Page 82 of Backwater Justice
“We’re going to see Milton tomorrow. Patricia has a few appointments in town, so we offered to bring lunch.”
“Splendid,” Charles said. “The lab is going to send all the results to me as soon as they’re finished.”
Myra’s phone rang. It was a man’s voice. “Hello, Myra? This is Chris Gaines. Ellie asked that I call. What can I do for you?”
Myra explained the situation as best she could. She knew she didn’t have a lot of information to share, which was why she was seeking his help or advice.
“I have the next three days off. I could fly out there with Chandler tomorrow. We worked a lot of missing cases together, so when the service was going to retire him, I brought him home with me.” Myra was wondering what kind of person Chandler could be, someone who had no place to live after being in the U.S. Marshal’s service. Was he reliable?“Chandler is my dog,” Chris clarified. “But this has to be totally off the books.”
“Oh, we’ll pay you cash,” Myra offered.
“No, I mean I cannot get paid to do side work. Against regulations. But it doesn’t mean I can’t help out a friend of a friend.”
“How will we compensate you?” Myra asked.
“Make a donation to one of the retired K-9 associations.”
“That, we can certainly do.” Myra was relieved. She’d thought he might decline the request. “We will also make your travel arrangements. Just tell us which airport you’ll fly from and how we can get a ticket for Chandler.”
“Charlotte airport, and I’ll take care of Chandler. They usually let him fly for free.”
“Wonderful. I cannot thank you enough, Marshal.”
“Anything for Ellie. And please call me Chris. Remember, I am off duty.”
“Whatever you say, Chris.” Myra was smiling from ear to ear. “Text me your info. DOB. The usual.”
“Will do. See you sometime tomorrow.”
“Thanks again.” Myra ended the call. She turned to the group. “We have a bonafide U.S. Marshal joining in the search tomorrow. But he’s technically off duty. He’s bringing his partner, Chandler.” Myra grinned. “Retired K-9 in the people-finding business.”
Hoots and yelps filled the airwaves. “Bravo, love!” Charles grinned.
“I know a few lads or two, myself,” Myra said proudly.
“Phillip sent a text. He and the flight crew are ready, so let’s send them to Charlotte. This way, Chris and Chandler don’t have to go through all the airport rigamarole,” Annie said.
“Great. I’ll send Chris the info,” Myra said.
“Okay! We’re moving and grooving.” Annie swayed back and forth.
Maggie looked around the table. “Food? Anybody? Anybody? It’s past eight.”
Annie pulled out the room service menu and handed it to her. “Did you eat your apple?”
“Yes, I did.” She stuck out her tongue in her typical Maggie fashion. “And thank you. No orange fingers.” She held up her hands.
Isabelle and Kat touted the down-home food they’d had at Marie’s and how “almost normal” Bart seemed to be when he wasn’t around Dickie.
They were about to wrap up the meeting when Myra remembered she had taken photos of theLigustrum sinenseprivet. “I want to send this to Yoko and see if she can get something like it for the farm.” She showed the photos to Charles.
“Those are lovely. For around the garden off the atrium?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Myra said.
“Have at it.” Charles smiled.
The atrium had become one of Myra’s favorite rooms in the house. Even though the farm covered dozens of acres, with no neighbors visible, she wanted the atrium to feel a little cozier, more private. It was a sanctuary that Charles had built for her while she was away on one of her “missions.” “Adventures.” Sometimes they were interchangeable. Myra uploaded the photos to Yoko’s cloud account. No need to wake her fellow Sister and landscape consultant over bushes.