Chapter Nineteen

Alex was bored.  It was nearly midnight on a Thursday night.  He’d been in the farm house for about a week, waiting for some kind of word from Mr. Darcy, waiting for something to do.  He’d watched every DVD in the collection he cared to watch.  He’d watched Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right and Jeopardy, marveling more than a little that game shows that had been on TV when he was a kid were still on the air.   

In the depths of his boredom, he fondly remembered the very brief run of the game show You Don’t Know Jack, hosted by Paul Reubens.

The fact that he’d remembered it was a sign to Alex that it was time to get the hell out of the house before he lost what was left of his mind.  Even if it was just to go buy a book, he needed to go do something, somewhere, in a place that had other people around.

He decided that the following morning, he would go find something to do that wasn’t watching more TV, for a little while at least.

The next morning, he got up early, and decided that the thing to do was to head over to the Bump & Grind and see if Marlboro was around.  It had been a while since he’d seen Marlboro, since he wasn’t doing much work as a bicycle messenger at the moment.  And coffee was always a good thing.  Plus Alex figured the drive would do him good.  He could cruise into Minneapolis with the windows open and some loud music on the radio and get outside of his own head for a little while.

With that decision made, he hopped into the Cutlass and started driving.  About the time he got onto a highway was when he remembered an important thing:  he lived in the country, and was driving in to downtown Minneapolis on a weekday morning. 

Alex did his best to relax and enjoy the drive, because even sitting in rush hour traffic was better than another morning spent watching Sesame Street again. 

Relaxed or not, it took Alex about an hour to get to the Bump and Grind.   By the time he walked in, Marlboro was, presumably, long gone.  Since he was there, though, he figured he might as well get some coffee and hang out for a little bit. 

Alex was a little surprised when he realized he was happy to see Tamara was working behind the counter.  If you’d asked him, he’d have guessed he was happy because it meant she had decided not to run from her problems.  Really, though, he had no idea why he was happy to see her, he just was.

On the other hand, Tamara didn’t seem particularly thrilled, or dismayed, to see him.

“Yeah, so?  What are you having?” Tamara said

“Just a medium drip coffee will be great, thanks,” Alex said.

“Medium drip, right.  You want room for cream in that?” Tamara said.

“No, just black is fine,” Alex said.

Tamara gave him his coffee and wandered into the back room.  Alex took his coffee and found a place to sit and watch the other people in the coffee shop.  As he sat and drank his coffee, he began to understand what Marlboro had meant about wannabe couriers hanging out.  One by one the real couriers left to go take care of their first deliveries for the day.  Eventually there were just a lot of bored looking folks with courier bags hanging out, drinking coffee, and playing with their phones if they weren’t telling someone about how awesome it had been riding their fixie in the alley cat the weekend before.

Alex wondered what, exactly, an alley cat was.  He guessed it was some kind of race, wondered if it might be something he was interested in, and then noticed that most of the people talking about them were not the kind of people he really wanted to hang around with on a regular basis. 

Like Mr. Darcy had said, he was a man of action.  These guys seemed to all be bored bullshit artists.

Speaking of bored, Alex was already starting to get bored again.  He needed some work, and he needed it soon.

Just then a couple of familiar looking guys walked in to the Bump and Grind.  Alex couldn’t quite place them, but he was certain that he’d seen them before.

Then Victor Steel walked in behind them.  Alex realized the two men with him were two of the goons that had grabbed him at the airport.  He hadn’t recognized them, he realized, because they were wearing brightly colored spandex and helmets.

Alex hoped they wouldn’t notice him sitting by himself in the corner of the coffee shop.

He watched as Victor stopped just inside the door, also clad in bright spandex cycling clothes, and took a slow look around the coffee shop.  Alex did his best to be inconspicuous, and failed again. 

Victor arched an eyebrow at Alex, and cracked a half smile.  Alex wondered if he should bolt, although he wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of there if they decided they really wanted to talk to him.  Then he decided that he would just make up the plan as he went, and got up to leave.

Trying his best to be casual, but quick, since the two goons with Victor hadn’t noticed him yet, Alex started walking towards the nearest exit.  He did his best not to look at the trio of super hero costumed cyclists as he walked. 

Which was probably a mistake.  He was nearly at the door when a sweaty goon in spandex stepped in front of him.

“Well, hello Mr. Minor,” he said.  Alex wasn’t sure if this was Paul or Brandon, but he worried it was bad news for him all the same.  They were the two that got too much enjoyment out of knocking people out.

“Hey,” Alex said.  He glanced to see if he could get out the other door, and noticed that there was another one of Victor’s goons blocking that door.  Shit, he thought.

“Mr. Minor, what a surprise to see you here,” Victor said from behind him.

Alex turned around, and saw Victor standing about six feet away from him.  His henchman was much closer to Alex.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you either, Mr. Steel,” Alex said.  “Do you come here often?”

“Not particularly often, no.  Actually, I can’t say I’ve ever been here before, but it’s a nice day and I thought the boys and I might get out for a quick bike ride.  There’s nothing like a bike ride for getting energized and getting the creative juices flowing, wouldn’t you agree?” Victor said.

Alex said, “Sure, why not.  I’m not sure I believe you, though.  That spandex looks brand new.  When’s the last time you were even on a bike, before today?”

Victor smirked, and said, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with taking up a new activity, is there?  How have you been, by the way?  Any more travel in your immediate future?”

“As if I’d tell you,” Alex said.

“Oh, of course.  You wouldn’t want to give away your business secrets and such.   I’m sure you’d hate for anyone to catch wind that you’re on your way to recover something from them.  That would take all the fun out of it for you, wouldn’t it?” Victor said.

“No,” Alex said. “It’s mostly just that I don’t really like talking to you very much, Mr. Steel.”

“Ah, well, I’ve made a friend out of an enemy several times before, Mr. Minor.  I won’t be surprised if the two of us become famous friends, with a bit of time.  There’s just something I like about you,” Victor said.

“Hey,” Tamara said in a raised voice, “Are you three bike wienies going to order something soon?  Because if not, you need to get out.  If you want a place where you can just go hang out for free all day, try the public library.”

Victor smiled at Alex and gestured to the two men who were with him.  They walked away from the doors to the counter, and started ordering their coffees.

Victor said to Alex, “Excuse me, I have a bit of business I need to attend to.”

He turned around and walked over to the counter with the other two, and waiting his turn to order.

The bit about “having a bit of business” to attend to was odd enough that Alex decided to stick around for a minute and see what was going to happen.  If he had to, he could intervene, or at least be a helpful witness.

He watched as the three of them finished ordering their coffees, and as they waited for Tamara to make them.  Alex noticed that Paul and Brandon, or whatever their names were, had just ordered drip coffees, while Victor had ordered something complicated that involved words like macchiato, which had earned him an eye roll from Tamara.

When they had their coffees in hand, they turned away from the counter, as if to go and find a seat.  Victor turned back, however, and spoke.

“Oh, Tamara, there was one other thing,” he said. 

Tamara gave Victor a wary look, and said, “Oh, what’s that?”

Victor took a slip of paper from his wallet, and slid it across the counter towards Tamara.

“I’m something of a collector, and I’ve heard that you might have a few items that I’d be interested in adding to my collection.  Perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement about a price for them?” Victor said.

Alex was suddenly very interested in what was going on in the Bump and Grind, even more than he had been when he’d been more worried about getting out of there without being hit with a tranquilizer dart or another stiff right hook.

Tamara gave Victor a very suspicious look, and picked up the slip of paper from the counter.  She glanced at it, and Alex saw her eyes flash wide open for a second, before she composed herself again.  Victor saw it too.

“No idea what any of this stuff is,” Tamara said.  “I guess you heard wrong.”

Victor smiled widely, and said, “Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you then.  I hope you have a nice day.”

He turned to walk away, and then, one more time, turned back to Tamara.

“Oh, there is one more thing,” he said.

Tamara looked exasperated, and said, “What?”

Alex saw Victor lean close, and whisper something to Tamara.  He wasn’t able to hear what Victor said, but he saw Tamara’s eyes go wide again, and her face turned bright red.

“Get the fuck out of here!” Tamara said.  “You and your two Power Ranger buddies can just leave and don’t come back.  You’re not welcome at the Bump and Grind! Is that clear?”

“Of course,” Victor said.  “It’s perfectly clear.  But please do consider my offer.  My phone number is on the slip of paper I gave you.  Call any time, I’m really very eager to make a deal with you.  Have a nice day.”

Victor passed Alex as he was walking out.  He said, “I hope you have a nice day too, Mr. Minor.  I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

Then he winked.

Alex watched as the three of them left, wondering what the hell had just happened, and what exactly that wink had meant.

He went over to the counter, where Tamara was standing and apparently lost in thought, staring out the door after Victor.  It looked like she was talking to herself a bit; she was moving her lips, but no sound was coming out.

“Hey, are you OK?  What did he do?” Alex said.

Tamara looked at Alex, blinked, and said, “You see?  This is why I have to keep moving all the time.  I just can’t get away from these fuckers.  There’s always someone, and they just won’t leave me alone.”