Page 110 of Statler

Now Mason looked at his watch. “We still have almost two hours before we have to be in position. That’s plenty of time for our people to find Granny and for you to call Eliza off.”

“I don’t know,” Statler responded, shaking his head. “That makes sense on paper, but I have this really bad feeling…”

“Eliza’s smart,” Blue put in. She’d clearly been listening.

And now that Statler looked around, he realized Tonka, Dizzy, and Pipes were also tuned in.

“She won’t come in blind,” Blue continued. “She knows more about Jeremy and her father than any one of us. After all, she’s handled them for the last year—since her husband’s death—all by herself.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Statler admitted. “She thinks she has an edge because she’s used to seeing how they behave, but up until today, she’s never witnessed their true, evil underbelly or known exactly what they’re capable of.”

Blue grunted. “Well, the one thing I’m sure she won’t do, is blow up our cover. If she ends up tangling with Jeremy or her father, she’ll wait for a rescue while keeping our names off her lips.”

“Which worries, me, too,” Statler admitted. “If the pair get a chance, they’ll want to know if she told me—or any of us—what she suspects.” His brain wanted to short circuit. “How will they try to extract that information from her?”

Tonka, normally quiet, spoke up. “Don’t borrow trouble, boss. She’s smart, like Blue said, and has handled herself well up to this point. I’m sure she’ll manage to hold them off, somehow, if she should find herself in their hands. And as Mason pointed out, there’s still a lot of time for things to resolve.” He canted his head at the large amounts of food currently on the porch table. “My advice is to get your belly full while you can, so your brain is at capacity when it’s go-time.”

Dizzy elbowed Tonk. “Your answer to everything is food.”

“And that’s wrong, why?” Tonka glowered.

“I’m with Tonka,” Cisco spoke up. Having approached to hear the last part of the conversation, he was filling up his plate again.

Was it three or four times now, Statler pondered?

It didn’t matter. Statler would eat, then take his Debbie-Downer attitude someplace else, letting them all fill up their stomachs, tease, and prod each other to keep their anticipation banked.

After picking at a small bit of food in a desultory way, Statler watched as a few of the crew broke out some decks of cards. Soon there were several good-natured hands of poker being played.

They’d asked Statler and Mason if they’d like to join in, but after watching for a while, Statler decided it was time to get away; walk off his nervous energy.

“You want to see an excellent spot for star gazing?” Stat asked Mason.

“Sure.”

They both arose from their chairs and Statler turned to the crew. “We’ll be back shortly.”

“Take your time,” Pipes said airily, grinning at whatever hand he held. “I’d like to fleece these mediocre SWAT guys out of as much money as I can before we head out.”

“In your dreams,” Kyle whooped.

Trash talk flew, irreverently, as it always did before an operation.

And that’s how they left it.

Statler started off in the direction of the road toward town, and without further acknowledging the shit-talking rivalry taking place behind them, he and Mason began walking.

First, however, by mutual agreement, they did a perimeter check, just in case the smuggling faction had gotten wind that Statler’s crew had become…interested in their goings-on and needed watching.

Once they found that the area was secure, Statler led the way down the road, then took the turn-off to the special rock Eliza had shown him.

It didn’t take them long to reach it.

“This is pretty great,” Mason agreed, once they broke into the clearing. “The stars are incredible. Not that we don’t see them where we live, but the ambient light from both Orono and Bangor make the gazing a little more challenging, even out on the water.”

Statler had said the exact same thing to Eliza.

“And my house?” Mase continued. “Surrounded by trees.” He gave an appreciative sigh as he craned his neck upward. “It’s not even close. This…” He swept an arm in an arc from far tree line to tree line. “…is spectacular.”