Chapter 12
Smooth Criminal Behavior
TRE
“Heya Tre,” Donnie greets over the tinkling of the bell hanging from the door as I walk into the reception room of Tony’s garage.
“Hey Donnie. I’m here to meet with Tony.”
“Yup, he’s expecting you. You can head on back to the office, just watch your step going through the bay.”
I nod and walk past him through the door marked ‘Employees Only’.
The cavernous garage bay is clean, but smells faintly of motor oil.
On my way to the single office door set into the left wall, I note a skid-steer and a front-end loader in different stages of repair.
The loader is the same brand I saw on our blueprint run at Hay Creek.
He should definitely have some keys around, then, I think as I step into the office.
“Good to see you, Tre. Grab a seat.” Tony shakes my hand across the small, metal desk in his bare, white-walled office.
“Yeah, you too, Tony. It’s been a while, man. Thanks for making the time.”
“No problem. It’ll be an extended lunch hour today,” he replies, then crumples an empty sub wrapper into a ball, dropping it in the trash can beside his desk. “What do you need help with? It’s not the alternator again, is it?”
“Oh, no. The car’s running fine. I could always just drop it off if it wasn’t. Nah, I wanted to talk to you about converting it to biodiesel again.”
“Wow, okay. I thought you decided not to do that years ago,” he states, a note of surprise in his voice.
“Well, yeah. But I’ve been reconsidering it lately.
I’ve got the loft above Betty’s now, which means I don’t drive as much as I used to.
I could probably manage with the oil the diner uses, more or less.
And with climate change getting worse every year, I want to do everything I can.
Seems like it’s worth looking into again. ”
“Alright. I hear you. I mean, I’m always glad to help.
There are two main ways to handle it.” Tony spends several minutes explaining the options, and it’s nothing new.
When I asked him about converting in the past, I actually meant it.
Unfortunately, it’s not really feasible for me.
Today, I simply need a reason to be here.
I spend the time nodding politely and pretending to listen, but I’m also surreptitiously checking the corners for cameras. When I entered, I briefly scanned the room and didn’t notice any, but I need to be sure.
Eventually, Tony winds down and asks, “So, what are you thinking?”
I pause before answering, gazing off into the middle distance as though I’m contemplating my decision. It’s the perfect opportunity to sneak a glance out the office door to my right. When it’s clear my distraction isn’t happening, I reply to buy time.
“Well, without a yard, or even a shed, processing my vegetable oil into biodiesel isn’t much of an option, so I guess it’s pretty clear I can’t do the full conversion.
” I pause again, still hoping for a distraction.
“The combined diesel and raw veg oil could work. I don’t mind following the extra steps to start up and shut down, switching the fuels, since it helps the environment.
How much would it cost to do all that work? ”
That should buy a minute. Come on, Fiona. I gave you the appointment time.
“Well, the equipment isn’t anything special. I have most of what we’d need already. I’ll probably special order the diesel tank…” Tony trails off and considers whatever logistics he needs to account for. “As a ballpark, you’re probably looking at—”
“Hey Tone!” Donnie sticks his head in the office door. “Got a customer demanding to speak to you.”
“What do they want?”
“I told you. He wants to speak to you.”
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. He?
“Thanks, Donnie,” Tony says sarcastically.
“No problem,” Donnie answers before disappearing as quickly as he arrived.
I’m smirking as Tony shakes his head. “Excuse me a moment, Tre.”
“Of course. You’re the boss. Do what you need to do.”
As soon as he’s through the door and out of sight, I much more obviously peer around the office, searching for security cameras.
Finding none, I pause for a moment to listen at the door.
Faint voices echo through the bay from the customer lobby.
Good enough for me to decide I can make my move before Tony comes back.
I rush to the other side of the desk and pull open drawers at random.
The third one I check has multiple small keys attached to tags with company logos rolling around.
Score! I spare a quick glance at the door before snatching one key for the heavy equipment and one for the skid-steers.
I double-check that there’s still at least one key for each model.
When I’m satisfied Tony won’t notice I’ve taken anything, I make sure all the drawers are closed, then return to my seat like nothing ever happened.
A couple of minutes later, Tony walks in, frustration scrawled all over his face. He’s never been one to hold back his thoughts.
“All good?” I inquire innocently.
“Pfft. This guy comes in here raising hell about how we screwed up his sister’s car when she brought it in last week.
Takes forever to get enough detail from him to look it up, he’s so busy demanding refunds and free repairs.
” Tony shakes his head. “Turns out we’re not even the ones who serviced the car.
She must have gone to A1 Auto, and either she didn’t know what shop she used or he just assumed it was us when she told him about it.
I tell you, I’m not sure it’d be worth the headache to work on her vehicle if she does come in. ”
I laugh and get to my feet. “Well, it sounds like your day is picking back up. I’ll get out of your hair. Thanks for the info. I’ll call you if I pull the trigger on converting.”
“Alright. We can take care of it whenever you want. Here, I’ll walk you out.” Tony steps into the garage bay, and sounds of his technicians resuming work after the quiet of lunchtime filter into the office.
Hah. This went even smoother than I had hoped. I’m getting out of here early, and I didn’t have to agree to any work from the shop.
As soon as I step out, my attention is drawn to a bright flame at the front-end loader. I stupidly stare straight at it and, even at this distance, my vision floods with spots. I quickly turn away, blinking like the idiot I am.
“Didn’t your dad ever teach you not to look at a cutting torch, Tre? You should know better than that,” Tony admonishes.
“Yeah, I know. They’re just badass looking. Can anybody buy one of those?”
“What do you want an oxyacetylene torch for?”
I can’t tell him I need to investigate methods for cutting steel beams. It’s not what I came for, but since I’m here already, I may as well multitask.
“I told you. They’re badass. Do I need a better reason?” I grin and resume walking.
“Well, actually, yes. They’re incredibly dangerous if you’re not trained in how to use them. But you also need to understand how to store and maintain them. You have no business buying one, Tre.” Tony is looking at me like he’s suddenly reconsidering his entire opinion of me.
“Oh well. No harm in asking, right? Thanks again, Tony. I’ll catch you later.”
“Yeah, later.” Tony is shaking his head as I walk out the door into the bright afternoon sunshine.
“Mr. White. You can come back now.”
“You go ahead, Tre. I’ll bring some of those muffins by the diner tomorrow morning,” Carol tells me.
“I won’t say no to that,” I answer with a wink, then rise to follow Nurse Machado.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. White. I’m Nurse Machado. Please follow me to exam room two.” She offers these statements flatly as I approach and begins walking down the hallway without waiting for a response.
“Um, we’ve met. Last time I was here? I’m Tre.”
Nurse Machado stops at an open doorway and gestures for me to enter. She follows me in, closes the door, and then consults the clipboard in her hand. “Ah, yes. It says here that you had a shoulder injury two weeks ago. How is your shoulder feeling now?”
I hop onto the exam table, the paper cover crinkling under me.
“That’s why I’m here. I wanted to have a follow-up.
It seems okay to me, but I want to get cleared by the doc.
” I hesitate but continue, “I told all of this to Carol when I made the appointment. Isn’t it in there? ” I point at the clipboard.
“Yes, I see it here. Thank you. Please step on the scale.”
Although we go through the standard routine of measuring my vitals, this conversation remains anything but normal.
How can she not at least remember me being here?
Oh, I know. I couldn’t quite connect with her before Fiona interrupted.
Fiona’s surprisingly good at interrupting me.
No, don’t get distracted by her when she’s not even here, I think, but my brain betrays me anyway, as the vision of Fiona bent over the desk in the trailer flashes in my memory.
“Your heart rate’s a bit higher today than last time. Any stressors?” Nurse Machado’s question brings me back to the present.
I clear my throat. “No, nothing I can think of.”
I flash her my biggest ‘I can be your best friend’ smile, but she turns away to enter my information into the computer. “So, the last time I was here, you mentioned you hadn’t been hiking because you recently moved to town. Where did you move from?”
There are two loud knocks on the door, and Fiona enters before Nurse Machado can answer.
Son of a bitch! How does she always find the most irritating thing to do?
I look at Fiona as she walks in and suddenly forget my irritation.
Her brown hair is tied back in her work ponytail, and her eyes lock with mine for a second, instilling a confusing new layer of guilt on top of the lust I’m already wrestling with.
I quickly turn my gaze to the floor as Fiona moves to stand beside the nurse at the computer.