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“Remember I brought Walburg in yesterday?” I said to Connie. “Do you know if he’s already gotten bonded out?”
“Not my bad,” Connie said. “I wouldn’t have bonded him, but Vinnie likes him.”
I took a doughnut and sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. Lula took her position behind the desk. Ten minutes later a large truck pulled up in front of the office. A guy got out and came to the door.
“I got a delivery for the office manager,” he said. “The only name I got is Lula.”
“That’s me,” Lula said.
“Where do you want it? You want me to bring it all in here?”
“What have you got?” Lula asked.
“Furniture. It’s from Mel’s One Stop Shopping.”
Lula jumped up. “It’s the stuff I ordered online. I forgot all about it. Bring it in!”
“Did you tell Vinnie about this?” I asked Lula.
“Hell no. Even if I remembered about it, I wouldn’t have told him.”
The men were unpacking on the street. A couch, a couple armchairs, a desk chair, a rug, a coffee table, end tables. An hour later, the old office furniture was in a heap next to the dumpster and the new furniture was in place.
“What do you think?” Lula asked.
I was speechless. It was nice. Shockingly nice. A big comfortable dark brown couch that was genuine leather. Two cream, brown, and pumpkin striped armchairs in front of the desk. A couple side tables with lamps. A coffee table that matched the side tables. A new ergonomic desk chair for Connie. And a low-pile tweed rug.
“Wow!” I said. “It’s fantastic. I love it.”
“That’s ’cause I got taste,” Lula said. “I got vision for this stuff. Mel’s One Stop Shopping got rooms already arranged for you, and soon as I saw this room, I knew it was the one. It’s casual but sophisticated for a comfortable business or home environment.”
Lula arranged some past copies ofStarmagazine on the coffee table.
“Now it’s perfect,” she said.
Connie walked in and stopped in the middle of the room. “Am I in the wrong place?” she asked. “That looks like my desk.”
“I made some purchases while I was temporary office manager,” Lula said. “And then I forgot about them until the truck got here, what with all the drama going on.”
“Does Vinnie know about this?”
“Hell no,” Lula said. “How’s your burn?”
“It’s okay,” she said. “They gave me some antibiotic salve to put on it. They said it looked like I work the fry basket at Cluck-in-a-Bucket.”
Vinnie’s Cadillac screeched to a stop in front of the office and Vinnie rushed in. “I need forms,” he said. “I got a guy locked up downtown. Harry’s cousin. Not someone I want to keep waiting.”
Connie pulled a packet out of her desk drawer and handed it to Vinnie.
Vinnie took the packet and the last remaining doughnut and he left.
“He didn’t notice,” I said.
“Sort of disappointing,” Lula said. “I was looking forward to him going on a rant. I like when his eyes bulge out and his face gets purple.”
Connie answered the office phone and immediately put it on speaker.
“Time is running out,” a man said. “We’re taking another hostage if we don’t get our money immediately.”
