EARLY WITHDRAWAL (A Mitch Tobin Mystery Book 1)

by Mark Gannon

  Deb spluttered out, “How dare you talk to me like this. You are way out of line, Judy!”

  She got cut off before she wound up any further. “I’m out of line? You’re the one who is out of line. You keep talking and talking about sales culture. Have you stopped and for one second thought about the bank culture that has been in this bank for one hundred years - the culture of service to our customers. I can tell by that blank look on your face that the answer is no. That’s because you don’t know what service is. You only know your old nasty sales reports and numbers. How many of our customers have you actually helped?”

  By now Charlie was out of his office and stepping between them. “Ladies this is not how we conduct business in THIS bank. Step into my office and we will talk about this with the door closed.” Charlie’s presence came through again. Both Judy and Deb clammed up but neither one was ready to back off. They stalked off the floor and into Charlie’s office. This was not good for Judy. A public display of total disrespect for an officer of the bank was not going to go well for her. A look around the lobby showed some stunned faces on many of the staff who had gathered to watch the show. On some of the faces were looks of support for Judy. One even pumped her fist and said, “You go girl!”

  Looking through Charlie’s office window showed some pretty tense discussion continuing. The voices were muffled but the emotion was right out on the edge. It was the first time I saw serious emotion show on Deb Miller’s face. The Ice Maiden could get hot if pushed in the right way. That was good to know. Charlie paused from listening to go to his office window and draw the shade. So much for the show.

  I went back to my office worrying about Judy. She could lose her job over something like this. As far as I know she needs the paycheck. Not that she wouldn’t find a position elsewhere but the bank has benefits that you won’t find easy to replace. I tried to concentrate on work and at the same time watch the lobby for Judy leaving Charlie’s office.

  Somewhere between phone calls and customers Judy left the bank. I caught a little of the bank scuttlebutt when I went to the break room for a coffee. The discussion in Charlie’s office went on for some time. Eventually Deb Miller left and went back to her office. Judy came out a little later looking surprisingly calm. She had gone to her desk and collected her purse and left. No goodbyes, no explanation, no discussion - just gone. No one knew if she was coming back yet today, tomorrow or at all.

  Chapter 49

  Silver Dollar Roundup

  I thought about giving Judy a call but didn’t know if she would want to talk with me. Not knowing what to do I went back to my office and worked on a loan presentation. The next thing I knew there was a sharp rap on my window. As usual I jumped out of my chair. Before I looked I knew what I would find. Frank’s goofy looking grin was smiling back at me. He tapped on the window and pointed while mouthing the word Silver. I nodded my head.

  A beer was in order. Once again the bank staff had disappeared, the bank quieted down, the hum of the office machines and the teller line were missing for the night. As I stepped into the lobby Charlie came out of office shutting off the light. He asked, “That noise wouldn’t have been Frank tapping on the window suggesting a beer at the Silver Dollar?”

  Charlie knew my routine too well. “Yes that was Frank inviting me for a beer at the Silver.”

  “Do you mind if I join you? After today I could use a beverage.”

  “Sure Charlie. You’re always welcome.”

  Charlie smiled. “When I first started working here Mr. Dunbar always went to the bar on Wednesday nights. It was an accepted fact that the bank officers went with him.” Charlie always called the founding father of the bank Mr. Dunbar. You could tell from his voice that he not only admired the man but was fond of him. “Of course in that day the bar was a dive called Smokey’s. Mr. Dunbar always sat in the corner booth and talked about a lot of different things but never about the bank. I think he felt it was important to separate the business from the personal relationship with his staff. It was a tight group in those days at the bank. We all felt the bank had our back and we worked hard to keep being part of the group. I need to remember that more often.”

  Was Charlie trying to tell me not to ask about Judy and Deb? Or was he just reminiscing about a time that he enjoyed working at the bank more than the last couple of weeks. As we reached the back door of the Silver Dollar Charlie leaned toward me and said, “I thought we might need a beer tonight so I invited a couple of other staff members to join us.” What the hell did that mean?

  As my eyes adjusted to the low light in the bar I saw Frank waving from a spot near the pool tables. Already seated at the table were Frank, John, Greta and Mary Beth. Seated together and visiting like old friends were Judy and Deb Miller. What the hell was up with that?

  I expected to find Judy at home crying and nervous about her job. Here she was having a drink with the Ice Princess and seemingly enjoying herself. And what about Deb Miller? She was actually laughing at some story Mary Beth was telling. After a chorus of hellos and dragging up extra chairs for Charlie and me, things settled into a warm friendly confab of people enjoying each other’s company.

  I didn’t notice until Frank pointed her out but little Laurie Saphat, Frank’s wife was playing pool. As I watched she proceeded to run the table on Tommy Moran. Tommy sat back and watched and enjoyed just like Frank when he watched Tommy. I asked Frank, “When did she learn to shoot like that? She’s great.”

  Frank responded, “Her parents have a pool table in the house. She’s been shooting pool since she could drag a stool to the table and poke a cue.” The things you learn about old friends who you think you know well are always surprising. Tommy tried to talk Laurie into another game but she refused and came over and sat with Frank. She turned to me and said, “Did you hear about Frank’s new job?” Frank having a new job was not that noteworthy. He bounced from one construction job to another. So I wasn’t paying too much attention until she said, “He’s going to work for Bill Larson.” That stopped me in my tracks.

  “Did you say Bill Larson? The Bill Larson from here in town?”

  Frank jumped in, “He called me today from the hospital and asked me to talk with his lawyer. I tried to blow it off but he sounded weak and hurt so I listened. His lawyer explained that Bill is being held on an old warrant. He never said so but I gathered that he scored a big theft somewhere in his past and that is what set him up here in Spearfish. It is probably where he met Nancy and Slick.”

  Laurie couldn’t wait for Frank to spit it out so she jumped in with, “So Larson expects to be out of circulation for a couple of years. He asked Frank to be his ranch manager while he’s in jail. He said Frank was the only one who could handle that nasty horse of his and if he could handle that he could handle anything else on the ranch. And he wanted someone running the ranch that people won’t run over.” Laurie sat back smiling having delivered the bomb.

  I looked at Frank and asked, “Did you take the job? I thought you hated Larson.”

  “You know, Mitch, I have butted heads with the guy ever since I met him. But he asked so nice and almost begged me. And the salary he offered is a lot more than I make pounding nails. Not only that, I get to work with horses as part of the job. We get to live at the ranch and we can keep our own horses as part of the wage. I’m going to try it for a while. Who knows, I may have a knack for it.”

  John was sipping on a Sam Adams Triple Bock that he talked the bar into carrying so he had something other than ‘bar grade’ beer when he came in. Normally John is very talkative but tonight he was being quiet. Greta was normally quiet and was sitting back enjoying the activity. When I asked John about being quiet he said, “Mitch, you know I’m part Apache. And Apaches are normally quiet until they give their war whoop. That’s what I used on Slick. Just before Frank lit him upside the head with the two-by-four. I got his attention with a war whoop.”

  “Oh come on John. You just walked up to him and let out a whoop and t
hat distracted him enough for Frank to lay him out?”

  “Mitch, the Apache war whoop will freeze a white man like you in your tracks.” He could see I wasn’t buying his line so he waited until I turned away from him and then John let out a blood curdling yell. Everyone turned to see who was getting killed in the corner of the bar. When they saw it was John smiling and enjoying himself they shrugged their shoulders. It was just John. But he was right, when he let out that yell I did freeze up for just a second or so.

  I couldn’t help asking, “So when did you become an Apache?”

  “Mitch, haven’t I told you about my great grandmother? I am sure I’ve told you about her several times.” That smile of his. How could you tell for sure when he was kidding? Greta kept a good game face and didn’t give anything away.

  Judy slid in beside me as Deb Miller got up to try her hand at the pool table. I asked her, “What is up with you and the Ice Princess? Didn’t you just give her an ass chewing today at the bank? I thought you would be home crying in your beer. Did Charlie fire you?”

  Judy smiled and said, “It would be pretty tough to fire someone who doesn’t work for you.” That made my eyebrows arch up in a question mark. Before I could ask she added, “I resigned my job at the bank today.”

  That blew me away. Judy had worked at the bank for years and was my right hand. “What possessed you to do that? If you just apologized to Charlie and Deb they would have accepted the apology. It’s probably not too late right now.”

  Judy cut me off. “Slow down, Mitch. I was planning to quit anyway. I was going to turn in my resignation at the end of the week. That’s probably what gave me the gall to spout off the way I did.”

  This didn’t make any sense to me. “What are you going to do? Do you have a job elsewhere?” An awful thought hit me. “You aren’t going to work for the competition?” A worse thought hit me. “You aren’t moving away?”

  Judy was really laughing now. “No I’m not moving away or going to work for the competition. Would it bother you if I was moving?” Now she had me on the defensive right where she wanted me. After letting the silence fuel my speculation she said, “Actually I’m buying my own business. You know how I like the technical work and don’t really care for the sales end of the bank? Well the title company was up for sale. Shelia that owns it is willing to finance part of the purchase and stay on while I learn the business. It seemed like a good move to make. So as of Monday that’s where I’ll be.”

  I could see she was waiting to get my reaction. But what was my reaction? Judy with her own business. “But who’s going to be my loan processor?” I blurted out.

  “Well that’s just like you. Thinking of yourself. Not that you’re glad for me. Or you know I’ll do a great job.” She was acting hurt but you could tell it was an act. She was in too good of a mood to be bothered by my reaction.

  I tried to recover. “I’m not worried about you at all. You will do a great job with the title company. You’re great at all the loan detail and you know a lot of the basics already.” That pleased her. The more I thought about it the more sense it made. “You already know the people at the court house for the records end of the business. And you know a lot of the realtors from working at the bank. It makes sense. But aren’t you worried about owning and running your own business? It’s a big change from drawing a salary.”

  Mary Beth leaned in and said, “She’ll do great. I wish I had thought of it. Running your own business sounds like a great adventure.” Now Mary Beth sounded like she could jump ship. What next?

  I turned back to Judy and asked, “But what about seeing you? I mean if we’re not working together I won’t see you as often.”

  Judy slipped her hand in mine and gave me a full blast of her blue eyes. “But Mitch you’re not thinking about the other side of things.” I put on my clueless look which I do so effortlessly. She gave me a meaningful look. “If you’re not my boss anymore there is nothing to keep us from seeing each other on a social basis.”

  I had a flurry of thoughts. Did I want to be dating? Had I thought about it? Of course I had thought about it. How would this work out? “You are way ahead of me. You’ve had time to think about this haven’t you? I haven’t. But you bring up a really good point.” With that I was smart enough to shut up and enjoy the moment.

  Chapter 50

  Best Friend Visit

  Later that night I was sitting in my cozy small barn with the company of Dan and Biscuit. I was talking around a sandwich – one of my own. It was a triple decker with three different types of bread – rye, wheat and oat bran, sharp cheddar cheese as an offset to the smoked pepper turkey breast, Swiss cheese to mellow out the hard salami, mayo for moisture, stacker zesty dill pickles for some crunch and a leaf of crispy lettuce on each level. It was a masterpiece and was going down in my sandwich registry as the Mitch Special.

  The Silver Dollar may have beer but they don’t have food. I was having supper with my best friend – Dan. There is something mighty peaceful about sitting in a musty smelling barn with horses, having the day’s work behind you, and bed and a good night’s rest to look forward to. And now with a decent meal in my stomach things were just about as good as they get. The buzz from a couple of beers didn’t hurt my outlook any either.

  “So you two missed a great evening. It was a real mellow group. I needed that after the last couple of weeks. There has been way too much stress at work. It was good to see Charlie relax and enjoy himself. He used to come with the bank group and visit about things other than the bank. I don’t think I heard him talk business the whole night. Maybe he is remembering what Mr. Dunbar taught him. I think that would be good for the bank. I know it’s good for me. Maybe with the robbery behind us the bank can get its respectability back. You take it for granted that you work for a financial institution that has a stellar reputation. When you lose it you appreciate what it took so many years to earn. I have a lot of pride working there.”

  Shaking my head I moved on to less weighty matters. “You should have seen little Laurie play pool. That was something. And even Deb Miller got into the flow. She may not change a whole lot but I wonder how much of that attitude is her trying to prove herself in a new job in a new town. How much is a push by Dunbar to bring in a different culture.

  “Now we have the bad guys locked up and eventually the loot will get released by Sheriff Rawlins. Maybe the bank can go back to some semblance of normal.

  “Well maybe not normal. Judy is leaving the bank and buying her own business. She will be staying in town and that’s good. And now we can see each other. I’m not real sure how I feel about that. I mean I do want to date her but don’t know if I’m really ready. But hell the only way I’m going to find out is to try.

  “It’s still scary. Judy can be really tenacious and overpowering just like Emily. That is scary. But on the other hand she is considerate and respectful and fun. And it doesn’t hurt that she is good looking and curvy. But more importantly she is honest. What she says is what she means. There’s no fake side and no trying to use someone to get her way. That honesty is something you can trust. So you two better get used to having another person around the place. I wonder what TT will think of his dad having a steady. Hopefully he will be on good behavior around Judy. The one I should really worry about for poor behavior is you Biscuit. I’m not worried about Dan. Dan, you are always a gentleman.

  “You two go ahead and finish your hay. It’s been a long day and I need to get some rest.” I got up to shut off the fly specked light and a thought hit me. “Shit! What with going to the bar and all the news I forgot to pick up my dry cleaning again. I wonder what I have to wear tomorrow. Oh well maybe the Ice Princess will back off a little. It will sure seem different breaking in a new loan processor. I wonder how many trips a day I can sneak in to the title company.”

  SANDWICHES

  Easy Peasy – Start with heavily buttered rye bread. Top with hard salami sliced thin and place slices of pepper jack cheese
on top. Heat the sandwich to the point of the cheese melting by pan frying. Pull the top bread off and top off with sliced dill pickles and avocado spread. You will want the avocado spread chilled so it stays put in the sandwich and the pickles cold so they are crisp.

  Mitch Special - It was a triple decker with three different types of bread – rye, wheat and oat bran, sharp cheddar cheese as an offset to the smoked pepper turkey breast, Swiss cheese to mellow out the hard salami, mayo for moisture, stacker zesty dill pickles for some crunch and a leaf of crispy lettuce on each level. It was a masterpiece and was going down in my sandwich registry as the Mitch Special.

  The Mary Beth – Take out three slices of Honey Oat Thick sliced Bakery Style bread. Put margarine thickly on the tops of two of the slices. Put on several layers of dried salami on the first piece of bread and a thick slice of provolone cheese. Top with mayonnaise. On the next bread layer Genoa Salami. Drizzle on spun honey and lightly spread. Toast the bread first if you want a different texture.