Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Tuesday’s Tidbits. #2
Good morning to everyone! How are you all doing today? It is a very mild day here with a temperature of 25F (-4C) and cloudy once more. Plus there was ice fog again overnight, so the trees have a new layer of frost on them this morning. Much of the former frost had disappeared finally from the previous ice fog that we experienced last week.
The chickadees have been here this morning, along with the nuthatches and at least 2 blue jays. I have not seen, or heard, any other birds this morning. It is quiet outside right now, I do not see any birds around at all. No squirrels either. My little squirrel that had been coming seems to have gone away now too. Very strange. Oh, I just saw a chickadee. He flew away though. Sigh.
The other day I had to phone the government about something. I needed a letter from the government so that I could send this letter to the government to prove that I had done something that I was told to do. It did not really make much sense to me, but I phoned. I was put on hold. 15 minutes passed. 25 minutes passed. One hour passed. If this was not so important I would have hung up. But I needed that letter, and soon. One hour and 15 minutes.
I must have listened to that same musical arrangement at least 550 times now. One hour and a half. Still waiting. Another 5 minutes and an agent answered the phone. Steve does little happy dance. I explained that I needed a letter from her. She had never heard of such a thing. She asked what it was for. I had just told her, but I told her again. She did not understand why I needed this letter, or what kind of letter I needed. Sigh. I explained it a third time.
She was very nice about it all, she had just never heard of needing a letter for this thing and did not know what to write in the letter. She had been working there for several years and had never come across such a request. Naturally. This is me we are talking about. I explained it a fourth time. She asked what needed to be in the letter. Now, I am not quite sure, but it seemed to me I had mentioned that 4 times already. Sigh. I explained it again, making sure I gave her the particulars of what needed to be in the letter, just like I did the other 4 times.
I spoke slower this time. People often say I talk too fast. Others say I do not talk enough. Some say I talk too quietly. Others can hear me 20 feet away even when I am talking in the same tone of voice as normal. What can I do? Sigh. She said again that she had never heard of needing such a letter. I had been told by the government that this was a normal thing and that the government would know what I am talking about when I ask for this letter. Sigh.
One part of the government has no idea what the other part of the government is doing. And I am in the middle. I have no idea what is going on either. She put me on hold again. For another 15 minutes. Listening to this same musical arrangement, which has been swirling around in my brain ever since. Very annoying really. I would like to forget it. But it remains. Sigh.
Finally she comes back and assures me that a letter will be sent out that day, which means I should have it by Friday. Finally, success. I hope, anyway. I figure she put me on hold so she could talk with her supervisor, or whatever that person is called. I just hope it is the right letter. The chickadees are back. There are two young deer in the yard. Time for more coffee, how about you? I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Major Case. Chapter 5. Betrayed.
Now we spend some time with the Major. He was in his office with Jeff and Antonio when Hal came in. “Hi Major,” he said, “Milt sure seemed surprised when I told him about that PI you hired.” “You told Milt about that?” asked Major. “Yeah,” he said, “I thought you would have told him already, but I guess not.” “Jeff, if I tell you something and then say not to tell anyone, what does that mean?” asked the Major.
“Simply means I do not tell anyone inside or outside the organization,” he answered, “in other words, tight lips.” “Right,” said the Major, “now Hal, did you forget that?” “Well, no,” he said somewhat nervously, “but Milt is your right hand around here, so I figured it would be okay to tell him.” “Antonio,” said Major, “is he right about that?”
“Nope, the tight lips means we tell no one,” he answered, “not even the closest person to you. That is your job alone.” “Thank you,” said Major, “did that slip your mind Hal?” “Um, no, not exactly, I mean,” he began, “but it is my first time doing that, right?” “First time?” asked Major, “and how do I know that Hal? As you know, we have had some bad luck recently, and from my experience, loose lips tend to get looser over time.”
“No, no, not me Major,” he said, very nervously now, “but we know it was Milt now, right?” “Maybe, maybe not,” said Major, “who did you send with Milt on this run?” “Um, Carver, he was here and said he did not mind going out again,” said Hal. “Well, you did that right,” said Major. He then sent a text to Carver which read, ‘Milt has betrayed, you know what to do, then you finish the run.’ Carver replied with one word, ‘Done.’
Meanwhile, “Why we stopping here Carver?” asked Milt. “Nice bunch of trees,” he replied. “Again?” asked Milt, “we just stopped a half hour ago. I will wait here.” “I am your guard, remember,” said Carver, “I cannot guard you if you stay here, so get going.” Off they went into the trees. A single shot rang through the forest and Carver returned to the car and continued.
A little later he called Major. “Got a call on Milt’s phone, guy said he planted a bomb on a boat and the PI would be blown to little pieces,” said Carver, “I just said, good and not to call again for now.” “Your voices do sound alike on the phone,” said Major, “you did good, there will be an extra bonus for you because of that.” Then the Major called me. “Hi Major,” I said cheerfully, “no one is around so it is safe to talk.”
“Good,” he said, “those people know about you, your wife and the other two girls, plus your cat, but none of the others. You will have to leave, but not with the boat, it has explosives on it and will explode 10 minutes after you start that engine.” “Hmm, that is not good,” I said, “how did they find out?” “Loose lips on our end Steve,” he said, “not your fault. But it will be too dangerous for you and Macey if you stay there. Can the rest of your team handle it without you?”
“This case will need some very precise timing to get Macey,” I said, “I could coordinate things from the main island I suppose. But my cats are trained to find explosives. I will let them look and find out if it really is exactly 10 minutes, or what the time might be. Then perhaps we can let them have their fireworks and blow us to pieces. Will you trust me on this Major?”
“Sure, but what you are thinking is too dangerous Steve,” he said, “you could end up getting yourselves killed.” “We will take that chance,” I said, “we knew the danger when we took the case. If their bomb looks too crude to trust it, then we will leave instead.” “Okay,” he said, “I just hope you know what you are doing.” Then the Major turned to Jeff and Antonio.
“Take loose lips out and lose him somewhere,” he said, “then come right back.” He then called Dave and Rico to come and see him right away. Back to us. Rock and Annelie came walking by and stopped to say hi. I told them what had taken place. “I do not like that idea Steve,” said Rock, “you should just go back to the main island.”
“I want to check that bomb first, so I need to borrow MC,” I said. MC and Muffin went racing out to the boat and began looking around. It did not take them long to find the bomb and it had a reliable timer on it which was set for 10 minutes. That is perfect, I hope…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 