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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
While Tammy was on the phone, Misty was talking with Ezra, showing him a few details from his financial records that were out of place, things that just should not be there, more money coming in than was possible through their sales. Ezra just stood there listening to Misty, frowning and shaking his head.
Periodically he would say something short, like, “I don’t understand how” and “it just doesn’t make sense” and “how could it happen” and “what is all the extra money”. He seemed to be genuinely bewildered and concerned by all that Misty was showing him. I was proud of Misty, she was calm yet firm as she explained all of this.
She is normally a very shy woman, but she is certainly bold today. Finally Tammy was finished her phone call and rejoined us. “Misty has been showing me a lot of irregularities in our financial records,” said Ezra to Tammy, “I just don’t understand how things could be so bad. You told me that you could take care of the books for us and save us some money.
Where is all this extra money coming from that you show in our books?” “Well, I may have made a mistake here and there,” she said nervously, “I’m not a professional after all.” “This is more than just a mistake here and there,” said Misty, “you have been deliberately trying to hide things. You have not been honest with us since we came here. Now, we want some honesty!”
Misty then went to her bag and took out a package and dropped on the desk in front of Ezra. “Bath powder?” asked Ezra. “It is not bath powder,” I said, “although that is how it’s labelled. It is actually Meth, a horrible drug, and that package would be worth a lot of money. And that is just one such package. Nearly every box ordered by that woman has drugs in it, of various kinds.”
“So, now you are opening our customers parcels illegally,” shouted Tammy, “she’s a good customer and if we lose her we lose a lot of money! I can’t control what people put into their parcels when they order something and it’s none of my business anyway what they do!” “It is your business Tammy,” said Misty firmly, “you met with this woman 5 years ago and made a deal with her so she could bring her drugs in safely without the police watching her.
And you meet her in different places all the time to deliver her parcels, like yesterday when you met her men in a park near here. Then they gave you an address to deliver the next batch today. We checked that address, it’s an old abandoned house in an area you should be staying away from.” “You’re even spying on me now!” yelled Tammy, “Well, you are all fired, as of now! So get out of here!”
“You didn’t hire us Tammy, Sienna did,” I reminded her, “and she wants us to stay. Now, you have a choice, either contact the police and let them know we found all these drugs, or we will do it.” “I can’t do that!” she continued yelling, “this woman would have me and my family killed! Plus, we stand to make half a million dollars from this shipment. Then I can pay Finders the money I owe him and…”
She stopped there when she realized what she said about Finders. “What do you mean about owing Finders money?” asked Ezra. “Never mind, it was a personal loan,” she said in a more normal voice now. “She borrowed money to get her porn business up and running,” I told Ezra, “and now Finders wants his money back, with interest, and he wants it tomorrow or your family starts to die.”
Tammy looked over at me, quite surprised that I knew about this. “I am a private investigator Tammy,” I said, “it is my business to dig around and find out what is going on. And I don’t mean by myself, I have a large team that helps with all of this investigative work. We are professionals and we do our job well.” Then Tammy looked at Jennifer.
“Why is that woman always with you anyway,” said Tammy, “she makes me nervous, I don’t want her around anymore.” “If you are not doing anything wrong,” said Jennifer, “then you have no reason to be nervous.” “Jennifer is our bodyguard,” I said, “that is why she is always with us.” “Bodyguard?” she sneered, “She doesn’t even carry a gun, what good is she?”
“My wife carries a gun,” I said, “Jennifer doesn’t need one, she is more dangerous than any gun.” Tammy was turning red with anger right now. “Look, I have to go and deliver that shipment,” she said, “whether you like it or not. I’m already 20 minutes late and it will take me about 30 minutes to get there now. This is a lot of money for me and it gives me a chance to pay off Finders.”
“And, of course, your new porn studio is now ready to use,” I said, “except I am not going to let you use it. Your nice new studio is being dismantled as we speak.” Tammy’s mouth fell wide open and she ran toward me! “I’ll kill you for this!” she yelled. But Jennifer stood up and literally flung Tammy back onto her chair and stood beside her to make sure she stayed there.
Poor Ezra was sitting on his chair behind the desk with his head in his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said, “I just can’t believe it.” “You spineless wimp!” exclaimed Tammy, “That’s why I didn’t tell you anything, you would have been against it right from the start and we would have lost everything we worked so hard to build!”
“None of this is as important as our kids or your parents,” he replied, “don’t you even care that your dad was killed?” “That stupid man,” she said shaking her head, “he had to try and stop them from taking Johnny, that’s why he’s dead. He should have stayed out of it and he would still be alive.” “And what about our Johnny?” he asked.
“They were just taking him to his appointment at the studio,” she said casually, “I couldn’t make it because I had deliveries to do. Helene specifically wanted Johnny in the video that day.” He looked at Tammy, shocked by what she just said. “You’re using our kids in porn videos?” he asked, his voice trembling.
“Just Johnny and Judy, not the baby,” she said, “and it’s nothing serious anyway. The kids are so young they won’t even remember it.” “Time for changing of the guards,” said Jennifer, and she walked into the hall. Shortly after Sky came walking in. Just then there was a crashing in the outer office and…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
A man had just come in to talk with Mr. Finders and the secretary/receptionist had told him that Finders was too busy and could not see him right then. The man looked at her eyes that sent a chill through her. “He will see me,” said the man, and he continued to walk toward Finders’ office door. “No, Sir, you can’t go in there!” she shouted and she picked up her phone to let Finders know someone was coming.
But a large fist landed on that phone, smashing it to pieces. “Cheap plastic junk,” was all the man said. Lois looked way up to the face of this giant of a man and she sat silent in her chair. The office door was locked, but not for long as this giant gave it one whack with his hand, nearly knocking the door off it’s hinges.
Then the first man, a woman and the giant walked into the office. Finders, however, had heard Lois shout and was ready with his gun out and another man was there also and he too had his gun out. But suddenly they yelled and dropped their guns, staring in disbelief at how hot their guns had become. They tried to quickly pick them up again, but they were just too hot!
Finders and the other man, named Eddy, looked up at the three people in front of them. “Now Mr. Finders,” said the man, “perhaps we can sit down and talk.” “Uh, yeah, sure,” said Finders, “this is Eddy, he is my computer guy, I know little about those things, but Eddy can do anything with a computer. How may I help you?”
Finders was quickly trying to appear calm though he was actually sweating at this point. “My name is Aari,” he began, “this is my wife Kristina and this is Rock, my bodyguard. We are from Europe and I am the leader of a, shall we say, group, of men called Jensen’s Jaguars. We are usually kept quite busy in Europe so seldom come to America.
But, it was a bit slow right now and my wife’s sister called and asked if I would be interested in helping her boss with a job. So I said to myself, why not? My wife and I can turn it into a bit of a honeymoon too since we haven’t had time for one yet.
Her boss is someone you have met already, a man named Steve who is working for a young couple named Ezra and Tammy. I just wanted to let you know that I took the job, so me and my boys are here now. I would suggest that perhaps you leave those people alone or we will take you and your company apart. Any questions?”
“Did she also tell you that she owes me a lot of money?” Finders asked, “Plus, I’m the one with the studio she needs to make all those cool videos. I make her a lot of money and it’s time I started seeing my share of it. You tell her that!” Finders had stood up at the end, slamming his fist on his desk for extra emphasis on what he just said.
Aari sat calmly, showing no emotion whatever. Then he said, “Rock.” Then Rock went over and slammed his fist on the desk, breaking it in half. Aari and Kristina then stood up to leave. “Don’t make me do that to you Finders,” said Aari, then the three of them left.
After they were gone Lois went quickly into the office to find out what happened. Eddy was looking up the Jaguars and then told Finders what he discovered. “All there is about them comes from a police report,” said Eddy, “he has an estimated 150 men, they are a tough bunch and involved in a lot of different things, drugs, extortion, kidnapping, guns, gambling, murder for hire, major thefts including gold and jewels.
They’re a busy bunch, that’s for sure. And here’s something else that is very interesting, this guy has a sister whose name is Kat, leader of the Wildcats. Sound familiar boss?” “Yeah, now we know why those Wildcats helped Tammy’s parents,” said Finders, “she hired them, and using my money to do it!
Well, I don’t care how many people she hires, she is not going to cheat me! Get me Percy, he’s the best sniper in this area. Then get Tammy on the phone so I can talk some sense into her.” Meanwhile, back at Ezra’s office where Tammy has joined us. “Look,” said Tammy, “we have a business to run. You were hired to give us security, not question everything we do.”
“Tammy, without us your business would be finished quickly,” said Misty, “plus, you and your family will be helping the grass to grow over you. These questions are necessary to protect you, your family and your business. Now, relax, sit down and answer the questions my husband asks, and don’t lie. It’s easy for us to pick out a liar.”
I was quite surprised by Misty standing up to Tammy the way she did, pleasantly surprised. I think Misty is beginning to feel more comfortable in her role as my wife, and helper. Just then Tammy got a phone call, said “excuse me” and headed for the door.
However, Misty stood up in front of the door and wouldn’t let her past. “This is a private call Misty,” said Tammy. “This office is big,” said Misty, “go sit over there and we won’t be able to hear you.” I could see that Tammy was getting angry, but she said nothing and went over to the far corner of the office where there was a nice armchair, and she began talking quietly.
Misty remembered that I could now hear much better, and I could also hear both sides of the conversation when a person was on the phone. So, I listened intently to a very interesting conversation while Misty talked with Ezra…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 