"yeah, let's do, i'd like that." the zoo was comfortable, all one's problems disappeared in this wonderful environment, the sky was perfect, and the clouds were like cotton candy. things would work out right, i just knew it. back at the funny farm, there wasn't a soul in sight. the pig mobile was empty, and the door to the paddock was locked. i saw neither sysco's nor pork's cars. i held sidney's hand as we knocked on the door.

"nobody home miss," a voice said. it was roy, the guy that worked for pork.

"roy, do you remember me? "i'm carlee."

"oh yeah, andy's babe, sure, i remember, you do something to your hair?"

"it grew roy, and maybe it's a little lighter."

"and a whole lot prettier," he said.

"where's pork pie?"

"don't know," he answered.

"we're staying here for a few days roy, we really do need to get in."

"sure," he said, as he unlocked the door.

lissell's house was perfectly lovely from the outside, nestled between two more an acre apart, on the east side of town. she greeted us at the door. gosh she looked great, barefoot, wearing only a pair of tan shorts and a white tee shirt that said "it's all up to you...." she held me tight and kiss me on the lips.

"god, it's great to see you carlee, and you too sid. please come in."

"hmmm, movin' up in the world detective," i said. lissell smiled.

"hopefully," she answered. she had us sit down on a huge sectional couch. she sat in a green recliner across from us. "both of you look beautiful," she said. "can i get you something to drink?"

"scotch is fine with me, and a coke for my friend."

"do you have a television, miss stacey?" sidney asked.

"sure sport, big screen though, you may not like it."

"i'd love it," he answered. "do you get the power rangers?"

"sure do, it's almost time for them." lissell led him to the back and returned with our drinks. she had a noticable limp, i was staring. "still left from the stab wound honey, gets worse if I dream about leroy and that night."

"i'm sorry lissell, and i didn't mean to stare."

"stare all you want baby, if it weren't for you i wouldn't even be here." i took a slurp of my drink, she was right. "now before you say anything else carlee, even how nice it would be to sleep with me, tell me about this new crisis, i went out on a limb getting that information for you."

"i know that lissell, and don't think i didn't appreciate it." lissell smiled. "sidney's dad, terry works for sysco bolin."

"oh my god," she said.

"she rents trucks from my friend laverne anderson, you know, the horse guy?"

"i know pork pie, sure." i told her about sidney's living conditions, about terry's girl friend and about my suspects of abuse. i went on with the story of pork's truck being found empty on the side of the road and terry's disapperance.

"carlee, carlee!" sidney shouted.

"what baby?"

"come and see this tv!"

"excuse me lissell, i'll be right back."

"look carlee, it's high definition, 52 inches."

"gosh, sidney, how perfectly neat, a new dimension to the power rangers."

"can we stay here, huh, here with miss lissell, for the rest of our lives?" i had to smile.

"for tonight anyway baby." sidney was so excited. "now you enjoy, is there anything i can get you?"

"popcorn and a coke would be nice," he answered.

"comin' up," i said. "lissell, do you have any popcorn?"

"sure, microwave, or the real stuff, from down on the farm?"

"you shuck it yourself?" i asked.

"certainly," she answered.

"naa, microwave will be fine."

"fresh is no problem," she said.

so, lissell and i shucked ears of corn with our hands while a pan of real cow's butter simmered on her stove. "this shit's hard on your hands lissell," i said.

"i enjoy it though," she said. we finished three ears, and she said that was probably enough. i agreed. "sysco bolin is bad news carlee, we don't have much jurisdiction over her, she's mainly federal, oh not that we don't have stuff on her, she's a bad girl."

"i know that lissell," i said. lissell put the three ears of shucked corn in a pan, added cooking oil, and put a lid on it. she shook it, and her own backside shook with it. i loved that. lissell had lost about ten pounds, and she was far more the better for it. pop, the first grain was ready. then more, much more. i remembered my mom popping corn for me, she had a nice butt also, black hair and a slim figure, i missed her.

"fit for a prince," she said, as she poured the melted butter over it in a green glass bowl.

"we'd spoil him to death, if we had him," i said. lissell smiled.

"and i'd spoil you also baby." that made me smile. i took a handful of pop corn, then finished my drink. "another coming up," she said.

sidney was engrossed in the power rangers, he acknowledged the popcorn and ate a big handful. set his coke on a coaster on the nightstand. "she looks nice in shorts," he said.

"lissell?"

"yeah."

"she does, doesn't she, how about her hair?"

"i liked it long, but the short hair makes her look different."

"enjoy your show sidney," i said.

lissell was sitting on the couch with her feet up under her, eating pop corn and drinking. she handed me a drink, and i sat down beside her.

"you're not mixed up with sysco bolin are you baby?" she asked.

"only because of sid, lissell, if they don't find his dad real soon i don't know what is going to happen."

"carlee, let me tell you a little about what happened, at least what i know about these situations." my ears perked up. "sidney's dad's truck probably was not highjacked, if it were, then he would have notified someone. of course they could have killed him and stowed him somewhere, likely in the back of the truck. according to the gasoline ledgers, he likely never headed for ohio, unless he filled up and paid with cash, which is unlikely. most of the time these drivers tell someone they have an expensive load and sell to them. they then meet the buyers at a designated location, unload, and are either killed or drive away. it's far more profitable for the buyers to dispose of the driver and just take the goods."

"that makes sense lissell, god, that makes very good sense, poor sidney."

"if he is dead, child welfare will have to take sid into custody, there's no way around it honey."

i felt bad about it, but i knew lissell was telling me the truth. what to do, what to do. i would have to think about that when the time came. i looked at lissell, she was so pretty, the scar on her neck was barely noticable.

"can i stretch out beside of you lissell?"

"sure baby," she said, then stretched out. i laid down beside her, she hugged me. "i've needed to be with you so bad carlee," she said, as her eyes lit up.

"i'm yours lissell."

"can we take a bath, together?" she asked.

"sure baby, let me check on sidney, give him some instructions." lissell smiled at me and headed to the bathroom. sidney was snoozing, so peacefully. i pulled his pj's from our suit sack, which read "mcdonald's, billions sold," shook him gently. my little power ranger, what on earth will happen to you, i sadly thought.

"hell, i didn't mean to hurt the bitch!" a voice on the tv said, a voice i knew too well."

"what did you hit her with mr. anderson?" an attractive blonde anchor asked.

"a horse, no, a fuckin' pony shoe, hell, i've hit my mother with those before, didn't hardly feel it!" pork pie's blood pressure was out of sight, his face was as red as a beet. my god in heaven. pork pie has killed sysco, now what's going to happen?

"our apoligies for the language," the pretty anchor lady announced. "mr. anderson is apparantly overwrought." so, what else is new? i thought. lissell's phone rang. i turned the tv down and answered it.

"hello?"

"detective stacey?"

"sorry, no, i'm her friend, she's taking a bath."

"ah, is there a cordless?" he asked.

"i've heard that's dangerous," i replied.

"is there a large towel then?"

i laughed. "you really need to speak with her don't you?"

"yeah, really," he answered.

"and who shall i say is calling?"

"eddie, eddie from the station, she knows me."

"hang on then, eddy."

"you spelled my name wrong!"

"huh?"

"oh never mind."

i went into the bathroom, lissell was naked to her panties and she looked fantastic. "eddie, from the station."

"shit," she said. "baby, there's a cordless on my night stand, do you mind?" i went to the bed room, sidney was snoring. i brought lissell the phone. she pushed a button.

"detective stacey."

"miss stacey, this is eddie, captain zimmerman told me to call you and tell you that miss bolin's in the hospital, in surgery actually, they don't expect her to live."

"sysco bolin?"

"yessum, she got in a fight with a man over an internet game they were playing and he threw a horse shoe at her and hit her in the head."

"who was the guy eddie?"

"ah, laverne 'pok pie' anderson," he answered.

"tell eddie he mispelled pork's name," i said.

"is that suppose to upset me eddie, or are you calling me out?"

"he didn't tell me to call you out miss stacey, just to let you know."

"ask him if they've arrested pork, lissell," i asked.

"no ma'am, he claims that miss bolin came at him with a knife and he acted in self defense."

"the truth is, eddie, if that awful sysco bolin dies in surgery, the world will be a better place, i don't even know why captain zimmerman wanted you to call me."

"something about that girl who killed leroy last year, he said."

"carlee?"

"yeah, i think so."

"thank you eddie, thanks for calling." she hung up.

"what now lissell?" i asked.

"a bubble bath, if you don't mind scrubbing my back." the bath room smelled like vanilla, bubbles stood two feet over the water. i undressed, lissell watched carefully.