Story - Plan B

[Icarry2]

Walking up to the shack Terrance noticed the gate was closed as it should be and that the man inside did in fact see him coming, stood up, pulled his ear buds out of his ears and hurriedly put them in his front pocket.

The man in the shack stepped out as Terrance approached. “Can I help you sir” he asked. “Not exactly” Terrance replied as he walked by the rather stout built young man and into the shack. Carl was slightly panicked, he had only met Terrance twice, once when he hired in, as with all new permanent employees. Terrance takes them to lunch and personally hands them their first paycheck. And then last year at the company xmas party when one of the engineers had a little too much egg nog and Terrance asked Carl to help him get a cab home.

“What seems to be the problem Mr. Johns.” Carl asked. Terrance leaned against the counter and motioned for Carl to have a seat. “Relax Carl” Terrance blurted out, not realizing he had been scaring the hell out of the kid. After all it’s not every day the president and owner of the company visits a security guard in the back gate guard shack.

Carl was wide eyed and sitting at attention, his back not touching the back part of the chair. “Relax son, there is nothing wrong. You are not in trouble.” Terrance tried to reassure him. “OK sir, just kind of caught me off guard, you coming out here. I always thought is I was in trouble it would be Mr. Lawels who would pop in on me or someone from HR with another guard.” Carl replied.

“No, no, no Carl” Terrance spoke softly, “I apologize for surprising you. I was meeting with Mr. Lawels and the representatives from OpOne, I happen to know their Field Commander Mr. Marrow.” “Oh, ok, I am still confused sir.” Carl semi relaxed as Terrance went on to tell him how he knew both Mr. Lawels and Mr. Marrow and filled him in on a little bit of their service background. Carl loosened up and they began to swap short stories. Terrance looked at his watch, as with many situations you get vets to flapping their gums and they lose track of time. It was now 2:45 and Terrance decided it was time to be blunt.

Terrance asked, “Carl Mr. Lawels brought it to my attention that you wanted to work the weekend.” “Yes sir, I volunteered.” Carl answered. Terrance continued, “if you don’t mind me asking, is there a reason you don’t want to spend the long weekend with your family?”

Carl looked down at the floor and then up at Terrance, eye to eye and then said, “no sir, I love my family, with all my being, but lately I have been having night terrors and sleep walking, one night last week my wife found me standing in the front lawn with a rifle like I was on sentry duty. I don’t want anything to happen to them sir.”

Terrance leaned forward, put his hand on Carl’s shoulder and then asked how he could help. Carl looked up at him and with glassy eyes said he did not know. Terrance asked when things changed. Carl explained that his squad mate from boot who he served with for 4 years, through 2 deployments in the sand box, had taken his life on his birthday back in August and that going to his funeral stirred up all the old demons.

Terrance asked Carl if he had talked to anyone, Carl laughed, “Yeah, the idiots at the VA, they wanted me to take more meds, like I need to walk around in a haze. Honestly sir, nothing else is affected, just having night terrors or sleep walking with a loaded rifle.”

Terrance offered to secure the man’s weapons for a short time. And to make a call to get him someone to talk to. Carl said he thought about having his wife change the combination to the safe but the rifle he was in the yard with isn’t one that stays locked up. “I don’t live in the best part of town sir. I don’t want to not be able to defend my wife or kids.” Was a valid reply.

Terrance thought about it for a second stroking his beard. Then he stated, “How about we figure this out tomorrow? Carl replied “Ok but what about tonight? Terrance was at a loss. Then it donned on him. “How about I put you and your family up at the big hotel up north that has the indoor water park in it. You and your wife and kids can stay there tonight, hell all weekend if you want and you and I will get together tomorrow for brunch and figure this out.”

Carl stood up, objected and said “oh no sir, I couldn’t accept that. I can’t afford it and there is no sense you picking up the tab.” Terrance once again put his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Son” he said, “Are we not family? Are we not brothers? The brotherhood of service and sting of combat crossed all lines between branches.” ”Yes sir” Carl answered. “OK then” Terrance stated.

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance told the young man at the end of your shift you clock out, go home, tell your wife to pack you all a weekends worth of clothes including swimwear and tell her you won an office drawing for a weekend hotel stay.

“Sir I can’t accept this.” Carl objected, Terrance insisted “Son let me do this for you. If you carry lock your pistol in the little safe in the room and let your wife set the combination before you go to sleep.” “OH ok sir, I don’t know if I can afford this though sir, we don’t eat out much.” Terrance reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Oh no, no sir, I can’t accept any money.” Carl pushing the money back. “Yes, you tell your wife you won $100 per diem and charge anything you want to the room.” Terrance was not taking no for an answer.

“Sir I cannot accept this.” Carl was shaking his head, “It’s too much.” Terrance handed the young man 5 $100 bills and looked him straight in the eye and said “I will not take no for an answer. We will come up with a way you can replay this kindness later. For now you finish your shift, don’t say anything to anyone about you winning this weekend getaway except your wife and I will stop by the hotel tomorrow morning at 10 AM and we will go get some brunch and talk about things.”

“Sir, I don’t know how I will be able to repay you.” “Carl, we will figure that out, for now, go back to your duties and go home to your family.” Terrance moved towards the door. “Yes sir.” Carl stood as if he were at attention for inspection. Terrance continued, “I will see you tomorrow at ten hundred, OK then, I will make the arrangements when I get back to my office and see you tomorrow.” “Thank you sir!” Carl energetically shook Terrance’s hand, “thank you.”

Terrance nodded at the man and then went to leave the shack, he stopped half way out the door and looked back at Carl and motioned to his pocket where one of the ear buds was hanging out. “Oh and Carl” “yes sir” Terrance continued, “loose the ear buds, don’t want someone to sneak up on ya without hearing them, get ya a Bluetooth speaker, better for everyone.” “Yes sir” he replied.

Terrance walked back into the building and around the way he had started to return to his office when Martin let him know about the issues the young man had. As he passed the Security office Martin stepped to the glass window where he watched Terrance walk by and they exchanged nods and Terrance winked at him letting Martin know he was working on the issue.

 

[Icarry2]

Passing the First Aid Room Terrance noticed that the part time nurse was in doing what looked like inventory. It jogged his memory that he needed to rotate some items in his storage between work and home. Not tonight he told himself, besides he would be back in the big city tomorrow to meet with Carl, he could mess with it then.

Walking by Ms. Jameson’s desk he noticed she was already gone. He would have to make the arrangements for the weekend getaway himself. Better this way, no one needs to know what he was doing. Even thought it was his money and not the companies he didn’t want people to think they could sob story him and get something for free. This young man has seen things that two thirds of the company wouldn’t understand.

Terrance sat down at his desk, woke his computer up and began to google the hotels number. As he was waiting on the results he noticed he left all of the “top secret” plans out all over his small conference table and the thumb drive in his computer. Oh well, no one the wiser, he would be sure to lock them all up in his safe before he left.

After dialing the number and convincing a wonderfully pleasant young lady that he needed a master suite which could sleep 4 for the price of a deluxe double bed room he gave her his black card info and told her to use it to secure the room and any room service that was charged to the room and to email the address on file the total bill on Tuesday. She had no problem processing the hold and advance on the room charge account and both of them closed out the call smiling.

Looking at his watch Terrance was running way behind his plan for the day, 3:40 PM. He pulled the thumb drive, gathered the papers and locked them all up in his safe behind his desk. Terrance shut the lights off and closed his office door putting work out of his mind until Tuesday.

 

[flatlander]

hmm none the wiser......

Bob

 

[Icarry2]

It was an uneventful evening, just him and Knotty tooling around the place, normal routine things, some laundry, dinner, some TV and sleep.

Terrance woke Friday morning to see a cloudy sky. At least it wasn’t bad weather and his employees could enjoy the day. Looking at the clock, it was early, he had time to get a few things completed before he met Carl. He hoped he had taken him up on the offer and took the wife and kids to the hotel. Before he left he would call the hotel to confirm that he had checked in.

After a run outside Knotty was ready for some kibble. Terrance went for a walk around the property to check his game cameras and of course she went along. As Knotty ate Terrance fired up his laptop and checked the cards retrieved from the cameras.

He downloaded the pictures and put them in the program he had bought to help him track the movements of certain deer. He wanted to let the largest buck on the property continue to grow but was more interested in interested in tracking a non-typical younger buck he planned on harvesting this year.

He was more interested in his movements and concentrated on inputting the photo data from his pictures into his tracking software. A pattern was not emerging and this buck was all over the place. It made him want to get him out of the herd that much more. “He is a crazy buck Knotty” Terrance verbalized. Knotty was done with her breakfast and came to the edge of the desk near the fireplace and plopped down staring at Terrance.

As it was clear he couldn’t yet predict where the buck would be at he knew he had no idea where to put his portable stands. Pictures of the buck had shown up near two of the permanent stands but at completely different times of the day. Terrance wondered if the deer’s crazy was affected by the weather, he needed to go back and input all of the relative weather info into the program to see if there was a pattern. He looked at his watch, no time for it today he said to himself and he closed the program and shut down the computer.

“Time to go meet Carl Knotty, you want to go?” Knotty stood and wagged her tail as if to say yes. She hadn’t moved from the same spot since Terrance got up, took a shower and dressed. Thinking she would like a ride he asked her. “Come on girl” he said, grabbing a leash which hung by the door to the garage. “We are taking the truck he said to her.”

Knowing the small truck would be a little cramped he figured he would put her in the back, she had became accustomed to jumping through the small back window into the camper. Plus Terrance wanted to take the truck to drop off supplies at the storage unit after the meeting with Carl.

Knotty knew when Terrance opened the garage door it was time for a ride, she eagerly waited at the driver’s side door to get into the truck. Terrance opened the door and she jumped into the passenger side as if she were calling shotgun. Terrance got in and as he fired up the little pickup he told her she wasn’t riding there all day. She looked at him and cocked her head as if she could understand and was puzzled by the statement.

The trip to the hotel didn’t take a long time, when he pulled up Terrance’s stomach dropped, there was a police car sitting under the overhang of the hotel’s front entrance. He parked behind the cruiser making sure to leave plenty of room if the car needed to back up and leave.

 

[Icarry2]

Walking in the automatic doors he could see two uniformed police officers standing on the side of the registration desk talking to a man in a blue sport coat holding a radio. Probably hotel security he thought. Could be nothing. He walked up to the front desk and asked for the lady to ring the room of Carl Dubois. She immediately looked at the gentleman in the sport coat. He interrupted his conversation with the officers to step over and speak with her.

The gentleman in the coat stepped around next to Terrance and introduced himself. “Hello My name is Mr Brandt, I am head of security for the hotel and I assume you are Mr. Johns he asked.” Puzzled by the situation Terrance responded accordingly and asked if there was a problem. “Well sir,” Mr. Brandt replied, “yes and no.”

Mr. Brandt asked Terrance to come with he and the police walked through a door to the right of the registration desk and down a small corridor to an office which was labeled security. Upon walking into the first room Terrance saw Carl sitting in a chair against the wall in a bath robe and his hands in handcuffs in front of him. “Carl, are you ok?” he asked, Terrance was coldly serious at this point.

“I am fine Mr. Johns, I don’t know what happened, I am trying to explain to everyone I don’t know.” “Mr. Johns if you would please come into my office.” Mr. Brandt asked. They walked into a small back office at the back of the first room. The office was to small for them all to comfortably fit. On the wall were TV screens with surveillance cameras flipping pictures off and on. “Have a seat.” Mr. Brandt motioned to the chair in the corner.

Terrance held his hand up and refused to sit down and the police remained standing stating “I am alright.” Mr. Brandt started, “Mr. Johns we are aware of the fact that you paid for your employee to visit us this weekend.” “Yes” Terrance replied. “That he had won a company drawing of some sort” he continued.” “Yes” Terrance replied. At that point Mr. Brandt sat up in his chair and continued to ask Terrance a few questions in rapid succession that Terrance really didn’t think was any of his business and told the man such. At this point one of the police officers spoke up and interjected stating they were just trying to get to the bottom of the situation. It was at this point where Terrance asked, “what situation?”

 

[FamilyProtectR]

Keep up the good work! I really appreciate the effort you put into this...

 

[smith7.3]

Great read!

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance now irritated spoke up, “If there was a criminal situation I think I should call my attorney who will represent Mr. Dubois, his family as well as myself.” Mr Brandt interrupted, “No, no, no sir, it’s a grey area.” “Grey area how?” Terrance asked. The second police office, most likely the most senior of the two spoke up. “Mr. Johns, it is hotel policy that firearms are not permitted.” Terrance starred at the man, as if to say so, continue..

The room was paid for by your card, with your permission and thus some of this is ultimately your responsibility to know and understand, you actually agree to the hotel rules when you agree to pay for the room. “OK, OK, I follow but what is going on?” Terrance was visually getting agitated and they all knew it.

“Mr. Johns, your guest, Mr. Carl Dubois, was found passed out, presumably drunk, by the outside pool with a loaded pistol in his hand wearing only his underwear. The video shows him throwing lounge chairs, stacking some in a circle and then laying down in the center of that circle which is where we found him.”

Terrance asked, “who found him?” To which Mr. Brandt responded “A security guard doing routine rounds found him at 6:45 AM this morning and alerted police because he was openly displaying a firearm. He was told not to approach Mr. Dubois. These two officers were dispatched and have been trying to make sense of the situation since.” Terrance looked at his watch, it was 10:08 AM. “You mean you have had him in cuffs and have been holding him for over four and a half hours?”

“This is ridiculous” Terrance exclaimed. “I think I will call my attorney, where can I get some privacy to make the call?” Terrance bolstered as he pulled his phone from his pocket.. “Uh, uh, Mr. Johns, there isn’t any need for that” Mr. Brandt interrupted. He continued “We are just trying to get to the bottom of the situation and understand what is going on. Mr. Dubois wanted to wait for you to arrive to straighten things out.”

 

[Icarry2]

“Where are his wife and kids?” Terrance asked.. “They are playing in the water park, having ate breakfast in the room and went there from the back elevator, we had a guest liaison escort them and is with them now, out of respect we did not inform them of the situation at the request of Mr. Dubois.” Mr. Brandt rambled.

“OK so what is the issue? Why is Carl still in hand cuffs.” Terrance asked. “Mr. Johns is it?” the more senior police office asked, “Sir, by law all we can do is follow through with Mr. Brandt’s request to escort Mr. Dubois off the premises for violating the no weapons mandate in the agreement.” He continued, “With there being no brandishing law or law that states Mr. Dubois cannot openly carry a handgun in public all we have to go by is the fact that Mr. Brandt and the hotel can ask Mr. Dubois to leave and if he refuses he will be arrested for criminal trespass. We have waited for you to discuss another option.”

“And that is?” Terrance asked forcefully. Mr. Brandt spoke up, “we don’t want to ask any guest to leave and Mr. Dubois stated that he was to go with you today for brunch and that you two were going to a meeting.” “Yes” Terrance replied, “Which we are now late for!” Mr. Brandt puffed his chest out and asked, “We would like for you to ensure that the weapon in question does not come back with Mr. Dubois.” Terrance answered with “Well that is entirely up to him.”

Terrance continued by saying “To me it sounds like he did nothing wrong other than break your bull **** rule about having weapons in the hotel. No guests were scared or threated by his actions, no one is affected. Your rule is truthfully unconstitutional and idiotic.”

“But Mr. Johns, we cannot condone this type of behavior.” Mr. Brandt spoke up. Terrance asked “What behavior? A man taking a stroll in the early morning in his underwear carrying a pistol? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?” Terrance turned to the police officers and asked “Where is the pistol?” The junior officer pointed at Mr. Brandt who spoke up, “I have it.” He unlocked his desk and pulled it out of the drawer and sat it on the desk.

Terrance looked at it. Looked at the three men. Motioned to Mr. Brandt as if to say may I, meaning pick it up, Mr. Brandt nodded yes and Terrance picked up the M9. He could tell by the weight it was fully loaded. He shook his head with a smirk he knew not one of the men had cleared the weapon. He dropped the magazine, yep fully loaded he said to himself, sat it on the desk then clicked the safety off, racked the slide back, ejecting the chambered round, catching it in the air in his hand and then setting the pistol on the desk shaking his head.

 

[GIJEW]

It's fun seeing this plot thicken!

2 'nitpicks':

1)No need to disengage the safety on an M9 to clear the chamber.

2)I think "Mr Johns" being indignant would be more plausible if it was a case of "Dubois" being detained because staff spotted his pistol instead of finding him drunk and unconcious with it by the swimming pool--that and his wife not being informed of his whereabouts

 

[Icarry2]

It's fun seeing this plot thicken!

2 'nitpicks':

1)No need to disengage the safety on an M9 to clear the chamber.

2)I think "Mr Johns" being indignant would be more plausible if it was a case of "Dubois" being detained because staff spotted his pistol instead of finding him drunk and unconcious with it by the swimming pool--that and his wife not being informed of his whereabouts

Thank you for the "nitpicks" Sometimes things are not actually real, as in "Fiction" and therefore subtle reminders to folks to remember safeties..

1) The 1976 version of a Beretta 92, aka M-9 had a frame mounted safety which some were taught as a habit to disengage before unloading..



2) thank you for the literary improvement suggestion, feel free to send me a rewrite of the section for consideration, via private message please. Be sure to include your name or a name of a suggested character and I will write it into the story to show my gratitude for the assistance.

Carry on..

 

[Icarry2]

“You all are idiots.” Terrance said. “I want Mr. Dubois uncuffed, allowed to go to his room and get cleaned up for our meeting which we are now late for and I want there to be no written record of this fiasco of a situation or we will have an issue that I put my thousand dollar an hour lawyer on.” Terrance looked at all three men, the officers now realized why he called them all idiots, no one cleared the weapon in question. Mr. Brandt was oblivious to the fact. Terrance then asked “That work for everyone?” Terrance then made purposeful eye contact with everyone in the room.

Both police cocked their head and nodded yes, The older of the two spoke up, “We will clear this with our Sergeant as a misunderstand.” Mr. Brandt stood there with a dumb founded look on his face and just slightly nodded his head yes. Terrance picked up the pistol and tucked it into his waist band, put the magazine in his pocket and kept ahold of the round he ejected from the chamber.

“Good” Terrance exclaimed and he walked out of the office and stood next to Carl while Mr. Brandt removed the cuffs. Terrance gave the police officers a shocked look as they walked through the door into the small area. Terrance just shook his head and motioned for Carl to come.

They walked out of the office and down the corridor to the front desk where Terrance spoke commandingly to the lady behind the desk, Mr. Dubois needs a room key, he seems to have forgotten his. The lady knowing what was going on did nothing until Mr. Brandt stepped up behind her and said he would get it.

Walking away from the counter Carl was holding his head down, thinking he was in worse trouble with ultimately his boss than he was with his wife, kids or anyone from the hotel. Terrance put his arm partially around the man and walked him to the elevator. Carl stopped and pushed the button, “I am sorry sir, I can tell my wife and kids to gather their things and we will leave.”

As the elevator dinged and the doors opened they waited for an older lady with a small dog in a bag walk by them before getting on the elevator. Terrance waited until the doors shut before saying anything. In his mind he was thinking they probably don’t allow pets but that lady has her service dog with her, to help her cope with the stress of travel, why can’t a guy keep his trusty side arm with him to help him cope with the stress of travel.

 

[Icarry2]

Carl looked at the ground and Terrance turned and looked at him. “Carl, it’s ok, you don’t have to leave but I have to keep your pistol until you leave. You can’t have it here.” “OK Mr. Johns. I will clean out my locker Tuesday morning and won’t bother you again.” “What? Terrance asked. Carl continued “I figured I am fired for the embarrassment.”

Terrance turned the man to look at him, “You didn’t embarrass me, or the company. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed yourself. You have some things to deal with, none of which are your direct fault. We will get you the help. I promise.” With that the doors opened and Carl stepped off the elevator and turned to look Terrance face to face and asked if he was sure. “Hell yes I am sure, now go get cleaned up, I will be waiting out front, I’m in a beige Toyota pickup with a topper. You might want to stop and tell your family you love them and let them know we will be back afternoon.”

OK sir, Carl was still reluctant but he turned and went down the hall as the doors closed. Terrance hit the down button and exited the hotel just as the police officers were pulling away. They both nodded and waved. Terrance laughed to himself. Such incompetence in the face of a situation where a man could have really hurt himself.

As Terrance went to get in the truck he pulled the pistol out of his waist and put it in the seat. Still holding onto the round he took from the chamber he pulled the magazine out of his pocket, it was full so he didn’t have a place for the extra round. Then it caught his eye, the round was not pristine. There was a problem with it. Terrance sat in the truck, turned the key to get some air going and starred at the round. The primer was dented. The round didn’t go off. He thought to himself, was Carl trying to kill himself? Trying to shoot someone? Did a misfire stop that?

Knotty nosed in to see what Terrance was looking at. She was always curious. It broke Terrance’s train of thought. “Hey girl, you are going to have to get in the back.” He thumbed towards the back window. She looked, even thought the truck cab window was slid open, the topper shell wasn’t Terrance reached back and opened the topper window.

As the blast of hot air cam in he realized he would have to open the side windows so the pour girl wouldn’t cook back there. Terrance got out, opened the topper and popped out the side windows so the heat could escape.

Getting back into the cab Terrance noticed Knotty jumping back into the back. Good girl he said. After about 15 minutes Carl came out, walked up and got into the truck. As he clicked his seatbelt on Knotty stuck her nose in and sniffed him. She startled Carl. Terrance giggled, Carl meet Knotty, Knotty meet Carl.

 

[Icarry2]

The rest of the morning went as Terrance had planned. He and Carl had brunch, they talked about how both had lost buddies to suicide over the years, that the help they got from the VA was a joke anymore and that most of the time it was here, take these meds and go away.

Just as they were finishing eating a lovely blonde haired lady about five nine came to the table and spoke to Terrance who immediately got up to introduce her to Carl. Carl who followed Terrance’s lead also stood up to greet the woman and shook her hand. Carl this is my good friend Dr. Gwyneth Pasqualie, is it ok if she joins us? Carl wasn’t about to object and nodded ok.

Both men were waiting for the lady to sit down before sitting as gentlemen should when Terrance half helped her with her chair but the brick of the open air patio of the nice down town restaurant made sliding the chair difficult, Carl slid in behind the chair and picked it up and moved it bac. Gwyneth had to stop him from pushing her voluptuous figure into the table when he helped her hop the chair closer to the table. Terrance rather enjoyed watching the woman’s curves bound toward the table and would have been caught staring at her if it weren’t for his tinted glasses hiding his boyish googling.

Gwyneth remarked that it had been a long time since a gentleman sat her at a table and thanked Carl and as a second thought Terrance for trying to help. They remarked about the bricks being beautiful but a pain to navigate.

As all good servers should the waiter stopped by seeing a new guest at the table and asked if she need anything, she ordered a latte and motioned to the two men, Carl asked for some more coffee and Terrance pointed at his empty water glass.

Somewhat of a pet peeve of Terrance’s, he thought to himself, nicer restaurants used to have drink waiters. Someone who had worked hard to be promoted from bussing tabled to drink waiter and that they would walk around with pitchers of water, pots of coffee or fetch other non-alcoholic drinks for patrons.

As Dr. Pasqualie was instructing Carl to not call her Doctor or Ms. Pasqualie and that she insisting on being called Gwen the latte arrived and the waiter topped off Terrance’s water and remarked that he would be right back to fill Carl’s coffee.

Terrance broke the silence by informing Carl that Gwen had helped him in the past with some issues and that she would willing to help him with his issues if he chose to enlist her services. Carl’s reply was as humble as Terrance expected, “Thanks you both but I can’t afford such sessions. I will just wait until the VA gets him setup with a counselor.”

“Nonsense” Terrance interrupted, “Carl this is a pay it forward. Gwen will see you as often and as long as needed and any expense will be covered at no charge to you.” Carl shook his head no as he spoke, “Oh Mr. Johns he exclaimed, I could not accept. You have already done so much I will never be able to repay you.”

 

[Icarry2]

“No Carl, it is a pay it forward, sometime in the future if someone you know needs help, you help them. This is what people do, I can help you, you can help someone else.” Gwen interrupted “Aand I can help you Carl. Like I have helped Terrance, uh, Mr. Johns” she corrected herself.

Terrance said “no, Carl I want you to call me Terrance, so long as we are not at work. At work I would still expect the level of respect and professionalism that we have had and would kindly request that you call me Mr. Johns but in this setting, among friends, you can call me Terrance.” Carl smiled as he said “OK Mr. uh Terrance.”

“OK, now that we have that out of the way” Gwen took over the conversation. What seems to be the issue Carl? Terrance only explained a few things that have been happening. How about you fill me in?” she asked as she looked at her watch.

Carl was about to start explaining when the waiter returned with Carl’s coffee, after waiting for the man to fill the cup and leave the table Carl explained in broad strokes what had been going on. After bringing her up to the mornings events Gwen put her hand on Carl’s forearm and nodded with a wink, “I think I can help you.”

Gwen reached into her purse and pulled out a prescription pad. She scribbled a few chicken scratches on it and ripped the top page off and handed it to Carl. As Carl was trying to read the scribbles of the fine looking doctor she put her hand on his arm again to captivate his attention and made a rather stern remark. “Carl you can only take one pill a half hour before bed. Take it with a full glass of water. You should sleep soundly for 6-8 hours. You should wake rested and with no memory of any dreams. Hopefully this will stop the sleep walking and we can address the issues that are bothering you in session.”

“Session?” he remarked, “Yes, I will want to see you at least a couple of times a week for a few weeks if you can fit it into your schedule.” Carl looked at Terrance who nodded and added “I am sure we can accommodate his work schedule unless he has personal obligations that prevent him from meeting your schedule.”

Carl sat there in awe, no one had ever done anything like this for him. He had only seen it on movies or in fairytales. “You really think you can help me Ms. Pasq, I mean Gwen?” “Yes Carl. I specialize in this sort of issue. The medicine will help you rest and we can help you thought this fight with your demons.” She replied.

Terrance sensing that the situation was coming to a close had motioned to the waiter for the check. Gwen and Carl chatted a little while he waited and once he had taken care of it he thanked Gwen for everything and they all stood, shook and left the restaurant.

As they got into the truck Knotty was bugging Terrance, he knew she needed to go and wanted a drink. Her make shift doggy hide out in the truck was not somewhere she wanted to make a mess. She had drank all her water and was wanting a cool drink. Carl and Terrance took Knotty for a walk and chatted about the situation.

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance explained to Carl that Gwen was a private shrink to many top level and powerful men in and around the city. That her services were expensive but well worth it. Carl was also shocked to know that she had served 8 years in the Navy in order to help pay for her college. It was there that she realized she had a knack for helping men deal with the stress of combat and demons that followed them home. Carl was shocked to hear that Gwen had helped him with the loss of his wife and had counseled him since on matters that he couldn’t trust anyone else with.

Carl was overly thankful, kept remarking that he would never be able to repay Terrance and finally Terrance pushed back, “maybe there is a way” he said. Carl said “Anything, you name it.” Terrance explained a little about the upcoming project that the client was very particular and would need someone to act as a liaison for security and that he didn’t want to put more on Mr. Lawels and that in the past, especially with government contracts he had needed someone to take up the slack and the position had never been formed or filled.

“Oh Mr. Johns, uh I mean Terrance I couldn’t accept that, I am not the most senior in security.” “Carl” Terrance interrupted, “I want someone I can trust. If you are going to be needing time to meet with Gwen I can better hide that from the group if you are appointed special liaison for certain contracts and that you will need to be off sight for meetings.”

Carl was speechless as they returned to the truck. Terrance retrieved a bottle of water from the cooler that was in the back and fetched a bowl for Knotty to drink it from when Carl finally said “ok, I need to talk my wife but that they could probably make it work.”

“Make it work?” Terrance asked. “Well” Carl said, “I usually am home with our kids a few nights a week.” Carl went on to explain that his wife worked a second job part time taking care of elderly people in their homes in the evenings. Folks that can do most things ok and who aren’t wanting to live in an assisted living place. Terrance asked, “how much does that pay if I may ask?” Carl looked at him with a puzzled look on his face, Terrance continued, “if I were to give you more than that amount as a raise could she quit?”

“Ah” Carl replied, Terrance could see the lightbulb go on. He continued to tell Terrance he wasn’t sure, that he would have to talk to his wife, stating she managed all the money. The men laughed and they both realized it should be a family decision. Terrance ended the conversation “Well you talk it over with your wife and Tuesday you come see me and we will get things squared away.”

“Yes Sir, I will” just then Carl’s phone went off. He pulled it out and answered it and stepped a few steps away. Knotty finished her water and Terrance had her jump into the truck and he got in and waited for Carl.

“Sorry, my wife wanted to know if I was going to make it back to have a late lunch with her and the kids. I told her I wasn’t sure and not to wait.” Carl explained. Terrance started the truck up and responded “Well we better get you back to your family” and they headed towards the hotel.

On the way back Terrance stopped by a pharmacy so Carl could he could get the meds Gwen prescribed. Hopefully it would prevent the walks and other odd behavior Carl had exhibited recently. As they pulled up to the hotel Carl thanked Terrance and shook his hand. Walking in Carl tried to avoid everyone at the front desk including Mr. Brandt, who welcomed him back and nodded in an effort to save face for acting as he did. Carl lifted his shirt as if to say see no pistol.

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance left the hotel and stopped by his storage on the way home, as he pulled through the gate he could see the owner and his handyman fixing some fence damage. He waved and drove by, the owner did not realize who he was until after he passed. Terrance could see him in the mirror waving like hey stop, by he kept driving around the corner to his unit.

As he was opening the topper Knotty snorted as if to warn Terrance that someone was walking up behind him. Terrance turned to see the out of shape older man trotting up to where he was parked. Easy girl he said and he patted Knotty on the head, go lay down he told her. Knotty snorted and backed up to the front of the bed and sat down not taking an eye off of the storage owner.

“Mr. Johns” the man barked between pants, “I wanted to talk to you,” holding up one finger and bending over putting his other hand on his knee trying to catch his breath the man panted a few times then continued. “I wanted to see about getting some more solar lighting units from you, we have rented them all out.” Terrance replied “No problem, call the customer service line and have them place your order.”

“I will thank you” said the man nearly breathing normally. “I also wanted to ask you about a hum that we heard coming from your unit. Is there something running in there?” he asked. Terrance knew the cooling fan and vent didn’t make much if any noise unless there was something wrong so at first he played dumb.

“A hum?” Terrance asked, “No I don’t have anything running in there.” And in a manner of calling the man’s bluff asked if he wanted to perform an inspection? Generally unless ordered by a court an inspection took a 7 day notice. The man waving his hand saying “No, no, sir, I was just asking, there was also mention of a lot of heat coming from the other door, like an exhaust, we were afraid something was in there running. Like an engine.” “Oh, no” Terrance explained. “Ah ok” the man spoke “someone could be hearing things, thank you for your time, I will call and order the lighting units” and the man went to walk away.

Terrance acted as if it just donned on him, “Oh you might be hearing the exhaust fan that I have been experimenting with.” “Exhaust fan?” the man asked curiously. “Yeah, I have been experimenting with a temperature controlled exhaust fan that uses a solar powered fan to move hot air out and pull fresh cooler air in. But it would only be running when it is really hot.”

“AH” the man said, “that must be what it is. Is there any chance I can take a look at it?” he asked. Terrance said he wanted to get his stuff moved around and if he could come by in a little bit he might have time to show him. Terrance didn’t have a handy brochure for the fan system made up to show the man.

The man responded by saying he would check on the fence and come back. Terrance told him to come to the other side of the building and he would show him the setup. The older man walked away nodding his head.

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance opened the east door and moved the contents of the truck into the unit. It only took him three trips, he wasn’t a lazy man but his grandfather always taught him to work smarter not harder and he used a lay down convertible dolly to move the totes and buckets into the unit.

Knotty followed him in after he shut up the truck. He pulled the door down and fixed the make shift lock he had put on the door to keep someone from opening the door while he was inside without him allowing it.

He had replaced the rotation items and decided to leave the older items instead of loading them back up. Knotty heard the old man and snorted before Terrance heard the old man’s voice. Terrance hollered at the old guy and told him to hang on, meet me on the west end of the unit, that he would be around in a minute. The old man replied ok.

For some reason Knotty didn’t like the guy. Terrance hadn’t brought her in so long he hadn’t realized she would remember the guy, maybe that was it, or she just didn’t like him. She was usually a pretty good judge of character.

Terrance unlocked, opened and shut the east door and locked it from the outside, using the provided lock and his own. It kept the ownership honest this way. He was sure that if they wanted they could grind his lock off and was positive they had a master key to the round tumbler locks that were part of the door. But he wasn’t going to make it easy for them.

Knotty jumped in the truck and they drove around to the other side of the unit. The old man was waiting as he unlocked and opened the door. The old man went to go barreling into the unit only to stop and realize there was a draped barrier in the way just a few feet inside the unit.

The old man without thinking asked “what’s this?” “A privacy drape” Terrance replied. “No need to go in there, the whole exhaust unit is right here.” Terrance pointing to the area above the door. The old man puzzled squinted to see, his eyes still pin points from being out in the sun. Terrance pulled his flashlight from his pocket and shined it on the contraption.

He showed the old man how if you remove the weather seal from the top of the door on the outside of the building you leave a inch or so gap between the roll up door and the flashing covering the frame of the building. Terrance pointed to the weather seal standing in the corner.

 

[Icarry2]

Terrance continued, the small gap was filled in with this prototype metal duct that slid in between the door roll and the frame filling that gap. He continued to explain that at the other end a strip of stanless steel wire mesh was put in place of that weather seal to allow fresh air into the unit. Then the small dc motor driven fan, in this case a couple of 4 inch DC fans like those found in a computer, are powered by a similar battery that powers the LED lights, just a little larger capacity. There is a temperature switch hanging from the celling about midway into the unit that tells it when to come on and shut off.

“AH” the old man replied, “pretty smart, how much?” he asked. Terrance giggled and explained that he didn’t have a final cost yet but that he would get him some information as soon as he finalized the design. The old man eager for more information asked, “how long has the system been installed?” Terrance responded “The whole summer.” “Did it help with heat?” the old man asked. “I am sure it did, I have yet to get a temperature recording device hooked up to keep track.” Terrance said as he was positioning things to close the door letting the old man know the tour was over.

“Maybe you can help me with that.” He said. The old guy spoke up, “ How is that?” Terrance asked him, You control the first unit directly behind the office correct?” “Yes” the old man replied. “OK, well next spring I will have one unit we can put in there and if you will allow me access to your internet and we run a drop cord for power I can put a monitoring device in there and we can link it to a server at my work to take the readings continuously.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” the old man replied, then asked “Can I keep the cooling unit?” Terrance countered with “I tell you what, I will put a new upgraded system in there and you can show all the tenants that you now can offer them light and high heat mitigation for one flat rental fee.” The old man who was pretty keen on things figured it was a win win and agreed.

Terrance explained to the old man that if he was going to offer the solution to the tenants of the smaller 8 foot wide units with similar roll up doors and the swing doored 5” wide units he was going to need access to one of them to take measurements.

The old man replied that it shouldn’t be a problem, he had one unit that he wanted to inspect anyway and that he would be in touch. Terrance shook the old man’s hand, said “Thank you, I will wait for your call” and then said “if you will excuse me I will be on my way” and with that shut the door and locked it. The old man waddled off and Terrance headed for home.