Page 49 of Lorna's Savior
“WHAT!”Finn had been so shocked that he’d spat out the sip of beer he’d just taken. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“Nope, my two brothers live in Colorado now, and they contacted the government, or whoever they have to contact, and as we speak, they’re growing marijuana legally. Ren is the grower, and handles the weed part of the business, while Mac handles the CBD part of the business. This is in addition to everything else they sell.”
“Which is?”
“Organic soaps, shampoos, lotions, and herbal things like teas, supplements, and oils.”
“Damn, but what is the CBD stuff you mentioned?”
“I’m not exactly sure what it all entails, I didn’t want to get into a discussion about it, but from what little I understand, it has to deal with oils, hemp seeds, which are then used as pain meds, and stuff like that.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah,” Andy said as he sipped his beer. They sat there in comfortable silence until Finn frowned.
“You didn’t tell me what you do for a living now.”
“Oh, I’m a private investigator. I work out of my apartment.” Andy shook his head and looked off into space.
“What?”
“This case I’m working on. I’ve run all over the fucking country to gather information, and I have a feeling once I tell the man who hired me what I’ve found, there’s going to be hell to pay. I can’t get into the details, but it’s going to be bad.”
“Bad how?”
“Bad as in he’s been lied to for almost twenty-eight years and that time involves hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“Damn.” Finn studied his friend. “Will the blowback hit you?”
“Maybe, maybe not. But, it will hit someone I’m very close to.” From his expression Finn grinned.
“Do tell.”
Laughing, Andy settled back and caught the waitress’s eye. He indicated another round, and didn’t say a word until they were delivered. “A few weeks back, I had my carpets professionally shampooed, and the apartment next door had been painted. The smell was terrible and I didn’t want to walk on my carpets, so I rented a hotel room for a few days. I was out with some other friends, and met a woman.” Andy grinned at Finn’s not-so-shocked expression.
“You always were a player.”
“Thank you, I think,” Andy laughed. “Anyway, the woman my friends tried to hook me up with pissed me off, so I left them, and hooked up with someone else. SomeoneIliked, not who my buddy thought I would like. Anyway, one thing led to another and we ended up in my hotel room together.”
“I don’t know if I should say good for you, or tell you to be careful.”
“I was careful, but she disappeared in the middle of the night. I hadn’t realized she’d gone, until I woke the next morning.”
“So you didn’t even get her number?”
“I didn’t even get her name. She wanted to keep it anonymous. Anyway, sometime later, imagine my surprise when I was out on my deck, looked over, and she was standing on the deck next door. I invited her over, and we made dinner, then hooked up again. And I woke up alone in bed... again. I had to go out of town for two weeks for the case I’m working, and I didn’t see her again until the day I returned. I thought she’d been visiting the new neighbors, that was why she’d left in the middle of the night. I was wrong, shewasthe new neighbor.” Andy grinned at Finn’s shock.
“No way.”
“Way. Anyway, we ended up hanging out at her place this time. That was just last night. Unfortunately, I was the one that had to leave in the middle of the night. I had been expecting some information to come in on the case, and my phone, computer, and fax machine were burning up with the intel coming in.”
“So,youleftherthis time?”
“I did.” Andy grinned. “But, I made sure to fix a pot of coffee for her, and left her a note. She didn’t do that in the past.”
“Do you think this could go someplace?”
“I hope so. I know that I would like it to, but until this current case is settled, I’ll take what I can get.” Andy became silent and firmed his lips when Finn homed in on something.
