* * *
We left the station after we agreed to work with the sheriff.
Mike stood erect and puffed his chest out. “Well, I guess we’re undercover agents, now.” Then he smiled. “Call me double O seven.”
“Double O dumb-ass, is more like it,” Frank laughed.
John fanned his two hundred dollars and said, “I already got my boots, so who’s laughing now.”
I grinned at John. “So what? They’re dead guy boots. I’m going to spend mine on writing lessons.”
With a perplexed look John said. “Writing lessons? What the hell for?”
“I like writing stories. It could be something I can do that gives me an option for my future.”
I asked. “How about you, Frank?
Frank grinned, “I’ve had my eye on a ’54 Chevy. It’s in rough shape, but I
can get it at a steal.”
Mike whipped his head around, “So, you’re going to steal it?”
Frank folded his arms, “No jackass! It’s been sitin in this guy’s front yard for a year, so I’m sure he’s willing to let it go cheap.”
“What do you mean by rough?” Mike asked.
Frank explained, “The body has some dents and rust but it runs. Oh, yeah! There’s no seats.”
I laughed. “No seats, sounds like a deal. So you’ll have to sit on a bucket?”
Mike squared his stance. “Bucket seats, just like those expensive sports cars.”
“No, for Christ sakes. I’ll get seats with backs. ”Frank grimaced, “I’m thinking lawn chairs. I can bolt them to the floor.”
“Great idea . . . what about the barbeque pit?” Mike held his stomach laughing at his own joke.
Our jokes continued until we got back to town. We wandered around flashing our new-found cash pretending we had a butt load more. As instructed, we went to check-in with Grandma Parker. She walked to the garden to show us where she had a hidden key in case we needed to get into her place.
Grandma said, “ Consider this your safe house.”
“Safe house. Huh! We are undercover agents.” Mike grinned. “And Grandma’s a G-Man.”
I punched Mike in the shoulder. “No, she a G-Ma.”
“Yes, G-Ma. Perfect.” John agreed.
Grandma shook her finger at the boys. “Pay attention now. You boys and my niece are the only ones that know where it’s hidden, but she’s passed now.”
My head bowed, “Sorry, I didn’t know. Who was your niece?”
Wiping her eyes Grandma said, “Lindy Thomas”
Mike blurted out. “The woman in the car?”
“Yes, but she was a good person. I know the truth.” Grandma Parker stood on her porch and pulled the corner block from the top of windowsill to show us the key.
The block was perfectly hollowed out to fit the house key. It made me wonder why Grandma did this. There must be more to her story. Once she showed us, she slid the block back in place. It fit snug; no one would suspect anything.
She turned toward the door. “I’ve got a heck of a lot to do today, so ya’ll skedaddle, now.” Waving her hand in the air. “Go on. The sheriff gave you that money to flash around. Go buy something.”
We walked toward Main street. Mike wanted to buy some joke books and John wanted to spend a little of his cash on alligator jerky. John loved jerky and this was a treat he couldn’t pass up. Frank and I already had plans for our money so we just tagged along.
After about an hour we got bored and decided to split-up. John and Frank went go to watch Wilkies property. Mike and I went go over to the hotel to see if the divers were back in town. Maybe we could do more to catch the bad guys than just flash some cash around town. We planned to meet at Grandma P’s in the afternoon.
When Mike and I got to the hotel we saw the divers car. They were back and they spotted us when we were snooping in the car window.
Mike yelled, “They’re coming. Let’s get out of here.”
We ran but they followed in their car. That was their mistake, we lost them easily cutting through yards and darting down alleys. As soon as we were clear we headed to our safe house.
As we rounded the corner to Grandmas I whispered, “Mike grab the key, I’ll watch for the anyone following us.”
Mike went to the porch, but he couldn’t reach the corner block without standing on the railing. He was the shortest at only five foot two. Bracing himself with one hand on the house, he stood teetering on the railing as he reached to pull out the corner block. He lost his balance and fell crushing the boxelder.
“Shit. Holy crap.”
“Mike, what are you doing? Did you get the key?”
“No.” Crawling out of the bush his eyes widen. “Is that poison ivy? It looks like poison ivy.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “It’s sumac, nobody grows poison ivy next to their porch.” I grabbed Mike’s shirt. “You be the lookout, I’ll get the key.”
I snatched the key and let us into the house.
Mike rubbed the scratches on his arms and legs. “Well, it looked like poison ivy.”
“It’s not, trust me.”
“But it’s starting to itch.” Mike insisted.
I sat resting my head on the table while Mike scratched and squirmed.
About an hour later Frank and John showed up with some interesting news.
I opened the door to let them in. “The divers are back in town. We saw them at the hotel, but they saw us too. They followed us but we lost them.”
Mike asked, “Did you see anything at Wilkies?”
“Yes . . . Grandma.” Frank sat down on a kitchen chair. “They just opened the gate for her, no questions asked.”
“Whoa, that’s crazy.” Mike clawed his leg. “Do you think she’s in on it?”
“It’s time we go see the sheriff.” John pleaded.
Nodding our heads in agreement we left the safe house and headed to the sheriff’s station. The walk took about a half hour–twenty minutes for normal undistracted people, but we were boys and always distracted.
“Hey Kevin-the-writer, this adventure could be your first story.” Mike taunted, “I want to be the hero. Make sure I’m the hero, Kevin.”
“Oh! You will be. The hero that fell off the porch into the sumac bush.”
“I swear it was poison ivy.” Mike argued, “And the railing was wobbly.”
When we arrived at the sheriff’s office, Inspector Hawkins was nowhere in sight. We asked to see the sheriff. A deputy ushered us in to his office and we gathered around his desk.
I started the conversation by saying, “ We have some information that may be surprising.”
You could almost see Sheriff Carson’s ears twitch. “Okay, well let’s hear it.”
Frank took over, “We saw Grandma P visit Tad Wilkins place.”
Sheriff Carson furrowed his brow. “So, this seems to be of some concern.”
“Yes.” John said, “Shouldn’t it be?”
A broad smile formed on the sheriff’s face, “Grandma Parker is not here just to make sure you’re safe. She is working with us to get more information on Wilkie, her stepbrother.”
“Stepbrother?” Frank scratched his head. “That explains why she was welcomed, but?”
Sheriff Carson hesitated. “She has the inside track to getting information, without appearing suspicious.” Carson sucked on his cigar. “She helped me out of a tight spot in the past, so I know she can be trusted. ”
It was late in the day, so the gang and I headed home. We would meet tomorrow at the quarry.
Later that night I had unexpected visitors snooping around the house. I didn’t see who they were, but it raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Was someone looking for the rest of the money? Our dog chased after them and returned gnawing on a red bandana.
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