Today’s
excerpt is from Monster’s Palace, a standalone book, featuring Clyde Feegle,
some old friends, and a few new ones. Jo
Kelly discovers she has been unwittingly helping a drug operation and makes
plans to disappear if the need ever arose.
Enjoy and have a great day.
m.j.
However, Jo was not ready to forget the situation, nor the
potential long-term problem she might have due to it. Yet that day she started making plans to
disappear from sight. One of her
customers was a big-time New York Irish mob chieftain. He had purchased several of her less
expensive pieces for his wife. While not
friends, they had a very agreeable relationship. Thus, after she closed up shop for the day,
she flew her own plane up to New York.
Once there she went to an address she had shipped a few
heavier items to for the mobster. The
address was an Irish pub in New York City.
She went there, and was quite pleased to see her customer in a corner
booth with three other men. She
approached and waited to be summoned forward, after two men had intercepted
her.
When alone with the man, she got right to the point. “I may have a problem, causing me to
vanish. Can you help me with false
papers under a new identity? I’ll pay
the going rate.”
When asked what the problem was, she politely declined to
discuss it. The mobster agreed to help
her with the papers, which would include a passport. He arranged for a picture-taking session with
a D.C. photographer, so she would not have to return to New York. He also told her he would personally bring
the completed items to her store.
On her return to Washington, Jo thought about
appearance. She purchased a black wig
with a pageboy look, to cover her auburn, nearly shoulder length hair. To hide her own hair under the wig, she
worked on it until it all fit underneath.
Satisfied—if not happy with the look—she put the wig away until time to
visit the photographer.
While waiting for the finished papers to be delivered, Jo
made two trips out of the country, to arrange things for her “escape
plan.” Her store was open five days a
week, Tuesday thru Saturday. The trips
were taken on the next two Sundays and Mondays.
When the Irish mobster delivered her new passport and other
items, she was quite pleased, and paid the requested amount, surprised it
hadn’t cost more. While in the store,
the mob boss looked at a few items, picked them up, and set them on the
counter. He handed her the money she had
just given him.
Jo took the money, counted out a fair price for the items
selected, and handed the rest back to the Irishman. “Thanks, but fair is fair. I have an idea what you gave me is more
costly than I paid. Let’s not compound
it by you overpaying for these items.
While nice, they are not worth all of what I just gave you.”
“You’re quite a lass, Jo.
I like you—especially with a last name like Kelly. You are Irish, are you not?”
“Yup, through and through.
I like you, too. Enough not to
overcharge you, even if I did underpay you for the passport and stuff. At least I paid full price for the pictures,
didn’t I?”
“Almost. As you
wish. I’ll keep the rest of the money,
and take my purchases so you can get on with your day. Before I do, are you sure there is nothing
else I can do for you? I have friends
here in the D.C. area.”
“No. But thank you.”
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