ENCOUNTER Hep Aldridge (best autobiographies to read .txt) 📖

“No kidding, it’s amazing what a little capital can accomplish.”

The Suburban was sitting there waiting for us. When we walked in the front doors, Dimitri let out a low whistle, “Man, this place has had a full make-over.” It had, indeed, new paint, lighting, four new automotive lifts, a front-end alignment rack, and a paint booth in the far corner. There were new workstations with toolboxes set up and people busily working everywhere. At the entrance, there was a counter like you would see at any American car dealership service center. A young lady and boy were behind it. As we approached, she hung up the phone and smiled, “Dr. Burnett, so glad to see you again.” At that point, the young man turned around, and we recognized Eduardo, who immediately broke into a huge grin, came running around the counter, and grabbed me in a bear hug.

“Senor Colt, Senor Dimitri, it is so good to see you again; welcome back.”

Dimitri got his hug as the young lady keyed a microphone on the counter and said over the sound system in the building, “Senor Sean, come to the service desk, please.”

I realized two things, Eduardo had had a growth spurt since we last saw him, and he and the young lady were both wearing uniforms—neatly pressed with nametags on them and titles. Eduardo was Service Manager, and the young lady was Assistant Service Manager. As we were finishing our greetings, Sean appeared at the counter with a huge grin and hearty handshake.

“Hey, guys, welcome back,” he said, “it’s good to see you again; it’s been a while.”

“Yep,” I said, “good to be back. And wow, has this place changed.”

Sean was literally beaming as he turned to the huge work area and said, “It has, and it’s great. I received a grant just after you guys left to support my training program. I’ve been able to buy equipment, hire new staff, and really get things going.”

I said, “And it looks like the neighborhood has taken off as well.”

“That started recently and is way cool. The city kicked in some renovation dollars, and I was able to get them matched, and boom. We got a “new” industrial section being set up right on this block. And we have been able to create a lot of good-paying jobs because of it. I mean, this is too cool.” Sean was happy.

“It looks like your training center is doing quite well for itself.”

“It is, and we’re turning out some excellent mechanics, male and female, and they’re getting jobs.”

“Then you really are doing well and making a difference,” I said as I slapped him on the back. I turned to look at the Suburban, “And our beast?”

“All is well,” Eduardo spoke up. “I went over her carefully when we found out you were coming back down. I have changed all her fluids, filled the gas tanks, checked her out mechanically, and she is in top shape, ready to go.”

“Excellent,” I said.

“How long will you be here this time?” Sean asked.

“Not sure,” I replied, “maybe a couple of months or more. We’ll see.”

“Well, I hope you’re not planning on taking my service manager away from me. I wouldn’t know what to do without him,” Sean said.

Eduardo looked both elated and downcast at the compliment and then the realization that his new position may preclude him from galivanting off into the mountains with us.

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to disrupt your business here, but…”

Sean spoke up, “But he does have some time off coming to him, and I suppose we could get by for a while, right, Anita?” Sean said, looking at the girl behind the counter who had been following our discussion closely.

Anita beamed, “I think we could for a little while,” she said as she looked at Eduardo. That’s when I realized he was blushing as he turned to her and slowly smiled. I looked at Dimitri, who was grinning, and he nodded slightly. So, there was a little more than a working relationship going on here.

“Well, if he does come along, I can assure you we will take good care of him,” I said. We said our good-byes, fired up the Beast, and headed back to the hotel. When we got back, the gate was open to our private parking area, and two familiar faces greeted us. Our two guards from our previous visits were back on duty.

“Hola, Senor Burnett, Senor Dimitri,” they said as we slowly pulled in. I got out of the vehicle and greeted them with a smile and a wave. I told Dimitri to check the compartments to make sure nothing had been tampered with as I walked to the guards and made small talk. Dimitri joined me in a few minutes, gave me a slight nod, and did his greetings as we headed inside.

We met the rest of the team in the patio bar; they had already staked out our corner table away from prying ears. We placed our drink order and then updated them on the scene at Sean’s and the changes in the neighborhood.

Doc said, “What great news—sounds like the contribution from our last visit has had the desired outcome.”

“Yes, it did,” I said, “and I hope things are going just as well at Diego’s place. We’ll swing by there tomorrow and check-in. Right now, I just want to decompress for a bit. With the circus in Florida, the flight down, and God knows what in our future, I think we all deserve that. Besides, isn’t that what multi-millionaires do, relax?” That got a laugh from around the table. We were still coming to grips with that fact, and although we had been dispersing funds to the team regularly, we were all playing it close to the cuff, as the saying goes. We all maintained modest bank accounts in keeping with a treasure hunter’s income and had no flashy lifestyle changes. This was a good group and smart, and I wanted