Till Beth Do Us Part by Layce Gardner & Saxon Bennett

Author:Layce Gardner & Saxon Bennett [Gardner, Layce & Bennett, Saxon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Square Pegs Ink
Published: 2016-05-29T17:00:00+00:00

Twenty

By the time I get back home, Travis and Michael have transformed the loft into a crime room. They have wheeled in a dry-erase board the size of a classroom chalkboard. They have put up bulletin boards, set up a computer, a fax machine, a copier and a printer on a desk I’ve never seen before. A row of new office chairs are set up around a new boardroom table. My former living room—furniture, TV, coffee table—are now stacked in the far corner of the room.

“What the hell happened?” I ask.

Michael steps forward and excitedly explains, “We decided you needed help with your new case. We’re your new team. I designed this crime room. Do you like it?”

“It’s called a war room,” Travis says testily. “And you were supposed to let me tell her the news. I’m the number two. You’re number three.”

“Sorry,” Michael apologizes. “I just get so excited.”

“War room?” I ask.

“Don’t you love the sound of that?” Michael asks. “It sounds so. . . so. . .,” here his hands begin to flutter like little birds at the end of his arms, “Bold. Dramatic. Daring.”

Travis clears his throat. Michael heeds the warning and put his hands behind his back, saying “Sorry.”

“Where’d all this stuff come from?” I ask.

“We rented it,” Travis explains. “By the week. It’s rent to own, we can take it back if we want.”

“How much --”

Travis interrupts, “I put it on your credit card. No worries, you can bill Veronica for it.”

I put my hands over my ears just like my mother. If I didn’t hear how much it cost maybe it wouldn’t cost anything.

Travis holds up a red three-ring binder. “I’ve set up a log book for all the billable hours. I did put Michael and me on the book as your assistants. We’ll figure out a rate of pay later.”

I plop down in one of the new office chairs at the new conference table and stare at the new office equipment. The dry-erase board has Veronica’s name on one side and Beth Ellen’s on the other. The cork bulletin board has news releases copied off and pinned up. One is from the Lakeland Press and the other is from the internet newsfeed. According to both, local opinion is already against Veronica. That doesn’t surprise me. People always love to throw stones at people who are more successful than they are.

After a few minutes of deep breathing and taking it all in, I decide Veronica does need my help. And I do need an assistant. Maybe two assistants. And if we’re going to do this thing up right, we do need a war room. I look at Travis and Michael’s expectant faces.

“What about work?” I ask.

“Burt owes me about three-months’ vacation and Michael is between shows. So it’s all good. Veronica’s paying for us so there will be no fiscal loss as long as you can cover the utilities for this month.”

Good thing I have the divorce case to work on. That should cover the utilities and I’ll have enough left over for groceries.

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