“Downstairs?”Petra asked as she led the way to the basement.
“Yeah, I think that would be perfect.”They trudged down the steps, each making two trips, and by the time they had opened all the boxes, they shook their heads at all the equipment that had been sent to them by both the ATF and the DEA.
“Damn,” Paul said.“We’re going to be set up just fine.I can install these motion cameras on the outside of the house, just under the gutters, and on the bike barn.”
“Bike Barn?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what to call it yet.It’s not really a shop now, but it will be eventually.I don’t know if we should come up with a genuine name for it, or what.I’m kind of waiting for the others to arrive to see what they think.”
“Any idea when they will get here?”
“No, and I don’t know who will be arriving first.All I know is that they went to their own home states to clean up any last minute things they needed to.I know some of them had property they rented, and they have to deal with them.”He reached up and rubbed the center of his forehead.“After I did what I had to, I found an old buddy from my cop days.He’s a tattoo artist, and he was able to remove the shit on my forehead.It took three sessions, with time between each one.I had to heal before I came to see you.”
“Ah, I understand.So, Flynn and Kessler sent us body cameras, cameras to put on the buildings, but what could we possibly do with this equipment?”
“It’s a computer monitor, or TVs whatever you want to call them so that we can hook all of this equipment to them and keep an eye on things.”
“I understand that, but I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Will someone have to monitor this twenty-four seven?”
“I don’t think so.It records and we can store them in the cloud.I would say that we would only have to have someone down here if we have a large party and other bikers are invited.I also don’t think they would have to be monitored during the entire event.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we can take still photographs of them, and later, after the party, we can take those photos and run them through facial recognition to see if anyone has a warrant out against them.If they do, then we can plan one of our events, invite them, and see if they want to purchase merchandise we will offer.”
“Ah, and if they try to get out of the charges for being in possession of said merchandise, then there will be the outstanding warrant against them.”She laughed.“Either way, they’re screwed.It might also depend on what the warrant is as to how hard the law will come down on them.”
“Exactly.We’ll have to make sure that we’re not accused of entrapment, but there’s no reason why we can’t take a still of them and run them through the program.We’re going to want to start our own war room against these people.You still have clearance, right?”
“Yes, and the person sitting here doesn’t have to be down here monitoring everything the entire time.”
“Correct, they’ll just have to make sure the cameras will pick up the faces of people.”
The two of them took the rest of the afternoon to set up the cameras, and they ended up having to use their phones so Petra could tell Paul where to positions the cameras out on the workshop and shed.When he came in to check, he nodded, liking how she had told him to do it.
They went upstairs to clean up, and instead of tossing the boxes away, they condensed them and set them in a room in the basement they had regulated to storage.It worked for them, and since they were the only ones living there at the time, they went with it.
Paul started supper, and within the hour they sat down to a quick meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes, and a tossed salad.Because Paul cooked, Petra cleaned up, and with nothing else to really do, she went into the living room to start reading one of the books she had purchased when she went to town earlier.That set up their lives for the next few weeks.Sharing the household duties, and when there was any spare time, Paul worked to set up the motorcycle shop, while Petra had taken on the task of cleaning out the flower beds to see what type of flowers would be coming up when the time was right, and with both of them going to town and having several discussions, they were able to purchase the equipment they needed to keep the lawn trimmed and neat.At the last minute, they decided to purchase an outdoor grill for themselves, but made sure it was big enough for when others started to arrive.Neither one of them knew when that would happen, but they wanted to be prepared for when it did.
Their life went on for roughly a month when one afternoon, while enjoying a glass of ice cold lemonade after doing the yard work together, Petra’s phone rang.She cocked her head to the side and scowled at Paul when she didn’t recognize the number.
“Put it on speaker,” Paul said, and nodded as she did.
“Hello?”Petra asked hesitantly.
“Hello, is this Petra Thomas?”
“It is, may I ask who is calling?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m Sally Ward, I’m the owner of Sally’s Diner in town.I know, not very original, but I was named after my grandmother, and I inherited her name along with the business.Anyway, the reason I’m calling is that I saw you filled out an application a few weeks back.I’m sorry it took me so long to get back with you but I’ve been busy lately.I know, I know, it’s no excuse, but I’m calling because I need help, desperately.Is there any way you can come in for an interview.”
Petra looked at Paul and they nodded together before she answered.She also noted that Paul had pulled his phone and made a note of the name.She knew a background check would be started on Sally before she was even off the phone with her.
“I can, when would you like me to come in?”
