Pane for the Holidays
Ash Pane series number four
by David and Linda Broughton
Copyright 2011, David Broughton, Smashwords Edition
Original copyright, 2004 David and Linda Broughton
Most of the characters are purely fictional. When well-known names are used, they are used in a purely fictional manner, and may or may not be representative of the real person or place. The author is solely responsible for the content. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, except as stated by agreement with the author, or minimal quotes may be used for reviews when credited, as in accordance with accepted standard industry practice.
Pane for the Holidays
Ash Pane novel number 4
Original Copyright 2004, David and Linda Broughton
Published in honor of my beloved Linda, now gone on to her greater glory as an angel in Heaven. Farewell, my sweet, until the day we meet again on the other side. You are loved and sorely missed, not only by me, but anyone that had the pleasure of knowing you in any way.
A special thanks to my good friend and great writer in her own right, Gloria Helmer for helping with the reediting of this book. You can find her current family-friendly novel, The Peony Garden available in Ebook format at many common bookseller's websites.
Chapter 1
UCLA Campus,
Los Angeles, CA
Chrissie Meaney and three of her gal pals are outside the dorms, enjoying another beautiful California Saturday. They're walking around from booth to booths set up on pedestrian mall. They're pretending to be interested in a number of things from saving the planet to religious studies. The only thing they're truly interested in is meeting cute guys. One booth has four good looking guys and a like number of pretty girls. Guys are lined up to talk to the girls, but the line to speak to the guys is much shorter. Chrissie thinks most girls around here don't have the chutzpah to talk to the guys, her gal pals demonstrate it when they're reluctant to speak to these hunky guys. "What are you so afraid of? Are we out here to meet guys or what?"
Her roommate Barbara Jacobsen answers, "Yeah, but we can't just go up to them, they'll think we're easy or something."
"But we are easy, if the guy is cute, so what's the problem?"
"We don't know what to say to them."
"That's easy, they're out here pushing something, so ask about that."
"You take the lead, Chrissie, we'll follow."
"Oh all right. You gals would never make it in New York City."
Chrissie marches up to the booth, her three friends tag along behind. She asks the cutest one, in her opinion, "What are you here to promote?"
"Religious and sexual freedom. Our group believes among other things that sex is a God given gift, and should be practiced and celebrated as much as possible."
Chrissie doesn't buy it, she knows it must be some kind of scam, but if so, it's the most unique way of getting women for sex she's ever heard of. No other group would say something like that, even if all they wanted really was sex. The directness surprises her, but not as much as it does her gal pals that aren't accustomed the directness of New Yorkers. "That's a direct approach, I think I like it. I suppose you have some place to put your philosophy into practice?"
"Of course, our group lives together in a compound in Malibu."
"A compound in Malibu? How do you afford that?"
"Everyone is expected to put in some work, that's a necessity that cannot be denied. Our leader has work for everyone, but nothing so strenuous as the Amish or the like. Factory work, primarily. Good honest work, for an honest living."
"I don't think we want to live there, or do anything of the kind. Not at the present time, we want to finish what we've started here. Do you have some kind of program that allows us to continue going to school and living where we are?"
"Of course we do. We wouldn't expect anyone to join us without first experiencing what we have to offer. In fact, there's a meeting tonight for newbies. Would you like to come to the compound to see and feel what it's like for yourself?"
"Maybe, I'll discuss it with my friends, I won't go alone."
"Of course, that's a wise precaution. Bring your friends, male and female if you wish. There will be a bus here at seven this evening for those that wish to attend the meeting." This handsome man gives her a million watt smile that lets her know he's talking about himself, "Plan on getting back late, sometimes the parties after the meetings can go all night."
"Oh really? Hmm, we'll have to consider that."
Chrissie leads her friends away from the booth to discuss it. "Well, what do you think?"
Barbara chimes, "I don't know about you, but a guy that can go all night interests me. I've heard some of these groups practice tantric sex. The guys trained in it really can go all night, and give a woman dozens of huge orgasms."
"Well, it seems to me we'll have to see what's up with that." Her gal pals giggle, as they stroll along. They consider going to get naps, if in fact it lasts all night, they'll need to rest up ahead of time.
Chapter 2
Chrissie and her friends are barely in time to catch the bus to this compound in Malibu. They would have been early, but a frantic stop to buy condoms and other personal items almost made them late. She finds it odd the bus windows are blacked out, but not entirely unexpected, a group that has a lot of sex would probably have sex anywhere and everywhere, including on the bus.
The same women and guys that were at the booth earlier in the day are on the bus with them. The handsome devil Chrissie spoke with uses a built-in PA system to explain things to the would be converts. "When we get to the compound, you will be shown into a changing area, and provided with white linen outfits. Please leave all personal belongings, especially cell phones and the like in the lockers provided. Wear only the white outfits, no bras, no underwear or T shirts. Enjoy your evening, but be safe, condoms must be used by neophytes, until testing for communicable diseases is done."
This doesn't sound all that strange to Chrissie, though maybe a little. Having on so little probably makes it easier for the sex party after the leader gives them some kind of BS speech. As things go in LA, it's certainly not the strangest thing she's heard of.
The ride takes a while, Chrissie knows that traffic in LA on a Saturday night can be nearly as atrocious as during the week. When the bus stops to let them off, she notes they're inside a high walled compound. That's a good way to keep any prying eyes from seeing what goes on here.
Just like the cute guy said, they're shown to makeshift locker rooms, the guys on one side, the girls on the other. Each of them is given a cotton top and a matching white cotton pants, neither is very thick or expensive. When the group is changed, they're shown into the courtyard.
Suddenly, armed guards appear as if by magic. The man Chrissie takes to be the leader of the group, or cult, whatever it's called, speaks via a PA system from a catwalk halfway up the wall on the far side. "You are now my prisoners. You will do as you're told, or you'll be killed, and your bodies fed to the sharks. You will be expected to work in my factories to earn your keep. Refuse to work, you die. I have no qualms about killing any or all of you. By now, your possessions have been confiscated. Any attempt to escape or contact the outside world will result in your death. You'll be shown to a barracks. I suggest you get as much rest as possible, you'll be expected to work a twelve hour shift tomorrow.
Girls cry and scream, the leader spouts, "I suggest you get over it, you stupid kids got sucked in by the promise of sex. I hope you're smart enough not to try anything, but if you're killed, there's more where you came from. Get to bed." The neophytes stand out easy enough, they're the only ones with clean white garments, the others wear the same thing, but are none too clean. They're all herded into long barracks buildings by armed guards, then locked in.
Chrissie isn't too surprised that it happened, only that it happened so quickly without any attempt at brainwashing. Her friends are beside themselves, but she keeps a cool head. I'll just have to wait until an opportunity presents itself. Somehow, I'll get a message out, even if I have to play up to a guard to do it. Dad will know what to do, or who to call. In fact, he claims to know Ash Pane, she'd sort this mess out in a hurry. I hope he really does know her, and how to contact her, and wasn't just bragging. Time will tell, one way or another, we'll get out of this mess. I'll have to be ready so when the opportunity presents itself, I can grab it. Panicking will do nothing, Dad always said, panic after, do what you have to do first.
Chapter 3
Near Evergreen, Colorado
Ash wakes slowly as she lingers under the covers, not yet ready to get out of her cozy bed to start her day. She has no plans, no case to solve -- that always makes it hard to decide what to do with her day. She's now the wealthiest person in the world, though few know that she is. Oh, plenty know she has lots of money now, a whole hell of a lot. Few if any, know just how much, she's not exactly sure herself. She could do anything she wants today, or any day for that matter. Maybe I'll just do nothing. That's always an option. It's already nearly noon.
Ash is not a morning person at all. Most nights, Ash and a collection of people she considers her family, stay in the music room until late, or early, depending on how one looks at it. Roz never seems to want to stop playing music. Roz has a true gift, she can play any instrument almost as soon as she picks it up. A little bit of instruction, or watching someone else play an instrument makes her an almost instant virtuoso.
Roz has already played with some of the biggest names in the music world. She's written and conducted her own symphony on a local basis. All in all, not bad for a 13 or maybe 14 year-old Russian girl that barely speaks English.
Ash saved Roz from the clutches of demented Russian mobsters that were raping and torturing her. She was a poor orphan abducted from the streets of Moscow. Threats and a bit of violence against the paper pushing weenies at the INS has gotten Roz resident alien status. Ash's lawyer has obtained legal guardianship of Roz for Ash.
Ash drinks some of the coffee from the carafe that Mary, her resident coffee fairy seems to almost always leave for her. It's probably more out of self-interest than anything else. Nobody wants to deal with Ash until she's had a few cups.
Mary is the cook, chief bottle washer, and somewhat of a mother figure to Ash. She hired Mary away from the Waldorf Astoria in New York City a few months back.
Jerry was only Mary's "special friend" at that time, but the idea of them moving to Colorado spurred him into marrying Mary. Jerry was the maintenance supervisor for the Astoria, and is a heck of a handy guy to have around. He oversaw all the new construction to make room for everyone by using prefab metal buildings to beat the winter weather.
Jerry designed and oversaw all the work. The huge music room has a sound quality nearly as good as the world famous Carnegie Hall. It’s completely wired for recording too. It has top of the line digital recording equipment in a small soundproof booth in one corner. Mechanic, builder, plumber, electrician, sound engineer, it seems Jerry can do it all, and yet whatever he does or has done is always first class.
Ash wonders where her companions are. She generally sleeps with both Rachel and Sheila. They are friends, lovers, colleagues, many things to her. Ash is hard pressed to define exactly what they are to her or each other. Both started out as hired help.
Rachel was originally hired to be Roz's nanny, teacher, and bodyguard. Military training, a good deal of musical ability, with the ability to speak Russian, were the reasons Ash originally hired her. Rachel had Russian grandparents on one side that raised her after her parents died in a car wreck, where she got the ability to speak Russian. Military schooling enhanced that ability.
Rachel is tall, red headed, looks every bit the stereotype Irish lass. Her creamy white complexion is dotted with a few freckles that are just so cute. Ash was undecided whether or not to attempt any kind of relationship. She was technically an employee at that time. An adventure with another gal on Ash's Australian mission made her decide to go for it. Rachel is now wealthy in her own right due to the last case, so she stays because she wants to, not because she's employed here.
Sheila started out as hired help on the last mission. When both Rachel and Ash got a load of her bountiful beauty they couldn't resist. Sheila is light skinned except for when she gets a tan. A brunette, she is big, but very shapely. An Amazon queen to be sure. She's over six feet tall, with linebacker wide shoulders, including the natural shoulder pads. She's muscular, but not in a manly way. Everything about her is womanly, but super-sized. Ash and Rachel call sexual encounters with Sheila mountain climbing, because she's a mountain of beauty.
Ash, Rachel, and Sheila are what some would call bi-sexual. They like some men too. Ash doesn't like the labels. The way she sees it, she likes people because of their minds first, though a nice body doesn't hurt their chances. Ash simply finds that certain traits, whether they be in a man or a woman, are attractive to her. Brains, and a certain attitude mean the most.
Actually, she doesn't find all that many men or women attractive. Most women are too silly. They waste their time and minds on stupid stuff, including things like shoes with no purpose, soap operas, and other crap like that.
Most men are sports junkies, memorizing stats, wasting time watching silly games that are just made up crap that have no real meaning. Playing sports for fun or exercise is one thing, watching others play, getting deep into stats and all that garbage, is another, as far as Ash is concerned.
Ash barefoots to the bathroom to do her morning (or whenever she gets up) rituals. When she finishes, she pulls on sweatpants and a t-shirt then pads to the kitchen for more coffee. Mary isn't around, which is unusual. Ash finds a note that she left by the coffee maker. It tells her that the family went to the mall. The mall in Denver that Ash owns, is what Mary means when she says the mall. Well hell, that leaves me on my own for the time being.
Ash pours more coffee. She thinks about the coming holiday, Thanksgiving. She's left the arrangements up to Bobbi, her right hand gal. They're planning on spending Thanksgiving in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria. They’ll be taking in the Macy's Parade live, something she's always wanted to do.
Ash will be doing some shopping while they're in New York. Christmas gifts for her wealthy friends will be hell to find anywhere, but she stands a better chance in New York City. She also has a lot of business to discuss with her long time friend and partner in many of her enterprises, Jason. The trip is still almost three weeks away.
Ash became wealthy taking away the ill-gotten gains from scumbags, perps, terrorists, and ordinary badguys. She doesn't have the foggiest idea what to do with it. She has captured tons of furnishings, airplanes of all varieties, helicopters, cars… what she hasn't taken from the scum of the earth would be a shorter list. She has many toys she could go play with. Including a souped up P-51 Mustang, and a P-38 Lightning that's also souped up and refitted. Ash can fly these, but isn't yet rated on the fighter jets, Cessna Citations or huge cargo planes. She hasn't had time to make that official, though no FAA man in his right mind would question her about a damn thing.
One Russian tank sits out in the back yard -- another is across the road. If the bastard terrorists attack again, they'll have to deal with those badboys. Everyone that lives or works here has learned to operate them. That doesn't include Roz and Moreen, the young wards she's taken in. Even these two young girls can shoot pistols and are learning self-defense, as are Mary and Jerry.
There are so many people in Ash's life now, employees and friends, she sometimes forgets who is who. This is especially true with Gordillo children. There are so many and they look so much alike that she's never sure which one is which. Some are twins, others are triplets, that doesn't help a bit. Ash hired the father as a wood carver, a skill that's difficult to find these days.
She has an idea to build a truly fine hotel on a property she bought. Ash wants it to be in the old English style, with hand fitted beams of carved wood everywhere. Finding Francisco Gordillo, and later his brother, a first class, old world style carpenter, seemed made to order. At that time, the Gordillo’s had next to nothing.
She found the Gordillo's by … some would say happenstance, but a force of some variety or other has been at work in her life that leads her to those in need. Often it leads her to those that commit evil too, she knows very well how to deal with those types. Ash doesn't understand it at all, but has learned to accept it and just go with it.
Ash has a rep for removing certain body parts of those that do wrong. The rep is only partially earned. Ash was going to remove the offending parts from the bastards that were raping and torturing Roz when she found her. Roz actually did it. Ash allowed it. Since Roz was the injured party, it was justice in its truest form. Ash cauterized the wounds so that the bastards would have to live without those parts, a fate worse than death to most men.
Ash has removed the naughty bits from a few scumbags herself. She plays the rep up for all it's worth. Usually, she would rather shoot the scum, but that rep sometimes scares the bastards more than death. She has shot many of them, including the terrorist bomber that tried to turn himself into a huge Claymore mine when she was saying hello to her friend, Les Moore, President of the United States. He was attending a function at the Waldorf in New York City while Ash was there on the Stradivarius case.
Later, on that same case, she stumbled into a plot that involved enriched uranium for suitcase-sized nukes some terrorists wanted. She fixed their wagons, ending that situation in her own style. That group has repeatedly made attempts to kill her for it. That's why her once idyllic property her grandparents left her is now a fully armed fortress.
Her success in that case has brought her abilities to the attention of world leaders. She took on a case for the Queen of England, in Australia. She’s been knighted to the highest order for that conquest. Her last mission began as a kidnap case involving a Senator's daughter. It led her to a white slavery ring ran by a porn publisher in California.
In turn, that led her to a Middle Eastern asshole that bought many of the kidnapped girls. He was a big time arms dealer. Fate, or whatever she chooses to call the force working in her strange life now, made it possible for her to take out several leaders of terrorists groups while they were there to buy arms from that lowlife.
Ash's computer wizards were able to steal away all his funds, plus those of the terrorists. They also somehow managed to capture the banked stashes of those that were funding the terrorists. Already wealthy from her previous adventures, taking that away from the creeps made her the wealthiest person there is. She's shared the wealth, as always, with those that helped. She takes twenty-five percent off the top then splits the rest between those that are on her team at the time. That was a large crew, so they only got seventeen billion or so each, depending on what parts of the case they were in on. Some that were in for the whole deal got more, a few less, depending on how and when they were involved. The entire team became multi-billionaires ... with one exception. The so-called Boom Brothers, demolitions men extraordinaire, took only a total of a billion each from two cases. They had Ash set the rest up as annuities to keep on giving year after year to a couple of charities. The Booms get the tax write offs to keep their remaining billion each tax free, more or less.
One of her people, ex-Navy seal Oscar Wellington, was wounded in the leg severely in one of the attacks against Ash. The shitheads made the attempt at her mall in Denver. He's recovering nicely, albeit slowly. Naomi, a woman with two kids that Ash has given a new start in life, is watching over Oscar. A romance was budding between Naomi and Oscar before he was shot. She's been taking care of him since the shooting, and the romance has begun to blossom.
Ash does things like that. She often uses her newfound wealth to give people a chance at a better life. She's done that for the Gordillo's, Naomi, Bobbi, and many others. The more she does for good people, the more money and other good things seem to come her way.
What now seems like eons ago, Ash was an FBI agent. A shoot out with the same serial killer that killed her parents nearly killed her. The FBI forced her to take medical retirement. After that, she set herself up as a recovery agent for insurance companies, demanding twenty-five percent of recovery so they wouldn't bother her with run of the mill cases. That led to the Stradivarius case, which led to everything else.
Now, Ash is famous for taking out bad boys of all varieties. Governments sometimes ask her to do what they cannot, due to political or other reasons.
A simple stolen item case would be all right with Ash sometimes. This bit of doing battle with major criminals or terrorist assholes is getting to be a real chore.
Right now, Ash doesn’t want any cases at all. Rest is what she needs. Enjoying all the talented people she has surrounded herself with is what she wants. This force that seems to be at work in her life may have other ideas -- it usually does.
Ash considers sitting down at the beautiful old harp she purchased in Australia. Sometimes it will take her to a magical place. She can't play it on her own. This force that Ash doesn’t understand allows her to play it sometimes. She is rarely aware of the music it makes unless she records it. This force transports her to a magical place where she is at peace. In that place, there is only peace, warmth, and light. In that realm, there is no death or destruction. The only problem with it is that she will zone out for hours. It's like mere minutes to her. It allows her this, like a reward. It happens only at times when there isn’t some bad boy to ruin, or someone needing her helping hand.
Ash decides against it, she'll find some other way to spend her day. If it won't take her to her magical place, it means something bad is coming. Right now, she would rather not know.
Chapter 4
Ash decides to take a ride down to Harriet's for a late lunch. She actually owns the place now. The previous owner was going to close it, so she bought it so her friend Harriet could continue running the place. Now, it's doing very well. Once people found out that it was hers, they've been coming in droves. The low priced, well-prepared food has kept them coming back.
Everything that Ash gets involved in does well. She doesn't care if they make money for her, but they do. She gets into things like that to either keep people working, or make more jobs. She wouldn't care if she had to pay the bills out of her own, very deep pockets.
Ash gets dressed in her usual choice of clothing when around home, jeans, cowboy boots, and a western style shirt over her high-tech bulletproof titanium oxide vest. Not much thicker than a quality T-shirt, she always wears one when she leaves the house. They stop the armor piercing rounds that nearly killed her when she was a Fibbie. That was five years ago, not the millions of years ago it seems like to her.
Ash arms herself in her usual fashion. Her fifty caliber Desert Eagle goes in a pancake holster in the small of her back. A Walther PPK goes in a shoestring holster in her right boot. A switchblade knife goes in one back pocket, a butterfly knife slips into the other.
Ash decides that she'll wear the western belt with the derringer on the buckle. It's a real derringer, in forty-four magnum. A hidden latch on the buckle releases it quickly. It's a desperation weapon to be sure, but sometimes useful.
Lately, she's been taking a deluxe full-auto reproduction Thompson sub-machine gun with her too. She carries it in a case made to look like a violin case. Such arms should not be required, but with terrorists and other scum-suckers popping up now and then, she feels better having lots of armament handy.
She has tons of arms she could tote, but the Thompson has panache. It's also so easily recognized for what it is; often merely showing the business end to most bad boys has a significant deterrent effect. Only the stupidest of criminals will try to go against a Thompson. Ash knows all too well that stupidity abounds in their ranks.
Ash throws on a long, lined, dark brown leather coat made in the style of a riding duster of old. Ash likes its style. This coat goes well with her Native American looks. There’s quite a picture in the mirror as she checks her hair. After a few brush strokes through the raven mane, she's ready to go.
Ash totes the Thompson outside with her. It’s always a problem deciding what vehicle to take. She has so many to choose from. Often, her choice is the Subaru Baja she recently bought. It's a fun little car, and with the turbo it has good power. It's not like one of her many hotrods or exotic cars, but it's better as an everyday driver that's still fun.
The Baja is behind the Outback wagon. The Outback is more or less Mary's car. Rather than move things around, she takes the Outback. It has the turbo too, so it's much the same as the Baja. It just doesn’t have the same looks.
Ash rolls down the drive, the gate opens, she zips to the second gate. The guard is on the ball, he sees her hotrodding toward him. He gets the gate open quick enough that she doesn't have to stop. Ash gives him a wave. She cruises to the highway to zip into Golden quickly, rather than taking the back road.
She parks near the door to Harriet’s. Waiting until after the normal lunch hour has advantages, the place isn't busy now, the tourists have let up. Ash strolls in, toting the cased Thompson with her. It's become a bit like a security blanket to her. Harriet is sitting at a stool near the register, totaling up the lunch receipts.
Harriet waves, as Ash sits at the counter. A thirty-something woman that Ash doesn't know is working as the waitress today. The gal stops by to give her a menu. Ash asks for coffee. Harriet knows to serve her coffee automatically, but this new gal doesn't. She's a decent looking woman, but seems a bit down in the dumps.
The special today is called beef with mushrooms and green peppers. Ash knows that the cook is quite good, but he always uses very simple names for his creations. Ash orders the special from the gal. She writes it on her order book, rips off the ticket then puts the order in to the kitchen, via a wheel with clips on it.
The cook tells this new waitress through the pass-through that he's out of the specials, she should see if they want something else. Ash hears that, she tells the gal to just order her two cheeseburgers with an order of fries. The new waitress writes the order on the ticket, scratching out the special. She looks a little flustered, too flustered for such a simple thing.
Harriet finishes what she was doing then wanders over to speak to Ash, "Hey, girl, how are you today? I'm glad you came in, I wanted to ask you something."
Ash smiles, "I'm okay, how about you, Harriet?"
Harriet smiles back, but looks tired, "Oh, we've been so busy lately, I'm a bit worn out."
Ash makes the obvious suggestion, "Hire more help, only manage the place."
Harriet replies, "I want to, but good help is hard to find. Even though we pay quite well now, there aren't too many people interested in waitressing."
Ash nods her head toward the new waitress, "This new gal seems to be all right."
Harriet nods, "She is all right, for a rookie. She's pitched right in and done okay. If I could find a few more like her, I'd love it."
Ash thinks for a moment then replies, "Hmm, if we can't find good help, maybe we best not expand like we were thinking of."
Harriet shakes her head, "Oh, I think that's still a good idea. More space would help some I think. At least then maybe we wouldn't have the long lines at lunch and dinner. More room to move around will help too."
Ash shrugs, "Whatever you want to do is okay by me. I'll be on the lookout for more help. I imagine we could do with more kitchen help too."
Harriet agrees with a nod, "Yeah, that would be good. My cook loves it, but it is a lot of work. I need to put in better and faster dishwashing equipment. Dishwashers, the people kind, are even harder to find. It's not something anyone would choose to do, I don't blame 'em."
Ash nods, "Yeah, I can see that. The Salvation Army people don't have any help for you these days? Get with Bobbi or Nola for cash for the dishwashing equipment."
Harriet replies, "The Salvation Army shelter is where I found my new gal, Shelley. They don't have many in need right now. I suppose that's a good thing."
Ash nods, "I suppose so. What's Shelley's story? She does seem down in the dumps."
"Honey, she lost her home, and her husband in a fire. They had no insurance either, so she wound up at the shelter. That would make anyone down in the dumps."
Ash nods slightly, "Yeah, it sure would. I can't replace her husband, but I can get her a home. Send her down here."
"Sure thing ... Oh just a minute, I just wanted to discuss Thanksgiving with you."
Ash's eyebrows go up, "You are going to close for Thanksgiving, aren't you?"
Harriet explains, "Not exactly, I want to have a Thanksgiving dinner all day, free to anyone that wants it. I'll do it buffet style. I’ll let everyone eat until they pop if they want to. I wanted to run it by you first."
"I think it's a fine idea. Make sure you advertise it well. Use the papers, the radio, flyers, all that stuff. Make it clear that it doesn't matter what their income is. Many people have a little money, but nowhere to go."
Harriet smiles, "Okay sweetie, I was kind of thinking along those same lines myself. I'll send Shelley over."
Harriet goes over to Shelley at one of the tables where she is refilling saltshakers, straightening up, and doing other such things. Harriet speaks to her then Shelley comes over to Ash. "Something else I can do for you, Miss?"
Ash pats the stool next to her, "Sit down here for a minute, I want to talk to you."
The new waitress shakes her head, "Miss, I'm working, the boss lady might not like that. I really need this job right now."
Ash smiles, "She won't say a thing. You see, she's in charge, but I actually own this joint."
Shelley seems a little surprised, "You must be the famous Ash Pane."
"Call me Ash, please. Famous is for that cookie guy. Now sit down."
"You're the boss."
Shelley sits down on a stool one away from Ash. Ash turns to face her. "I understand you lost your home and husband. I can't replace the husband, but I can provide you with a home."
Shelley seems unwilling to accept any more charity, "I'll be all right, eventually. Harriet pays well. It will take some time, but I'll be okay."
Ash uses a sterner voice, "I won't have an employee of mine staying at the shelter. You will take a home and a car so you can get to work."
Shelley nods, "I'm not silly enough to refuse, my girls really need a home. One problem though, if I have a home, I'll have to have someone to watch them while I work. The people at the shelter take care of them now."
Ash nods, "I think we can find a way to solve that little problem. We'll hire you a nanny."
Shelley counters with, "Harriet pays well, but no way I can afford that on waitress money."
Ash grins. Obviously this gal isn't aware of how I do things. "You don't have to afford it, I'll cover it. I plan on starting a care center for kids of working mothers. We can arrange something in the mean time. People that work for me get treated right. How old are your girls?"
"Five and seven. We barely managed to save them from the fire, my husband handed my five year old to me, I ran out with her, but he got overcome by the smoke … he didn't make it out. He gave his life to get them out. I'll always remember that."
Ash nods solemnly, "As you should. I'll call my right hand gals, they'll come here to set you up with a house, and a car. They’ll get you and your girls clothes, so you won't have any more worries in that regard either. I'll see if I can arrange someone to watch your girls, too."
Shelley looks Ash in the eyes, "I'll accept your generosity, but why are you being so kind to me? You don't even know me."
Ash shrugs, "It's my way, besides, you work for me now. I can't let it be said I don't take care of my people. Just do the best you can helping Harriet out, that's all I ask. Now, go see if my burgers are ready. I'll make the calls."
"Sure thing, Ash."
Shelley goes to the kitchen pass-through. The cook sets the burgers up just as she gets there. She places the plate in front of Ash then refills Ash’s coffee. She asks her for a Coke with no ice. Shelley gets it right away.
Ash uses her cell to call Bobbi, and tell her what's up with Shelley. Ash asks that she ready the house next to Naomi and Oscar, in the development she bought. Bobbi tells her it's ready to go now. She has all of the houses ready to be lived in. Furnished, utilities on, all that. "Remember, Ash, you told me to get them all ready, I took you serious and got it done."
"Wow, you do get things done in a hurry sometimes." Ash tells her to get with Nola, a former real estate sales person, now Bobbi's teammate in the ventures Ash has going locally. "You two should get together, come get Shelley, take her to get her kids then buy them plenty of clothes, toys, and stock the house with food. I'll look into setting up babysitting myself." Bobbi tells her she will be freed up from her other deals in about two hours, she'll start taking care of it then. "That's fine, bye for now."
When Ash eats her burgers, she notices that the cook used the seasoning mix she found in California. They're really good. Ash tells Shelley that her helpers will be here in about two hours to get the ball rolling.
Ash goes to speak to Harriet, as she's hanging up the phone. "I'm going to have to take your help away for a bit to get her squared away."
Harriet nods knowingly, "Honey, I already figured that out. I just called my evening girl to come in early. I have it covered, just help Shelley get a new start, I'll manage."
Ash smiles, "You always do. See you later." Ash walks back to her spot at the counter then tosses down a ten grand pack of bills as a tip for Shelley. It seems like a lot, but to her, it's more like a buck would be to most people. Ash grabs her Thompson case then strolls out to the car.
Ash drives over to the housing development Bobbi and Nola bought for her. When she parks in front of Naomi's, she notes both of Oscar's cars are here, but Naomi's car is gone. Ash rings the bell then hears Oscar say to come on in. Oscar is sitting in an overstuffed chair with his injured leg propped up on a footstool. He puts down the magazine on military weapons he was reading. "Hey, Ash, what's going on?"
"I have a favor to ask of Naomi, will she be back soon?"
Oscar shrugs slightly, "Should be, she went to the grocery store for a few things. You know how some women can be when they start shopping."
Ash nods, "Yeah, I don't shop, I just buy, but I know what you mean. Oh, that reminds me, I never gave you your access card." Ash digs it out of her purse then hands it to him. The plastic card has a small paper card taped to it with the pin number. "There you go, now you're really a billionaire."
Oscar gets a look of disbelief on his face, "Wow, that's hard to fathom."
"Yeah, I know, it is."
Oscar brings up a subject they've discussed before, "As soon as I'm healed, I'll have to find something to do. I can't keep sitting around the house all day. I'll go totally bonkers. I’m nearly there now."
Ash states the obvious, "With that kind of cash, you can probably do about anything you want."
Oscar nods, "True, but I have no idea what that might be yet. I never really thought about what I'd do after the military. Now even with all the cash I could want, I still have no idea. Actually, having plenty of money makes it harder. I don't have to take a job just to make a living."
Ash replies, "I'm always running into things, if I find anything you might be interested in, I'll let you know."
Oscar feigns a panic stricken look, "Businesses, yeah, no more shoot outs and hunting bad boys for me." Oscar pats his injured leg.
Ash smiles, "That's what I meant. You're still planning on marrying Naomi I take it? I told you I would pay for a fancy wedding."
"Of course I am. We won't want too fancy, Ash. Well, I don't want too fancy, Naomi's ideas are getting wilder all the time. Besides, I'm wealthy now too. You don't need to pay for it. We'll want you there of course. In fact, that may be a problem. I don't have the foggiest notion where to find the only guy that I'd want for a best man, so I want you. Naomi says she wants you for maid of honor ... that might be a bit of a problem."
Ash feigns a ticked off look, "In case you haven't noticed, Bucko, I'm not a man. After the pics you took on that last gig, I'd think you'd know that."
Oscar takes on a more serious tone, "You're the best, and more man than many. At least in what I think makes a good man. Gender has little to do with it, the way I see it."
"Ummm... Okay, I think you mean that as a compliment, so I'll take it that way."
Oscar smiles at her, "I do. You step up and do the best you can for people. You don't run from a fight. You don't let your friends down if you can possibly help it. In my book, that makes you a hell of a man, or just a hell of a person if the gender thing bothers you."
Ash has to smile a bit, "I see what you mean, you mean what a man should be, not what many are. Thanks for that."
Oscar looks her in the eyes, "It's the truth, just like you always speak the truth, another trait a good man should have."
Ash shakes her head, "Okay, okay, all right already, you're going to give me a complex."
Oscar laughs at that, as they hear a car pull in the drive. Ash looks out the window, it's Naomi. She's unstrapping the kids from the car seats. Ash steps out to the car to say hello to Naomi.
Naomi smiles, "Hey, What's up Ash?"
Ash grins at the little tykes, "Lets get the little ones inside then I have a favor to ask."
"Sure, here you take the kids, I'll grab the groceries then we can sit down with a cup of coffee to talk."
Ash picks up the smaller one, Brian. She leads Jeremy by his little hand toward the house, slowly, since he takes small steps. Naomi trails behind toting a few plastic sacks of groceries. Jeremy says, "Up peas Ant Ass." Ash chuckles then picks Jeremy up too. She knows he means, "Up please, Aunt Ash" but it came out so funny.
Naomi is chuckling too as they enter the house. Ash sits down on the overstuffed couch, still holding the kids. She gives them squeezes and kisses. Jeremy says, "Down peas, Ant Ass." Ash, Naomi and Oscar all chuckle now.
Naomi puts the groceries away then brings Ash a cup of coffee. Ash puts Brian down on the floor to chase after Jeremy. While Ash sips her coffee Naomi asks, "Okay, Ash, what about this favor you need?"
"In a bit, Bobbi and Nola will be bringing a gal to live next door. She has a couple of girls. I'll need you to watch them while she's at work, if you can. I also want you to find a good nanny for them. They'll need watching while you do that."
Naomi smiles brightly, "Oh, I don't see a problem with that, I'll love having a couple girls to look after."
"Find a good nanny if you can. I take it you and Oscar will be getting hitched as soon as you can, I wouldn't want to get in the way of that."
Naomi sips her coffee then replies, "We have no idea at the moment when my divorce will be final. As soon as it is, we'll set a date." Naomi smiles at Oscar as she says, "I want to get him to the altar as soon as I can. I'm not about to let this one get away."
Ash chuckles, "I don't blame you, kiddo. I offered to pay for it, but he said no way."
Naomi smiles, "We can more than handle it, thanks to you. I don't really want to be too fancy. As far as the ceremony itself goes, I want something different. I've been reading about the wedding traditions of different cultures. Several of them I like."
"Figure out what you want. If I can help, let me know."
Naomi becomes more thoughtful looking, "It kind of depends on how soon we know for sure. If it's before Christmas, I think I'd like to be married at your mall, in the center court. Those decorations would be lovely for a wedding."
Ash states in a matter-of-fact tone, "If that's what you want, I'll have them left up 'til next Christmas, if that's what it takes."
Naomi chuckles, "I hope it doesn't take that long. I don't want to give him too much time to change his mind." Naomi gives Oscar a look that obviously speaks volumes between them, but Ash isn't in on it.
Ash grins, looking right at Oscar as she says, "I don't think you have to worry about that, he's totally smitten with you and your kids, in case you haven't noticed."
Naomi's smile is big, "I've noticed, trust me, I've noticed. If you can find a service to send prospective nannies around, I'll be happy to narrow it down for this Shelley person to a few to choose from. I think the final choice should be hers, that's only right."
Ash nods, "Yeah, you're probably right about that. They should be here any time now, so I'll hang out here while I wait. I should introduce you. Got plenty coffee?"
"Of course, Oscar loves his coffee."
Naomi and Ash shoot the breeze about this and that while the kids play with some toys on the floor in the living room, near Oscar. Ash notices that Oscar is pretending to read his magazine again. In reality, he’s watching the kids play by moving his eyes toward them but not his head. If not for his bum leg, he would probably be on the floor playing with them. He did that a lot before he got wounded.
While she and Naomi chat, Ash has a few cups of coffee. She enjoys watching the kids, and talking with Naomi and Oscar. The time sails by quickly -- soon they hear some cars pull up outside.
Ash looks out the front window. It's Bobbi and Nola with Shelley and two pretty little girls. They're toting shopping bags of clothes, groceries and other things into the house next door. Ash signals to Naomi. They go out to help unload both cars.
When everything is inside the house, Ash introduces Naomi to Shelley. Naomi turns to Shelley, "I'll look after the girls, until we can find a suitable nanny." The girls are exploring the house, calling dibs on bedrooms.
Shelley nods, "I think now that I have a home, I want to home school the girls for a while. Their life has been upset so much, I don't think putting them in a new school is a good thing for them right now."
Naomi smiles, "I think I can help with that, I want to home school my boys when they're old enough. It'll be a good chance for me to get it figured out. I've read the reports on home schooling. They claim that home schooled kids do much better, even with only three hours a day of schooling."
Shelley agrees, "I read that somewhere too. I don't know that I want to do it the whole way, since they need to learn social skills too, but for a while though."
Ash chimes in, "I know a teacher that will be willing to help out in a couple of months. I suppose I can have a place built here in this development for schooling ... maybe a multi-use building, so there's a place to hold dinners and things too. That'll have to wait for summer, just like all my other building projects, I suppose. When the snow finally decides to come, I figure it will come with a vengeance since it's late in getting here this year."
Shelley replies, "Yeah, probably so, Ash. Let me get the kids something to eat. Is there cookware here?"
Bobbi answers, "Yeah, there's brand new cookware, dishes, the works." They all have been unpacking and putting away groceries as they were chatting.
Ash wants no more of this domestic stuff so she decides to bail, "I'll leave you gals to it. I have a few things to look into. Call Mary if you need a fill-in sitter sometimes. She'll probably be happy to help. Bobbi, make sure Shelley has everyone's numbers. See you all later."
Ash walks next door, grabs her purse as she says bye to Oscar. She gives the boys smooches on the forehead, Jeremy says, "Bye ant ass."
Ash gets in her Outback then leaves. As soon as she comes to a stop sign in the development, she takes out her phone to call Susan, the other right hand girl, Bobbi's main companion. Ash asks her to find a nanny service and start sending prospects to Naomi's. Susan tells her she'll start making calls right away. Susan is Bobbi's gal pal, semi-living with Bobbi, across the street from Ash. She doesn't stay at Bobbi's all the time, just most of it.
Chapter 5
Ash really has nothing to do. Learning to delegate things means she has tons of free time when she's not on a case. She considers heading out to her airport to check up on things there then maybe take up one of her planes for a little fun. Ash looks at the sky, clouds are rolling in low. Well that probably isn't a good idea, either. Damn, I have to get myself a hobby of some sort, besides kicking bad boy’s asses. There aren't enough around this area anymore for that to be a full-time hobby.
Ash considers going to her mall on the other side of Denver to join her family. No, with the clouds rolling in, choppering in would be a terrible idea. Facing the traffic isn't something I feel like doing now. She rides around the small town of Golden, looking for anything interesting to do.
Ash passes by a hobby shop that she knows has been here quite some time, but she's never been in it. What the hell, why not, maybe they'll have something fun I can share with Roz, Moreen, Rachel, and well...everyone.
Ash drives around the block then parks in front of the not-so-large store. When she walks in, it's like walking into another world, a miniature world. They have tons of things around. Most of which Ash doesn't have the foggiest idea what they are. Some things she does recognize, many model airplanes, cars and boats are sitting around on shelves. Some completed ones are hanging from the ceiling. They're in many sizes, and styles. A major portion of the store seems devoted to them.
Oh, I bet these are mostly those radio-controlled things. Ash starts looking at them closer. Yes, most of them have antennas sticking out of them. She notices that some of them seem to have actual engines on them. Some are probably battery powered. A few of the planes seem to have actual, tiny, jet engines on them.
This intrigues Ash. It could be a lot of fun, flying these things around. If I install some of the super-miniature cameras on them, they could also be very useful to me at times. Hell, if they have mini-bombers that actually work, I could use them to drop in listening devices ... wow ... what an idea.
A man wearing a leather apron over his workman-like clothes comes out of the back room. He's an older man, with a bit of a belly, wearing wire frame glasses. He has some sort of magnifying device pushed out of the way on the top of his graying head. "What can I show you today, Miss."
Ash shrugs, "I'm not exactly sure. I want some planes that are easy to fly, to get started on. I think I want many varieties, but lets start with the easy stuff. Maybe some of the battery powered cars too. Only trouble is, I don't want to build them, I want them ready to go."
"I have some ready to go planes and cars. The really interesting stuff has to be built."
"Show me all the varieties you have, maybe I can hire someone to build them."
The man proceeds to show her all the varieties he has in stock then shows her a catalog with too many more varieties to choose from. "My word, this is a much bigger deal than I would have ever thought."
This pleasant man nods, "Yes, it's a big hobby. There are meets, judging, home-builts, even actual dog fighting with them sometimes. It can be an expensive hobby, too. I started selling the stuff mainly so I could afford the hobby."
"I'll take some of the ready made starter stuff with me today. I'll order a bunch of these other ones. I'll have to find somebody to build them."
The proprietor responds, "By the time they come in, I'll have checked with my local group. I think for only the prospect of a test flight, they wouldn't mind building them for you."
Ash shakes her head, "No, I won't do it that way. They can still have the test flights. I would want to be sure they're operational anyway. I'll pay them well for their trouble. I can imagine some of these take a long time to put together."
"Oh, that depends. I get the feeling you're not in the slightest bit interested in historical or scale accuracy."
"No, I'm not. In fact, I want them done in sky blue or flat black, with all the shiny surfaces painted out with something flat. Now which ones are the quietest, which have the most time aloft, which are fastest, and can we get any of the larger scale bombers with working bomb bays?"
"Oh, I think we can get all that in within a week or so. I think I know what you have in mind for them. You are the world famous Ash Pane are you not?"
Ash is no longer surprised that people recognize her, around this area, "Yes, I am. Believe it or not, I actually came in looking for actual hobby planes. When I saw what you had, I thought they might be useful in many other ways."
The proprietor nods, "Yeah, they could at that, I take it you want to fit cameras to them to use like the military uses their hi-tech radio controlled birds."
"Something like that, yes. I might want to use the bombers to drop listening devices, or in the case of the larger ones, maybe actual munitions."
"Okay, lets look the catalog over to see what we can come up with. I can probably get you a bunch of already built planes too. Guys tire of them. They sell them to make room for the next one quite often. Heck, there's even a national newsletter with tons of them for sale."
Ash is impatient as always, "Tell you what. You know pretty much what I want and need. Let me get a few of the ready to fly ones now to practice with. You get me every kind and type you think I can use. Get me about five of each type, since they may go on a one-way trip. Have what you can't find already built done by your club guys. I'll pay them ... oh five thousand per working plane that they build. I'll pay for whatever it takes to build them too. You think you can deal with that?"
"Sure I can."
"Okay, give me about ten of the ready to fly gas ones and ten of the electric trucks. I'll leave you a hefty deposit to do the other stuff with, okay?"
The storekeeper grins wide, "Okay? That's a darn sight better than okay. Now lets get things together."
Ash gets the planes and trucks with everything she will need for them. She includes spare battery packs, fuel for the gas powered ones, plus two of everything per plane that the proprietor tells her she'll need. She pays for all that then gives him a hundred grand deposit on the rest of it. Most wouldn't pay in advance, one good thing about being famous for kicking ass and removing body parts, nobody in their right mind tries to screw her over. Those that are crazy enough to try don't do it more than once.