Floridagirls
“How is it that people can hero, with all the gear they have, and no one just tracks that back to them? Easy! It’s called incorporation!”
“A shell company, owned by a shell company, owned by an LLC with a bunch of shell companies owning it out of the Caymen Islands is pretty much enough to keep the police from knowing, for sure, who is driving that rocket powered nightmare that some maniac insists is their hero sedan.”
Sylvia Lang, Marketing 203 Supers in the Media
“So, what are the fledglings up to?” Solaris asked, after the other Englishman had taken his leave.
"Working at the building. Planning where to put bays, throwing out the trash left behind, and painting. Marcus apparently volunteered to stay and watch the gate because they wanted Nahoa''s help with heavy lifting.”
“That makes sense, if I remember right there were some big piles of rubbish left behind. I was tempted to hide little automotive Easter eggs in there
"According to Evelyn they''re up to three engine blocks, actually. They kept two of them. Plus, some other odds and ends. So, do you want to head right back tomorrow, or fuck off to the Virgin Islands on them." She joked.
“Now you’re tempting me. Beach and Mint Julip or watching the kids try and adult.”
"Oh, the kids can adult just fine. " She chuckled. "Though they apparently have made some decisions on the project for you so that''s likely to start soon."
“I look forward to the surprise. Now what to do with our selves. We could visit another school, go hang out on a beach, oh we could go tour the shoe factory!” She laughed “I am perplexed by having such free time. Oh, I have an idea, what about flying down to Florida and getting a boat, then we could sail it home.”
"That''s definitely an idea. You thinking a smallish boat, or are we hunting a ship?"
“Bah, I was figuring on being impulsive and buying what catches my eye. Be a bit of a dilettante and just have a bit of fun. It’s Florida, maybe punch an alligator.”
"Oh, that''s not even odd. Floridaman is an actual word, now." She chuckled. "But screw it. I''ll call the crew let company and extend the crew’s time with us, and we''ll go to Florida. Miami, I think."
“Sounds like a plan she pulled out her I phone “Hey Siri, what is the best hotel in Miami?” She looked at the screen “Okay, the magic robot says we should go to the EB hotel. Can you make the reservations, I’ll text granny and let her know.”
"I''ll call them now. Let Granny know her entertainment isn''t going to disappear because they want to behave for the boss."
Solaris laughed “E2 can I get a Manhattan please.” she asked, letting booze and new friends wash away the bad taste Pinnacle left in her mouth.
"But of course." He said, quickly mixing the drink with the sure hands of a professional. "So off to Miami to blow some money. That does tend to be good for what ails the soul." He said with a wink.
“It’s silly, but I think I’ve earned some time to be silly.” She sipped the pink drink. “Just like your father, this is perfection. And I don’t know that I’ve ever done much there so it will be new and memory free.”
"Not much in Miami back in the day, but now it''s pretty hopping. And the cruise lines go in and out of there all the time. I think I''ll take one of those cruises, one of these days."
“You should, go have fun.” She passed him her card for the drink bill. I think that is something I’m going to be working on myself!”
"Life is too short, not to have some fun. True even if you live a thousand years."
“God, I hope not.”
"Not many do, so no reason to worry so young. Have a good trip!"
Two days later, Elizabeth and Penny had settled into their Miami suites and gotten in a long day of relaxation by the pool. The next morning at breakfast, Penny asked. "So still thinking boats?"
“Why not? We know we want at least one, and Miami is a boat city. I don’t know if there are any baseball games, I haven’t seen the Marlins play before.”
"To late in post season. They were bottom of their division, I think."
“Right, Poor Miami.” So, I’d say boats, or maybe charter someone to take us out fishing
"Hey, up to you. You''re the boss. Besides, I''m just kind of looking forward to being on the water. the UN was interesting, but I joined the Coast Guard originally. "
“Let’s do a fishing charter today, we can look at boats on the water to see what we like and talk about what’s available while we wait for a bite.”
"Makes sense to me, and it’s been years since I went fishing with my dad. The Concierge should be able to set that up for us." Penny said. "And then a trip to a sporting goods store for rods and such I suppose? Fishing would start tomorrow since that''s a head out in the morning kind of thing, not that I complain about taking it easy." She laughed. "We could go find that alligator to punch today. Or a big ass python. They got into the everglades due to pets released during hurricanes."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“The charter should have rods, but getting some for our own boat would be good. Taking a fan boat out and hunting snakes, interesting choice of entertainment but could be fun.”
"Oh, these are huge snakes, and sometimes you''ll come across a gator and python that died trying to eat each other. It’s what happens when two apex predators fight.”
“I’m game.” Solaris said “Do we need guns, or is this a live capture thing?
"Weirdly fishing licenses, which we can get online, and you throwing a rock at one would probably do more damage than any reasonable rifle."
“Well yes.” She admitted. “Get the fishing licenses and I’ll see if the concierge can set us up with a fan boat and driver.”
"Bah, driver. Just get us a boat. I can get us into plenty of trouble on my own. Besides, it''s not like you can''t lift it out if I get stuck." she teased.
“True,” Solaris called down and 20 minutes later they had a fan boat rented. “Okay, the boat is secured. We will want to get some waders and boots.”
"Again, sporting goods store. I keep telling you we''ll end up there." Penny teased.
“Well then let’s go!” she said cheerfully grabbing her purse and slipping on a set of strappy heals. One Uber ride later they were at dicks sporting goods. “Thank you for the ride, Julio. Please wait here I’ll try not to take too long.”
"Sure thing. Happy shopping!" If some rich English lady was willing to pay for him to wait for her to get done shopping, Julio was more than happy to wait.
Solaris walked in her eyes widening. “This may be the most American thing I’ve ever seen.”
"No, that''s Bass Pro Shop. They don''t really sell a lot of firearms at Dicks." Penny said wryly. "Though apparently we could have gotten a small boat here." She said, pointing at the fishing section, and the small fishing boats on the wall. Hell, had I thought, I''d have tried to find a Bass Pro. You''d love the aquariums. I hear in Memphis they have a whole pyramid."
“Why are there so many pyramids getting built nowadays?” Solaris asked, then shrugged it off. “Well, we will have to go see that.” She grabbed a cart, and they headed for fishing gear. My, my so many choices. Shall we start with a a couple of good tackle boxes?
"Makes sense. Get the box then fill it." The younger woman selected two good sized tackle boxes, one blue and one green. "Salt and fresh water." She explained. Then she grabbed a few of the pre-built sets of lures and hooks for fresh and saltwater, figuring that''d give them basics and still allow them to hunt more specific tools.
Solaris went to talk to an employee to get help getting poles and reels. Before going to pick out boots. “Penny what do we do with the snakes we catch? Do you eat them make leather?”
"Any of the above. The one thing you can''t do is put them back in the ecosystem." She replied. "Ironically, the same with several species of fish and even monkeys. All of them seem to have gotten a foothold in the everglades from the pet trade or science labs.
"For all they care, take it home as a pet, it just can''t be released again."
“A pet snake? Now that would turn heads. I haven’t had a pet since I was a little girl, and that was one of father’s hunting dogs.”
"Snakes are pretty common pets now. Even big ones like Reticulated Pythons. I mean, I''d go more for a ball python, but you could wrestle a thirty-foot snake alone, I would have trouble. I doubt there’s anything that big, though."
(Meanwhile, back in New York)
Eleanore smiled at her freshly repainted office with a new desk, as she snuggled into her new super comfy office chair. “This is nice.” She said, before reluctantly rising to go down to the shop. “Hey Erica, how long till Levi gets here?”
"He''s here." She said, pushing a load of dirt out with a broom. They''d cleared out the junk, moved out the abandoned shelves, and turned the place into an empty, echoing cavern. "He''s outside offloading the SC-400 we found for the bosses car under the awning we grabbed." she said. "Since you said we have to work outside till we get down here painted and the floor sealed."
“Well, we don’t need dust and what not getting in the fresh paint. I got a nibble on our first influencer, a wild vehicle maker called Super Badger. He does super conversions and up armors on cars; I think he will be a good fit.”
"Ohhh, does he have a project, or should we find something for him? We were toying with getting those Chargers we saw, with the idea of one for Nahoa and maybe spares in case the boss feels like showing force."
“He said he was going to see what was in the local junkyard he could limp here. I told him if what he wants doesn’t run, he can borrow our hauler. He does some nice work and is sitting at over a million viewers.”
"I think we''re still getting the Chargers. But that means he has another project if he wants to jump in."
“I suspect there is going to be a lot of crossovers between our different influencers. Which should only be good. He also said he’s happy to help out around the shop.”
"That''s great. I think after I use the pressure washer, we''re ready to paint down here. Did you arrange a floor company yet?"
“Yeah, they are going to be out Tuesday. I picked out a semigloss grey with silver flecking. Should photograph really well.
"Works for me." Erica said. "We debated for a bit, and we decided to go with a pair of two post lifts for cars, and one long four post lift for trucks and SUV''s. We want to round that out by keeping a couple of sets of mobile car lifts around if needed." She said. "We also already picked up two Motorcycle lifts. We want to order a tire balancing set up and an ac recovery machine, those would be the biggest ticket items, and mean once we''re fully set up we can do basically anything. If we decided to do a bus or something, beyond making it run kind of okay, we''ll need some column lifts but that is very much a ''buy it when we need it'' kind of thing."
“Don’t forget all the paint stuff, Mercades would cry.” Eleanore said with a laugh. Oh, she found a nursery that sold the trees she wanted, so she’s going to be putting those in next week. Along with a whole bunch of miniature potted evergreens she’s going to put out for winter color.”
"We''re ordering a motorcycle scale and an extended vehicle scale inflatable setup, so we can set things up when we need it, and pull it down to store it when we don''t. We''re also going to get a shed to keep them in, specifically to keep them away from pointies. Speaking of which, we''d like to get the parking lot resealed."
“We can do that, shouldn’t be too too hard to find a contractor for it. So, sounds like another week or two and we will be fully up and running.”
There was a series of loud bangs that made Elenore and the others jump followed by the sick sweet smell of burning antifreeze. She ran out to see a young man with his hair in a short brown ponytail, and a neat little beard and mustache climb out of a smoking thing she though used to be a car. “Hi, sorry, this old girl needs work, but she should be perfect for what I want. I’m Nick but everyone calls me Badger
"Hello Badger. I wasn''t quite expecting you yet. Should we get a fire extinguisher for your car?"
“I thought it would take longer to find something that spoke to me,” he patted the smoking car. “And she’s only a little on fire, it’s okay, it’s all stuff I’m replacing.”
Levi came over, opened the hood, and put out the fire. "Just so we don''t have the fire department show up. We''re getting a new floor put in, in a few days, but we have a few pop-up awnings were using for cover. To rip out the old engine and stuff, that''s a good place to start."
“Sweet. This is a pretty nice set up. My old garage got eminent domained, something about a chemical plant being safer for the community or something.” He shrugged.
“Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.” Erica chuckled.