the front of her house.
“Yes, ma’am, I stopped by a couple of times yesterday, but…”
“Probably these darn meds I’m on. The fools have me sleeping almost sixteen hours a day, don’t hear a damn thing. Give me that,” she said and snatched the envelope from Bobby’s hand.
“If I can just get you to sign here,” he said and held out the clipboard with the attached pen.
“An awful lot of bother if you ask me,” she replied, then half balanced on the crutch as she dashed off a scrawl three lines high.
“Yes ma’am,” he said and smiled.
“There. Satisfied?” She thrust the clipboard at him in an almost stabbing motion.
“Thank you,” he said and quickly fled her front door.
He was outside the lobby of a senior high-rise waiting for the phone to ring on the other end. He was getting the once-over from two women with matching walkers who had stopped and were staring.
“Hello?” a voice answered just after the second ring.
“Mrs. Johansson, I’ve a notification for you down here in the lobby. I’m afraid I need a signature.”
“Not a problem, they called earlier and said you’d be by. I’ll buzz you in. I’m in seven-twenty, come on up.”
He hung up. The two women followed him over their shoulders as he went through the security door and onto the elevator. Seven-twenty was halfway down the hall on the left-hand side. The door opened as he approached.
“Wonderful, thank you for being so prompt,” the woman said. She smiled a nice smile, signed his clipboard, handed it back to him, took the envelope and closed her door. The entire exchange took less than ten seconds.
He stopped for coffee on the way back, lingered over a second cup and assessed the people around him. The coffee shop seemed to be full of an awful lot of people with very little to do on a workday morning in the middle of the week.
He was standing tall in front of Marci’s receptionist counter before eleven.
“Any problems?” she asked looking halfway surprised.
“No, everything went just fine. The one woman was on a crutch and mentioned her medications so I figure she must have been asleep and unable to hear me yesterday. The other woman, Johansson, couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.”
That last bit seemed to make perfect sense to Marci. “Very well, tomorrow I want you to call first. We’ll see if we have need of your services.” Fortunately she didn’t flash her grin, instead she simply stared at Bobby as if to ask, “Anything else.”
“I’ll be sure to check in tomorrow,” he said and walked onto the elevator just as a couple of suits walked off.
He returned home in the early afternoon. The squad cars were gone and the scotch tape on the apartment door was still attached. He spent the afternoon reading and occasionally looking out the window. He never saw the SUV. He made dinner, finished the book later in the evening and went to bed around eleven. He was up once in the middle of the night but still was unable to spot a trace of the SUV.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Bobby phoned Marci the following morning to see about working.
“Hi Marci, how are you this morning?”
“Fine, thank you.” He could feel the chill coming from the other end of the phone.
“This is Bobby, calling to see if you have anything for me today.”
“Yes, I recognized your voice. No, everything is quite in order. We certainly won’t be needing your services today. Perhaps try again tomorrow. Anything else?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Thank you,” she said attempting to sound cheerful before she abruptly hung up.
He wasn’t all that disappointed.
He received the same response from Marci the following morning and was only too glad to get off the line. The newspaper had a sketchy, vague article about an “incident” at his address but not much else in the way of information.
Wild and crazy guy that he was, he went to the library and picked up another book. He logged onto the library computer to see if he
“Yes, ma’am, I stopped by a couple of times yesterday, but…”
“Probably these darn meds I’m on. The fools have me sleeping almost sixteen hours a day, don’t hear a damn thing. Give me that,” she said and snatched the envelope from Bobby’s hand.
“If I can just get you to sign here,” he said and held out the clipboard with the attached pen.
“An awful lot of bother if you ask me,” she replied, then half balanced on the crutch as she dashed off a scrawl three lines high.
“Yes ma’am,” he said and smiled.
“There. Satisfied?” She thrust the clipboard at him in an almost stabbing motion.
“Thank you,” he said and quickly fled her front door.
He was outside the lobby of a senior high-rise waiting for the phone to ring on the other end. He was getting the once-over from two women with matching walkers who had stopped and were staring.
“Hello?” a voice answered just after the second ring.
“Mrs. Johansson, I’ve a notification for you down here in the lobby. I’m afraid I need a signature.”
“Not a problem, they called earlier and said you’d be by. I’ll buzz you in. I’m in seven-twenty, come on up.”
He hung up. The two women followed him over their shoulders as he went through the security door and onto the elevator. Seven-twenty was halfway down the hall on the left-hand side. The door opened as he approached.
“Wonderful, thank you for being so prompt,” the woman said. She smiled a nice smile, signed his clipboard, handed it back to him, took the envelope and closed her door. The entire exchange took less than ten seconds.
He stopped for coffee on the way back, lingered over a second cup and assessed the people around him. The coffee shop seemed to be full of an awful lot of people with very little to do on a workday morning in the middle of the week.
He was standing tall in front of Marci’s receptionist counter before eleven.
“Any problems?” she asked looking halfway surprised.
“No, everything went just fine. The one woman was on a crutch and mentioned her medications so I figure she must have been asleep and unable to hear me yesterday. The other woman, Johansson, couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.”
That last bit seemed to make perfect sense to Marci. “Very well, tomorrow I want you to call first. We’ll see if we have need of your services.” Fortunately she didn’t flash her grin, instead she simply stared at Bobby as if to ask, “Anything else.”
“I’ll be sure to check in tomorrow,” he said and walked onto the elevator just as a couple of suits walked off.
He returned home in the early afternoon. The squad cars were gone and the scotch tape on the apartment door was still attached. He spent the afternoon reading and occasionally looking out the window. He never saw the SUV. He made dinner, finished the book later in the evening and went to bed around eleven. He was up once in the middle of the night but still was unable to spot a trace of the SUV.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Bobby phoned Marci the following morning to see about working.
“Hi Marci, how are you this morning?”
“Fine, thank you.” He could feel the chill coming from the other end of the phone.
“This is Bobby, calling to see if you have anything for me today.”
“Yes, I recognized your voice. No, everything is quite in order. We certainly won’t be needing your services today. Perhaps try again tomorrow. Anything else?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Thank you,” she said attempting to sound cheerful before she abruptly hung up.
He wasn’t all that disappointed.
He received the same response from Marci the following morning and was only too glad to get off the line. The newspaper had a sketchy, vague article about an “incident” at his address but not much else in the way of information.
Wild and crazy guy that he was, he went to the library and picked up another book. He logged onto the library computer to see if he
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