12:56 AMC
"She Loves Everybody" - Chester French

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In continuation to last week's post. Read it if you want to catch up but I don't demand it of you. Constructive criticism is accepted; Lord knows I'm not that great. Also, mature situations are depicted, read at your own descretion. I mostly edited before posting but there still might be a few inconsistencies. Whatever. Without further ado, I give you today's installment of our favourite dealers:

CHAPTER TWO: Nicki Boy.

By noon we were settled in and Cam was on the phone collecting information from neighbors and business partners. I heard his "that's not that funny" laugh all the way from the kitchen and could almost picture his pacing around the island. Mojo just kept switching the channels on the tv in the living room, making it impossible to concentrate on any one thing.

"Relax. Cam will have it all fixed in a while." Tired of the many reassurances from Mojo, the constant "mhmms" and "yeahs" from Cam, and the never ending channel surge, I sought refuge with Nicolas. He was in the basement's lab, tweaking our latest shipment. I messed around with some of his equipment until he spoke.

"What do you want, Emmeline?" He asked while looking through a microscope.
"Nothing. I'm bored... Has Cam told you anything?"
"Go hang with Mojo," he replied from the scope. "And no. All I've heard so far is of them running surveillance from the alley some time before today's incident. I'm still not sure if it's us or them though."

I listened, thinking all the while on what the outcome might be of this little debacle. In the middle of my reverie, Cam came downstairs and stopped short when he saw Nico and I there.
"What's the word, Boss Man?" Nico quickly looked up from his work to ask.
"I need Emmeline." Nicki turned several different shades of colour until finally mustering the effort to shake his head.
"No. I'll go."
"Nicolas, Emmeline is faster. She'll be able to pick up on things better."
"She's not a blood hound, Cameron! I'll go!"
"It won't work as quick with you, Nick. I need her! Besides, I'm waiting on a package to come in later today or tomorrow. I need you here to receive it in case I'm gone."
"I'm fine, Nicki. I'll go." I answered quickly, cutting Nicki off right before he took a breath to even speak. This wasn't the first time my skills have gotten me in this situation. It's because of my over observant skills that I hold the title of surveillance in the first place. I'm observant almost to the point of OCD. Either way, I enjoyed being useful after nearly four hours of no action. I ran upstairs for my weapon and purse and heard Mojo laugh from the living room at something on Tv. When I got downstairs, Nico was still fuming and Cam gave me an anxious look. Again, again with the look. Excited, I slipped out the basement door with Cam as Nico grumbled to himself from behind the desk in the remodeled basement. No doubt they were still arguing while I was gone. Oh, Nicki boy, you kill me, you do. I thought as we walked out.

"So what's going on?" I asked when finally in the car, I heard a small eager squeal in my voice and was immediately self conscious about it. I tried my best to control it when I spoke again.
"Someone reported suspicious behaviour on our part. The police wanted to search the house. They left a note on the door but they didn't have a warrant. I think they're trying to get one now. The street is empty but I want to check the alley for anyone. They have unmarked cars. You know, cars with out numbers and Police written on them." This latter information was unnecessary but because I was new to this business, everyone felt like they had to "assist" in my teaching in every way. We drove for twenty minutes until we finally got back home. Everything looked the same except for the note on the door. We passed the house once by car, then the second time by foot. We stopped at the mechanic shop on the corner, certain that the workers there hardly noticed our existence. They were so busy on their foreign shipments that the outside world seemed obsolete until lunchtime. True autophiles, these men were. When we approached, Cam wrapped his arm around my waist and gave me a reassuring squeeze. So it was newlyweds this time.

"What can we do for you?" A scraggly looking mechanic came toward us in the driveway and gave a small frown when he saw Cam's arm around me.
"My wife lost an earring on our walk through here yesterday, we just wanted to come look around if that's alright with you?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll help if ya' want." We begin looking but I wasn't even paying attention to the ground. As an overly observant being, I noticed things others missed like that sly little smile the mechanic made when I bent over awkwardly to pretend to inspect a pebble. While searching, I caught the small makeshift security systems set up along the light poles surrounding the house. I even noticed the glimmer of lenses pointed toward the alley from the top of the light post in the mechanic's driveway and the car that attempted in vain to hide itself among the others at the corner of the street leading toward the state line bridge. I laughed to myself, signaling that I was done.
"I don't think we'll find it, Liam. Even with the extra eyes."
"It cost enough, we better find it." I watched as Cam's knuckles tightened around his knees while he leaned forward to pretend to search the ground. He knew what I meant then. Feighning defeat, he stretched his arms to the sky and popped his back.
"God, woman, what am I going to do with you?" Something in the statement and the look on Cam's face when he said it made my little heart jump.
"You can always leave her with me if she's too much trouble." The mechanic answered.
"I don't know. She may be a handful for me but for you, she'd be down right murder." He gave me a wink and a smile that was practically oozing with inside joke. The mechanic pretended to disregard the exchange and offered to keep looking later. We thanked the man for his assistance and left. Keeping with the ploy, Cam wrapped his arm around my waist again and only let go until we got to the next block.

In the car, everything was business again:
"How many?"
"Six and a few live wires on the corner."
"Did he notice?"
"Nope."
"Alright, bear with me, I have to make a few calls." In other words, keep watching because I'm not.

I watched every car that passed us and every person on the street while Cameron made calls. After fifteen minutes I noticed a car that followed us for several blocks. It wasn't so much the car's following that made me nervous, but the face in the driver's seat. It was too stern, focused. I pulled out my weapon and waited as Cam got the message and begin looking in his rear view more frequently. We took a different route and stopped in a shopping center to lose the tail. Nearly two hours after the initial hunt, after being certain that we were alone, we climbed back into the car and continued our drive. At home Mojo was in the kitchen with Nico eating Subway Sandwiches for lunch. I gave Nico a reassuring smile when the cloud grew across his face, clear evidence that he was still angry. Mojo only chuckled to himself. Nicki must've told Mojo a little more than the real story. Once we got situated and everyone put their game faces on, Cam spilled the info. While they all discussed possible entry points and strategies, I picked at Nico's sandwich and chips.

"...we have to move this weight today because they're expecting to see the place clean tonight by the time they get here."
"Well, we can't do much from here. It'd be TOO suspicious. I'm surprised we even got called on in the first place what with what happened."
"So it's in?" Cam's attention was immediately intrigued. I watched his face light up, then let down with Nicki's answer.
"Sort of. They called to inquire about the current situation first and decided to wait it out a bit. For now, all they've given us is a small sample to test." Breaking my attention away from the unhealthy snack, I picked up on the conversation and felt as the tension shifted in the room. No one was worried about surveillance or mine and Cam's silent understandings. All focus was placed on this new product and the people it was coming from.

This was going to be exciting. I could feel it.

CHAPTER THREE: Russian Red
coming soon. added 07/26/09.

I like how this thing's developing. Well, the momentum so far. I might keep up with it. Hopefully with a steady timeline of an update a week, I'll be more motivated to continue it. Here's to hoping it all ends well.

Fiction: 07/20/09 | Posted By: blu moon | 0 comments | Personal