Not All Eyes Are Private

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My name is Angus Conner and I am 18-year-old soon to be 19 in 2 weeks. I'm 6ft. tall 185lbs. with sea-green eyes and sun-bleached blonde hair pulled back into a small ponytail. Across from me in his favorite recliner was my 67-year-old Grandfather, the years had not been kind to him, after his 3rd heart surgery Grams was diagnosed with terminal cancer so as he recovered and got better he was forced to watch the love of his life die a painful death. My father said he was too busy traveling for his job and Mom never really got along with him she thought of him as "the poster for a new retirement home" somewhere. But I saw an opportunity to get Gramps up and moving again and make him a little money on the side! I'd told Mom and Dad that Gramps needed some help this weekend so I was just going to pack some clothes and stay there the entire weekend to get it all done. They were happy because with me there they wouldn't get the odd phone call from a hurting old man who just wanted to talk.

So here we were sitting and just talking and laughing about stories long ago, I wanted to put my idea to him and see what he thought about it so when our drinks were empty, and returned with 2 beers and handed him his, and sat on the couch across from him at the coffee table and asked him if we could talk about something important. Suddenly the "old man facade" fell away from him and I noticed a new twinkle in his old eyes, "Finally!, I knew you didn't come out here just to shoot the shit with me...spill it!"

We settled in as I explained my idea to him and he just let me go asking a question every now and again sitting there stroking his short beard. then he started about the capital needed to begin with and the cost of maintaining the business as it grows. we took a break and I made us 2 subs and got both of us another beer when we were done I collected the dishes and used the restroom but as I walked down the hall back to the living room I started smelling something familiar and as I turned the corner into the room I saw a small tray and some rolling papers on it, and Gramps was leaning back in his chair toking a joint! he heard me walk into the room and looked over at me sporting a big grin. "fuck off, it's medicinal!"

"Sure it is!" I snorted.

After he was done he just looked at me for a moment and then told me..."When Grams passed the family scattered after her will be read they had what she had given them appraised to brag about the value to the family and their friends, I also know how your mother and father really feel about me and hope I would hurry up and pass, BUT YOU...when I needed support, cook my meals, or grocery shop, or putting up with my getting drunk and putting me to bed afterward...it was always you, hell, you quit school for 2 weeks right after it happened to be here for me, you just moved right on in!", then he leaned in across the table and drew his face up his lips got thin and his eyes were slits, " I think it time I showed you how much I appreciate your meddling around in my life...GET UP!" and with that, he got up from the chair and walked out the back door waving for me to follow him out to his property of 10 acres. We went into the garage and hopped into his 4-seater atv and drove it to the mid-sized barn, as we pulled up to the sliding doors and as we stopped he turned to me and said "Here and now, do you like living where you are now?"

Let me see, I live in a house where everyone lives their own agenda, trying to find out every secret so they can perchance use it against you later, hell both mom and dad were cheating on each other and my younger sister was getting sex and techniques tips from mother as well as teaching her how to juggle relationships! I looked up at him and said..."I would prefer to live in this barn with just a blanket if it meant I didn't have to go back!"

"Funny you should mention that..."

He got out and unlocked the doors "You get that one" and started pushing his door back so I started mine, my eyes adjusted to the light inside and I saw 2 large shapes that were tarped over, "Lights!" Gramps said and as I closed my eyes I saw the barn's insides light up. the area to my right was set up like a garage and to the left was a tarped box-looking object about 7ft. tall with a wide staircase in the middle going up. Gramps brought over 2 stools and set them up in the middle of it all "Have a seat, your listening to me now so be quiet!" I sat down and as he looked me in the eyes and started talking..."Correct me if I'm wrong, but the business we're starting up is a P.I. firm where I get the license because of my age and you and your friends would do all the legwork? but the salary you quoted me is above my retirement limits so my new salary is $802.00 a month with certain options to be named later. Also, you need an office area to operate from." then he grinned, "As I was building the main house I made an apartment up above to live in while I worked, you should take a look at it...like now!"

As I topped the staircase and looked around the first thing I noticed was everything was done in pine it was actually the original wood of the barn but highly polished and smooth even the shower that was big enough for 2 with a large bedroom and a good sized kitchen and a large great room, the area to the left was all open space with 2 large windows that let it plenty of light from morning to sundown. I could already see the desks and the greeting area in my mind which was running near 140mph! I ran down the stairs and said it was perfect! And that was when Gramps told me his idea about our partnership, "when everyone thinks about a PI they all see raincoats turned up and a wide-brimmed hat, Fuck all that! I've seen kids skateboarding with logos stitched all over their suits advertising different companies that donate money to them all the time! so get your friends and make them your 'team' and you could 'hide in plain sight!' bicycling or skateboarding or ramp jumping stunts all the while catching what you need to in the background or you could bungee jump off a hotel and get pictures or just do some of the crazy shit you kids do today to get it to work!" he was up walking around waving his arms, then he grabbed the box-shaped tarp "But if you're going to do it, GO BIG!" and with that he pulled the tarp off to reveal an outdated EMS still looked in good shape, "We'll decide on our own title and logo and have it wrapped to match sort-of like a mobile command post with internet capabilities as well as other supplies!" (I think I actually drooled a bit at the idea),

"I'm going to need some business soon because riding my bicycle 2 miles each way isn't going to work for long," I said.

"Bicycle?... We don't need any stinking Bicycles!" Gramps laughed loudly and pulled the other tarp off and there it sat a Daytona Sebring with the bird on the tall side of the spoiler in the back, she looked perfect sitting there all black and chrome! "Meet Ezmerelda, she is the first car I bought with my own money that was just for me but she begs to be driven like she was made to and I'm too old for that anymore" As I turned to him slowly he continued... "her keys are on the dash why don't you take her for a spin and go get us some more beer?" I felt like the Joker as the smile crossed my face, Fuck yes! "Let me put some gas in her and you can fill her up while in town" he put in 5 gallons and as he put the cap back on and yelled "Don't treat her like a virgin boy lay some ass into her!" and off I went starting slow getting used to her tight steering and then that's when I heard Ms. Ezmerelda whispering to me teasing me to go just a little faster, that it was alright, just push down a little harder... as I drifted through Gramps gate onto the asphalt of the road into town and her tires gave a little chirp that sounded like "YES!" as I submitted to her call and let the pedal meet the floor!

I've driven this road a million times doing errands for my family so I knew every inch of it! that's why I could have sworn I passed a car going the other way but I didn't really see any lights so wtf ya know? As I came into town I slowed to the speed limit, the car was voicing her opinion of going slow and I found myself enjoying it about as much as I pulled up to the pumps and shut her down. I put the nozzle in and started filling it up when a few minutes later a sheriff's car pulled across the back of the car blocking me in at the pumps....

"Evening Angus, how are you doing tonight?"

"Evening sheriff, what brings you out on a night like this?"

"Just making sure everything's safe and all"

"That's a good thing, I look forward to my Bearclaw in the morning!"

"Is that your car Angus...?"

"Belongs to a friend, sure is sweet isn't she?"

"Reminds me of a car like that long ago, but that one lost it over on Ridge Road, saw where it went off but never found the wreck"

The pump kicked off and I topped it off, "Damn, sounds all spooky like you know, like a ghost driver or something" I put the nozzle back, "Well I gotta take a piss sheriff, you take care" and walked into the mini-mart.

''''''''''''''Fast Forward 15 years''''''''''''''''''''

Angus leaned back in his leather chair behind his desk in his office on the 40th floor of the new office building near to center of downtown. The Fortune 500 mag just estimated his wealth to be north of 900 million. He thought back to when Gramps and he started "The Titan Tornadoes" together, He was so worried about where all the start-up money would come from when his Gramps explained how he taught himself about investments to keep his sanity when he was totally alone...turned out he became rather good at it! their company received so much attention that the corporations started actually sponsoring them at events that started popping up here and there and the money and demands made it so that doing 2 different things was rather draining on one's energy so Angus split the company, on one side the pro team appeared at events and trained as such and the rest were made up of those who seemingly kept practicing at required locations to get good enough to go pro as the PI firm and Lord how the money poured in!!

Suddenly his phone went off he smiled recognizing his Grandfather's ringtone "Hey old man, how's the staff treating you? the new ticker still working?"

"It about blew a seal when they told me what you're up to! we do this merger and we go national, perhaps even global, and NOW you act like this? I could have understood it when you were 19 but things are different now and I know you were told about the million dollars in penalties you're making us pay!"

"Gramps, let me ask you, would you actually notice the million missing? the trust we set up is ready to run itself and has more in it than we'll ever need. don't sweat the smalls, right?"

"Smart ass! Just do what you need to and let it go, O.K.?" and ended the call.

What Gramps didn't know is that from time to time we've been hired by the FBI and the CIA to keep tabs on questionable visitors to our country and the last operation I wanted to run had ties to all three and was worth more than a million in satisfaction!

Monday dawned and everything was set to go, the swat commander turned to me and asked why I had chosen 0500 on Monday.

I replied, "Everybody hates Mondays you know!"

"You're an asshole sometimes", he chuckled, then got on the radio for the final check-in

My ear wick went off, we had been waiting for the final player to make his debut the person who showed up was not the one we were waiting for but someone else showed up, I stopped the assault and contacted command, and sent them the picture I received from my group behind the building and was instantly told to withdraw my people as the special forces have been told to move in immediately! the new player was the leader of their child pornography ring who had up and vanished two years ago. after the special forces moved in I made my way to the back of the building because I could not raise my people when I suddenly heard gunshots, I raised my weapon, a.45 Judge, just in time to see a soldier fall on his back wounded in front of me and Mr. kiddie porn right in front of me "He's wearing armor!" the asshole actually smiled at me as I fired at the center of his chest at the same time I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. I knew I had to keep moving so I pressed forward and saw the asshole on the other side of the soldier not moving so I knelt down and got his weapon and started stopping the blood flow from the soldier and had it about stopped when an ambulance pulled up and started working on both of us as the commander stood over Mr. asshole asking what happened, the soldier explained what went down, he then turned to me and said he gets by troops with armor and assault weapons yet you put him down with 2 shots and I want to know how?

I looked up and said "Luck and teamwork" he kept looking so I laid it all out for him then I got to the part when we met "Teamwork as when my friend yelled out he was wearing body armor and luck because I chose to load the 410 slugs instead of the.45 longs into my Judge when this whole thing began!"

"Well whatever you shot him with collapsed almost half his chest and left some internal bleeding as well I'd guess," the EMT said, "Oh, he'll live to testify, but he won't be doing much else for a long time"

"We have a large amount of date rape drugs as well as other controlled substances, but we were hoping for more information as well, Are you going to pull another miracle out of your ass Angus and help us out again?" the commander scoffed good-naturedly.

"What is it with you and my ass?" Angus gave back, then while the EMT stitched the crease in his shoulder he called in 2 food trucks to feed the masses now he knew his people were alright, then beckoned the EMT over and told him to give him a sling and a couple of pain shots, the EMT told him that patients don't dictate the treatment they receive...Angus made a short call and 30 seconds later the EMT's phone began ringing and 15 seconds later came back with a sling and 2 syringes...

"You could have just called my boss, not the Hospital Administrator, you know" he whispered to Angus

"Didn't have his number", was the reply

"Take my card, it has all the info on it" The EMT held out a business card.

Angus grinned "Next time"

After the shots started taking effect Angus whispered to the EMT to bring some alcohol and a suture kit and follow him, then he stood up and nudged the commander, "If you really want to see what falls out my ass you're going to have to follow me right now, old friend!", Angus motioned with his head at the EMT and began walking back into the building EMT close behind and the troops straggling after. They made it to the floor where their teams were processing the crime scene then Angus went up to the next floor which was the top floor. Then Angus and the commander had a quick talk that turned heated for a moment then went quiet. Angus told the EMT he would give him $500 cash to film what follows using his phone which he then unlocked and gave to him telling him to always follow him at the same time, the commander spoke with 4 soldiers quickly and then got up by the door. He nodded at Angus and Angus nodded with a smile then quickly slid the key into the lock nodding to the EMT Angus turned the key and opened up the door calling out "Mom, dad, baby sis I'm home and I brought some friends of mine that really want to meet you!"

My baby sister came out of a room with a crack pipe in her hand leading some putz crawling behind her on a leash, "Angus, what the fuck you doing here? We asked you for a little bit to get the family over its rough spell and you refused making us have to do things like this to survive!" the soldiers removed her as well as mom who was entertaining 3 men at once in my old room there were pills in a tray on the dresser and a bottle of cheap gin beside it, Dearest dad was found making his own date rape mixture in the backroom that will soon be linked to 3 deaths at least. further searching revealed that the apt below brought the drugs in and cut them and my family handled distribution. they moved the drugs and money between apts when someone downstairs put their fist through the wall and found a dumbwaiter in the wall when they opened it they found 87K, not too bad for a day's work, and my bonus on this job should be a pretty penny! I just walked outside and went over to one of the food trucks and told Raoul to make me his special gyros and sat down on a nearby chair just as my phone played the ghost rider theme. Damn, I just sat down!

"Hey Gramps, how are things...?"

"I must be speaking with 'Quick Draw McGraw' or Billy the Kid! What the hell possessed you to lead the charge instead of sitting back and pointing the way like we talked about, boy?" He was not happy, "And then you flaunt you're eating something you know I can't eat yet!" just as Raoul set my gyro in front of me, how could he know this...?, "Look to your left" and as I did I saw the news camera. "You're not seriously hurt are you?" I shook my head at the camera, "Good, so let them clean it all up and you get your ass down here to sign the papers and take me fishing!" I had to laugh.

Two weeks later found Gramps and me on a small isle in the Caribbean with a 25,000 sqft. house stretched out on lounge chairs on the beach with a cooler of beer between us with a cool breeze coming across the water. We each put our empties in the bag and got a fresh one as we both reminisced about the beginnings of our partnership and our company when I look over at him and asked why he took a chance on me so long ago, his face took on a haunted look and said "I could see the life with your family was slowly killing you right off you just couldn't see it yet and in the course of figuring out how to begin helping your Grams and I had our health issues but when she passed and things happening as they did she kind-of threw us together and we became each other's lifeline as we grew together and your family went its own way and when I couldn't step up and help us you just stepped right up and gave me the love and support I needed as I had tried to do for you in return...You know both Grams and I have always felt you were the son we should have had, right?" I felt the tears start as his hand squeezed my shoulder. "Besides if you didn't come up with the idea in the first place we would have been really screwed!" He laughed! I knew the love my Gramps had for me and he always made sure I knew it was his pleasure to be a part of my life but to be able to share in it as he has was what he never suspected, yet he was always there taking care of things that came along so I could concentrate on our business until we had our fingers in other companies as well as owning our share as well, We even had our own factory making electronic chips for computers, tablets, and smartphones...(and yes it is in Taiwan), but this time I was going to surprise him!

I got up and bumped his shoulder with my knee, "Get up you old fart! We're going out to dinner plus we have people to meet so move it!" grabbed the cooler and started towards the house I heard him mumble that the Vegas Poker Tournament was coming on in an hour or so, "Don't make me send out Jasmine the cook to get your ass moving!" When he first bought the island it came with the house and also a lovely elderly lady named Jasmine and her son, her husband Karl died in a factory accident on the mainland and they could no longer manage to live on the island anymore so they were selling everything and moving. I think Gramps got sweet on her and then proved it when he told them that they could continue living there and he would even pay both of them a fair wage every week, I heard that Jasmine had melted like butter as she hugged Gramps while she wet his shirt with her tears thanking him...I knew he more than liked her as the wine shipments as well as a few other things had almost doubled, but hell, as long as he's happy!