“For the last time, it’s Wednesday.” “Doesn’t hurt to wish.”
It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week we learned that the Escalade was purchased by a widow and since Cortez’s men have it and it was not reported stolen; only two states of nature can exist. 1. The widow is in cahoots with Cortez’s men. 2. The widow is no longer with us. Mike (The FBI agent) has called the Reno PD to check on the widow. In the meantime, our boys have sophisticated software to try and locate the Escalade. They are sitting in Mike Moore’s car, so we should go there and see what’s going on. It will be cramped, but we can all fit in. (This is fiction, after all)
“Anything on the Escalade yet?”
“Yes, but hold on. Here’s a call from the Reno PD. This is Agent Moore. Uh Huh. Yup. Okay then, Thank you.”
“What’s going on.”
“Ms. Tounsand was found in her bedroom. Looks like foul play. They’ll know more after the autopsy.”
“That’s a kick to the heart.”
“Yeah, I know. The poor old lady didn’t deserve that kind of ending. On a brighter note, I think we have a location for the Escalade.”
“That is great. How did you do that?”
“The Escalade is equipped with On-Star, and it is a matter of locking into the GPS feature. It took a little time, and we were lucky to have the VIN number. Otherwise, it would have been impossible.”
“So, where is it?”
“Let me see. It looks like it’s sitting in Squaw Valley.”
“Could it be near Cortez’s place? “
“We could only wish it was in his garage.”
“We could never be that lucky.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Let me pull up Cortez’s address and see how different it is from the address indicated on the screen.”
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
“Bingo. I can’t believe it. The damn thing is parked at his house.”
“We gotta get there.”
“We need back up. Hold on, let me call in a team. Also, we will need a warrant. I’ve got someone who can get that. One second, Larry. Hello Morris. Yeah, I’m going to need a team to help serve a warrant. Make it ten. I also need the warrant to be a search and arrest for suspicion of kidnapping. Yes, the perp has crossed state lines from Nevada to California and has three individuals, including ADA Thomas. Yeah, I know it’s amazing. Here’s the address. 7621 Country Club estates Squaw Valley California. The Owner’s name is Cortez. No, we don’t need local support. This is a federal matter. Okay then. Call me back when the team is ready to hit the road. I’m going to the location to make sure no one leaves. Tell the team we need them as soon as possible. Okay, thanks, Moore out.”
“Wow. I guess we are in it.”
“Yes. Let’s hope we are not too late.”
“Why on Earth would Cortez allow those thugs to come to his house?”
“That is very strange, and I have no answer.”
“He’s got to know that Escalade is stolen and that we can track it.’
“Maybe he doesn’t think anyone knows about it being stolen. You know it was plain luck we got that receipt and were able to see the video at the Chick-Fil-A.”
“I suppose you are right. There’s no reason to believe we had luck on our side. Those guys did burn the receipt.”
“May not be luck.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, never mind. I was just thinking about my wife, Gloria.”
“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.combefore 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.
Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”
As I have written on past Memorial Days, all ten things not to do on this day are the same. Do not fail to remember those who gave their lives to keep us free.
I hope you have a peaceful and thoughtful Memorial Day.
Since this is Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be nice to have a leisurely time contemplating what Memorial day means. The day has been set aside to remember those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom that is an integral part of ours.
We are going to keep the brunch simple today in keeping with the spirit of the weekend. One of our freedoms is to choose food that will taste great but not be the best for us. We are being catered by the Magnolia Pancake Haus in San Antonio, TX. Our guest is the late Marvin Gaye.
Omelets All served with potatoes or pancakes
BACON & CHEDDAR
Our Famous Applewood Smoked Bacon and Aged
Cheddar Cheese Make for The Perfect Breakfast
BODEGA BAY OMELET
A trip to the Sonoma Coast inspired this Haus original.
Wild baby arugula, applewood smoked bacon, and goat cheese fill this three-egg delight. Topped with a ribbon of crème Fraiche
OMELET MONTERREY
A Magnolia Original. Roasted Chicken and Jack Cheese Inside.
Topped with Our Haus-Made Mild Salsa Verde and Crème Fraiche
SARKI’S SPECIAL
Direct from Our Favorite Chicago Hole-In-The-Wall Breakfast Joint! Spinach, Kalamata Olives, Mushrooms, Onions and Feta Cheese,
Topped with A Dollop of Crème Fraiche
HAM & CHEESE
Pit-Smoked Ham and Your Choice of Cheese
SPINACH & MUSHROOM
Baby Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms with Your Choice of Cheese
JOE’S EGGS
The Original San Francisco Treat! Spinach, Italian Sausage, Onions, and Mushrooms, Prepared Fritatta Style. Topped with
Monterey Jack Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Coulis
SHRIMP & AVOCADO
Shrimp and Fresh-Sliced Avocado Fill This Three-Egg Treat.
It Is Topped with Jack Cheese and Served with Our Homemade Salsa
JAMBALAYA OMELET
A Steamer’s Café Classic and Mr. Pancake’s Favorite Breakfast!!
Chicken and Sausage Accented Creole Jambalaya with Jack Cheese in
a Fluffy Threeegger. Topped with Our Mild Creole Sauce
So let’s go.
We have newborn deer in Lakeway, so there are reminders out to slow down.
A shot of some of the flags lining the major streets. The city has lines all the public roads with flags.
A peaceful waterfall to think about those who are gone.
A larger waterfall that reminds us of freedom’s price.
More of the flags honoring those who gave their lives.
Another shot of the flags. There are so many miles of flags that it is impossible to show them all.
The Spirit of Freedom has flags as well.
The flags are at half staff in remembrance of those murdered in San Jose.
Flag-lined walkway.
A reminder of what Memorial Day really means.
A private display of gratitude.
I hope you will all keep the spirit of Memorial Day alive. Here is Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem.
I was walking back from the store and heard the screech of vehicle brakes behind me. I turned around and came face to face with the FedEx van. I have to say maybe a FedEx van doesn’t have a face, but it sure seemed that way to me. Anyway, the driver tossed a package my way and yelled something about not being able to face my vicious bulldog today. I tried to yell back that she is not vicious, just vocal but needed to spend more of my energy getting out of the way of the van.
Lucky for me, I jumped free, and after the van sped away, I went over to the flattened package. This raised a nostalgic memory of when all FedEx packages were flat as a pancake. I picked up the two-dimensional box, and through a split in the cardboard, a note fluttered to the ground. It was from Linda Hill. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “collect.” Use the word “collect” any way you’d like. Have fun! was all it said. The rest of the contents of the package consists of double stuffed Oreo’s in a deconstructed state. All I need is a glass of milk and a spoon.
“Lucy. Why are you so fuzzy?” “Cause the Boss hasn’t figured out depth of field yet.” “Glad it’s not you.”
It is Friday again, and time to be thinking about the weekend. For those who work, it promises to be a long weekend.
Not much to report today. This week seemed pretty slow. Kept the pressure on my WIP. Had to do some research which tends to slow things down a bit. I make a promise it will be out before the turn of the century. (A little writer humor. Very little.)
I was pleased to be informed that Eternal Road – The final stop took a finalist award in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA). Always feels good to get recognized for work. I will be putting the award on the sidebar when the artwork is available.
I see more bloggers getting worked up over states passing legislation on the voter process. I hope most of them take the time to really look at the laws passed and not just take someone else’s word that evil is afoot. I wish we all would look more closely at situations before firing off a rant, but that is just me.
Today’s JohnKu talks about rants. I hope you all have a great weekend and thoughtful Memorial Day.
“You staying in the shade?” “Yup. I need to keep up my stamina.” “Let me guess. So you can catch Friday when he shows up.” “Does that seem strange to you?” “No just typical.”
It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week we found out that the light-colored Escalade used by Cortez’s thugs didn’t have any reports of being stolen. The plate on it belonged to a Prius. There was one Escalade stolen in LA, but it was black. We did speculate that it would be easy to repaint the car, but that was just a red herring. There was also a dealer name on the license plate surround. Our gang is off to visit the dealer to see if there is any information that can be found about the car. I see they are all at the dealer’s place, so we better get over there to check it out.
“Yes, that looks like an Escalade we sold. Let me check the records.”
“We’ll wait.”
“I can check them right here on my computer.”
“Of course.”
“Yes, that is a very unusual color. Inspiration crème. It was sold two weeks ago to a local person. A good customer. I have the name and address.”
“That would be great if you could let us have it.”
“You do know that we need to protect our customer information.”
“I understand. This is a matter of life or death. I could get a warrant.”
“No, no, that won’t be necessary. Her name is Shirley Tounsand.”
“Her name?”
“Yes, Miss Tounsand has bought many vehicles from us.”
“Miss Tounsand?”
“She is a widow and likes to get a car every couple of years.”
“So that is a 2020?”
“Yes, it was left in inventory, so we gave her a great buy.”
“I will need the VIN number.”
“VIN number. What for?”
“We believe this vehicle was involved in a kidnapping. The Vin will allow us to access the GPS and perhaps locate it.”
“You don’t believe Miss Thousand is involved, do you?”
“Let’s hope not, but in any case, she might be in danger. Could we have her address, please?”
“Yes, here it is.”
“Do you happen to have her phone number as well?”
“Yes. It is on that paper. Do me a favor.”
“Sure, What?”
“Let me know she’s okay.”
“We can do that. Thank you.”
“Hey, Mike?”
“Yes, Larry.”
“Let’s go outside.”
“Thank you for the information. We’ll be in touch. After you, Larry.”
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I have some concern for that widow.”
“Yeah, no kidding. I’m calling her now. The phone is ringing.”
“I hope she picks up.”
“Still ringing. Ah, to voice mail.”
“Hang up.”
“Gotcha.”
“We need to send someone over there for a welfare check. Knowing these guys, the widow could be in trouble.”
“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.combefore 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.
Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”
