The Sauna Part 264

I’d taken a shower and re-packed my suitcases, leaving a good deal that I no longer needed here at the house. I smiled to myself as I realized that Jon had been right; there were stores in other countries. Jim was busy packing his suitcase and I made myself a pot of tea and sat down to relax. I looked at the clock and it was just before nine in New Jersey and I pictured Matt’s face as I imagined he’d look when he walked into the headquarters of Backstage, feeling pretty pleased with himself. It was the last time he’d be smiling for a while, I thought smugly.

I sipped my tea and glanced at the clock again and suddenly realized I’d almost forgotten that I needed to arrange for a limo to pick up Hugh’s niece, Alice, at the airport. It was just striking eleven here in Colorado and her plane was scheduled to arrive at noon.

“Shit!” I cried out in alarm, startling Eddie who fled from my lap.

“What’s wrong?” Jim shouted from the top of the stairs.

“Hugh’s niece! Alice! The cat sitter!” I said finally as he looked at me blankly. “I’ve got to arrange for a ride for her. Her plane will be here in an hour!”

I grabbed the phone book and looked up the number for the limousine service we used as I had remembered to schedule a pick-up to take Jim and I to the airport at two. I quickly dialed the number and explained the situation and asked if they could send the limo we’d reserved to pick Alice up first and bring her here and just wait until we were ready to leave. Fortunately since it was a weekday they could accommodate the change in plan as they already had a limo on standby at the airport. I gave them the necessary information and hung up the phone, breathing a sigh of relief.

“What was that you were saying about drama isn’t normally part of your life” Jim teased as he brought down his suitcase.

“Okay, so I lied. I didn’t want you to get cold feet” I pouted and he laughed and went back up the stairs to get my bags.

I settled back on the couch and patted the seat and Eddie jumped up, snuggling back in my lap while Zeke sprawled out alongside me on the cushion. It seemed like I’d barely had any time to just cuddle my boys and I took the opportunity now. I’d be leaving them again in a few hours and I’d be taking away the person they’d just gotten used to and introducing them to another stranger. Eddie looked up at me with his great big green eyes and I nuzzled my face in his fur. Sometimes it sucked to be married to a rock star.


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Alice arrived and we introduced her to all of the cats, sort of. Zeke was hiding and wouldn’t come down from upstairs and I pointed him out where he was standing, cautiously peering around the doorway from my bedroom. I apologized to Alice for having so little time to spend with her and thanked her profusely for allowing Hugh to talk her into this gig.

“It’s fine, Trish, really. After twenty some years of my Uncle being on the road, I know how it is” she laughed. “We’ll be fine, don’t worry. I brought my secret weapon” she giggled.

Alice drew a long stick with feathers attached to it out of her bag and began to wave it in front of Eddie. His eyes turned as big as saucers and his whiskers twitched forward as he swatted at the new toy. Zeke watched from a distance, but I could see he was curious and it was only a matter of time before she’d have him eating out of her hand. Opie was batting at the toy too, but Floyd was a tough nut to crack.

Alice then drew a can of cat treats out of her bag and Floyd wandered over then for a sniff. He turned up his nose, though, and stalked off, making it clear he was above bribery and couldn’t be bought. Alice laughed, but she didn’t give up, as she rummaged back in her bag for yet another item she hoped would entice the grumpy old furball.

“I guess it’s time to pull out the big guns” she said confidently as she fished out a small stuffed mouse from the bag.

I tried to explain that Floyd was pretty ornery and that I didn’t really expect him to come around as he still hated Jon and he didn’t care much for Jim. Alice shook her head and tossed him the mouse and I watched in fascination as he turned around in mid-stride. When I saw him pounce on the mouse and roll onto his back, still holding it between his paws, I knew she was a master.

“Catnip?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Only the best stuff” she winked back.

“What are you? Cat Nanny 911?” Jim said as he watched Floyd turn into a pussycat while Alice rubbed his belly.

Alice giggled at that, but it was obvious that she truly loved cats and that they’d be in good hands. I wrote out our itinerary and gave her both of our cell numbers in case anything came up or she needed anything and I gave her the keys to the SUV.

It was almost two o’clock and I wanted to say goodbye to my boys. Floyd was still preoccupied with the nip and barely acknowledged my attempt to give him a pat. Opie bumped his head into my hand, purring, while I scratched his ears but Eddie gave me a forlorn look as he rubbed his scent over my bags. I picked him up and kissed him repeatedly, with tears in my eyes. I hated leaving them yet again and Eddie knew just how to make me feel guilty. The only one left was Zeke and I tried to coax him down the stairs, but he made me come to him and only then did he give me a kiss.

“Trish, c’mon! We’ve gotta leave” Jim called up, checking his watch.

I held Eddie one final time and Alice gave me a wink and promised to pay special attention to my little buddy. Jim had already loaded the suitcases into the limo and he came back just to retrieve me. I handed Eddie over to Alice and he hugged her, turning away and refusing to look at me. He was being a brat, but he was still my little brat. I paused at the doorway and took one last look at the house, making sure I had what I needed and closed the door. We were on our way.


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We reached the airport with little time to spare and managed to clear security pretty quickly. I wasn’t attempting to smuggle contraband cookies this time; I’d learned my lesson. We settled in for the long flight, but I couldn’t relax as I was waiting to hear that my letter to Matt had been delivered.

The longer I waited, the more anxious I felt. I kept checking my watch and reminding myself that it was two hours ahead in New Jersey. The call finally came at quarter to seven and I bit my lip as I answered the phone. Jim placed his hand on my arm and I steadied myself and sucked in my breath.

“Hello, this is Trish” I answered.

“This is security, ma’am. We were just calling to inform you that Matthew Bongiovi has been escorted off the premises” the voice on the other end informed me.

I let out the breath I’d been holding and closed my eyes. It was done. Finally. I needed to make sure that everything went as planned and that Matt hadn’t been allowed any opportunity to further sabotage any files or equipment and that Jack had been able to block further access.

“Did everything go smoothly? How bad of a scene did he cause?” I wanted to know.

“We were prepared when the courier arrived, so we gave him a moment to read the letter before we stepped in. I think we surprised him and he didn’t have time to do any damage, but he started cussing and protesting that he was in charge. My partner showed him a copy of your letter we’d received on the fax and he really blew a gasket when the new guy walked in” the man explained.

“Jack? He’s there then?” I asked, my heart pounding.

“Yes, he’s right here. Would you like to speak to him yourself?” the man offered and I indicated that I did.

“Trish? Yeah, I’m here. I was waiting until the deed was done and I just pretended to be a repairman, so he never noticed me until it was too late. I gotta tell you, it was ugly there for a moment, but everything’s okay” he reassured me.

“What do you mean ‘it was ugly’?” I asked, clenching my jaw.

“Well, the bastard took a swing at me when he found out who I was and saw your letter to the staff. Good move, by the way” Jack chuckled.

“Shit, Jack, did he hit you?” I responded.

“Nope, never connected. Your security saw it coming before I did and stopped him. Hey listen, I’m having trouble disabling his account access. Any idea what he might have used as a password? I’ve tried all the obvious ones” Jack inquired and I thought for a moment.

“Have you tried ‘mom’ or ‘carol’?” I suggested.

“No, actually, lemme see…” he replied, testing those. “Nope, wait a minute… hah, got it. ‘mother’ was it, damn. Good call” Jack replied, scratching his head. “Thanks, Trish, that just saved me a lot of work trying to find a back door into the system. Okay, I’m good to go now” he added.

I shook my head and smiled; he really was a ‘Mama’s Boy’ after all. But I was glad there was something I could do to make Jack’s job a little easier as I knew he’d have plenty of challenges trying to undo all the damage.

“Jack, did Matt try and take anything with him?” I needed to know.

“Security let him take his personal effects, but they had me check over everything he took before they let him have it. There wasn’t much; a few photographs, some CD’s, a couple bottles of booze and some clothes, that sort of stuff. I checked the pockets to make sure there wasn’t a flash drive or a disk, but the only thing in there was an old tie and a rubber, for Christ’s sake” Jack explained.

“I’m still glad you looked. Matt isn’t that clever and I’m sure he never saw any of this coming, but I still don’t trust him as far as I could throw him” I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, me either. Listen, there’s some stuff I wanna get started on right away and I’ll call you with updates or if I run into any snags. Did you wanna talk to security again?” he said, anxious to get on with the job.

“Thanks, Jack, I don’t know how to repay you. But trust me on this, I’ll find a way. Let me speak with security before you hang up” I smiled.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. You’re paying me well and I love a challenge” he replied before handing me back to security.

“I just wanted to thank you again for handling such a difficult situation so professionally. I’ll make sure that Jon knows too. I’m very sorry that you had to do this, but things should be back to normal in a few days” I praised them.

“No problem, Missus B. It wasn’t that bad” the man said.

“Call me Trish, please” I winced, not wanting to ever hear myself referred to by Carol’s nickname.

“Okay, uhm, is there anything else, Trish?” he said uncomfortably.

“Just your name. What should I call you?” I laughed.

“Don’t laugh, but it’s actually Matt. Matt Ryan. But I’d rather you call me Ryan if you don’t mind” he laughed a little and I did too.

“Okay, then, Ryan. Thanks again” I said goodbye and hung up the phone, shaking my head.