Chapter 13
I put the Dusenberg away, and Courtney kept an eye on me. Damn! What a time for her to show up. I dreaded what was coming, but I knew I 'had it coming', too. I escorted her into the house and asked if she wanted coffee or tea. She settled for tea.
She did not lay into me immediately. We sat sipping our tea, while she continued staring at me.
"Uh, how did you find me?" I asked hoping that things would stay civilized.
She set her tea down, and walked over to me. My head rocked over from her slap, accompanied by the loud cracking sound of her flesh striking my right cheek.
"Yeow! Damn it! That hurt!" I exclaimed rubbing my face.
She calmly walked back to her chair, picked up her tea and said, "I feel ever so much better, now."
We looked at each other, her with narrowed eyes at me, and me with a red cheek that I was still rubbing. I sighed.
"You did tell me the name that you were using in Alaska, you know. My uncle just contacted someone in the international insurance industry. We kept our eyes open for people registering plates from Alaska, in other states. As I already had the name, it was fairly easy and quite straight-forward," Courtney said in a scathing tone of voice.
Damn! I had been a fool. I thought about what she said. If my enemies had known my alternate name, I would have been an easy target indeed! Shit! I was not thinking at all.
But why did Courtney care so much? I mean, we hadn't really known each other that long. So I made another mistake, and asked her about that.
"You are a dolt," she said on a sigh. "But you're my dolt, and I will train you out of it if it kills us both. I like you. I have from the very first I met you. You also helped my aunt and uncle, whom I love dearly.
"God help me, but I have come to love you too, and in a very short amount of time. You obviously need looking after. If I can find you after you have gone to ground, think of what an organization or government could do if it were actively looking for you," she said bitingly.
I had the grace to blush, which I had not done in ages. It made my skin feel hotter than normal, which made my blush even redder. Good Lord! She was smitten with me for some reason. I mean, I had liked her a lot, a whole lot; but had not realized just how much she liked me. Wow, she really had it for me. For some reason, despite the lecture she was still giving, I sort of felt as though I was floating on a cloud.
"... and so, with this in mind, I decided to handle your day to day activity for you, and to remind you to stay hidden," she finished in a superior tone of voice.
"Huh? Wait a minute. If you think it was easy finding me after I had gone to ground, won't it be twice as easy with you hanging around me all the way from England?" I asked curiously.
"No. My office has been trying to convince me for the past six months to take a position in one of the affiliate offices over here in the states. We have hotels and offices in almost all the major cities.
"St. Louis is a new market for us, and a challenge. While I would not be handling the really high profile celebrities I normally do, there is still the concert crowd. Occasionally movies are produced in and around St. Louis. There are plays, musicals, promotions... that sort of thing.
"What better way to explain me getting a new boyfriend than to work here, in the states, for my hotel? I will get a work visa easily, and I will fall for a local chap, you. Simplicity, itself. See to it that you do your part, and win my affections, will you?" she asked me in that crisp British tone of voice.
"Now then. Just what are you trying to accomplish, driving around in a vehicle sure to draw attention to yourself? I swear, you need a keeper! It's a good thing I have decided on me being that keeper," she said a bit snappishly.
I explained my idea of procuring very good vintage automobiles, and turning a profit selling them. I was going to "recover" them, recondition, and then sell them. Maybe collect a few for myself along the way, too.
"I see. And how are you going to explain the fantastic original condition of these cars of yours?" she asked.
"Now that, I have pretty much worked out already. I asked my computer to give me a rundown on elderly people in the area who could conceivably be old enough to "store" vintage autos for me. Others I will find of course. It won't take many really, just a few to get me started, and establish a reputation of quality. Most I will acquire legitimately. Only a couple are going to be a sensation. I will sell those through a 'front man', so to speak. Everything will be legal and above board. Only serious collectors will even pay attention to the really good ones," I finished a bit smugly.
She looked at me skeptically, but finally nodded.
"I think it can be done. However, you must be very careful. Also, you have to make sure ownership papers, titles, that sort of thing are absolutely above board," she told me seriously.
"They will be. My computer is very good at what it does," I replied smugly.
"That's another thing. What's with you and your computer? You act as if it were a living breathing person with amazing abilities," she asked curiously.
Hmm, come to think of it, I had not got around to telling her the whole reason of how I came to my decision to disappear. I refilled our tea, and then launched into the whole story. I'll give her this, she listened with a sort of fascination. When I was done, she just shook her head.
"The more I hear, the more you and your life amaze me. You definitely need a keeper, and I will fill the job, nicely," She said when I had finished.
I snorted. She cocked an eyebrow at me, Mr. Spock style, from Star Trek. I wish I could arch an eyebrow like that. Both mine tended to rise at the same time. She finished her tea and asked me for a ride in my 'new' car.
"Um, might be better if we backtime a little, to when these cars were popular, or at least still on the road. We will need to get you appropriate clothing, though, so you can blend in," I told her.
Bless the 'shopping gene'. It works as well for old style clothing, as for new.
Courtney was fascinated with my computer. She asked all sorts of questions about it, and when I started getting uncomfortable with that, she switched to my town car. I had given her a ride in it, almost immediately. She wanted to know what a ride from the future was like. She expressed satisfaction with the car, and its abilities.
The ride in the Dusenberg took a little longer to manage. We had to find her 'period clothing', and then pick a time in the past that appealed to both of us. I was willing to settle for whatever day she wanted.
We made a picnic of it. I loaded a basket full of food into the back with several blankets and associated picnic gear. She and I rode the beauty into the past and to the day I had picked. We traveled a good distance, and I topped off the tank at such a cheap price that I was thinking of taking all my cars to the past for fueling. But, they didn't really have unleaded gas in any large quantities, back in those times.
One of the things I did, was to outfit Courtney with a tracking/communications device. It was disguised very cleverly, and not even modern technology could uncover it. I showed her how to operate it, and told her that with this we could stay in contact. I would always know where she was. She is a clever girl and caught on quickly. She also realized that it gave her access to my computer, and I authorized her a certain amount of access, establishing a level of information for her.
She was totally amazed at the ability it had in tapping into military and governmental satellites, and then into agency computers. No country was beyond my computer's reach. The identities that the computer (and the little external box that was attached) spat out, was amazing. The conversations she had with it were interesting and amusing, to say the least.
Her short time here was over though. She had come scouting me, basically. She had disguised her trip as a possible move. She kept in touch with the hotel and the office she might be working for, and out of, if she chose to take this position. It was a done deal, but she had to return to England to make the proper arrangements. She would get her visa in order, and be back in about six to eight weeks. She said she couldn't possibly do it faster, as she needed to get things done in England, too.
While she did that, I went to the locations I had decided on as being a good place to store a car for a few decades, to let it age appropriately. I picked out two that had standing barns or sheds, and were out in the country, in my time. This meant they would be hard to get to in the period I'd planned on using, to start the storage process.
I placed the Dusenberg in storage in an old machine shed, which I knew would still be there in my time. I paid the lady for storage, and agreed to let her use the vehicle, occasionally. I turned over the title to her, and paid her an outrageous sum for storage, to boot. Still, it would be worth it. In reality, when I came by to collect the car in my time, it would be in an appropriate condition. It also would be almost instantaneous, from my point of view.
That is what it was. I approached her home, and she answered the door. She was now an elderly lady. I gave her the song and dance of my grandfather telling me about the deal he had made with her about storing a car on her property back in the late 1930's.
She looked at me strangely for a moment, then nodded. She took me out to the machine shed, now the worse for wear, and unlocked the doors. There sat my Dusenberg... on four flat tires. At some point, she had gotten into a slight fender bender, and the right front fender was crumpled a bit.
Seals had leaked and there was evidence of an old oil leak of some sort underneath the car. I sighed, but this was not really unexpected. She signed over the Dusenberg to me, and I gave her the final payment of five thousand dollars that I had promised her, back then.
I had a wrecker with the ability to carry the car on its bed winch it up and transport it to my home. We unloaded it in my barn, and I got to work on it.
In St. Louis County, I knew of a guy that fixed and repaired older model cars, and did restorations. The guy flipped when I brought in the Dusenberg's fender. He wanted to see the car it had been attached to.
I told him 'first things first'. I was doing some of the restoration myself, and I might bring it in for detailing when I got to that part. It took me three weeks to get the motor started and purring. I had been cautious, but it was worth it.
I had presented the title and transferred everything legally into my name. I'd had it licensed with 'Antique' plates. My new tires and tubes came, and I mounted them. I had already reworked the brakes and clutch, as well as rebuilt the engine. Some of the electrical wiring had had to be replaced, but I tried to keep as many original parts as I could.
Finally, the day came when I drove it to the restoration place, to have the fender reattached. The steering was very stiff at first, but it loosened up as I drove. When I pulled in to the place, the guy who ran it (Pete Kenet) was suitably impressed.
I told him what I wanted, and he gave me an estimate. Some of it he could do right way, but some was going to take special ordering, or hand crafting. He quoted a price I thought was a bit high, but I gave him the go ahead. I was not going to stint, this late in the game.
Courtney kept in touch via the computer link I had given her. It was one hundred percent safe and untraceable. Plus, it let me know at any given time her exact location down to within a meter.
Word must have gotten out concerning the Dusenberg, since I was now fielding calls, courtesy of Pete. When something like this surfaced, it made waves in certain circles, and I had made a definite splash, to say the least.
I also looked at other makes of cars and settled on one that was fairly unique. It was called a Doris. It had been made locally, by a guy named Doris. The make and model never really made it like the big boys, but it was a good solid car, and there were a few around, to this day.
Edited by TeNderLoin