An Offer He Can't Refuse: Carlyle

Now straight ahead of us is where the entry stairs are going to be and just to the right is a big hole in the floor. That's where the new exchange box is going to allow us to have only one sewer connection."

"You mean all the washrooms and the kitchen are going to empty into that exchange box?"

"Yep and from there it will have one large pipe to the sewer main. Now if you look just to the right of that the room you are looking at is the furnace room."

"Okay, I see those on the plans. That's great!

"Okay, now we turn a bit more and we are looking back at the far end of the building with the lunchroom and washrooms for staff in the old existing rooms on our right. This wall on our left that runs all the way to the far wall is extra heavy duty. This is the main weight bearing wall for the upstairs when it's built." He starts walking that way passed the furnace room.

Next here on the left is a large storeroom. See the large opening planned for the front of it. That's going to be double doors."

She walks through the opening. "That's going to be one big store room."

"Yep, it could double as a second training room."

They step out through the doors again and continue along the heavy studding. Mike says, "This is the corridor between the rooms with a fire exit at the end of it. And this last room on the left is the main training room and assembly area."

"Right under your office."

"Yep."

"Wow! It's going to look different when the second floor goes up. It looks so big now."

"It is big! There's lots of room here for expansion. I planned it that way."

"I wouldn't want to have to pay your mortgage bill each month."

Mike grins, "I know, I'm straining right now to catch the first payment and it is only starting. We'll do it, though. I have confidence in that."

She stands close and looks around her. "You have a lot of guts!"

"You have beautiful eyes."

She glances at him and grins. "Flatterer." She looks into his eyes.

Suddenly their hard hats collide as their lips seek each other. She melts against him throwing her arms loosely over his shoulders as he pulls her hard against him. They stand for an interminable time locked in time and lost in each other. Their hearts beat faster and their senses whirl. When they tear themselves apart they stumble clutching each other towards the First Aid Room.

Like Hansel and Gretel's trail of old you can trace their path by articles of clothing strewn about in their haste to find an oneness in their bower of dreams and miracles. In defiance of a moral code imposed by a heartless world they seek a path through their pleasure filled coupling to attain a new plane of existence where the lonely can be comforted and the needful be fulfilled without guilt or regrets. Alas, that place does not exist.

Once again afterwards she is regretful. "Please don't ever tell anyone." She collects up clothes and tosses him his. "No one must ever know, Michael. I don't know how I would ever face my husband or my family."

Mike assures her that telling anyone is the farthest thing from his mind. He wants her desperately to head up the office and officers for him since he knows her training makes her an excellent candidate. She leaves shortly after that. Mike feels concerned about her fears. He decides they better ease up on the action for a while.

Then he remembers he wants her to help him screen candidates for officers for Abbotsford. He sighs and dials her cell phone number. It rings a few times and she says, "Hello."

"Connie, it's Mike."

"Did I forget something?"

"No, I did."

"Just a moment, I'm stopping. Do you want me to come back?"

"Do you want to come back?" runs through his mind but he says, "No, that's not necessary. I just wanted to ask your help in selecting officers for the Abbotsford Office. I am going to have to hire one soon."

"Oh sure, I want to be part of that, if you don't mind? I expect to do that after I take over for you but even now I would like some input."

"That's great, I will check with you before I set up any appointments. Thanks Connie. See you soon."

"Okay Mike, bye for now."

Mike cleans up and curses at the large spot on the mattress. He tries wetting a brush and working on it, then drying it with paper towels. It doesn't look too bad even though it does cover a much greater area now. He flips over the mattress and leaves it.

He puts his white hard hat on top of her pink one in the box and goes out to a table to study some files from his briefcase. He really feels comfortable going through files here in his new head office.

Chronologically the ICBC case goes on top and he decides he better work on that one the rest of the day. He plans to go home and grab his surveillance kit then check out Mr. Clegg. He packs up and takes one last walk through the building. He feels at home as he locks the door.

He climbs in his Mustang and heads for home. When he pulls in the driveway Jan is nearby with Shelly's old bike. "Hi there Jan, are you having fun with the bike?"

"Yep." He pulls his briefcase out of the car.

"Dad?"

He stops and hunkers down, "What can I do for you?"

"Can you call me kitten, too?"

"Hey, kitten two is alright. How are you, kitten two?"

She giggles, "No Daddy, just kitten."

"But I call Shelly kitten. Kitten two is not so good, eh? How about little kitten?"

"I don't want to be called little."

"Hmmm... What would you like?"

"Just kitten."

"But honey, then you won't know if I am talking to you or Shelly."

"You could call her something else. Call her Cat."

"That wouldn't be fair. Shelly is used to kitten. How about I call you Cat?"

"No, I want to be your kitten."

"Hey, how would you like to be my tiger? Grrrrrrrr!"

She laughs, "Tiger! Grrrrrrrr!"

"Okay tiger, I'm going in the house. I have to get to work."

"Grrrrrrrr!"

"Later tiger." He goes in the house for his surveillance kit. Marlene is in the sink washing and crisping lettuce in ice cubes and ice water.

"Hi Cat!"

She looks at him, "What?"

He grins, "Never mind." He goes down to the office and checks his kit then throws a couple more files in his briefcase. He comes back up to the kitchen and puts the pieces of luggage by the door. He pours himself a cup of coffee.

Marlene comes over to join him at the table. "Who's a cat?"

He tells her about his conversation with Jan. She laughs, "So I'm the old mother cat, am I? I suppose you're the tom cat?" She places her hand on his.

He jumps, "Yikes, you're cold!"

"Cold hands mean a warm heart."

"And a hot box?"

"Uh huh." She nods at him.

"I better get to work." He grins. "Keep it hot for me."

"I will, lover. Later."

Mike drives out by the freeway and zeroes in on the Clegg residence. He really doesn't like the layout. It is next to impossible to stay out of sight here. He parks well away from the house and is fretful that something is happening on the other side of the house. He gives it an hour and then drives away.

He goes down to the overpass and drives back on the access road on the far side of the freeway. He finds a spot that gives him a fairly good vantage point but cars and trucks stream by between him and the house. He shakes his head in disgust.

He gets out and looks the area over carefully looking for a vantage point. He spots a high barn away back on a rise and calculates. Even though it should give him a clear view it is just too far away. He goes back to watching between vehicles on the freeway. Finally he gives up and gets out again.

He studies the barn with his binoculars then looks for the farmhouse. He spots the most likely place and marks it in his mind. He gets back in the car and drives back to a side road. He finds a nice shady spot on the shoulder and parks.

Resting his arms on the top of the car he studies the lay of the land between himself, the barn and the house. He rechecks his kit to make sure he has tripods and clamps to steady the camera. At this distance it is going to have to be rock steady. He checks for his remote shutter release cable. Satisfied he loads everything up and starts his trek.

Working along fencerows and through dips in the land he makes it up to the barn in less then half an hour. He looks the barn over. He can see the best spot is up top of the silo. It's made up of concentric rings of concrete about ten feet high and he counts eight of them. Eighty feet up should do the trick he thinks.

He listens carefully and enters the barn. He goes to the door at the base of the silo and enters looking up. Whew, that's a long ways up so he puts his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. The strong stench of corn silage assaults his nostrils but he commences the climb. He only climbs about one and a half rings when he reaches the current level of silage. He looks up and realizes he is going a long way up above any soft landing.

He starts to climb again and doesn't stop until he clears the corner of the roof of the barn. He looks around and sees the farmhouse in the distance. He has one more ring to go. He mentally crosses his fingers and hopes no one in the house is watching as he scrambles up the last ten feet.

He looks towards the target house across the freeway and sees that he has a clear view. He knows he is silhouetted against the sky where he is so he has to get out of sight of the farmhouse. That means walking around the concrete ring to the far side. He looks at the wall of the ring and it is about eight inches wide.

Balancing his load carefully he puts one foot on the ring and steadies himself. Slowly he brings the other foot up off the rung and places it ahead of the other foot. That eight inches of footpath seems to be about two inches wide to his senses as he creeps around the ring one foot at a time. He checks and he is almost opposite the ladder. He can just see the farmhouse over the far rim but if he crouches down he should be out of sight.

Balancing his load carefully he manages to sit on the rim with his feet hanging down inside. He knows he doesn't dare look down. He can just imagine the headlines, "Snoopy sleuth found buried in pasture. Unfortunately he didn't land on his head or he might have survived." He cautions himself, "No laughing now!"

He checks with his binoculars and notes he does have a clear view of the distant Clegg home. The binoculars are not strong enough to help much so he has to set up the camera with its heavy telephoto lens. Carefully he checks his kit and pulls out a folding tripod. He looks it over and puts it back in the kit then pulls out another one. He checks it and smiles. Unfolding it he tightens each joint until it stands before him held by his hand. Now he takes it by one leg and carefully lets it down the wall until the dangling two legs contact the wall. He fishes out a large clamp with his free hand and tries to adjust it with one hand. Finally he is happy with the adjustment and puts it down over the edge of the wall then fits the cross piece in the leg of the tripod into it. He lets the clamp take the weight and it holds the single leg to the wall. Now by reaching out he can adjust the single leg in length and makes it shorter until the tripod leg stands straight out from the wall. He tightens the clamp and the adjustment on the leg. He takes a breather and moves his ass a bit to relieve the pressure point the eight inches is making.

He thinks, "If I saw any damn fool that worked for me pull this stunt I would fire him on the spot!"

He wiggles his ass again and reaches for the other tripod. He hangs it from the tripod leg where he can reach it and pulls out his camera. Balancing it on his knee he fishes out the heavy telephoto lens. He carefully attaches it to the camera and puts the normal lens in the case.

Now he reaches for the tripod and attaches the camera to it. He judges by eye how high he wants the legs and adjusts them then carefully extends one leg out on the single leg of the horizontal tripod. It slips so he brings it back and extends the spike in the base of it then extends it again moving the spike from hole to hole in the outward leaning tripod leg. He puts the other two legs on the concrete ring and sighs.

He glances down and immediately wishes he hadn't. He looks the set up over and realizes to look through the camera lens he is going to have to sit on the clamp. It's almost enough to make him quit but he's gone this far so he can't give in now.

He tries to bring one foot up high enough to get it around a tripod leg but almost loses his balance doing that. He looks it over and decides he has to stand up and move around the leg then sit down between them. He gets up on one knee and it's wobbly. He sits back down again.

Then he curses, "Damn! Use your head! Lift the tripod leg up and slide under it!" Carefully he does that bringing his equipment with him. He lets the tripod leg back down and he is sitting on the clamp that holds the first tripod. "Damn, not comfortable at all!"

He adjusts the two rear legs on the tripod holding the camera and finds he can lean forward and see through the lens. He lines it up with the house by eye and leans forward. Everything is black.

"Goddamn lens cover!"

Precariously he reaches out then out farther but the lens cap is just beyond his reach. He extends his arm till it aches and his fingertip touches the release. The cap pops off and falls slowly down the sixty-five feet to the silage far below. Mike eases himself back and sighs.

Now he leans forward and looks through the viewfinder. He moves the camera with the panning handle until he has the house in full view. Carefully he adjusts the focus and the place fills his vision in startling clarity. He grins and mutters, "You should see the moon through this thing." He checks that the remote release cable is free and clear, tightly attached and ready to go. He can't keep leaning forward so he straightens up and feels the clamp jab him in the rectum.

"Oh god, corn holed by a camera clamp! I guess if I was gay I wouldn't mind." He eases ahead taking some weight off his ass and peeks through the lens again. All seems to be quiet over there. He straightens up again and winches. "Hmmm, a guy could get to like that."

"Shut up, you idiot!"

"Hey, if you talk to yourself you're crazy."

"So shut up!"

"And if you answer yourself you are really crazy."

"Uh huh."

He leans forward again and takes a look. All quiet. He eases back this time and grins. "Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?"

He raises the binoculars and decides they are good enough to see any activity. He wishes he had an apple. He watches the place with the binoculars but soon notices his balance is not good if he looks too long through them. He grabs a look and then looks around the lens then back through the lenses. By doing this he keeps his equilibrium.

After a while his ass starts to feel prickly and he knows he has to take the weight off the back of his legs. They will be going to sleep next thing because he is cutting off circulation in them. He fidgets and manages to get some circulation going by moving from one cheek to the other.

"Oh, that damn clamp! What a pain in the ass!" He chuckles as he raises the binoculars. He checks his watch and almost misses the car come into the driveway over there. He reaches for the release cable and leans to look through the lens. He spots the car and waits for the guy to get out with a big load of groceries in his arms.

Adrenalin is pumping through his system that is already overloaded with the stuff. He has to shake his head to send sweat beads flying off his eyebrows. He watches and a woman gets out of the car with a big bag of groceries. He curses softly and sits back on the clamp.

"Ohh!" he moans easing up off it some. "Mental note: buy some flat clamps." He chuckles again as he looks at his watch. "Damn, I must have an apple somewhere!" He carefully goes through his pockets. Nothing. He raises the binoculars again.

Cautiously he eases his weight from cheek to cheek. "Damn haemorrhoids are gonna be a foot long tonight!" Still nothing to shoot! He studies the sky and decides another half hour and he will pack up. He is already two hours late for supper.

He thinks about Trudy because she is the only one he knows who would be crazy enough to come up here with him. He sees her in the old days when she used to ride with him in the truck and how she tried to shock him by running around without her panties all the time. "Hmmm, she still does that." She was so wild then not wearing anything and curling up on the console: either that or just her silly old cowboy hat. She's quite a remarkable lady now. "I guess she was then. I just hadn't realized it yet."

He ponders on Connie. Now she is a puzzle. He doesn't know how he feels about her. Safe is the word that comes to mind. She's already married and doesn't want him to ever find out about them. He smiles. "She's also a damn fine piece of ass." Does he have room for her in his heart? He wonders.

He puts off thinking of Veronica. That wonderful creature needs my help so much and I need her in my life. "What am I thinking? No room! No room!" He watches the house and oscillates from cheek to cheek. Those sparkling eyes and the dimples, so sweet, so much grit and determination to be contained in such a sweet package and he wants her in his life forever. He cannot deny it. Trudy knew it before he did.

"Why don't you show yourself, Clegg?"

He glances at his watch and mutters, "Going to take half an hour to pack. That's it!"

Taking the set up down goes faster then putting it up and he has it done in twenty minutes. He hears a lowing and rustling in the grass.

"Oh no!" He looks down and hangs on. Cows are around the silo grazing and he thinks; "Now the farmer will come to milk them. What now? Damn!"

He notices a glimmer of light in the hayloft below him and to one side as he hears a door being opened. He groans. Moving his equipment with him he wiggles his ass and slowly works his way around the silo. His ass aches beyond words.

He gets close to the ladder when he hears a door right under him being opened. He can hear milking machine going in the barn. He hears someone on the ladder and sneaks a peek down. It's the farmer climbing up with a silage fork in one hand. Mike watches him fascinated. He goes between the rungs and starts to dig up silage. He makes a pile and pitches it down the ladder then he does it again. He seems to go on forever and it is getting darker all the time.

Every second Mike expects him to look up and spot him. Finally he finishes and tosses the fork down then climbs down to the bottom. He goes into the barn. Mike takes a deep breath. He carefully shinnies to the ladder and checks his equipment for balance as he slips one foot down onto a rung then the other. Slowly he climbs down with aching pains in his buttock. He eases his equipment in onto the silage and climbs through the rungs.

Standing in the silage he looks up and shakes his head.

He looks for his lens cap but it's gone. He supposes some cow will eat it tonight. Small loss but it's a hard size to find. He knows, he had to replace it once already. He scuffles around in the silage but it's not there. He rubs his sore rear end. He leans against the clammy wall and waits for the farmer to finish his milking and chores. He spots a few stars high overhead. "What a life!" He sighs. "Maybe tomorrow will be better."

He half dozes so when he starts and comes to he quickly looks down the ladder. The loose silage is still piled down there so the farmer isn't done yet unless he got it down for morning. He tries to remember when they generally feed silage. He can't hear any milking machines.