| |
“Okay, let’s find him,” Shannon said as she set a coffee pot on the kitchen table. Everybody stared at her.
“What are you looking at?”
“What’s that smell?” Ann said.
“Coffee. What do you think it is?”
“You can’t make coffee,” Ann giggled. “All you can make is hot fudge sundaes.”
“I can too make coffee,” Shannon huffed. “Watch this.” She grabbed a cup and tilted the pot. Nothing came out but smoke.
“You’re a dummy,” Ann laughed. “How much water did you put in the pot?”
“Water? You’re supposed to use water? What the hell for? I put the coffee in the damn pot, what else do you need?”
“Point proven,” Ann said, getting up. “Gimme. I’ll make it.”
“This is bullshit,” Shannon said as she flopped own in her chair. “The can didn’t say anything about water. It said the shit came from Colombia. Like drugs. Nobody puts water in cocaine.”
“Concentrate on Jeff,” Tyler sighed. “Coffee isn’t important. This miscreant may be able to secure more weapons. Or he may already have them. Did Cagney check all 1300 bombs in his inventory?”
“I don’t know,” Shannon said. “I assume so. He was pretty spooked over this.”
“Jeff obviously has pull. He also has the ability to influence a Colonel and a Master Sergeant. There will be a connection between the three of them.”
“Betty can research that,” Ann said.
“I’ll call my guy,” Betty said, getting to her feet. “I’ll give him the names and see what he can find out.”
“How old was Simms?” Ann said.
“Fifty five maybe,” Shannon said. “Why, you want to date him? He’s dead. Just your type. He can’t complain about the smell.”
“Very funny. How about the other dude, the mechanic?”
“Didn’t ask. He’s a career guy, high rank, probably in the same age range. Cagney flew with him years ago, Simms was the pilot. That pegs him in the same era. I can call Cagney if it’s that important.”
“Just establishing the time frame,” Ann said. “Maybe they went to high school together.”
“Good thought. The military connection would be too obvious. You know, one guy gets caught, then they see who he served with. Cagney bounced Collins when he had duty on a flight with Simms and did something wrong, so they probably never saw each other again on duty. Jeff isn’t in the military. At least I don’t think he is. He’s too available.”
Betty came back and sat down. “Collins and Simms went to high school together,” she said. “No other real connection. They crossed paths a couple of times on duty assignments, that’s it.”
“Chicago,” Shannon said. “Simms lived in Chicago. Did you get the name of the school?”
“Lincoln Park High School, class of 1974,” Betty said.
Guess we need a yearbook,” Shannon sighed. “Betcha Jeff is in there, too.”
Tuesday, July 21, 2009