Page 51 of Lorna's Savior
“Ah, okay.” Andy put the car in gear, backed out, and headed in the right direction. A little over thirty minutes later, they arrived. Lorna directed him where to park, and somehow knew she should wait for him to open her door. She was glad she did, because he rewarded her with a kiss. Sighing, they broke apart. As they headed into the back entrance of the aquarium, a horn sounded twice, and they turned to look.
“Hey,” Finn called out from the front seat of his truck. “I’ve got baskets, where are we putting them?”
“Let me go see if Mr. Jones can unlock the door, but you’ll go in the third door down.” She pointed, then turned to Andy and said she’d be right back. Andy walked down and watched as Finn parked.
“What are you doing here?” Finn demanded as soon as he hopped out of his truck.
“I’m Lorna’s plus one.”
“Shit, is she the one that we talked about last week?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because, she’s one of my best employees, my fiancée’s best friend, as well as a friend of mine. I don’t have to tell you, but if she gets hurt, you’ll have to answer to me.”
Andy held up his hands, but stayed his ground. “I can handle it. She’s my girl, nothing to do with the case.” Finn only glared at him. When the door behind them opened, he shook his anger off when he spotted Lorna. “Where did you find this reprobate?” He laughed.
“He’s my neighbor. Oh, my god, you two know each other, don’t you?”
“Yep,” they both answered as Finn opened the tailgate of his truck. The three of them spent the next thirty minutes unloading all the baskets.
“What are these for?” Andy frowned as he watched Lorna pull a huge bag from beneath one table and start writing on small brown paper bags and smaller white squares. She had him tape them in front of the baskets.
“These are for the Chinese auction.”
“What exactly is going to happen here? I’ve never been to a fundraiser like this. I’ve heard Finn talk about them over the years, but never attended.”
“The event starts at six, out at the front entrance. There will be a portable bar set up, and snacks. That’ll be for an hour, then Mr. Jones, the director of the aquarium, and his employees, the ones that work with the fish, I don’t know if you’d call them veterinarians or not, I’ll have to ask Ronnie, anyway, they’ll give tours and tell the patrons what goes on behind the scenes. Then the party will end up here. The board of trustees, Mr. Jones, and the employees will answer any questions. There will be the Chinese raffle, and more food and drink.”
“Wow, do you know who the people make the checks out to?”
“Either the Larson Foundation, or the aquarium,” Finn said as he brought the last batch of backets in. “But, we’ll take all the checks back to the foundation and add it up, deposit it in our account, and then cut one check for them. We’ll present it to them a week later.”
“Okay.” Andy nodded and looked up when he saw an older gentleman enter. He instantly thought of Finn fifty years from now.
“Andy, have you met my grandfather? Eric, this is Andy, I served with him.” They shook hands, then Andy laughed and dropped to his knees to hold out his hands. In seconds, a black dog was all over him.
“How did you get custody of Major? This is Major, right?”
“It is.” Finn explained what had happened, and how Major had been injured and when he returned to duty, had been depressed.
“Damn, I’m happy for both of you. So you handled him for three years before getting out?”
“Yes.” Finn frowned, then nodded. “That’s right, you got out two years before I did.”
“I believe so,” Andy said as he gave his release date. They looked up when someone entered, and Andy saw red when the gentleman spotted Lorna, then went over to her, kissed her cheek, and hugged her. He must have made a sound, because Finn looked at him with a grin.
“Down boy, he’s only friends with her.”
“Who the fuck is it?”
“Patch.”
“No way,” Andy said in shock as the man turned away from Lorna and made his way over.
“Ball Buster?” Patch asked in shock, then gave him a man hug. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I settled here after getting out. Couldn’t do the guru, hoodoo shit my parents did. Became a private investigator. What about you? When did you get out?”
