Page 12 of Astrid
“Good, I feel better. I know you’re the comms woman, but is there any one of you so far that could help us in getting small pieces like you just strapped on my leg? I’m trained in weapons, but we use whatever Tom Erwin brings to the range.”
“Who’s Tom Erwin?” Astrid asked when he slowed, and she saw the road went left or right, and Alan took the right fork.
Alan gave a mirthless laugh. “He’s the local sheriff, Wyatt’s cousin, and he’s training us J’s and A’s in weapons.” He looked at her with a grin. “Before you ask, Wyatt is engaged to Morgan. They’re getting married the weekend after Labor Day.”
“Oh,” Astrid said, and grabbed her regular cell phone, and began snapping additional pictures before they arrived at their destination. She shut it off, and stuffed it beneath her seat, in case they checked her purse. As Alan slowed down, she dug through it, and sighed in relief when she realized she had a pad of paper and pen. Pulling them, she began writing things down, making sure she looked like she belonged there.
The next set of people to stop them also had guns, but these ones were carrying military-grade weapons. She knew this, because she herself had used what they were holding on her own missions with the military. She made sure her button cam got a good look at them, before she turned toward the man who approached Alan’s window. Before he got to the opened window, she grabbed her purse and dropped it on the floor, shoving it beneath her seat with her feet. It had just disappeared when this man, who was a little bit cleaner than the last one, spoke. At least he didn’t have tobacco spit running down his unkempt beard.
“Name?”
“Alan Stuart, I have an appointment with Neil to put up some shelves.”
The man only nodded, stepped back, and pulled out what Astrid only thought of as a walkie. However, they couldn’t hear what was being said. The man stepped back to the window, and frowned at both of them. “Who’s that?” He pointed to Astrid.
“My assistant,” Alan didn’t hesitate, and the man must have believed him, because he nodded and spoke into the walkie. In less than a minute, he nodded, then pointed to an area that already had several vehicles parked.
“Park over there, and we’ll escort you in,” the man said, and Alan did as told. They both exited the vehicle, and Astrid was surprised nothing was said when Alan pointed the fob and locked the Jeep, stuffing the keys in his front pocket. They followed the man they’d talked to, and if they hadn’t had an escort, Astrid would have gotten lost after the third turn. It made her wonder if they were taking all these different turns to try to trip them up, so they didn’t try to memorize where they were going. Astrid suspected that when they passed the same picture on the wall for the third time. They finally arrived at a door with two more men standing outside holding their military-grade weapons. The guy talked to one of them, then he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Alan and Astrid with the new people.
Without saying a word, the guy opened a door and pointed for Alan and Astrid to enter. Staying close together, they walked in, and saw a man sitting in a leather chair before a huge executive desk, smoking a cigar.
“Welcome,” he said, and slowly stood. He came around the front of the desk, leaned his hips on it, crossed his ankles and looked down his nose at Astrid. “Who do you have here with you?”
“My assistant,” Alan said.
“Does she have a name?”
“Jane,” they both said at once, and it took everything Astrid had not to laugh. They had not discussed a different name for her on the way to their destination. The man gave them the stink eye, but he sighed, then placed his hands on the desk on either side of his hips, studying the two of them intently.
“What can I do for you?” Alan asked. “You told me on the phone that you wanted some shelves put up?”
“I do, well, I don’t, but my wife does. I know it sounds trivial, I could put them up myself, or even have one of my men put them up, however, she wants a larger pantry.” He straightened up and told them to follow him. This time, they made a straight line from what Astrid thought of Neil’s office to the kitchen. He paused when a woman was there, then went to her and kissed the side of her head. “Dear, this is the man I asked to put up those shelves for you.”
“Neil,” the woman whined in exasperation. “I don’t want just shelves, I want a whole new kitchen.”
“Excuse me?” Neil looked at her in shock. “I thought you wanted a new pantry.”
“I do, but I also want a new kitchen.” She waved her hand around, and that’s when Astrid noticed that the entire room was very outdated compared to the rest of the house. “You said I could do anything to the house that I wanted to when I moved in. I want a new kitchen.” She crossed her arm and actually stamped her foot as she glared at Neil. Astrid assumed it was her fiancé, because she wore a huge diamond on her finger, but no wedding band.
Neil looked at Alan sheepishly. “Sorry, but can you build a new kitchen?”
Alan frowned and looked at the woman. “Do you want to change anything?”
“No, I like the setup, the only thing I’d like is new cupboards, something like this,” she said as she pulled her laptop over and accessed a website. She turned it over to Alan, he leaned in and nodded. “Those colors?”
“Yes.”
Alan pulled his tape measure and started measuring, calling out numbers to Astrid. It took a good hour to get everything written down, and discuss everything with the woman, who they never got her name, when she suddenly asked in horror, “Will you make the new cabinets here?”
“No, I’ll make them back in my shop, and when they’re done, I’ll bring them in and install them. Because you’re only getting new cabinets, then we won’t have to tear your kitchen apart. You might only be inconvenienced for a day or two. If I could have your name and number, I can call you when I’m close to getting done, and you can start emptying these.” He pointed to the existing cabinets, and asked, “Would you mind if I donated these? They’re still in great shape, and I can donate them and someone less fortunate could pick them up for a song.”
“I don’t care, I just want them out of my house,” the woman said. She picked up the pad of paper Astrid had laid down, along with the pen, and wrote on it. “My name is Mandi, and I just gave you my e-mail, cell, and the house phone. Do you know how long it’ll take?”
“At least four weeks.” Alan nodded to her, then looked at Astrid with a frown. “Will that fit into our schedule?” he asked, to make sure he didn’t step on any toes.
“It works for me,” she said. “I checked your schedule before we came out here. Four weeks sounds good.”
“So, I can have them done and installed before Labor Day? Neil and I are entertaining a large group of people that entire weekend.”
