Rick Carter's First Big Adventure (Pete's Barbecue Book 1) by Samuel Belcher Page A

in his seat, and the big Crown Vic. rocked.  “Mr. Carter?”  The voice was strange, not one of the usual dispatchers.   It sounded old, distinctly feminine and slightly grandmotherly like.  He hadn’t ever had a grandmother, but he had seen enough of them on television to imagine what they would sound like.  Maybe she was on the other end holding a plate of warm cookies and a glass of milk.
        He picked up the mic. and timidly keyed it. “580, over.” It was a force of habit to use his call numbers.
        The phantom voice replied, “Your first job for the night will be waiting for you at the corner of Euclid and First.  You will see a female waiting for you there.  Please take her to the address specified on the note she will hand you.” 
      “Understood.  580 outbound.”  He responded and started the car.  It was time to see what this was all about. 
         The thought that no one would be standing on the corner of Euclid and First when he got there never left his mind as he made the meandering trek over to that area of St. Petersburg.   But, he was happily disappointed when he arrived and saw the silhouette of the woman standing alone, waiting patiently.  Her face was darkened by the shadows and her thin figure cloaked in the same.  But, he could still make out some detail, especially from her strange clothing.  It, too, was dark colored, earth tones.  She was in a long plain dress with a white shawl over her shoulders.  It looked to him, in the darkness, as if she had a bonnet of some kind on her head and she was holding a basket.  He was alarmed at first, his imagination driving his paranoia further then he had realized.  But, it wasn’t just the sight of someone dressed in what appeared to be a colonial outfit on a street alone at night that rang his panic bell.  No, his panic came from the fact that it wasn’t something more unusual than that.  This part of town was notorious for very strange things.  It wasn’t unusual to pick someone up in the middle of the night, liquored up from some party nearby and have them wearing anything from an astronaut’s suit to a dancing monkey outfit.  He was very accustomed to seeing these strange things.  He was so accustomed to it that he felt a slight pang of disappointment.  Is this it?  Is this the big deal?  Then he thought; I better get paid.
         The fare went smoothly and without a hitch.  She didn’t say anything to him. She just handed him a piece of paper with an address to a place across town, toward New Port Richey. Her destination, oddly, was another dark lonely street.  He felt a little touch of worry about dropping her off in such an unsavory area; fearful something might happen to her.  But, without a word, she exited the cab, closed the door and disappeared into the night.  He waited for a few moments as he lost sight of her, watching to see if she was alright.  Then he twisted his butt to the right and pulled his phone from his pocket.  The driver’s seat complained from the shift in his weight.  He quickly dialed the automated number to his checking account to see if anything had happened yet.  It’s too soon, he thought.  But, when he accessed the account there was a nice new figure shining up at him with three zeroes trailing from it. He was stunned.  That’s all there was to it?  No big show, no trying to hide a drug transaction or someone trying to pick up a prostitute?  He sat alone on the street for another ten minutes before he pulled away. 
            Rick’s previous ill and foreboding feeling was quickly replaced by one of exhilaration and satisfaction.  The fear of criminal involvement was put to rest, and he began to relax, realizing that this was just as simple as picking a person up at one place and dropping them off at another, with the bonus of his bank account expanding like a Wall Street financier’s waistline. He could practically hear the collective gasp of bank