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CHAPTER SEVEN
The day was glorious. The sun was shining and the humidity was low, a beautiful fall day in Texas. Tanya offered to drive, if Eddie would be the navigator. She loved driving with the top down in her new Toyota Solara. She was not in the mood to be terrorized. Eddie did not seem to mind riding along in the endless Texas horizon the convertible provided. When Tanya went looking for this car, it was because her Honda was totaled. Eddie did not like the color of this car. He said he could not see himself behind the wheel of a bright red sedan. Tanya liked the black one better but decided if Eddie didn’ t like the color it would save wear and tear on the car and her sanity. Eddie wrecked both, the silver Honda that had them searching for this vehicle and her black Mustang that sent them on the quest for the Honda. According to the police reports both accidents had not been Eddie’ s fault.
When the semi put on his turn signal Eddie said,“ No way asshole. This is my lane.” She was in the passenger seat of the Accord. He had moved into the trucks blind spot on a gray, rainy afternoon. The truck moved over and Eddie made no attempt at an evasive maneuver. The police arrived and Eddie asserted he never saw the truck put on his turn indicator. The driver of the rig said he never saw the car. The trucking company paid for the new car because of the“ Steer it, Clear it,” law. Tanya kept her mouth shut until they got home. In the privacy of their bedroom, she let him have an ear full, pointing out the fact he could have killed them both.
The Mustang had the entire passenger side torn off. She was glad Eddie was driving alone. Tanya read the police report that stated no tickets had been issued. The insurance companies were in possession of the facts. Both drivers were asked to submit a diagram and description of the accident. The elderly driver admitted he had to pull his vehicle into the lane of traffic in the medical center’ s parking lot because his view of oncoming traffic was obscured by a large van. He alleged the black car had been doing at least thirty miles an hour. He did not have a chance to put his car in reverse before the Mustang clipped the front of his car. The posted speed limit was ten miles per hour. Eddie claimed he was not going more than fifteen miles per hour when the car he thought was parked, pulled out and hit the side of the Mustang. There were no witnesses to the accident. Tanya had facts the police did not have. Such as, Eddie loved to see how close he could come to the front end of anyone who overshot a parking lot exit. He usually offered a blast of his horn and a one finger salute, if he had the time. Also, Eddie never let the car run less than thirty miles an hour, except in school zones.
The Honda was equipped with a four cylinder engine because the Mustang had a V-8 crammed under the hood. Eddie could go through a set of tires on a weekend from leaving rubber at every stop sign and in every parking lot through which he drove. Tanya eased the Toyota into the manicured parking lot of the two-story glass and granite building. There was no name of the business, just a well-pronounced address, one-six-six-six-eight. A large black BMW was the only vehicle in the parking lot. She parked one space away and saw how good she looked in her red car. The reflection of the car ten feet away offered her a great view in it’ s mirror like finish. Dressed in jeans, pullover and tennis shoes, they approached the front door. The small hand painted gold lettering on a black granite panel announced they were at the right place.“ Frank Melling and Associates” was all it said. She liked the understatement of“ If you don’ t know who we are or what we do, you don’ t belong here.” Eddie punched the number on the business card into his cell phone. As he listened to Frank’ s voice the door made an audible buzz. He closed the phone and reached for the door.
Eddie pulled open the heavy door and held it for Tanya. The entryway’ s floor was polished brown granite with what appeared to be gold veins woven through chocolate, black and beige flecks. From somewhere in the building the sound of a door closing and footsteps approaching echoed off the wood-paneled walls. The dress slacks and polo shirt Frank wore the evening before had been exchanged for an Armani suit. He rounded the corner and saw the casually dressed pair. Tanya suddenly felt under-dressed. He held out his arms.“ This old thing? I just pulled it out of the dirty clothes pile and threw it on,” he said, with a wink and laughed. He saw Tanya’ s embarrassment and addressed her directly.“ We have to dress according to the job at hand. You two are going to look at an empty, abandoned, dirty building. I have a meeting to attend,” he said, reaching into his pocket and producing a small set of keys. The words put Tanya at ease, but she was afraid Eddie was stepping into the world which he was not prepared.
Frank handed Eddie the keys.“ Security, doors and light panel,” Frank said pointing at the ring of three distinctly different keys.