"But Mistress," I said keep silent!" She leapt to her feet and George knew he only had a moment or two before she would grab a ball gag and stuff it i...nto his mouth to silence him."Mistress, if that is a tax demand, I may be able to help. If not I'll be quiet at once."Deanna was standing over him as he crouched inside his cage. In one hand she held a ball gag, in the other her bundle of papers. "What if it is?" she said warily. "They want the money. I'll end up having to pay." Well, there may be. A gasping exhaled breath would spout a huge cloud of steam into the air. I'd futilely flap my arms for warmth while eyeing the cancerous orange rust reaching inexorably up the Jeep's sides and into its guts.The mailman probably didn't give a rip about the rust - the sooner the engine fell out, the sooner he'd get a newer rig with a newer heater. You need a good heater to survive driving around Syracuse in winter while the salt dumped on the roads relentlessly chews away at the metal around. " Miss Frosty Butt," Jesse started, "I can promise you your choice of new work addresses, either Outhouse, Oklahoma or Paris, Texas. Get Stroud right now or start packing. Your choice."Seconds later: "Stroud," a tired voice answered on the other end of the call. "This better be important, Jesse." Brandywine is nothing more than another part of the artichoke. They are enforcement and security. Remember the spin off companies of Halliburton? I have a hunch Brandywine started the same way and grew. .. they were likely sluts anyway and I never knew for sure that he was the one who knocked them up. And if he was fucking you I could understand," and then her words stopped as she covered my mouth with hers while her hands began probing under my housecoat.I won't bore you with more details. Nothing much happened... she was too drunk and I was too tired. She more or less passed out beside me on the sofa and I let her sleep until well after midnight. Some coffee. Some lighthearted conversation.