Page 49 of Statler

“We also know,” Tonka continued, “that there has to be a portion of the factory that is off-limits to the regular employees; the place where Flazer’s special people are making guns. It would be nice to know where that is, and who, exactly, has access.”

Statler didn’t think it would be too tough to get that information from Eliza.

Tonk wasn’t finished.

Statler should have been the one who’d compiled the list, but…guilty as charged. Instead of strategizing, he’d been dreaming about a compelling pair of cornflower blue eyes.

My bad.

Statler nodded for Tonka to go on.

“It would be nice to know if there’s a night watchman at the factory, or if they just button it up tightly with some kind of alarm system. And if you could wrangle Flazer’s daily schedule out of Eliza, that would be helpful, too.”

“You know what else would be good?” Pipes put in as they strolled toward their vehicles to head back to the cottages to clean up.

For sure, Statler needed a shower. He couldn’t very well subject Eliza to the pungent fragrance he was currently sporting.

“What?” Statler almost didn’t want to ask.

Pipes snickered. “If you spent a few minutes cleaning out that dumpster you call a truck before your date.”

Asshole.

“If you’re trying to impress the girl,” Pipes went on, “you can’t expect to get anywhere on dimples and charm alone.”

Probably true.

If anyone knew how to attract and snare a female, it was Pipes.

“Having her sit on old take-out bags will be a total mood killer,” Pipes schooled. “And FYI, a quick vacuuming won’t go amiss, either. I swear there’s some creepy-ass shit growing on your floor mats.”

Ummm. Maybe?

Statler looked at his watch and groaned.

“Sorry Sensei,” he tweaked Pipes for the teaching moment. “I don’t have time to do all that. I have exactly one hour before I’m supposed to pick Eliza up, and a shower is job number one.”

“Don’t worry, boss,” Blue assured him, taking him by the arm and double-stepping him to his truck. “We’ll all help.”

There were groans all around at Blue volunteering the others, but it served them right for giving him shit.

Statler gloated as he got into his…dumpster.

Yeah. They all needed some penance.

Twenty minutes later, showered, and—after sniffing his armpits—having applied fresh deodorant, Statler walked out to his truck where…

Oh, my god.

Half his shit was lying on the ground.

“Hey,” he squawked. “Don’t you think it might have been a good idea to wait for me to tell you what’s important and what’s not?”

“And have you say that everything here is a ‘keeper’,” Blue rebutted. “Not on your freakin’ life.”

“Yeah,” Haze agreed. “Like, when was the last time you needed your swim trunks and snorkel?” he posed, dropping the items onto the pile.

“You never know when they might come in handy,” Stat grumbled, looking around and feeling…panicked.