Chapter 15
“Do you have your federal ID on you?” Warren asked as they walked down the sidewalk toward Norm’s house.
“I do, do you have your police ID?”
“I do. I’m hoping this guy won’t give us a hard time.”
“Me too,” Paul said and pointed to the car in the driveway with a whistle. “Sweet.”
“Yeah,” Warren said with a sigh. “That is a sweet ride. Brings back memories from my younger days.”
“Help you?” A gruff voice called out, and the two men held their hands up close to their shoulders, and started up the driveway.
“Norm?” Paul asked.
“Yeah, who are you?”
“Paul Rankin, this is Warren Mott, we’re friends of Paula’s.” He held up the keys and shook them. “She sent us here to get her van.”
“Why?”
“As we speak, my sister, Sally Ward, and Paul’s girlfriend, Petra, are helping Paula pack up her things. She says she’s going to her brother’s house to get away from here.”
“What about that asswipe, Eddie?”
“The last time we saw him,” Paul said with a smirk. “He was knocked out cold, breathing, but unconscious.”
“Why?”
“Because I wrapped a log chain around his arm, and neck, and jerked him away from my girl.” Paul growled.
Warren laughed as he withdrew his phone and walked up to Norm. He held the phone out and told him to press play. Norm did, then smirked at Paul. “He’s alive?”
“Unfortunately, but yeah, he’ll have a headache for a few days, maybe even a slight concussion, but he’ll live.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Norm said then walked off his porch, making sure the gun he had in his hand was seen, but then put into the small of his back. “You got any ID?” he asked as he held out his hand for it.
Paul handed his dual ID for DEA and ATF, and Warren handed over his State Police ID. Norm’s only reaction to them was raised eyebrows and a slow whistle.
“Why do you need Paula’s van?”
“As we said, my sister, Sally, she owns Sally’s Diner in town, and Paul’s girlfriend are helping Paula pack.
She needs the van to load it up, that’s what Paul and I will be doing, packing it so she can get as much stuff as she can inside.
I don’t know what she’s taking, but we’ll make sure it holds as much as it can. ”
“Good, give me a minute,” Norm said as he turned on his heel and disappeared into his home. The next time they saw him, the garage door was opening, and he stood there in the doorway, waving them inside.
“It’s been here for about ten months, I’ve kept it maintained, there’s a full tank of gas, the oil was changed three weeks ago, and there are brand new tires on it, the spare is even brand new. Paula doesn’t know I did this.” He handed over a thick black expanded folder.
“What’s this?”
“Paula would give me money over the past three years for storage fees to keep her minivan here. She also gave me any extra money she had, in her words, it was to keep it out of Eddie’s hands.
I’m not as old as I look, I’m only in my forties, but I’ve been widowed for the last five years, and my daughter lives in a different country.
” He waved it away with a gigantic sigh.
“She’s smart, she went over there for her education, and met a man and married him.
Because of her intelligence, and her husband being from there, she got a job there.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’re still close, we talk for a couple of hours a week, and every two years, she’s able to come back here to spend a month for her vacation.
She’s trying to get me to move there, but I just don’t have the heart to live anywhere else.
Since Paula moved in, I’ve basically become a father figure to her, and I’ve been helping her whenever I can.
Half of this money is what she’s given me over the years for the storage fees, and if I did anything in the house to repair it. ” He shook his head sadly.
“What?”
“She doesn’t know that I own the home, so if anything went wrong, it was my responsibility to fix it anyway.
Somehow she either didn’t catch on that I own it, or it was never brought up.
Anyway, as I said, this is the money she gave me over the years, and I matched it.
Also, I only took the amount of the taxes from the rent she’s paid, the rest of it is in this envelope.
” He handed it to them. “Give it to her. There is almost five grand in here.”
Paul didn’t know what to say, so he took the envelope with a nod. “Thank you, I’m sure she’ll appreciate this.”
Norm nodded and stepped back. “I’ll walk down there to see if I can help with anything, why don’t you drive the van down?”
They did and in minutes they were walking into the house and watched as Sally, Paula, and Petra brought things to sit in front of the door. “These can be loaded,” Paula said, then called for them to wait.
“What’s up?” Paul asked when she continued to stand there with a confused look on her face.
“I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just speak,” Paul said. “Anything you say will stay between us.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Did you do anything wrong?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Paula sighed and rubbed her forehead. That was when Paul noticed she had changed into jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt. The mini skirt, leather halter top, and fishnet stockings with high-heeled boots were gone. The heavy makeup had been wiped from her face, and her hair was in a pony tail.
“Eddie left something here. I didn’t notice it until I started taking things from my closet. There’s a backpack that I’ve never seen before. I told Sally and Petra not to touch it, and they told me to tell you about it.”
“Where is it?” Paul asked and actually reached into the inside pocket of his leather vest to withdraw a set of rubber gloves.
Warren did the same thing. They followed her down the narrow hallway.
Inside a room that didn’t even hold a bed, only a desk and chair the closet stood open, and Paula pointed to the open doors.
“There’s a black and orange backpack in there. It’s to the left, on the floor.”
Paul started forward and when he saw it, he withdrew his phone and started snapping photos.
Without saying anything, he treated it like a crime scene, and once he was satisfied with the photos, he slowly approached the bag in question.
He looked up and saw Paula had left, while Warren stood by the doorway, keeping everyone out.
“I’m going to lift it,” Paul said and put actions to his words.
He frowned at the heft, and carried it over to the desk.
He examined all the zippers, making sure nothing was rigged to blow, taking photos of everything.
He slowly, methodically, unzipped one of the zippers, looked in, and whistled.
He whipped his head up toward Warren. “You gotta see this. I won’t withdraw anything, but I’m going to take this back to my place for further investigation.
I’ll show you what’s inside, then I’m going to want a plastic garbage bag to slip this into. ”
“Reserve evidence?”
“Yes.” Paul nodded and stepped back when Warren slowly approached, looked in, and looked at Paul in shock.
“Holy shit, is that cash?”
“Yes, and like I said, I’ll wait until I get this home, but it looks like there might be drugs in here, and if you look closely, there might be a notebook in here.”
“Fuck me,” Warren whispered. He held up his hands and stepped back. “I’ll go find a garbage bag.”
“Thanks,” Paul said and continued to look inside the bag, but didn’t touch anything.
“What’s up?” Petra asked as she came in with a large plastic bag. She looked inside and did the same thing Warren did, whistled, and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Have you looked at anything?”
“Just what you saw. I want to take it home, store it in the shop overnight, then bring it into the basement to go through it tomorrow. There’s no telling how long it’s been here, so I don’t think one more day will matter.”
“I agree.” Petra nodded and held the bag open as he placed the pack in it.
With the plastic wrapped around it, he took it out to his bike and stuffed it inside one of the saddlebags.
As soon as he finished, he jumped in to help Norm and Warren pack up the van.
Two hours later, Paul, Petra, Norm, Sally, and Warren watched as Paula pulled her van out of the driveway and took off down the street.
Paul turned to Norm with a business card held out. “If Eddie comes here and tries to start any shit, call me.”
“Me too,” Warren said as he handed over his own business card. “Between Paul and I, we believe he might come looking for her. He might try to destroy the home if he finds her gone.”
“Not to mention the pack he left in the closet. I have it, and I’ll go through it tomorrow. If I feel you might be in danger, I’ll reach out to you.”
“Thank you,” Norm said and made sure they had his information, then he sighed heavily. “I guess I’ll have to find something else to do now that Paula’s left.” He shook his head sadly. “I enjoyed looking out for her.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m retired. I know, I know, I’m not even fifty yet, but within five years of my wife’s death, I lost my last surviving grandparent, and parent.
So, Grandma, Dad, and Betty passed within five years of one another.
They all had gigantic life insurance policies, naming me the beneficiary.
I don’t have to work the rest of my life.
Betty and I had always wanted to travel, but it doesn’t have the same appeal now that she’s gone.
I suppose I could probably go overseas to visit my daughter, but again, it doesn’t hold any appeal to me. ”
“What did you do before you retired?” Warren asked as they made their way to their motorcycles, still parked in the driveway.
“I was a mechanic. I owned and operated my own shop, and ended up selling it when Betty got sick. For the last two years of her life, I was her sole caregiver. After she passed, I redid the entire Monte Carlo from the frame up. It’s all original parts.”
“Have you ever worked on motorcycles?” Paul asked. “I’m starting my own MC, and could use someone with knowledge.”
“What’s MC stand for?”
“Motorcycle Club.” He held up his hand and chuckled. “We’re nothing like Eddie. You saw the ID I gave you, that’s all the people that will be working with me. They will have one or the other, or maybe both of those IDs, but with their names on it.”
“Can I think about it?” Norm asked after several minutes of thinking.
“Absolutely, no pressure. Even if you don’t want to work for me, if you just want to come and hang out, that’s fine too.”
“Where do you live?”
“Out near Fonda, about forty miles east of Fort Dodge.”
“Damn, that’s far out.”
“Yeah, but I own a two-hundred-acre farm there. I rent out the land to local farmers, but the house and buildings are all for my use.” He looked at Warren and at his nod, continued, “I’m turning one of those sheds into the motorcycle repair shop.
I have men coming from all over the country to help me with my mission to get rid of riffraff like Eddie. ”
“Are you telling me you’re going to murder people?”
“No, but they will be arrested and prosecuted.”
“Damn, do you realize that the jails will fill up fast if you do what you want to?”
“I figured as much, but...” he paused and shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. “But, if it gets people like Eddie off the streets, I’m okay with that.”
“Good.” Norm raised the business cards in a salute. “I’ll think about what you said.” He turned and walked down the street toward his own home.
Paul looked at Warren, and they both shrugged as they went to their own bikes, readying themselves for the drive home. Just before they started the bikes, Paul called over to Warren and Sally that he would break off and head home. They agreed, started their bikes, and took off for home.