#@#@#@#@
After the wedding chapel shootout, firewoman Suzie chased Dooley down the boardwalk. Meanwhile, she called for backup, using her portable radio. Many nearby officers joined in pursuit of Dooley.
They chased Dooley to the end of the boardwalk, where it overhung Taylor River. Dooley dangled a pair of woman’s high heel shoes over the railing, above the fast flowing river below the overhang. The officers formed a semicircle around Dooley.
Dooley said, “I’ll drop the shoes. Don’t make me do it.”
“Step away from the Manolos!” yelled Suzie.
Dooley dropped the shoes into the river. Then, he stepped away from the railing.
Six guys grabbed Dooley. There would no escape for Dooley this time.
#@#@#@#@
Dan and Suzie stood at the railing at the end of the boardwalk. They looked down into the fast flowing river.
The Manolos were long gone.
Suzie said, “I always wanted to tell somebody to step away from something.”
“Perhaps not the ideal moment for that,” said Dan.
#@#@#@#@
When Delilah woke up in a hospital room, Fred was nodding off in her guest chair. Delilah prodded him in the knee.
Fred woke up and said, “Hey girl.”
“Hey,” said Delilah.
“Glad to see you awake,” said Fred.
“What happened to me?”
“Dooley gave you a hot shot. You were od-ing on horse when we broke down your apartment door.”
“So, the bastard tried to kill me.”
Fred nodded and said, “Maybe he thought you wanted his precious Manolo shoes.”
“After he came in them? No way. Ugh!”
#@#@#@#@
Delilah said, “What’s your name, honey?”
“Fred.”
“Where’s home, Fred?”
“I live in Johome. It’s 3 valleys east and a little south of central trail.”
“I know where it is. I grew up in Twin Lakes.”
Twin Lakes was east of Johome, in the same valley.
“Small world,” said Fred.
“Yes, well here’s the deal Fred, I was wondering if you’d like to do a bit of traveling with me.”
“I could extend my vacation. When would we go?”
“Now, but first would you mind doing me a teensy favor?”
#@#@#@#@
Delilah’s doorframe was broken. Fred ignored the crime scene warnings and entered Delilah’s apartment.
Fred unscrewed the bedroom cable outlet’s face plate. Below the face plate opening, Fred found a plastic bag taped to the inside of the wall.
Inside the plastic bag was a business card for a storage facility and a security card. On the back of the business card, the numbers ‘147’ were written.
#@#@#@#@
When Dooley confessed to leaving the OTB money in storage locker 147, a law enforcement posse descended on the storage facility, with warrants. Locker 147 was empty.
The video surveillance showed Fred rolling a wheeled duffle bag out of locker 147. When he passed the security camera, Fred waved and winked.
#@#@#@#@
The casino’s preacher only had a flesh wound, but it hurt like hell. After emergency treatment, the preacher went home and enthusiastically took his pain meds.
Since the casino’s wedding chapel was under repair after Jade’s automatic weapon assault, Mike and Mona changed the venue of their wedding. At random, they picked a wedding chapel with a Janus Joplin theme. The lady preacher sang Joplin’s signature hit, substituting the bride and groom names. It was quite nice, although ‘Mike and Mona McGee’ made no actual sense.
Mike and Mona eventually said, ‘I do’.
#@#@#@#@
Flo returned to Philville with Steve, Mike, and Mona. Flo and Mona got along fine, although Mona seemed more like an older sister than a mom.
The casino insurance policy bought Flo a new wardrobe, thus Flo had lots of new clothes to show off when she started her sophomore year of high school.
#@#@#@#@
The story about Dooley’s shoes had long legs. Every so often there’d be an inquiry from Earth about a pair of Dooley’s shoes. With all the focus on the shoes, the turkey baster fell through the cracks.
The turkey baster became lost in the system. When Flo petitioned for the return of the turkey baster, nobody could find it.
#@#@#@#@
A week after the wedding, Shasta signed for a package from the Lucky Lady casino. The package was addressed to Shasta’s mom Sheila, but Shasta opened the package anyway. Inside, Shasta found Sheila’s flight jacket, fully restored by the Lucky Lady boutique tailor. From that point on, the garment was Shasta’s flight jacket.
#@#@#@#@
The 2 guys in suits were imprisoned in Sheila and Stilt’s basement, where they were forced to watch a video feed that contained a subliminal message urging confession. The prisoners would eventually confess to working as thugs for a conservative think tank. They would also confess to 37 illegal renditions.
The captain of a Navy ship agreed to bring the conservative thugs to Earth for punishment, but both thugs tragically died in transit when they accidently drowned while washing dishes, after insulting the cook’s favorite recipe, baked salmon with a maple syrup glaze. These minor details were omitted from the official report: the salmon insult and the burly cook simultaneously holding both heads down in dirty dishwater.
The entire crew enthusiastically praised the salmon every time it was served, for the remainder of the trip to Earth.
#@#@#@#@
The end.
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