10 Pound Bag Ch. 06-10

That was exactly what I expected so I simply replied, "Five days and I'll pay in full right now -- cash in your account today." That didn't change a thing and I hadn't expected it to, as Sam was shaking his head I told him "I'll pay an expedite fee and pay for the discount you give to the folks I'm jumping ahead of in line." That earned me a scowl but also a slow nod, I looked to Sonya and she handed him our payment card.

It took him a minute but he reached out and shook my hand and then took the card, I had a trailer on the way. A pretty damn nice one at that.

Money can't buy you happiness and I know that but it sure can make buying the material things you want easier; I was enjoying this surprise wealth. I suddenly had access to all of the material things that I desired, now I just needed to locate those most elusive desires of all, fulfillment, happiness, and contentment.

After three hours of further discussion and planning with Sam and his staff we left to return home. The drive north was spent ordering up what I considered staple supplies and other items I wanted for my trip. I had to explain to Sonya that I was a bit of a prepper from my upbringing and that, yes, I did want 100lbs of flour. Other items simply confused her but I explained I planned to camp my way across the country and apparently she had never been camping before.

So we gave the on-line stores a workout and I had a lot of what I wanted on its way, often with that fun "free next day delivery".

We got In-N-Out for dinner; I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy those amazing burgers again anytime soon. That's pretty much how our day ended.

**** Chapter Nine -- Leeches ****

The next two days were basically a blur, I had a new truck and I had deliveries arriving left and right. Meetings and phone calls dominated and things were progressing quickly, but even the simplest of tasks was completed in a hurry. Time was ticking until the official Lottery Winner announcement came out.

At that point I no longer even knew what day of the week it was. Since this whole thing had started I really hadn't had time to stitch together the events and a proper timeline in my mind. I just pushed forward, knowing that it was merely a matter of time before the news of my sudden wealth got out and the jackals began to circle hoping for a bite of that pile. The Lottery folks had given us thirty days and I was trying to make the most of that. We didn't make it that long.

The first money grubber call came as a shocking eye opener. I'm still not exactly sure what day it was since I had turned in my winning ticket but it was three days since I bought my trailer so I had some since of when it was, also I knew that the spring weather was fine and warm so I assumed May was near. I still was living in a bit of a fog though, too much had happened in my life way too fast and things were still accelerating.

Actually, the first leech call wasn't bad, the second was demanding, the third and worst call came from Trish -- three men had showed at her door wanting to speak about "the investment obligations". It was suddenly time for action, fast action. I immediately conferenced in David, Traci and Sonya. David and Traci were impressive, they had prepared for this as part of the Wealth Management business. One quick phone call from Traci and private security personal were dispatched to pick up Trish from home and each of her boys from their school. I spoke up and added in my mother to that effort, I was sure my brothers could take care of themselves and my sister's husband was the same way but Mom had to be taken care of.

Charter flights were arranged and within a few hours everyone in my world who was vulnerable was suddenly on their way to a whirl-wind European vacation via charter jet. Subterfuge was involved. We kept it legal and above board, regardless we still managed some shade; while their jet refueled in Shannon, Ireland my people switched to a different charter flight and headed off to Prague. From Prague, Mom, Trish and the boys would change charters again, and after a stop in Cairo would enjoy the spring weather up in Stockholm. Amusingly enough, a like sized lucky family from Shannon suddenly won a free spring-time trip to Spain with expenses paid and continued on in my folk's place. It was all above board, but most likely more than enough to shake anyone but the most dogged of pursuers, like a government.

Oddly enough I had inadvertently protected myself by moving into Max's Pub first and David's guest house second. All my purchases and charges after my lottery claim had been made by one of my new trusts or companies and David had registered all of them in various Caribbean nations. David was scarily good at this stuff, mafia level good.

With that all handled it was time for me to go also. Just like my people, I suddenly had multiple new cell phones - one company phone for incoming only plus burners for placing calls anonymously - and I was also on the move. At that point I felt like an international spy, but the sad fact was I was only running from the leeches of our world.

The room at Max's pub was available, so Sonya secured it for me while I loaded my truck to leave. After packing my personal items and stowing them into the bed of my new truck, I placed a call to Sam Adams the custom trailer man. What I expected to be a difficult conversation turned out to be surprisingly easy, Sam had somehow heard of who I was and figured out what was happening; word was spreading that fast. Bad luck met good luck, and good luck was on my side again for a moment. I asked Sam for an extreme expedite and a delivery of tomorrow a.m., and this time there wasn't any hemming, hawing or grunting - simply a quick quote of the overtime cost for his guys to work through the night. I appreciated that and authorized a significant bonus for anyone involved. Just like that my trailer would be ready by 10 tomorrow morning.

Leaving was the next part. I wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye so quickly to my team. Surprisingly, Traci gave me a hug, and even Lisa was there to say goodbye. Oddly, Sonya was nowhere to be seen. I gave David a manly shoulder-hug and promised that I would call daily and that I wouldn't make any further unapproved major purchases. Sadly, I knew I needed to disappear for basically a year and I wouldn't see my friend any time soon.

I found Sonya moments later entrenched in the passenger seat of my truck with her laptop on some strange desk-like contraption and her phone to her ear. I stopped literally hallway into my truck and stared at her in surprise, she merely put the phone down for a moment and said "Hurry up now, we've got things to do"; phone back up to her ear she was talking and working one-handed on her laptop again.

So I got in, buckled up and drove us down to Max's.

**** Chapter Ten - The Enigma ****

I stayed at Max's because it was comfortable, I wanted to stock up on his bourbon and he accepted cash payment. Zero traceability if you so desire.

Zero traceability was a good thing in my life right now, and Max's bourbon was even better. What I hadn't counted on was Sonya announcing she was staying with me. Arguing got me nowhere. I was told in no uncertain terms that, because of our sudden departure, she absolutely had to travel with me; far too much was still left undone. Her final argument was that, as my PA, she would be spending about 50% of her time on my ranch anyway just to keep up with business.

The room at the pub had a magnificent king-sized bed and a mediocre couch. I was just standing there staring around when Matilda came through the door with a pillow, some sheets and a blanket. She dropped them on the couch and then pointed at me and then the couch. She then exited the room. I had been put in my place, and I resigned myself to waking up with a bad case of couch back.

I freshened up and went down and ordered dinner. After dinner, bourbon was ordered and it was delivered by Max himself. We shared his latest casking and he made a point to let me know that I had three casks and two cases waiting for me when I left tomorrow. That was more that I had asked for but he didn't offer me time to argue so I took my full belly up to my couch and went to sleep.

Morning came early.

My back hurt from sleeping on a cheap couch, and I arose to see Sonya slumbering joyfully on that huge bed. I rang the kitchen for breakfast and coffee, then grabbed a shower. I had just finished dressing when Matilda came into the room (she never knocked anymore) and laid out my morning breakfast and coffee. Sonya had come to life -- probably while I showered -- and took over the bathroom whilst I ate; I then when down to prep the truck for the beginning of the road-trip. I still wasn't sure how I felt about the addition of a traveling companion.

I backed the truck up to the rear door of the pub and loaded my new bourbon trove into the bed; I had a really good start on my future wine cellar. I also bought a couple of cases of beer for drinking while I camped my way across the continent, as I didn't need whisky hangovers on the days I was driving. Everything was loaded and I went in to settle up the tab. As I walked in Sonya was coming out, and she let me know she still had a bag left up in the room. I told her the truck was unlocked, and to go ahead and get settled in. I went up to the room, grabbed her suitcase (what is it with women and bricks in their suitcases?), gave the room the once over and out the door I went.

I loaded the last suitcase in the bed of the truck; it was getting pretty full now, but it would all be transferred to the trailer in just a couple of hours. I climbed into the driver's seat and buckled up. I spent a minute firing up the big diesel and checking and adjusting everything, basically going through my pre-trip checklist. When I looked up to adjust my rear-view mirror, I was shocked to see Matilda sitting calmly in my back seat; she appeared to be knitting. I was well and truly stunned.

I looked over at Sonya, who merely shrugged and turned back to her laptop with a little smile on her face. So I chose the most obvious reaction I could bring to mind at that moment, turned in my seat and started blathering at Matilda. Matilda for her part merely glanced up at me and then went back to her knitting.

"No Matilda. Get. Out."

She merely knitted.

"This isn't a bus Matilda. You can't have a ride."

Click-clack went her knitting needles.

"I'm on a long journey Matilda."

She finally spoke, "Si," was all she said.

On I went for another five minutes, but all I got out of Matilda was another "si," and a lot more knitting. Truth be told, getting two words out of Matilda in less than ten minutes was something of a record, but that was beside the point.

Every minute that went by brought a bigger smirk to Sonya's face and I could feel my frustration grow. I decided that the best thing I could do was start driving and think about this new problem.

So off to San Diego we went.