Chapter 10
Three weeks later, Petra pulled into the driveway and as she turned the car off, she looked up and sighed heavily.
Standing in the doorway of the building Paul had decided to make into a motorcycle shop was the man himself.
Over the last few weeks, since moving in together, she had started to develop deep feelings for him.
She continued to sit there until he turned and she smiled when he gave a start when he saw her and come toward her.
She climbed out of her vehicle, and was at the trunk when he arrived.
Without saying a word, he reached in and grabbed several bags of groceries.
Neither of them spoke until they entered the kitchen.
“How did it go?” Paul asked as he started emptying the bags he’d placed on the counter.
“Good, I put in several applications. I’m not hopeful on some, but on others it seemed like there is potential.”
“Can you explain that?”
“I only picked places that we’ve seen several men go in and out of. Damn, that sounded so bad, like I’m looking to hook up with someone or something.”
“I understand, you’re talking places like the hardware store?”
“Yes, and the home improvement store, the diner, I’ve seen a lot of bikes parked outside of that on several occasions. I’m hoping to get that job, this way I can interact with them on a more personal basis.”
“I agree, did you stop by the post office?”
“I did, the mail is in the front seat of my car. I filled out the form with both of our names, and you handled the utilities two weeks ago. I believe that’s everything we need to do to get this place up and running.”
“Yes.” Paul started toward the back door, and paused when Petra called out to him.
“The mail is in the green bag on the front seat. There were several packages, however, I couldn’t make out the return address.”
Her statement caused Paul to stop, come back to her, and help her to finish putting the groceries away.
“Why don’t you go get it?”
“Because if there’s no return address, then I don’t want to open them in the house.
What if it’s someone from Devil’s Scorpions or any of their affiliates found out we’re undercover?
That they found us here? No, I won’t take my chances with the house.
I’ll take them out behind the far barn and open them. ”
“I’m going with you. I never thought of that.
” Petra hurried to finish putting the groceries away, and followed him out of the house.
As he opened the door, she told him the packages were in the green bag.
He took it, and she grabbed the envelopes that were beneath it.
She looked at the return address on one of them and called for him to stop.
“What?”
“This is from Kessler.” She held up one of the brown envelopes, and tore it open to quickly read.
“He said he and Flynn both sent us packages with surveillance equipment, both personal and for the property. He also states that if we need more, then to reach out to them.” She looked up and saw his thoughtful expression as he walked over to a picnic table they had found in one of the barns and brought it out to place under the big oak tree.
He withdrew the packages from the bag, then took his knife from his pocket.
Petra held her breath as he slowly, gently broke the seal, and opened the flaps of the box.
They both sighed in relief as nothing exploded.
Inside were several smaller boxes, and on the very top was a note.
This one was from Flynn stating what each of the boxes contained.
After Paul read the note, he passed it to Petra, then started removing the smaller boxes.
By the time the three larger boxes were opened and emptied, they had several small containers laid out on the table.
Before they could open the first one, a large brown delivery truck entered the driveway, and as the two looked at each other with a frown, they went over to see what was up.
“I have several packages for a Mr. Paul Rankin?”
“That’s me.”
“You the new owner here? I don’t ever recall delivering to you before. Not that it’s any of my business or anything.” He had talked as he went to the back of his truck, opened it, and hopped inside.
“The previous tenants were renters. They rented off me,” Paul said as he took the first package handed to him. He was surprised by its heft.
“Good to know,” the driver said as he handed out four more packages that Petra took.
As soon as the driver left, they went back over to the picnic table and set the boxes down.
This time, they studied them, and Petra grinned when she pointed to the return address.
They both laughed when they saw it was from Paul Flynn, and the address was his office in Washington, DC.
One of the boxes had and envelope taped to the front of it, and Petra grabbed Paul’s knife to open it.
“Damn,” she said as she read it, and Paul stepped closer to read over her shoulder. When they finished, they looked at each other with wide eyes. Instead of opening them there, they put the smaller boxes into the other boxes they had already opened, gathered everything, and took it inside.
“Downstairs?” Petra asked as she led the way to the basement.
“Yeah, I think that would be perfect.” They trudged down the steps, each making two trips, and by the time they had opened all the boxes, they shook their heads at all the equipment that had been sent to them by both the ATF and the DEA.
“Damn,” Paul said. “We’re going to be set up just fine. I can install these motion cameras on the outside of the house, just under the gutters, and on the bike barn.”
“Bike Barn?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what to call it yet. It’s not really a shop now, but it will be eventually. I don’t know if we should come up with a genuine name for it, or what. I’m kind of waiting for the others to arrive to see what they think.”
“Any idea when they will get here?”
“No, and I don’t know who will be arriving first. All I know is that they went to their own home states to clean up any last minute things they needed to.
I know some of them had property they rented, and they have to deal with them.
” He reached up and rubbed the center of his forehead.
“After I did what I had to, I found an old buddy from my cop days. He’s a tattoo artist, and he was able to remove the shit on my forehead.
It took three sessions, with time between each one.
I had to heal before I came to see you.”
“Ah, I understand. So, Flynn and Kessler sent us body cameras, cameras to put on the buildings, but what could we possibly do with this equipment?”
“It’s a computer monitor, or TVs whatever you want to call them so that we can hook all of this equipment to them and keep an eye on things.”
“I understand that, but I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Will someone have to monitor this twenty-four seven?”
“I don’t think so. It records and we can store them in the cloud. I would say that we would only have to have someone down here if we have a large party and other bikers are invited. I also don’t think they would have to be monitored during the entire event.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we can take still photographs of them, and later, after the party, we can take those photos and run them through facial recognition to see if anyone has a warrant out against them. If they do, then we can plan one of our events, invite them, and see if they want to purchase merchandise we will offer.”
“Ah, and if they try to get out of the charges for being in possession of said merchandise, then there will be the outstanding warrant against them.” She laughed. “Either way, they’re screwed. It might also depend on what the warrant is as to how hard the law will come down on them.”
“Exactly. We’ll have to make sure that we’re not accused of entrapment, but there’s no reason why we can’t take a still of them and run them through the program. We’re going to want to start our own war room against these people. You still have clearance, right?”
“Yes, and the person sitting here doesn’t have to be down here monitoring everything the entire time.”
“Correct, they’ll just have to make sure the cameras will pick up the faces of people.”
The two of them took the rest of the afternoon to set up the cameras, and they ended up having to use their phones so Petra could tell Paul where to positions the cameras out on the workshop and shed. When he came in to check, he nodded, liking how she had told him to do it.
They went upstairs to clean up, and instead of tossing the boxes away, they condensed them and set them in a room in the basement they had regulated to storage. It worked for them, and since they were the only ones living there at the time, they went with it.
Paul started supper, and within the hour they sat down to a quick meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes, and a tossed salad.
Because Paul cooked, Petra cleaned up, and with nothing else to really do, she went into the living room to start reading one of the books she had purchased when she went to town earlier.
That set up their lives for the next few weeks.
Sharing the household duties, and when there was any spare time, Paul worked to set up the motorcycle shop, while Petra had taken on the task of cleaning out the flower beds to see what type of flowers would be coming up when the time was right, and with both of them going to town and having several discussions, they were able to purchase the equipment they needed to keep the lawn trimmed and neat.
At the last minute, they decided to purchase an outdoor grill for themselves, but made sure it was big enough for when others started to arrive.
Neither one of them knew when that would happen, but they wanted to be prepared for when it did.
Their life went on for roughly a month when one afternoon, while enjoying a glass of ice cold lemonade after doing the yard work together, Petra’s phone rang. She cocked her head to the side and scowled at Paul when she didn’t recognize the number.
“Put it on speaker,” Paul said, and nodded as she did.
“Hello?” Petra asked hesitantly.
“Hello, is this Petra Thomas?”
“It is, may I ask who is calling?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m Sally Ward, I’m the owner of Sally’s Diner in town.
I know, not very original, but I was named after my grandmother, and I inherited her name along with the business.
Anyway, the reason I’m calling is that I saw you filled out an application a few weeks back.
I’m sorry it took me so long to get back with you but I’ve been busy lately.
I know, I know, it’s no excuse, but I’m calling because I need help, desperately.
Is there any way you can come in for an interview. ”
Petra looked at Paul and they nodded together before she answered. She also noted that Paul had pulled his phone and made a note of the name. She knew a background check would be started on Sally before she was even off the phone with her.
“I can, when would you like me to come in?”
“How fast can you get here?”
“Well, I’m not making excuses now, but I just got done mowing the lawn, let me clean up and I can be there within the hour.”
“Perfect. That should be our slow time. I’ll see you then.” She hung up, and Petra looked at Paul in shock.
“Wow, that was intense.”
“Yeah, you better jump in the shower, I’ll go down to the basement and start the check on her and the restaurant.”
“Okay, oh, and I know I don’t have to report to you, but I was thinking of taking the evening shift.”
“Why?”
“Gut instinct. If something is going to happen with any clubs in the area, my gut is telling me it will be after work, and before the bars close. I don’t know where people would be working, since the factory closed, but you never know.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know how many clubs are in the area.”
“I’m not telling you what to do, but now that the shop is organized, don’t you think you should be out pounding the pavement to see what’s out there? I know you don’t have your patches yet, but you wouldn’t want to fly them anyway, at least not until you make contact with one of the local clubs.”
“You’re right. I’ll start the background check on this Sally Ward, then I’ll wait about two hours after you leave to go to the local bar.”
“Okay, and if Sally is as desperate as she sounds, I may suggest that I start work tonight. The faster the better.”
“I agree, just text me if that’s the case.
” He stood and headed into the house, then down to the basement where all their heavy duty equipment was while Petra hurried up to her room to shower, change, and get ready for her interview to become a waitress.
Thank goodness she’d done it years before while still in high school and college.