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I stood and left heading for the rest rooms. Dimitri likes to put up that iron Russian front, but, he was rattled. We are caught in the middle of a two company hostile takeover and I still have to tell Badger’s widow he’s dead. I caught Henry’s eye as I was heading to the bathroom. I walked out the kitchen door without anyone even asking who I was. Then it dawned on me. I never asked what name Henry went by down here. Had anyone stopped me I couldn’t have talked my way out of it without digging a bigger hole and adding to the body count.
“I need to pick up laundry soap and dryer sheets” I said as I got into the passenger seat.
“Already plenty of that at the house unless you plan to cover the bodies in bleach and liquid soap to help hide the smell for a while” responded Henry.
“Honestly I hadn’t thought of that. I definitely don’t have enough bags or that white lime stuff the cleaners use with me. Truth be told, I don’t want to clean that site up” I answered.
“You think the company will be okay with that? All the bodies tie back to them” queried Henry.
“Exactly. Maybe Dimitri cleans that site, maybe he doesn’t. If he reports in he will be dead before morning anyway. It’s time the rest of management got word of what is going on. Unless someone changed the records in all of the databases, we are on a sanctioned OP. Bought and paid for by Dimitri’s people if you can believe that.”
“Then what the Hell was that at the gathering place?” asked Henry.
“Wait until we get back with the others. I only want to have to go through this shit once . . . well, okay, probably twice with Giant” I stated.
Henry chuckled “He does appear to be getting better.”
“Giant only pays attention when you are talking about money or fashion. Everything else is wind through his ears” I said. “Still, Dimitri thinks we need them.”
“You don’t trust them?” queried Henry.
“Oh, they are a fine group. If we didn’t need them I would force them to run. With Badger gone though, need their muscle if not their skills. They are too young to be caught up in shit like this” I stated. “I need to pick up more Chardonnay.”
“Why didn’t you say something before I left? I could have snagged a couple of bottles from the bar” responded Henry.
“I want the cheap Liberty Creek stuff. It comes in big bottles and doesn’t give me a hang over. Yes, I really like Kendall Jackson, but it gives me a hangover if I get as drunk as I need to be to wrap my brain around this one.”
“You know there is a wine cellar in the place. It’s got really good stuff in it” Henry offered.
“Well you had best hope Giant doesn’t find out because he will consume anything expensive” I laughed. “As I recall Slim is more of a Vodka and Tonic man and Stretch is partial to Jim Beam. When they need to keep their heads they both like beer so cold it almost freezes. Any kind as long as it is not Budweiser.”
“Best hand me some money and let me do this” said Henry. “Not the tagged bills I gave you. I don’t want anyone seeing you either so I will drop you off and put together a shopping list” said Henry.
“Henry. You poisoned me a long time ago, but, there is no way The Acrobats are going to eat or drink anything you’ve touched. Hell, I’m pretty certain you poisoned me tonight just to keep it fresh in my system” I stated.
“Why didn’t you order something else?” asked Henry.
“I already know what to avoid with the white fish poison. Too old to start avoiding something else” I responded.
“If it is any consolation I poisoned Dimitri on at least three different occasions so far” said Henry.
“You don’t know?”
“I left one of the seasonings out” Henry responded. “When I came in late the next night more of it was gone. Honestly, I don’t know who ate it, but Dimitri had just finished his meal.”
“You know, only locals go to your bar, right?” I asked. “At least with tourists coming here imbibing everything there would be no method of tracking it back, but, it looks like that place is mostly regulars.”
“We don’t serve any of the trigger items or use those seasonings. As long as they stay home for at least a year, or at least don’t eat any of the triggers they will be fine” Henry answered. “Besides, if they do die on vacation nobody will track it back to my place. I didn’t leave out the white fish poison. It was something a wee bit more exotic. I keep the white fish poison in a safe. Too many Mexican restaurants in America for the average Joe to not die. I only wish someone in the company had told me you didn’t eat Mexican food before I chose the white fish poison for you, because then I wouldn’t be in this shit!”
“Keep telling yourself whatever you want man. After our chat with the others, ain’t no way you would give a plug nickel for that pile of bullshit” I responded. I noticed we were pulling into what looked like a little liquor store so I fished out a wad of bills and handed them to Henry saying “probably want bags of snacks too.”
“You’re worse than a bunch of Frat boys!” spat Henry as he left the vehicle. I cracked a window and said “don’t forget the mixers, tonics and cokes.”
“Take a walk up the street that way for a block. I will pick you up when I’m done” spat Henry.
Henry had someone help him wheel three carts of stuff to the trunk. I could watch from where I chose to wait. I said nothing as I got in. Henry drove in fuming silence. I noticed they even had to put bags in the back seat.
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