Alex Morton

"I think I understand, so tell me why do you operate in a big old warehouse. So do you store the minivans in here?" Alex asked.

"The Minis are stored out back in the parking area. The security fence is for them. The heavily locked gate is for me. We hold a lot of money on site. Your mom came by once a week on Friday. That is when she took me to lunch and told me about all of you kids. By the way how is the tight ass Luther?" Hazel asked just to show she really was his mother's friend.

"Luther is a dick, he is one smart dick, but he is still a dick," Alex said.

"That was the impression I got. He always seemed to be over dressed in every picture your mom showed me."

"So whats in the warehouse?" Alex asked again.

"Storage containers," Hazel said simply then opened the door to the warehouse. For one hundred dollars a month you can rent a storage container. We do not have any cameras in the warehouse during business hours, but at night after I leave there is a state of the art security system. People your mom knew from the country club set, used them to store their valuables," Hazel explained.

"So how many of them are rented," Alex asked.

"Are you kidding there is a waiting list. Most likely because we have never had a search warrant served here," Hazel replied.

"Is there anything in the vault other than money from the fares?" Alex asked.

"No, but that is enough. I run 10 mini vans over the course of a day. The average generated income per day is eight hundred dollars each. So that is about eight thousand dollar cash per day. We consider anything over fifty thousand dollars on a good week. I do pay the drivers from that. I pay them everyday based on the revenue they accrue. They can't skim since they have to give us the full fare and we give them their cut at the end of the night. If we catch them skimming, no matter how good they are we always catch them in the end, and then we let them go."

"So what is their percentage of the fare," Alex asked.

"Flat twenty percent. The is five bucks a passenger. Most of the guys make about two hundred bucks a day. Melissa checks their minis and counts the passengers as they depart to be sure they didn't have more than they reported. It's a lot to keep up with, but we manage," Hazel said. "Your mom took our daily tally sheets on Friday, along with the cash. She also took care of all the other bookkeeping."

"Sounds like a pretty efficient operation," Alex admitted. "So is anyone else coming in for a minivan?"

"Sure, they will be coming in all day. We have three out for the early morning flights, but almost everyone will be in from eleven till seven, then we will drop back to three or four units until we close at nine," Hazel explained.

"Okay, then next driver who gets in, I want to ferry me to the airport dispatch location. I promise I won't hit on your daughter, or get in her way," Alex said.

"You better not do either, they both are firing offenses," Hazel smiled as she said it.

After he started, he rode with any taxi leaving the airport with an empty seat. Over the course of the day he rode with five drivers. He couldn't for the life of him remember their names. Two were women, one was a white man over sixty, and two were black. One was older and a really nice gentleman, and one was an arrogant young black man. He proved to be short on customer service, but long on attitude.

After they dropped off their passengers Alex demanded, "Go back to the office." When they arrived he walked with him into Hazel's office.

"Hazel this young man was rude to the passengers and has no respect for them or the job. It is totally up to you what we do with him, but I will not have people out there representing us who do not respect the work we do. So you need to handle it immediately.

Since I didn't want to put you in a position to take action based on hear say, I came back with him. If either of you have any questions? Fire away." Alex said. "But first turn in your trip sheet and your fares. You are definitely through for the day at least."

"Who the fuck are you to disrespect me like this?," the young man asked.

"He is the man who owns this company. He could have just fired you on the spot, but he was good enough to leave it to me. He doesn't know you, I do. You can either resign, or I will call your dad to come in for a conference. You know that he vouched for you. That is the only reason I hired you. So give me your trip sheet and the fares. Then we will figure out what to do next." Hazel said.

"I ought to kick the gimp's ass for not respecting me," he said angrily.

Alex struggled to his feel, making himself appear much more vulnerable then he was. "Why don't you just give that a try. You might find gimps a little harder to bluff than you think." he said. Alex stood on high alert waiting for the kid to make a move. What the kid didn't know that Alex had a weapon under his coat. It was a four inch blade welded onto a six inch piece of metal. He used the blade as a skinning knife. In it's former life, it had been a large pocket knife. He had been well trained in it's use. If push came to shove he would simply gut the kid.

The kid saw something in Alex's eyes. He said, "I ain't gonna sit here and listen to this shit." He handed Hazel the envelope the company provided to hold the fares. The back of the envelope was the trip sheet which was what they used to figure a driver's pay. With that he stood and walked quickly out of the door, forgetting to get his last pay.

"Sorry about that," Alex said.

"I have been expecting a complaint. I didn't think he was stupid enough to show his attitude in front of you." Hazel said.

"Keep his file handy, he may be back to cause trouble for you," Alex said.

"Oh I'm sure of it. He will want his final pay. I think his dad will calm him down, but you never know. That is why the twelve gauge pump gun is by the door. Your mom had that cage built with bullet proof glass and armored plate steel in the walls. I even have gun ports. Don't worry Alex your mom made sure I could protect her money."

"I doubt that it's about a weeks worth of money. It's about you," Alex said. He didn't say that nobody could afford an investigation of the warehouse.

"You watch your back, I expect he is a back stabber, literally," Hazel warned.

"So I guess I become a driver for the rest of the day." Alex said with a grin.

Alex drove the mini van for the rest of the day. With the help of a GPS direction device, he found the addresses quite easily. Yes the passengers ranged from little old ladies going to visit the grand kids, to arrogant businessmen who tried his patience, but he always managed to smiled. On his first airport pickup he advised Hazel's daughter to expect trouble from the young black man. She informed him that her mother had already called.

He returned home at nine to find a young middle aged woman in the kitchen.

"Hi, I'm Alex, you must me Angela," he said.

"See senor Alex," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you," Alex said passing through to the triple sided glass solarium. He sat in the darkness hoping to see some nocturnal animal moving about in the cold, of course there were none. After a few minutes he went to the kitchen for coffee. When Angela looked up at him curiously he said, "Too much light." Then returned to the dark Solarium.

At 6:30 when Alex woke up the house was again quiet. There were no vacuum cleaners, or dishes rattling. It made enjoying his coffee much easier. He looked at the spotless sauce pan. He supposed that the coating of coffee residue in the pan was going to be a thing of the past.

After an hour of watching the birds and other animal from the solarium, Angela arrived. She went right to work making 'real' coffee. He heard her mumbling in Spanish. Something about crazy white people. Crazy gringo didn't really apply, since we weren't stranger in the land it was our land, he thought.

Angela prepared but didn't bring coffee to Alex. She rightly assume that he was meditating. Alex decided that morning that he was going to live in the solarium. If there was something that needed his attention they could bring it to his attention there. It was as close as he could get to his cabin. Everyone thought he was 'touched' anyway, so why the hell not. Somehow deciding that made him feel better.

Lucy was the first of the family to come downstairs. She said, "Good morning Angela is Alex being a shit?"

"No ma'am, your brother is like a ghost. He speak only when he needs something. Is he like that with everyone?"

"Pretty much Angela, I think he needs to get laid," Lucy added with a laugh.

Angela actually laughed. "You could be right. Maybe a woman would cure him. He just sits looking out the window like he sees things we do not. Is Mister Alex very spiritual."

"God no, My nickname for him is evil. When he is thinking or is upset he has this look."

Angela shook her head. "Is Mister Luther coming soon or would you rather he eats alone?" she asked.

"Let me ask Alex what he wants to do," Lucy said as she turned toward the Solarium.

"So Alex, you have to stop frightening the help," Lucy said.

"He needed it. Besides he doesn't work for us anymore. How did you find out anyway?" he asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I am talking about Angela. Try to be a little nicer to her. She might just slip something nasty into our food."

"Of course that won't be hard. She seems like a nice person," Alex replied.

"So who else did you frighten," Lucy asked.

"It was nothing. We lost a taxi driver, but Hazel assures me that she has half a dozen more to choose from. So that won't be a problem. There is real opportunity for the taxi business to operate at a profit with just a few minor changes," Alex suggested.

"Do you want to have breakfast now, or wait for Luther?" she asked showing no interest whatsoever in the taxi business."

"Let's wait for Luther That will make it easier on Angela. You can explain it to Luther, so he will be on time from now on. I'm sure it will come better from you. My people skills are a little rusty," Alex said.

"Oh I don't know about that. You seem to do alright with the female employees," she said.

"The ones I have dealt with are over fifty. They think of me as their helpless son, I expect," he said honestly.

"And Gina?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing about Gina," he replied. I have spoken to her once while we waited for Luther at the downtown club."

"She was sending you signals, didn't you notice," Lucy asked.

"I didn't get that at all," Alex said honestly. Besides I have only been home a few days. I'm still living in the 'Northwoods' frame of mind. Now let's drop it."

"Hey, I was just saying," Lucy said walking away.

"Miss Lucy," Angela said from the doorway. "I think Mr Luther is coming now. What should I prepare for breakfast?"

"Well we all agree on scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage whatever you have, either is fine. I suppose toast, since you don't have time to make anything else." Lucy replied.

"Looks like you are taking over the role as lady of the manor," Alex said.

"Oh have you changed so much that you want to be lady of the manor," she said making a limp wrist gesture. Alex didn't answer, he just shook his head then went for more coffee.

"He found two coffee pots inside the house. One was filled with the bland coffee from the drip pot, and a second carafe was filled with the strong black coffee which he had boiled.

"I think if you heat it for two minutes in the microwave, it will still be good." Angela suggested.

Alex followed her directions and agreed it was hot and the flavor had not changed at all. "Thank you Angela." She smiled as he walked back to the solarium.

He and Lucy sat without saying a word until Luther came down the stairs. Lucy rushed to tell him about breakfast. Alex followed along slowly since his body was a little stiff from all his driving the day before. If he drove at all in the Northwoods, it was for maybe a half hour a week during the summer, and none at all during the winter. He had driven for almost eight hours the day before. He wasn't surprised that a different set of muscles ached.

Breakfast was better than any of the restaurants where he had eaten since coming home. The scrambled eggs were perfect without being greasy and the bacon was crisp with being overly hard. Best of all the toast was just ordinary toast.

"Angela, that was a very good breakfast. It was the best I have had in a very long time, so thank you," Alex said and smiled.

The other two agreed. When she returned with their after breakfast cup of coffee she carried two pots. She smiled at Alex as she poured the thick dark coffee into his cup. It seemed as though Alex had made a friend after all.

They didn't talk business over breakfast, since it was an unwritten rule that no one outside the three of them would know anything. Some things would inevitably be mentioned, but not the black business, as Alex thought of it.

"I have decided to move into the Solarium to stop going up and down that long circular staircase," Alex informed them both.

"Bullshit, we could open the dumbwaiter and make it a one person elevator. You just want to live in the solarium and pretend you are a mountain man," Luther said.

"That is probably also true," Alex said. "One day I'm going back there, but for now I'm moving into the solarium. That's just the way it is."

"I really don't care where you live as long as you stay close and fulfill the requirements of the will," Luther said.

"I think it would be a cool place to live," Lucy said. She was usually on Alex's side. She also loved to stick her finger in Luther's eye. Yes Luther and Lucy had a complicated relationship. "I will make the changes to the solarium," she insisted.

"All I need is a place to hang my clothes," Alex said. "I was thinking something like the hotels use to carry the guest's bags to their rooms, without the wheels of course."

"Maybe some drawers on the bottom," Lucy suggested.

"Shoe boxes would work better. I can pick them up to sort through them. I don't do well bending," Alex explained.

"That sounds great, so where are you going to sleep?" Lucy asked.

"I thought the sofa," Alex said.

"Hell no, I am going to turn the Solarium into a mountain cabin for you," Lucy demanded.

"Lucy do nothing to block the view out the windows," Alex demanded.

"Of course not that would defeat the whole purpose. I promise whatever I put in there will not obstruct the outdoor feeling of the room," Lucy promised.

"Well while you are decorating, I want to turn the downstairs library into an office space for our use. Complete with three computer stations. We will have to get rid of all the books and other junk in there," Luther said.

"Including that monster desk." Alex said. "We want three desks exactly alike. You can pick them out Luther." Alex did not want a whose is bigger fight on his hand.

Fair enough, I will have dad's desk moved into the downstairs den," Luther said. "But be it known now that desk goes with me when this nonsense is done," Luther stated flatly.

"You are the oldest, dad would want you to have it," Lucy agreed.

"So the Library is here after known as the office, the downstairs den will be known as the study," Lucy added.

"Lucy can you handle all that?" Alex asked concerned she might be over her head.

"Sure maybe not all in one day, but I can do it. The only thing I have on my plate is a wash and set at Girlie Girls, on Friday," she stated.

"Okay, let's go have a meeting," Luther said.

"Angela, if you need to go to the store, you can use Mom's car," Alex stated.

"No, that is not the way it is done," she replied.

"Oh how is it done," Alex asked.

"Mrs Morton gave me the car for Christmas two years ago. I drive it and keep track of the mileage she adds the extra to my salary," she informed him.

"Fair enough," Alex agreed.

Once they were behind the office door, Luther removed a black box from his desk drawer. "This thing screws up the Wifi so it can't be piggy backed. This one he said removing another device, is an mp3 player with recorded music and an underlying track that hopelessly scrambles a recording of the conversation in the room. In other words feel free to say anything when we are locked in this room," Luther informed everyone.

"Let's get to it," Alex suggested. "The airport taxi is good for running money through for sure. I suggest we find out what mom was reporting as income and add five percent."

"Let me worry about the money," Luther said.

"Fine you do the finances, but since my name is on the reports as well I want to know about them. We do not want a sudden spike in income." Alex said.

"Trust me I know all that," Luther said. "One thing I have decided is that we can run those CD's through the auctions around the area. They have them all the time. We would just have to buy them ourselves with the bomb shelter money." Luther suggested. "Then you can use a backhoe to bury them Alex."

Alex gave Luther a strange look, then said, "So all the money Lucy picks up will be called bomb shelter money?" Alex asked.

"I agree from now on we can call it bomb shelter material. It sounds a little less nefarious." Luther said.

"Okay, as long as we are on the same page," Lucy added.

"The reason I mention the CD's is that we have two cases from Blue Skies awaiting pick up," Luther suggested."One of you needs too get them."

"I guess that is me. Here Lucy, get me six of these built, or find where we can find them ready made," Alex said handing her his hand made diagrams. "It's like a little red wagon on steroids. It is also for the back of the courier trucks, so that the drivers can use it to carry several small packages," Alex informed her. "Most of our drivers are older, they can used the carts to make fewer trips back and forth to the trucks."

"No, I can't do it. I am not going to have time with all this redecorating. You are going to have to do it yourself. That is your project," Lucy said. It was good to see her defending herself. "I also have a class to teach on Friday, so the pickup from Girlie Girl will be after lunch. I have the appointment for three in the afternoon."

"Good, so put that on the Master Calendar. If we all do that then someone we will know when to start worrying," Luther suggested. "Remember you are safe only if no one has any idea what we are doing."

"Should I put on there that I'm going to be out most all night with a courier truck?" Alex asked.

"Hell no, I'm not going to worry about you unless you miss breakfast tomorrow," Lucy suggested.

"Well I'm off to have the wagons made and pickup those CDs. Too bad I can't have the Courier service pick them up," Alex said.

Lucy left at the same time to search for a clothes rack and a bed for Alex's 'solarium cabin'. She had no idea where to buy the things she needed, but she was anticipating the hunt. She also needed to buy desks and computers. Luther had told her that the computers she was going to buy were mostly for show. They were the ones the cops would grab, if they ever got onto them family. Alex and Luther had the computers that handled the business.

If Lucy showed an interest, they would include her in the inner circle, but she didn't want to be involved. She had made that clear. She agreed to run errands for her brothers, but that was to be her only involvement.

"Alex do you want me to introduce you to the boys at blue skies?" Lucy asked.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt," Alex agreed.

"I'll ride with you and we can fill the car with their trash," she suggested.

"Fine, but I am not shopping for furniture," he said. "I would rather sleep on a mattress on the floor than look all over town for a bed."

"Fine, just follow me and I'll drive my car as well," Lucy said.