“Probably not,” she said, trying to be diplomatic. Worried about what Aunt Dixie wanted, she cautiously asked, “What do you need sway with Diesel for?”
Knowing Aunt Dixie, it was yet another outlandish idea to raise money for the old folks home she was associated with. Those ideas tended to be, according to Diesel, responsible for a significant portion of the stress in his life.
“Well,” she said, looking over one shoulder as if about to share confidential information. “I have come up with a humdinger of an idea for a fundraiser and Diesel won’t even listen to it. Maybe if I tell you, then you can tell him. And if you wanted to make it sound like it was your idea, I’d be perfectly fine with that. The important thing is helping the Starlight Old Folks Home out, right?”
Beryl wasn’t an idiot. Diesel would see Aunt Dixie’s hand in this the moment she said the word “fundraiser.” She should have been wary of the depths of Aunt Dixie’s deviousness.
Still, Aunt Dixiehadjust helped her out of a sticky situation with a customer. She could hardly refuse to try.
She cleared her throat. “I’d certainly be willing to ask him about this idea, but I can’t guarantee he’ll listen to me any more than he listens to you.”
Aunt Dixie nodded. “Worth a try in my books. You’d at least be able to get into his office without him hiding from you.”
Beryl stifled a grin at the notion of her large and in-charge cousin hiding from tiny Aunt Dixie. She pretended to ponder for a couple of seconds before she leaned in close and said, “Maybe this time, but we might be burning a bridge needed for future endeavors.”
Aunt Dixie considered that. To Beryl’s surprise, she nodded. “You’re right. I might not want to blow this opportunity on an ordinary idea. Good thinking, Beryl. I’ll give it some thought and get back to you.”
With that, she waved her fingers like a beauty queen in a parade and guided her cart down the aisle toward the checkouts. Beryl couldn’t help but think she’d just dodged a bullet or at least postponed it for a later date.
Her relief came too soon.
Before she could take a step in any direction, a new problem planted itself in front of her: Sam Brody, newly installed deputy in Old Coot, Arkansas, and a recent transfer from Alpha-Prime.
Space potatoes! I am not in the mood for this, either!
Riker Phoenix, known on Alpha-Prime and other planets far and wide as The Calderian, the top lawman on the planet, sat in his executive chair behind his massive desk, wishing his day hadn’t gone the way of a space potato storm so early in his morning. But it had.
One catastrophe after another had plagued his usually manageable schedule, and he was becoming increasingly irate as each new and seemingly unsurmountable problem landed on his desk.
His beautiful wife, Elise, had been trying to get hold of him all morning but he’d been unable to find a minute to return her calls. That made him even grumpier.
His desktop communication device buzzed, a signal from his assistant letting him know his second-in-command had arrived and was waiting outside. Riker hit the button that would send Cmdr. Conrad Goddard into his office.
“Bad news,” Goddard said the instant the door closed behind him.
“Is there any other kind?” Riker asked.
“Sir?”
“Is bad news the only news I’m going to get today?” he explained.
Goddard, usually unflappable, seemed stymied.
Riker ducked his head once and said, “Sorry. It’s been a day. What’s wrong?”
His second-in-command cleared his throat. Inwardly, Riker grimaced. It was the man’s tell that he was about to deliververybad news. “The agent we sent on that irregular need-to-know covert mission hasn’t reported in. We fear he may be MIA.”
Riker straightened in his chair. “What do you mean he’s missing in action?”
Goddard cleared his throat. “I don’t believe I can be any clearer, sir. The agent has been undercover for more than six months. He sent an initial report and a follow-up, including next steps for completion of the mission, then went silent. He’s missed his last three check-ins.”
A sudden pain above Riker’s left eye throbbed to attention.
“He was nearing the end of his mission the last time he reported in?”
“Yes, sir. My understanding was the agent was about to make the final determination on the issue he was sent there to…manage before handing in his final report. He proposed collecting the target and bringing him back to face justice on Alpha-Prime. There were no red flags or issues noted in his last communication.”
