standing there, boy?”, Francine snarled at Tony.
“I beg your pardon, mam.”, Tony responded, bowing and backing away from Francine.
“So, Al.”, I began loudly, as I was afraid, that before I could hatch my plan, the table was about to erupt like Mount Saint Helens. “It looks like our work here is almost wrapped up! I guess we’ll be flying out of here before noon tomorrow!”
“Well!”, Al said to me, with his eyes looking a little odd. “I hate to see you go, but I’m glad that you didn’t find any problems while you were here.”
“Oh, none at all, Al. Everything that we looked at, looked really good.”, I continued to play the line. “I’d say your operation is as sound as a rock. But, truthfully, it’ll be good to get back home.”
“And, from where to do you hail, Mr. Hill? Is it?”, Francine asked.
“Tuscaloosa.”, Lori interjected.
“Excuse me, my dear child, but I was addressing Mr. Hill.”, she snidely responded to Lori. I saw Lori’s eyes widen as she took a deep breath.