Chapter 17 #2
“I know you guys are or were worried about Marcia and me. I’m telling you right now, there is nothing to worry about.
We had a nice talk last night, and she explained about her being on her phone all the time.
She included me in the text thread she had with this guy, and that’s what I’ve been doing, I’ve been reading their texts.
I can say that there is nothing sexual or romantic between them. ”
“Who is the guy?” Clark asked, concerned for his friend.
“Do you know her story?”
“No.”
Reid spoke then, “You were the first guy from Delta, outside of me, that came to Erin for a job. I know Erin knows everyone’s story, and I know Opal’s story.
Only because I was a real fucking bastard to her, and my actions against her almost cost me losing Erin.
” He turned to Denver and they exchanged nods.
Then he turned to Clark. “All the women have stories like we do. We’ve heard Pru’s, or bits and pieces of it, we know about Naomi because it was on national television, and we needed to know when we went to get her ranch from Wyoming, but Opal, Marcia, and Adele, I do not know their stories. ”
“I have Marcia’s permission to tell you guys, but do you want it here in the parking lot, or in the restaurant?”
They all looked around, and nodded toward the building.
“The restaurant, if you don’t mind,” Clark said.
They all went inside, and before joining the others at the table, they hit the restrooms and by the time they joined the others, they were ready to eat.
No one said a word as they ordered, and only made small talk until their food arrived, then they spent the next ten minutes appeasing their hunger.
While they talked, Lloyd explained what Marcia had gone through and how she ended up at Broken Wheel.
Other than a few questions, the entire table was silent as he told the story.
They finished the meal and the tale at the same time, and they sat there lost in their own thoughts.
“Damn,” Kevin said to break the silence. “I’m not being vulgar here, because I’ve seen a lot of shit in the course of my job, but to go through something like that, it’s incomprehensible to me.”
“We do it because we love our country, and want to serve to keep everyone safe,” Clark said. “I can’t speak for the others, but I know they’ve gone through hell to do just that.”
They remained silent and when the waitress asked if they wanted dessert, some of them took the opportunity, and everyone asked for more coffee. As they waited for the sweets to be delivered, Kevin cleared his throat again.
“How far are we from Los Angeles?”
“About four hours,” Ilsa said.
“Okay, I don’t know if I should bring this up here, but Katherine asked me if I could go to her apartment and get some things for her.
” He took the list out of his back pocket and passed it to her.
“She also wants you to talk to Lyle Anderson to see if we can bring her car, phone, and laptop back with us.”
“I don’t see why not,” Ilsa said, then turned to Jason with a raised brow.
“Only after the arrests are made. The biggest thing right now is getting a judge to sign off on the warrants. Thankfully, we’ve been working closely with Anderson, and he knows what we plan.
He said he had several judges that owe him favors.
I want to remind you guys that this won’t be happening overnight.
It might take up to two weeks to get our ducks in a row before the arrests are made. ”
“We understand,” the men said, and sipped their fresh coffee.
“What about Mason?” Denver asked. “Will he be arrested along with Grayson?”
“Sort of,” Jason said on a sigh as he scooped up a bite of his cherry pie.
He paused, then looked around the table.
“He knows he’s going to be arrested, he’s out of the way right now, and he’s cooperating with the DA.
Will he avoid jail time? I doubt it, but he won’t be arrested and thrown in the same jail as Grayson and his goons.
We still have a couple of things to do before we make the arrests. ”
“Like?” Perry asked.
“Like I want to go to the prison and talk with Michael Babcock about his involvement in the organization Duane told us about. I know you guys are wondering why Manchester isn’t here with us, but I think it would be better for him to stay back, and when the trial comes, then we can call him forward.
I don’t want the people we’re after to see him and get ideas of taking him out. ”
The others nodded, and as they finished up the meal, Ilsa spoke, “I don’t know what is planned about our security. I have three spare rooms at my home. Unfortunately, they each have a queen bed in them.”
“What about Katherine’s apartment?” Kevin asked. “Do you think we could stay there?”
“Yes, she has two bedrooms.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a set of keys.
She removed one ring with two keys on it, and held it out.
Ryan was the one to take it from her. “Her apartment is a five-minute drive from my house. The purple key is for the outside entrance door. The green one is for the actual apartment door. Why don’t we all stop there on the way to my house. ”
“Is her apartment first?” someone asked.
“Yes.” They all nodded and finished up their meal, then argued with Jason when he grabbed the bill, but when he only said it was a business expense, they gave in, but made sure that each of them left a tip.