Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
Scott whipped around and saw Sara standing in the doorway with wide shocked eyes staring at him, he quickly turned his back on her and pulled on his boxers, then a pair of jeans. By the time he was pulling them up over his hips, Julie was there.
“Sara! What are you doing here?” Julie asked her sister in shock.
“Please tell me you tapped that?” Sara asked her sister as she threw her thumb over her shoulder toward Scott. The two older adults exchanged grins, and Sara turned back to see the expression on Scott’s face. “Why are you using my bathroom if you’ve slept with Julie? Why didn’t you use her bathroom.”
“I did, but I left my clothes in here, because I showered here last night. Coffee?” he asked as he walked past her with a tee-shirt and a pair of socks in his hands. He paused alongside the sisters and smiled at Sara. “I’m really glad you’re here.” Then he kissed the side of Julie’s head and headed to the stairs.
As soon as he disappeared down them, Sara turned on Julie with wide eyes. “Holy hell, that man is built, and I don’t mean just in muscles.”
“What?” Julie asked in shock. “You saw him naked?”
“Yes, I didn’t expect anyone in there, so I opened the door and he had just dropped his towel. Damn, Jules, I’m so proud of you.”
Not knowing what to say, Julie shook her head, then started giggling. “The only thing I’m going to say before the subject is closed forever is that he knows how to use his package.”
“Good for the both of you,” Sara laughed, then pointed to the bathroom. “I really need to use the facilities.” She rushed inside, closed the door, and did her business. Less than five minutes later, she was out and when she didn’t see Julie, she made her way downstairs. That was when she realized the walls were empty. She found her sister and Scott in the kitchen.
“Where is everything, and did you paint?”
“Yes, but we’ll get to that. Why are you here? Not that I don’t want you to come home, but I thought you had intense classes for the next three to six months.”
“Yeah, well, there was a water main break on campus and it’s going to take at least two weeks to fix it. Something about it being outdated so they have to change everything before the inspectors will allow them to open again.”
“Damn, that’s bad,” Scott said as he poured coffee for the three of them.
“Yeah, so instead of staying there and fiddling my thumbs, I thought I’d come home. Don’t worry, come Monday morning, I’ll be glued to my computer because they’re switching everything to on-line classes.” She turned with the cup in her hand and looked at the empty rooms. She turned back to Julie sadly. “We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?”
Julie walked up to her sister and put her arm around her in comfort. “Yes, we are. I think it’s time.”
“Me too,” she sighed, and turned back to the kitchen to answer Scott’s questions as to where some pots, pans, and utensils were kept. The two worked like a well-oiled machine as they got breakfast on the table.
They had settled into the small table in the corner of the kitchen and began eating, before Julie spoke, “How long are you out of school for?”
“Definitely two weeks. We were given a phone number to call when the time was up to see when we could return. As I mentioned earlier, we can do on-line work while we wait.”
“Can you operate as a psychiatrist without those classes?”
“Yes, I got my PhD two weeks ago,” she laughed as Julie squealed and jumped to her feet to hug her sister.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you. Anyway, I thought I’d come home to see if Julie needed any help with the final stage of moving to Colorado, then if there’s still time, I want to talk to Erin about a few ideas I have about the office I want to work out of?”
“Like what?” Scott asked with a frown as he finished eating. “Clark is in charge of the construction of them, but they are far from ready to even dig up the ground for the build, they’ve run into problems with the bridge. Seems that the beams are on back order so it’s a hurry up and wait situation. However, he’s not being idle, he’s working with the guy to make the blueprints for the bunktels and the office buildings.”
“Got it, because I don’t know how many doctors will be there, I’m not thinking I’ll have the entire building to myself, but I was wondering if I could have a suite for my business.”
“What do you mean by that?” Scott asked as he pulled his phone and accessed something. “I’m going to take notes.”
“Okay, there should be a general reception area where the patients can come in and state who they are there to see. Then if they come back to me, I want my own little reception area, with patient waiting, then I would have my office where it would be used for both the patients to talk, and when I’m alone, I can use it as an office. The only thing I thought of was that I’d like access to a bathroom from my office.”
“Okay, got it, I think I can even picture it. I’ll get with Clark when we get back.”
“Isn’t he already on his way here?” Julie asked in shock, then turned to Sara. “We have a situation and Scott’s already or is going to call the guys down.”
“Shit, let me call Manny to see what he says.” They waited until he dialed, and it was picked up on the third ring.
“Sanchez.”
“Hey, it’s Scott.”
“Oh, hey, I relayed your message and we’re getting loaded up to head out later today. We should be there in two days. Is there a hotel nearby?”
“You can stay here at the house,” Julie said. “However, you’ll have to rough it because I don’t have any furniture or spare beds, you’d have to sleep on the floor. There is a hotel here in town if you want to go there. I totally understand and won’t be offended if you choose to do that. However, it’s roughly thirty minutes from the house here, just wanted you to know.”
“Got it, I’ll relay the information to the others. Is there anything we need to know.”
“They fight dirty. However, I don’t think you’ll be allowed to use guns with real ammo. I can always talk to Mr. Wolfe to see if you could use something like paintballs or bean bags.”
“Got it,” Manny chuckled on his way. “We’ll come fully loaded, but not locked and loaded.”
“Understood,” both Scott and Julie answered, and Scott quickly hung up.
“What the hell was that all about?” Sara asked in confusion.
“That’s what I have to tell you.” Julie sighed as she pushed her plate away, then leaned back in her chair with her coffee cradled in her hands. “Yesterday, Scott and I went over to Darcy’s dealership. I wanted a truck.”
“I understand. You said as much when we were arrived at Erin’s Way.”
“Right, anyway, Scott went with me, and Jimmy John was the first one to approach us.”
“That asshat is still around?”
“Yes. Anyway, Scott called it when he said that I would be ignored. I dressed like I am now.”
“Hell, Jules, it’s a hundred and ten in the freaking shade, I would have worn shorts also.”
“Yes, but this time, Jimmy John didn’t mince any words. He approached us, ignored me, and horned in on Scott, who told him to talk to me. As he approached Darcy came from her office.”
Sara giggled. “Did you tell her ahead of time you were coming?”
“Yes, and I had called Nicole ahead of time and she told me to have Darcy call her when it was time to pay for it. I didn’t want payments.”
“Again, I understand, so what did asshole number two have to say.”
“After Scott told him to talk to me, he looked at me, saw my fake leg, and almost gagged, then said that I was a cripple implying I didn’t have two brain cells to rub together.”
“He did not,” Sara said in shock.
“He did,” Scott said as he rose from the table and took their plates away. He was back with the coffee pot to refill their cups. No one said anything until he rejoined them.
“Before we could do anything, Darcy was on Jimmy John like white on rice, she took him to her office, and we heard yelling, then there was a crash. We didn’t see what happened, but we later learned that Jimmy was so pissed at being fired, he picked up something and threw it at the glass wall, it shattered. Then he attacked Darcy. When we arrived, Jimmy had his hands around her throat, but she did what her father taught her and bent his thumbs back. He backed off, then I forget what happened, but Scott was then involved by restraining him. I have no clue what was said, but the next thing I know, Jimmy John and his four goons started screaming at me that Boom-Boom wasn’t going to be happy.”
“What the hell does Ass-Boom-Boom-hole Garrison have to do with what happened?”
“Nothing as far as I’m concerned, but according to the four of them, I am Boom-Boom’s woman and when they told me that, I laid a kiss on Scott right in front of everyone and told them that he was my boyfriend. Then they challenged us.”
“Technically they challenged me,” Scott said with a smirk as he sipped his coffee. He turned his grin onto Sara. “After I pulled Jimmy John off of Darcy, I had him pinned to the desk and I told him that if me serving fifteen years in the military to keep assholes like him safe, then it hadn’t been worth it. He called me a liar that I had served, and challenged me.”
“To what?”
“Something about The Oasis.”
“Oh, shit,” Sara said in shock as she sat forward. “Be careful.”
“Why?” both Julie and Scott asked.
“Boom-Boom and his buddies fight dirty. I’m not saying they would have real guns, but if you do paintball, they will gang up on you. They have traps set up all over that place. I’ve never been there, but some friends from school were there and when they said they were going there for the weekend and didn’t return, we called the locals in to go look for them. It turned out the assholes had dug a hole and our friend fell into it. It’s just deep enough that you can’t get out by yourself. I don’t know if there is any truth to this next part, but around the same time that happened, it was rumored that Boom-Boom and his goon posse would invite girls out there, then force them to run away from them while they hunted them.” She shrugged and shook her head sadly. “Again, rumors, but knowing them, I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“Were there any spikes in the bottom that anyone could be hurt if they fell into it?”
“Not that I know of. I know they’re not that sick, or I hope like hell they aren’t.” Sara shuddered then held up her hand in a stop motion, jumped to her feet, and disappeared out the front door. She returned with her laptop bag and while she was gone, both Julie and Scott had finished cleaning off the table. Sara opened her computer and waved them over. As she worked the keys, they looked over her shoulder.
“This is The Oasis, or what we all call it. It is a five-mile patch in the middle of the desert. It’s sort of in a circle,” she said as she zoomed out and Scott leaned in to get a good look at the area.
“Okay, what else?”
“I don’t know if Google maps can get us closer, but here, play with it. One thing you have to know is that if you were challenged to go out to The Oasis, then there won’t just be Boom-Boom, Jimmy John, and the three other people that work with Darcy.”
“Worked,” Julie said as she grinned over at her sister. “Darcy fired all four of them. Don’t worry, Mr. Wolfe was there in the security room when it all went down. He saw it all on the security tapes. He was the one that told Scott to bring any buddies he knew of to help with this challenge.”
“Who do you have coming?” Sara looked over her shoulder at Scott. “You did invite people to help, right?”
“Yes, remember the people around the fire pit when you and Julie came to Colorado?”
“Yes.”
“Those guys. I don’t know if the women will be coming, but I explained the entire situation to Manny, who had put me on speaker with Ryan and Jammer. They said they’d relay the message to the others. You heard I called Manny and he said they’d be leaving later today or tomorrow.”
“Okay, good. Now, one question. What does Ass-Boom-Boom-Hole and his goons hope to get out of all of this?”
“I have no clue,” Julie said as she shook her head and took her cup to the sink.
“I have an idea,” Sara said with a grin, which caused both Scott and Julie to stop in their tracks to look at her with raised brows.
“Oh God, I don’t like that expression of yours,” Julie said with a laugh. “Let’s hear it.”
“Okay, we both know how Boom-Boom and Jimmy John and their posse works, right?” She looked at Scott with a heavy sigh. “They were the type of guys that would stuff the nerdy kids into a locker then laugh about it. If someone they didn’t like was walking in the hall, they’d trip them or slap their books out of their hands, then laugh at the mess they made. They were the male version of mean girls. Thank goodness he was out of the school before I became an upper classman.” Sara frowned and looked at Julie. “You had to endure him for a year, right?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t bad for me. I ignored him and if he tried anything with me, I just gave him a look.” She turned and cocked her hip to the side and turned her glare onto Scott.
“What the hell did I do?” Scott asked defensively, then laughed. “Ah, that was the look.”
“Yes, and when he started in on how my family were thieves because we stole this house from his mother’s family, I got in his face.” Julie shook her head and chuckled. “Do you mind?” she asked Scott.
“Do your best.”
Julie walked up to him and gripped the shirt he wore at the chest, she actually lifted him up to his toes, and said through gritted teeth, “My family didn’t do shit. If you’re going to point fingers at anyone, look at your grandfather, he was the one that gambled all the money away. Say something like you just did again, and I will go public with the proof I have.” She removed her hand quickly stepped back. Scott almost fell on his face when he came back fully onto his feet.
“Damn, what happened after that?”
“He left me alone. The next thing I heard about him was when he fucked up his ankle at the big game and lost out on the chance to be drafted for the NFL. When he finally returned after he graduated from college, I was already in boot camp. I never really interacted with him after that. I was busy making sure Sara had an education, doing my Navy reserves, and working.” She shook her head and looked at Sara, when the younger woman nodded, Julie sighed. “We don’t have to work. Mom and Dad were savvy enough with their finances, that they invested wisely. As did our grandfathers. After the elders passed, both Dad and Mom invested their money for us. Our grandfathers bought this house as a wedding present for Mom and Dad, and because of how they obtained it, there was no mortgage on it. No, that’s not right, there was a mortgage, they wanted to be able to build their credit, but it was so low that they could afford it. I think Aunt Lydia explained it once that it was easier to pay the taxes with the mortgage.”
“Holy shit,” Scott said in shock.
“Yeah, so again, because our parents were financial wizards,” Sara said with a laugh. “They took the would-be larger mortgage monthly mortgage payment, divided it in two, then put it in accounts for both Julie and me. That was our college fund. Hell, they didn’t even know how many kids they would have, but they divided it in two and figured they could divide that down the road if they needed to.”
“Damn, that was smart of them.”
“Yes, so we never wanted for anything, but we were never given anything we wanted. We had to work for it.” Julie nodded to Sara. “Since a young age they instilled in both of us the power of working for what you want. I was fifteen when I got my first job, and when I turned sixteen, I was able to take the money I saved and buy myself a good used car.”
“Not from Boom-Boom’s father,” Sara interjected with a laugh.
“No, I asked Dad to take me to the other side of town to get my car.” Julie giggled and had to sit down when her giggles turned to laugher. He exchanged grins with Sara, then grabbed a napkin off the table to wipe her tears of mirth.
“What’s so funny?”
“Darcy and I worked at the same place, made the same amount of money, had the same amount saved. She went to Boom-Boom’s for her car. She paid the exact same amount as I did, but hers only lasted for three months. She was forever taking it back in to have it repaired.”
“What about yours?” Scott asked in fascination at the expressions going across her face. To him, it made her even more beautiful.
“Remember, I was sixteen when I bought it. Though I was eighteen when Mom and Dad were killed and I had access to their vehicles, I still drove my car. It was ten-years-old when I bought it, and I drove it for a total of five years. I sold it to a high schooler for half of what I bought it for when Sara graduated high school.”
“I even went out and bought a car from the same place Julie did when I was sixteen. Aunt Lydia and Uncle Darren couldn’t understand why we didn’t drive our parents’ vehicles, and I can’t speak for Julie, but I couldn’t get behind the wheel. Mom’s car was the only one left, since they were in Dad’s truck when they were killed.”
“How long did you keep that one?”
“That’s the one in the driveway. When I get the call from Darcy, I’ll be turning it in. Anyway, I guess the entire point of this story was that we’ve learned to live frugally, well within, and below our means, and invest. Darcy was so pissed at Boom-Boom and his father for the lemon they sold her that the last time it broke down on the side of the road she had it towed to their lot and dropped it in the middle of it. She had signed the title and stuck it under the windshield wiper, and left a nasty note that they could have the piece of shit back.”
“But not before she removed the battery, the starter, the spare tire, the jack, and she punctured all four tires.” Sara laughed. “She also left a note stating that she would drive them out of business. She went to school to learn everything she could about sales and management. She opened her business five years ago, and I don’t know the numbers, however, six months ago, I heard that Boom-Boom’s business was starting to fail. He took over for his father around the same time Darcy opened her own dealership.”
“Wow, do you think Jimmy John and his buddies were put there as spies?”
“Oh, absolutely, and Darcy knew it.” Julie laughed.
“Hey,” Sara said suddenly and looked at Julie with wide eyes. “Are there any stakes on this competition at The Oasis?”
“I don’t know, why?”
“What if we demand that when Scott and his men win, then Boom-Boom has to come clean and tell the truth?”
“About?”
“One, how his great-grandfather lost our house to our grandfathers. Two, how he faked his injury to avoid going into the NFL.”
“I can wrap my head around that,” Julie said with a grin. They sat there for a few minutes, then Julie looked at Sara. “Do you think you could finish packing up your room? I didn’t know what you wanted done with your rewards and stuff, so I left it all there. The boxes and tape are in the corner, I’m sorry, but I already dismantled your bed.” She looked at Scott. “Would you like to help me paint the upstairs hallway? I’m going to leave the bedrooms as they are, just give them a deep cleaning. I thought we could paint until Darcy calls, then we could all go and get my truck, then I’ll treat everyone to lunch.”
“I like that idea.” Scott nodded and waved his hand in front of him, indicating for her to precede him.