Chapter 8 #2
“Okay, this was before I bought it,” Myrna said as she sat before the computer. She clicked by several of them, then pointed. “This is my office.” She looked around and shook her head. “Don’t judge me.”
“We’re not,” Jake said, and everyone nodded.
“I didn’t bring anything with me, but I hid things.
In the office, the desk sits on a rug. Climb beneath the desk, lift the rug from the back, where your feet would be, and the fourth floorboard toward the front of the desks is loose.
” She looked at them with a grin. “The floorboards are six inches wide. The fourth and fifth one are loose. That’s where my laptop, purse, and banking information is.
” She sighed and shook her head. “I was just paranoid enough when I left that I thought those things would slow me down.”
“Very smart,” Duane said with a nod, and wrote things down. “Anything else?”
She closed her eyes, worked her lip with her teeth, and thought, then opened her eyes and clicked through the photos again.
“This is the pantry, off the kitchen, again, these photos were taken before I purchased the home, but on one shelf are the canisters for flour, sugar, stuff like that. Behind these, there is a false panel in the wall. I’m not sure exactly where.”
“Why not?” Clark asked.
“Because I have to remove all five of these canisters and tap around until it opens.”
“Got it,” Duane said as he wrote down. “What’s in the space behind it?”
“Cash. When I was dating Randy, I would get my check the day before payday, I set it up with my boss. Cash it, and put most of it there. I caught him going through my purse once, looking for money. When he realized he thought he brought home more than I did, he stopped trying to steal from me when I told him if he took my money, he had to pay my bills, or I would call the police for theft. Only three weeks later was the first time he put me in the hospital.” She pointed to her face.
“I had broken up with him six months prior to that. He thought I was an easy target. He didn’t expect me to fight back. ”
“Good for you,” Pedro said quietly as he laid a hand on her shoulder.
“How much?” Duane asked.
“Last time I counted it was close to twenty grand.” She looked at him with a grin. “Don’t judge me, but it’s divided between a cigar box and a coffee can.”
All the men grinned. “Anything else?”
She flipped through the photos to remind herself of what her home looked like, and stopped on the photo of a bedroom.
“Myrna,” Duane said quietly and waited until she looked up at him.
“Whatever you want. I totally understand what Lloyd said about serving a warrant. If anyone comes to investigate, then they can show the warrant, though no one but you has to look at it. I will tell Wilson to get whatever you need.” He shook his head at her.
“We have no idea when it will be safe for you to return home. Because of them stealing Sally from you, it’s a felony, and the FBI are involved.
They can’t get out of those charges. Get most of your life back.
I’m not saying they’ll bring your furniture, but your personal items might help you be grounded through all of this. ”
“Okay, I have four suitcases beneath the bed in this room. If they wanted to fill them with my clothes from my closet and dresser, I wouldn’t be opposed.”
“Okay, that’s better.” Duane nodded as he wrote down more instructions.
“What about Sally?” Pedro asked and looked at the others’ confused looks. “Her horse. She’s in quarantine over at the barns here at New Double, along with my horse, Chocolate Champion.”
“Champ’s granddaddy?” one of the men asked in shock. “I’m Scott. When I get a chance, I help at New Double.”
“Yes, Champ’s granddaddy.”
Myrna went through the photos again nodding, then looked up at Duane.
“This building is where Sally’s tack is.
You walk in, and on your left is a door.
Through that door is Sally’s tack. She had three blankets, two saddles, several halters and bridles.
Along with a lot of other things.” She sighed and shook her head.
“It might be better to have your friend call me through Skype, or Facetime, so I can see what they are getting when it comes to Sally’s things.
Again, don’t judge me, but she’s a spoiled horse.
” She grinned when everyone snorted a laugh and looked at Reid.
“What?”
“Nothing, but does she have any toys?”
“A ball, and three obnoxious squeaky rubber chickens. They are somewhere in her pasture. One is green, one is pink, and one is tie-dyed.”
“Okay.” Again, Duane wrote things down. They didn’t have anything else to say after that, and as they went to leave Duane looked at them.
“I don’t know when you’ll hear from us again.
We’re not avoiding you, Pedro and Shay are with you every day, and they are armed.
I feel comfortable letting that continue. ”
“We,” Clark said as he looked at the others. “Will be at the entrance of New Double twenty-four-seven until everything is clear.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll be taking turns. There’s something we need to build, and we can work on that as we protect the entrance.”
“What are you building?” Duane asked with a confused look.
“Think of the cabins at Broken and New Double.”
“Okay.”
“Think twice as big, but no bedrooms. It will be a security office. Once this bull with Myrna is over,” he said, and whipped his head toward her. “I’m not saying it’s bullshit in that it’s your fault, it’s bullshit as in what Mosher is doing. Corrupt police sort of bull shit.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and once this is built, Erin’s got feelers out for a security guard.”
“Who?” Duane asked, and frowned when Clark grinned.
“Kevin.”
“Lassiter? Is he ready to retire?”
“Almost, and by the time he is, he’ll have his own office, just like you do, however, his won’t have horses close by.” They shared a chuckle, and Duane frowned. “What type of security would he have to do?”
“I can probably answer that,” Pedro said. “We have been running the horses for over a month now, and Naomi and Cole want to sell some. We’re going to have buyers, other trainers, and possibly jockeys come to check out the horses.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“Don’t forget,” Shay said. “Clem’s leaving soon to go look for help for RRR.”
“Damn, I forgot about that.” He looked at Pedro and Myrna and explained what Shay’s statement meant. “Yeah, I can see a need for shelter for him. I hope he comes to work here. I know Caleb would like that.”
They didn’t stay long after that, and when they left, Pedro immediately went to her and held out his arms. He sighed in relief when she slammed into his chest, and he held her tight. They stood there in the middle of the living space for almost ten minutes before she looked up at him.
“Thank you, it’s times like this that I feel so weak and helpless.”
He took her chin in his fingers and lifted her face to his. “This isn’t your fault. You were backed into a corner and did everything you could to survive. You got yourself and Sally to safety, that’s all that matters. The other things can be replaced.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as she rose on her tiptoes and placed her lips gently on his.