Secret Secret Agent Man

Secret Secret Agent Man

I am new to this neighborhood. Moved in about a year and a half ago. Still getting to know the neighbors. I've an outgoing sort of personality so am not shy about starting up conversations. An equally outgoing couple live next door.

It was the middle of winter the day my wife, Teresa, and I were unloading. Mary stopped to welcome us to this house that had sat empty for a number of years. As the original owner she has lived in her house for over fifty years. Her second husband, Walt, is a transplant from Iowa and only been with her for the past twenty-eight years. They used to travel around for his career but now he works from home.

Lots of kids with innumerable grandchildren and other extended family members invade almost every Friday night over there for something called taco night. We've been invited but haven't taken them up yet because their house is not very big. Although we occasionally visit with them on their deck sharing the flame table.

Our house is a split level with stairs no matter what entrance you choose. Walt uses a power chair for mobility so can't get into our home. But, of course, we guys like to shoot the breeze out in our garages. We are both gear heads to some degree. He has a forty-year-old Harley, I have a classic Corvette. These wheels keep us reminiscing about good old days.

“Now, Tom, you know I would blow your doors off if I could still ride that hog!” Walt brags.

My wife's pack of mop-sters, four long-haired Dachshunds, drive everyone in the hood crazy with their yapping. Teresa insisted we fence in the entire corner lot yard for them to run free. They terrorize anything that dares to walk past. If they weren't so cute running en masse circling around they would have been banned long ago. Of course, it annoys me that they have worn a path in my pristine yard I work so hard at keeping trimmed properly. I'm glad Walt is so understanding about them as he tries to get work done. They can really assault the eardrums. I try to get him to keep one of them that is more of a foster situation for us but Mary says it would upset their charismatic cat, Bob, too much. These wives rule, I tell ya.

I suffered a debilitating accident on duty for the utility company therefore am on disability. The doctors finally got around to doing some surgery on my shoulder so this summer I can't do any yard work. It's already painful to watch the grass grow so tall. Teresa simply can't spend enough time keeping it all trimmed. She works out of the house part-time. Sometimes I think it is only to get away from me for a spell. When the weather is nice I like to spend a good portion of my afternoons sitting on my deck that overlooks the neighbor's.

Mary loves to sit out on her deck, too, watching for hummingbirds. She reads a book or uses her tablet or laptop. Something about writing for an online community. She has a hard time hearing so frequently walks over to the fence to visit with me instead of us shouting back and forth. She lets the dogs out for us when we need to be gone to doctor appointments all day. She is such a nice lady. Sometimes I wonder how Walt lucked out and found such an understanding woman.

Mary's knees are giving out so they rely on grandchild labor for their yard work which means they wait until the kids are available to help. The yard is never as neat as Mary would prefer but Walt doesn't want her doing too much and stresses because he can't take care of more himself. They are a loving couple always concerned for the other one's well being.

I find it somewhat funny when they converse outdoors. Walt won't cross the threshold of the sliding doorway because his power chair would ruin the track so he sits just inside the screen door talking to Mary on the deck. Because she can't hear very well she speaks loudly for others to hear in case they can't hear either. She is also one of those animated talkers that must use hands to get the point across. From my angle it looks like she is talking to herself wildly waving her arms around. I can't hear Walt's side of the conversation.

“So there's another contract out? Where this time?”

“..........”

“How long will that take you away?”

“.........”

“Typical agent stuff, right?”

“..................”

“Will you be okay?”

“...........”

“Still sounds dangerous.”

“............”

“But why always you?”

“............”

“Doesn't anyone else know how to keep things cooking?”

“...............”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”

“.............”

“Do you even remember the codes?”

“................”

“They really have your name and number don't they.”

“............”

“Well, if the shoe fits...”

“...................”

“Why always at the last minute? Will everything implode?”

“....................”

“Sounds expensive.”

“...................”

“Expenses covered?”

“.............”

“You've gone that route before.”

“...................”

“Want me to go with you? Like 99. Who has to know? We used to have fun.”

“...............”

“Need your phone. Look in the archives.”

“....................”

“What does the Chief think?”

“............”

“Sounds like chaos. Things under control?”

“.................”

“Get smart. Destroy the evidence.”

“.................”

“When all else fails, dump it. Delete, delete, delete!”

I begin to worry. Something, somewhere seems out of place. They seem like a typical older couple getting by on social security and a part-time at-home income. She is such a nice lady trying to get her novel published. What are they hiding? His garage is so cluttered it could be harboring all kinds of secretive operational stuff. He is a computer genius. He could be working under cover for the CIA, FBI or any other government alphabet agency. How dangerous is his position? Could we get in his way? Do I need to unleash the hounds?

“Oh, hi, Tom. Didn't see you over there. Looks like Walt will have to go to Indianapolis for a while for his control engineering job. Things got a little chaotic. I may go along with him.”