Fox In the Den

Fox In the Den 1.2

Jack Belman was an old friend from way back. We grew up on the same street, played kickball in his front yard, and raced each other to the creek to look for crawdads. It was no wonder that when I first decided to open up shop that he'd be the first to volunteer his expertise. His passion had always been photography. Even when we were little, he'd ask for his dad's camera to take pictures of the whole neighborhood. Every summer at the annual block party he'd be out there, going from group to group and shooting all the neighborhood hams making funny poses for the camera. He started selling his photos at seventeen, and managed to pay for art school and his own house by the time he was twenty.It was a quick trip to Jack's. He lived on the same street his parents did when we were growing up. It was Kevin Schneider's old house, the poor kid whose mom you could hear yelling at him from four blocks away. Jack bought the place when Kevin's mom died of a heart attack in his second year of college.It was a seventies bi-level set on a quarter acre with mature trees, the kind we used to swing in like monkeys as kids. Both yards were plenty shaded, and he was lounging in that shade on the front porch step waiting for me, by the time I reached it." Here ya go, " I said, as I tossed the roll of film at him."Alrighty then. I have two more jobs in front of yours, but then I'll get right on it, " he said."Great. Just give me buzz when you're done, and I'll swing by, ""Yup. Catch you later." He waved as he headed back into the house."Later." Superfluous explanation wasn't needed with Jack and I. We'd always been easy that way.I half skipped back to the car and headed home. It was time to get to work. It was almost four when I got back home. Just enough time to hit the phones and start getting some answers. I called the police station and got the front desk. I asked for the list of Nova owners in the tri-county. Sherl said she'd get on it with the DMV and get back to me in the morning. It's handy when you know people.Since my little game of tag after the grocery store, I missed lunch. I headed to the kitchen and opened the freezer. I pulled a pizza out of the box and threw it in the oven. I contemplated putting the bear claw back in the freezer, but paused. Eh, what the heck, I'm a grown up. I got a spoon from the drawer and hit the couch. I spent ten minutes in pure heaven, and then the oven timer went off. I got my pizza and headed back to the couch. I plopped myself down on the floor in front of the coffee table and began to relish the gooey melted cheesy pie. My mind was still going on the tail I had that morning. For a split second, I thought about going back out to drive around town to see if he was still watching. It was still light out and I thought I could get more detail on the driver or the car. I decided against it, and figured he probably was spooked enough about the detour to the police department, he ought to have gone home. On the way to the sink with my plate, I realized how tired I was. I wasn't too pleased with having a Fibro flare-up just then, but hey, what can you do? Biology rules. Instead of pushing it, I went up and flopped on the bed. A couple of hours' nap would probably make me feel better, and then I could start on the details of the odd string of events that happened. As I listed them on the chalkboard in my mind's eye, I drifted off into a nice dream.